Brooklyn State of Mind: Robins Team Statement On Free Agency Processing Issues (2059.1)

[lordtoffee]

Press Conference: Ebbets Field, Brooklyn. Robins Chief Baseball Officer Ben Heuring walks to the podium in the media room. His face is expressionless, and looks out at the assembled media

"Good evening. I am here to speak on behalf of myself, Mr. Ganesh, my bosses, front office, players, coaches, and staff of the Brooklyn Robins. I had hoped that I would be here under happier circumstances to announce two prominent signings after contracts were agreed between the team and those player's representatives. Unfortunately, that is not the case, as free agency has been reopened for those players that have signed. We all saw what the BBA Governing Board said, and their rationale. The decision by the Governing Board is final and binding, as they indicated in their statement. At this time, I will speak on what happened from the perspective I had over the past few days, and explain my side of the story. This isn't to blame anyone on the Governing Board, as this decision was likely difficult and was going to anger someone in the BBA community.

So how free agency works is that there is a computer software to process and hammer out agreements with free agents and their representatives. Until the past couple of days, everything in the offseason had proceeded as normal. The Robins and our fellow BBA clubs had determined who they would like to sign, what their budgets had looked like, their cap situation, and how the option/opt outs had gone. The Robins had determined what to bid for Sammy McNeil and Alaric Wullenweber with the intent to see how they reacted. I would have been fine if they had signed elsewhere for more money, a better team situation, or any other reason. Changing the team's offer to a higher amount isn't a problem for me. It's nothing personal against me or the organization, and I don't blame free agents for doing what they think is best as they have to take what they consider the best offer. After hearing back from both players, we ended up with the contract figures that were reported, and sent the contracts in for league review to make sure that everything was on the up and up. Once we sent in the contracts, we assumed that since the signings were confirmed by the league that we were good to go, and had made plans with regards to the rest of the offseason. Those contract offers were made with the assumption that the Robins would be bidding blind, and were given feedback from the players about what they thought about the offer. When those signings were confirmed by the league, we ended up starting the process of doing the normal steps a team does when they sign a free agent. Those two contracts were made public in the computer software that is made public to those at the league and for the front office of the teams.

On Saturday, I had gotten contacted by Mr. Ganesh and representatives from the Governing Board that there was a problem with the computer system, and that the deals for the two players that the Robins had signed, as well as other teams signing players would be considered void, and that those players would be back on the open market per discussions of the Governing Board. Needless to say, the Robins front office had a reaction that one might expect. This isn't about not upping those offers to players, as that is standard. If we had been outbid under the original free agency process, that is fine and the team would have moved on to other targets. What was the cause of the reaction the Robins had was that while the league is within it's rights to invalidate a contract, that the contract information was in a part of the computer software that the BBA uses that the league office and all 32 teams have access to, and that only the Robins contracts were made public as the "winning bids" from the original bidding process. The Robins submitted those bids expecting that they were to be confidential, to be only announced when the contracts were approved as has been the case through the many offseason that I have been an executive in this league.

Ultimately, the BBA made their decision, and nothing is going to change on that front. I can't promise the Robins fans that we are going to get McNeil and Wullenweber anymore, nor can I promise that the offseason is going to look the way I thought it might look after those two contracts were signed. What I can do is to apologize to the Robins fans for this mess, and I ask that you don't send any angry mail to the BBA office or the Governing Board. They got enough stuff to worry about. The other thing I can promise you is that I will do everything in my power to give the Robins the best offseason that I possibly can, and that this franchise will win. Thank you for attending this press conference. I am under strict order to answer no more questions on this matter."

Ben walks away, and takes a deep breath. He gets back to his office, and closes the door.

[recte44]

I was going to pursue a storyline that I dreamed transactions were processed, and we didn't sign anyone...then I woke up and my assistant GM informed me that we didn't sign anyone.

[RonCo]

Someone crossed the time streams.

[recte44]

Someone crossed the time streams.

I blame the portal.

[lordtoffee]

I was going to pursue a storyline that I dreamed transactions were processed, and we didn't sign anyone...then I woke up and my assistant GM informed me that we didn't sign anyone.

Maybe this is the BBA version of the last episode of Newhart, where I wake up next to Suzanne Pleshette and it was all a dream. I'm good, and already got some irons in the fire that I am excited about.