Signing players in contract year

[willat]

Okay, it's past the trading deadline and things have gotten VERY boring. I have a few guys in the last year of their contracts, and I am wondering if I should wait or sign them now. Anyone have any ideas on this? Their demands were going down, but they seem to be rising now in mid September. What's the general consensus? Some are mid 30's, other's are mid 20's.

[datrain021]

normally ifthe player wants a more expensive contract than he currently has it will go up, but if it's lower it will go down. Age also factory into it. If he's younger than about 28, it will go up, but the older he is, the more it goes down. Also, don't forget about his stats for that year, if he's having a bad season, he'll ask for a lesser contract than if he's having a Bret Boone type season. Combine all these factors and you can normally predict if it will go up or down.

[skydog617]

It's been my experience that the best time to sign a player to an extension is in mid-season. Usually they start out really high and then drop during July or so, before climbing up a bit at the end of the season. The HUGE exception to this is pitchers. I've only seen about one out of every 15-20 pitchers reduce their contract demands over the course of a season. With pitchers I usually try to resign them as early as possible, unless they're not doing well or don't fit into my future plans. It's all a crapshoot anyway...