Free Agency

[ProFSL]

FA Bidding
Bids are in format of total contract value. Note that the number of years does not need to be listed until the bid is won.  The resulting salary will be the final bid divided by number of years, rounded to the nearest $500k. The winning bid will be the highest total contract amount.  If the bid is less than $20m then contract can be valued in multiples of $500k.  If it is $20m or more then it must be in multiples of $1m.  Players who are eligible for a prospect contract can have the bid (less $500k) turned into a guaranteed signing bonus.  Note that signing bonuses are 100% guaranteed and stay on the issuing team's books, regardless if that player is later traded.

Each player is auctioned in a separate thread at the ProFSL website that may be started by anyone.  There is no limit to the number of players that can be auctioned at one time or the number of bids for a player.  A bid on a player is considered final when it has been open for 72 hours.
Amendment Adopted 4/7/15
Upon the expiration of the 72 hr. clock the winning bid will be modified to show the winning team and "Stickied" on the board. It is the responsibility of the GM who won the bid to declare the contract terms within 48 hrs.
If, after 48 hrs have expired, terms are not posted, the 2nd highest bidder has the OPTION to petition the league for the rights of the player. Should that option be declined, the player will be returned to the free agent pool.
 

Trading Recently Signed Free Agents
Free Agent signings cannot be traded until 60 days after they have signed.  This date will be shown per each player in the official rosters section.  In addition to our 60-day NTC rule, any players signed to extensions as well as FA contracts in the offseason cannot be traded until June 1st the following year.

Compensation for losing a FA
The following rules apply only to players lost in the OFA bidding period.

FAs are to be classified as Type A, B, or a regular FA.  Type A FA (as dictated by MLB is a player in the top 20% of their position).  Type B FA are the next 20%. 

Therefore, for Franchise GM, Type A FA are:
Top 6 C
Top 12 MI, CI
Top 15 OF
Top 30 SP
Top 6 RP (Revised by Rules Committee on August 28, 2015)

Type B FA are:
7th - 12th ranked C
13th - 24th ranked MI, CI
16th - 30th ranked OF
31st - 60th ranked SP
7th - 12th ranked RP (Revised by Rules Committee on August 28, 2015)

You are eligible to extra compensation if you lose the player.  If the player was a Type A FA, then you will receive the winning team's 1st round pick and gain a supplemental pick (After 1st round, before 2nd).  If that team's 1st round pick was protected (first half of 1st round) then you will instead receive two supplemental picks.  If the player was a Type B FA, then you will receive a supplemental pick.

Order of supplemental picks is based solely on fantasy points scored in the previous season of each FA lost.  If one team wins bids on multiple Type A FA, then the player with the most points is the one that has a team receive the 1st rounder.  The other teams will receive two supplemental picks.

Off-season free agency (OFA)
OFA begins at a set date (see Deadlines) and is no different than regular season free agency other than the dates positions open.  The exact dates will be posted in the league schedule.

OFA follows standard FA bidding rules.  However, if the free agent is restricted (rights are held by another team), then that team may match the final offer and sign the player to the new contract.

FA Prospects
Note that bids on players that may fall under prospect contracts work differently.  The prospect contract has its own set of rules at a league minimum salary.  Any amount over $0.5m is considered a signing bonus, and is on a team's books even if they release the player.  Signing bonuses are guaranteed money!

Penalties for not clearing roster space/cap for a final bid
Upon winning a bid that sets a team over the cap, the GM is granted 24 hours to post the transactions that will make the cap work (either a trade or releasing players).  If the transactions are not valid or not posted within 24 hours of the bids being finalized, that team no longer receives the player.  If this is a first time offense, the GM is given a warning.  For all subsequent offenses, the team is penalized a 10% cap penalty for the current season.

After such a failed bid, the player goes back to the bidding board, leaving off at the highest bid prior to the winning bid, and the 72 hour clock is restarted. The offending team can no longer bid on that player, even if they clear up the cap space to do so.

No exceptions are granted to teams that won the bid but had a trade fall through - if you're not certain you'll have room, make the trade first.  In other words, don't bid on a player you can't afford!  Note that this applies only to FA.  No trades can be completed that set a team over the cap - the trade must be re-worked.