Can you only select your core 4 players from players that are available? The questions from eman has me slightly confused. Using example two as a baseline:
Example 2: Tommie Agee, 1966 - the New York Mets owner (when we have expanded etc. by that time) must decide whether to:
1. list Tommie Agee as a Core 4 player, in which case they can continue to do so through his good seasons like 1969-1971, or else, if they do not also continue to list him as Core 4 for 1967 or for 1968, when Agee hit .234 and .217 respectively, Agee returns to the draft pool and cannot be kept as a keeper as a drafted player could.
or
2. to try to take their chances on getting Agee in the draft to have him as a keeper.
So let's say Agee isn't selected as a Core 4 for the Mets when he's a rookie and is drafted by Chicago.
1968 comes around and as the Mets owner, could I list Agee as a Core 4 for the Mets team? Essentially stealing him away from Chicago?
Or can you only list a player as a Core 4 if: 1) Theyre available to be drafted (not on anyones keeper list) or 2) It's their first season eligible to be a core 4 for that team?
Another example:
Lets pretend we started in 1924, and after the 24 season Boston lists Red Ruffing as a Core 4 player. Following the 1929 season both of these statements woul be true if I'm understanding it correctly: 1) Ruffing would not be on Boston's roster going into the 1930 season and would go into the available players list for the rookie draft (so long as point 2 doesn't happen). 2) Could be listed as a Core 4 player by New York and would remove him from the available players list.