Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruhskins
Can you explain this? Are you saying that we should let Hall walk and pay someone with lesser talent the money Hall wants? Why on earth would we do this, if we were to do this, why wouldn't we just sign Hall?
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ok that is crazy.... you quoted and posted a post i hadnt submitted yet. The post at the top of the page, i just submitted less than 1 minute ago. this is creepy!
I said that because every year, once free agency starts, prices rise and they keep rising. In the end, a lesser talent like Leigh Bodden or Dre Bly is going to cost us just as much to sign as it would have cost to sign Hall a week ago... teams have a ton of cap space and if they need an upgrade at a position, they'll overpay for him. that puts other teams in a panic and then they overpay. the standard of pay is constantly raised (simple supply/demand relationship)
of course, theres always the option to let skip the first crazy couple of weeks in free agency and then go after the scraps that are left over, but you are always left with marginal guys when you do that. youre getting cheap replacements and your team is worse off as a result.
IMO, the smart teams do the following in free agency:
1) Resign their own "top tier" free agents BEFORE free agency starts. You will save a ton of money short-term and long-term doing this. You also take the least amount of risk here becaues youre getting a guy you know works well in your system.
2) For the most part, avoid the first two weeks of free agency entirely. Let your own nominal players test the market (like we did with Rock last year). If they get an offer from another team, consider matching it, but dont break the bank. if you wait, you can get comparable nominal players once everything settles down at a cheaper price.
3) Upgrade your teams depth once everything "settles down" after all the big guys are signed.