Hidden players and the "Incaviglia Rule"

[Corsairs]

Note: This is a reprint of the text from this thread in the General Discussion forum.

An owner in our league has negotiated a trade that involves a hidden player, Antonio Martinez, who was uncovered through international scouting. Martinez was signed on August 25, 2008. It's currently June 7, 2009 (we've just concluded our amateur draft today). Our league uses the "Incaviglia Rule" by virtue of leaving the "Allow trading of recently drafted players" checkbox unchecked.

When I set up the trade I receive this message: "A. Martinez cannot be traded since he was drafted less than a year ago!"

So I've got a couple questions about this. First, Martinez was never drafted. My understanding was that the "Incaviglia Rule" only protected recent draftees, not international signings.

Second, I see in the manual that it says: "If [the "Allow trading of recently drafted players checkbox] is unchecked, then players with less than a full year of pro service who were recently drafted cannot be traded." Interesting; that seems to indicate that it's not just recently drafted players but any player with less than 1 year of pro service. However, Martinez is listed as having 1 year and 63 days of pro service under his "Contract & Status" tab. Does he not qualify as having a full year of pro service until the end of the season in which he hits the 1-year mark? And if that's the case, how would a person be able to tell whether or not a young player qualifies to be traded without actually setting up the trade in-game (something non-commissioners can't do in online leagues)?

[Nutlaw]

Originally Posted by Corsairs

Does he not qualify as having a full year of pro service until the end of the season in which he hits the 1-year mark? And if that's the case, how would a person be able to tell whether or not a young player qualifies to be traded without actually setting up the trade in-game (something non-commissioners can't do in online leagues)?

Yeah, it checks their status once a year. I don't know if it's the end of the season or when.

As for knowing if the player qualifies to be traded, one would know more or less how many days have passed in the current season and could quickly count backwards to figure out if the player had more than a year's worth of experience at the start of the season. Granted, it's not ideal by any means.

[Corsairs]

I gotcha, and that would explain it. Counting backwards, Martinez would have been just short of 1 pro year when the season began. Alright, as long as it's expected behavior then it's something I can plan around. Thanks for the reply!