Drafts and late sign ups

Question
Mr Hoover: A recreational Little League Baseball League is looking to improve its drafting techniques. Below is a copy of our Draft order. Do you have any recommendations to help achieve parity in the league? Our talent pool is wide. One thing that is not discussed is late sign ups after the draft. The late players are currently dealt to the next team inline by lottery order.  Thank you in advance. Don

Parent/Player Request for Trade
In the event a parent or player is not satisfied with a team or coach from the previous year, the player or parent can request to be placed on another team. That player must be drafted and cannot be secured by any team.
1.   Protecting Players
a.   A Head Coach of the previous regular season (excluding: All Stars, Select, and Fall Ball) team may protect players for the current season that follow these conditions:
i.   The player must have played for the head coach the previous season.
ii.   The player must not exceed the maximum age requirement for the division of which the head coach is coaching in.
b.   If an Assistant Coach becomes the Head Coach of a team in which he/she was a member of in the previous season, the new Head Coach is permitted to protect players which follow the same criteria as a previous Head Coach. (Previous coach moves up in age bracket or resigns as a Head Coach.)
c.   If two or more Head Coaches from a previous season coach together in the upcoming season, no more than six (6) players in any combination from the combined teams may be protected.
d.   A new Head Coach with no previous team will be able to protect the coach抯 and assistant coach抯 son(s) only.
e.   Protected players MUST be established and noted to the division director at this time before proceeding to the next step of the draft.
i.   Any players not secured at this time will be drafted after the division try-outs.
f.   Any changes to a player protection status after this meeting will require review by the Board.
g.   Executive Board may override the number of protected players upon request.

2.   Declaring 1st Assistant Coach
a.   The child of the 1st Assistant Coach of each team is automatically protected by that team.
b.   The 1st Assistant Coach cannot be a parent of a player who has already been legitimately protected by another team in the previous step.
c.   If the child of 1st Assistant Coach did not play for the requesting Head Coach the previous year, the player of the 1st Assistant Coach of the previous year must go to try-outs and is ineligible to be secured.


3.   Try-outs and Drafting
a.   Position of protected players
i.   Head Coach抯 son(s) take slots starting at #3
ii.   1st Assistant Coach抯 son(s) take vacant slots starting at #1
iii.   All other protected players take next available vacant slots
b.   Before the draft each player will be given a chance to perform multiple tasks so that coaches can evaluate the player抯 abilities.
c.   Order of Picks
i.   A lottery is used to determine the draft order.
ii.   The first pick will be given to the Head Coach that has the lowest amount of players previously selected during the protection phase, and has the lowest  number selected in the lottery beginning at #1.
iii.   Draft picks proceed in order of lottery and team size until all teams are filled.
iv.   Coaches continue to draft until all players have been selected.
v.   Player/Parent requests are provided to assist in selections and reduce the number of trades.
d.   No more than eight (8) second year players may be placed on a team. (Ex卛n the age group of seven (7) and eight (8) year olds, only eight (8) 8-year old players can be placed on any single team.)

4.   Trades
a.   Trades will be allowed for one (1) hour after conclusion of draft and only facilitated by the division director.
b.   Trades are intended to accommodate player/parent requests
i.   Requests will be acknowledged and
ii.   Requests may or may not be possible based on the number of players available, number of teams, players skill level, etc?br> c.   Must maintain the player age balance of paragraph 2c.
d.   Trades made after the time limit will require review by the Board.


Answer
Don,

It sounds to me like your league has had trouble in past years during the draft.  I think it would be in the best interest of the league to follow the procedures outlined in the Little League Operational Manual.  With as much information as you have provided, it can cause questions and issues during the draft.

As for late signups I will give you the same advise Little League Baseball, Inc. does.  If the child did not signup prior to the completion of tryouts, your league can elect to not register the child for the year.  This is the simplest way to avoid issues as you mentioned in your question.

I hope this has helped.  Should you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

-Martin Hoover