All Players Are Available In Draft Champions Leagues

[Greg Ambrosius]

As we get ready to start the NFBC Draft Champions Leagues, let's make sure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to the player pool. Here are a few items of note:

1. If you want to draft a minor-leaguer or international player who isn't in the player pool, just click on a PLACEHOLDER link and make that your selection. Then type in the player you drafted in the League Chat Room and at the end of the draft email me your Placeholder picks. For example, let's say that first baseman Jose Daniel Abreu isn't in the player pool to start these drafts and you want him. Click on Placeholder 1B and make that as your pick. Then type in the Chat Room "I am picking 1B Jose Daniel Abreu as my Placeholder." We'll replace your Placeholder with Abreu once the draft is complete.

2. All players are available to be drafted. We know that there are some international players now who haven't signed yet with an MLB team, like Masahiro Tanaka, but again you can draft him by selecting Placeholder P and then typing in his name in the Chat Room.

Tanaka will be added to the player pool once he is signed by an MLB team, but we'll have several minor-leaguers who won't be in the player default system right away. You guys usually draft deeper than we have the list, so plan accordingly and use the Placeholders. Thanks all and good luck.

[Deadheadz]

Even ManRam, Barry Bonds, Sid Bream?

[Raskol]

I'd like to add that it's best practice to also list the placeholder on your league's message board as well since the chat room resets and you can't see what someone typed in yesterday. Also not a bad idea to email the league with your pick, which you can do from your league page.

[Bronx Yankees]

I'd like to add that it's best practice to also list the placeholder on your league's message board as well since the chat room resets and you can't see what someone typed in yesterday. Also not a bad idea to email the league with your pick, which you can do from your league page.

Completely agree. Also, please check the draft board carefully before using a placeholder. I would say that in my DC drafts last year, a majority of the proposed placeholder picks had actually already been drafted but the owner assumed a placeholder would be needed because he couldn't find that particular player in the player pool (because, in most cases, the player had been drafted).

Mike

[joshguy]

what will the rule be if a team uses a placeholder on joe smith in round 35 and in round 40 another team not knowing that uses a placeholder on joe smith and its not realized til other picks are made or the draft is over.

[Tom Kessenich]

I'd like to add that it's best practice to also list the placeholder on your league's message board as well since the chat room resets and you can't see what someone typed in yesterday. Also not a bad idea to email the league with your pick, which you can do from your league page.

Very good points as is the one about using the draft board and draft results. ALWAYS check those pages if you can't find a player in the data base to ensure they weren't already selected.

If two teams draft the same player the team who selected him first gets him. Two teams will not have the same player in any of our leagues. So that's another reason why it's imperative everyone uses the draft results page before selecting a place holder.

[Greg Ambrosius]

what will the rule be if a team uses a placeholder on joe smith in round 35 and in round 40 another team not knowing that uses a placeholder on joe smith and its not realized til other picks are made or the draft is over.

We'll contact the owner who selected the same guy in Round 40 as soon as we're notified and give him a replacement pick of remaining players. That's the best we can do for that owner. We'll do all we can to get players added to the player pool as soon as we see guys being continually added. Again, we don't have the complete minor-league list of players in the player default pool because it would just bog down the draft process, but we have most of what we feel will be part of the top 750 picks in our drafts.