FAB - Good or Bad...Tell Me!

[The Badfinger]

As commissioner in our decade old 10 team league, I am thinking of switching to FAB vs the standard waiver process for our ESPN league.  I like the option that after the process runs mid-week, all remaining players will be FA's.

 

So tell me...

 

The good, bad and ugly about FAB?

 

What dollar amount is typical for the year long budget?

 

My goal for this league is to reward knowledge, strategy, and discipline, not failure.  If other guys want it wide open with typical waivers, large rosters and unlimited transactions, well, they can find another (bush) league.

[millworkguy]

Depends, dynasty or redraft?

The majority of my dynasty leagues (that use faab) allow us to carry over balances from year to year, but typically give less per yr, while others that don't allow carry-over give us 300-500 per season, but it really doesn't matter as the owners will bid accordingly and if you allow zero dollar  bids (for the fcfs element after waiver run)

[Big Country]

@millworkguy covered some of the basics. In my opinion it is a far superior method for determining waiver/free agent acquisitions, but there is a lot of nuance and options in setting it up.

 

Really the budget doesn't matter as much as most of the other settings, as owners will adjust bids accordingly depending on if it is 100, 200 or 1000, and whatever you set as the minimum bid. The hot pickup that will go for 50-60% of the season budget will go in the 50s-60s in the 100 league and in the 500-600s in the 1000 league.

 

The main thing to determine is if there is cost for FCFS, and if so what that cost is (is it the same as a minimum bid, I've seen leagues charge more to encourage bidding rather than waiting for FCFS, though that is an outlier)

 

If no cost for FCFS, then you likely need a roster churn rule - usually something like any player picked up can not be dropped until the following week.

 

If you do charge for FCFS, how do you handle teams that use up all their money and then injury/suspension/etc. strike and now they have no active QB or kicker and can not field a full lineup - SOL, forced to make a lopsided trade to address, etc. - or do you allow the trading of FA dollars - in my experience, most dynasty leagues allow this, most redraft leagues do not.

 

Just some of the considerations off the top of my head.

[The Badfinger]

15 hours ago, Big Country said:

@millworkguy covered some of the basics. In my opinion it is a far superior method for determining waiver/free agent acquisitions, but there is a lot of nuance and options in setting it up.

 

Really the budget doesn't matter as much as most of the other settings, as owners will adjust bids accordingly depending on if it is 100, 200 or 1000, and whatever you set as the minimum bid. The hot pickup that will go for 50-60% of the season budget will go in the 50s-60s in the 100 league and in the 500-600s in the 1000 league.

 

The main thing to determine is if there is cost for FCFS, and if so what that cost is (is it the same as a minimum bid, I've seen leagues charge more to encourage bidding rather than waiting for FCFS, though that is an outlier)

 

If no cost for FCFS, then you likely need a roster churn rule - usually something like any player picked up can not be dropped until the following week.

 

If you do charge for FCFS, how do you handle teams that use up all their money and then injury/suspension/etc. strike and now they have no active QB or kicker and can not field a full lineup - SOL, forced to make a lopsided trade to address, etc. - or do you allow the trading of FA dollars - in my experience, most dynasty leagues allow this, most redraft leagues do not.

 

Just some of the considerations off the top of my head.

 

Thanks for the input.

 

As far as roster churn rules...I think I might have the addressed as we are only allowed to roster a total of 4 RBs and 4 WRs.  And our total acquisitions (Waiver and FA) is capped at 35 for the year.   That is what we did last year and only two people tapped out at 35...and of course they were two of the worst teams in the league at that point.  

 

If a team uses up all its money....sucks to be them.  Again the "mantra" for this league is "we do not reward failure" (winner takes all...no juice box or orange slices for second or third!).  But then it is only $25 league dues.

 

So I could see if we have a big budget number, say $1000, that putting  $10 on FCFS and a $5 minimum bid should get the results I am looking for...I think.

[millworkguy]

50 minutes ago, The Badfinger said:

 

As far as roster churn rules...I think I might have the addressed as we are only allowed to roster a total of 4 RBs and 4 WRs.  And our total acquisitions (Waiver and FA) is capped at 35 for the year.   That is what we did last year and only two people tapped out at 35...and of course they were two of the worst teams in the league at that point.  

 

While Its certainly restrictive, in theory  a team week 12 could add/drop 10 rb's/WRs so their opponent is blocked from adding a player of their choosing 

[Big Country]

On 7/2/2022 at 6:15 AM, The Badfinger said:

 

Thanks for the input.

 

As far as roster churn rules...I think I might have the addressed as we are only allowed to roster a total of 4 RBs and 4 WRs.  And our total acquisitions (Waiver and FA) is capped at 35 for the year.   That is what we did last year and only two people tapped out at 35...and of course they were two of the worst teams in the league at that point.  

 

If a team uses up all its money....sucks to be them.  Again the "mantra" for this league is "we do not reward failure" (winner takes all...no juice box or orange slices for second or third!).  But then it is only $25 league dues.

 

So I could see if we have a big budget number, say $1000, that putting  $10 on FCFS and a $5 minimum bid should get the results I am looking for...I think.

 

It's a different topic, but I'll still chime in by saying I am probably one of the biggest opponents to having roster position limits or transaction limits - I am a supporter of letting owners manage their teams and build their rosters the way they best see fit.

 

Having a budget of $1000 with a minimum of $5 is no different than a budget of $200 with a minimum of $1, especially if you also make the bids need to be in increments of $5.

 

With what it seems like you are trying to accomplish, you can go with $1000, $5 min bid, $10 FA acquisition (need to clarify the bid increments, if it's $1 then this works fine). IF planning to do the $5 increments on bids, then I think you are better off going with a $200 budget, $1 min bid, $2 FA acquisition.  Charging for FA acquisitions with no FAB trading certainly adds some strategy to budgeting.

 

I would suggest having a rule that any player acquired has to remain on the roster until after the current week's games, and any dropped player is locked until the next waiver run, but that's up to you as you know your league best.

 

 

[The Badfinger]

On 7/2/2022 at 9:06 AM, millworkguy said:

 

While Its certainly restrictive, in theory  a team week 12 could add/drop 10 rb's/WRs so their opponent is blocked from adding a player of their choosing 

 

Possible but unlikely at that point.

[squirrelmastr21]

Once you go FAB you’ll never go back.