Disaster draft
Encyclopedia
A disaster draft or contingency draft is a procedure developed by professional sports leagues to rebuild a team's roster
if many players are disabled or killed.
, 1970 Wichita State University football team
, 1970 Marshall University football team, 1977 University of Evansville basketball team, the 1980 United States boxing team
, and the Russian 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team
. As a result, some professional sports leagues have developed contingency plans should such a disaster occur to one or more of their teams.
The closest that a North American major league team came to experiencing a similar accident was in January 1961, when a DC-3 carrying the Minneapolis Lakers crash-landed in Carroll, Iowa
.
s. Each league, however, has established procedures to decide whether an accident is of sufficient scale to activate contingency plans to help rebuild an affected team's roster, typically involving a special draft
.
.
The plan is triggered by an event causing the death, dismemberment, or permanent disability of at least five players from a team's active, disabled, or suspended roster during a season (including the playoffs), or at least six players during the off-season. Major League Baseball's commissioner will decide if the disabled club can continue play, in consultation with the MLB Players Association and the club.
The commissioner can hold a restocking draft to allow the disabled club(s) to select as many players as it lost, with the restriction that no more than one player can be selected from any one team. Each of the non-disabled teams makes five players available for the draft taken from its active list (or if during the off-season, from its reserve list), composed of one pitcher, one catcher, one outfielder, and one infielder (the remaining player can be from any position), subject to adjustments by the commissioner based on the players lost by the disabled club(s). If a team has fewer than three eligible catchers, it does not have to provide a catcher to the draft. The players provided must have at least the same amount of service time as the players that were lost, as of August 31 in the previous season, within sixty days (that is, a player's service time must not fall short of a lost player's by more than sixty days). Players with no-trade rights can exercise this right and not be placed in the restocking draft.
The commissioner and players association can also agree upon other appropriate relief for a disabled club.
(NBA) contingency plan activates if five or more players on a team "'die or are dismembered.'" A special "Disaster Draft" would be held in which other NBA teams could only protect five players, so that quality sixth men
would be available. No more than one player would be drafted from a team.
(NFL)'s contingency plan provides for both a "near-disaster" and a "disaster." A "near-disaster" is defined as fewer than 15 players on a team being disabled, and a "disaster" is 15 or more.
No special draft would be held for a "near-disaster"; the team would instead get preferential rights on any waivers
until the end of the season. If a quarterback
is among the fewer than 15 lost, the team would be able to draft up to two quarterbacks from all NFL teams with three available. Each team would be able to protect two, and the drafted quarterbacks would return to their original teams in the following season.
For a "disaster," the Commissioner would determine whether to cancel the team's schedule for the season. If the team's season is canceled, the team would have the first pick in the next regular draft
; a special draft would also be held in which each team would be able to protect 32 players. If not canceled, the "near-disaster" procedures would be used.
(NHL) contingency plan activates if five or more players on a team "are killed or disabled." The team would select players from other NHL teams, paying with funds from a special insurance fund. Once its roster has one goaltender
and 14 other players, a special draft involving the teams unaffected by the earlier selection could be held, with each team able to protect one goaltender and 10 other players.
has what it refers to as an "extreme hardship" provision, which can be used if "a team has less than 15 available players." However, this is a mechanism intended to be used on a "game-by-game basis," and any contingency plans that may exist for a disaster draft scenario are not public.
(KHL) contingency plan was implemented after the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash that killed the entire traveling roster on the team. In the policy, each team makes three players eligible for the disaster draft, with the team that suffered the disaster being able to call up five players from its farm teams. There is no mention of a goaltender minimum for the draft is mentioned, unlike the NFL disaster draft on quarterbacks or NHL disaster draft on goaltenders, or a mention of a team being able to surrender only one player, unlike other leagues, in the draft. The afflicted team will have a spot in the draft lottery, thus guaranteeing that the team will pick at least as high as 4th overall in the next KHL Junior Draft
and it will also be able to protect any player they want for the next five entry drafts.
Roster
A roster is a list of names of people involved with an organization of some kind.A roster can be a list of people and the times when they are required to work or a list of students in a classroom....
if many players are disabled or killed.
Background
Since the advent of modern mass transportation, there have been accidents that have killed every or almost every member of various sports teams, including the 1961 United States figure skating teamSabena Flight 548
Sabena Flight 548, registration OO-SJB, was a Boeing 707 aircraft that crashed en route to Brussels, Belgium, from New York City on February 15, 1961, killing the entire United States Figure Skating team on its way to the 1961 World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia.The flight, which...
, 1970 Wichita State University football team
Wichita State University football team plane crash
The Wichita State University football team plane crash refers to a 1970 plane crash. On Friday October 2 in that year, at 1:14 p.m., a Martin 4-0-4 aircraft flown by Golden Eagle Aviation crashed into a mountain eight miles west of Silver Plume, Colorado...
, 1970 Marshall University football team, 1977 University of Evansville basketball team, the 1980 United States boxing team
LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007
LOT Polish Airlines Flight 007 crashed near Okęcie Airport in Warsaw, Poland, on 14 March 1980, due to mechanical failure as the crew aborted a landing and attempted to go-around. All 87 crew and passengers died.- The aircraft :...
, and the Russian 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash
The Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash occurred at 16:05 MT on Wednesday, 7 September 2011, when a Yak-Service Yakovlev Yak-42, carrying the players and coaching staff of the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl professional ice hockey team, crashed near the Russian city of Yaroslavl...
. As a result, some professional sports leagues have developed contingency plans should such a disaster occur to one or more of their teams.
The closest that a North American major league team came to experiencing a similar accident was in January 1961, when a DC-3 carrying the Minneapolis Lakers crash-landed in Carroll, Iowa
Carroll, Iowa
-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 10,103 in the city, with a population density of . There were 4,698 housing units, of which 4,357 were occupied....
.
Special procedures
An affected team is expected to replace players using the minor leagues and by signing free agentFree agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
s. Each league, however, has established procedures to decide whether an accident is of sufficient scale to activate contingency plans to help rebuild an affected team's roster, typically involving a special draft
Draft (sports)
A draft is a process used in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Russia and the Philippines to allocate certain players to sports teams. In a draft, teams take turns selecting from a pool of eligible players...
.
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball's disaster plan is covered in Rule 29 of its Major League RulesBaseball business rules
The baseball business rules govern all aspects of the game of Major League Baseball beyond what happens in the field of play. There are a number of sources for these rules but they all ultimately are sanctioned by the Commissioner's Office of Major League Baseball...
.
The plan is triggered by an event causing the death, dismemberment, or permanent disability of at least five players from a team's active, disabled, or suspended roster during a season (including the playoffs), or at least six players during the off-season. Major League Baseball's commissioner will decide if the disabled club can continue play, in consultation with the MLB Players Association and the club.
The commissioner can hold a restocking draft to allow the disabled club(s) to select as many players as it lost, with the restriction that no more than one player can be selected from any one team. Each of the non-disabled teams makes five players available for the draft taken from its active list (or if during the off-season, from its reserve list), composed of one pitcher, one catcher, one outfielder, and one infielder (the remaining player can be from any position), subject to adjustments by the commissioner based on the players lost by the disabled club(s). If a team has fewer than three eligible catchers, it does not have to provide a catcher to the draft. The players provided must have at least the same amount of service time as the players that were lost, as of August 31 in the previous season, within sixty days (that is, a player's service time must not fall short of a lost player's by more than sixty days). Players with no-trade rights can exercise this right and not be placed in the restocking draft.
The commissioner and players association can also agree upon other appropriate relief for a disabled club.
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball AssociationNational Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
(NBA) contingency plan activates if five or more players on a team "'die or are dismembered.'" A special "Disaster Draft" would be held in which other NBA teams could only protect five players, so that quality sixth men
Sixth man
The sixth man in basketball is a player who is not a starter but comes off the bench much more often than other reserves, often being the first player to be substituted in. The sixth man often plays minutes equal to or exceeding some of the starters and posts similar statistics. He is often a...
would be available. No more than one player would be drafted from a team.
National Football League
The National Football LeagueNational Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
(NFL)'s contingency plan provides for both a "near-disaster" and a "disaster." A "near-disaster" is defined as fewer than 15 players on a team being disabled, and a "disaster" is 15 or more.
No special draft would be held for a "near-disaster"; the team would instead get preferential rights on any waivers
Waivers (American football)
Waivers is a National Football League labor management procedure by which a team makes an American football player contract or NFL rights available to all other teams...
until the end of the season. If a quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
is among the fewer than 15 lost, the team would be able to draft up to two quarterbacks from all NFL teams with three available. Each team would be able to protect two, and the drafted quarterbacks would return to their original teams in the following season.
For a "disaster," the Commissioner would determine whether to cancel the team's schedule for the season. If the team's season is canceled, the team would have the first pick in the next regular draft
NFL Draft
The National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...
; a special draft would also be held in which each team would be able to protect 32 players. If not canceled, the "near-disaster" procedures would be used.
National Hockey League
The National Hockey LeagueNational Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
(NHL) contingency plan activates if five or more players on a team "are killed or disabled." The team would select players from other NHL teams, paying with funds from a special insurance fund. Once its roster has one goaltender
Goaltender
In ice hockey, the goaltender is the player who defends his team's goal net by stopping shots of the puck from entering his team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring...
and 14 other players, a special draft involving the teams unaffected by the earlier selection could be held, with each team able to protect one goaltender and 10 other players.
Major League Soccer
Within its roster regulations, Major League SoccerMajor League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
has what it refers to as an "extreme hardship" provision, which can be used if "a team has less than 15 available players." However, this is a mechanism intended to be used on a "game-by-game basis," and any contingency plans that may exist for a disaster draft scenario are not public.
Kontinental Hockey League
The Kontinental Hockey LeagueKontinental Hockey League
The Kontinental Hockey League is an international professional ice hockey league in Eurasia founded in 2008. As of 2009, it is ranked as the strongest hockey league in Europe....
(KHL) contingency plan was implemented after the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash that killed the entire traveling roster on the team. In the policy, each team makes three players eligible for the disaster draft, with the team that suffered the disaster being able to call up five players from its farm teams. There is no mention of a goaltender minimum for the draft is mentioned, unlike the NFL disaster draft on quarterbacks or NHL disaster draft on goaltenders, or a mention of a team being able to surrender only one player, unlike other leagues, in the draft. The afflicted team will have a spot in the draft lottery, thus guaranteeing that the team will pick at least as high as 4th overall in the next KHL Junior Draft
KHL Junior Draft
The KHL Junior Draft is an annual meeting in which every franchise of the Kontinental Hockey League systematically select the rights to available amateur ice hockey players who meet draft eligibility requirements...
and it will also be able to protect any player they want for the next five entry drafts.