Rule change discussion

[Pirates GM (TJ)]

Different leagues handle things different ways. But I recently had a discussion with a friend in another league about a topic I don't think about often, but it's occasionally very irritating.

The timing of when players change hands as a result of a trade.

In real life when a trade is nearly finalized, both franchises bench the players involved in the trade. It's a mutual practice to avoid injuries and the mess that comes with them.

In our league, and many others, players in a trade often continue playing for the team that deals them even after the 3rd approval is given. Most of the time it's a mistake. But sometimes it's a "mistake". Grabbing that one extra GP or that one extra GS before "remembering" to drop the guy on Fantrax. It's happened to me on the receiving end more than once. (And I freely admit it's happened to me on the sending end as well.) I was all set to set my lineup for the day after the approval came in, and they haven't been dropped yet. The guy who is rarely logged in or is slower to respond benefits from extra stats because of his laziness (or his "laziness"). And the team that's trying to do things the right way has already dropped his players and doesn't have replacements for them.

Whether it's a mistake or it's intentional, it isn't fair.

My proposal would be that when a trade is posted and accepted, the teams involved drop their players on Fantrax immediately. That's part of the check process for approvals, that all players have been dropped.

And then when the final approval comes in, the teams that are active and logging in get their stats right away by adding new guys to the lineup. And the guy who only checks in every few days loses the stats until he gets around to doing the Fantrax add. There's an incentive for being prompt rather than a penalty for being prompt.

[Admin]

Thanks for the suggestion TJ. It's quite an interesting one, and would seem to have some merit.

At first glance, I'd be all for adding this change to the ballot. It could help us be more aware of being timely about dropping trades players from Fantrax. While I wouldn't ascribe bad motives to someone delaying to release a player, it is an aggravation to a team trying its hardest.

On the negative side, all I see are two things upon quick review. 1) It may not reduce the time a prompt GM spends absent his players. A slow to respond trade partner might cause the approval process itself to be drawn out longer. 2) It creates more work for the TC. In many cases though, a quick check of the Fantrax home page will show the released players. At worst, it's a visit to a team page.

I'd love to hear other opinions, and there are probably aspects I'm overlooking, but I can see the positives outweighing the negatives. Thanks for the proposal.

[Reds GM (Kyler)]

I'm in favor of this, as someone who has forgotten to drop players on fantrax and I'm sure aggravated a few of my trade partners (sorry Stephen), I think it helps more than it hurts.

[Rangers GM (Stephen)]

I like this. Post or approve a trade, and drop the player immediately. Pick up guys traded for once the third approval is in. Simple.

And I've never been aggravated Kyler

[gepetto69 (Stuart, LAD)]

So the flip side to this idea is the team(s) involved would possibly lose any accumulated stats while waiting on the trade to be approved. For example, if the trade agreement is posted late in the evening on say a MON and both teams drop players upon posting/acceptance of the trade but then the trade isn't approved until WED or THU then these teams lose whatever stats that were accumulated. I wouldn't like that idea at all. I understand what PIT is saying about possibly losing a day of stats because someone doesn't drop a player but if this is instituted then it's possible a number of games would be lost.

Just my two cents.

[Admin]

What you say is true Stuart. However, it's already happening for the most part.

Looking through recent transactions, many GMs drop the player immediately once a trade is posted. So for them this part of it wouldn't be any change as long as the approval process isn't delayed. (Admittedly, it's not a requirement, and not all do this, but it seems like a good habit to encourage out of consideration to our trade partners.) At least by this proposal, the incoming player would be immediately available. (Somehow it just feels a bit worse to have the third approval, know the player is yours, and not be able to access him...)

[Mariners GM (Travis)]

This is something that definitely needs to be addressed this offseason. I think once a trade is approved, all players have to be off their respective fantrax rosters but TJ's idea works as well. every manager in this league should be paying enough attention to know when a trade that they are involved in is approved.

Question, If a traded player makes a start for the team that dealt him, would that fall under rules 2.10 and 6.4?

[Admin]

Jul 19, 2017 18:23:14 GMT -5 Mariners GM (Travis) said:

Question, If a traded player makes a start for the team that dealt him, would that fall under rules 2.10 and 6.4?

Great question.

I'm sure this has happened, and has hasn't usually been penalized out of consideration that some people need time to make the necessary adjustments. (So long as players were transferred in a reasonable time frame.) It wouldn't make sense to strictly enforce 6.4 retroactively in those cases. However, if the changes described above are made in the offseason, it could help a previously gray area become better defined.