With Andy Stone having been traded in a blockbuster to Melbourne and then immediately dissing his new team, Mumbai manager AP MP fielded several questions regarding the Andy Stone saga in today's press conference.
"Man, I haven't ever seen so many reporters here to ask about a FORMER player!
The following is my official statement on the matter, and I won't take any other questions...you'll have to ask Andy or our league commissioner.
Andy had an opt-out after this year but never indicated that he would exercise it. In fact, our original plan was to sign him to an extension, effectively forcing an 'opt-in,' and we even started discussing it with Andy. But we quickly learned that we were just too far apart. Andy's age and injury history meant we couldn't offer the money or years he wanted. So, ownership decided to include him in the package being sent to Melbourne.
I feel for Melbourne, but there's nothing I can do. When Andy was traded to Melbourne on October 26th, he was a Cobra, and had not opted out of his deal. When the league executed the trade a week later on November 2nd, he opted out immediately following the trade execution, which resulted on Melbourne being unable to start talks on negotiating an extension with him. When I came into the office on November 2nd, I had a message from Andy's agent that Andy opted out. I think the agent just screwed up, because the the ink on the Melbourne deal was dry, and even the mail message telling me Andy had opted out listed him as a Melbourne player."
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