With the influx of new, young players from the 25 year-old Division, as well as the break-up the Reds, there will be many more players in the 35 Division and one less team.
The Shaskys have been in the league for two years, and were created without players that came from a background in CDMSBL. So we were started as an expansion team in the true sense of the word. There might be players out there that might be considered marginal on other teams that don't see all the playing time they would like. Add in the new young players coming in as well as the ex-Reds being disbursed into the league, and that might create a bubble on certain teams of players that will not play as often as desired.
These players would be welcome to join the Shaskys and step right into the limelight. Our regular season winning percentage has improved from year 1 to year 2, and we hope to keep improving that percentage.
Our record is .500 in playoff competition and in both of our seasons we eliminated teams seeded higher than us before we eventually fell.
If you are out there and you are happy with your team, by all means stay there and have a great season. We look forward to playing all the great guys and great teams in this league.
But if you are having trouble breaking into the pitching rotation, or if you would like to play more than you play now, and if your team plans on adding new young players or picking up ex-Reds and feel your time would only be diminished further, give us a call.
The same goes for any ex-Reds who are considering where they will be playing next year. Give the Shaskys a look.
We are always looking for guys who enjoy the game, and bring a positive team oriented attitude. As much as we want to win, we want to play with guys who have a positive attitude.
You can come here and be a bigger fish in a smaller pond rather than a small fish in a big pond.
Nice write-up, Tony....well written!!!! You discussed an approach to strengthening a team that I have been thinking about lately. It directly relates to the topic of finding ways to keep parity in the league. If a group (or groups) of guys got together that are on teams that are not getting much playing time, they could certainly strengthen a team that needs some help. There are a lot of pretty decent players out there spread around the league that are in that position of not getting enough time in the game. One question to address is that should we let these types of player moves occur naturally through postings like yours or should we encourage the process by considering developing an organized method of promoting these player moves.....maybe as simply as promoting the fact to all players that the option is available to go to a lower ranked team and play more ball than they are with their current team. Players would be more likely to make the move if they knew they were going to be accomanied by several other players who are in the same boat. We would be addressing the parity issue by shifting some of the power from the top teams to the teams lower in ranking. Maybe that would be something worth discussing at the meeting Monday?
Another possible way to address parity is to consider allowing a team who is in the top 6 or 7 in the standings to recuit a maximum of 3 players from within the division while allowing the remainder of the lower teams to recruit a maximum of 5 from within the division?
In the past, the option of a player draft was mentioned as a way to address parity. Dick Stark gave some great reasons in a recent posting about 2 months ago about why drafts are not good for a league and I agree. A lot of players come into the league to play with friends or relatives. If they couldn't play on the team with those individuals, many would not join the league. That alone is reason enough to discard that option.
Going to 2 divisions (top ranked in one division and bottom ranked in the other), in my opinion would take a lot of the fun out of the league - losing the potential for upsets and the challenge of the lesser ranked teams playing the top teams.
I think you hit on one of the most important topics in our league Tony. Hopefully we'll talk more about it Monday.
I think Tony's post is a good example of why there should be UNRESTRICTED player movement in our divisions.
The last time I checked, this was a RECREATIONAL league, not the majors. If a guy wants to play for another team, for whatever the reason, and that team wants him, he should be able to go. Period. Most GOOD managers communicate with their players throughout the year, and know what to expect each spring. There is plenty of time to fill rosters before the 1st deposits are due.
The "Cubbie" rule that was implemented a couple of seasons ago, restricting player movement, had only one effect. Three guys that would have been rookies in the the 38 division, sat out a year, rather than join a roster for a season, because if they had, they couldn't have joined us when we moved up from the 25 division.
Any rules that make it more difficult to play baseball are simply ludicrous
Although Mike's point to parity as a goal may be well intentioned, I think the bigger goal should be to ensure that teams can field a team, game in and game out. Players allowed to play where they want would be a good step in that direction.
I see your point, Jonny. It's good to get some of the opinions out there for consideration prior to the meeting tomorrow. Maybe we can find a solution that reasonably addresses both parity and a greater degree of player movement.
To me, your comment is right on the money. Guys play to have fun. They should be able to go to any team they want to without restriction. As a manager, if several guys want to leave my team it's because I failed them in some way. Teams can't be raided if there's no discontent on that team. If my guys are unhappy and want to leave, I would want them to communicate with me, and if I can't remedy the situation, I'll wish them well. Players need to be content with their team, and I want it the same way. Every team's philosophy is not right for every player, and the player and the whole team need to buy into it, or it works for no one.
Jonny - we will be voting on that very issue Monday night at Sutter's 7:00. If you can make it (can carpool with us from Stephentown), I think we can find time to hear you given what you have done (and continue to do) for the league.
I want that PT band back since you didn't hold up your end of the bargain....
I would have to agree with JMartin. I think players should be allowed to play on the team they choose. I have heard many arguments against why it would not be a good idea but the only argument I see fit is you are playing for fun and you want to play with your friends. If you take the friends away next comes fun and then your losing guys due to rules that are set up for managers who can't recruit and for the sake of depleting teams. If we are so worried about depleting teams we need to recruit better. We can do this with newspaper articles, word of mouth, and flyers at local gyms and bars.
I know the big issue here is depleting teams but if you as a manager can't make your team happy or communicate with your players then why should they suffer? Let the players choose who they play for.
I don't think that parity is an issue in this division, after the year we had last year. Anyone who thinks that we don't have enough parity, just needs to look at the final standings from the 2008 season. I don't think you can make it any more competitive than we had it last year. We really shouldn't be too restrictive of movement in a league where each guy pays to play. If a player formally asks to be released from a team, there should never be any reason that a refusal would be allowed.
The 35+ managers voted overwhelmingly to maintain that one player can move from Team A to Team B. The second player would be subject to an appeal process.
The appeal process is that the request is first sent to me. If I agree the request has merit, I forward to all managers (except the two on Teams A & B) who have 72 hours to reply with their recommendation.
Although I was the first post in this thread, I don't understand how it prompted you and so many others to respond about unrestricted player movement. I guess I'm a little stupid, but all I was looking for was to communicate to the marginal players who might get squeezed out if very strong teams added new young players and ex-Reds(the Reds have disbanded). Later on in the thread people are saying that you can have EITHER parity or free movement of players.
Obviously I have a weaker team and I'm trying to improve it, so I'm all for parity. What I don't understand is how my post comes off as being against free unrestricted movement of players. I certainly haven't had any good players leave my team - I'm just looking to add a few more "good" players to replace the players I have that aren't doing so well in adjusting to Adult baseball.
So somebody please explain this to me, cause like I said I'm a little stupid. Can't I try to get some better players to improve my team AND be for unrestricted player movement.
And Jonny - please take no offense here, I'm not trying to be sarcastic, I just don't understand how my posting was a good example of how we need unrestricted player movement. I'm just trying to improve my squad. The guys that other teams might toss away could raise the level of talent on my team.
I grew up a Mets fan in the early 60's, so I saw it happen with the Mets, who started in 62 with throwaways from the rest of the teams in the league and had a championship team by 1969...
Hey Tony - Very simply, the way the rules are now, no more than three players who played in the division last year, can move to the same team.
With 13 other teams in the division, now 12 without the Reds, there may be more than 3 guys that might want to answer your call and move to your team. If you had room for them,and the situation fit, it seems ridiculous that you could only grab three.
So that's how your post spawned this debate, from my point of view.
(By the way, Uncivil Liberties rented for the second time last month!)
Now I get it. I had no idea of that rule. At the meeting the other night, the 35 Managers talked about the other part of the movement rule - that one team can't take more than 1 player from another team, and we never talked about the 3 player limit from the league rule. Not a word. We never even talked about whether that rule could be waived on a case by case basis like the more than one guy from one team rule can now be waived. I guess the best I can hope for is 3 free agents a year at the most. I understand all the responses now. Thanks.
Congratulations on a second rental of UnCivil Liberties! At this rate in 5 more years you'll be in the black on that one!
The Shaskys are a great team to play on and I'd encourage anyone to sign up. I'd recommend that 25 & over division players get a spot on this team before it's too late. This is a team on the rise.
