Ruling on Daniel Hudson situation has been made

I have made a ruling on the Daniel Hudson situation, based on league opinion over the last 48 hours. Thank you to all who took the time to comment on the blog or privately to me, and offer opinion. It was all taken into account here.


I heard back from 10 of the 11 managers who were supposed to vote. Andy, Bob, Chris, Dave, Hal, Joe, Rick, and Shea all voted NO for Jack being allowed to cut Hudson penalty-free. Mike and Ken voted YES. Of those who voted yes, Andy, Bob, Chris, Dave, Hal, and Rick all agreed that Jack should be allowed to cut him for a lesser penalty -- a 5th-round pick, as opposed to a 1st-round pick. Joe and Shea said 1st round pick, no exception. With those numbers, we have 8 managers who agree he should be able to cut him or cut him for a lesser penalty.

My ruling is this:

Due to the combination of a rule up for interpretation with no past precedent, Jack can cut Hudson for a 5th-round draft-pick loss if he chooses to. Jack: I imagine you have your mind made up on keepers as is, but either way, all league members would appreciate a quick decision since we've delayed the keeper announcements and draft lottery longer than anticipated.

Because of the controversy this has caused and the need to clear things up, I am invoking executive power as commissioner (something I've rarely done) and instituting new rules going forward based on the discussion for the past couple years. See below.

BEGINNING THIS SEASON:

Keepers can not be cut during the season unless they die or retire. Period. Keepers are special players in this league and should be treated as such. You get to benefit from having and building your team around the same star power from year to year, and you have to take the lumps if that star power gets hurt. So that's the new rule. No in-season injury exemptions on keepers. Go join a non-keeper league if you don't like it.

BEGINNING NEXT OFFSEASON:

Keepers with 1 or 2 years remaining on their contracts who are known to be out until at least July of the following season (the halfway point) due to an injury can be cut on an injury scale. 1 year remaining = 7th round draft pick; 2 years remaining = 5th round draft pick. The "offseason" is defined as up until the very end of our keeper declaration period (usually the first week in February). Therefore, if your keeper gets hurt in spring training, you're stuck with him. Period.

Due to these new rules, I will allow everyone the opportunity to change their minds on a keeper decision they submitted. You have until 11:59 p.m. EST tonight. I have not heard anyone wish to previously, hence the quick deadline, and I don't think it will force anyone to change his mind, but I will still open it up as a possibility if you so choose.

I will again leave you with these final thoughts: This is a keeper league. You designate three players each year to keep for that season, and that's how it is going to be. Too much wishy-washiness on keeper rules in the first few years that should not be happening, and that's a bad job by me. If you don't like my ruling or rules here, you're welcome to apply for the role of Commissioner beginning in 2014.
-Andy