Tanking in Keeper Leagues...

[ABA316]

We have had it in place for 2 years, this year 2 of the teams who owed out of the 3 likely wont be coming back but most years 2 said owners are very inactive so again its kindof acomplishing its purpose. Great guys nice guys but they just werent as into it.

Its not a high stakes league either 50 entry and penalties are 20-10-5

I am in another league though with bigger stakes 10 team league 200 to enter
10th places ownes another 100
9th place owes 80, then 60, 40, 20

We have like zero turnover in that league..one owner has left in the past 5 years

those are 2 opposite ends of the spectrum but i think a small nominal percentage of the entry fee is enough to keep most owners trying a little more or keep in mind about blowing up their team that much. Because the keepr league I run you cannot trade picks in season we only get trades of the "heres al my great keepers for some now help" variety and vice versa..they do get lopsided but teams dont go so far as to kill themselves totally.

I'm in the keeper league he runs, and the first year of the "deincentive" I won the $35 prize pot. That was almost my $50 back for entry, so that helps.

This year my team stunk but not having to pay extra, even $5, was another good reason to stay active plus trying to get some guys for next year help.

We really only had 1 team that got gutted by a departing owner..first year he had some good players (like Chase Utley), but made some bonehead trades and didn't pay much attention to his team. The second year he had a depleted roster, combined with inactivity didn't help. The person who took over his team did okay the first year (09) and did poorly this year due to inactivity and injury.

Have to say the system works from where I sit.

[johnchezy]

Throwing in the towel for a season and "building for the future", or mortgaging the future and pushing it all in for a chance at winning the title this season are completely legitimate strategies in both fantasy and real baseball... and one of the reasons why playing long-term keeper leagues is so cool.

I completely agree with this comment. I know the poster added a "but" after it, but I think this portion sums it up.
I love the option that teams can either go for broke and try to win it all now---and in doing so mortgage the future or they can build for the future while being a basement dweller for a while.

I'm rebuilding right now after going for broke in 2009. I overspent on my cap (getting luxury taxed) and also traded away picks for players that year. In 2010 my draft sucked and I started my rebuild--scrapping the whole thing. I ended up going 4-40 in a 44 game season but now I'm in a much better position with some good off season acquisitions this winter (we have free agent auctions after contracts expire) and a quality season of trading for draft picks last year. My rebuilding will continue this year and I feel like I will be a title contender in 2012, but I'll be happy with a +.500 record and a playoff berth this season.

I definitely think it's cyclical if you allow it to play out. If you have quality owners that know how to manage their rosters, they should be able to live through the lean years knowing they can rebuild and knowing it's part of the cycle.

As commissioner, I laid it out to everyone that in our league you can do just that---go for it all and probably have it cost you down the road, or make a slow and steady climb. It works for our league.

[Sleazy]

Hey,

We have the same issue with tanking but we are not allowed to trade draft picks. Some things that we have done to eliminate the tanking and helping the teams at the top are below.

1) We limited the deals to 2 for 2 after june 22nd. Therfore I cant deal my whole team for pujols and stack up another guy, (which has been done in the past)
2) You cant deal with a person you already dealt with for 2 weeks after the 22nd
3) WE are throwing around the option of only awarding 1st and 2nd money and since we already do a draft lottery, we are going to award 3rd place down with less balls to increase thier odds of gaiing the first pick. (now we do it 8th place gets 1 ball 7th 2 etc.) we are considering making it 3rd place 1 ball 4th 2 call 5th 3 balls 6th 4 ball 7th 5 balls 8th 6 balls and then first would get 8 and 2nd would get 7. we hope that this will eliminate tanking as well and also help keep the teams in the bottom half stay intersted and continue to add free agents.

[BoBtheMule]

Just do a dweighted lottery for the draft order... say the non-playoff teams (for H2H) or the bottom half of the roto standings depending on your setup.

Use a random number generator like, maybe something like this: http://dicelog.com/dice

Then say the worst team gets 10 rolls, next two each get 9 ect... add them together for a total... highest number picks first. Don't even have to make it weighted if you don't want to.

Maybe you can give the best non-playoff team an extra roll as an incentive.

Find a setup that works for your owners but something like that should work.

Bob