Well, an alert owner brought to our attention that the draft pick compensation in the game may not work quite right. So, I did some testing over the weekend and he's right. It's a mess. After consultation, Nate and I have come up with a system that we believe will work. It's a balance between MLB's free agent compensation rules and making it reasonable easy for Nate and me to implement.
So, here are the rules.
1. The game will assign free agents one of three ratings - Type A, Type B, or no compensation. Our plan is to abide by the ratings given by the game.
2. If Team 1 signs a Type A free agent who played for Team 2, then Team 2 gets Team 1's highest draft pick.
3. If Team 1 signs a Type B free agent who played for Team 2, then Team 2 gets Team 1's highest pick below the first two rounds (i.e., no higher than a third-round pick).
4. If Team 1 signs any other free agent, there is no draft pick compensation.
5. In no circumstance may a team lose a first round pick if that pick would be in the top half of the first round (picks #1 through #6). So, if Team 1 holds the #1 overall pick and signs a Type A free agent who played for Team 2, then Team 2 gets Team #1's second round pick.
6. If Team 1 signs two free agents of the same type (whether A or B), then the picks will be signed in chronological order. For example, the team that lost the player first signed by Team 1 would get the first round pick and the team that lost the player signed second would get the second round pick. Even if the player signed second is obviously better.
7. When picks are assigned, all Type A compensation will be assigned first and then all Type B compensation. So, if a team signs three Type A free agents and one Type B free agent, the Type B compensation would only be the team's fourth-highest pick.
7. There are no sandwich picks. Too much of a pain to try and administer given the way the game works.
8. Free agent draft pick compensation ends as of Opening Day. A team signing a Type A or B free agent after Opening Day owes no free agent compensation. So, for instance, if Hernandez had been eligible for compensation, Cairo still wouldn't have owed any picks because they signed him after Opening Day.
9. Picks received through free agent compensation cannot be lost as free agent compensation. So, for instance, if Team 1 signs Team 2's Type A free agent and then Team 2 signs Team 3's Type A free agent, Team 3 does not end up with Team 1's pick. Instead, Team 2 gets Team 1's top pick and Team 3 gets Team 2's top pick, even if it's lower than the Team 1 pick.
10. Draft picks are mobile and may be traded. Picks traded away belong to the new team for purposes of compensation. So, for instance, if Team 1 gets Team 2's first round pick through trade, then Team 2's first round pick can be assigned for the purposes of compensation as a result of Team 1's free agent signings.
This is going to be an exception to the "We Don't Fix Bugs" rule, but don't take it as a sign that we're going to begin fixing every bug in the game. It's basically a situation-specific thing.
Hopefully, that's clear. If you have any questions, including any hypothetical ones where you want to see how the rules will play out, put it in the comments.
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10 comments:
I think this is all fair. Can't wait to see it in action this offseason!!!
If the version in the game was more complicated, it definatly would have been a mess :)
The problem with the version in the game isn't that it was more complicated, it's that it flat out didn't work.
Complicated, but fair.
So if I trade away my first three draft picks, and then sign a type A frew agent from (say) Michael, he would only get my fourth round pick?
Paul, that's correct.
Exactly. And one of the reasons trading draft picks is so controversial in MLB. Also why there are sandwich picks in MLB.
Mack and I discussed sandwich picks but it would be too problematic to sometimes add a round between the first and second round. Especially since it wouldn't be a full round. Headaches galore.
Whoa, I hadn't thought of that wrinkle Paul raised. That's a problem, but I don't see a good way around it. I guess it would be helpful to have an updated list of the draft picks that have been traded, so at least we can all be on notice of what might happen. Does someone know the current status of draft pick trades?
I keep a running log of traded draft picks. I'll post a blog entry.
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