An Apology

[hokeyrules]

This apology is to FCM as a hole and specifically to Andy and Sean.

I would like to apologize for two different actions.

One incident that happened in 2020. The Rudy Delgado fiasco where I told the former Baltimore GM that I had a SS who was better than Rudy Delgado and I would give him for free if he backed out of the bidding race for him.

This was wrong even though I argued with Andy at the time that it was fine. As an admin I should never have done this as it does circumvent the rules we have in place.

The second incident is the Rafael Romero incident. I asked Boras to waive Romero's NTC to go to Baltimore, and even offered to give him money, which was declined. Due to this I decided I would get back at Boras by waiving him, and sneaking around by telling ARod that I would give him 8 million a year for 4 years as long as he kept Romero on the team. This circumvented the whole concept of waivers, trades and agents.

For this incident I want to apologize to the whole league, but mainly to Sean who was thinking of quitting, and to Andy who me and him had a second confrontation.

With this in mind, I never meant to hurt the league, I was just trying to find a solution for my team, and clearly I put my team ahead of the league.

So for those people who either read or accept my apology I will leave this in your hands.

If people want me to step down as an admin or even as GM of Florida I will do so. If you wish to post here you may do so, or you can send a pm to me and the other admins to keep your opinions from other GMs or even myself that is up to you.

-

Hokeyrules

[piazza31]

fuck that on you stepping down, one of the few gms in this league who actually is honest and smart and one of the best admins ive seen

[AndyP]

I put the Delgado thing in the past thinking it was learned from. When it became apparent with Romero that it wasn't, I brought it back. If you see those two situations as mistakes and have learned from them...then I'm cool.

I appreciate the apology, what I'd appreciate more is just a general tone (and it starts with admins modeling it) of people acting like real-life GMs. And in real-life there are rules and standards of conduct that GMs hold to in order to keep their job. In a loosely held together online league like this we have to be even more aware of that and considerate of each other because the same pressures aren't there for us to do so. It's more about us as individuals having some integrity and fair play. So as long as you keep that in mind hokey, I'm just fine.

[GoIrish]

Hokey, I really was angry at how you handled that whole situation. I understood your reasoning of why you wanted to move him, I just did not care for your attitude of "It is ok, I will just find another way". That is implying that you feel you are above the rules in place. That is something I have an issue with. If you understand that we have to hold ourselves to standards that is not a "win at all cost" mentality, then we are fine.

To be honest, I was not aware of the Delgado situation till you and Andy brought it up and along with anger over the situation, I felt disappointed in both myself and your actions. First I felt that I let the league down that I was oblivious to it and next I was disappointed that you would do something like that. Hokey, I think very highly of you and that really disappointed me but people make mistakes and this is a game after-all. So I should not take it as personal as I did.

My thought of leaving was not all on your individual situation hokey, I think you have known me long enough to know that I think of you as a friend and like any friend, we will have disagreements and arguments. For me, I sit at the computer and this league for fun and I really hate and despise arguing with people over the internet. I really don't want to throw an individual under the bus but since someone has left, that has become better for us and has made things a bit more enjoyable. I think what hit me more or less is I thought we were past that and up pops this situation and it just angered, upset and frustrated me to the point where I thought "f this".

So to make my long post short, in summation, As long as you don't try and bend the rules or circumvent rulings in place, then you have no issues with me.

Sean

[mattynokes]

Pretty much echoing what's been said, the circumventing the rules isn't acceptable, especially form an admin. In addition the general tone, of "I'm an admin, so I can do as I please" isn't acceptable either. Whether it's benefiting your own team or trying to initiate a new rule. I look at the NTC fiasco and how you, hokey, basically said "because I can, here's how it is". Now DJ basically did the same thing, but the explanation and general tone of his message was better.

With all that said, an admin surely has more power and rights over the general user, but it doesn't need to go to the extent of feeling like the power is being abused. I think this is a step for realizing what's going on and as long as we continue to keep up the integrity I'm fine.

[Cdawg]

The Romero incident actually happened before in another league that Hokey and I are in. PPL were giving silly contract and b/c Player options and NTC are common in that league, teams were bypassing those by waiving claiming "I'm not trading him, so he can't say no."
Honestly there are a few shaddy things going on in this league during FA. I think a few years back if you revolked your offers on a FA then the team still in the bidding gets a reduced price for him. And it gets to the point where you have to start writing rules for every little thing for us b/c if it's not writing we abuse it.

I don't think quitting or firing is in hand, but some sort of due punishment should be doled out. If it was me I would keep him out of the 1st round of the draft for 2 years(assuming he only has his 2 firsts. If he has 5 then another discussion/punishment is in order) And an even more ridiculous no Playoff appearance, ala NCAA rules like USC, for next season, but that's just to show that your serious.

But the first one, no 1st round picks. If he has this year's and next, he's not allowed to get any type A's nor should he be allowed to receive any(negotiable but I think we're doing sandwich so its a grey area) He can't trade for them or trade them away. when the draft comes, the worst player will be taken.

[mav3rek]

Why the need for punishment?

You've accepted that you made a mistake and have stood up and taken full responsibility for it and given a sincere apology.

I'd say lets learn from these incidents and strive to prevent such things from happening again. If they should happen again, lets try and keep it from escalating like it did.

In my opinion this is good enough for me. Forgive and move on. If it happens a 3rd time then yes, full banishment.

[AndyP]

I appreciate the serious tone you take to it Cdawg. I think people often forget how damaging it can be to a league to try and circumvent the rules. Then we make more rules and people find ways to circumvent those.

But I don't think punishment is necessary. We all want our teams to win and should strive to be successful. What people have to remember is that you can't let your individual team goals jeopardize the league. None of us can win anything without 29 other guys. So if we constantly act with a "who cares what everyone else thinks - let me do what I want to with my team" - then pretty soon there aren't 29 other guys to play with and then you aren't winning anything no matter how good your team is.

Work to make your team the best, but work even harder to make the league the best. The best way to do that is to act respectfully to the rest of us and honor fair play and integrity. Hokey hasn't been the only person guilty of this lately, his was just the most obvious. But if he shows he's learned from these two actions - then I don't see the need to kick someone while they're down.

[Corey]

As the New York Mets GM, I am demanding your resignation as the Florida Marlins GM by tonight at midnight or we riot.

As a member of this league, I am demanding you stay on as admin or we riot.

[jhc54]

Yeah Hokey I will hate you forever if you leave, stay and keep winning (not whining about resigning!)