Post by Commissioner (Athletics GM) on Feb 24, 2012 22:29:24 GMT -5
I know that none of you have played in a league with me where I am the commissioner, so I thought I'd give you all a little bit of an idea of how I try to view that role, as well as some ideas I think could help with the long-term health of the league. I want to hear suggestions as well - everyone has played in varying formats and league sizes, and I'm interested to hear people's thoughts on things that could help make the league even better.
The Commissioner's Role:
I'm here to be an unbiased arbiter, and to make decisions that are in the long-term interests of the league as a whole. The goal is consistency, and fairness. It's not always going to work out, but that's the aim, and that's where I will generally start with my thinking on an issue. I will ask for, and hopefully receive, feedback from the other owners in the league, both those in Moderator roles and those not. Beyond that, the league should hopefully run itself.
Rule Ideas and Thoughts:
Item #1. I am going to look into a chat box, but I have learned from past experience that those things can sometimes screw up these proboards pages. It's something I will start looking into next week.
Item #2. Bret has requested some leniency with his minor league roster, and I think that it opens up a larger question, which I hadn't anticipated having to deal with prior to the start of the first season. What abilities should a new, incoming owner have to help alleviate their roster from the previous owner?
My thinking is that there should probably be some form of help written into our rules, with the fear that a previous owner would basically run the team into the ground (willfully or unwillfully, if that's a word). While I don't anticipate having to replace owners very often, I know that it does happen in a league like this for any number of valid reasons.
While it's a lot of fun to rebuild a roster, taking over a team that has no hope for a few years isn't a lot of fun necessarily. These are all ideas to give to a new owner who is taking over as a replacement. With that, I offer up the following ideas as a conversation starter:
- New owner is allowed to release one Major League contract without any penalty. Player would return to free agent pool to be bid upon.
- New owner would be allowed to reduce one Major League contract either in length (years) or in AAV (salary). A determination on what this reduction could be would need to be made.
- New owner would be allowed to release as many as two players from their Minor League roster, and select new players under the same criteria. This option would only be available to owners who take over AFTER that season's minor league draft has been completed.
- New owner would receive a "compensation style" draft pick in the minor league draft. This pick would slot in between two of the rounds of the draft (either the 2nd/3rd or the 3rd/4th I believe). This option would only be available to owners who take over PRIOR to that season's minor league draft has been completed.
My thinking is that while we don't want this to give a substantial advantage to a new owner, we do want them to be able to at least have the option of helping to "Jump-start" the process of rebuilding their roster a bit.
Item #3 - Late Season Minor League Supplemental Draft
I know this has been brought up, and I'm not averse to the idea. I would not want it to be more than 2 or 3 rounds at most if we do this, but I'm wondering if it might be better to instead just increase the length of the minor league draft to a total of 7 or 8 rounds?
Item #4 - Minor League Draft Eligibility
I also know it was brought up about having any player not in the Majors as eligible for the Minor League Draft, and I think that this is not a bad idea either. I would like to keep the rule about players who have made their debut to be ineligible, as they should go through the free agency process, and also because it makes it a lot easier to track which players are eligible. If we were to do this, it would not be implemented until the next minor league draft.
Item #5 - Salaries within Yahoo
I need to read up on it, but it is my understanding that I can enter rosters with salaries/contracts into Yahoo when I enter the draft. If this is the case, I will also need to find out how free agency works within that. If this can provide us with a viable alternative to using the Proboards page for everything, I may implement that. It really depends on how that will work, and whether that will fit within our rules as they stand now.
Item #6 - Off-Topic Discussions
I have neither the time nor the patience really to monitor the discussions going on here. We can either make a determination that specific off-topic conversations (specifically the big, polarizing topics that most people try to avoid when meeting someone new) will not be allowed, or we can make a determination that they will be allowed to continue within the a sub-board of the "General Board", and that people should ignore the topics if they don't wish to participate. Either way is fine with me
Thoughts? Concerns? Other Ideas? Let 'em rip and we'll work on it.
The Commissioner's Role:
I'm here to be an unbiased arbiter, and to make decisions that are in the long-term interests of the league as a whole. The goal is consistency, and fairness. It's not always going to work out, but that's the aim, and that's where I will generally start with my thinking on an issue. I will ask for, and hopefully receive, feedback from the other owners in the league, both those in Moderator roles and those not. Beyond that, the league should hopefully run itself.
Rule Ideas and Thoughts:
Item #1. I am going to look into a chat box, but I have learned from past experience that those things can sometimes screw up these proboards pages. It's something I will start looking into next week.
Item #2. Bret has requested some leniency with his minor league roster, and I think that it opens up a larger question, which I hadn't anticipated having to deal with prior to the start of the first season. What abilities should a new, incoming owner have to help alleviate their roster from the previous owner?
My thinking is that there should probably be some form of help written into our rules, with the fear that a previous owner would basically run the team into the ground (willfully or unwillfully, if that's a word). While I don't anticipate having to replace owners very often, I know that it does happen in a league like this for any number of valid reasons.
While it's a lot of fun to rebuild a roster, taking over a team that has no hope for a few years isn't a lot of fun necessarily. These are all ideas to give to a new owner who is taking over as a replacement. With that, I offer up the following ideas as a conversation starter:
- New owner is allowed to release one Major League contract without any penalty. Player would return to free agent pool to be bid upon.
- New owner would be allowed to reduce one Major League contract either in length (years) or in AAV (salary). A determination on what this reduction could be would need to be made.
- New owner would be allowed to release as many as two players from their Minor League roster, and select new players under the same criteria. This option would only be available to owners who take over AFTER that season's minor league draft has been completed.
- New owner would receive a "compensation style" draft pick in the minor league draft. This pick would slot in between two of the rounds of the draft (either the 2nd/3rd or the 3rd/4th I believe). This option would only be available to owners who take over PRIOR to that season's minor league draft has been completed.
My thinking is that while we don't want this to give a substantial advantage to a new owner, we do want them to be able to at least have the option of helping to "Jump-start" the process of rebuilding their roster a bit.
Item #3 - Late Season Minor League Supplemental Draft
I know this has been brought up, and I'm not averse to the idea. I would not want it to be more than 2 or 3 rounds at most if we do this, but I'm wondering if it might be better to instead just increase the length of the minor league draft to a total of 7 or 8 rounds?
Item #4 - Minor League Draft Eligibility
I also know it was brought up about having any player not in the Majors as eligible for the Minor League Draft, and I think that this is not a bad idea either. I would like to keep the rule about players who have made their debut to be ineligible, as they should go through the free agency process, and also because it makes it a lot easier to track which players are eligible. If we were to do this, it would not be implemented until the next minor league draft.
Item #5 - Salaries within Yahoo
I need to read up on it, but it is my understanding that I can enter rosters with salaries/contracts into Yahoo when I enter the draft. If this is the case, I will also need to find out how free agency works within that. If this can provide us with a viable alternative to using the Proboards page for everything, I may implement that. It really depends on how that will work, and whether that will fit within our rules as they stand now.
Item #6 - Off-Topic Discussions
I have neither the time nor the patience really to monitor the discussions going on here. We can either make a determination that specific off-topic conversations (specifically the big, polarizing topics that most people try to avoid when meeting someone new) will not be allowed, or we can make a determination that they will be allowed to continue within the a sub-board of the "General Board", and that people should ignore the topics if they don't wish to participate. Either way is fine with me
Thoughts? Concerns? Other Ideas? Let 'em rip and we'll work on it.