Auction league setup question

[Spartan03]

This is my first year being in an auction league. The league I'm commishing has been together a few years, so we know each other decently well. None of us have ever been in an auction league, so we are just "winging it" and trying to feel our way through the experience. We debated or voted on most major issues, since we wanted to possibly stay auction-style permanently if it went well. It's a redraft league, so we were just looking for a different take on drafting.

Anyway, this issue came up recently, for which I don't know how to answer: Do we force our teams to draft full rosters?
I had owners on both sides of the fence, neither one really convincing me of their stance. If someone only drafted starters, obviously their starting lineup is going to be superior (assuming they do a decent job drafting, of course) to someone who drafts a full roster. Their bench is going to be extremely weak if they don't hit it big on waivers. One side says it's a tradeoff (depth for talent), while the other side doesn't like the idea that they will be outbid for studs due to having more spots to fill with their money than the other guy. What's the norm for this kind of thing? I really want to make teams draft a full roster, but I can see the strategy involved in the other side of the coin as well.

If it matters, we have a "salary cap" of $100 and have 10 starters and 8 bench, with 10 teams.

[dream_017]

Personally, I am a fan of full complete rosters. Now, that is to say that everyone should have the same number of signed players. I don't think you need to have a specific amount of players per position, but you should all have the same number on your roster.

[ABA316]

YES YES!

EVERY team has to draft a complete roster and at least be able to fill the starting spots!

We had a guy once who tried to not roster a kicker one year and boy did that not fly!

[Spartan03]

YES YES!

EVERY team has to draft a complete roster and at least be able to fill the starting spots!

We had a guy once who tried to not roster a kicker one year and boy did that not fly!

Either you misunderstood what I meant or I didn't convey my thoughts well. I was asking more about quantity of players drafted. I don't mind if people decide not to draft a kicker or a defense. That's a semi-common practice, as it gives you a little more time to make a decision on which sleepers or long-shots to keep so you can then pick up your kicker/defense sometime before week 1. To each his own though. Thanks for the responses guys.

[flotsamnjetsam]

This is my first year being in an auction league. The league I'm commishing has been together a few years, so we know each other decently well. None of us have ever been in an auction league, so we are just "winging it" and trying to feel our way through the experience. We debated or voted on most major issues, since we wanted to possibly stay auction-style permanently if it went well. It's a redraft league, so we were just looking for a different take on drafting.

Anyway, this issue came up recently, for which I don't know how to answer: Do we force our teams to draft full rosters?
I had owners on both sides of the fence, neither one really convincing me of their stance. If someone only drafted starters, obviously their starting lineup is going to be superior (assuming they do a decent job drafting, of course) to someone who drafts a full roster. Their bench is going to be extremely weak if they don't hit it big on waivers. One side says it's a tradeoff (depth for talent), while the other side doesn't like the idea that they will be outbid for studs due to having more spots to fill with their money than the other guy. What's the norm for this kind of thing? I really want to make teams draft a full roster, but I can see the strategy involved in the other side of the coin as well.

If it matters, we have a "salary cap" of $100 and have 10 starters and 8 bench, with 10 teams.

The answer is YES! You must force everyone to draft a full roster in an auction for 1 simple reason. If you didn't, an owner could spend all their $$$ on their starters. Then they could just hope to get lucky on the WW and pray for zero injuries. You have to treat that part of it just like a regular draft and have everyone draft full rosters....ESPECIALLY in an auction. Good luck!

[ABA316]

Yep, you have to have people fill their rosters with the same # of players for all.

[Dexter II]

I agree with the other posts that say you need to fill all roster spots.

If this is your first auction it is important to ensure that every owner has at least the minimum bid X the number of open roster spots. So if an owner has 3 open spots and $5 left with a minimum bid of $1 they can only bid $3 on a player in order to have the required $1 for each open spot after the player they paid $3 for.

Usually the commish or auctioneer keeps track of this as well as each owner as a cross check.

[tpflanz]

Compromise. You have 18 total roster spots. Require owners to have a minimum of 15 and a max of 18. This way there will be some flexibility but not complete freedom.