is this fair?

[jr]

2 people in my league are married, they trade back and forth players if they have people on bye or need a player to get the upperhand in the match

[kwirefire]

NO WAY... Last year the commissioner of our league had to put the Kabosh on a bunch of bogus trades between two people that were in cahoots. Keep it fair and keep it fun!

[Arlo]

Er... while the answer is probably "no", I'll say "it depends."

Let me ask a few quick questions first:

Do your league's rules restrict trades in any way?

Is all the information about these trades available to everyone?

Would these people make similar trades with others in the league?

Are these trades, when looked at individually, generally even?

I'm generally pretty cautious about labeling trades as unfair, but even if your situation doesn't turn out to involve breaking any rules, it sounds on the face of it as if this is definitely not in the best interests of your league...

[jr]

there are no restrictions and it is viewable to all

but half the league has the same last name so there family and dont care
not that even duce staley for tyrone wheatly and then they traded back the next week

[Arlo]

Ok - when the Staley for Wheatley trade is announced, are you told that the teams intend to trade the players back the next week?

Basically, to be fair, a trade has to stand on its own, without any future considerations. What does the Staley owner get out of this?

Essentially, if one team helps another through a trade without getting any potential benefit for themselves, that's collusion. It sounds like kwirefire is absolutely correct - this sort of thing is simply not fair play.

Any other examples or further information? And do you have any plans for solving the problem?

[johnny_utah]

sounds pretty bogus to me. trade for one week and then trade back??? if they're married, they're in cahoots. sounds like you're getting robbed dude. just hope you dont have any money on it.

[jr]

the guy that traded away staley got nothing out of it he used faulk and george. she had 2 rbs on bye and had to have 1 more.
she should of got an FA not trade a week and then trade back

[Arlo]

You're absolutely right, jr - that's what should have been done. A trade like this is collusion, plain and simple. What to do now is the tricky part...

First, your league's rules probably need a rewrite, including restrictions on trades (for instance, once a team has traded away a player, it may not reacquire him later) and clear definitions of what constitutes unfair trades. This may be a pain in the neck but it'll save trouble in the future. Hopefully, your commish can support you here.

Then, you'll have to make everybody realize that this sort of collusion is unfair. Presumably, the people making these trades didn't consider them to be unfair; hopefully, once they realize that this kind of trade is bad for the league as a whole, the problem will be solved.

If, as johnny_utah mentioned, you're playing for money, the situation becomes more difficult, but not impossible to solve. You can either remove the teams involved from eligibility to win prize money, declare the games played using players involved in such trades forfeits, or declare the league tainted and return all entry fees.

It's a bad situation, but hopefully everybody will see reason and you can go on to have a fun season. And if not, you can always quit as a last resort and look for a league where this doesn't happen...

[kashikis]

arlo is absolutely right on this especially if money is involved. this is a blatant case of collusion. you have to sit down with the other players and show them why this type of trade is unfair. we have a married couple in our league but and they trade between each other but they know that it must be a fair equal trade or the league will deny it. they have been very supportive with that fact and they also know that the same rules apply to everone in the league. you cant allow things like this to happen because it ruins the competitiveness and fun of the whole league. i mean this is fantasy football people its main purpose is so drunken football fans can talk trash and gain bragging rights over their buddies is osme way thats all. just have fun!!!