Moneyball Baseball League Chat

What day does our FA draft begin?

Hi Phil, in one of our chats, I asked about confirming the dates, including:

1. November 30 Deadline (or as extended for newbies)
a. Promote prospects
b. Drop players without negotiated contracts (with no responsibility for 2024 cardset)
c. Drop players with negotiated contracts, freeing up roster space but still being stuck with salaries for 2024 and later cardsets

And you replied: Correct

On the updated rosters, though, it looks like I am still responsible for Wiemer, Hancock, and Priester in the 2024 cardset, at $600K each. Weren't they covered by point b, above?

bump

Is the FA list finished? Seems like there should be more players included. Also, a couple names jumped out because they didn’t even appear in MLB this year. Wander Franco for one, whose legal problems are well known, and Andrelton Simmons, who retired in 2022. I imagine there are more that should be off the list and also more that should be on it.

tcochran wrote:
Hi Phil, in one of our chats, I asked about confirming the dates, including:

1. November 30 Deadline (or as extended for newbies)
a. Promote prospects
b. Drop players without negotiated contracts (with no responsibility for 2024 cardset)
c. Drop players with negotiated contracts, freeing up roster space but still being stuck with salaries for 2024 and later cardsets

And you replied: Correct

On the updated rosters, though, it looks like I am still responsible for Wiemer, Hancock, and Priester in the 2024 cardset, at $600K each. Weren't they covered by point b, above?

Those three were offered a contract for the 2024 MLB season last March 30 by Paul so the are rostered for the up coming SOM season at $600,000. They go onto the waiver list if cut by Nov. 30, 2024. You are still responsible for those contracts this year even if you cut them. You can release them on March 30 for the upcoming 2025 MLB season and would not be responsible for their salaries next year (they would become free agents for the 2025 SOM season). Releasing them now just opens a 40 man roster spot, it doesn't release you from the salary responsibility for the upcoming season.

In any case, I'm going to place a waiver claim on those three players and assume their contracts, so you will be free of them shortly.

Is the FA list finished? Seems like there should be more players included. Also, a couple names jumped out because they didn’t even appear in MLB this year. Wander Franco for one, whose legal problems are well known, and Andrelton Simmons, who retired in 2022. I imagine there are more that should be off the list and also more that should be on it.

You are correct. I failed to include carded players who were not on any 40 man roster last year. I'll update it as best I can before we start the bidding.

My understanding from a previous ruling is that a waiver claim placed on a year 1-6 promoted prospect allows the claiming team to acquire rights/obligations for current season only but then the player becomes a free agent the next year, because years one through six are not guaranteed contracts. I am requesting that Phil speak to this before I put in a potential competing waiver claim for players cut by T Cochran

Sociophil places a waiver claim and assumes the contracts of the following players recently released by tcochran:

Wiemer, Joey
Hancock, Emerson
Priester, Quinn

I will repost this once we settle the contract question.

My understanding from a previous ruling is that a waiver claim placed on a year 1-6 promoted prospect allows the claiming team to acquire rights/obligations for current season only but then the player becomes a free agent the next year, because years one through six are not guaranteed contracts. I am requesting that Phil speak to this before I put in a potential competing waiver claim for players cut by T Cochran

Here is the rule:

Section 8.03 WAIVER CLAIMS: Players who have been cut by a team, but who are still under contract, are eligible to be claimed by any other team assuming the team has roster and salary cap space available. Teams can make waiver claims if they have an available roster spot (See Player Movement rule). The waiver claim priority is determined by the draft order of the most recent Free Agent signing period. A claim must be posted on the Moneyball Chat page. Once a claim is made on a player, all other teams with a higher priority ranking have 48 hours to place a competing claim. If no other team claims the player then the last team making the claim gets the player. The team claiming the player assumes their contract and salary. Waived players with with six years of service time remaining become Free Agents after their current contract expires.

Have we had a waiver claim placed yet? I'm not sure we have. For players under contract, you pick up that contract for its duration (for example, Brandon Belt would be under contract for 2024 and 2025). If we haven't had a waiver pickup of a player with team control before then we should follow the MLB rule:

Players become free agents upon reaching six years of Major League service time or when they are released from their organization prior to reaching six years of service time. A free agent is eligible to sign with any club for any terms to which the two parties can agree. If a player with fewer than six years of service time signs with a club, he remains under the control of that club until reaching the requisite service time to reach free agency -- even if the contract he signed does not cover the remaining years until that point. https://www.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/free-agency

sociophil

You answered that question before in either a PM or a response to my question on the league chat in a previous year. I just wanted to be sure that was still the rule, and our rule section that you quoted above suggests that is the correct result (and for good reason). We dont acquire cheap “control” on a waived, promoted prospect during years one through six. It’s not a guaranteed contract. But for a contract negotiated during free agency, we must buy all of the remaining years of the contract, like Belt’s. I don’t think we should switch rules mid course and just allow for the MLB rule to trump ours. If that’s a ruling or rule change that you’re proposing then I am gonna want to put a claim on one of Cochrane’s 3 waived players. If you are sticking to the first paragraph rule that you mentioned above, then I have no claims to place.

Mykbr1: sent you a PM.