While we are discussing the 45 Division Staying a 45 Division It's been bought to my attention that the 55 Division is implementing a draft next year for new age eligible players coming from the 45 division. So as I understand it, New age eligble Players are not allowed to play on a team of their choosing or have been recruited by but if a team has a underage waiver player they can. Also, when such waiver players from last year turn 55 either this year or next they will be grandfathered in to play on any team of their choosing and wont have to enter the draft. Can someone explain the reasoning behind this? If its for parity sake then why arent all divisions doing this? In closing I believe this might deter guys from playing in the 55 Division. But thats only my opinion. Can someone Please clarify this ruling.
hi tony - i'm only one of the eight managers, and clearer answers to your questions may likely come from league president john reel or from your manager, jim konstantakis.
i don't have my notes from the 55 managers meeting in october in front of me now, but, using memory, this is what i understand:
at our meeting in catskill, the managers decided by a 7-0-1 vote - and the league's board later approved - a draft for the 55 division.
the draft is set to take place in january or february and the draft pool will consist of those players who are coming up from the 45s and want to play in the 55s. the lower-level teams from the previous year's standings draft first, followed by the mid-level, then the top teams. So, the choosing order is 8, 7, 6, 5 etc. it's one pick per round.
players who've not played in the 45s in the past three years, or players who've not played ball in cdmsbl, are considered "community players," that is, they can be recruited by any manager and not be subject to the draft. the draft pool is still being established, but this year it could run anywhere from nine to 15 guys. in 2017, considerably more guys are expected to be eligible than in 2016, so the draft size may double.
the managers agreed that to play in the 55s, the draft eligible players from the 45s, must play one full season (at least 7 games; i.e. be playoff eligible) for the team that drafts them. players who do not agree to play for the team that drafts them cannot play in the 55s. at the end of the season, the drafted players, like all 55+ players, become free agents, and can go where ever they like. so the draft binds a player to a team for only one season. the drafted players are, of course, free to stay with the team that picks them.
as for the waivered-in players, i believe you're right, that they can stay with their team and would not be subject to the draft.
speaking of waivers: one other idea behind the draft is that it could well put an end to most waivers. teams generally get waivered players because their rosters are smaller than anticipated. depending on the size of the pool and the draft slot, a team could pick up as many as two or three players this year. in subsequent years, with a larger pool, perhaps more players.
you're right, too, in that the decision for a draft was made to improve parity. all the managers felt three things:
(1) the same teams that tended to win in the 45s were wining again in the 55s; the standings were much the same; the result that the best regular season games tended to occur only about half the season, usually among the top four teams; (2) the other contests, between, say, the no. 1 and 8 clubs or the 2 and 6 teams, often resulted in too many mercy-ruled games. managers and players are tired of mercy-ruled games: it's not only lack of taut competition and the one-sidedness of the games, it's also the fact that many players who come a long way to play (from massachusetts, connecticut, vermont especially) are upset with mercy-ruled games that typically last 1.5 hours, the games are boring, and guys get little time to play or bat. guys want tight games that go 7 innings with the outcome in doubt till the end. (3) one or two players who join a team can make a real difference in that team's play in the upcoming season. everyone knows, for example, that a team without a good catcher will have a hard time winning. or, the flip side, a team that picks up a good pitcher can see a record change in one season from 4-11 to 8-7.
the goal, we agreed, was to have a division where every team plays competitive ball all season long. the ideal would be to have the final standings range from 9-6 to 6-9 for all the teams.
the argument against having a draft has always been that "guys join the league to play ball with their friends." a draft can ruin that chance.
we get that. but among the replies to that thought are: (1) not every guy joins to play with his friends; some guys join solo; (2) guys often develop friends on the new teams they join; (3) competing against friends, and comparing notes with them afterwards, has its own rewards, (4) guys can still stop for a (non-alcoholic or not) becks on the way home and razz each other; (5) guys join the league to play baseball. they pay to play the game, not to play on a certain team. (that they end up on a team together is the result of some crafty managers' recruiting and players' maneuvering. which takes us back to teams that end up with 14-1 records and others that end far south of that.)
but, from the managers' point of view, the most important possibilities with the draft are these: (1) good, tight games for most of the season; (2) lower level teams stand a chance of rising in the standings, an exciting prospect for those who've dwelled for long in or near the cellar; (3) the playoffs should be more exciting; (4) teams, from the top to the bottom, will have recruiting pressures eased. one of the most difficult things in the world, short of brain surgery, is trying to find healthy, athletic guys, 55 and up, who want to and can play baseball. that pool is microscopically small. the rest of that age group is eyeing barcaloungers and retirement homes in boca raton; (5) one major goal of the division is to keep guys playing baseball for as long as they can and want to and for as long as it's practical. with that in mind, the more teams we can keep functioning and playing at a decent level (teams that don't fold because of poor play when too few talented guys join them), the better the chances we'll keep squads going with spots for lots of guys.
will the draft work? we'll see. i hope so. i think it's a far-sighted and generous action on the part of my fellow managers.
to answer your last question, tony, why the other age divisions aren't doing this? i don't know. one thing, for sure: they can watch us to see how it goes.
-mike
p.s. i'm sure you and anyone who wants to come can get more information at the mandatory gm meeting tonight at the rail yard restaurant on central ave in colonie. -m.
-- Edited by mhart on Sunday 13th of December 2015 11:31:31 PM
I just don't understand why a waiver player when they reach 55 doesn't have to enter the draft?
Let's face it waiver players are almost always MVP's or All-Sttars in the lower division they play in and their services would be more in demand for a team in the #8 seed or lower when they reach 55.
I guess if you have a draft get rid of Waiver Players and ALL age eligible players enter the draft the first year they reach 55, no exceptions.
Also why is this being implemented only in the 55 Division. There was never mention of a draft when other teams in our division and other had great runs. ( 45 Marlins winning 7 of 10 seasons, 55 Yankees 2 year reign in which 1 was an undefeated season or the great success Jim Bonaparte's team had this year
BTW: Your 8th seeded Peppers would of had 1 of the biggest upsets of the year coming within a couple of outs of knocking off the #1 Giants last year. I guess In Baseball you just never know.
hi tony - thanks for the tip of the cap about our playoff game. that was fun. your giants came through: will ferguson's clutch, one-out double in the bottom of the 7th is something i'll see in my mind's eye for many years to come, along with billy smith's fine pitching (including the daring use of an eephus pitch, seven of which landed in tommy maney's glove in left). you're right, in baseball you never know. that uncertainty is one of its many lures.
actually, we're hoping that that uncertainty will be a good part of this year's 55 season. that's a big part of the reason for the draft.
but first your question about wavered players under 55 being subject to the draft. it's a good one and i'm not sure i have the answer.
other guys at the meeting might have a clearer recollection than i on that topic. i know the managers are not finished dealing with all the issues of the draft. among other things, we still have to set up the drafting procedure, so i'll make sure to raise this question the next time we talk - which could begin informally tonight at the gm meeting. as soon as we have some answers, john reel, or one of us, will post them here.
and why aren't the other age divisions taking up the draft? as 55 managers, we're obviously not in a position to suggest to other divisions how they might run their ships. but the point of our draft is not to stop long victory runs; if, after we draft, a team pulls off a long winning streak, even goes undefeated, good for that club.
the point of our draft is really three-fold: (1) to increase parity in the division, which may not necessarily mean stopping winning streaks. what it does mean is to try to end seasons in which the same three or four teams end up with lop-sided victory records (e.g. 12-3; 11-4, etc.), and another three or four finish the reverse of that, year after year. (2) with that, to cut back, and maybe even eliminate mercy-ruled games; we really want taut games all the way to the end; (3) help all the teams build a player-base so that recruiting, especially for the lower-finishing teams, is not always a do-or-die affair. in the process, we can keep teams around and pave the way for new teams coming in.
again, we're not sure that this will do all we hope it does. and we probably won't know for two or three years.
but one result that i can hope for now is that we'll have a 2016 season in which the teams that finished 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th this year will pull off some upsets, and in the process, create a lively tension in the entire division, making each team wonder, "who'll win tonight?"
if some of the perennial lower teams do rise, and at season's end, are at or near first, they'll have experienced the rush of climbing from bottom to the top. and one of the best parts about that? the guys who were drafted will likely play a large part in that rise. they'll have the pleasure of making a big difference, of lifting the underdogs. that would have to be a great rush.
so, we'll see.
one of us - john, the other managers, me - will keep you posted. thanks for your questions. more welcome. -mike
-- Edited by mhart on Monday 14th of December 2015 03:59:09 PM
