MLB players opting out

[ldsjayhawk]

It seems like we are starting to see players opt out of playing during 2020.  What are the plans for those players & roster spots?

[indiansnation]

In mlb baseball any player thats opts out this yr will not get credit for playing this yr and wont get payed. So example david price was supposed to be a free agent come 2021 know that he is sitting out this yr cause his 2020 contract to go into 2021 as his final yr.

[Flash]

It seems like we are starting to see players opt out of playing during 2020.  What are the plans for those players & roster spots?

Trying to deal with all the variables due to COVID-19 is certainly an ongoing challenge.  We certainly can't expand our rosters to have a 60 player MLB pool, yet we have to have a way to deal with the players who opt out.  With that, it is not feasible to freeze player contracts of those players who opt out.  So, in the interest of fairness, if a player opts out, each GM would be given the opportunity to keep a player on an expiring contract for the 2021 season at their present salary if so desired.  They could also extend them, but they would have to utilize the stats for the 2019 season (since 2020 stats wouldn't be applicable), and the extension would begin with the 2021 season.  The 70% rule could still be applied if the stats of the 2019 season allowed for that type of contract.

Additionally, I believe that we could keep a list of players who opt out of play, drop them from your Fantrax roster, but keep them on your ProFSL roster for salary cap purposes (they would be listed under Cash Exchanges, Cap Hits, and Signing Bonuses.  This would open up MLB roster spots that could be filled with promoted MiLB players or acquired free agents.  These players would be protected from free agent bidding and then added back to a team's Fantrax roster for the 2021 season (or dropped if they are in the last year of their contract if the GM chooses not to retain them).

Just some thoughts.  I sent out a leaguewide e-mail to see if others have any ideas regarding this issue. 

[Thecliff]

Ernie, research of fantasy pros at both Yahoo and ESPN have suggested that leagues expand their InjRes slots up to 15 slots to include players opting out 2020 and to add one year to present contract. At fantrax all players opting out are receiving grey flag.

That is the course both Bush League and Wild Card Baseball 2 has documented.

[Flash]

Ernie, research of fantasy pros at both Yahoo and ESPN have suggested that leagues expand their InjRes slots up to 15 slots to include players opting out 2020 and to add one year to present contract. At fantrax all players opting out are receiving grey flag.

That is the course both Bush League and Wild Card Baseball 2 has documented.

That may be so, but arbitrarily adding a year to a contract doesn’t seem to be a fair and just thing to do.  Obligating a GM to future monies without their consent seems to go against the ideal of letting GMs have the freedom to run their teams. 

I’m keeping a record of who is opting out and opening up a roster spot on Fantrax by dropping them into the player pool.  With that, Colby suggested dropping the 2020 contracts to let GMs have that money to use for free agent one year contracts, but I am not inclined to do that either because it will artificially affect our Extension Value Scale—not to mention the impact it could have on future salary caps.