2020 Rule Changes - Applies only to this season (I hope)

[Torn 42]

Based on the (hopefully) unique circumstances surrounding this season and the poll results, I just wanted to clarify the changes for the season:

* We remain with the H2H format, however, playoff teams are reduced to 4 over the final 2 weeks of the regular season. This aligns with the Yahoo default changes anyway. 

* Weekly rules still apply - min IP of 30 - min AB of 150 (via gentleman's agreement).

* Posty has agreed to take over Ted's team (thanks!), so you can indeed work trades with that team if desired.

* Existing keepers will NOT incur a +1 to their service time for 2020. If you choose to drop a current keeper and someone else picks them up, this rule still applies for the new owner. Traded keepers - same deal. If you choose a new keeper in 2021 from your current roster (i.e. an eligible 2020 draft pick), this season will not count as their first keeper year. In a nutshell, keeper service time limits are irrelevant for 2020.

* For this season only, I have added 2 NA slots. These can be used to hold onto a player who chooses not to play due to COVID. They are NOT to be used for stashing prospects, to cover suspensions or for any other reason than a COVID opt out. I will move any players to the waiver wire who are occupying an NA slot that have not officially opted out of the season.

* 2020 Fees will be handled as you've requested (to charity in memory of Ted, refunded or held for next season). If you haven't responded, I'm going to hold for next season until prompted by you to do otherwise. There is no prize structure in play for this season.

* Transactions limit will be 35 for weeks 1-7 and 10 for the 2 playoff weeks. This should be plenty considering only 60 games are scheduled. You have free reign on the WW until July 23. I will reset transaction counts to zero on that date.

* Draft spot selection for 2021 will occur via a random electronic dice roll. In short, final standings for this season are also irrelevant. 

* Yahoo limitations prevent me from adding additional IL slots (5 is max) or bench slots (can't change roster sizes after you draft). So, the 2 NA slots and increased transaction limits are all I can offer to mitigate some of the impacts. Yahoo also appears to be placing player who catch COVID into "day to day" status, which $ucks.

Let me know if you have any other questions or if any of this is unclear. Thanks!

[posty 2,296]

The transaction limit to the playoffs should drop from 20 as well IMO...

[Torn 42]

Just now, posty said:

The transaction limit to the playoffs should drop from 20 as well IMO...

I'd thought I'd do 35 for the entire run, but you bring up a good point. If transactions are held back during weeks 1-7, it could turn into a stream-fest for the playoffs. I'm going to do 25 pre-playoffs and reset for 10 in the playoffs. 

[posty 2,296]

1 minute ago, Torn said:

I'd thought I'd do 35 for the entire run, but you bring up a good point. If transactions are held back during weeks 1-7, it could turn into a stream-fest for the playoffs. I'm going to do 25 pre-playoffs and reset for 10 in the playoffs. 

Can you do the reset after I make some moves and such?  Please!!! 

Or just reset my count to zero when done?  Please!!!

[Torn 42]

Yes, that's also a good idea. I will give everyone free reign on the WW until Monday evening to make any swaps you'd like to make. Sometime between 5:00-7:00pm ET on Monday (July13), I will reset the limit to 25. 

[posty 2,296]

Thank you torn!!!  Now time to read up on who the hell some of these players are...

[TalentScout 2]

This all sounds good to me but I would ask that we get more NA spots for covid reasons. Nobody should have to waste roster space for a covid related player issue. 

[Torn 42]

17 hours ago, TalentScout said:

This all sounds good to me but I would ask that we get more NA spots for covid reasons. Nobody should have to waste roster space for a covid related player issue. 

Maybe - At this point, most opt outs aren't keeper quality choices anyway. David Price, Kopech and maybe Posey (as a round 30 pick) may be the only three at this point. In many cases, they can just be dropped without heartburn. 

My bigger concern with COVID is for players who only miss some games as opposed to all. I'll bump it to 2 slots. That's likely as far as I'll take it. We have a 10 man bench and IL slots galore, so that should cover it. If things get weird during the season, I'd be open to reconsider. Same rules apply though. Only COVID related reasons are valid for using the NA slots. 

[TalentScout 2]

3 hours ago, Torn said:

Maybe - At this point, most opt outs aren't keeper quality choices anyway. David Price, Kopech and maybe Posey (as a round 30 pick) may be the only three at this point. In many cases, they can just be dropped without heartburn. 

My bigger concern with COVID is for players who only miss some games as opposed to all. I'll bump it to 2 slots. That's likely as far as I'll take it. We have a 10 man bench and IL slots galore, so that should cover it. If things get weird during the season, I'd be open to reconsider. Same rules apply though. Only COVID related reasons are valid for using the NA slots. 

Can you please commish add posey back to my roster so I can put him in the 2nd NA spot? 

[WhiteWonder 2,171]

I didn’t even realize transacting was open 

[Torn 42]

15 minutes ago, WhiteWonder said:

I didn’t even realize transacting was open 

They (Yahoo) never shut it down at any point. Add/drops have been available since we drafted. 

[Torn 42]

3 hours ago, TalentScout said:

Can you please commish add posey back to my roster so I can put him in the 2nd NA spot? 

Done

[TalentScout 2]

Thanks!

[TalentScout 2]

I am up to 3 Covid opt outs I am somewhat interesting in keeping with Posey, Hicks, and Kopech.  Guys will inevitably get it too during the season (if it happens).  It seems like having as many NA spots for covid only reasons seems to have little downside...It appears that you can't even put them on the IL so the IL spots don't really help for this specific reason but with California shutting down indoor activities I am becoming increasingly skeptical a season will actually happen...

[posty 2,296]

@Torn

So is the NA spot for players just opting out the 2020 season (which I though was) or for players that have COVID?  I don't think players with COVID will be listed as NA in Yahoo, but mainly either put on the 10-day IL or day-to-day (like Kole Calhoun for me)...

These are the players that have opted out this season...

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/full-list-of-mlb-players-opting-out-of-2020-season/

[Torn 42]

See recent changes captured above. 

I'm giving Strombn and Ghost a couple of days of leeway to correct their NA slot usage before dumping those guys to WW.

At this point, we are in muddle through it mode. I don't want to get into more adjustments at this point unless it's about something new that I've completely missed.

[posty 2,296]

I don't seem to have Mike Trout on my team...  I would think that taking over from a owner who passed away, should get this one-time special addition to their team...

[strombn 5]

4 hours ago, posty said:

I don't seem to have Mike Trout on my team...  I would think that taking over from a owner who passed away, should get this one-time special addition to their team...

IF he opts out, I’ll let you have him

[strombn 5]

9 hours ago, Torn said:

See recent changes captured above. 

I'm giving Strombn and Ghost a couple of days of leeway to correct their NA slot usage before dumping those guys to WW.

At this point, we are in muddle through it mode. I don't want to get into more adjustments at this point unless it's about something new that I've completely missed.

Fixed

[Torn 42]

Reminder that I will be resetting transaction counts to zero tomorrow (likely in the early evening East Coast time).

So, stuff in any last minute WW freebies you'd like to make by then.

Good luck to all - hopefully, it'll be a decent mini-season and we can, at a minimum, discover some new keepers from our rosters or to target for next season's draft.

 

[posty 2,296]

@Torn:  Was there always five DL spots in the past or that just a 2020 thing?

[WhiteWonder 2,171]

So Austin meadows has Covid. He is designated by yahoo as COVID 19.

It would not allow me to place him on N/A but it did allow me to place him on IL.   

[posty 2,296]

10 hours ago, WhiteWonder said:

So Austin meadows has Covid. He is designated by yahoo as COVID 19.

It would not allow me to place him on N/A but it did allow me to place him on IL.   

The NA spot in this league is only for this year and to be used for players that opt out only...

[WhiteWonder 2,171]

8 hours ago, posty said:

The NA spot in this league is only for this year and to be used for players that opt out only...

 

I know its only for this year.

Based on conversations, I was under the impression that any player away from the team due to covid could be placed in an N/A spot.... basically I am saying that I expected covid impacted players to have an NA designation by yahoo... but it seems they have their own covid designation and it allows us to place them in an IL spot

[TalentScout 2]

Rule clarification question that I could see coming up.  

John Smith (fake name) is drafted in the 30th round in 2019.  This would make him a 27th round keeper in 2021 with 3 years of service time left, right?

Would this change if John Smith is undrafted in 2020 or if he was not kept in 2019--> 2020 and then drafted again in say the 20th round.  Would this make him ineligible to be kept or a 17th round keeper?  I think we all agree if he was drafted in the 30th of 2019 and then kept in 27th in 2020 he would be a 27th round keeper again with 3 years left for 2021, right?  

What if John Doe is not drafted in 2019 but then drafted in 2020 in the 25th round.  Is he ineligible to be kept since he wasn't drafted in 2019 or is he a 22nd round keeper?  Are there other hypothetical permutations that could arise? 

Just trying to make sure we have various hypotheticals hammered out before an issue comes up.

 

 

[TalentScout 2]

28 minutes ago, WhiteWonder said:

 

I know its only for this year.

Based on conversations, I was under the impression that any player away from the team due to covid could be placed in an N/A spot.... basically I am saying that I expected covid impacted players to have an NA designation by yahoo... but it seems they have their own covid designation and it allows us to place them in an IL spot

We are all learning as we go but I think that guys who fully opt out of the season have the NA designation like Buster Posey.  I through dumb (un)luck have 3 of them with Posey, Kopech, and Hicks although oddly enough Hicks is not listed as NA, yet.  

[Torn 42]

19 hours ago, posty said:

@Torn:  Was there always five DL spots in the past or that just a 2020 thing?

Yes, we had 5 last year - I've discovered that is the max allowed by Yahoo. Nothing I can do...

[Torn 42]

43 minutes ago, WhiteWonder said:

 

I know its only for this year.

Based on conversations, I was under the impression that any player away from the team due to covid could be placed in an N/A spot.... basically I am saying that I expected covid impacted players to have an NA designation by yahoo... but it seems they have their own covid designation and it allows us to place them in an IL spot

It looks like Yahoo is treating COVID19 players as IL guys. Only Opt-outs are getting put into NA status. Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do to expand roster size or to add more IL slots. The commish tools simply don't allow it. Sigh...

[Torn 42]

35 minutes ago, TalentScout said:

Rule clarification question that I could see coming up.  

John Smith (fake name) is drafted in the 30th round in 2019.  This would make him a 27th round keeper in 2021 with 3 years of service time left, right?

Would this change if John Smith is undrafted in 2020 or if he was not kept in 2019--> 2020 and then drafted again in say the 20th round.  Would this make him ineligible to be kept or a 17th round keeper?  I think we all agree if he was drafted in the 30th of 2019 and then kept in 27th in 2020 he would be a 27th round keeper again with 3 years left for 2021, right?  

What if John Doe is not drafted in 2019 but then drafted in 2020 in the 25th round.  Is he ineligible to be kept since he wasn't drafted in 2019 or is he a 22nd round keeper?  Are there other hypothetical permutations that could arise? 

Just trying to make sure we have various hypotheticals hammered out before an issue comes up.

 

 

Only the keepers you chose this year are eligible to be held again next year at the same value as this year. No other 2019 drafted players are eligible and are irrelevant for the 2021 draft.

You CAN choose an alternate player from your 2020 draft as a new keeper if you want to. Players drafted in 2020 incur the +3 round hit heading into the 2021 draft though. If this causes a round conflict, you'll have to deal with it as we always do with round conflicts. Get another pick in that round or incur a +4 round move for one of the players. This will not count as a service year for them (or existing keepers) though.

[TalentScout 2]

5 hours ago, Torn said:

Only the keepers you chose this year are eligible to be held again next year at the same value as this year. No other 2019 drafted players are eligible and are irrelevant for the 2021 draft.

You CAN choose an alternate player from your 2020 draft as a new keeper if you want to. Players drafted in 2020 incur the +3 round hit heading into the 2021 draft though. If this causes a round conflict, you'll have to deal with it as we always do with round conflicts. Get another pick in that round or incur a +4 round move for one of the players. This will not count as a service year for them (or existing keepers) though.

So we will all use the same keepers from 2019 we picked into 2020 but for 2021 but we can substitute out 1 guy from 2019 and replace them with a 2020 drafted player?  Am I reading that right?

[Torn 42]

10 hours ago, TalentScout said:

So we will all use the same keepers from 2019 we picked into 2020 but for 2021 but we can substitute out 1 guy from 2019 and replace them with a 2020 drafted player?  Am I reading that right?

Almost. The only clarification is that there are no restrictions for number of swap outs. If you want to swap out all 5 of your pre-draft 2020 keepers with drafted players from 2020, you can. It's not limited to one. Those new keepers would take up the slot +3 rounds ahead, though, where your existing 5 keepers would not. 

[TalentScout 2]

3 hours ago, Torn said:

Almost. The only clarification is that there are no restrictions for number of swap outs. If you want to swap out all 5 of your pre-draft 2020 keepers with drafted players from 2020, you can. It's not limited to one. Those new keepers would take up the slot +3 rounds ahead, though, where your existing 5 keepers would not. 

So a player not kept in 2019--> 2020 would retain 2020 draft status for keepers?  Players drafted in 2019 but not drafted in 2020 would not be eligible to be kept?  The only players whose 2019 draft status would matter were players declared as keepers from 2019--> 2020?  

[Torn 42]

2019 does not matter any longer except for players on your current roster with a K next to their name. Nothing else relating to 2019 matters.

If they have a K next to their name, you can keep them for the same exact same round value (and service years) as they had heading into this year's draft.

If a guy on your current roster does NOT have a K next to their name AND was drafted this season, you can keep them in 2021 using the league's standard keeper rules.  

Undrafted players from this year's draft (or 2019) are not eligible for keepers. Drafted players from 2019 who are or were on the WW this season are not eligible as keepers. 

 

[TalentScout 2]

21 hours ago, Torn said:

2019 does not matter any longer except for players on your current roster with a K next to their name. Nothing else relating to 2019 matters.

If they have a K next to their name, you can keep them for the same exact same round value (and service years) as they had heading into this year's draft.

If a guy on your current roster does NOT have a K next to their name AND was drafted this season, you can keep them in 2021 using the league's standard keeper rules.  

Undrafted players from this year's draft (or 2019) are not eligible for keepers. Drafted players from 2019 who are or were on the WW this season are not eligible as keepers. 

 

That makes sense.  

[Torn 42]

Well, this delayed season is turning into a mess already. Lots of injuries with pitchers (especially) going down all over the place. Likely due to short ramp up time and conditioning.  Many others getting COVID. And now, a significant COVID outbreak with the Marlins that is causing postponements of other games as well. Bleak...

 

 

[posty 2,296]

12 minutes ago, Torn said:

Well, this delayed season is turning into a mess already. Lots of injuries with pitchers (especially) going down all over the place. Likely due to short ramp up time and conditioning.  Many others getting COVID. And now, a significant COVID outbreak with the Marlins that is causing postponements of other games as well. Bleak...

 

 

Yep...  I had been saying that they should just cancel the league and wait until 2021...  The only leagues that might have a shot is the NBA and NHL because they are in a bubble, but even that could fail because of people leaving to go to a strip club...

[Torn 42]

NOTE - Yahoo has bumped IL slots from 5 max to 10. I have adjusted ours to 7 for now. You are now allowed to place two extra guys on IL if (when) needed.

I can't see how they can play this out. It's already gotten ridiculous. Too many games getting postponed and it looks like the Marlins are hopelessly lost in COVID hell.

 

[posty 2,296]

@Torn

Wouldn't this be something that should be voted on? 

I think we are fine with five DL spots, but I figure I am in the minority...  So that would be my vote...

[Torn 42]

3 hours ago, posty said:

@Torn

Wouldn't this be something that should be voted on? 

I think we are fine with five DL spots, but I figure I am in the minority...  So that would be my vote...

It's not a permanent change. Just for the season. Combine injuries with the fact that Yahoo has put COVID players as IL eligible as opposed to NA and it's just the best option. If Yahoo had allowed it earlier, I would have done so before the season started anyway. If anyone else thinks it's too much, let me know. I guess I'd be open to reducing it back to 5. Just trying to do my best to ensure that managers don't have to drop short term IL players to fill out a lineup card. 

[posty 2,296]

4 minutes ago, Torn said:

It's not a permanent change. Just for the season. Combine injuries with the fact that Yahoo has put COVID players as IL eligible as opposed to NA and it's just the best option. If Yahoo had allowed it earlier, I would have done so before the season started anyway. If anyone else thinks it's too much, let me know. I guess I'd be open to reducing it back to 5. Just trying to do my best to ensure that managers don't have to drop short term IL players to fill out a lineup card. 

Okay...  Right now every player that can be put on the DL has been EXCEPT @MotorCityKitty16 who has three on the DL (one COVID related) but none on their team DL...  There are some that have been removed from the DL by their MLB team but have yet to be activated by the owner...

There is only one team that has currently used all five DL spots and that is my team...

I still think five is fine and with 30-man rosters the wire is already thin as it is...  But whatever you decide as this is just my .02 cents...