Waiver wire rules

[TPA Detroit 0]

Our league has always used Win Loss record as the way to assign the waiver wire team priority list. There has always been complaints that it was not fair to winning teams, especially early in the season. We are looking for new ways to determine which teams get the free agent if both want that player. CBS has a new "bid" system that we are considering, where you have a mythical budget that you can allocate to each free agent you want and the player goes to the highest bidder. Has anyone used a system like this, what are the positives and negatives?

[Masterminds 5]

I played in a keeper league that awarded wire priority based on record. Absolutely hated it and quit. I would always start the season off hot and could never improve my team throughout the season.

 

Blind bidding is the way to go.

[Flgatorguy87 160]

Ive played in leagues like that in the past and I hate it. The reason teams do it in the NFL is because they want it to be an even playing field to improve viewership. We don't play fantasy football for people to watch. If your team is sh!tty then guess what...you can wait until next year and try again and I will take your money. Being bad doesn't get you a reward.

 

 

Wussification of America one fantasy league at a time.

[We Tigers 71]

Blind bid is the best, as long as everyone in your league understands it and tiebreaker policies for equal bids are clear. If you're doing traditional waivers, I much prefer the rolling list to weekly resets by record. For starting points, I think both reverse order of draft or reverse order of standings after week 1 are reasonable.

[cyclone24 1,814]

I commish our CBS league and we have just done reverse order based on record.....we havent had much outrage....but we do have people that complain because some people work the waiver wire harder than a lesbian with one of those toys that.........well.....they work the waivers pretty hard...anyway....

 

 

How do you guys do the blind bidding? The cbs site didnt have much info on it?

 

How much do you allow each owner?

 

How much do players "cost"?

 

Thanks in advance...

[Flgatorguy87 160]

The values don't really matter. Because its more about percentages of your total budget. It could be $1000 or it could be $100. The owners will set the values on their own when the players become available.

[cyclone24 1,814]

The values don't really matter. Because its more about percentages of your total budget. It could be $1000 or it could be $100. The owners will set the values on their own when the players become available.

 

 

Oh oh....ok. NO actual prices for the players...just heres your bucket....dont use it all up

 

Those of you that use it......if an owner uses up all their money are they done with waivers completely?

[We Tigers 71]

They can put in $0 bids and will win if no one else bids, at least on yahoo. Other than that, they'd be limited to FA pickups after the waivers run.

[cyclone24 1,814]

They can put in $0 bids and will win if no one else bids, at least on yahoo. Other than that, they'd be limited to FA pickups after the waivers run.

 

 

Ok so they bid when league waivers open that week......owners bid away and get their players....so now its say....thursday....you can just pick up whomever for nothing?

[BUCKEYES 0]

Our league does it by points scored in said given week. Might not be the most fairest way but after nearly 20 years in this league nobody has ever complained. That's the good thing about having a horrible week. If you scored the fewest points you will be first to claim a free agent regardless of your record.

[madd futher mucker 36]

Our league has always used Win Loss record as the way to assign the waiver wire team priority list. There has always been complaints that it was not fair to winning teams, especially early in the season. We are looking for new ways to determine which teams get the free agent if both want that player. CBS has a new "bid" system that we are considering, where you have a mythical budget that you can allocate to each free agent you want and the player goes to the highest bidder. Has anyone used a system like this, what are the positives and negatives?

 

Blind bid waivers is the only way to fly...Lots of fun and suspense. Se my article above under the post "FAAB" for some strategy with blind bid waivers.

[madd futher mucker 36]

 

 

Ok so they bid when league waivers open that week......owners bid away and get their players....so now its say....thursday....you can just pick up whomever for nothing?

After the opening of Blind Bids (most leagues do them Tuesday or Wedneday night), you can either open free waivers to all until the player's start their first game for that week, or not. There are a couple of great advantages to having open FCFS waivers after bids are opened. It does allow for guys who have run out of their annual budget to participate, and creates a feeding frenzy immediately after the bids are opened, which adds to the excitement. It also solves the problem that arises when your only kicker unexpectantly comes up lame the day after blind bids are opened.

I also prefer a $1000 seasonal limit for blind bids, especially if you play on sites that only allow for whole dollar increments - you seldom have ties in bids for players.

[Fearsome 22]

We have a major difference than 99% of the leagues out there. We are only given 10 transactions per season and have only 13 roster spots making the draft vital.

 

That said, we can put it transaction requests for the following week beginning at 10:01 a.m. PT on Sunday morning. First come first serve (though not revealed until Tuesday morning). It is not as bad as you think. People tend to grab the trendy guys early and bye week fills mid-season and almost nothing late because they have used their add/drops.

 

If your draft is solid you have nothing to worry about.

[cyclone24 1,814]

Ok one of our big complaints in our league is we have a handful of guys that are really on top of it......checking rotoworld during the week and snaring guys almost as soon as news hits.....this ticks off the suits in our league who cant get to info as quickly.

 

Would the "feeding frenzy" after the initial bid period just make that worse?

[madd futher mucker 36]

No, because all of the quality pick-ups would be won by blind bids. The feeding frenzy applies only to the free leftovers. But unless you select league members of approximately equal interest and expertise, the semi-interested ones will always be non-competitive. That's the way fantasy football is. The skillful generally win, the hopeless generally lose. No system will or should change that.

 

If that's what owners want, forget the season of effort and just draw the winner out of a hat.

[cyclone24 1,814]

No, because all of the quality pick-ups would be won by blind bids. The feeding frenzy applies only to the free leftovers. But unless you select league members of approximately equal interest and expertise, the semi-interested ones will always be non-competitive. That's the way fantasy football is. The skillful generally win, the hopeless generally lose. No system will or should change that.

 

If that's what owners want, forget the season of effort and just draw the winner out of a hat.

 

 

 

Ok so let me make sure i got this before i present it to these guys.....

 

So on MOnday night Matt Forte breaks his vagina and is done for the year.....Michael Bush is new starter. So on tuesday everyone puts in how much they would spend to get him out of their $1000 for the year.

 

Im assuming they can put in for other players as well.....

 

So once everyone has picked up their bids on whomever...Bush, a new defense ,etc....

 

Wednesday afternoon thru the weekend anyone can pick up anyone and it costs them nothing? Is there an order used as far as guys PUT on waivers? Like if i drop Giovani Bernard and someone wants him...how does that work?

 

Thats where im a little fuzzy..

[We Tigers 71]

You have it right. Unless your league has some rule limiting weekly bids, you can bid on as many players as you want as long as the total of your bids doesn't outweigh your budget. If you have $100, you can't bit $50 on one player and $60 on another, but you could bid $50 on one player, $10 on another, and $1 on another.

 

Bidding applies for anyone on waivers. If you drop a player, people have to bid for him if they want to get him before he goes to free agency.

[madd futher mucker 36]

You have it right. Unless your league has some rule limiting weekly bids, you can bid on as many players as you want as long as the total of your bids doesn't outweigh your budget. If you have $100, you can't bit $50 on one player and $60 on another, but you could bid $50 on one player, $10 on another, and $1 on another.

 

Bidding applies for anyone on waivers. If you drop a player, people have to bid for him if they want to get him before he goes to free agency.

 

Not exactly right. Check on your league settings. In many leagues (perhaps I should say "on many hosting sites") it is possible that you can bid more than seasonal maximum as long as you don't exceed it on any single player. So it is entirely possible that you can overbid your $ balance for the season on your total bids for the week. On many sites you can prioritize your bids, such that you can win as many players as you can win before your money runs out.

 

 

BTW, I strongly prefer opening the bids on Wednesday night. The effect of most injuries are pretty well known by then, so more players are subject to the blind bid process, and less are than available for free FCFS pickup after the bids are opened. The better hosting sites allow the commissioner to set the day and time of the weekly bid opening.

 

Also, most sites allow the commissioner to chose for the league whether to allow for pick-ups of players dropped by other owners of players as a result of owner's winning player bids; or alternatively locking the players dropped so that they are not available for pick-up until the next week's waiver bids are opened. These are nuances that owners/commissioners can decide on most hosting sites. (I don't know anything about CBS, but I do know the MFL and the Yahoo commissioner settings.)

[cyclone24 1,814]

Ok so EVERYONE bids on the players they want but they cant go over for example $1000 for the season....

 

 

Im still a little iffy on waivers that week.....if i drop a guy lets say tuesday morning.

 

Whats the wait time on acquiring him? Is it thru bidding?

 

What about if i drop a guy AFTER the initial bidding? How is he acquired by other owners?

 

 

 

Thanks by the way for your help.....guys in the league want to do it....but i gotta be able to explain it.

[madd futher mucker 36]

Please re-read paragraph 2 and 3 above. Slowly.

[cyclone24 1,814]

Please re-read paragraph 2 and 3 above. Slowly.

 

 

My pace is good...i feel like the slowness is there......i feel like i didnt rush it...the comprehension is lacking.

[ralphster 274]

 

 

My pace is good...i feel like the slowness is there......i feel like i didnt rush it...the comprehension is lacking.

 

lol it's ok Cyclone - blind bidding has some new wrinkles you're not used to. Any switch will have some owners up in arms, but blind bids are far and away the best way to run your waiver wire. Everyone gets a shot at each week's new hotness and whoever bids the most gets it. Everyone else then still has a couple days to fill needs when first come first served waivers open. BB adds another dimension of strategy (managing your money throughout the season) and at the same time allows for a free-er market to set free agent values.

 

Try it. It won't be perfect for everyone, but it will be better than what you're working with now.

[madd futher mucker 36]

Ok so EVERYONE bids on the players they want but they cant go over for example $1000 for the season....

 

 

Im still a little iffy on waivers that week.....if i drop a guy lets say tuesday morning.

 

Whats the wait time on acquiring him? Is it thru bidding?

 

What about if i drop a guy AFTER the initial bidding? How is he acquired by other owners?

 

 

 

Thanks by the way for your help.....guys in the league want to do it....but i gotta be able to explain it.

 

Sorry about the tone Let me break it down:

1. Why would you drop a guy without making a blind bid pick-up? If you did, drop after the game but before blind bids, most sites will lock that player until either the next week's bids or until open FCFS pick-ups. The site WILL ask you who you would drop in the event of a successful bid. But you don't have to drop anyone until bids are opened.

 

2. There is no time wait after bids are opened if your league elects open FCFS pick-ups, oherwise you will have to wait until the next week's bid opening.

 

3. I answered this question in my previous response.

 

The big take-away from this is that many of these rules are dependent on the options that the host site allows and what options the league/commisssioner choses under waiver settings. MFL has the most - and most confusing - array of waiver options. For a free sit, Yahoo is very good in this area. since this is the first year apparently that CBS offers this option, I'd expect very limited choices. Some of the options can be confusing to commissioners that are new to blind bidding. I would study the commissioner waiver "settings" options first before you make a recommendation to your owners.

 

My general opinion from listening to others is that CBS sucks anyway.

[Fighting 4 a Championship 0]

One of my leagues has a unique way of doing it. After the draft it goes reverse order of draft for the first week (12-1), then each team submits their waiver requests, if two teams request the same player, the team with higher priority gets him, but that team will then drop to the bottom of the waiver priority for the next week. The same goes each week. It makes people think about the penalty for going after the hot waiver commodity.

 

I've seen people holding onto that slot for weeks at a time just in case of a significant injury to their team, But noone that is picked up during a week can be dropped the same week, they MUST hold a roster spot for that week, and no player dropped can be picked up until the following week. It has made people really think about their waiver selections,

 

I would think the keeping track of the bidding would be a pain for the commissioner, and if someone were tracking other teams remaining amounts (I would) you would be able to use that to your advantage later on in the season.

[ralphster 274]

I would think the keeping track of the bidding would be a pain for the commissioner, and if someone were tracking other teams remaining amounts (I would) you would be able to use that to your advantage later on in the season.

 

MFL automatically does that, with remaining balances posted on team pages for everyone to see. And that makes the trading of BB $ another nice wrinkle.

[cotarice12 18]

My main league has done it like this for the past 3 years (it can work for CBS and MFL leagues, probably not free sites):

 

Sunday - Wed. night = Blind Bidding auction (players dropped during this period are eligible to be picked up the rest of the week).

 

Wed. night - Friday night = Blind Bidding auction (players dropped during this period not eligible for pick-up until the following week).

 

Fri. night - Sunday at noon = First-come first-served free agency. All players cost $1 of FAAB.

 

This system requires a bit more work on the commish's part (you have to change the periods and waivers type each week). We also do ebay-style bidding, so the winning bid pays $1 over the next highest bid for that player, but overall the system works out really well. It's taken awhile to get here, but it has greatly reduced the complaining/unfairness issues we had in the past.

[Voltaire 4,562]

 

 

Oh oh....ok. NO actual prices for the players...just heres your bucket....dont use it all up

 

Those of you that use it......if an owner uses up all their money are they done with waivers completely?

Yes. sort of.

 

After waiver wires are processed comes first come/first serve pickups. if you've depleted your budget, well WW is out. But you can still sift through the unclaimed FAs and help yourself to the leftover scraps in FCFS to make roster moves. Chances are 0.0% that the handcuff to the RB who just blew out his ankle will be there, but you can always find some decent bodies that slip through the cracks.

 

Oh look it's your QB's bye week and -hey waddya know- Chad Henne is facing the Raiders.