One of the toughest parts about this time of the fantasy baseball season is keeping everyone interested. Now, more than a third of the way through the season, your fantasy baseball league’s standings have taken enough shape for you to determine who the contenders are versus the bottom-feeders. If you’re near the top and in the midst of a dogfight for the title, then great. I’m proud of you. If not, then you have my sincerest condolences, but with one small message: Don’t flake out on your league! Just because your team is out of the race, it does not mean that you have fufilled the committment you made at the start of the season. It is still your responsibility to maintain a certain level of participation in your league and to disappear into the shadows is not only wrong, but a sure-fire way to not being invited back next season.
I’m in this one league — a 15 team mixed keeper league — that I will, more than likely be dropping out of after 3 years, due to numerous league members failing to live up to their GM responsibilities. In this league, trades are voted on by all of its members and according to the rules, you must have a majority of the league vote against a deal for it to be vetoed. Not a majority of people voting, but a majority of the entire league, which means that a trade must receive 7 no votes for it to be voted down. I think you see where I’m going with this.
Well, as it is a keeper league and we’re here in mid-June, you can imagine some of the dump trades that are occurring. Now I’m not a fan of the dump trade, by any means, but they are a natural occurrance in all fantasy baseball keeper leagues as the bottom-feeders don’t care very much for what they give up, so long as they’re receiving a stud protect for next year. Again, not a fan, but it is what it is. But that’s not where the problem lies. The problem is the lack of participation by several owners in the voting process and the issues that ensue afterwards.
Now there are two things that I consider “a lack of participation in the voting process.” First there are the owners that just don’t vote. A trade is announced and owners have 72 hours to cast their vote. 72 hours! 3 days! How can you not cast a vote on a trade over a three day voting period? I just don’t get it. Sure, you might not check the site daily if your team is out of the running, but most leagues send out trade announcements via email and you can’t tell me in this age of laptops, Blackberries, Palm Pre’s, and other phones that are capable of receiving emails, that you don’t see the announcements. It’s just flat out laziness, and in this league, it skews the votes in a horrible way. We’ve had now, in the last 2 years, 2 deals voted through where one vote was 4-5 against and the other was a 5-5 tie. Both deals went through because there was no “majority” against. Total bullshit? Absolutely. But it’s happened, and try as I might to get the commissioner’s to get on the other owners, they have failed to do so in an effective manner now in three years.
The other aspect of “a lack of participation” is when an owner doesn’t even take the time to review a deal. My appreciation for atleast voting, but when you just yes every deal through without evaluating it, you’re doing a disservice to the league. Pay attention. If you see a deal that has a prospect who may or may not get called up going one way and 4 full time, every day major leaguers going the other way, then evaluate the deal properly before you just yes it through. In this particular style of league, based on the cost of protects from year to year, the probability of a prospect, who may or may not get the call this season, being kept the following season is highly unlikely. Therefore, one team is basically trading 4 players for nothing. Was it collusive? Probably not, but with the majority of the league up in arms about it, you’d have to think the deal was suspect on several levels.
It is your duty, as a league member, whether you’re in the hunt for a title or not, to evaluate each trade and vote your conscience based on its merits. When you join a league, you join for the entire season, and until you pass the trade deadline, if your league requires a vote, then be responsible and cast yours properly. If not, then you’re jeapordizing the integrity of the entire league.
But voting isn’t the only problem with owners whose interest seems to fizzle out with their team by late May. What about those owners whose lineups are riddled with players on the DL? If you’re talking about a rotisserie keeper league strategy where you want to finish in dead last, well that’s one thing. But in some keeper and non-keeper leagues, whether they are rotisserie or head to head leagues, you’re corrupting your league standings by not fielding a legitimate lineup.
Whether your league has daily or weekly roster moves, it is still your responsibility to field a proper team. You see the problems in head to head leagues much more often as wins are awarded to undeserving teams who square off against a dead team and you hear the complaints from other teams in contention on a regular basis. Depending on your league schedule, there is the possibility that a team ends up making the playoffs simply because they face a dead team more often than the others. Where’s the strategy in that? What’s the baseball knowledge needed to accomplish that feat?
Listen, I’m not sitting here telling you to still make a bunch of moves regularly or take up too much of your, obviously, busy schedule, but atleast check up on your roster and the rest of the league every so often, even if it’s once a week or once every two weeks. Atleast you’re making an effort. If you see you have players on the DL in your active lineup, then just swap them out for healthy players. Is that too much trouble to ask?
I understand that people join fantasy baseball leagues for a variety of reasons and people’s interest in the game differs all of the time. But if you make the committment to the league and you participate in your fantasy baseball draft, then have the courtesy of following through with your promise. You don’t have to be as intense an owner as some of us are, but live up to your responsibilities. If your league requires you to vote, then vote. If you have a bunch of hurt guys in your lineup, then get them out of there. Be fair to your fellow league members and don’t dismiss all aspects of the league because your team is in the basement. Like anything in life, a bad reputation spreads quicker than a good one, and before you know it, your friends and your league will leave you behind with resentment. Do us, and yourself, a favor and follow through. There’s enough disappointment in the world today. Don’t add to it and ruin a fun time for the rest of us.
Loading ...
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Howard, I just made a trade in the league you’re covering in your Roto Reality columns and I’m interested in your thoughts – I traded Elvis Andrus to RockNRoll for Shane Victornio.
RnR was in need of a SS and I have both Jose Reyes and Andrus and I needed a power/speed guy.
Also, if you can weigh in on the deal I proposed last week that RnR declined – Andrus and Gallardo for Matt Holliday and Hamels. I know you’re not a big fan of Gallardo, but he’s been having a very solid year. I’d be getting more value in Holliday and RnR would be getting more value in Gallardo based on the stats this year.
Victorino happens to be on your Buzz Stat of the Week – guys with at least 10hr and 10 steals. Interestingly enough, I have 3 of the 5 guys that currently fit this stat of the week – David Wright, Chris Young who I picked up a week ago, and now Victorino. Does this win me an award or anything?
Thanks,
Pine Tar
First off, congrats on pulling off a deal in the Gentlemen’s game League. I know that can be a tough task to conquer.
I really like the deal for you as, you’re right, you traded from strength and upgraded yourself in the outfield where you are hurting. Victorino is a solid add, and whil eyou may not get the same SB production from the Flyin’ Hawaiian, you’re certainly going toget more pop. Not to mention, you can now comfortably leave Reyes in your lineup and not have to constantly swap him and Andrus in and out of your lineup. You also have BJ Upton, so your speed really shouldn’t suffer from the deal, and once you get back Nelson Cruz, you should see your power totals climb.
As for your proposed Andrus/Gallardo for Holliday/Hamels, I probably wouldn’t have done it either if I were RnR. Gallardo’s numbers look better than Hamels as of right now, but the difference between the two isn’t close to the differences between Andrus and Holliday, who is a notorious second half performer. I think the power that he’ll put up by year’s end will be substantial. With RnR’s rotation, the move from Hamels to Gallardo isn’t going to do much for him, but the loss of Holliday certainyl wiould…and not in a good way.
And while I can applaud you for owning 3 of the 5 guys in the Buzz Stat of the Week, I must warn you that I almost changed it to the Jinx of the Week as players I listed there sudddenly went into a baseball hibernation until their names were erased. So sadly, no award for you.
Howard, for the record after Kevin and I traded Victorino for Andrus, he offered me Alfonso Soriano and Scott Baker for Matt Holliday. He did offer me Gallardo and Andrus for Hamels and Holliday two weeks before this.
I’d like to explain why I made that trade even though I knew Kevin was getting the better end of the deal. I’ve been getting killed at SS all year. Bartlett stunk up the joint and I eventually picked up Marco Scutaro. He recently got a cortisone shot in the neck so I figured I had to move on. When Kevin offered me the trade I figured Carlos Gonzalez goes into my starting line up replacing Victorino. Casey McGhee becomes my every day Utility player, and I picked up Tori Hunter off of waivers to shore up my outfield. Now I know I traded the better player to Kevin but in my opinion I improved my team. I guess that’s all that matters. I think we both improved our teams.
Never said you weren’t improving your team, Jeff. In fact, I did like the deal for both of you. Too often, fantasy owners are trying to pull off trades that only help them, and while you’d like to think that’s the desired goal, it hurts your trading in the long run. If you intelligently show your trade partner that your deal helps them as well, then your trade reputation increases in a positive way and it’s easier to get deals done down the road.
As for this deal, it definitely solidifies you at short and using Hunter and/or Gonzalez should easily replace Victorino overall.
Good luck!!