[IBL] PAD Comments About Ballot Items

[Nelson Lu]

For reference again, here are the ballot proposals:

http://wiki.ibl.org/dokuwiki/doku.php/2014_ballot_2

OK, here are my comments - please particularly see my comments about 2014-5 — in which I am calling for it to be withdrawn from the ballot completely, with my reasons — and see if you agree:

2014-4 (BF fatigue/rest):

It will be a perhaps painful adjustment, but I think it is long overdue.  The current system is unrealistic (it could have been made a bit more realistic with tweaks, for sure) in that someone could be potentially pitching what would be the equivalent of 200+ pitches a game and still be able to start on 3-4 day rest.  It is time to change it, and the system that Sean designed is as good as any.  It can also be tweaked further after the 2015 season.

I’d advocate for a Yes on 2014-4a.  I am advocating No on 2014-4b — it would ease the transition but drag it out further and requiring the combination use of two systems at once, which I think creates more problems than it solves.  I am also advocating No on 2014-4c, as unnecessary.

2014-5 (defensive ratings):

The wording of the proposal caught me by a complete surprise.  And perhaps I should have spoken up earlier, but work/other things has been extremely busy of late — with today really the first day that I’ve got nothing on my agenda that I need to do (after having completed an appeal earlier this morning).  This may not be a good excuse, but that’s what happened.

And with no disrespect intended to Sean, I believe this proposal as such is not an appropriate one.  It takes as a fait accompli that LF/RF are to be merged into one single rating, which I think is the wrong premise to start with — it only asks *what* to do with the merger of the ratings, not whether the merger will occur.  I believe that this is too big of an assumption to be itself not submitted to a league vote.  I am asking (again, hoping without disrespect) that this ballot item be withdrawn altogether and be done as a off-season ballot without the assumption that the LF/RF ratings *will* be merged.

As I see it, and I believe strongly, a merger of the ratings is the wrong thing to do.  LF/RF may have fairly interchangeable skills, but the skills are not completely interchangeable.  Meshing them basically assumes that a player will play LF/RF identically, which I believe is not the case.  The recently-departed-from-my-team Cody Ross, I think, is a major counterexample to that assumption - Ross has, for years that I’ve had him (and I believe before) always had far better ratings in RF than in LF, and I don’t believe that he’s simply a fluke.  Further, I think we see, at least anecdotally, that there are many players who look awful in RF who do not look anywhere as bad in LF.  Sean made counterarguments in the preseason discussion, and I respect those points, but I don’t think this is an issue that should simply be put into a ballot with the assumption that it *will* be done.  This is not quite like the arm situation (which I also believe should have been subjected to a vote, but which has far less impact).  This, I believe, makes the game less realistic, not more, and therefore is a step in the wrong direction and shouldn’t occur.  This is one place where Strat-O-Matic got it wrong, I feel, and we shouldn’t do what they do here.

But the point really isn’t whether I am correct about this or not.  I believe that this is more fundamental to the game than a simple playing rule tweak and is something that we should consider together.  IF the league membership agrees that the positives of merging LF/RF ratings outweigh the negatives, I’ll abide by that - I’ll have to.

If the item is not withdrawn, I am intending to abstain, and I would ask that others do so.  Again, no intention to disrespect Sean on this, but I believe the premise of the ballot item is wrong, and it should be completely redone in the off-season ballot.

2014-6 (revision of out-of-position ratings):

Yes, nicely done.

2014-7 (moving FTF section out of constitution):

No opinion yet.  Will think about it some more.

2014-8 (logging requirements):

No, as written.  While there might be some merits to them, the language used here is too broad as to what is required to be logged.  I am particularly uncomfortable with the language of "Failure to comply with these requirements is grounds for the visiting manager to request a replay” when we have way too many vague MIS instructions around in the league.

2014-9 (restriction of release of players over 100%):

No.  I think this is too restrictive.

2014-10 (increasing allowable stadium changes):

No.  I think the current change-every-three-years rule works well and should not be messed with.

2014-11 (requiring player to miss two series):

I am leaning toward a “No” about this.  I am not aware of any abuse of the current 3.3.2 that really should call for a change.  (Of course, it may be because PAD has not made the playoffs since it passed…)