jmdziuban2 wrote:Question, and sorry if this holds things up. Regarding the FA Frenzy, are ALL undrafted players available from any franchise immediately after the draft?
Good morning JM. On behalf of all the returning managers, thanks for joining the DFL. This is a good group of people, so we hope that you like it here and stick around for a while.
Regarding the answer to your question, first and foremost, this is a carded franchise league, meaning that in order to use a player, he must have a card for your franchise. So the short answer to your question is that undrafted players with cards for other franchises are not available during the frenzy or during the preseason, with a couple of very limited exceptions, which I'll get into later.
If a player has cards ONLY for one franchise, that franchise retains exclusive rights to the player for the entire season, regardless of whether he is on the active roster. So, for example, since your franchises are the Expos/Nationals and Tigers, you own the exclusive rights to Kaline, Trammell, Whitaker, Bryce Harper, Raines and Larry Parrish, among others, since those players have cards for no other franchises. You don't even have to put them on your autodraft list, as no one else can ever claim them, and you can add them to your active roster at any time. For all players with cards only for your respective franchises, it's kind of like having a minor league system if they're not on your active roster.
For players with cards for 2 or more franchises, the highest priced card rule applies for the autodraft, frenzy and preseason, meaning that for such players, the franchise with the highest priced card owns the primary rights to that player. So, for example, since the Tigers own the highest priced card for Miguel Cabrera and the Expos own the highest priced card for Pedro Martinez, you own their primary rights to those players, while Florida owns the secondary rights to Cabrera, and Boston and the Mets own the secondary rights to Martinez. You continue to own the rights to Cabrera and Martinez for the entire preseason, whether or not they are on your active roster.
On the other hand, although Montreal has cards for Galarraga and Cliff Floyd, it has only secondary rights to those players, as Atlanta owns the highest priced card for Galarraga and Florida owns the highest priced card for Floyd. Thus, you can't put Floyd or Galarraga on your autodraft list or claim them during the frenzy or preseason, even if they are not on the active roster of the teams that own the primary rights to those players.
Note that you can use any card for any player of which you own the primary rights, even if it is a card for another franchise. So, for example, you can use the $8.95 mil Boston Martinez card if you like.
Regarding secondary rights to players, if the player is not on the active roster of the team with primary rights to the player, any team with secondary rights can claim that player AFTER completion of the first series of the season. So, if for some unknown reason you decide not to use Martinez, either Boston or the Mets could claim him after completion of the first series. By the same token, if Atlanta decided not to use Galarraga, either you or the Rockies could claim him after completion of the first series, since Montreal and Colorado both hold secondary rights to Galarraga.
Players to which a team has exclusive secondary rights can be added to the roster of the team with secondary rights with the permission of the team owning the primary rights. So, for example, the Dodgers own the primary rights to Kirk Gibson. Since you have secondary rights, if you wanted to use Gibson, you could ask the Dodgers for permission during the preseason, and if permission is granted, he can be added to your roster in the preseason and you wouldn't have to wait until completion of the first series to add Gibson to your active roster. The same would be true if the Mets asked permission to use Gary Carter and you said yes.
If two or more teams own the secondary rights to a player, the owner of the primary rights to the player cannot give permission to use the player to one team over another. So, for example, if you decided not to use Martinez or the Braves decided not to use Galarraga, the teams with secondary rights would race to claim those players upon completion of the first series.
Regarding eligible free agents from the unselected franchises (Brewers, Padres, Rockies, Rangers, Rays, White Sox), any player who does not have a card for one of the selected franchises can be claimed. So, for example, Juan Gonzalez is an eligible free agent, since the Rangers weren't selected and Gonzalez has no card for any other selected franchise. On the other hand, even though the White Sox were unselected, Chet lemon cannot be claimed, since the Tigers own his rights by having the highest priced Lemon card owned by a selected franchise. The same would be true of Larry Walker. Even though the Rockies own his highest priced card, since the Rockies were unclaimed, Montreal owns Walker's exclusive rights, since Montreal has the only other Walker cards.
Also, each team is allowed one trade. As stated elsewhere in this forum, there is no limit to the number of players included in the trade. Traded players need not have a card for the destination franchise. The players traded must be on the active roster of the teams making the trade. One cannot simply assign the rights to a player to another team. This makes trading during the season difficult. Traded players can be dropped, and the team who traded away the player would not be able to reclaim him. However, teams with secondary rights could claim the player if he was dropped by the destination team.
jmdziuban2 wrote:Another question about drafting a free agent. If the free agent I place on my draft list is already taken, is the computer forbidden from drafting a player from a chosen franchise in place of the free agent?
I am sure this has been covered to not happen, yes?
Toine wrote:Your free agent must come from one of the 6 franchises not picked. The player you choose, must have his only cards with that franchise. Using the Rangers as an example; Ivan Rodriguez is not available because he has a second card with the Marlins. Someone else chose the Marlins and thus they retain his rights. Mike Napoli would be an eligible FA however because his only card is with Texas. If you claim a FA and don’t get him, Strat will assign you another player. If you don’t like this player, simply drop him and claim another eligible FA off the waiver wire.....
JM, I'd like to add a little more to Dave's answer. If, for example, you put Juan Gonzalez on your autodraft list as your free agent, but don't get him, SOM will assign you the next highest priced player at Gonzalez's primary position. However, it's highly likely that another franchise will own the rights to that player. If such is the case, you'll have to drop that player and grab an eligible free agent during the frenzy or thereafter. Of course, if by some fluke the assigned player is an eligible free agent, you can keep him if you like.
I hope this helps. Good luck this league. - Bernie
Sun Jun 11, 2023 10:30 pm