Post by St. Louis Sting on Jun 6, 2023 21:30:38 GMT -5
As you may remember, there was much discussion towards the end of the winter sports about how to handle the release of players that could be considered "stars". To this point it has been a subjective ruling whether the player would qualify for salary relief, and whether the player would be eligible to be bid on in free agency by other teams. The subjectivity was not ideal, so I've been thinking about alternative solutions and wanted to present my solution to the league for feedback.
My proposed solution is, starting with the current MLB season, to make all contracts guaranteed after the sport's trade deadline. Any players released after the trade deadline would not create any salary relief in the current season (future seasons would have the usual 25% cap hit). This would eliminate any payroll incentive for releasing a high-level producer late in the season once eliminated from championship contention, so it's unlikely that those caliber players would be dropped at all. Any player released would be eligible for free agency for the entire league.
My expectation is that this will lead to a moderate influx of talent in free agency, making in-season budgeting more important than ever to account for potential mid-season free agent acquisitions. Please note that to maintain the competitive spirit of the league it would still be generally frowned upon to release "star" players who are performing at a level near their contract status, but it would not be against any rules.
I am interested to hear your thoughts on this solution and any suggestions you all may have
My proposed solution is, starting with the current MLB season, to make all contracts guaranteed after the sport's trade deadline. Any players released after the trade deadline would not create any salary relief in the current season (future seasons would have the usual 25% cap hit). This would eliminate any payroll incentive for releasing a high-level producer late in the season once eliminated from championship contention, so it's unlikely that those caliber players would be dropped at all. Any player released would be eligible for free agency for the entire league.
My expectation is that this will lead to a moderate influx of talent in free agency, making in-season budgeting more important than ever to account for potential mid-season free agent acquisitions. Please note that to maintain the competitive spirit of the league it would still be generally frowned upon to release "star" players who are performing at a level near their contract status, but it would not be against any rules.
I am interested to hear your thoughts on this solution and any suggestions you all may have
