Ottoneu Prestige League has a new rule regarding teams that are eligible to join. It has been added to the rules page and the OPL dashboard.
Teams in leagues with custom rules including but not limited to arbitration/inflation adjustments, any kind of coupon system and/or extended MiLB-only rosters are ineligible for OPL and will be removed from this contest once detected.
This will rely both on some software detection and manual inspection and will take effect starting with the 2022 OPL.
Can you please clarify whether leagues will be allowed to āget rightā for 2022: e.g., can a 5MiLB league add all players to rosters (as $1 players) during the offseason and remove the MiLB rosters going forward in order for teams to be able to participate? Or will teams have had to be āstandardā for x number of years prior?
Sure. My inclination is for leeway here. If leagues decide they want to get rid of custom rules in the 2021-22 offseason and do not have these rules in place when OPL registration opens up in March '22, those teams will be eligible for OPL.
Just to be clear, any league that does not to standard inflation or arbitration at the end of the 2021 season will not be eligible for 2022 OPL, even if they plan on having normal arbitration/inflation in 2022.
However if your league decides to do away with MiLB rosters and donāt have them once 2022 OPL opens up for registration, teams in that league will be eligible to join 2022 OPL.
The league I participate in, League 168, uses a coupon system. In 2021, there are two teams from this league in OPL. The coupon system is in place to, 1) Exact a price for those teams who take on huge loans (reduced coupon amount), and, 2) Exact a price for not reaching certain innings and games limits (again, by reducing coupon amount).
The $2 increases result in 12 * 23 (avg # of players kept) * 2 = $552 of league inflation
Arbitration which is almost always met by all teams: 12 * 33 = $396 of league inflation
Maximum coupon amount is: 12 * 16 = $192 of league deflation - so about 20% of total
Any chance that this coupon system could get in via your leeway considerations?
No, any league that uses a coupon system that reduces arbitration will not be eligible for OPL in 2022. If you choose to get rid of that coupon system now, then that league will be eligible.
Okay.
FYI, we actually suspended the coupons for 2020 since it was a screwy season so there was no adjustment of arbitration last season.
No one is going to be yanked out of the 2021 OPL. This change is for 2022 OPL and beyond.
Here is a note I made on our League (#168) comment board (my team is Framber Comes Alive). Note, Iām not objecting to the ban nor am I making the tack & sledge hammer metaphor. Just pointing out it will take some time to level the playing fieldā¦
Thanks, Dave. Iāve had a good run of luck so far. As for the Prestige League, this is probably a one off. Next year theyāre going to ban teams from leagues with any rule that deflates salaries in any way, including coupon systems like ours. Thereās a Nivshah thread in the Community Pages that speaks to the ban. (1/3)
The irony is that we suspended the coupon rule for our league this year so itās not contributing to my run, especially when compared to some leagues where they not only suspended arbitration last yr but also league wide $2 raises. Those teams will enjoy an OPL advantage for years even as they turn back on standard Ottoneu rules this yr. (2/3)
But I respect the desire to level the playing field and in a couple of years they might get close but theyāll never eliminate non-competitive leagues where 2 or 3 teams dominate and the rest of the league checks out allowing the dominators to cherry pick talent for $1 apiece from June thru Sept. Thatās the opposite of our league. (3/3)
Iām assuming this means H2H leagues that limit GS per week (change setting from 2 SP slots per day) will be excluded as well. Is that assumption correct?
No, any league settings that are available on the site are not considered ācustomā rules.
Following up on this: I am working with my leaguemates to end the MiLB system in my league. I might be able to get a majority to vote away drafting in the upcoming season, but I donāt think I could reach a majority to completely wipe away the existing MiLB rosters. Would grandfathering in the existing MiLB rosters be acceptable, as long as we cease the addition of players to those rosters moving forward?
Itās a good question and I understand where you are coming from. Ultimately having MILB rosters of any form is a distinct advantage for OPL-specific team-building and any leagues with free MILB players on a side roster will not be allowed to enter 2022 OPL.
Iāll have more details about how this will be enforced this offseason, but the bottom line is it is a hard rule: any rule or roster that a league implements outside the platform will disqualify that league from 2022 OPL.
Niv, no answer required immediately. You can think on this. But Iām contemplating opting out of my leagueās coupon system this season if it means I can play OPL in 2022. As related in a post above, the entire league suspended the coupon system for 2021 and I would be opting out for 2022, refusing the $16 of cap space relief, again, for the second year in a row.
There doesnāt appear to be momentum for removing the coupons rule altogether via rule change so Iām wondering if an individual team opt out of custom rules would be allowable for next yearās OPL admission.
rustydude aka Framber Forever
Appreciate where are you coming from here. However, if a league has custom rules it is fundamentally altered, so anyone in that league cannot participate in OPL. Itāll be league-wide for 2022 OPL, with no single team exceptions.
For those leagues who have gotten rid of OPL offending rules, such as coupons, will there be a re-evaluation of OPL elgibility?
FYI, league 168 got rid of coupons rule in May 2021 and last coupons were applied in October 2021.
If you are in a league that is not OPL-eligible and you want me to review that, just send an email to help@ottoneu.com.