Important Information
Jun 18, 2012 12:27:47 GMT -5
Post by Ben (Rays GM) on Jun 18, 2012 12:27:47 GMT -5
Hey everyone, I have a few announcements to make, and thought I'd put them together in one post to keep things neat.
First of all, I want to thank Smitty for his work with the restoration and beautification of the Official Rosters. I am extremely pleased with the result and I think he's done a great job improving both the aesthetics and the functionality of the roster page. Smitty continues to come up with some great ideas for ways to improve the league, some of which have become projects that he has begun taking on, and I am pleased to say that we have just asked him if he would consider becoming a full co-commissioner of the league, and he has accepted.
With Smitty stepping into the role of co-commissioner, there are now two commissioners in each league, with me and Brian in the AL and Jesse and Smitty in the NL. Jesse and I will continue to function as the commissioners of the Yahoo leagues, and will continue to make the majority of the roster moves there, but Smitty and Brian are able to make moves if Jesse and I aren't available, including last minute moves on a Sunday night if they are around. While we only guarantee that the moves made by the end of the day Friday will be reflected in the following week's lineup, you are always welcome to ask us to try to make a last minute move for you, and we will do our best. Now, with four people able to make moves instead of just two, you have more options.
I also want to give a quick reminder that all GMs are required to field competitive teams to the best of their abilities throughout the season. I understand the temptation for teams near the bottom of the standings to throw games in order to move up in the draft, but we must insist that you do not do this. Anybody believed to be making less than a genuine effort to win their match-ups may receive a penalty, such as being forced backward in the draft. We're not saying that everybody has to play for the present and sacrifice the future, but we expect you to do your best with what you have. If you have extra cap room that you're not going to use this year, sign somebody to a one-year deal. If you have major league guys stashed in your minor leagues, call them up and put them in your lineup.
Now that we are in mid June and are approaching the mid-point of the season, we are reaching the end of the doldrums of March through May. These months are proving to be among the slower months of the year in terms of activity, and I appreciate everybody's diligence in continuing to check in despite this inactivity. With the trade deadline and amateur draft approaching, things are beginning to pick up. That means that this is a great time to add new GMs to replace the inactive ones, as they are coming in during an exciting time. Over the next few weeks, I'm expecting to need three new GMs to join our ranks. If you know anybody who might be interested, have them get in touch with me. And, when these new GMs enter, please be sure to welcome them. Introduce yourselves, and start looking for ways that you and they might be able to help each other out.
Finally, I want to remind you that, although we try not to change any rules that will significantly alter the strategies used to play this game without announcing them significantly in advance, we do have some ideas in the pipeline that are worth you knowing about so as to plan accordingly. One thing we are considering is a way to allow teams to hold on to their cost-controlled players a little bit longer, by giving you an option to "redshirt" them at some point during their first three seasons. By redshirting a player, you'd prevent him from gaining a year of service for that season, even if he achieves the ABs or IPs necessary, but in exchange, you wouldn't be able to use that player on your active roster at all this season. This would give you a little bit more say in how and when your players get called up. It would allow teams that aren't in contention not to waste service time of key young players, and it would allow you not to burn service time for young players who are going to miss a significant portion of the season due to injury. Another rule change that we are often asked about is finding some way to allow teams an option for contract extensions. We continue to look into this, and there are some possibilities for how this might be done, but we don't have an official plan yet. I think that the chances of the red shirt rule being implemented for 2013 are better than 50-50, but the chances of the contract extension rule being implemented that soon are significantly less. I just wanted to disclose this to all of you so that you have all of the information necessary to properly value your young players.
First of all, I want to thank Smitty for his work with the restoration and beautification of the Official Rosters. I am extremely pleased with the result and I think he's done a great job improving both the aesthetics and the functionality of the roster page. Smitty continues to come up with some great ideas for ways to improve the league, some of which have become projects that he has begun taking on, and I am pleased to say that we have just asked him if he would consider becoming a full co-commissioner of the league, and he has accepted.
With Smitty stepping into the role of co-commissioner, there are now two commissioners in each league, with me and Brian in the AL and Jesse and Smitty in the NL. Jesse and I will continue to function as the commissioners of the Yahoo leagues, and will continue to make the majority of the roster moves there, but Smitty and Brian are able to make moves if Jesse and I aren't available, including last minute moves on a Sunday night if they are around. While we only guarantee that the moves made by the end of the day Friday will be reflected in the following week's lineup, you are always welcome to ask us to try to make a last minute move for you, and we will do our best. Now, with four people able to make moves instead of just two, you have more options.
I also want to give a quick reminder that all GMs are required to field competitive teams to the best of their abilities throughout the season. I understand the temptation for teams near the bottom of the standings to throw games in order to move up in the draft, but we must insist that you do not do this. Anybody believed to be making less than a genuine effort to win their match-ups may receive a penalty, such as being forced backward in the draft. We're not saying that everybody has to play for the present and sacrifice the future, but we expect you to do your best with what you have. If you have extra cap room that you're not going to use this year, sign somebody to a one-year deal. If you have major league guys stashed in your minor leagues, call them up and put them in your lineup.
Now that we are in mid June and are approaching the mid-point of the season, we are reaching the end of the doldrums of March through May. These months are proving to be among the slower months of the year in terms of activity, and I appreciate everybody's diligence in continuing to check in despite this inactivity. With the trade deadline and amateur draft approaching, things are beginning to pick up. That means that this is a great time to add new GMs to replace the inactive ones, as they are coming in during an exciting time. Over the next few weeks, I'm expecting to need three new GMs to join our ranks. If you know anybody who might be interested, have them get in touch with me. And, when these new GMs enter, please be sure to welcome them. Introduce yourselves, and start looking for ways that you and they might be able to help each other out.
Finally, I want to remind you that, although we try not to change any rules that will significantly alter the strategies used to play this game without announcing them significantly in advance, we do have some ideas in the pipeline that are worth you knowing about so as to plan accordingly. One thing we are considering is a way to allow teams to hold on to their cost-controlled players a little bit longer, by giving you an option to "redshirt" them at some point during their first three seasons. By redshirting a player, you'd prevent him from gaining a year of service for that season, even if he achieves the ABs or IPs necessary, but in exchange, you wouldn't be able to use that player on your active roster at all this season. This would give you a little bit more say in how and when your players get called up. It would allow teams that aren't in contention not to waste service time of key young players, and it would allow you not to burn service time for young players who are going to miss a significant portion of the season due to injury. Another rule change that we are often asked about is finding some way to allow teams an option for contract extensions. We continue to look into this, and there are some possibilities for how this might be done, but we don't have an official plan yet. I think that the chances of the red shirt rule being implemented for 2013 are better than 50-50, but the chances of the contract extension rule being implemented that soon are significantly less. I just wanted to disclose this to all of you so that you have all of the information necessary to properly value your young players.