Please announce your LTC signings within this thread.

Deadline to announce is the first pitch of the first 2016 MLB game.

Long-Term Contract rules:
4.5 - Long Term Contracts

4.5.1 - After the draft (but before the season), a team may sign zero, one or two players (a "Contracted Player" ) to a long-term contract.

4.5.2 - Contracted Players are retained for two years beyond the current year, with no further salary increase. Example: after the 2005 draft, the Halifax Whitecaps sign Todd Helton to a Long Term Contract. Helton will then be eligible to remain with the Whitecaps (or his new team if he is traded) for 2005, 2006, and 2007 at his current salary of $53.

4.5.3 - The Contracted Player may be released at any time, but the owning team will be penalized the amount of the contracted player's normal salary increase (only the increase, not the entire salary) for the each remaining of the contract. Example : after the 2005 season, Todd Helton is proclaimed King of Albania and leaves baseball for Tirana to assume the throne. When he is cut by the Whitecaps, they will suffer a waiver penalty of $8 in 2006 ($53 * .15 = $7.95, rounded up to $8) and $10 in 2007 ($61 * .15 = $9.15, rounded up to $10).

4.5.4 - Any team which signs two players to Long Term Contracts in one off-season may not sign any in the following off-season.

4.5.5 - Once the Contracted Player's contract expires (three complete seasons after signing the contract), hebecomes a free agent and must be released prior to the Free Agent Draft. His current team may not retain him (unless they bid on him in the draft, like everybody else).

Russell Martin for the Juha Widings

I might regret this, since LTC's have historically blown up in my face, but the Stogies have decided to jinx the career, er sign Matt Wieters to a LTC at $30 per.

The Rocket Rogers sign the following two players to Long Term Contracts:

Zack Greinke
Troy Tulkowitzky

BDM will sign Manny Machado ($40) and Noah Syndergaard ($36) to LTCs.

The future is now! And the next two years.

I tend to think using the LTC as an act of madness. Nonetheless the Hares sign Giancarlo Stanton to a LTC.

Whitecaps sign Jordan Zimmermann to a LTC

he Hose sign David Ortiz and Carlos Rodon to LTC's. Thank you.

Isn't Ortiz retiring after this season? Not that you couldn't bet against that, I suppose.

The Constitution isn't clear on what happens when a player with a TRHL LTC retires in real-life in MLB. I would think it's similar to what happens in real-life ... ownership is free of all financial obligations when the player voluntarily retires. Thus Jim won't have to pay a penalty after the second year (after 2016) of the contract. Now Ortiz could suck in 2016 and Jim decides he doesn't want to re-sign Ortiz in the next off-season, and then Jim would be on the hook for both the 2016 and 2017 LTC penalties.

Dalhousie via e-mail signed Kris Bryant to a LTC.

As I read 4.5.3 of the Constitution, I think that a team is on the hook for the LTC penalty if a player retires. I'm not opposed to changing that rule (seems fair to let the team off the hook), but I think that the current rule imposes the penalty.

I need to refer to previous Constitutions. When Craig "niced" the Constitution several years ago, I think he added that example about Helton and becoming the King of Albania.

We can vote on it ASAP then let Jim decide what he wants to do after he sees our preference.

Back in 2004, the LTC language was as such:

"1. Long Term Contracts
After the draft (but before the season), a team may sign zero, one or two players to a long-term contract. Contracted Players are retained for 2 years with no further salary increase. The contracted player may be released at any time, but the owning team will be penalized the amount of the contracted player's normal salary increase (only the increase, not the entire salary) for the remainder of the contract.

Any team which signs two players to long term contracts in one off-season may not sign any in the following off-season.
Once the player's contract expires (third season after signing the contract), the player becomes a free agent. His team may not retain him (unless they bid on him in the draft, like everybody else)."

Note this was also before we decided that teams could re-sign players that were uncarded for the current season (e.g., when a stud pitcher misses an entire season, like Yu Darvish).

So in the past, a LTC-signed player that went uncarded would simply not appear on the website as a player on their team. I don't know what decisions were made at that point regarding the LTC and any incurred penalties. I can't recall a situation occurring like that since I joined for the 2003 season.

I'll search my e-mail archives.

As I said over email I don't know what the confusion is. The rule seems crystal clear to me that a retirement will result an in LTC penalty. What has Helton done in the following case example if he has not retired?

"4.5.3 - The Contracted Player may be released at any time, but the owning team will be penalized the amount of the contracted player's normal salary increase (only the increase, not the entire salary) for the each remaining of the contract. Example : after the 2005 season, Todd Helton is proclaimed King of Albania and leaves baseball for Tirana to assume the throne. When he is cut by the Whitecaps, they will suffer a waiver penalty of $8 in 2006 ($53 * .15 = $7.95, rounded up to $8) and $10 in 2007 ($61 * .15 = $9.15, rounded up to $10)."

In fact, the rule doesn't exclude anything at all. The team is on the hook for his salary increase whether the player sucks, is injured, is suspended, retires... there are no carve-outs. If he doesn't play MLB, the team who signed him to the LTC is SOL.

(But again, I'm fine with giving Jim the opportunity to rescind his LTC offer if he didn't understand this.)

Given a large percentage of you via e-mail have voted against the proposal, I've permitted the Pale Hose to not sign Ortiz to a LTC. They instead will sign Yordano Ventura to a LTC.

This was my fault regarding Ortiz because in e-mails with Jim, I incorrectly informed him that a retired player wouldn't incur a penalty. I was thinking/referring back to the old rules I have and forgot about the current updated wording. And even with the old wording, I reasoned erroneously about how it should be handled. Though I still think a voluntarily retired player no longer under contract with a MLB team should be released of his LTC with no penalty to the TRHL team. The real-life MLB team doesn't have to honor any remaining contract of said voluntarily-retired player, so why should the TRHL team?

"The real-life MLB team doesn't have to honor any remaining contract of said voluntarily-retired player, so why should the TRHL team?"

Because we're not following in lock step with how MLB contracts are handed out. The LTC rule is a potential benefit that comes with risk. If the risk is eliminated then the LTC rule can be abused.

I also would still apply the LTC penalty even if the player literally perishes.