Thoughts on possibility of no agents

[bh1225]

Sean has said he is thinking of removing the agents from FCM. Not saying I disagree, I probably lean towards no agents more than keeping them. But things to think about:

The Mogul No Trade Clauses are pretty random and just bad. If 90+ players were signed in game, we would need to implement somehow a NTC system, in my opinion. Because players giving their long time team breaks will be taken advantage of and dealt. More likely helping the big budget/dominant teams. Also incentives might also need to be implemented into this. Big time players should get paid for their big time play. The contract amounts aren't what I am worried about at all, since the agent deals were all for the most part close enough to in game asking price.

Also I'm sure haven't put everything in here. This was just kind of a starting block for this. What does everyone else think? Agents? No Agents? Implementing systems for NTC/incentives? or not? Also if any other things you think might need to be implemented or not should be brought up. I, as well as others, would appreciate your input.

[hokeyrules]

A no agent system with not being able to sign anyone until they are in the 5th or 6th year works well in other leagues.

However, I know DJ is a staunch believer in not removing agents.

[GoIrish]

It is one of the things I am going to discuss with DJ. I see in some contract situations that the agent is agreeing to terms to less of a value in what the game is asking. I think we are at the point in this league that the asking price from the game is pretty spot on or is asking for more than what the agent is asking for. I think we just limit to players not being signed to deals until their 5th or 6th year (that way the players under contract are getting fair value in return).

I also think with the comp system that sounds like will be implemented (1 comp round after the 1st round) that will make comp eligible players have a little more value. With that, I do not think you will see hoarding as you eluded, most good gm's will trust their drafting abilities in that comp round and let some of the talent hit the FA.

[JRWorcester]

I guess I would lean towards no agents but I really do not care one way or the other.

[AndyP]

Well, one good place to start would be: why do we have them in the first place?

If I remember, a big part of it is realism of contracts.

[Hummingbird]

I lean towards No Agent.

[bh1225]

After thinking it all over... I lean towards keeping them. But we seriously need to speed up the agent process. Sometimes you won't get a reply for days when dealing with them. Agents aren't that hard to deal with.. when they're replying back in a timely fashion.

[mattynokes]

I think we've gotten to the point where agents aren't needed. Players tend to ask for fair amount in-game. There are some issues with going away from it that need figuring out.

The first issue is incentives and other things that have been negotiated in agent contracts that can't be done in-game. Part of the point of going away from agents is to simplify things and speed up the process. I'm sure simmers would appreciate not having to do the tedious work of taking incentives out of team cash. I would recommend 25% of the total incentives added to the salary. Incentives aren't supposed to be easy to achieve and I remember when I added incentives to Gabriel Gamora's contract, he only reached them a few times. I would think any mutual options or contract buyout clauses (like with OF Velorde) could be figured out with some other middle ground.

The second issue is how Mogul handles NTCs. It feels like it's completely random and Mogul doesn't know the difference between two years and two months. Below is what I feel would be a fair compromise.

1. No more cash buyouts
2. In-game NTC acceptance
3a. Can be traded to any team that is .500+ or within 5.0 GB of the division or wildcard July 1 to August 31 (Final year of contract)
3b. Can be traded to any team that has made the playoffs 2 out of the past 3 seasons and is currently .500+ or 5.0 GB of the division or wild card July 1 to August 31 (Two years remaining on contract)

[dlee2499]

please remove agents.

[sxr007]

Unless the problem of being able to contact agents is fixed, get rid of them. It cost me one SP this year when I tried to get hold of an agent well before the trade deadline. With no response from the agent, I had to trade the player instead of risking getting no compensation.