Real Contracts vs. Player Morale

[Mattchu12]

So, I've just begun to test out real contracts vs. player morale, but so far, I'm seeing some pretty drastic things going on and wanted to get a thread going to talk about the merits of rosters with real life contracts.

For guys that have tailed off in their careers but being paid as if they are in their prime (A-Rod, Teixeira, Pujols, Mauer), they're so ecstatic with their contracts that even if they're just regularly content or happy with other things, they're seeing boosts of four points. Adrian Gonzalez got five thanks to being "close to home." He's the most I've seen so far on the positive side.

For fun, David Price actually expects more money. Funny stuff.

Then you cruise over to Baltimore, and Manny Machado is pissed. Two points dropped on his overall. Same with Jacob DeGrom, Stephen Strasburg, Carlos Correa. Sonny Gray is actually four points down, but it's also in part to his coaching expectations and what the A's are offering him.

Four points aren't the end of the world in either direction, but I wanted to see what other people are experiencing. We all know that once OSFM gets done, and then the Hybrid afterwards, there will be the choice to make between the version with real contracts and the version without them. I generally prefer the real ones, but depending on what other people are experiencing, that might change.

What have you noticed so far?

[bacon96]

I don't know if this will exactly make sense how I want it to but here goes:

I feel like guys who are pre-arb are upset with their contracts. No 24 year old who's hitting .290 is going to want to be paid the league minimum but that's the system that's currently in place. So I'd say that the 3/4 point dropoff would be accurate to real life. For example, Gregory Polanco just signed a contract extension so now instead of worrying about getting on base nonstop he has security and is able to perform to his full potential without worrying about injuries. At the same time, I'm not a video game character psychologist so I'm not 100% sure if that's exactly what may be affecting their overall attribute swing.

[Mattchu12]

Quote: Originally Posted by bacon96

I don't know if this will exactly make sense how I want it to but here goes: I feel like guys who are pre-arb are upset with their contracts. No 24 year old who's hitting .290 is going to want to be paid the league minimum but that's the system that's currently in place. So I'd say that the 3/4 point dropoff would be accurate to real life. For example, Gregory Polanco just signed a contract extension so now instead of worrying about getting on base nonstop he has security and is able to perform to his full potential without worrying about injuries. At the same time, I'm not a video game character psychologist so I'm not 100% sure if that's exactly what may be affecting their overall attribute swing.

I agree. I think it's pretty legit. Like I said, four points in either direction isn't the end of the world. I don't really like to compare overall ratings between players anyways. Just wondering if anyone has tested anything that has anything more drastic in either direction so far or any issues with free agency or anything like that.