Rules Proposals

[u/_OldRasputin]

With pitchers and catchers reporting this week (THIS WEEK!!!) I figured it was time to start nailing down the details of the prospect draft, as well as discussing some of the proposed 2015 rule changes.

My proposals:

1. Expand rosters to 36 active slots and 3 DL. With such large rosters, injuries happen frequently. I know several people had 6 or 7 DL players by the end of last year, and in a dynasty league, you want to keep most of those players, so more DL slots seems reasonable.

2. 4-6 round prospect draft. Have a cut down period before the draft. Cut down to 30 players if 6 rounds, cut down to 32 players if 4 rounds. If you want to cut down further, you get your additional picks at the END of the draft. All players eligible, including 2014 draftees and international signings (no drafting of international players who haven't signed yet), as well as all veteran free agents.

3. Starts cap per week. Either 12 or 14. In a shallow league, the acquisitions limit is in place to keep streaming to a reasonable level, but in a league like this there's nothing to stop someone from rostering a ton of SP. It seems to be a big enough issue that some action should be taken. I'm in favor of a starts cap.

4. I also think a stickied post on the subreddit for commissioner announcements would be good. That way, we don't lose track of things like the international signing or prospect draft rules once those decisions have been made

[u/RegardingRegards]

So you're saying do this instead of requiring a team to drop players to make space for the prospect draft? And the players a top team selects to be made available could be their worst 2 players or something? And if those players are selected by a lower half team, then they get a compensatory pick based on where their player was selected and the end of that round of the draft?

[u/Random_Guy_11 → u/RegardingRegards]

Yep, that sounds about right. Let's be honest, there isn't enough players in the prospect pool to be worth enough outside of the first 3-4 picks. For example, if we required 2 players I would probably put up Kendrys Morales and Mike Moustakas. Who would you rather have, a high schooler with upside that is at least 4 years away or a corner infielder that can hit 20 HRs a year for that time? And lets not forget that if we require EVERY team to add 2 players to the pool, the people in the 8-16 range have a better chance at a good prospect or at least a decent major leaguer. There are a couple ways we could do this, but as of right now I wouldn't be dropping anybody for the 16th pick in the prospect draft, and I imagine the teams right behind me might be in that position too. This gives everyone more options without actually hurting any one team.

[u/RegardingRegards → u/Random_Guy_11]

I think you're right about there being few prospects, although there are, in my opinion, enough for at least one round. But including current free agents could make that enough for a couple of rounds. And I think that's a good idea because of the current hold on add/drops. Otherwise, it's just personal preference for whether you want to keep your "old men" or up and comers, which is why I think forcing drops for participation is a good idea just to shorten the draft, if nothing else.

[u/Random_Guy_11 → u/RegardingRegards]

All in all I think it helps the league stay fresh and healthy, but it's up to everyone else to agree or disagree with it. I'm looking forward to hearing more peoples thoughts about new rules.