Teams not setting their roster

[onemanwolfpack]

Hello all,

I need your opinion on something that has happened in my leagues for the last two years. Towards the end of the season when a team is eliminated from playoff contention, they simply ignore their team and stop setting their rosters. It seems like every time, they end up playing someone that is fighting to take the last playoff spot. This is obviously unfair for the team that loses the playoff spot. Is there anything a commissioner can do about this? It should be sort of a rule for fantasy football owners that they must start their best available players.

What about if before this season starts, I make it a rule that from Week 12 on, if an owner does not set their rosters the commissioner sets it for them (starting whoever is projected for the most points?)

I appreciate any opinions!

[Hags888]

I ran into that problem in one of my other leagues where I am not commissioner, and the commissioner initially did something like what you are describing. But, the league ultimately over-ruled him on it, and he retroactively rescored the matchup with the old lineup. While I get what you are saying, that a purist approach starts the best starters each week, you have to keep in mind that what you're describing is a very gray area.

First of all, how do you define "best starters"? What might be the best, most obvious lineup to you, may not be to someone else. And what will the other team owners think if you're the one setting the lineup? What if the lineup benefits you as commissioner, even if it matches with the purist mentality? So, you can run into many issues when you go about setting someone else's lineup for them.

Furthermore, as a team owner, if I want to flake out the last two weeks and essentially take a dive, I should be allowed to do so (as long as it's not because of collusion). And what's the difference if, for example, you have a total newb to fantasy football and makes idiot calls on their lineup because they don't know any better, or a person makes idiotic calls because they simply forgot to update their lineup...or because they are quitting the last two weeks? There are lots of reasons for various lineups, and trying to determine intent (did they forget, are they stupid, did they quit?) is kind of pointless to me. I say, let the lineups stand, however they are chosen. Some players may just be given a free ride into the playoffs because of it, and frankly, as long as collusion is not involved, I see no problem with that.

[Bobbleheadrusty]

I could not disagree with Haggs more. Yes, you dont want the commissioner setting lineups, yes, but only a crummy owner would just give up on a non playoff team and destroy the integrity of the league. Collusion or not, you are changing the outcome of the season by intentionally not playing. In reality, there are three ways to deal with this issue. First, don't invite people back who dont fill out their rosters. Second, publicly shame people who havent set their roster. Message boards, texts, ect. are a great way to do this. Third, remind people in advance/on game day when their rosters arent set. A quick "hey, noticed you dont have a healthy quarterback this week, you planning to do something about it" message will work wonders to guilt people into fixing it.

The first one is the most important though. If they did it in years past, dont have them back.

[Hags888]

Let me clarify, while I have no problem with teams quitting the last few weeks when they are statistically out of it, I would much rather prefer they play it out honestly to the end. And I would definitely encourage the commissioner to not invite team owners back into the league that routinely flake out, or forget to set their lineups. I'm just saying that if it happens once, no big deal. And I don't think the commissioner should try to jerry-rig the the lineups to conform to some perceived "ideal, purist, lineup" all the time. If it's a chronic issue with someone in the league, then just don't invite them back the next year. But, if it's a one-time thing, just let it stand, because it's too much of a gray area to try to determine intent as to why a team leaves an idiotic lineup in play (except in the case of collusion).

[Dan Lambskin]

this is what we do

All teams must set a valid/legitimate lineup. This means not starting players on bye weeks. This also means an owner must start a reasonable lineup...ie not benching your best player to play a backup RB.

1st offense = loss of 7th round pick
2nd offense = loss of 5th round pick
3rd offense = loss of 3rd round pick
4th offense = loss of 2nd round pick
5th offense = loss of 1st round pick
NOTE: if you do not have indicated pick because of a trade, you will lose the next highest pick (i.e. 1st offense and you have traded a 7th, it costs you a 6th)

While there is no clear-cut definition of tanking, it's one of those "i know it when i see it" type of things. therefore, all cases of perceived tanking will be reviewed by a 3 person committee where a 2-1 vote YES vote will be needed to facilitate forfeiture of draft picks (In the event one of the committee members is involved, there will be the alternate). You will be allowed to make a case as to why your lineup was valid (i.e. gambling on an injured player who was a Game Time decision may be acceptable. starting a player who has been ruled OUT for the whole week is not)

[dupree]

We have this in our bylaws (forget where I stole these from):

A. GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL.
The following conditions make a [LEAGUENAME] owner eligible for removal pursuant to the [LEAGUENAME] Removal Procedures (section B):

1. An owner fails to submit an active starting lineup more than three weeks in any given season. For the purposes of this Section (A1), failing to submit an active starting lineup includes, but is not limited to, the following: starting a player who is on a bye week, starting a player who is out for the year with an injury, or failing to submit a full lineup. Starting a player who is "questionable" or who has a nagging injury is not a failure to start an active lineup. This is really meant to cover players on bye and those that obviously can't play due to a serious injury. [Note: MFL makes it easy to help you ensure that you don't start someone on bye or someone with a serious injury. Thus, submitting inactive lineups is a pretty good sign you didn't even check your roster for the week, which is inexcusable. Please take the 2 minutes you need per week and at least get a valid roster submitted].

The other thing we do is have the toilet bowl drive the draft picks, so the better your non-playoff team does in the toilet bowl the better off you will be come draft day next year. It also doesn't hurt that I have a waiting list (usually short but populated) of people that are happy to take over a spot for a negligent/thoughtless owner.

MFL also has an option that it can pre-populate next weeks lineup for each team based on rankings and, I presume, it takes into accounts bye's/injuries so that would help at least keep you from doing it yourself and opening up accusations of "fixing" games.

[Cleokatrah]

I have always set the lineups of abandoned teams and not once has anyone complained. I also have a strict no quitting rule. If you aren't active through the season, without explanation, then you are not invited back for season two.

What I do is look over past week lineups to get a feel for owner preference, then set the lineup accordingly. You will find that most times the lineup will already reflect owner preference and all you need to do is switch an inactive player with an active one. If you need to fill a position, use the free agency and not the waivers. I have never had to replace more than a couple players in an inactive teams lineup.

I have never had this happen but I do state to all my owners that if an inactive team qualifies for playoffs, it will be bumped off and the next qualifying team will be entered.

Another option might be to find a temporary replacement owner. I don't think penalizing truant/inactive owners works because they abandon or are careless because they simply don't care. therefore, they won't care about penalties either.

[kong_jr.]

Since it's the last few weeks of the season I feel that the commish should set the other teams lineup leaving all players currently in ... and if there are any empty spots/DL players, they get filled from the bench.

Maybe it's not the best team around maybe it is.

I've been part of many a league where I've had to play a team at it's best early in the season, and then late in the season someone competing with me is playing the same team with empty slots and DL players so I miss the playoffs.

(Which is part of the reason I also run a points only league with no playoffs).