Posted by tmfran on 10/16/2010 3:55:00 AM (view original):
So what if someone joins a world, takes a run down team with low commited payroll then signs a bunch of free agents to fat contracts. He adds those free agents to maybe the one of two good players the team already had, just to make a run at the playoffs and win whatever prize that is up for grabs. Then if he wins he jumps ship on the world, leaving the team screwed up worse than it was before he took it over.
1) We work out standards in advance to reduce the chances of this. eg Private Worlds only (where the commishes can screen applicants who might have done things like this in the past), qualifying teams must already have significant payroll issues, etc.
2) I would argue that if an owner like that spent heavily on FA and took the team from 55 W's to the playoffs then bolted - the team would still likely be stronger than it was before.
3) There is no "prize up for grabs" beyond pride and bragging rights - this in itself should disincent the cockroaches.