jj's right, folks, i wrote way too much. i've felt chastened for two days now.
but i can write short, too, and in one paragraph, here's the short version:
"players and managers can both be free agents, roughly 9-10 months of the year. deals where managers contact players or players contact managers could be made in quiet, using e-mails. they would be made public by being put on the bulletin board only after deals are made. deals would be fixed for that season only once the rosters are frozen. the easiest way to do this is to add three pieces of information after players' and managers' names on the rosters: positions played, birth dates and e-mail addresses. with that information, which is not there now, managers and players can contact each other and make deals from roughly late september through late april. the waiver wire would not be needed."
that's it. for the details, see the (too long) posting two days ago.
please note: nothing i've said in any of these versions of this idea is any way an attempt to restrict player movement or managers' deals; on the contrary,i have repeatedly said that managers and players should be free to make all the deals they can to play where they want or to strengthen their teams. if i could do it over again, i'd writer shorter and i wouldn't use the word "draft."
and jj, while i liked your comparison (it was funny and the jab deserved), the reason i went on so, was because i think a strong free agent system can protect teams and players. if we had had a system like this in place when seven members of the very successful thunder team suddenly left their team, the team might not have folded. the team's manager could have easily contacted seven age-eligible players from the 25s to the 55s (because he would have that information available to him) and tried to refill the slots with them. because we haven't that information now, nor the process for making such deals, he couldn't get the players, the thunder folded, and seven or eight guys were thrown to the winds. my sense is the league should be about keeping players and expanding where possible, not contracting.
a good free agency system is a key to that, so it's a big deal and the system we have now needs, i think, fixing.
i've asked quentin when the next board meeting is and if my proposal will be up for discussion. if so, i plan to be there to answer questions. i hope it's considered for a vote. i don't see it as the only idea; but i hope it's a fair start.
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If players left a team in November or December, in this case the Thunder, there is still plenty of time for a manager to fill the slots, if that is what they really wanted to do. Sounds like this team ran its course. Not sure what new system would do to address that.
dp, in response to your question: actually, you're right, the new system couldn't stop a team from folding, for whatever reasons.
but it could offer each player and the manager of that folded team places to go. each side would have access to e-mail addresses and birth dates that they don't have now so each could contact people to join other teams or to create a new one. the thunder didn't have that option.
thanks for your comment. - mike
-- Edited by mhart on Thursday 12th of January 2012 11:41:51 AM
