Salary Cap Violations

[raisingarizo]

First off Diamondbacks pulling other teams into the argument is done in error and poor taste. You are supposed to be at the top of the rules understanding chain. The teams that had 50+ players and resolved it in time, are not in violation of any rule. So I ask you to stop suggesting that you being excused is a big service performed by you for the rest of the league. To the best of my accounting just about every team to surpass 50 players corrected it in a timely fashion (according to the rules)going back to even OFs. This rule pointed out by the Royals is verry cut and dry about roster over population .

Now the period of time being examined is now (last week). A decision prior to last week was made with a lot of discussion, I might add to treat the past as a learnig experience. Therefore it has nothing to do with last week (now). In fact since all teams were forgiven for accounting errors and everyone was told to be more careful it contradicts your argument. In essence the past forgiveness gave every team extra notice, better perspective and more time to bone up on the rules about this and to thoroughly check their math. In my opinion less forgiveness should be included not more.

I personally appreciate your argument that it was an honest mistake. I too made in honest mistake and allowed for 24 more hours than I should have. However being that the rules are in writing and have been reemphasized over 3 weeks the invisible line has been crossed. Some teams (Angels, Yankees and 2 more since) have been penalized so clearly the league has entered the penalty phase. I appreciate your enthusiasm for this discussion. However pointing out other teams not already part of the discussion is a little bit of hall monitoring and kind of low rent as an excuse. Teams look up to you and the other commissioners to set the example. If you will not accept responsibility and the consequences how do you ever expect anyone in the league too. When you are on the other side of this equation you won't want to hear a team asking to be treated differently than the other teams. It is very possible the other teams are all telling the truth about making an honest mistake. Aside from Harris complaining about the severity of the penalty (not refuting responsibilty) none of the penalized teams are acting like they expect to be excused for the rule violations.

I know you are a commissioner for a good reason and I am not trying to pick on you. I just think there has to be some (minor) checks and balances with the leadership of any league. In any event your mistake being excused while others are punished appears on the surface to be special treatment. I was in a league where the commissioner got this "special treatment" and the league melted faster than the polar caps. Most of the teams in that league preferred a root canal to participating any longer in that league. Egos were bruised more than Rhianna. I guess to simplify I am suggesting to you and all of the other commissioners that the decision is for either all of the teams are excused this week or none of the teams are.

Personally I feel like I made a mistake that I could have avoided. After all almost 30 teams avoided the very same mistake. The rules stipulate XYZ and were given to me well in advance. So if I am penalized so be it. I can say I won't make that mistake again (famous last words). I know a lot of work is done to make this league operate. The time you guys spent last week arranging winning bids is not lost on me. To that end I thank you and the other commissioners for making this my favorite fantasy league.

[Deleted]

I wasn't trying to point fingers that's why i never named names. I like you was merely pointing out this penalty should be applied to all gms or none. As I stated before, I didn't see that 48 HR post. But, for me, I look to "official " league rules section for my rules. And in those rules it says nothing about a 48hr. Period for fa. The Scott boras post was merely a reminder for teams to use the proper format for bids. If it was meant to be a rule change then it should have been stated and moved to the proper area, and that comes from me as a GM and as a comish. Whether its a mistake on the lo side or my side I just want to clear it up for future situations can be solved.

[mikekottka]

Rules are the rules, whether you realized it or not you admittedly made a mistake (Diamondbacks) and you and the padres should be penalized for not managing your team correctly. This is what the rules state, and you should have to be held to the rules regardless if you meant to break the rule or not.
Preston clearly stated that exceeding the salary cap for any reason other than an arbitration figures causing it in this league is frowned upon and will be dealt with immediately. To your own admittance, you exceeded the salary cap due to your own mistake, and because you are a moderator, you should be held even more accountable because of your position.
I am brand new to this kind of league, and I clearly understood that rule and the constitution of this league, so if you can't manage that same ability, then maybe you are too focused on the league instead of your own team and maybe passing the baton onto another more qualified moderator while you stay focused on keeping your own team under the cap. (This is not an insult, just a helpful suggestion.)
In addition, not giving the players in question to the next highest bidders is another breach of the rules of this league and should be addressed. Whomever the acting Commish is needs to look at the rules and apply them to the situation at hand. The rules ARE VERY CLEAR on the penalty for exceeding the cap, whether someone made a mistake or not, so I hope the rules and the integrity of this league is maintained!
If I miss out on one of the players I bid on due to someone else's mistake, I don't think my team, (or anyone else's for that matter) should be penalized for that. Now that these players are brought to the spotlight, chances are they will go for a higher amount now that people have payroll's maxed out. The rules need to be followed by all, and people should take there medicine if they screw up, that is all from me on the subject, lets hope fact and logic prevail on this one.
The Brewers

[Deleted]

Brewers you just said 2 things that just strengthen my point. First, is that rules are rules and in those rules there is nothing stating a 48 HR rule. Which means anyone who exceeds 50 man on their roster, their bids will be invalid. Secondly, you said only possible acception for going over cap is arbatration. And that is my exact issue. Math aside, a few of my players contracts for arbatration weren't posted until after I sent my bids and got my priority list together. The math is only why I'm 3m over now. Because if it wasn't for my most recent arbatration deals I would still be under because I would have had 18m to work. With and only spent 13.2m. Giving me 5m to work with.

[Harris]

No.. because you were 11M over cap until you made that deal with the Red Sox. No excuse for being 11M over the cap.

[Royals GM (Mac - Retired)]

DBACKS what are you talking about...what the brewers said does not strengthen your point. he was mistaken when he said there is nothing that says there is no 48 hour rule because i showed you there is a 48 hour rule. i cant believe that you are continusly fighting this when we are proving that you had a salary cap error and you need to be penalized like the rules says. i have thrown fact after fact after fact that shows that you broke the rules and didnot follow your salary cap guidelines. own up to your mistakes. the league needs to change how they are punishing you and SD because what they are doing is not what the rules states. believe me, i have no problem bring up all of my facts.

the fact of the matter is that 48 hour rule is in the rules thread, and if you want rules changes ,then you need to send them to the proper channels

[Former Astros GM (Jason)]

Alright fellas, i am going to make this post and then the decision will go back to LO....The Padres sent in a priority list to FA account that may have been overlooked and not properly handled...that situation will be investigated....If that is the case as a member of the LO i will accept that responsibility and the fault lies within those individuals doing the FA bids....when there are over 200 bids and priority lists a mistake can be made. As Far as the Dbacks is concerned There was a miscalculation to his roster that currently puts his roster approx 4 million dollars over(a violation of the leagues Salary Cap policy). At some point whether it be roster size or Salary Cap there are probably a good amount of people that have been in violation of league rules. Bruni made a mistake in his calculations and should be penalized and the extent of which will be debated amongst the LO. For the Future an offseason ROSTER FLEXIBILITY rule will be discussed allowing for a few extra roster spots and a little extra cash maybe 4 spots and 10%. with free agents abundant and trading very active it might be the best solution. Any comments regarding that can be made under rules discussions. This league is meant to have fun and build a team. mistakes are made. 1 mistake by somebody compared to obvious rules violations with disregard to the league are two different things.

[Nationals GM (Preston - Old)]

Feb 2, 2010 15:26:30 GMT -8 Former Astros GM (Jason) said:

Alright fellas, i am going to make this post and then the decision will go back to LO....The Padres sent in a priority list to FA account that may have been overlooked and not properly handled...that situation will be investigated....If that is the case as a member of the LO i will accept that responsibility and the fault lies within those individuals doing the FA bids....when there are over 200 bids and priority lists a mistake can be made. As Far as the Dbacks is concerned There was a miscalculation to his roster that currently puts his roster approx 4 million dollars over(a violation of the leagues Salary Cap policy). At some point whether it be roster size or Salary Cap there are probably a good amount of people that have been in violation of league rules. Bruni made a mistake in his calculations and should be penalized and the extent of which will be debated amongst the LO. For the Future an offseason ROSTER FLEXIBILITY rule will be discussed allowing for a few extra roster spots and a little extra cash maybe 4 spots and 10%. with free agents abundant and trading very active it might be the best solution. Any comments regarding that can be made under rules discussions. This league is meant to have fun and build a team. mistakes are made. 1 mistake by somebody compared to obvious rules violations with disregard to the league are two different things.

Yes. The Commissioner's Office will discuss the plans about a future rule.

As far as Eric is concerned, there will be NO special treatment. If you ever find me or any other individual to be in violation of the rules, alert me, and the fellow commissioners and I will then penalize accordingly.

In terms of Eric's argument against the rule essentially saying that you can never go over the 50-Man roster, the Scott Boras post takes precedence since it was not only posted after the rules, but it was also an official statement from the Commissioner's Office. The only problem with it was that it wasn't updated in the rules. That post, however, is an announcement on all the boards, so everyone is responsible for reading it. In summary, teams do have 48-hours to get back to 50 players.

Furthermore, this argument does not in any way have to do with the salary cap situation. The Scott Boras post never said anything about a grace period for the salary cap, and therefore, one may never exceed the cap, as it says in the rules. As a result, the teams that exceeded the salary cap, will be held responsible and will be penalized. The only thing left to determine is the exact punishment.

Since this will take some time, with an announcement coming this weekend, Eric and Amy's players will remain on their roster, but they may not be moved. They may, however, trade other players, but those moves will not effect the punishment as they still had exceeded the cap.

The Commissioner's Office asks that the rest of you remain patient as the we deliberate.

[Nationals GM (Preston - Old)]

Bump for everyone to read.

[kevin]

I just want to apologize for any confusion i may have caused, I was under the impression Jason and I had the go-ahead to figure out a resolution and punishment but that was not the case

[Nationals GM (Preston - Old)]

Official Ruling

The Commissioner's Office has determined the following penalties for Amy and Eric B.:

Due in large part to the Commissioner's Office error when awarding free agents, Amy will be able to keep Bronson Arroyo and Doug Davis, the top two on her priority list that keep her under the cap. As a result, Brett Myers and Noah Lowry will return to the free agent pool. Amy will not be allowed to bid on these two players.

Eric B., on the other hand, will be allowed to keep Justin Duchscherer, while Eric Bedard will return to the FA market. Had I been home and able to do the FA bids, he would never have been awarded Bedard in the first place, and there was a lot of confusion that night. Duchscherer will be allowed to remain with Eric since he was #1 on his priority list and would have been able to afford him regardless. Eric, however, is largely responsible for the events that took place involving this issue and will be suspended from all transactions for one week, starting today.

The Commissioner's Office hopes that the rest of the league will respect the penalties distributed by the CO. There will also be an amendment posted later on that will discuss a period of leniency for going over the 50-Man limit and salary cap. If you have any issues with this ruling or you would like further explanation, please PM me. If you post directly to the board or cbox complaining of the ruling, you will be suspended for one week of transactions. Everyone agreed to respecting all GMs and the decisions of the CO in the League Constitution, and future disrespect will not be tolerated.

- Commissioner's Office