FAAB Alternatives? (1 Viewer)

[zamboni]

Tried to find this topic via search, but to no avail.

My league (over 30 years running) is starting to discuss new rule changes for this year: 10 teams, keeper league (keep 8), Superflex, total points.

Our biggest issue is waivers. We currently run a traditional waiver process each week, with the order determined by total points (i.e., lowest points gets first pick, second lowest points gets second pick, etc.)

Several owners want to move to FAAB because they're tired of being boxed out of impact players if they're not in a position to get them. Unfortunately, we're a bunch of old farts and there are enough owners that don't like change and thus FAAB probably won't pass.

Does anyone use a waiver process that isn't FAAB per se, but doesn't always give the team(s) at the bottom to continuously get the best fish? 

 

[Sarlakticacid]

We use a waiver priority(?) where it rolls over each week. Where if you do not use you WP and others do you move higher up the priority order. It is not affected by FA pick ups, once waivers have run each period.

Played in league similar to your current and the FAAB system and the above is my favorite, strategic wise, and May be the middle ground that owners in your league could agree on

 

[zamboni]

We use a waiver priority(?) where it rolls over each week. Where if you do not use you WP and others do you move higher up the priority order. It is not affected by FA pick ups, once waivers have run each period.

Played in league similar to your current and the FAAB system and the above is my favorite, strategic wise, and May be the middle ground that owners in your league could agree on

Thanks - that rolling idea is something I've thought about.

So does the order change each week, or is it set after week 1 and just rolls in that same order week after week? 

 

[Hankmoody]

Thanks - that rolling idea is something I've thought about.

So does the order change each week, or is it set after week 1 and just rolls in that same order week after week? 

Set in week 1, constant after.  That's what allows those later teams to eventually move up. Lots of strategy on "do I use the top pick now" kinds of thoughts.  After the waiver priority run you do need to have a FFA run too.

 

[zamboni]

Set in week 1, constant after.  That's what allows those later teams to eventually move up. Lots of strategy on "do I use the top pick now" kinds of thoughts.  After the waiver priority run you do need to have a FFA run too.

Thanks - what I figured. Yeah we would continue have a FFA run after regular waivers run on Thursday.

 

[titusbramble]

As a total points league, could you not start with everyone having the same amount of FAAB, but then adding $ to teams each week on the inverse of performance, either over that specific week or cumulatively? This would allow all teams to shoot their load when needed, but the worse teams would gradually accumulate a bigger cannon to fire?

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

There’s the old “free for all” where waivers unlock at 6 AM & everyone makes a mad dash to add FA. Do not recommend.

There’s priority waivers that reset daily. Also do not recommend.

There’s “worst to first” priority, which I strongly do not recommend.

There’s “reverse draft order to start” and then use it and lose it priority. This is what my IDP league uses. Basically if you don’t use your priority, you either stay the same or move up if someone above you uses it. It never resets.  So it’s strategic whether you decide X-player is worth spending priority on or not.  It’s not a bad system, but FAAB is better.

i lobby my league to switch to FAAB every year. I will put it up for vote again this year. It’s the best format, IMO. My dynasty league uses it. 

 

[zamboni]

i lobby my league to switch to FAAB every year. I will put it up for vote again this year. It’s the best format, IMO. My dynasty league uses it. 

One of the detractors in my league says he doesn’t like it for keeper leagues. Can’t convince him why that shouldn’t matter but like taking to a brick wall.

My guess is that we’re going to take the middle ground and pass the rolling waivers.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

One of the detractors in my league says he doesn’t like it for keeper leagues. Can’t convince him why that shouldn’t matter but like taking to a brick wall.

My guess is that we’re going to take the middle ground and pass the rolling waivers.

I have no idea what the objection to that is for a keeper league. Is he too lame to bid right and gets mad that someone got a keeper for $1?

File that under "T" for "too bad, so sad, be better at this".  

I got KJ Osborn for $10 last year, and down the road a-ways a league-mate complimented me on the pickup. There's no crying in football. I've also added players for $5-50 (of $500) and used them in trades. I want every league to use FAAB.  Sometimes you can work harder and mine waivers for hidden gems. I think it's especially relevant to keeper leagues, so I do not understand that objection at all. 

Why would you change your whole format for 1 dude? Or are there many detractors? 

All of the other waiver formats are worse for keeper leagues, IMO. With a rolling waiver system there's no limit to the number of players a team can add hoping to find a diamond in the rough.  And priority is a weird concept - why should a team have a better shot at a player than another team? FAAB is the only truly neutral method. At least until someone spends all their $, but who's fault is that? 

Sorry you have to deal with it. I'd suggest posting up the possible replacements, and explaining why they'd all be substantially worse. 

 

[zamboni]

Why would you change your whole format for 1 dude? Or are there many detractors? 

That was just one guy’s complaint. There are a few more detractors, probably enough to sink it in a vote. Some people don’t like that much change - pisses me off sometimes.

 

[belljr]

Thanks - that rolling idea is something I've thought about.

So does the order change each week, or is it set after week 1 and just rolls in that same order week after week? 

The way ours works is week 1 is set on standings/points. After that if you pick up a waiver in week 2 you move to the end. It just continues like that for the rest of year. One "twist" he play around with is the order "flips" if you moved to the bottom.  For example, teams 1 and teams 3 make waiver pickups. When team 1 and team 3 move to the bottom, team 3 would now be above team 1.  

 

[Ruffrodys05]

While my 12-team, 7-keeper league does not use it, I can guarantee that FAAB is the fairest way to provide all teams equal opportunity to acquire any player each week. At least as far as I'm aware. I'd also be interested in learning if there is another option that is just as fair. 

 

[zamboni]

While my 12-team, 7-keeper league does not use it, I can guarantee that FAAB is the fairest way to provide all teams equal opportunity to acquire any player each week. At least as far as I'm aware. I'd also be interested in learning if there is another option that is just as fair. 

Just curious - what waiver system to do use?

 

[Ruffrodys05]

Just curious - what waiver system to do use?

Waiver Priority 

Week 1 begins with a priority list that mimics the natural order of the draft (worst record previous year at 1.01, champion at 1.12.) Highest priority of all claims on one player will get the player. The successful claimant then goes to the bottom of the list. Teams with failed claims stay put. The first waiver runs of each week occur every Wednesday morning at 1:00am. Additional waivers run each day for players dropped through waiver claims the previous day. Otherwise, all players available on Wednesday morning at 1:00am that were not claimed on initial waivers become immediately available for FCFS claims.

 

[KingPrawn]

We use the rolling method previously mentioned. I like the tough decision it forces a team to make if a player is worth a top priority. The week 1 order is determined by the scores of week 18 the previous year. Highest week 18 weekly score gets top priority, etc. Our championship is played in week 17 so week 18 is usually a wasted week. This keeps teams involved in the last week.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

The week 1 order is determined by the scores of week 18 the previous year. Highest week 18 weekly score gets top priority, etc. Our championship is played in week 17 so week 18 is usually a wasted week. This keeps teams involved in the last week.

is that the top score among all teams or non-playoff teams?

 

[zamboni]

Waiver Priority 

Week 1 begins with a priority list that mimics the natural order of the draft (worst record previous year at 1.01, champion at 1.12.) Highest priority of all claims on one player will get the player. The successful claimant then goes to the bottom of the list. Teams with failed claims stay put. The first waiver runs of each week occur every Wednesday morning at 1:00am. Additional waivers run each day for players dropped through waiver claims the previous day. Otherwise, all players available on Wednesday morning at 1:00am that were not claimed on initial waivers become immediately available for FCFS claims.

Thanks. Probably the way we'll go if FAAB presumably fails to be voted in.

Although I think we would start the natural order after week 1 rather than based upon last year's standings - the argument being that the teams that finished last in the prior year already benefited by picking first in this year's draft.

 

[KingPrawn]

is that the top score among all teams or non-playoff teams?

All teams in week 18. Our playoffs conclude in week 17. It's added a little bit of interest to the last week.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

All teams in week 18. Our playoffs conclude in week 17. It's added a little bit of interest to the last week.

Seems wonky to have the best teams in the mix for top priority, especially based on a metric they’re more likely to win. 

I would lobby for change, were that my league.

Ever consider “worst record to best” for Initial priority?

 

[Ruffrodys05]

Thanks. Probably the way we'll go if FAAB presumably fails to be voted in.

Although I think we would start the natural order after week 1 rather than based upon last year's standings - the argument being that the teams that finished last in the prior year already benefited by picking first in this year's draft.

Your league has been at it about 10 years longer than us, so your experiences may differ.

We have our draft two weeks before the NFL regular season starts. We allow waiver claims during Week 1, before any NFL games are played so we needed to set the priority list beforehand. As such, we concluded that the initial waiver run is basically an extension of the draft, (ie; the final round.) We run a straight draft each round, no serpentine, so we chose that order as our initial waiver order. Also, we've found that having the first pick in the draft does not necessarily equate to having an advantage in making a selection. 

Another thing I should note, as it plays specifically into why we do not do FAAB waivers: The league charges a transaction fee per franchise for all successful waiver claims, free agent pickups and completed trades. We charge $5 per day. 

Ex: Team-1 would owe $5 for a successful waiver claim on Wednesday morning.

Ex: Team-2 would owe $5 for a successful waiver claim on Wednesday morning, two successful free agent claims Wednesday afternoon and a trade with Team-3 Wednesday evening (all within 24 hours.)

Ex: Team-3 would owe $5 for the trade with Team-2 Wednesday evening.

Okay, so conceivably we could use a set amount of "fake" money per team for use in FAAB bidding/spending and this would all be done on "paper." The successful winning bidder would then owe the league $5 real cash for the transaction.

The whole problem with this scenario is tracking. Tracking each teams FAAB accounts, then tracking the actual transaction fees of each team. I am unaware of a league hosting site which could handle this unique setup. I might have been more inclined to pursue it a few years ago while I still managed the league but, it's not my responsibility any more. The three guys who took over my league managerial duties would never accept having to do more work. The three of them cannot really handle what I did myself for 17 years.

 

[rschroeder1]

My league uses FAAB, but we've struggled with how to handle the free agency period from 3 a.m. Eastern Wednesday through game starts (on Yahoo!).  An ideal situation would be to institute daily waivers thereafter to prevent the mid-week injury pickup that some people have no hope of hearing about due to life commitments...but this would seem to handcuff people who have to make emergency moves before a Thursday night game, for example.  No one wants to go with depleted lineups.

Curious if anyone has any alternatives to this slightly altered question.

 

[Pigskin Fanatic]

My league uses FAAB, but we've struggled with how to handle the free agency period from 3 a.m. Eastern Wednesday through game starts (on Yahoo!).  An ideal situation would be to institute daily waivers thereafter to prevent the mid-week injury pickup that some people have no hope of hearing about due to life commitments...but this would seem to handcuff people who have to make emergency moves before a Thursday night game, for example.  No one wants to go with depleted lineups.

Curious if anyone has any alternatives to this slightly altered question.

this is vague. does your waiver only run once a week? assuming no,

Scenario 1: A player gets injured after Wednesday night waiver and is on a team playing on Thursday. This could happen if a player is injured during pre-game warmup on Thursday, or if a player is downgraded from Probable to something worse and ends up not playing. There is nothing a league policy can do to help this owner if any form of waiver is used. IMO there is nothing wrong with that, it's the nature of the game.

Scenario 2: A player gets injured after Wednesday night waiver and is not playing until Saturday or Sunday. Does your waiver not run after Wednesday on weeks where there is a Thursday game? Easy fix is let waiver run nightly from Tuesday to Saturday. Curious if you're not doing this and why.

 

[Ruffrodys05]

My league uses FAAB, but we've struggled with how to handle the free agency period from 3 a.m. Eastern Wednesday through game starts (on Yahoo!).  An ideal situation would be to institute daily waivers thereafter to prevent the mid-week injury pickup that some people have no hope of hearing about due to life commitments...but this would seem to handcuff people who have to make emergency moves before a Thursday night game, for example.  No one wants to go with depleted lineups.

Curious if anyone has any alternatives to this slightly altered question.

Let me know if I'm reading this correctly: The Wednesday 3:00 am waiver run is the only opportunity to make changes via free agency all week? 

As I noted above, my league uses daily waivers. First, a Wednesday, 1:00 am initial run, with additional daily waivers at 1:00 am through Monday morning for players dropped within the previous 24 hours. First-Come-First-Serve free agent acquisitions are continuously open after the initial waiver run on Wednesday morning until the earliest game-time of the player you're dropping or adding. Meaning, once a free agent has cleared the initial waiver run on Wednesday, or a 24 hour period since being cut in the previous days waivers, that player is available immediately on a first-come-first-serve basis. Once a players game has started you may neither drop nor add that player. So, conceivably, if you lost a Monday night player on Monday morning you still have a chance to replace him with another player also playing that Monday night. Your choice(s) will be extremely limited but, you at least have a choice.

Hope this was understandable and that it might help.