Now that the overusage proposal has passed, I think it's important to clarify exactly what it means. The pre-existing rule applying to severe overusage said:
In cases of gross overusage, the Commissioner may impose greater penalties above and beyond the fine schedule.
I thought it was a good idea to have a rule for playoff disqualification explicitly stated. However, I voted against the proposal because I felt it implied that if you had overusage less than $325K, you wouldn't be disqualified even if you had intentionally overused to gain an advantage.
I doubt anyone had in mind that intentional overusage was ever okay in any circumstance, and that the Commissioner therefore could continue to use the pre-existing general rule to impose a disqualification penalty. But I'd be curious to hear from those of you who voted for the proposal about how you'd react to this situation.
Of course, the Commissioner could also set overuse fines such that anything other than minimal overusage would be greater than $325K.
It has already been suggested to me (jokingly....I think) that I raise the fine levels to $100K per PA.
I am most assuredly of the opinion that the Commissioner can and should disqualify or otherwise punish teams who have otherwise grossly overused players, per the prior wording of the rule. As at least one manager can tell you, however, I have a rather strong view that it's a high burden of proof to demonstrate that such punishment is warranted.
This rule was proposed in direct response to Tom allowing High Desert to remain in playoffs. The old rules were too subjective. This rule at least takes some of the subjectivity away from the Commissoner. I believe the rules still leave the Commissioner the flexibility to make a decision to strip a player of a division title if the the fines are less than the amount in the new rule, but the overusage is deemed as excessive. This remains subjective on his part.
There are some of us that believe High Desert's overusage, whether intentional or not, warranted removal from the playoffs. Tom ruled otherwise. The deed is done and no big deal was made of it, but this rule and some of the others were submitted to hopefully prevent this situation from occurring again.
By the way, we assumed that High Desert or Washington would be quick exits from the playoffs regardless of which one was allowed to proceed. Just goes to show you what can happen in a short series. Justice prevails if High Desert knocks both Laramie and High Desert out of the running. Tom may have doomed his own team and took his hated nemesis, Eric, with him.
