Mon Mar 23, 2015 12:30 pm
The rules were in place and posted on the forum before the prospect draft started, including the March 1st signing date. The googledoc rules are not updated, my fault for not updating them but the rules on the forums have always been the ones we use. I will update the googledoc soon but that is a backup to the forum. I changed the wording on the rule (I think I actually did that before last season's draft) because we usually have the prospect draft before the season starts. It is possible that while the prospect draft is ongoing a player could sign with a team, allowing a player to become eligible in the middle of the draft. In my opinion, we needed a calendar date, not just "the start of the season".
I know Moncada became a Red Sock for all intents and purposes in FEB, but we need to have an official signing date, otherwise there could be a dispute about a player's eligibility for the draft. March 1st is the date I picked since it is usually just before our prospect draft starts and when most players are already signed. We can vote on changes to the prospect rules after the draft is over. Personally I would rather use the rules from the Mighty Casey league, where all players who have not played in the major leagues are eligible, regardless of contract status (i.e. minor leaguers, college players, foreign players, etc, would be eligible, even if they have not signed a contract or been drafted by an MLB team). Then the only question about eligibility is if a player has any major league appearances, if they do not they are eligible, no more debate.
Turtle - since we are off the clock and ed is willing to rescind the trade if you want to do that instead of using the pick feel free to do so. Again sorry about not updating the googledoc, will do so soon, but as I said the forum rules take priority.