Looks like we've reached a consensus on remaining a keeper league with a fresh draft this season. I assume we'll roll dem bones for draft order. And there was some discussion on implementing rule changes to discourage the fire sales by bottom-dwelling teams that had become the norm over the past few seasons. How best to remedy this situation? Also, what are schedules like for the next six weeks or so as we prepare for our draft?

No vacations this year - so I'm available to draft whenever...

On vacation August 15th through August 22nd.
Though my plans are up in the air for what we are doing, a couple of those days I most likely won't have any access

I don't have access at work. My schedule varies. I will post it when we get started. As far as trying to cut down the tanking, I don't blame anyone fo following the rules. We could just go w/ an annual redraft. We have aweekly prize, maybe if we increase the Toilet Bowl prize that would keep the interest longer.

I agree, I don't blame anyone for playing by the rules.

For the record, it's not the so-called tanking I was wanting to discuss. I think we solved that issue by instituting a week 6 deadline for trading draft picks.

It's when we come to August and it's time to announce keepers and then we have a bunch of trades so teams can find good enough keepers. It's those trades I'm not very fond of. In the past we've had Drew Brees acquired for a 9th round pick. Torry Holt for a 6th round pick, Larry Fitzgerald for a 7th round pick, along with a bunch of similar give away trades because some teams don't bother to make sure they have two keepable players and other teams are more then happy to trade a player they can't keep for garbage. They're going to have to drop them anyway, might as well get something for them. It's kind of like those govt programs Timmay is so fond of....I don't need to bother with the here and now, cuz someone will give me a handout come August.

It doesn't seem like much of a keeper league if you don't even have to concern yourself with it cuz someone will give you a keeper later. Might as well just make it a redraft then like you suggested.

My thinking was if we make it a 3 keeper league, then maybe the same things could happen come August, but at least then, with everyone being forced to keep 3 players, the quality of the players being traded for a crappy draft pick would maybe at least be of closer value to that pick then in the past when guys like Fitz and Brees were being traded for nothing...

Just speaking for myself, I feel the draft is the most fun in this hobby & if we keep 3, it just doesn't feel like Christmas morning.

I can't disagree with that statement

as far as cutting down the fire sales, I would recommend simply eliminating the keeper time limits. then there is no incentive to get rid of a stud with an expiring contract just because you may as well get something for him.

Are you suggesting no limit on the number of keepers allowed?

I'm sure he means the time limit.

Just being able to keep a guy for more years won't cut down the fire sales. Probably increase it.
Right now, we can only keep a guy 3 years so after 3 years is up, doesn't matter if I trade that guy he can't be a keeper for me or anyone else so nobody is going to trade me for him.
But if there is no time limit, then I have some additional players that are going to be traded in August as keepers.

I don't like the August trades much but not sure how to solve that other then banning trades.

not true at all. he has value for the rest of that year. if a guy has an expiring contract, he has no value at all to a team out of the playoffs, but he does have value to a team that is still alive. that has been the cause of most of the "tanking" trades in this league. the other keeper leagues I'm in don't have time limits on keepers, and I've never seen a single mid-to-late season trade of a stud player for future draft picks in any of them. it just doesn't happen, because there's no incentive to clear out the cupboards for future draft picks.

We moved our trade deadline to week 6 to combat those trades.
I was talking specifically about the August trades where guys with 0 or 1 keeper are trading with guys with 3 or more keepers.

Maybe the thing to do is to not allow any off-season trades. That way, owners would have to make any moves to acquire potential keepers by the week 6 deadline (if the trade involves future picks) or the week 10 (IIRC) deadline, or else risk having Justin Fargas and Brandon Lloyd as keepers.

at least two of us are talking about the same thing.


Troller's idea has some merit, maybe a little drastic, but it would eliminate those kind of trades.

Anyone play in one of those keeper leagues where you give up the draft pick of the round you got the keeper player the year before? Wondering if that would make a difference.

If you can keep a lower caliber player that you might have drafted in the 5th round, you'd get to draft in the 1st round, so more willing to use that lower player as a keeper and not feel the need to trade for one. Also, if you do trade for one, you'd give up the pick you give for trading for him and also then the draft pick of the round he was drafted the previous. Not sure if a system like that would help or not...

What would HoP do?

that's great fellas, but dave asked about firesales by bottom dewlling teams. the only team that is already "bottom dwelling" in the preseason is TimC's.

Simple. Effective. I like it.

It would add to the draft pool talent & if your keepers were lesser, you would probably end up w/ one of the players you would have traded for anyway.

Yep.

Okay then, NO OFFSEASON TRADES.
Now, let's roll dem bones.

Can we still swap next year's draft picks, during the season trade period?

Yes.

I am available to draft anytime, any place.

I am unable to visit MLS, EST:

Today 7:30 - 12:30 & 4:30 - 9:30
Tues 7:30 - 5:30
Wed 7:30 - 12:30 & 4:30 - 9:30
Thur 7:30 - 12:30

At this pace, we won't even have draft slots by the weekend.

I vote if it's your turn to do something and you don't check in within 24 hours to do that thing, then we move the f on and you can jump in whenever.

I call it the You Be An F'n Loser On Your Own Time rule.

guess who's on the clock right now

Between the forums being run on the ghetto servers and Ramsister and Julie giving out free sammiches, I've been go fuck yerself.

Attending a funeral this Friday/Saturday in SE Texas...will be without network connectivity for a few hours during stretches...will try and check-in/draft/pre-select when possible...

This week:

Mon & Fri: 7:30 - 12:30 & 4:30 - 9:30
Tues & Thurs: 7:30 - 5:30
Wed: 11 - 9:30

"Does this mean you'll have access from 12:30 to 4:30," he asked at 3:33?

Off to work til 9:30 EST.

I have access to the message board only. If by 7 PM EST, my turn arrives, please post picks 55+ & I will try to git ur dun.