Moneyball Baseball League Chat

How about doing this:
Free agents - Previously carded unsigned players, 6 yr players with an expiring contract, players with at least 50 AB/30 IP in the current year(2020 in this case). You could prorate the qualifications for this year.
Prospects - Players who have signed a contract with an MLB organization but who have no MLB experience prior to the start of the upcoming MLB season (2021 in this case), and players who have less than 50 AB/30 IP of playing time in the current season (2020). Again with a probable prorating for this year.
Then just add the following to the prospect section:
Prospects drafted in the annual prospect draft are ineligible to be played in the current SOM season even if they are issued a regular card. For example, if you draft a prospect in the 2021 prospect draft you will be unable to add him to your 2020 40 man roster.
I think this might be the easiest way to get around the problems. What do you guys think?

I did some checking. Beginning in the 2010 SOMO year, there's never been a carded pitcher with fewer than 29 2/3 IP for a season. For hitters, prior to the 2016 SOMO season, it looks like 4-5 hitters with between 40-49 AB's got carded, but you probably wouldn't want them promoted to your roster, if they were prospects. For 2016-19, the lowest carded AB was 48, with a couple of 49 AB's, again, if a prospect, probably wouldn't want them promoted to your 40 man. So the 50 AB/30 IP qualifier (prorated for 2020) seems to be a logical cutoff between 2020 FA and prospect.

Section 3.03 Prospect Eligibility: Prospects are defined as any player who has signed a contract with an MLB organization but who has no MLB experience prior to the start of the current MLB season [Note, this means that players with no MLB experience prior to the 2020 MLB season, but who are carded in the SOM 2020 season, are still considered prospects and not free agents for the purpose of our annual prospect draft].

Section 10.2 Free Agent Eligibility:
Unsigned carded players from the previous SOM 365 season, and players with more than 6 years of service time and an expiring contract, are eligible for free agency. In addition, MLB players who were uncarded the previous SOM 365 season, and who had at least 50 at bats or 30 innings pitched during the current MLB season, will be eligible for free agency.

I think the problem with the rules as I originally wrote them was the lack of clarity about which SOM and MLB seasons I was referring to when writing them. I think the best way to interpret these rules is to say that prospects are players with no experience prior to the start of the UPCOMING MLB season (ie. 2021), and that any rookie from the previous MLB season (2020) with 30 or more IP or 50 or more AB is a free agent. We can then adjust the number of prospects drafted in the future to limit the number of free agent rookies in future seasons. I'm inclined to stick with the current qualifications rather than prorating them.

These are the rookie pitchers who would qualify:

David Peterson
Cristian Javier
Brady Singer
Tejay Antone
Josh Fleming
Kwang Hyun Kim
Triston McKenzie
Kris Bubic
Deivi Garcia
Ryan Castellani
Dane Dunning
JT Brubaker
Brandon Bielak

These are the rookie hitters:

Shogo Akiyama
Jonathan Arauz
Alec Bohm
Daz Cameron
Jazz Chisholm
Jake Cronenworth
Bobby Dalbec
Santiago Espinal
José García
Luis Garcia
Andres Gimenez
Ke'Bryan Hayes
Ryan Jeffers
Vimael Machin
Jose Marmolejos
Ryan Mountcastle
Edward Olivares
Isaac Paredes
Luis Robert
Leody Taveras
Anderson Tejeda
Chadwick Tromp
Yoshi Tsutsugo
Daulton Varsho
Evan White


Thoughts?

Philip

Arozarena had 64 at bats this year so he'd be a Free agent as well, correct?

Yes. He played in 2019, so I didn’t include him on the list I posted.

yes, but it's gonna be hard to find guys like him that played in '19 and were uncarded but broke the ab limit in '20.

also, I don't see him on the website under FA Hitters

I had started a list of players like Arozarena but only got as far as the batters. Can't swear I got everybody but here is a list of the batters.
Kyle Tucker
Kyle Lewis
Austin Hays
Danny Mendick
Carter Kieboom
Josh Fuentes
Taylor Ward
Edwin Rios
Luis Torrens
Randy Arozarena
Andrew Velazquez
Tzu-Wei Lin
Sam Haggerty
These guys may include some that already belong to somebody. Haven't checked for that yet. Will check for that and do the pitchers tomorrow.

I had started a list of players like Arozarena but only got as far as the batters. Can't swear I got everybody but here is a list of the batters.
Kyle Tucker
Kyle Lewis
Austin Hays
Danny Mendick
Carter Kieboom
Josh Fuentes
Taylor Ward
Edwin Rios
Luis Torrens
Randy Arozarena
Andrew Velazquez
Tzu-Wei Lin
Sam Haggerty
These guys may include some that already belong to somebody. Haven't checked for that yet. Will check for that and do the pitchers tomorrow.

Never mind about someone already owning them. These are guys that had playing time in 2019 so no one could have taken them as prospects last spring.

I don't see those guys on the FA Hitters list either. may need to fix that list up a bit before we get into January.

Section 3.03 Prospect Eligibility: Prospects are defined as any player who has signed a contract with an MLB organization but who has no MLB experience prior to the start of the current MLB season [Note, this means that players with no MLB experience prior to the 2020 MLB season, but who are carded in the SOM 2020 season, are still considered prospects and not free agents for the purpose of our annual prospect draft].

Section 10.2 Free Agent Eligibility:
Unsigned carded players from the previous SOM 365 season, and players with more than 6 years of service time and an expiring contract, are eligible for free agency. In addition, MLB players who were uncarded the previous SOM 365 season, and who had at least 50 at bats or 30 innings pitched during the current MLB season, will be eligible for free agency.

I think the problem with the rules as I originally wrote them was the lack of clarity about which SOM and MLB seasons I was referring to when writing them. I think the best way to interpret these rules is to say that prospects are players with no experience prior to the start of the UPCOMING MLB season (ie. 2021), and that any rookie from the previous MLB season (2020) with 30 or more IP or 50 or more AB is a free agent. We can then adjust the number of prospects drafted in the future to limit the number of free agent rookies in future seasons. I'm inclined to stick with the current qualifications rather than prorating them.

These are the rookie pitchers who would qualify:

David Peterson
Cristian Javier
Brady Singer
Tejay Antone
Josh Fleming
Kwang Hyun Kim
Triston McKenzie
Kris Bubic
Deivi Garcia
Ryan Castellani
Dane Dunning
JT Brubaker
Brandon Bielak

These are the rookie hitters:

Shogo Akiyama
Jonathan Arauz
Alec Bohm
Daz Cameron
Jazz Chisholm
Jake Cronenworth
Bobby Dalbec
Santiago Espinal
José García
Luis Garcia
Andres Gimenez
Ke'Bryan Hayes
Ryan Jeffers
Vimael Machin
Jose Marmolejos
Ryan Mountcastle
Edward Olivares
Isaac Paredes
Luis Robert
Leody Taveras
Anderson Tejeda
Chadwick Tromp
Yoshi Tsutsugo
Daulton Varsho
Evan White


Thoughts?

Philip

What about the players that made their debuts in 2020 but had fewer than 50 AB/30 IP and therefore don't qualify as free agents? Will they be prospect eligible for the upcoming prospect draft or are they in limbo until they qualify for free agency by getting the required AB/IP in a future season?