Simple Eligibility Questions

viper · Post by **viper** » Fri Feb 27, 2004 5:05 pm

For 95% of the players, we can probably go to many sites and see games played. I hope they all say the same thing. Correct me if I am wrong but is the following correct.

Teixeria - only 1B & OF (played 19 games at 3B)

Dunn - OF only (played 19 games at 1B)

Wooten - 1B only (played 19 games at catcher)

Menechino - 2B only (played 19 at 3B)

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Fri Feb 27, 2004 9:05 pm

You are correct on all four. Teixeira would have had even more value had he qualified at third base and even another position for Dunn would have helped him. Good job on pointing these out.

hankstr · Post by **hankstr** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 2:52 am

Greg,

Please forgive me if this has been asked before or is explicitly stated somewhere but:

Suppose someone screws up during the draft and fails to get 2 catchers. Will he simply lose stats at that position or will there be further action taken? If memory serves me right, the WCOFB actually went and removed the last player on his reserve list as a penalty. This question applies for free agent acquisitions as well. My personal opinion is that you simply would lose stats but just want to know where we stand. Ya' might want to state something formally in the rules. Thanks!

hankstr · Post by **hankstr** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 3:58 am

Greg,

Please forgive me if this has been asked before or is explicitly stated somewhere but:

Suppose someone screws up during the draft and fails to get 2 catchers. Will he simply lose stats at that position or will there be further action taken? If memory serves me right, the WCOFB actually went and removed the last player on his reserve list as a penalty. This question applies for free agent acquisitions as well. My personal opinion is that you simply would lose stats but just want to know where we stand. Ya' might want to state something formally in the rules. Thanks!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 6:17 am

We will tell our draft facilitators to watch this at the draft, but if someone fails to fill a required position on Draft Day, I will simply notify that person after the draft and advise them to pick up a free agent at that position and they will be required to drop the last player they selected. The good thing is we have a full two weeks before the regular season starts after the draft (not counting the Japan games) and we'll still have time to get everyone's rosters legal. No zeroes allowed as you must fill all spots. Sometimes a zero is better than a second-rate catcher who hurts your batting average, but you must have a player in that spot from the Opener until the end of the season.

Hope this helps and I'll add this note to the rules.

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 6:45 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

if someone fails to fill a required position on Draft Day, I will simply notify that person after the draft and advise them to pick up a free agent at that position and they will be required to drop the last player they selected. I don't think you want to go down that path. If you do, I(and others) may elect to not fill our roster at the draft. There are obvious benefits to selecting a player after the draft. New info might come out as to who won a position battle, etc...

Plymouth · Post by **Plymouth** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 7:10 am

Not to mention the fact that someone may not fill his own roster properly and pick up a player that could be drafted legitimately by someone else to fill their roster in the correct fashion.

You mention also Greg that all postions must be filled like that 2nd catcher example you used. Can players be kept in our line-ups that are in actually on the DL?

Jon_Ashton · Post by **Jon_Ashton** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 7:21 am

Good points, Gekko & Plymouth.

I do think inserting a catcher on the DL into the lineup (let's say at #2 catcher instead of a healthy Brad Ausmus) to try to protect a batting average lead in the last week of the season, for example, would be a legitimate strategy decision. Besides, Greg can't monitor rosters every week during the season to make sure no players on the DL are inserted into the lineups, so it wouldn't make sense to have a rule against that.

viper · Post by **viper** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 8:03 am

You might consider a 5 minute pause after round 26. At that time the facilitator, along with the teams, can determine if anyone is required to draft at certain positions.

I do not think that teams should not be allowed to select after the draft and make moves for the reason previously mentioned. If that is your final decision, then I believe a $25 reduction in FA $$$ should be applied. If you are so dumb as to fail to draft a legal team, then you should be punished.

hankstr · Post by **hankstr** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 8:45 am

Well, at least it is better to resolve this now and have it officially stated in the rules rather than some mayhem at the draft. The use of a DL player can even better apply to pitching strategy - for example, you are trying to protect a slight lead in ERA and WHIP (you are way ahead or behind in wins, saves, and k's). I would think DL players could legitimately be used for this purpose. If you ended up drafting only one catcher at the draft I would suggest:

- your last picked bench player is dropped

- you have to wait until the completion

of the first week of the season to get a free

agent to fill that empty slot (when

everyone is making free agent bids). You

can also bid for a 6th bench player too.

I don't think we want to take extra time at the end of the draft to check rosters. There are several dual league players who need to catch a bus.

Jon_Ashton · Post by **Jon_Ashton** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 11:33 am

Good point about the use of DL pitchers. I wouldn't have worried about the #2 catcher type situation, but that same strategy applied to pitching could be a significant concern worth having a rule about.

Very tricky to write that rule and enforce it, however...

A tricky example: Mark Prior is on the DL at the start of the week, but his 15 days are up, and he will be eligible to pitch sometime that week (even though he may or may not). I don't think we should have a rule that would force an owner to bench Prior for the week in that situation. But how could the rule be written to allow that managerial judgment call, but also prevent someone from questionably using DL pitchers technically eligible to come off and pitch, but who in all likelihood won't pitch that week?

Jackstraw · Post by **Jackstraw** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 1:50 pm

I don't think that you could come up with a rule that would satisfy everyone.

Case 1: The Manager Who Forgets To Set His Lineup. He has a player who went on the DL during the previous week and due to some unknown reason did not get a chance to fix his lineup. You can't penalize him, but you can call him "forgetful."

Case 2: The Guy Who Quits After 13 Weeks. His team sucked and by some horrible chance half of his players went on the DL at the same time. He just says, "Ah, there is always next year," and never sets his lineup again. You can't penalize him either, but you can call him "the unfortunate one."

Case 3: The S.O.B Trying To Protect His ERA. His ERA is the only crack in his armor so he grabs a couple of dud FA's from the DL and plugs them into his lineup to avoid making any starts that might make his ERA worse. What can you do to him?! You can't really penalize him because you couldn't penalize any of the others, but you can call him "a rotten piece of #@$&, a worthless son of a &%$^%, and sorry #*&%$&%^&*@*!"

In other words, how do you write a rule that keeps you from being forgetful, unlucky, and/or being able to work the rules in your favor? I hope that this doesn't happen in the league I will be in, and I certainly hope that someone has a good suggestion to keep this from happening in any league.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 4:21 pm

You guys took this a little further than it was intended, but I'm getting used to that. If you have an illegal roster after the draft, you do not get a mulligan on that final pick. You will be forced to use your FAAB money to pick up a required player at the vacant position and you must cut the last player you drafted. If your starting lineup that you submit for Week 1 is illegal, you will not get any stats for that week. You must submit a legal lineup, plain and simple.

As for DL'd players, I never said anything about that. If you want to keep a major league catcher who is on the DL on your active roster, you are more than welcome to do so. I don't see how that could possibly help, but that's your choice as long as that makes your starting lineup legal. Same thing during the season; it is your job to monitor DL players, but you must have a legal roster at all times.

We will make sure rosters are legal from the get-go, but beyond that team management is your responsibility.

Dyv · Post by **Dyv** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 7:58 pm

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

You guys took this a little further than it was intended, but I'm getting used to that. If you have an illegal roster after the draft, you do not get a mulligan on that final pick. You will be forced to use your FAAB money to pick up a required player at the vacant position and you must cut the last player you drafted. If your starting lineup that you submit for Week 1 is illegal, you will not get any stats for that week. You must submit a legal lineup, plain and simple.

As for DL'd players, I never said anything about that. If you want to keep a major league catcher who is on the DL on your active roster, you are more than welcome to do so. I don't see how that could possibly help, but that's your choice as long as that makes your starting lineup legal. Same thing during the season; it is your job to monitor DL players, but you must have a legal roster at all times.

We will make sure rosters are legal from the get-go, but beyond that team management is your responsibility. Greg - minor point... I'm assuming if someone had an illegal roster they could drop any player they wanted, even if it wasn't the last player they drafted...

You stated here that you 'must cut the last player you drafted'

Dave

Don Mathis · Post by **Don Mathis** » Sat Feb 28, 2004 10:49 pm

What makes you a S. O. B. because you are able to work the rules in your favor?

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 2:21 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

If you have an illegal roster after the draft, you do not get a mulligan on that final pick. You will be forced to use your FAAB money to pick up a required player at the vacant position and you must cut the last player you drafted. My opinion: It's pretty simple. Teams have to go with whatever their roster is after the draft, until the first FA/WW period, where EVERYONE has a chance to bid on players. No special treatment should be given in the event someone doesn't draft the proper roster requirements. I'm not sure if that's what you are referring to. To me, it's kinda vague. I'm not sure what "cut the last player drafted" means as well. An owner should be able to cut whoever they want.

[ February 29, 2004, 08:31 AM: Message edited by: Gordon Gekko ]

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 2:32 am

As for DL players, it obvious there are a lot of players who are new to the "High-Stakes" arena.

Using DL players is a strategy that some owners use. Can't be penalized. Sorry.

Also, there will be dead money in your league. Guys who think they are out of it in May/June will stop playing. They won't change their line-up, won't bid on FA, etc... Nothing you can do about it.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 2:38 am

The first FAAB period is AFTER the Yankees/Rays games in Japan. Yet, all teams are required to have legal lineups for that first subweek. How will it be possible for teams that do not have complete rosters after the initial 29 rounds to field a legal lineup for the Japanese games?

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 2:48 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

The first FAAB period is AFTER the Yankees/Rays games in Japan. Yet, all teams are required to have legal lineups for that first subweek. How will it be possible for teams that do not have complete rosters after the initial 29 rounds to field a legal lineup for the Japanese games? Simple....they shouldn't get any stats for those games. This isn't a babysitting service.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 2:51 am

My feeling here is that teams should be required to fill out their 23 starters by the end of the 23rd round. Picks 24 through 29 should be for reserve (i.e. EXTRA) players.

That said, I think the way it is set up now (ability to draft 2nd C w/ 29th pick) is incredibly generous to owners who might somehow "forget" to fill out their roster properly. Why allow additional wiggle room here?

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 2:57 am

Didn't Greg say that all teams must have a legal lineup at all times?

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 3:01 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

My feeling here is that teams should be required to fill out their 23 starters by the end of the 23rd round. Picks 24 through 29 should be for reserve (i.e. EXTRA) players.

That said, I think the way it is set up now (ability to draft 2nd C w/ 29th pick) is incredibly generous to owners who might somehow "forget" to fill out their roster properly. Why allow additional wiggle room here? There is no wiggle room. If you don't have a valid line-up when the week starts, you don't get any stats. Where's the wiggle? :rolleyes:

Also, the draft "23 starters by the end of the 23rd round" won't fly. Why put more restrictions on owners? You must be a democrat.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Sun Feb 29, 2004 3:12 am

Please forgive my democratic ways, as I have not done a straight draft in some time. Thus, the concept of not having a complete roster after your first 23 players have been selected is somewhat foreign to me.