NTC Buyouts

[mattynokes]

I've had a personal situation with a player that's brought up an interesting situation for how NTC buyouts and waiving the NTC works. I'll say that I've long hated how Mogul does these. They're extremely random and seem silly that if you trade for Player X's friend (even if you stick him in AA), he'll accept the trade. So this is a two option suggestion. Keep in mind I still think the sign and trade rules should apply, so we're talking about these situations being awhile after a deal is signed.

1. Eliminate Mogul's way of bypassing NTCs.

We could have guidelines to follow or possibly trade mod/agent approval.

1. Ties to city (Born/College/Previous Team)
2. Winning Team (.501+ Win%)
3. Playoff Contending Team (Within 5.0 GB)

I would say if all three criteria can be met it'd be reasonable to think that the player would waive his NTC. If only one or two are met, then it could be up to the Mods to decide (or Agent if it's in the contract).

2. 1 Year Remaining NTCs

This is the exact situation I'm encountering. Craig Kimbrel has just one year left on his deal and I was asked about him by a playoff contender. It seems crazy that he wouldn't waive his NTC for the final two months of his contract to have an opportunity to go to the playoffs. We see this happen a lot where a guy signs a long-term deal and won't accept any trades, then during the last year of his contract he finally decides to waive the NTC in order to reach the playoffs. It just seems ridiculous to have to pay a buyout when it makes total sense for a player to approve the trade.

So, I think in these situations it should either be up for Mod or Agent approval and neither team should have to pay a buyout.

None of this is going to change my current situation, but it could help others in the future and bring some realism to the league. The point for the buyout costs of NTCs is to keep people honest in their contract offers, but players do waive their NTCs. If it makes total sense for the player to accept then I don't think either team should be forced to buyout the NTC.

[mike]

imo it would only make total sense if it was exactly like Kimbrels situation where he has 2 months left on his deal.

[hokeyrules]

With kimbrel there was a player you could have traded on your own team to make the deal go through. That is why I asked about him.

[GoIrish]

Your 2nd part makes a lot of sense to me. I think that is a tremendous idea that if a player has a NTC and he is in the last year of the deal that the NTC should be waived to a contending team. What player would not want to make a playoff run on the last year of his deal?

[AndyP]

I'm in agreement with that second part as well.