Strategies for leagues that charge for transactions (1 Viewer)

[DoGdr]

I am Joining a new league after 10 years away from fantasy.  This league charged $5 per pickup/drop, $5 per person for trades and has no injured reserve.  It is a 12 team league with 15 player rosters (QB, 2Rb, 2Wr, Flex, Te, K, Team D/st).  I am thinking the combo of being a new league that I don't know many people in and the charges for transactions will reduce the flexibility to move lots of people on and off rosters. Generally, the way I would handle bye weeks for TE's, Kickers, team D's and maybe QB's by hitting the waiver wire so can load up on high risk-reward rb's and Wr's to play or possibly trade in the draft. 

I am not sure if I should change my draft strategy and if others will be changing based on this.  I am interested in any thoughts or experiences you can share about how this might effect draft strategy.

 

[Gawain]

Do you have any insight as to how much people normally spend on waiver wire moves and trades on a yearly basis? What's initial buy-in?

The larger the percentage of the pot derived from fees, I think the less active you are. 
You have to assign %s of winning based on low activity, moderate activity and high activity. Then figure out the totals and assign percentages. Looking for best +EV play.

 

[beerbuff]

With only 15 man rosters there will always be players on the waiver wire when you need them. I would draft best available player and no handcuffs.

 

[DoGdr]

New League, $100 to play, mix of people who have been a lot of FFL's and some first-timers.

 

[Gally]

I am in a league with $5 FA pickups but no fee for trades (fees for trades only prohibit trades which is bad in my opinion).

It's not a huge dollar figure so I wouldn't necessarily change just because of the charges.  You still need to work the waiver wire to win.  Check previous years and see how much is typically spent.  In my league one guy spent $350 one year ($200 franchise fee).  He was off his rocker.  Most competitive teams usually spend somewhere around $50.  The bottom dwellers spend zero to $10.

 

[GrantK]

We charge $5 for each pickup and drop, some teams have spent $200 - $300 on transactions sometimes due to injuries, bad drafting, bad luck, etc. Some teams don't make any or very few moves and will keep injured guys on their rosters just because they don't want to spend the money. A lot will depend on how healthy your team can stay during the season and wins, if you have a ton of injuries and are in contention for your playoffs you'll likely spend more than the guy who hasn't won and won't make the playoffs. If you draft decent backups and have good luck with injuries you might not have to make many moves, most of my transaction fees come from streaming defenses towards the end of the year and for the playoffs playing the better match-up.