Keeper League (NL-only) Managing AL trades HELP

[SimpleJack]

I'm seeking advice on how to handle a situation.

We are an NL-only, keeper, auction league. Our selected keepers need to be signed to either a 1, 2 or 3-year contract with a salary inflation of $5 per year. So, If I drafted Braun for $10 and decided to sign him to a 3-year contract, his future salaries would be $15, $20 and $25. He would be a cornerstone on my team for 3 years. But, what if he gets traded in real life to the AL in Year 1 of the contract?

Suppose he gets traded to the NYY for A-Rod. Normally in our league, Braun's stats would still accumulate through year's end despite being an AL player now (he will drop out of the player database after the season), while A-Rod goes to waivers to be picked up by whoever is lucky enough to have the highest waiver priority at the time. This doesn't seem right.

So, we implemented a rule that allows Braun's owner to transfer his contract terms if he wated to any one player received in the real life trade. Therefore, Braun's contarct would transfer to A-Rod, while Braun gets dropped from our league. We have other scenarios that spell out what happens if Braun is traded for 2 AL guys, or if 2 NL guys (owned by 2 different league owners) are traded for one AL guy, etc.

League owners seem to like this concept, except for one who questioned what happens if I have Greg Dobbs under a 2-year contract at a $6 salary this year and $11 next year and A-Rod is traded for Dobbs and minor leaguers? By rule, Dobbs' owner as the right to transfer Dobbs' contract to A-Rod. So, A-Rod would be under contract for 2 years at $6 and $11. He didn't feel that was fair, and he has a point. My retort was that if that happened to Dobbs' owner, then good for him, just like I would say the same thing if some lucky bastard obtained the rights to A-Rod for luckily having the highest waiver priority ranking at that time.

Doesanyone have any suggestions on this rule? Is there a standard rule across fantasy baseball that addresses my concern? Am I doing it right, wrong or is there not a measuring stick out there for which to measure against?

Thanks!

[JBagKY]

Our league handles it differently. If an AL player comes over to the NL, if the player traded is owned, then the owner has the option to pick up that AL player for that year and that year ONLY. At the end of the season, the player from the AL is now a free agent. If it is a multiple player trade, then the owner who lost the highest salaried player has the first option to pick up a player. If the NL player lost was signed to a contract, it works the same way. Don't know if that helps you or not.

[BigLebowski]

We do basically what you do. The Dobbs for A-rod situation could end up the other way. He may have a-rod and get dobbs in return.

We leave it at the option of the owner. He can pick up the player at the original contract if he is getting a good deal in return, or can opt for a one year contract if he is on the short end of the stick. There really is no "fair" way to handle this. Some teams continue to allow the traded players stats to count even though they are in the american league.

Stay with what you have, and don't worry to much about it. That is part of the single league leagues.