Max Moves = NO MAXIMUM. HURRAY!

In the past 2 seasons I've set the maximum number of moves to 10. Meaning that dropping and replacing a player on your roster would count as 1 move against your 10. The spirit of this setting was to prevent team owners from making too many rapid impulse moves. Team owners who do this are also known as free agent vultures. With the limit in place team owners would have to consider how the move would effect their team for the long term. Thus putting more thought into making moves.

It just wasn't popular. It made dealing with bye weeks and injuries too difficult for some team owners. The limit of 10 resulted in many teams needing just 1 more move at the end of the season but they were all tapped out. As commissioner I could not help but feel a little guilt over this.

The experiment I had in last year's league helped me realize a good alternative to setting max moves. When 2 of the team owners quit in the beginning of the year I came up with a plan to divide up the players on those teams. I set weekly waiver from Sun-Tue and gave everyone 200 pts in a free waiver acquisition budget. Then I dumped all the players from the 2 forfeited teams. This allowed everyone a few days to make bids on the players they wanted. It worked out pretty well. Hmmmmm.

This year I happy to say, "max moves are set to NO MAXIMUM." Instead I've set free agents to go on waivers every week from Sun-Tue. And everyone gets 1000 pts in their free waiver budgets. Hows that?

I believe this change will not only make everyone happy but it will also add another cool element to the league, the free waiver budgeting. Can't wait to see how it plays out.

First Round of Duties: Registration and Draft Order

It's been a long off-season for the Baltimore Fantasy Football Gurus (BFFG). The 2010 fantasy football season is near! I can hardly wait to enjoy my favorite spectator sport and feel like part of the action.

I've already started recruitment. Four others have joined me. Three more teams are needed to make the league's minimum of 8. I feel confident that I will always gather enough teams to make the league minimum. The goal is to achieve the maximum amount of teams, which is 16.

Sixteen teams is the target. This is the ideal number because it mimics one half of the real NFL. With 16 teams I can divide the league into 4 divisions of 4 teams each. Each division winner wins a playoff berth. The top 2 division winners are awarded first round byes. And there would be 2 wild card teams, which can come from any of the 4 divisions.

Once I have all the teams registered the next commissioner duty is to set the draft order. Last year I blogged about a special method to handle the draft order. The idea was to have this year's draft order be determined by the final standings from last season. I came up with this idea in hopes to entice teams to stay involved in the league even though they my have little to no chance in making the playoffs. For instance, the first team cut from the top 6 would have first pick. Then the remainder of the picks would follow sequentially to the last place team. Next, the playoff teams would follow in reverse order of their standings, similar to how the real NFL determines it's draft order. Finally new teams would follow the defending champion in order of who registers first. Sound confusing? Maybe it is, just a little.

Some of the team owners from last year said they would rather have the draft order be determined randomly. Their argument was that since we were not doing a keeper league nothing should carry over to the next season. Therefore, in order to truly start from scratch, the draft order should be random. Despite my efforts to debate my magical plan, I'm starting to think they were right.

So I'm thinking of going with a random draft order every year. Why not? The draft order really doesn't matter all that much anyway. Case in point, the BFFG defending champion had the last pick in last year's draft. So maybe I don't need a complicated scheme to determine the draft anyway.

There's another deciding factor for switching to a random draft order. The team owner who should have the first pick says he can't join this year due to other personal obligations. Huh. And there are others from last year who also say they're out. I'm actually looking at many new team owners. So it's probably for the better. I plan to inform the team owners that the draft order will be random. Hopefully all will agree. I'm sure I'll hear a few say, "I told ya."

Fantasy Baseball 2010

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Fantasy baseball registration for 2010 has begun and I'm on a mission to make my league better than ever. I'm going to experiment with a mix of settings, roster positions and stat categories that should cover all the bases (that's me trying to be funny).

Size Matters
I'm hoping to foreshadow my FFL's size and playoff structure with this year's FBL settings. I'm shooting for 16 total teams, 4 divisions, 6 in the playoffs (comprised of the 4 division leaders and 2 wildcards).

Rosters
I'm primarily sticking with the Yahoo default roster; individual infield positions, 3 common outfield, 6 pitchers and 4 bench. The batting lineup will be 8 deep. The pitching staff will allow for any mix of starters, relievers and closers; but will entice managers to have a few more pitchers from the bullpen than ever before.

Scoring
The scoring structure is always what I spend the most time contemplating on. As always, it's a H2H league. I usually start off brainstorming on new ideas for scoring each match up, then back-out at the last minute and revert to the Yahoo default. This year I'm sticking with my game plan and there are several new stat categories that I think will make this FBL better than the ones before.

Total Bases
Not to be confused with Stolen Bases. Total Bases can only be scored as a result of a Hit. I replace Home Runs with this stat with the idea that there is usually never any reward for a player to hit for multiple bases. Players who hit Doubles and Triples didn't help your team out in my past FBLs. Total Bases covers both multiple hits and Home Runs, it refers to how many bases a player gained as a result of a hit. This is how it works: TB=1B+(2x2B)+(3x3B)+(4xHR). All the top home run hitter do well in this category and I think it will be good to finally include those hitters who hit for multiple bases as top priorities for your line-up.

Putouts & Assists
I once experimented with the Fielding Percentage stat in hopes to include fielding into my FBL. It proved to be a boring stat and pretty much irrelevant to what having a good team should be. I still feel a desire to include fielding in my FBL. Fielding is too important to leave out. Putouts and Assists will award points to those players who matter most in the MLB and its inclusion into this FBL will give manager more to think about and make it more fun. Here is what a Putout and Assist are:
A Putout is recorder when: tagging a runner with the ball, tagging a base, catching a 3rd strike, and catching a fly ball.
An Assist is recorded when: a player touches the ball prior to a Putout.
Interesting fact: Albert Pujols recorded the most Putouts with 1473. Aaron Hill had the most Assists followed by Miguel Tejada.

Holds
The final new stat category to mention are Holds. In my previous FBL there was not much need for relief pitchers aside from a closer. Even stocking up on quality bullpen players like Hideki Okajima, for strikeouts, would let you down because you would likely sacrifice too many Wins and Saves by having him on your team. Having a category for Holds requires managers to think more about their pitching staff. I'm hoping the result is that manager will construct a realistic pitching staff on their team. Here is the definition of a hold:
A Hold is recorded when a reviler gives way to another reviler without giving up the lead in a Save situation. That pitcher must also record 1 out.
So if the O's are up 3-1, Gutherie is pulled for Johnson, who is then pulled for Ray, who earns a save with a O's 3-2 win; Johnson would earn a Hold.

Robert Meachem's Fumble Return TD In Week 13

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A wild play in the WAS/NO game in week 13 caused a conundrum in fantasy football scoring in Yahoo leagues. In the 2nd quarter WAS safety Kareem Moore intercepted Drew Brees and attempted a return when NO receiver Robert Meachem stripped the ball and returned it for a TD. Yahoo initially scored the play as a defensive TD for NO but it was reversed as a 'offensive fumble return for a TD' and 6 points were given to Meachem.

Yahoo made the right call. Meachem should be awarded the points, as it was NO's offense on the field and not their defense. It can be argued that when an offense turns the ball over that they become the defense as they try to stop the opposing team from scoring. However, if you agree with that idea then a team DEF could not score a TD in fantasy because they would be considered the offense at that point.

I wrote back to Yahoo and advised they should change the name of the rule 'offensive fumble return for a TD' to 'offensive turnover recovered for a TD'. Here is a log of the email sent to Morris of the Yahoo Fantasy Sports Team.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

R. Meachem's defensive touchdown in week 13.

I just want to know if Yahoo's ruling on this play is consistent.
Has it always been when an offensive player makes a defensive play that
the points go to the team DEF, and not to the actual offensive player?
Has Yahoo's adjustment been made to all Yahoo Fantasy Football
leagues? Has there been any complaints or praises about this adjustment?

Hello,

Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Fantasy Sports.

I appreciate your bringing the issue with the New Orleans/Washington
game to our attention. I know this comes at an inconvenient time for you
and your league and for that I apologize. We are currently looking into
the Brees INT/Fumble play in which Meachem scored a TD. We will update
scoring in accordance to our rules when a ruling has been reached.

Thank you for using Yahoo! and for your interest in Yahoo! Fantasy
Sports. If you have further comments or questions, please feel free to
reply to this email and we will gladly assist you.

Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Fantasy Sports.

Regards,

Morris

Yahoo! Fantasy Sports Customer Care
Sports Fantasy Football

Morris,

Thank you for responding to the scoring issue in week 13. It's really more of a puzzle than an inconvenience. It looks like Yahoo made their decision.

I've noticed that the points for the TD were awarded to Meachem with an asterisk that footnotes it as an 'offensive fumble return for a TD'. I believe this is the right call but I would recommend renaming the rule to something like 'offensive turnover for a TD', then I think all the bases are covered.

Thank you for the support.

Jan

Hello,

Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Fantasy Sports.

We're glad to hear that your question has been answered and thanks for
your offensive turnover suggestion.

If there's anything else we can help you with, please let us know.

Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Fantasy Sports.

Regards,

Jimmy

Yahoo! Fantasy Sports Customer Care
Sports Fantasy Football

Fantasy Football Quitters: Overriding Line-ups Amendment

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It appears that everyone in the BFFG is still involved except Anchors Aweigh. I have dropped a line to JD (email, text message, and phone call) and have not received a response. I assume since his team has not done so well he has decided that he has better things to worry about, which is fine.

I am still contemplating on how to deal with quitters. It's been a brain-buster actually. I apologize to everyone for not having all these details worked out ahead of time. I can ensure you; however, that the experience will have me more prepared in the future.

I've decided that I need to work on what I already have started with one exception; I'm not going to lock JD's team. I want to allow him to come back if he decides to. It's all up to him.

I am going to honor what I previously wrote about overriding the lineups but there are some concerns. His team has so many injuries, but all of his players are still active. He has no players listed as NA or IR. For this reason I'm not going to do any add/drops. My intentions are to edit his line-up to the most common sense configuration and make no more changes for the rest of the season.

Thank you guys for your support. I'm doing my best to develop a fool-proof system. If you have any questions or input let me know.

A Fantasy Draft Formula Designed To Keep You In All Season

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Imagine coming all the way from the bottom of the standings to competing for the last playoff seed in your league. You went from last to 5th in a 5 game win streak. Its do-or-die last week in the regular season. Your match-up looks tight but you definitely got a chance. Too bad the guy also competing for the same spot is facing Team Quitter this week. Team Quitter's starting QB has been on IR for 2 weeks and the other positions are not much better. That's because Team Quitter has no more stake in the game. He gave up 3 weeks ago. No matter how good your chances are to come from behind or maintain a lead in the standings, if the competition is facing a dead team your probably not going anywhere.

You can't blame people who quit on fantasy football too much. Staying in and playing the spoiler doesn't do it for everyone. No doubt managers who quit still impact the league because their team remains and there's no way to tell how they'll leave. They can leave hurt, inactive, and players with bye weeks coming up in starting slots.

In my league, the BFFG, the draft order is based on the results from the previous season. The idea is to give everyone a fair shot at the cream-of-the-crop players. The last place team gets first pick followed by each sequential team and last pick goes to the league's champion. I thought giving 1st pick to the last place team would entice managers who do not do so well to come back and join again next year. The problem is it also entices teams in last place to stay in last place, killing competition.

My new formula is designed to keep managers who are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs to stay involved and compete. Here is how it works with a 12 team league and 6 teams going to the playoffs.
7th seed - 1st pick
8th seed - 2nd pick
9th seed - 3rd pick
10th seed - 4th pick
11th seed - 5th pick
12th seed - 6th pick
6th place - 7th pick
5th place - 8th pick
4th place - 9th pick
3rd place - 10th pick
2nd place - 11th pick
1st place - 12th pick
(New managers to the league follow the 12th pick in chronological order of when they signed up.)

Having a top draft pick is a treat. You're bound to land an MVP type player. This method of assigning the draft order will give those who might normally quit something to play for.

Fantasy Football Quitters

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One of the dilemmas of being fantasy commissioner is that you also have your own stake in the league. It's possible for this to be perceived as a contradiction when the time comes to perform a commissioner duty. There are; however, certain things a commissioner must do to preserve integrity in the league, but you have to make sure these actions are consistent. In other words, don't cheat.

My #1 priority in the BFFG is to run a fair and challenging league as commissioner. My #2 priority is to win. So, it bothers me when I feel I may have to interfere with a team's roster. I promise that my intentions are to increase competition and make things fair, and not to cheat for myself.

There are only 2 reasons I would interfere with a team's line-up: 1. at a manager's request, or 2. if a manager quits. The first reason needs no explanation. The second is a more complex.

There's really nothing wrong with quitting the league. You may feel that you're mathematically eliminated from the playoffs and rather not bother. You may have a personal obligation that comes first and have to put fantasy aside. Or, ya just might not give a shit anymore. It happens.

Let me explain how I will handle the issue of quitting in the BFFG:

1. Identify a quitter. Ideally, I would like to actually speak to a manager and hear them say something like, "Ya, I've given up. I can't make the playoffs. Oh well, there's always next year. [etc.]" But it might be that your W/L record and level of participation speaks for you. In which case I will . . .

2. Override the line-up. When I assume a team has quit I will lock that team and adjust their line-up with 1 thing in mind: do as little as possible. Basically, put the best players in and don't change anything for the remainder of the season. The only exception is if that team can't start a player in every position; in which case I will pick up a needed starter and put them in. If I add a player to a dead team it will be a player that is ranked in the middle of what is available in the free agent pool. There will be no trading or dropping of players from the dead teams.

My rules on quitters are not new. I have dealt with dead teams ever since I started my fantasy football league in 2001. I have handled it pretty much the same way except that now I try to communicate more with managers and document all issues in this blog. I promise to increase fair deliberation on fantasy issues and continue to write in this blog.

I don't want to see anyone quit. I don't want to lock teams. I think that even when you are eliminated from the playoffs it's still fun to try your best and play the spoiler. But if you stay involved in the league and you try real hard against a guy one week, you should also do the same the next week. My rule on quitters is to ensure that no one has a free ride to the championship. All I ask is that managers who participate legitimately try to win. It is the best way to keep the league fair, interesting, and fun.