Reserving Non-DL Players Prior to the Draft

In a post about a month ago, we identified a number of special considerations due to our earlier-than-usual draft date.  One of those considerations was to allow certain players who would clearly be starting the season on the disabled list to be reserved prior to Draft Day, even if they have not yet been disabled by their National League team.

The Executive Committee will evaluate each player's situation and determine whether he can be reserved going into Draft Day.  As described in the earlier post, there will be a very high standard of evidence required before the EC will allow such an exception - there must be no doubt that the player will start the season on the Disabled List.

If you have a player you think may qualify for an exception, notify the Executive Committee by posting a response to the Pre-Draft Reserves of Non-DL Players thread on the Executive Committee Discussion board in the Forums.  Include any details or links to published resources that may help clarify the player's situtation.  The EC will discuss the request on the board (all CFCL owners are welcome to contribute) and make a decision about the player.  Note that in some cases the EC may decide that a decision cannot be made right away.

In order to qualify for an exception, there must be CLEAR EVIDENCE that the player will start the season on the DL.  The Executive Committee will use various information resources whether a player meets the criteria, but at a minimum, multiple online sources must have reported that the player will definitely (not "may", not "could", not "might", not "will probably", not "will likely") not be ready to start the season.  We'll use other information in evaluating the situation, but the information available will likely vary by player.  There may very well be players who we say DO NOT qualify for the exception who actually end up starting the season on the DL.  Our goal is to make sure we do not allow an exception for a player who does not start the year on the DL.

Of course, players who do go on the DL before our Hard Roster Freeze (Friday March 26) are automatically qualified to go on the Reserve List - notification of this move will need to be given before the hard freeze.

Feel free to start a discussion on the Forum about any players you think would qualify for an exception, however the EC will likely wait until the week before Draft Day before making a final ruling - only in extreme cases (broken bones, surgery, etc) will the EC feel comfortable making a decision three weeks before D-Day.  The EC will make all rulings by Thursday March 25 at the latest, but except in rare cases, do not expect a ruling before Sunday March 21.

If you have questions about this process, post a response to this note.