[USML Announce] Roto Rules

[Richard E. Robbins]

I agree completely with Andy's comment regarding drafting before opening day.

I really hope that this year will be the exception and not become the rule.

As Andy suggests, certainty about eligibility before the draft matters.  Is there a definitive list posted on the web that we can rely on?  I have no idea as to when first cuts will be made.

If we adopt the more restrictive rule, we will still have a hard time knowing exactly who is a major league rookie.  I've never seen a source that lists days of service post September 1.  We can always look up information for a single player when we need to, however, doing so for a large collection of players in advance of our draft strikes me as a daunting task.  If anyone has a simple way to collect that information then please volunteer to do so on behalf of the league.

In addition to the position scarcity point, I suggest that each of us consider an additional facet of the alternatives presented.  Under Kerber's proposal, highly touted players that are expected to be on a major league roster on opening day would be available in the auction (Joe Mauer, Bobby Crosby etc.).  If we adopt the more restrictive approach, those players would not be eligibile for bidding and could only be acquired in the rotation draft.  How you feel about that may depend on where you will pick in the rotation draft.  On the other hand, Kerber's proposal will expose a bunch of players to the auction draft and people could grab a prospect who would normally only be available in the rotation draft.  The price for that will be a running contract though -- which diminishes somewhat the value of taking a player that is more than a year or so away.  I think I'd rather have too many players eligible for the auction rather than too few.

I will stand with Mark Kerber in supporting his original proposal.

We need to resolve the matter and move on.

Gentlemen, please make up your mind and express a view.  

-- Rich

On February 24, 2004, Andy Klein wrote:

> I'm just catching up on the conversation, and I share
> John Fruit's concern about opening up the draft to all
> players on the 40 man roster.  However, I also see the
> position scarcity point.
> 
> Here's a question ... will teams make any cuts prior
> to our draft?  If so, maybe we could print current
> rosters a day or so before the draft and use those
> players as draft eligible.
> 
> -Andy
> 
> PS:  This is why, when possible, we should be drafting
> after opening day.
> 
> =====
> Andrew R. Klein
> anrklein at yahoo.com