Which side do you buy?

[drhanl]

Hey guys. i have a little disagreement in one of my leagues. Which side of this argument would you take? This is an 8 team league with players such as Big Ben, S. Holmes, K. Curtis, DJ Hackett, w. welker, C. Brown, B. marshall, and others on the WW.

Owner question:

are the player maximums set the way they are on purpose, or is that just the standard setup?
For example, we are only allowed to have 2 QB's on the roster, 5 WR, etc. I don't like that rule at all. If i want to have 3 QB's, isn't that my problem?
I really think this will cause an issue with trades. If I want to trade a RB for a QB, it won't let me, because I would exceed the maximum.
Most leagues have maximums of 3 QB's, 8 WR's and 8 RB's. i think that is more in line with what we should be playing with as well.

Commish Response:

The problem with having 3 QB's, 8 WR's and 8 RB's is that teams will withhold good players and not trade, leaving you to search on a waiver wire empty of warm bodies.

A fair league needs at least some decent players on the waiver wire so when a team has some injuries, (and everyone will) they can find a decent replacement.
It levels out the playing field for everyone to have a chance. Most leagues have 3, 8 & 8 because they are not playing for $

You can trade your RB for a QB but you will have to drop one of your QB’s, therefore placing a decent player on the waiver wire. It is my experience that everyone plays their number one QB every game of the season anyway.

For example, you will most like play McNabb every game, except his bye week and if you could get someone better than McNabb for one of your RB’s, then you would surly drop Kitna so you can have McNabb as a backup right? If you were allowed 3 QB's that would mean you have two great QB’s and Kitna would ride pine all season on your bench. This way Kitna is being used by another team that needs him, hence leveling out the playing field.

Owner Rebuddle:

If you, and me, and six others pay $150 to play for a $720 prize, why would we want the playing field to be leveled? By entering a league that has prize money, I am betting on the fact that I can manage my team of players better than the other 7. Part of that is scouting the waiver wire for players that should not be there and using them to trade for other players later.

I saw two players that I would have liked to have on my team this past week, and I couldn't pick them up without dropping Kitna at QB or Andre Johnson, Vincent Jackson, or Braylon Edwards at receiver. So, I am effectively being punished for drafting good backups. I think that is dumb.

Now, those players have had a big week one, and the rest of the league is going to think, "hey I need to pick up so and so." Thus, the rules, as you stated, have leveled the playing field, which is a bad thing in my opinion. If I would have been able to pick up those players, who I thought were going to perform well, it would have been to my advantage later in the season. The rules, as they are, take away some of the skill of managing a team.

[Felix the Cat]

I absolutely agree with the owner. It's a question of team management. With a standard roster, every move is already a trade-off; you have to drop a player to pick one up.

I can see the argument that you want talent on the waiver wire. The way to do that is not through position caps; it's through having a small bench. If you start 8 players and have a 5 player bench, it forces the same sorts of trade-offs - do I drop Santana Moss for Wes Welker? Should I drop Eli Manning for Ben Roethlisberger? If you like 3 WRs on the waiver wire and pick them all up, that leaves you with little to no depth at the other positions.

That was all in general; it's what I'd argue if you were starting a league right now and asking the question. Since it's already into the season and you've already drafted, you need to go back and look at your league rules - the ones that were made available to the owners before they paid any money, including any modifications made later that were agreed to according to your league rules for making changes after the league has begun. Do these rules include the position caps? If so, position caps must be kept, as a) the owner in question should have known about them at draft time and adjusted accordingly, and b) other owners probably adjusted their drafting and waiver-wire strategy according to the league rules. If the position caps were not in the league rules that everyone agreed to at the time they paid their money, they need to be immediately removed, and you need to notify everyone that they have been removed and apologize for the mistake. If other want them back in, you can follow the rules that were set down for making changes after payment time. In my opinion, the league rules of a pay league represent a binding contract between commissioner and owners; they cannot be changed except by agreement of the owners as per the section of the rules that addresses rule changes. (Obviously league rules are NOT a legally binding contract in most states, as playing fantasy football for money is illegal... so if a commissioner decides to change the rules to his benefit mid-season, there's little action that the owners can take without incriminating themselves in an illegal gambling operation.)

Bottom line:
-If you want talent on the waiver wire and limited rosters, go with a small bench rather than position caps.
-If the position caps were stated in the rules at the time the owners paid, keep them.
-If the position caps were not stated in the rules at the time the owners paid, remove them.

[Lofunzo]

I also agree with the other owner (but I never play in leagues that small).

[drhanl]

thanks guys. i'm the owner, and I know that I am right. But, as you stated, i should have noticed before draft day. nothing i can do about it now.