2020 Rule Change Voting Results

[Commish]

Prop #1: Alter Rule 14.1 so that only one team per league can win the wildcard (reverting back to the rules as they were from 1999-2018).

Yes: 14, No: 10, proposal PASSES (thank god!)

Prop #2 and Prop #3: Irrelevant, given that #1 passed.

Prop #4: Remove Rule 8.4, which states that teams must carry their top-5 and top-10 hitters (in IP and PA, respectively) on the 25-man roster from Chapters 2-5.

Yes: 19, No: 5, proposal PASSES

Prop #5: Remove Rule 5.7, which assigns an arbitrary rating of Pr/300 to any player who isn't rated at any defensive position.

Yes: 11, No: 13, proposal FAILS

Prop #6: Change Rule 5.7 to assign a rating of Pr/200 to any player not rated at any defensive position (only if Prop #5 fails.)

Yes: 12, No: 12, proposal FAILS

Prop #7: Remove all penalties and bonuses associated with Rule 7.18, beginning with the 2021 season.

Yes: 18, No: 6, proposal PASSES

[Commish]

Okay. Can someone please explain to me WTF the mentality is for punishing players that are not rated at any position THAT heavily when they are already punished by the game?

Also, what happens when a player has never played at ANY position in MLB during his entire career? I guess we just let the game handle it?

Also, WTF is the point of continuing a rule that hasn't even been enforced in over a decade?

[Mustangs]

If you haven't done it, nobody will probably notice if you still don't do it.

I'm glad to see the reward/penalty was pretty decisive... Regardless of which way it went.

Surprised and a little disappointed that Prop#4 passed with such majority. I actually voted NO because while I'm totally in favor of not having the requirement for pitchers because it only really affects 1 guy, eliminating the top 10 PA could lead to some ridiculous SUS rosters. Oh well. Guess we'll see. I'm pretty sure this rule had been on the books since the beginning, no?

[Mustangs]

Prop #7: Remove all penalties and bonuses associated with Rule 7.18, beginning with the 2021 season.

Yes: 18, No: 6, proposal PASSES

Just want to check something on this one.

Does this mean:
a) penalties and bonuses will still be handed out after the 2020 season but not the 2021 season
or
b) this year is the last for penalties and bonuses and all teams will have $63.5M for the auction/draft in January 2021

[Commish]

This coming season (2020) is the last season we'll have bonuses or penalties for wins/losses. And it's now capped at $5M.

[Mustangs]

Sorry, I'm still unclear.

I guess my question is will bonus/penalties apply to the cap for the 2021 draft/auction?

Sorry my confusion is when you say "season".

[Mitch_Gill]

Sorry, I'm still unclear.

I guess my question is will bonus/penalties apply to the cap for the 2021 draft/auction?

Sorry my confusion is when you say "season".

Option B

[Commish]

I guess my question is will bonus/penalties apply to the cap for the 2021 draft/auction?

No. After the 2020 season, we're all done with bonuses and penalties for wins and losses.

[Mustangs]

Ok, got it. Thanks.

[Nick_Cifrese]

After the 2020 season, we're all done with bonuses and penalties for wins and losses.

Until 2023 when we vote to reinstate bonuses and penalties.

[Commish]

Because you guys voted against Prop #5 (which was beyond ridiculous, but I digress), we now have to assign the totally arbitrary Pr/300 rating to DH-only players. Here are those players:

Nelson Cruz
Shohei Ohtani

Yes, that's right. We failed to pass a rule that only applies to two players. Here is the rule:

5.7 Any player who qualifies only at the DH position on the Diamond Mind disk will be automatically assigned to the position he most recently played in the MLB, and will be given a range rating of "Pr" and error rating of 300.

Cruz's last MLB position was right field (where he owned a career fielding percentage of .984.) He will now be assigned an error rating of 300 (three times the MLB average.)

Ohtani has never played any position in MLB other than pitcher and DH. So...what? My vote is to just leave his ratings as they are. But I don't want to be accused of "cheating." He played somewhere in the outfield in the Japanese league. Are we supposed to take that into account?

My ruling is: Pr/300 for Cruz, no change for Ohtani. Change my mind.

[Black Sox]

Where do you plan on playing him? I would give him a 300 Pr in LF. Let the game handle it after that. Maybe now you would be for the DH

[Commish]

It's stupid to give him a rating at any position, since he's never played any position in MLB. The rule specifically states MLB. Not Japanese league or Little League or any other league.

This is actually a great argument AGAINST the DH. If it weren't for that lame rule, maybe Anaheim would've played Ohtani in the field (where I assume you he'd be much better than Pr/300.)

[Black Sox]

This is the specific reason for this rule. There is a reason they did not play in the field - Injury (Tommy John surgery in Ohtani's case) or they are horrible defensively.

[Commish]

I just checked, and Ohtani's last position played in Japan was right field.