SS,MI,UTKang, Jung-ho (R) - PIT

[Fitzy1962]

How could this guy be available in our league?

He just signed within the last 2 weeks? How could he be signed last year legally?

Here's the link:

http://www.profsl.com/smf/index.php?topic=172158.0

[Jss0062]

How could this guy be available in our league?

He just signed within the last 2 weeks? How could he be signed last year legally?

Here's the link:

http://www.profsl.com/smf/index.php?topic=172158.0

He should not have been signed, the eligibility rule was amended on 8/25 and Kang did not become eligible until 1/16 so we will void that transaction and Kang will be available as a normal free agent when middle infielders are up for bid.  Next up after catchers are the corner infielders.

[Maydab23]

Someone please explain to me why he was not eligible to sign?

International players over age 23 with at least 3 years pro experience don't have to be signed to a MLB club in order to be signed. He is age 27 and been pro since 2006 in KBO.

The rules verbatim...

One exception to this rule is any non-draft eligible player who has not previously been part of an MLB organization and is at least 23 years of age and has played three seasons of professional baseball outside of the United States.  These players will be regular free agents. 

Reading that he is the same as a cuban pro and there have been many of those signed in our league before officially signing with an MLB club.

There have been lots of players signed like this in the past. I even have Kenta Maeda on a major league contract from a year ago as a speculative add. Am I missing something? Did the team in question use international funds or something? What eligibility rule change? The rule i copied and pasted is still under our rules section.

Thanks for any insight.

[chriscvc]

I'm also confused why this is suddenly being brought up and why the Kang bid has been removed. As seen above our rule clearly allows age 23 and up players to be signed even if they're internationals, and Kang is 27 (maybe 26 when signed, but shouldn't matter either way) and played for way more than 3 years in Korea. If there was a rule change it has not been stated in there and I have not heard of anything that would make the rule invalid.

[Jss0062]

Many was not a free agent at that point because he had not been posted and was under control of his KBO team. International players need to be signed in the real world before we have access to them. Maeda should not have been done but that was before me.  If you want to dump his contract that is fine with me. We are trying to replicate MLB closely in this league.  Trying to stash guys in the minors who aren't available is not doing that. 

[Jss0062]

The very first line of the free agency rules is "Players considered to be free agents can be bid on by any team."  He was not considered a free agent when he was signed because he was still under control of his KBO team.

[Maydab23]

Directly from the league rules:

"International free agents under age 23 who have not signed a contract with a major league franchise as of July 1st of the previous year are NOT eligible for the regular free agent period.  These international free agents will be part of the international free agency period beginning in July.  International players over age 23 who do not have a contract with an MLB organization are regular free agents. While a major league contract automatically trumps a minor league contract regardless of value, no minor leaguer under the age of 23 may be offered a major league contract."

That states an international player need not be signed to an MLB club to be a free agent in AFB if over 23 years old. I also believe the line you are referring to is free agent in the AFB sense, not real life.

If you want to change the rules now that you are running things is fine but I think it should be put to a vote and changes made to the rules stating that any international player not subject to international funds must be signed by MLB team before being allowed to be a free agent and signed in AFB.

As the rules plainly state this was a legal transaction. I don't have a problem putting things up to a vote and changing the rules but I do have a problem with disregarding the rules.

[Jss0062]

The line you have bolded just states that they are not subject to the international signing bonus pools and rules. It does not make them an eligible free agent.
The Asian players who have to be posted really are not eligible until they sign a contract over here. Just being posted isn't enough because sometimes an agreement can't be reached.
A player cannot be considered a free agent if his rights are held by club in a foreign league.
This was not a problem last year with Tanaka and Abreu because it was widely known they were ELIGIBLE free agents and everyone waited for the free agency period to bid on them.  Same is true Yoan Machada, he isn't cleared to sign yet and there has been no bidding on him even though he falls under J2 rules.

I will clear up the wording in the rules.

[Maydab23]

I guess we have vastly different interpretations of the rules. Regardless, many signings such as this one have been made by many teams in the 1 1/2 years I have been in this league without objection or complications until now. To start rectroactively voiding those deals is a slippery slope I would advise against. My suggestion would be to reword the rules and make it known to owners via email what the rules are and how you interpret them. Then start strictly applying them from this point forward. The worst thing is ambiguity which is what we now have with this thread. That is not fair to owners who have been building their teams over the last year plus using apparently differing interpretations of the rules.

[chrisetc21]

I wrote the rule when I took over the league.  The intent was to allow players over 23 to be regular free agents not subject to the posting rules or international free agent pools.  This opens the pool of free agents to the entire world, not just those contracted to major league teams or posted to MLB.

Writing the rule this way would allow owners in this league to research players outside of the US and sign them before they became MLB properties.  It takes time to research these things and I felt if someone wanted to spend that time they should be able to reap the benefits of that research.  Plus, I wanted a consistent rule for all players regardless of what foreign countries they were from.  As it stands in MLB, players from some countries are posted, some players need clearance from MLB, and other players are just free agents.  It's inconsistent, it's dumb, and I wanted something more uniform. 

Jeremy has taken over the league now however so it's his call how he'll interpret it I suppose.  Just wanted to explain to clear the intent of the rule. 

Several players were signed this way.  Rusney Castillo, Kenta Maeda, and some others I believe.