Mr. EFL Answer Man: When can we use players at new positions?

Dear Mr. EFL Answer Man:

You’re amazing…! About the free agent list: are all the June debs on there? Is there a date they were cut off? Or do we get the whole month since our June meeting is in July? Thanks!

J…, PhD

Dear Dr. J:

(They) cut it off after June 30.

— Answer Man

Dear Mr. EFL Answer Man:

When is the deadline for identifying new defensive positions for July?
Sent from my iPad.

J…

Dear J:

The appearances have to be before June 30. The deadline to tell (the league) about new positions arising by June 30 will be when rosters are set Saturday evening at midnight.

— Answer Man

Dear Mr. EFL Answer Man:

Doesn’t it mean that I can’t allocate him to start the month but I can use one of my three moves to insert him if/when I want to, right?

— J…, PhD

Dear Dr. J:

Here’s what the rules say:

As the season progresses, the Commissioner will periodically update defense ratings by using metrics of the players’ performance during the season. If a player has no defensive rating from the previous year at a position, he receives the replacement rating at his first appearance at that position, as follows: C: 6.0; 1b: 2.0; 2b: 6.0; ss: 7.0; 3b: 3.0; of: 1.0. A player with no defensive ratings at all receives a replacement rating at the position the Commissioner determines is his main defensive position.”

Up to now the Commissioner has been interpreting the first sentence to govern the second, so defensive updates happen “periodically.” He has so ruled on several occasions. If you ask me what the rule is, I’d say it is you don’t get access to new defensive positions until the start of the following month.

But after Jamie’s question I re-read the rules. The interpretation we’ve used is reasonable, but it isn’t the only one. We could interpret the second sentence as an exception to the general rule — and award ourselves the right to use a player immediately at a new position once he’s appeared there.

Given our past practice, I suspect the change in interpretation would be a rule change. I think I’d lean toward endorsing that change, but it might be one we would want to make between seasons, not on the fly midseason when the benefits of the change are not likely to be equally distributed.

And just in case this is about Clint Frazier — he was already rated as a 1 OF because every EFL player who is not a pitcher automatically “receives a replacement rating at the position the Commissioner determines is his main defensive position.”

— Mr EfL Answer Man