Hopefully everyone keeps their head and we don’t see any [...]]]> I’m excited…can’t wait. Looks like next season is shaping up to be a very competitive year and we have a lot of new blood in the league so FA should be interesting to say the least.

Hopefully everyone keeps their head and we don’t see any $30,000,000+ contracts…

FA Comp is based on numerous factors. The primary factor is still a player’s overall rating, which is what the old [...]]]> I’m sure some of our newer (and perhaps older!) owners are a little confused on how our FA Comp system works. I thought I’d take the time to answer any questions and explain bits and pieces.

FA Comp is based on numerous factors. The primary factor is still a player’s overall rating, which is what the old comp system was entirely based on. This is still the single largest determination of what comp a player is worth. Next, we look at performance (playing time is a factor in this as well) over the last two seasons, with the current season being weighted higher than the previous. For hitters, position is also taken into consideration, with certain positions being more valuable offensively (ie a SS with a .900 OPS is more valuable than a 1B with the same OPS) than others. Defense is only looked at as part of a player’s overall rating, due to the lack of defensive metrics in Mogul.  Finally, we look at age as well. 29 years old is considered the median age and for each year younger or older than that a player receives a (small) bonus or penalty.

Under the old system, overalls for hitters and pitchers were considered to be valued the same. Changes in the way the sim engine works and our free agency market shows us that in general, pitchers are worth more than hitters for the same overall, so the FA calculations take this into account. The “default” B comp for pitchers is considered to be 87-89 overall, and A comp is 90+. For hitters, B is 89-91 overall and 92+ for A. The formula looks at the total number of players with these overalls (MLB playing time only) and calculates how many comp eligible players there would be for each grouping under the old system. The net result is the total number of potential comp players is the same, but the rankings are different based on the factors listed above.

We’ve had to make a few adjustments along the way. Originally, RPs were severely underrated, and that has mostly been corrected. Also, until this season, hitters with very few ABs (such as 150 or less) were ranked too highly. I think we’ve got it mostly fine tuned now but we’re always open to suggestions if you find a player you think is ranked incorrectly.

Here’s a look at some of the biggest gains/losses in ranking (as of July 31st, 2025) with the new system:

Biggest Pitching Gains
SP Brian Linsday (MIL) 81/95 – A comp
RP Humberto Martinez (FLA) 82/82 – A comp
SP Ramon Labala (SDP) 81/81 – B comp
SP Scott Dinning (VAN) 82/82 – B comp

Biggest Pitching Losses
SP Darrell Brislin (KCR) 91/98 – no comp
SP Joey Decker (HOU) 91/97 – no comp
SP Brandon White (HOU) 94/94 – B comp
SP Rohan Leger (MIL) 92/92 – B comp

Biggest Hitting Gains
RF Ben Ralls (SFG) 88/88 – A comp
C Glenn Weaver (OAK) 88/88 – A comp
LF Larry Guggenheim (NYM) 84/84 – B comp
C Salvatore Calderon (HOU) 85/93 – B comp

Biggest Hitting Losses
3B Rey Lucena (COL) 93/100 – no comp
1B Shane Clark (KCR) 94/100 – no comp
1B Mark Luba (VAN) 95/95 – B comp
LF Warren Penner (OAK) 96/96 – B comp

1B/DH Liam McGurk (97): He set career high numbers last season in HRs, RBIs, batting average, and OPS. And he’s only 29 years [...]]]> With the 2022-2023 off season looking to possibly be the best year ever as far as talent available in free agency, I thought we’d check out some of the biggest names on the market.

1B/DH Liam McGurk (97): He set career high numbers last season in HRs, RBIs, batting average, and OPS. And he’s only 29 years old. Clearly the best hitter on the market this year, although his defense makes him mostly suited to the DH role.

1B Nomar Gauna (96): Everyone’s favorite utility man, Gauna can play virtually every position on the field and is good for 40+ HRs a year. His OBP is a bit of a concern but his power and defense should more than make up for that.

LF John Sanders (96): Sanders struggled a bit in his 2/3rds of a season in Minnesota, possibily contributing to his release. Still, he has a proven track record and can play all four corner infield/outfield positions so he should command a pretty nice contract.

SP Rohan Leger (94): Leger is one of the best pitching FAs to hit the market in quite some time, and should command top dollar. His 2022 season was somewhat of a regression but I think most teams will look past that and hope he can put up numbers like he did in 2021.

CL Jared Helmuth (92): Helmuth had one of the worst seasons of his career in 2022, yet still managed to convert 32/37 save opportunities. At 34 years old, he’s getting up there, but I’m sure there will be a lot of interest in this proven veteran.

SP Jorgé Villaroel (86): Don’t let his low overall fool you…he still managed to put up a 2.81 ERA in 2022, and has a .728 career winning percentage. His lack of health is a bit of a risk but one that many teams are willing to take a chance on.

That’s just a brief summary of some of the top players in this year’s free agency, although there’s quite a bit more out there than I listed. I’ll look at a few more players in Part 2, later tonight. Free agency will kick off sometime Monday afternoon or evening, so start doing your homework!