What are common-obstacles you face as commissioner?

[fantasyfiend]

I'm planning on graduating my league (next year 2011) to a keeper or dynasty format with auction and faab budget. But before I come up with rules and settings, I just want to hear from experienced commissioners on common-problems that may arise, and maybe get some ideas on how to combat them.

[bigmck]

This is the 15th year of my Keeper Auction League. Even thought eight of the eleven teams have had the same owner for the last nine years, we still have about one big dispute every year. The big thing is to have as much as you can spelled out in the rules. It everything is spelled out, there can be no misunderstanding. We always vote on rule changes each year. I think if you do that, it gives everyone a good feeling rather than you just changing the rules yourself. We never let first year owners vote on rules. I feel the new owners need to be in the league for a year to see how it operates before having a good say on changes. Our rules are pretty good I feel. Check them out at this link. http://sportsgods.org/auction.htm

[fantasyfiend]

Wow .. awesome league page. Going through your rules have scared the living crap about of me though. That league looks like it takes serious time commitment on part of the commish. How long does it take to manage it all?

[Matthias]

This is the 15th year of my Keeper Auction League. Even thought eight of the eleven teams have had the same owner for the last nine years, we still have about one big dispute every year. The big thing is to have as much as you can spelled out in the rules. It everything is spelled out, there can be no misunderstanding. We always vote on rule changes each year. I think if you do that, it gives everyone a good feeling rather than you just changing the rules yourself. We never let first year owners vote on rules. I feel the new owners need to be in the league for a year to see how it operates before having a good say on changes. Our rules are pretty good I feel. Check them out at this link. http://sportsgods.org/auction.htm

Pretty exhaustive. There is another reason that someone might also not qualify for the minor leagues, though. In addition to the AB and IP requirements, someone can disqualify from the RoY based upon days on the major league roster, excluding when the rosters are expanded.

[Matthias]

Here's our constitution.

Rules:

4 Keepers: 3 unrestricted, 1 add'l $1 player
Set increases in keeper salaries: $3 first year, $5 second, $10 each add'l
When a player is traded, his keeper status is traded along with him.
$290 to be auction budget; players salaries to be their purchase values. $310 to be in-season salary cap.
Players purchased at a certain value retain that value, even if waived, until repurchased the next season.
Waivers to run daily.
Waiver pickups each season to be limited to 60 per team: trades to be unlimited. Waiver pickups to be tracked via player fees (although they won't be charged).
All free agent pickups to be done via the waiver system: any player who picks a free agent up directly without using the waiver system shall forfeit the player, forfeit the transaction count, but shall have the option of having restored any players dropped, at no additional transaction cost.
All non-drafted players have in-season salary of $1 when picked up but if kept, have a second season salary of $5 plus the standard keeper increase.
After the first season, any and all changes to the scoring system requires a 7 out of 10 super-majority vote, or at least 70% of remaining members if there are any dropouts.
Loser in a season has to play treasurer in the next.
Money to be collected. Money to be paid:
First, to league fees (Sportsline).
Second, $20 to most improved, pointwise, from All-Star Break to end of the season.
Third, 75% of what's left to first place.
Fourth, the remainder (25%) to second place.
All trades vetoable by commish if they offend his sense of decency or reek of dirty dealing.
The first season, order of nominating picks to be randomly determined. After that, in ascending order of the previous season's finish.

Minor-league add-on rules:
$10 to be added to the auction budget, bringing the total available to $290.
During the draft, you may buy up to 3 minor-league (mL) players.
Players qualify for mL status if:
1) They would be eligible for the RoY in the current year; AND
2) They do not start Opening Day this year on a 25-man roster.

If an owner has too many Major League players as of Opening Day, they must drop players down to a regular, legal active roster plus reserves.

Minor-league players have a $1 salary escalation, as long as they continue to be kept as a minor-leaguer. The salary escalator is determined at Opening Day. Once a mL player ceases to be minor-league eligible, their salary escalation in the year next to be the normal $3 and then normal keeper rules apply.

Minor-league players who are kept on the minor-league roster are exempt from all normal keeper limits.

Minor-league players may be promoted during the season. However, if a mL player is promoted out of their mL spot, they may not be put back into a mL roster spot and no replacement minor-leaguer may be put there, either. That mL roster spot is effectively burned until next year's draft. Minor-leaguers who are promoted cease to be mL players and may not use the mL keeper exemptions.

MLB rules on being RoY eligible:
Determining rookie status:
A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list).
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/ab ... ations.jsp

[Matthias]

In general, I would say focus on setting up clear rules that avoid problems from the onset. Figure out the loopholes and scoring tricks that you like to use and design rules to make them of no use. Also, however, avoid things that are overly complicated that require to be tracked or things that make really weird values such as contracts. And lastly, remember that fewer keepers are more.

It's much better to play with only 1 keeper than 15. You may want to give a dynasty feel to the league but you also, and more importantly, want to make it interesting, fun, and rewarding for everybody every year. If you make something that lets one team just become a dominant force, people won't want to stick around for very long. And there's not much point to creating a huge dynasty league if nobody wants to continue 2 or 3 years in. So keep your number of keepers low and your penalties for keeping them increasingly severe. Believe me, there will still be plenty of profit potential to reward people. In our league, the guy who got Hanley off of waivers his rookie year has gotten 4, and this coming year will be 5, years of very profitable use out of him. And 5 years is a long time. Just try to imagine what you'll be doing in 2015. So don't bend over backwards to make the rules overly keeper friendly or worry that you're not incentivizing long term thinking enough. It'll work out.

After that, just invite guys who are adults and care about doing well. Then you don't have to worry about cheating, trading, and collusion. And you can just let the kids play.

[bigmck]

Wow .. awesome league page. Going through your rules have scared the living crap about of me though. That league looks like it takes serious time commitment on part of the commish. How long does it take to manage it all?

It does not take much time at all. All of the rules are there to cover everything. When everyone knows the rules, the work is minimal.

[mkultra]

First rule: FANTASY BASEBALL SHOULD BE FUN.

Don't get too hung up on funky rules. Funky rules will get broken, often unintentionally. People will forget about funky rules, and complain loudly when their draft/trade strategy relied on a different understanding.

Get started early. I started a new dynasty league this year, and we're actually doing redraft the first year so that (a) people get used to the auction and FAAB formats, and (b) we can shake out rules. Remember, it's a giant pain to change rules the deeper your keepers go. We started voting on rules back in February.

Set a draft date early, and make sure everyone knows they HAVE TO BE THERE. I'd sooner rely on a toddler than the autodraft in an auction.

[Keen3]

I agree with sitting down and writing up a very detailed constitution. Regardless of how serious the leage is, this will save headaches long-run. I disagree however with limiting the amount of keepers. I suppose if your league is filled with casual fans or casual fantasy owners that's fine, but if you've got people who know what they're talking about, the more keepers the better! Dynasty leagues are the way to go. Serious players love nothing more than to be rewarded for drafting a player only to see him really turn into a stud 3 years later.

[Spartan23]

Wow .. awesome league page. Going through your rules have scared the living crap about of me though. That league looks like it takes serious time commitment on part of the commish. How long does it take to manage it all?

It does not take much time at all. All of the rules are there to cover everything. When everyone knows the rules, the work is minimal.

Agree. I've been running a keeper league (40-man rosters, 15 keepers) for three or four years now and I think the biggest key is to find a group of GMs who get along and share the same commitment (i.e. time, knowledge, participation, etc.). I modeled our constitution off the famous Rotisserie book the original guys published back in the day (we do straight draft, not auction) and at first glance the rules would seem overwhelming, but once you get into the swing of it, it's not hard at all. And obviously the internet stat services have taken all the difficulty out of everything. Once everyone is on the same page, the rules just serve as something to fall back on. The league basically "polices" itself.

I would also suggest just try having fun with it. The tighter the league the easier things are. For example, I know most leagues employ a veto system, but I'm against that. For all intents and purposes the Commish has final say on things and the GMs are fine with it because there is a trust level. I have never disallowed a trade and I think only one in three years has ever been disputed.

Good luck.