C'mon Ed, you know that is not going to happen.
It might happen, if the draft stays in place.

Hmmm...
So heres the thing.
If memory serves, I was the only one on the Board who voted against it at the time a couple of years ago when it came up after the 55 GMs approved it... I did so for all of the reasons already stated here as I already knew the more elite players werent going to like it even a bit... I do recall some discussion and was swayed by Jim Porter enough and since the GMs voted it in I may have even just abstained or whatever as Id have to see exactly ~ but now here we are...
Again...
And as Mark, Lex, and the rest of our Bombers are nearing 55 ever more quickly it seems ~ its only a matter of time until the lack of a team provision in the existing rule comes into play. Lex alluded to it briefly but as is now there is no way we can come up as team and we would ALL have to be split up.
I mean seriously ~ you actually think we are ALL going to do that?
Hell, essentially every guy on our 45 team is an elite player and in a few years were going to be told we have to split up to help the have nots?
Not rocket science that most of us will be highly unlikely to do it and simply ride off into the sunset with our fading memories of our 45 run and forever more do whatever else it is we all shall choose to do in what remains of our time here in this realm of existence...

And is that what the old man league is all about now, forcing lomg time friends and even family to break apart to allegedly make it more fair for everyone?
The whole thing has been a farce from the beginning and while Mike Kane is a without question a game changing baseball player in the 55s, hes an even better man...
Its insanity to expect us all to be as nice as is Big Daddy Kane ~ not how the world works ~ or the inner workings of an elite athletes human nature and mind...

Its still far enough away (4 years, but prolly 5 before wed all do it together) and we still have some more work to do in the 45s as the 45s is still a lot of fun for us as we seek our 3-peat this year and then beyond...
But there will be a new, younger Bombers that comes to replace us sooner than wed like Im sure...
And well obviously each have to make our decision(s) then...

But a moratorium is no answer at all as this will just continue to tear its ugly head year after year until it is abolished...
Or the 55s will die a slow death after whittling down to yes, as Ed Rogers says, a 2 or 3 team division...
Only he failed to see that its headed towards two or three teams of NOT studs on its current course...
And hell, the bigger question is where is the league headed over all as Lex is now the youngest guy on the Board and its not just the 55s dying a slow ugly death on its current course ~ but John Reel is not going to be here forever...
And as a I have grown to love him far beyond just his laying out this course for us and providing us ALL with a place to be big kids until we grow ever older perhaps until we even near the door to the next life ~ the torch has got be passed sooner rather than later or future generations wont have anywhere to play the game until they too reach the next stage of the Big game that really counts...

But who am I?
Nobody...
Do as you will ~ and well adapt and overcome either way...
Its what we do...
Or dont...
our choice

Modify the draft:

1. Allow each team to openly recruit and/or protect 7-9 players each year.

2. Then require those teams to fill out the remainder of their rosters via the draft.

Hell the real story here is that Rob Currier, Mark Marshall, and Mike Girard all agree that the draft is a really bad idea, whose time has come.
If three people that normally are on opposite sides of most arguments agree that this will hurt the division long term, then how can we be wrong?!

mgirard11 wrote:

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Hell the real story here is that Rob Currier, Mark Marshall, and Mike Girard all agree that the draft is a really bad idea, whose time has come.
If three people that normally are on opposite sides of most arguments agree that this will hurt the division long term, then how can we be wrong?!

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There is a rift in the space-time continuum.

jdalton wrote:

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I have watched with great interest the dialogue regarding the draft. After not playing for several years due to injury, I played with a team as a part time injury replacement in 2016 for 6 games. This team was undergoing a managerial change, and I was not invited back, which dropped me into the draft.

When I understood and I quote that "some of the teams that this draft was designed to help, declined the players available
when their turn came. As a result, because he didn't want to turn players away, John Reel signed 4-5 undrafted players at the end of the final round, gumming up the Marlins roster."

For this I say kudos to John Reel. As a veteran player and manager in the league since coming back to the area in 1996, and playing MSBL for 5 years prior in Rochester, I was grateful to have a landing spot, with no illusions of taking a starting job, and certainly did not want to "gum up a roster".......just wanted to put on the uniform again, and play some baseball.

I fully recognize my abilities are not in the average, or better than average category, but try to be a good teammate, whether throwing BP, coaching a base, or keeping the book to try and contribute to the team, and earn my ABs and playing time. I suspect there are others like myself, who may be the 14th or 15th guy on the roster, who have a passion for the game, and still want to be a part of it, and not demanding playing time; and just want to be part of the concerted effort to play competitively and "live the dream".

I wish there was a ready-made solution, but obviously the draft didn't work, if teams that the draft was designed to help, passed on players, and other teams had to alter their rosters as a result to include the unselected free agents, that's a broken system. I also believe that guys should play on teams they want to play with, and not be force fed via a draft.

Perhaps the 60 Division is a solution, but then Managers/Fields and Scheduling go into the equation. If enough 55s playing 45s want to play 55s because it affords weeknite baseball,
maybe 45s consider 1 game a week on a weeknites. Again, I don't know that there are any clear cut answers. But for the good of the league, if it would help, (and I said I would never manage again), I would be willing to take on an expansion team of undrafted players, and work to build that roster through long-standing contacts in the 45s, as those players become eligible through the draft, or whatever mechanisms are available and agreed upon. I just don't want to see guys left out because they aren't connected to existing teams, or they may not have the skill sets that teams drafting are looking to add to their roster. In a little spin-off a a Mike G. post - this is America, and if a 55 year man wants to play baseball, then he should have the shot to be on a goddamn team.

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The "division" that Don Ball is proposing sure seems like a great solution to me. I have floated the idea of something similar to this for years. It would allow everyone to play on a team and not only that actually get on the field on a regular basis. This division would allow the guys who can no longer play competitively in two divisions due to the age differential a spot to get a few more at bats in.

It's too late to roll out a more structured version for this season i'm sure but my idea was a complete draft from scratch each year, minimum playing time for everyone and vetted managers who understand that the intention of the division is to get everyone involved. Next year you start all over. We all have fun playing in Don's fall ball games, we met new people etc.

It seems like you shouldn't be able to leave any players in the draft off a roster. It also seems like a team from the 45s should be able to age up.

Maybe this new division would be a happy medium and make everyone happy.... ok ...let's say more people happy

-- Edited by johnc on Tuesday 2nd of January 2018 04:58:20 PM

Rob - The proposal to form a 60+ division is not being made in an effort to promote competitive balance in the 55+ division anymore than the formation of the 55+ division was done to achieve competitive balance in the 45+ division. The 55+ division was formed several years ago because there was a pool of players who were aging out of the 45s. That same pool of players is now aging out of the 55s. The formation of the Platinum division would provide these guys a place to play baseball. It has been noted that the idea of an "older" division has been discussed in several league circles. There has been a very enthusiastic response to my proposal to start the division in 2018.