Toine wrote:Sorry for being MIA; been on the golf course the past 2 days . Pacoboy is in fact correct when he stated in the past I gave ample notice in the past whenever there was rule changes and admittedly I failed to do that this time. Also we have 2 new managers who are very new to Strat this season. So in fairness to the guys picking at the top and also to these new players I think we should try and keep the draft and rules as simple as possible. So I think it's best for everyone if we scrap any rules changes for this season and play the exact same rules as last season. Exception being the salary cap is raised to 145 million and one trade will still be allowed. And no player reassignment.
Apologies to all for any confusion....I will post the draft order tomorrow and let's start draft Monday
Well, the franchises picked early generally don't need much help. In addition, the ongoing expansion of the ATG9 player pool has meant that the second franchises available to those picking at the top, teams such as the Angels and Twins, have become better and are more likely to fill whatever minor holes exist for the franchises picked early.
However, the managers picking near the top need help not in having more good players available to them, for, after all, they have first crack at the best franchises with the best players, but in their approach to team building. In DFL 36 I found myself in the unusual position of having the second pick. While I loved having the second pick, it was embarrassing to me how I got there, so I took a hard look in the mirror to examine the reasons so that I could reduce the chances of ever picking so high again. Similarly, managers who consistently pick in the top 6 need to re-evaluate their approach to team building. It's no accident that some managers consistently win while others consistently lose. Yes, luck could play a factor in the short run, but blaming bad luck only serves to absolve oneself from blame for a poor team. Over the course of a season, the luck evens out, and over the course of several seasons, trends emerge that cannot be attributed to luck.
As for the Dave walking back the changes for DFL 37 for lack of prior discussion, fair enough. But I note that some of the changes have been previously discussed and/or implemented. For example, as recently as DFL 31, after some discussion, Dave reassigned numerous players. In case you've forgotten, here's the list:
Toine wrote:We will be playing what I term an "alternate rules" this season. There will be approximately 31 players whose priority rights will be switched to a different team. Almost all of these players have cards for at least 2 different franchises, so their rights have been changed to another franchise. Some players however have only 1 card and if they also were changed it was to a franchise that they played with sometime in their careers. I tried to even things up, if a franchise lost a player, I tried to even things out and get a replacement for their rosters. I will list the changes by franchises below:
The Pirates now have priority rights to: Barry Bonds & Joakim Soria
Mets--Mike Piazza & Jason Bay
Oakland--McGwire
Cardinals--Van Slyke, Carbo & Hickman
Royals--Greinke
Angels---Mike Napoli
Baltimore---Frank Robinson & Robbie Alomar
Reds---Seaver & Paul O'Neil
Indians--Juan Encarcion
Marlins----Miguel Cabrera
Braves----Sheffield
Cubs----Greg Maddux & Andre Dawson & Bill Henry
Tigers---JD Martinez & Howard Johnson
DBacks---Bernard Gilkey
Texas----Alex Rodriguez
Whitesox---Maglio Ordonez
Dodgers---Garciaparra & Eddie Murray
Yankees--Giambi
Brewers---Sutton
Giants--Omar Visquel
Phillies---Brad Lidge
As in past seasons; if one of these franchises is not picked then the players rights revert back to a players second franchise; example is that if the Phillies don't get picked Lidge could be claimed by the Astros.
While I certainly understand the "lack of discussion" objection as it relates to making players from unused franchises available in the autodraft, the objection fails to carry the same weight as it applies to player reassignment, as there have been plenty of discussions in the past about player reassignment and the reassignment list is relatively minor for DFL 37, and includes several players that were reassigned in DFL 31:
ARod- Rangers
Greinke- Royals
Murcer-Cubs
Ramon Martinez--Pirates
Vizquel--Mariners
JJ Hardy--Twins
Cozart--Angels
If anybody thinks that taking ARod from the Yankees or Greinke and Martinez from the Dodgers will cause those franchises not to be selected early, I'd be happy to have either franchise with the 12th pick. As Toine noted earlier, the remaining players on the list are stuck behind better players on their respective franchises and are rarely used, but would help the franchises to which they are reassigned. I urge the Commish to reconsider his decision to scrap the reassignment for DFL 37, as there has been plenty of discussion regarding player reassignment in the past, including reassignment of several players on the list.
Lastly, Dave inadvertently misspoke about the SOM experience of the replacement manager I recommended, PJK (Pete). Pete and I were instant friends when we started high school together and have remained close over the years. In our junior year of high school, Pete and I became members of a face to face SOM draft league with other high school friends, all avid baseball fans, which stemmed from a discussion over who among us would make the best MLB manager. The first couple of seasons we drafted a franchise and supplemented it with draft picks from unselected franchises (sound familiar?). Thereafter, it evolved into a live draft of the entire roster, using the seasonal player card set. The draft was always one of the highlights of our season. We played until a year after the majority of us graduated from college. I don't think the argument was ever settled as to who would be the best major league manager.
After a long hiatus from SOM, in 2009 Pete and I discovered online SOM, which was being run by The Sporting News at that time, and we've been playing online ever since, although we are rarely in the same league. So, Pete is not "very new to strat" as Dave stated, but is an experienced player who enjoys not only the game and the competition, but the commaraderie as well. Pete will be a good fit for the DFL.
Thu Sep 16, 2021 8:14 pm