Defensive pickups controversy

[Atlien120882 0]

I am commish of our highly competitive league. Owner A noticed Owner B had their defense on bye this week and spent Tuesday through Sunday adding/dropping various defenses on the waiver wire so all defenses are on waiver until next Tuesday and unavailable for pickup. Owner B just realized this and has asked if I can do anything about it. My position is that while it's a dirty move, I cannot do anything about it because it was within the rules and owner B should have been responsible enough to plan ahead for the bye week. What would you do in this situation?

[madd futher mucker 36]

You did the right thing - there is nothing you can do if you have no present rule against it. For next year I suggest that you put in a rule limiting transactions to a maximum of 20 or 25 per season. this type of thing won't happen then.

 

Depending on any other shenangigans, I'm not sure I would invite the guy who made all the moves back into the league next year.

[The Confluence 0]

Not much you can do this season, except point out that one player's abuse of the waiver system will cause rule changes for next year.

 

OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD:

 

Charge a dollar per transaction next year. Let the fool put more money into the Superbowl pot if he's going to play dirty, but within the rules.

 

You could also make it such that any player (or defense) picked up on waivers and dropped within a day does not get locked.

[djrockstar 0]

1. Limit add/drops to roughly 20 per season.

 

2. Create a by-law that restricts churning the wire. FYI - some sites like Yahoo will return any player added and then dropped within a 24 hour period back to FA status.

[Squintz82 45]

I'm going to play devil's advocate and say that since Owner A was adding/dropping ALL the waiver DST's just to play dirty (and it's obvious), Owner B should be able to pick up 1 DST of his choice without waiver. If it was just a couple of top DST's it's one thing. But to force Owner B to score 0 that week at DST because Owner A wants to pull a BS move like that to all available DST's, it's really low. That kind of move would cause me going over to Owner A's place and punch him in the face.

 

I've been a commish in 2 leagues for 4 years and learned that not everyone can spend time looking at the waiver wire all week. As long as they are an active team and set their lineup before the games start on Sunday, I don't see why they should be penalized by being forced to start a bye player and score 0 in any position. There should be at least some garbage DST"s on the wire for Owner B to pick up.

 

You can't create rules for EVERYTHING, it's just impossible. There are certain unwritten standards I hold my teams to in my leagues, and this would certainly violate them. I wouldn't penalize anyone, but I certainly would never invite Owner A back into my leagues again next season.

 

But this is just my opinion.

[The Coach 0]

I find it hard to believe some are saying let him pick one. BS! Are they in a race for playoffs or playing each other this week? It is a great move if so! He acted within the rules to handicap another team. As you said he should of planned better. I did this with wr's during super bowl week one year. I worked a different shift than the other guy. One of his players was hurt and announced he would not play while he was at work. HAHAHA! I WON!

 

I VOTE-GREAT MOVE

[Pogs23 6]

I'm going to play devil's advocate and say that since Owner A was adding/dropping ALL the waiver DST's just to play dirty (and it's obvious), Owner B should be able to pick up 1 DST of his choice without waiver. If it was just a couple of top DST's it's one thing. But to force Owner B to score 0 that week at DST because Owner A wants to pull a BS move like that to all available DST's, it's really low. That kind of move would cause me going over to Owner A's place and punch him in the face.

 

I've been a commish in 2 leagues for 4 years and learned that not everyone can spend time looking at the waiver wire all week. As long as they are an active team and set their lineup before the games start on Sunday, I don't see why they should be penalized by being forced to start a bye player and score 0 in any position. There should be at least some garbage DST"s on the wire for Owner B to pick up.

 

You can't create rules for EVERYTHING, it's just impossible. There are certain unwritten standards I hold my teams to in my leagues, and this would certainly violate them. I wouldn't penalize anyone, but I certainly would never invite Owner A back into my leagues again next season.

 

But this is just my opinion.

 

This ^ I

 

It's rediculous that people act like children and do crap like that. If that was allowed in any league I was in even without a rule against it, I would'nt come back the following year.

[JT 137]

This ^ I

 

It's rediculous that people act like children and do crap like that. If that was allowed in any league I was in even without a rule against it, I would'nt come back the following year.

 

Team B didn't break any rules. Do I think it's chickens**t? Absolutely. But you can't arbitrarily decide to make up a rule to benefit Team A in the middle of the season.

 

I'm a fan of limiting ww transactions to 12-20. Look at the average from years past and set it accordingly.

 

Every waiver wire move should result in that player/team being on the roster through their next game. Not the next week...that still gives owners a chance to manipulate through a bye week. This makes sure that a team can't maintain a legal roster while abusing ww selections.

 

As for quitting...well, that's a personal choice. But running away because someone figured out a legal way to get an upper hand is just the kind of childish behavior you claim to abhor.

[idiotec 31]

I don't like limiting transactions to an arbitrary number, instead charge ~$5 a pop for them. Should put about and exta $100 per owner in the pot and it regulates the WW. Win-win situation.

[travis_henrys_baby_momma 10]

I'm going to play devil's advocate and say that since Owner A was adding/dropping ALL the waiver DST's just to play dirty (and it's obvious), Owner B should be able to pick up 1 DST of his choice without waiver. If it was just a couple of top DST's it's one thing. But to force Owner B to score 0 that week at DST because Owner A wants to pull a BS move like that to all available DST's, it's really low. That kind of move would cause me going over to Owner A's place and punch him in the face.

 

I've been a commish in 2 leagues for 4 years and learned that not everyone can spend time looking at the waiver wire all week. As long as they are an active team and set their lineup before the games start on Sunday, I don't see why they should be penalized by being forced to start a bye player and score 0 in any position. There should be at least some garbage DST"s on the wire for Owner B to pick up.

 

You can't create rules for EVERYTHING, it's just impossible. There are certain unwritten standards I hold my teams to in my leagues, and this would certainly violate them. I wouldn't penalize anyone, but I certainly would never invite Owner A back into my leagues again next season.

 

But this is just my opinion.

 

 

I agree. If this crap happened to me and you let it stand.....I would add/drop the top 30 players at every position for the rest of the season just to be an complete azz and to make a point.

 

For the sake of the whole league, you can't let this behavior stand!

[jgcrawfish 232]

I don't like limiting transactions to an arbitrary number, instead charge ~$5 a pop for them. Should put about and exta $100 per owner in the pot and it regulates the WW. Win-win situation.

 

this is what we do, and while i hate paying $ for it, it does regulate the amount spent and keeps this kind of behavior in check.

 

However, while this may be a bush league move, it's also smart and completely within the rules. You can't do anything about it this season, and you can't regulate every situation.

[Pogs23 6]

Team B didn't break any rules. Do I think it's chickens**t? Absolutely. But you can't arbitrarily decide to make up a rule to benefit Team A in the middle of the season.

 

I'm a fan of limiting ww transactions to 12-20. Look at the average from years past and set it accordingly.

 

Every waiver wire move should result in that player/team being on the roster through their next game. Not the next week...that still gives owners a chance to manipulate through a bye week. This makes sure that a team can't maintain a legal roster while abusing ww selections.

 

As for quitting...well, that's a personal choice. But running away because someone figured out a legal way to get an upper hand is just the kind of childish behavior you claim to abhor.

 

If you choose to play with people like that then thats cool, I don't. How would leaving the league after the year be childish on my part? If I dumped all my players to the wire or traded with someone to help them win because I was upset then sure I would be just as bad as the clown taking advantage of the waiver wire. Lol, I'm childish for not coming back to a league I don't agree with.

[whatjusthappened 0]

We had a similar situation in our league a couple of years ago.

 

As soon as the current week was over - they would drop their defense and pick-up a position player. They would sit without a defense all week - but have the extra position-player (to propose trades with, cover for injuries, etc.)

 

Just before game-time - they would then drop one of their position-players and pick-up the required/mandatory defense. (His rationale was that he might be able to pick-up that position player again the next week on the waiver-wire.)

 

One of our league owners decided to teach him a lesson, and 'churned' the defense waiver wire. This team was nice enough to leave only the worst defense available -- and let the schemer know that he was 'on to' him.

 

This seemed to work pretty well. (Although I have noticed that this same team has pulled this move a couple of times this season again!)

[browns16-0 30]

I like the creativity.

[SNZ11 5]

In this case, you as the commish need to make a decision for your league. On one hand there is no rule against it, so it should probably stand. I understand that not everyone can be on their computers all the time, but it's week 10, and we all know there are byes. Just because that guy did not pay attention, don't hold it against the other owner for paying attention. I think it's a crap move and I'm not sure what I would do. Based on what I just said, it should stand. However, I would worry that others would now start doing this with other positions to prove a point and that would suck. Face it, for most team the trade deadline has passed and the only way to make any changes to your team is by picking up players. It's a tough call and you need to decide what is best for your league.

[The Coach 0]

I bet a lot of you people think everyone should get a trophy and we should not keep score. Stop the whining over this. It is not in the rules for that league. Bottom line is we(or I) do everything I can,within the rules to win. Money and bragging rights are on the line. I could care less if my opponent has players or not. If he/she slacks at taking care of the lineup shame on them.

[TV's Frank 0]

It's a bush-league move, and I wouldn't want to play in a league with a candy-ass like that. But I don't think you can do anything about it.

 

Don't know where your league is hosted, but Yahoo (at least the way my league is configured) prevents people from doing this with a pretty simple fix. If you add a player and immediately drop him, he goes back into the FA pool without going on waivers.

 

I like that a lot better than setting an arbitrary transaction limit. Mostly because there are legitimate times when you pick a guy up and then realize 10 minutes later that there was a better option on the wire. If so, no harm no foul -- the guy you picked up and dropped just goes back in the pool, and it prevents jaggoffs from manipulating the waiver wire.

[kthune2003 0]

We have eliminated ww waiting in our yahoo league. When someone is dropped, they can be picked up immediately. This eliminates any silly stuff like the guy in your league pulled. I guess the guy is playing by the letter of the law, but I wouldn't want him in my league.

[Atlien120882 0]

I don't think I can change any rules mid-season as most of you guys are saying. It's a dilemma b/c while it is kinda of a BS move it's also a very strategic move within the rules of the current system in a evil genius way. That said they are both in the playoff hunt, and this is set as rivalry week in our league. The reaction in the league is mostly that it's kinda of funny and team B should have paid more attention since this took place over a whole week. Since it's a 16 team league the players team A dropped to churn the wire weren't that great anyway, Jason Snelling was the best of the bunch. It's a Yahoo league but is that setting where they go straight back to an FA a setting? Apparently I must not have turned it on then because this happened on Yahoo.

[Vikings4ever 496]

While not against the letter of the law, it certainly is against the spirit.

 

The waiting period is to allow teams the time to see who was dropped, and make plans accordingly. It is NOT to ensure all players at a position are neutralized.

 

Pvssy move by team A, allow team B to pick up a defense.

[De Novo 0]

The person who did that would not be invited back next year and I would also put rules in place that limit waiver wire "churning" but don't limit the total number of transactions. That's just dumb.

[Laurence Maroney's Nuts 2]

I would veto the trade.

[The Coach 0]

So, with no waiver wire waiting time, what keeps a team from dropping a stud player or player a team may need for him to pick up immediately? Say I need a rb this week and team z is at home, I call him talk him into he drops say Tim Hightower (or whoever) and I can pick him up right away. that is not fair, but really could not be proven he did it for the other guy.

 

Bottom line is, you can not change rules in the middle of the season. There is a fantasy magazine out or maybe a web site that has a saying of something like "Cheaters always prosper".

[Boilermaker04 11]

That is a seriously dirty, sneaky, cheap move. Also, totally allowed under your rules. I'd be jealous I didn't think of something like that first.

 

I guarantee Team B will never sleep on his players during their bye through the waiver period again. I wouldn't really worry over it too much.

 

If it causes a major concern in the league, adjust your waiver rules or aquisition limits.

[Geddy11 4]

2 years ago, a guy did this in my league. I posted this exact same scenario here and everyone thought it was BS, shady and cheating. Within the rules or not, a commish cant allow this to happen. It completely taints the integrity of the league IMO.

[jrbdmb 28]

Total douche move. I guess since it isn't technically disallowed I'd have to let it stand, but that guy is not in the league next year.

 

Some people actually have a life and can't check their leagues add/drops every single day.

[Geddy11 4]

So, with no waiver wire waiting time, what keeps a team from dropping a stud player or player a team may need for him to pick up immediately? Say I need a rb this week and team z is at home, I call him talk him into he drops say Tim Hightower (or whoever) and I can pick him up right away. that is not fair, but really could not be proven he did it for the other guy.

 

Bottom line is, you can not change rules in the middle of the season. There is a fantasy magazine out or maybe a web site that has a saying of something like "Cheaters always prosper".

If it happened in my league, i'd change the rules mid season or not. I would have placed all the defenses back on the FA line with the exception of one. To me, its cheating.

[vroompac 2]

Wasnt this called churning the waiver wire. Shady but a good strategy if you didnt make a rule for it.

[eaglesalltheway 0]

I think there's a double standard here for those of you that say this is fine - there are always ways around the rules if you try hard enough. I'm guessing if the last place team dropped his good players (not necessarily studs, but players like hillis, bowe, bradshaw, etc) just for fun, you guys would be the first to cry about it. The point is to have a fair league, and just because there's no rule against it does not mean it's unfair. It's a bush league move and should be addressed immediately.

[cyclone24 1,814]

Door.....knock.......punch......face........wife......kids.

[Stewburtx8 67]

It is IMPOSSIBLE to make a rule for every scenario. This should not be allowed in my opinion. This should be an unwritten rule in any league and not tolerated. If you pick a player up, he must remain on your roster for that week. If he doesn't remain on your roster for that week, then he should be returned to the FREE AGENT pool, and not the waiver wire. I thought most credible sites had rules in place to prevent this. I know Yahoo and Espn you must have a player on your roster for at least 24 hours before they would be put on the waiver wire, and most people say CBS and MFL are better (I'd assume they have similar rules). So unless you have rosters that are TOO deep, it would be impossible for anyone to add/drop all the available defenses. This is a bush league move and should not be tolerated in ANY league, whether you have a specific rule for it or not. Picking up the top 1 or 2 defenses and holding them on your roster that week is a strategic move, but adding/dropping each defense and not rostering them is unacceptable in my opinion.

 

For those saying you should charge $1, $2, $5, etc. per transaction, my experience has shown this is a very bad idea. You are basically encouraging teams to stop trying once they are out of playoff contention. If I'm sitting at 2-7 entering this week, why would I pay $5 per transaction to replace Aaron Rodgers, Antonio Gates, and the Chargers defense. Most people wouldn't. So now you'd have a team potentially not starting a QB, TE, and DEF. This happens a lot, even more so with injuries late in the season. It hurts the competitive balance of the league. If you want more money in the pot that badly, charge $20-25 more per person to join the league. I think using a free agent bidding budget or a max roster moves of like 30 is the best way to go. This isn't too restrictive, but keeps teams from even thinking about trying shady moves like this.

[TV's Frank 0]

I think that guys who make d-bag moves like this to manipulate the waiver wire should be forced to only play in leagues with guys who veto every trade.

[The Next Generation 10]

I think that guys who make d-bag moves like this to manipulate the waiver wire should be forced to only play in leagues with guys who veto every trade.