[USML Announce] Serious Rule Change Proposal

[Andrew R. Klein]

League-

Here is a serious rules proposal.  My usual caveat applies -- I have 
been part of the league for 18 years and hope that we're still playing 
18 years from now.  The proposal is not end-of-the-world stuff; it just 
reflects some issues that have impacted my enjoyment of the game.  
Here's the proposal:

Article XII

13.  No player may be traded until his USML contract is running.  This 
rule shall not apply to players retained by team owners before April 1, 
2007.


My reasons for making the proposal follow.

1.  As you know, I do not share the enthusiasm that many league members 
have for prospecting.  I'm fine with prospects supplementing a league 
based on major league players.  But in recent years I feel as if our 
league has worked the other way around.  My proposal  would allow 
prospecting in the rotation draft to continue unabated.  An owner could 
watch prospects develop and then retain them (or trade them) after a 
call-up.  But the proposal would eliminate the movement of top-flight 
major leaguers for players who are years away from contributing to our 
actual standings.  To me, this would be a good thing.  No longer would 
the biggest leg-up on competitiveness be the ability to engage in dump 
deals for minor league prospects.

2.  Our current rules encourage people to dump very early if they want 
to position themselves to win a future title.  I know that a number of 
league members dislike this aspect of the league and would rather have 
rules that encourage teams to play for a while before looking to next 
season.  The proposal would make early dumping harder to accomplish and 
a riskier proposition.

3.  The proposal contains a grandfathering clause so teams that have 
gathered prospects under our current rules (like the Riptorns) are not 
disadvantaged.  Administering this would be easy.  We could simply list 
the names of the 30 or so exempted players on usml.net and cross them 
off as they become active or are waived.

That is all for now.  I ask our esteemed commissioners to tally votes.

-Andy