Posted by pstrnutbag44 on 2/7/2011 10:48:00 AM (view original):
Posted by shobob on 2/7/2011 7:30:00 AM (view original):
I can see the allure of having no players change teams whatsoever, but I don't think that allowing free agency after the FA period and released players being fair game will mean that any star players will be changing cities. It will just make for some less good players filling holes on the less good teams.
I gotta agree w/shobob here.
it's not just about star players. it's about developing lasting bonds with all of your players, from your ace to your left-handed platooning utility man. i just really like the idea of acquiring ALL of your players through ifa and the draft (excluding the guys you're initially given, of course), and then holding onto them for their careers without any financial pressures at all. to me, the league just downright really loses a lot if you allow players to switch teams at all. again, the point has been made that certain teams will be better off than others for a couple of years. this is undoubtedly true, but it's so much cooler if you play the hand you're dealt. we have to give up any pre-conceived notions of whole hbd normally works, or whole the eal world normally works.
if it helps you guys visualize it better, picture it this way:
the for life league was founded in the year 2030 after the death of major league baseball. in the mlb, player transactions became so prevalent that fans never developed bonds with the players of their team; the rosters were flipping over so much that teams were unrecognizable from one year to the next. thus, attendance and revenues plummeted and the league filed for bankruptcy.
the for life league was founded by a group of 32 investors led by the innovative mark cuban. cuban, being an owner, naturally was weary of the trending exorbitant player salaries that were crippling team's pocket books and alienating the blue collar workers that by whom america was built. thus, cuban stipulated in the initial league rule handbook that bargaining would be removed from players and their agents. however, it would not be solely in the hands of the owners either, as this would lead to a monopolization of power. thus, cuban and the other owners employed an independent financial consulting company to analyze a player's skills and production and determine what the player's wages should be. (this is the number you see when you negotiate contracts.)
moreover, cuban noted what killed the mlb- an atrocious lack of consistency throughout the league. thus, the league rule handbook says that a team owns a player's rights FOR LIFE. and, because an independent consulting company decides player salaries, this does not contrast with the government's labor laws.
but how would the league initially divide the players amongst the teams? well, randomly of course! (cuban would have loved to have a draft of players, but this was logistically impossible because league planner tom zentmeyer just could not create a good system to have the draft (do we draft prospects with the big leaguers? who picks first overall? first in the second round? etc.) cuban knew that this would create a small talent discrepancy and a "luck of the draw" effect for the first couple of years. yet, cuban understood that ABSOLUTELY NO transactions could take place in the league. that was the very foundation of cuban's innovative new league, and any mitigating circumstances at all would completely invalidate the league's dream of roster consistency and the "for life" policy.
so, the year is 2030. cuban has founded the league, and is now looking for 31 other owners to join him in a radical attempt to create a league unlike anything ever seen before. the question is, do you wish to join him? do you wish to rewrite hbd history?