The $4 for last place should be abolished for two reasons:

1) It inadvertently rewards tankers.

2) It hurts recruiting. Previously, if an owner told me he wasn't re-upping, I'd ask if I could bring in a replacement before the roll, to let the new owner take care of pending FAs, 40-man roster moves, minor league promotions, etc. Usually, the departing owner said yes. Now, the departing owner has incentive to stay until the roll, to collect that $4.

3) It can delay the roll. Not being able to bring in replacements before the roll means more teams to fill during the roll. That's harder to market on the classified -- all things equal, an owner will want to go to a world with one opening vs. one with several -- and can delay the roll.

Kind of seems ridiculous to reward people that finish dead last instead of the the owners that put forth an effort to improve their teams and be competitive. Ofcourse, WIS has defended other ways of doing things that favor the tankers so this might be no different. I'm not entirely convinced that WIS' is all that interested in combating tanking

Hot dammit, then what's the point of fighting to come in third!

2) This isn't something new. $4 credits have been around since the beginning of time.

$4 for last place is pretty new.

No, it isn't.

When was it introduced?

Quote: Originally posted by MikeT23 on 3/04/20102)  This isn't something new.  $4 credits have been around since the beginning of time.

-- "the beginning of time."

^^^^^^^^^
What he said.

zbrent and I agree on something. Unheard of.

On the flip side it does give incentive for people to pick up abandon teams mid season. Hey this team is a dumpster fire and is sitting at 33-80. But if I take them i get the free half season to tinker plus $4 off the next season.

I take on a lot of mid-season abandonments to help worlds out, as a baby-sitter. I make it very clear to the commish that I'm current season only, and they can consider me a backup plan if they cannot find somebody willing to commit for the next season and beyond. I put in a fair amount of work to get the team healthy and competitive, take care of the draft, manage fatigue to prevent players from getting injured, take care of end of season promotions to avoid retirements for minor leaguers, etc.

Often times, the team is so trashed by the time I pick it up that a 4th place finish is inevitable. I look at the $4 credit as a reward for the work I put it. It helps to subsidize my "regular" teams.

Without the credit, I'd have little to no motive to do these baby-sitting jobs.

Still, I think the credit is stupid and should be abolished. It'll kill my subsidies, but it's the right thing to do.

I don't understand the rationale for having it at all. What possible reason is there to reward a 4th place team?

Quote: Originally Posted By kahrtmen on 3/04/2010I don't understand the rationale for having it at all. What possible reason is there to reward a 4th place team

If a new owner takes over a team and has no idea that he has a dud roster, and goes 52-110 they are probably going to quit. Maybe a $4 credit will suck them back in?

Quote: Originally Posted By kahrtmen on 3/04/2010I don't understand the rationale for having it at all. What possible reason is there to reward a 4th place team?

There really isn't any. This was very poorly thought out by WIS when HBD was implemented.

tec, I can see the incentive for a replacement owner coming in and stabilizing an abandoned team (see your efforts in Ron Cey, S14).

So, the $4 reward should be for that specific case -- not for all last-place teams.