Free Agent Idea??

A few weeks ago, one of the other JBL owners (Brussels) suggested an idea for a rule change to Free Agents. The suggestion was simply that whatever the winning Free Agent bid was - that was the players FA salary for the season.

Now, firstly, I don't like this idea - in it's entirety - but I do like part of it. I'll explain.

The flaw in this idea is that FA players like Kurt Thomas, Zaza Pachulia, and others should never be able to have a $60 salary. It makes no sense. Chris Paul gets drafted on Auction night for $60 and I could sign Kurt Thomas for the same price??? That doesn't make sense. Also, if this system was in place, some very strange trades could occur. Years ago, we implemented the salary cap system ($200 minimum and $300 maximum) to prevent wacky trades when owners had given up. Adding a FA system like this would only make lopsided deals even easier.

Let's say I am out of it (hard to imagine I know) and my team is struggling around 10th place. My team salary is at $230 and I have Chris Paul for $60 bucks. And let's say those Chilliwack Offs managed to secure a hot shot rookie for $1 dollar and I want him - for simplicity sake - let's make him Greg Monroe. In our current system, I can't trade CP3 for Monroe straight up because I would be waaaay below the minimum salary cap. But, if I could sign any Free Agent (say Kurt Thomas) for $30+ dollars I could make this trade. What's the point of that?? I don't think that's what we're trying to accomplish in the JBL...

So...we (or me) are not even entertaining the idea of having a Free Agent system where whatever the winning bid is equates to his JBL salary.

Currently, if the winning FA bid is $1 buck - the JBL salary is $5. Any other winning FA bid equates to a $10 dollar JBL salary. And any player drafted on JBL Draft night maintains that salary all year.

Here is my proposal...

Any winning Free Agent bid less $10 or less - that is the player's JBL salary for the rest of the season (unless he was originally drafted on Draft Night). So, a winning FA bid of $4 dollars - equals a $4 JBL salary. Any winning FA bid of $11 dollars or more - equates to a $10 dollar FA salary (same as the current system in place).

Why do this??
Well, for one, think of the times your team is at a salary of $297. In the current model, where FA's are either $5 or $10, you can't sign any players without going over the cap. In the new system, you could sign a player for $1, $2, or $3 bucks and fit him on your roster (provided you have bench space of course).

I think this option would also increase the FA bidding strategy. In the current model, you quite often want to win a player with a $1 dollar bid so you can have him at that $5 salary in case you want to protect him down the road. Bidding $2 dollars and getting a $10 dollar JBL salary isn't as attractive because his keeper price becomes $15 dollars. So, with the new system, now you could pick up a player for $2 bucks and protect him for $7 bucks. Still a good bargain (depending the player).

So, what do you think?? Should we vote on it? I think it's pretty straight forward to understand in 2 sentences...

1) Any winning Free Agent bid of $1o dollars or less, the player's JBL salary will equal the winning FA bid. (Example - winning FA bid is $4 dollars - players JBL salary is $4 dollars)

2) Any winning Free Agent bid of $11 dollars or more - the player's JBL salary will be $10 dollars. (Example - winning A bid is $18 dollars - players JBL salary is $10 dollars)

I am not suggesting that the current model of $130 FA dollars to spend for the season is changed at all. I think it works just fine like it is.

So, there it is...I will post it to the website and see what happens. We require a majority of JBL owners to agree in order to implement this new FA system. (7 YES votes). A BIG thanks to Timbo for thinking outside the box and bringing the idea forward. I think this would be a good change for the JBL's 20th season. Good job Timmy!! Doube Rainbows to you!