[Hell Atlantic]

i also want to flesh out rules regarding trading.

this is what i propose, and we can add/drop certain aspects as we see fit:

1. no player can be traded more than twice in a season. (seeing how this is striving to be a rather realistic league with low trading i don't see how this should be a prob, but i've seen other leagues start out with the best of intentions and quickly deteriorate into a trade-fest, so i think it's best to make this an actual rule so there's no misunderstanding).

2. any player signed in free agency needs to be on your team for one whole year PLUS can not be traded until July of the next year (the month of the trading deadline). i don't think you see many teams sign a player to a nice contract and quickly trade them for prospects. if that were to happen in real life that team would never be able to lure in good players.

3. we should have a "10/5" rule, but modify it to like 8/4. as you know, 10/5 rule is any player who's been in the league for 10 years and has spent the last 5 of those with the same team has a no trade clause. 8/4 works a little better in MP leagues, i find, since in OOTP the aging of players makes less older players good. there usually aren't many Barry Bonds/Roger Clemens types in OOTP, ususally after their mid-30's they hit a wall. 8/4 guarantees the player will still be solid by the time he hits that 8 year mark.

- what i'm seeking to do with this rule is make it so that you're even more limited in trading quality guys that would make the free agent pool worthwhile. it's very hard in MP leagues to have decent FA classes. when you limit the teams that an 8/4 player can go to that makes it more likely that player will go to free agency. let's face it, in real life a player *wants* to go test free agency, it's a right they've earned and they almost always cash in with overspending GMs. this doesn't really affect that many players - you don't really see a TON of 10/5 players in real life.