The Melbourne Stars are determined to turn their fortunes around in the Big Bash League and are willing to be aggressive in their approach this offseason.
The fact that the Stars have missed out on the finals for the past three seasons will undoubtedly be a driving force behind their desire to make significant changes.
By saying "everything on the table," they are likely considering a range of options to rejuvenate their list, such as recruiting new players, letting go of underperforming players, and making changes to their coaching and support staff.
They have started by trading off Australian limited overs leg spinner Adam Zampa with cross town rivals Melbourne Renegades for BBL|13 when the official trade window opens.
Zampa was the stand-in captain during BBL12 for the Melbourne Stars in absence of Glenn Maxwell being out due to a fractured fibula.
The Stars may have to negotiate with other teams in order to sign new players because more than half of their team is currently bound by multi-year contracts. Young stars Campbell Kellaway and Tom Rogers are anticipated to receive new contracts.
"This trade would allow us to target several other quality players and we look forward to making a number of announcements regarding new signings once the contracting window re-opens," Stars general manager Blair Crouch told cricket.com.au.
"It's not just about skill set, but it is about age and experience and roles that we can see for those players."
By successfully implementing a similar plan the previous year, the Stars were able to free up salary cap room to sign Trent Boult and other players by dealing Billy Stanlake to the Hurricanes.
In order to give their squad a new look for BBL|13, it looks as if the club is willing to adopt this strategy once more.
The Renegades might consider the in-principle trade involving Zampa and Harper to be a success because they would be receiving a top-tier leg-spinner in exchange for a wicketkeeper-batter. Zampa's release, though, might allow the Renegades to acquire more salary cap room, which they might use to recruit or keep other top players.
Out-of-contract left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann, has been mentioned as a potential candidate to replace Zampa, and Crouch told cricket.com.au that the team will seek to sign seasoned players who have a track record of winning matches.
As part of ongoing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) negotiations between Cricket Australia and the players' union, that cap amount is expected to increase soon. This will make it easier for the Stars and the other seven clubs to recruit domestic talent in the increasingly competitive global T20 market.
Although player trades have historically been uncommon in the BBL, persuading opposing clubs to the trade table may be the Stars' hardest obstacle.
"I think that's evolving,"Crouch said.
"You look at codes around the world, trading is a very normal part of professional sport."
"It can also be of great benefit for a player to get to a club they want and play if perhaps they aren't getting that opportunity where they are."
"Creating a healthy ecosystem that underpins the BBL means that clubs do need to be prepared to think creatively about player movements, he added.
"There's certainly going to be an opportunity for us to trade so we can be quite brave about what we're going to do.
"We've been really active so far in trying to secure non-binding agreements with the right players and we look forward to sharing all of those when we're able to whenever the contracting embargo period ends."
The Stars had a difficult BBL|12 campaign, losing a number of games by a narrow margin, losing four of them on the last ball and one on the penultimate delivery. If only three of those games had ended in their favour, the Stars could have ended up as the finalists.
