We Are Updating/Finetuning Our FAAB Rules

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Greg Ambrosius
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We Are Updating/Finetuning Our FAAB Rules

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Mon Apr 19, 2021 1:57 pm

There was a little confusion this weekend when Alex Wood was unofficially added to the Giants' roster on Wednesday and wasn't available in NFBC FAAB on Sunday. There's also been questions about veterans on the DL who weren't available in FAAB to start the season, even though our rules state that DL players should be eligible in FAAB.

So it's time to add clearer language to our rules and explain how this works. Heck, I needed a refresher course with IT today as well.

The current setup has been in place with our SportsHub software since 2018 involving veterans and minor-leaguers and it hasn't changed at all. Basically, we set up the software to more easily have a defined set of circumstances for when a player is added to FAAB. In the past, people would read on Rotowire or Rotoworld that a minor-leaguer or veteran was activated and they felt he should be available in NFBC free agency as soon as they read that. But we needed an official addition by Major League Baseball and our stats provider, which sometimes was 12-24 hours after it was first reported. We quickly updated that rule with minor-leaguers while we were at STATS to say that this minor-leaguer had to play at least one game in the majors before being added to our free agent lists and that solved the problem with new callups.

What we have done for veterans and DL players since the start of the 2018 season is that they are available to be picked up in FAAB once they are officially on an MLB 25 (now 26)-man roster. This again puts us in the same scenario that we were in before with minor-leaguers, but as soon as we officially get the word from MLB and our stat provider that he is officially on an MLB roster then he is eligible to be picked up in FAAB and started on your NFBC team. That has not changed in our programming. Here's a slight addition to our rules to clarify this:


Any player who is not on a team roster within your league and is on a major league roster or once was on an NFBC team in your league is considered a free agent for that league once they are officially on an MLB active roster. Even players on the MLB disabled list are eligible to be picked up during the FAAB bidding process once they are officially on an MLB active roster. The player pool is deemed closed of new free agents each Sunday at 7 AM ET before the FAAB bidding deadline and a player must have played at least 1 MLB game to be added to the pool at that time. Once a minor-leaguer plays his first game in the majors, he remains in every NFBC FAAB pool whether he returns to the minors or not. Once in the majors, he remains in all FAAB pools. Participants should also note that MLB unsigned veteran free agents at the time of Draft Day are eligible to be drafted in all NFBC leagues. However, after Draft Day they can only be added via free agency once they are officially added to an MLB 26-man roster.


In Alex Wood's case, it was reported that he was added to the Giants' roster on Wednesday, April 14th. However, we did not get a designation from MLB or our stat service that he was officially on the MLB roster until Sunday, April 18th. Whether that's how the Giants handled it or how our stat provider handled it, we will look into it. But had he been officially added to the Giants' MLB roster before 7 am ET on Sunday he would have been in our FAAB pool and ready to accumulate stats this week. I was wrong earlier in reporting that he needed one game played first before accumulating stats; our criteria is one major league game played in his career.

Sorry for any confusion, but we dove into the coding today to make sure we had this right. Nothing has been changed in our coding since 2018 on this. Veterans who were not drafted in an NFBC league and haven't played yet in the majors, can be picked up in FAAB once they are officially on an MLB roster and their stats will accumulate immediately once they are added to your team. DL players also can be picked up once they are officially on an MLB roster and their stats will accumulate immediately after they are added to your team as long as they have played in the majors before.

Thanks all and good luck.
Greg Ambrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius

King of Queens
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Re: We Are Updating/Finetuning Our FAAB Rules

Post by King of Queens » Tue Apr 20, 2021 7:33 am

Thanks for clarifying, Greg.

Since 2004, we have been able to pick up DL/IL players, so I'm not clear on how this fine-tuning is more "fair" to anyone. I'll take your word that the website has had this limitation since 2018. If that's really the case, I'm shocked that this question has not come up at any point in the last 3 seasons.

I am curious to see how the NFBC community would feel about opening up Free Agency to ALL PLAYERS on current MLB 40-man rosters. You could add 60-day IL players as well. This way there would be a finite number of players available in a given week, while still allowing for the "excitement" of a heralded young prospect being called up with everyone having a shot at him.

Please consider this change.

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Re: We Are Updating/Finetuning Our FAAB Rules

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:03 am

King of Queens wrote:
Tue Apr 20, 2021 7:33 am
Thanks for clarifying, Greg.

Since 2004, we have been able to pick up DL/IL players, so I'm not clear on how this fine-tuning is more "fair" to anyone. I'll take your word that the website has had this limitation since 2018. If that's really the case, I'm shocked that this question has not come up at any point in the last 3 seasons.

I am curious to see how the NFBC community would feel about opening up Free Agency to ALL PLAYERS on current MLB 40-man rosters. You could add 60-day IL players as well. This way there would be a finite number of players available in a given week, while still allowing for the "excitement" of a heralded young prospect being called up with everyone having a shot at him.

Please consider this change.
I think you know my response to this proposal. I'm not in favor of having owners pick up minor-leaguers in advance of their callups and stashing them for several weeks. We allow owners every chance on Draft Day and even during the first two FAAB periods to draft and hold onto these prospects if they want, but if nobody has drafted them then everyone gets the same shot at them once they have been called up to the majors and have played at least one game. That's the "excitement" you are asking for and it's already there.

I think we know some owners would likely stash that prospect a few weeks before his callup and some leagues would have him stashed and other leagues would have a spending frenzy. Some people think that's good for our game, but I don't think it would be. I think it would favor some owners in some leagues and make the leagues a little more unbalanced. The way we have it now -- again, if you really wanted this prospect you could have drafted him or stashed him after Week 1 or 2 FAAB -- gives everyone the same access to him before and during the season.

Same with DL players. Anyone could have drafted them or stashed them during the first two FAAB periods. If they haven't been drafted/cut then they are available to be picked up once they have played a game during the season. Same as minor-leaguers, same as veterans. No stashing after Week 2 FAAB if you already don't have them. It's all programmed the same and very easy to manage and to understand.

Thanks for taking my word for it. I can show you the programming we set up in April 2018 if you really don't believe me.
Greg Ambrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius

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Re: We Are Updating/Finetuning Our FAAB Rules

Post by King of Queens » Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:26 am

Greg Ambrosius wrote:
Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:03 am
Thanks for taking my word for it. I can show you the programming we set up in April 2018 if you really don't believe me.
No need, I believe you :lol:

From a consistency standpoint, treating injured players the same as minor leaguers makes sense. However, I see this as a further erosion in the talent pool. The available player pool in 15-team leagues was already tight -- this makes it only worse.

We will play by whatever rules you come up with, but I wish I had known that I had to draft Chris Sale (or pick him up two weeks ago) in order to secure his services at a potential discount for 2021.

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Re: We Are Updating/Finetuning Our FAAB Rules

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:39 am

King of Queens wrote:
Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:26 am
Greg Ambrosius wrote:
Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:03 am
Thanks for taking my word for it. I can show you the programming we set up in April 2018 if you really don't believe me.
No need, I believe you :lol:

From a consistency standpoint, treating injured players the same as minor leaguers makes sense. However, I see this as a further erosion in the talent pool. The available player pool in 15-team leagues was already tight -- this makes it only worse.

We will play by whatever rules you come up with, but I wish I had known that I had to draft Chris Sale (or pick him up two weeks ago) in order to secure his services at a potential discount for 2021.
I hear ya, it's a thin player pool. Thankfully, you were one of the owners who convinced me to change from 29-man rosters in 2004 to 30-man rosters because there weren't enough bench spots. Remember that? :D It definitely was the right move and I thank everyone for that suggestion, but it took 15 players out of the FAAB pool. The way we are handling DL players likely takes another handful of players out of the pool who would have been stashed before they were activated. Those owners who are already holding onto Sale for a couple of months are using up a valuable roster spot, but the reward could be worth the risk. Or if he's still available in your other leagues, the price could go up once he's activated.

Sorry for any confusion, but it started with making the programming more uniform and it also made the rule more uniform. Good luck all.
Greg Ambrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius

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Re: We Are Updating/Finetuning Our FAAB Rules

Post by DOUGHBOYS » Tue Apr 20, 2021 9:46 am

King of Queens wrote:
Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:26 am
Greg Ambrosius wrote:
Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:03 am
Thanks for taking my word for it. I can show you the programming we set up in April 2018 if you really don't believe me.
No need, I believe you :lol:

From a consistency standpoint, treating injured players the same as minor leaguers makes sense. However, I see this as a further erosion in the talent pool. The available player pool in 15-team leagues was already tight -- this makes it only worse.

We will play by whatever rules you come up with, but I wish I had known that I had to draft Chris Sale (or pick him up two weeks ago) in order to secure his services at a potential discount for 2021.
ANY rule changes after the season begins is not a good thing.
It's understood.
We had Chris Sale available to pick up, while Alex Wood was not available.
To me, a hiccup.
For others, a bad miss for the NFBC.
I see the need for uniformity.
At the same time, refer to sentence one.
On my tombstone-
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!

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Re: We Are Updating/Finetuning Our FAAB Rules

Post by Philippe27 » Tue Apr 20, 2021 11:45 am

Something is different this year with injured players.

In 2019, myself and many others picked up Dinelson Lamet in June. He was not drafted in any Main Event that year. He made his first MLB start that year on July 4th.

I also remember the same with Didi Gregorius in my league in 2019 and I'm sure there are others.

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Re: We Are Updating/Finetuning Our FAAB Rules

Post by Gekko » Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:26 pm

Philippe27 wrote:
Tue Apr 20, 2021 11:45 am
Something is different this year with injured players.

In 2019, myself and many others picked up Dinelson Lamet in June. He was not drafted in any Main Event that year. He made his first MLB start that year on July 4th.

I also remember the same with Didi Gregorius in my league in 2019 and I'm sure there are others.
Are u 100% sure no one drafted lamet?

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Re: We Are Updating/Finetuning Our FAAB Rules

Post by Philippe27 » Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:33 pm

Gekko wrote:
Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:26 pm
Philippe27 wrote:
Tue Apr 20, 2021 11:45 am
Something is different this year with injured players.

In 2019, myself and many others picked up Dinelson Lamet in June. He was not drafted in any Main Event that year. He made his first MLB start that year on July 4th.

I also remember the same with Didi Gregorius in my league in 2019 and I'm sure there are others.
Are u 100% sure no one drafted lamet?
Yeah i looked it up to be sure: https://nfc.shgn.com/historical/adp/bas ... 19/adp/430 . Filter by Main Event .

You can also see here that he was added on June 2nd in a bunch of leagues: https://nfbcforums.shgn.com/viewtopic.p ... et#p217524

and here that he made his first start on July 4th: https://www.fangraphs.com/players/dinel ... eason=2019

I'm sure there are others but him and Didi are the ones I remember.

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Re: We Are Updating/Finetuning Our FAAB Rules

Post by Gekko » Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:42 pm

Philippe27 wrote:
Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:33 pm
Gekko wrote:
Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:26 pm
Philippe27 wrote:
Tue Apr 20, 2021 11:45 am
Something is different this year with injured players.

In 2019, myself and many others picked up Dinelson Lamet in June. He was not drafted in any Main Event that year. He made his first MLB start that year on July 4th.

I also remember the same with Didi Gregorius in my league in 2019 and I'm sure there are others.
Are u 100% sure no one drafted lamet?
Yeah i looked it up to be sure: https://nfc.shgn.com/historical/adp/bas ... 19/adp/430 . Filter by Main Event .

You can also see here that he was added on June 2nd in a bunch of leagues: https://nfbcforums.shgn.com/viewtopic.p ... et#p217524

and here that he made his first start on July 4th: https://www.fangraphs.com/players/dinel ... eason=2019

I'm sure there are others but him and Didi are the ones I remember.
that's why you are the best!! thanks. interesting...

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Greg Ambrosius
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Re: We Are Updating/Finetuning Our FAAB Rules

Post by Greg Ambrosius » Tue Apr 20, 2021 2:44 pm

Okay, so I just got off a video conference with IT and I've updated my original post above. What I posted yesterday was what I thought we had in place for veteran free agents and DL players and I was wrong about the 1 game played scenario. We dove into the coding more today that we created in 2018 and it was what I originally thought was in place.

Basically we solved this for minor-leaguers with the 1 game played criteria, but we are still at the mercy of MLB and our stat provider when it comes to veterans and DL players. Nothing has changed there. Our coding is set up that any undrafted MLB veteran or player on the DL will be added to the NFBC Free Agent pool once they are officially added to an MLB 26-man active roster. As long as they have played at least one game in the majors during their career, they will be immediately active and stats accumulating during their first game on your roster.

The criteria that was set up in our system in 2018 was: The player had to officially be on an MLB active roster. I have not looked at the Dinelson Lamet pickups in 2019 to see what happened there, but the coding has not changed at all since then and the criteria was the same in 2019 as it is today. If he was not drafted and then cut, he should not have been available in FAAB until he was officially active on an MLB 25-man roster. That's our criteria.

From a programming standpoint, this is very uniform and easy to control. However, we are back in the situation where you can read that Alex Wood was activated on Wednesday and yet our stats provider and MLB did not make him active in our system until Sunday afternoon. Here's why: Go to MLB.com and you can see that the Giants officially activated him on Sunday, April 18th before his start. He was NOT active on the Giants' roster on Wednesday when fantasy news sites said he would be activated. He was added to our free agent pool exactly as our rules state.

This will happen from time to time, but again I want to apologize for any confusion. Heck, we're even confused here at times by our intricate rules. But to bid on a person on the DL, that player had to have been drafted in your league and then cut to be available in FAAB. If not, then that player will become available once he is officially on the 26-man roster.

In Chris Sale's case for this year, he's available in FAAB only in leagues where he was drafted and cut. In leagues where he was not drafted, he will be available as soon as he is officially activated to Boston's 26-man roster and his stats will count immediately once he pitches in an MLB game.

Hope this helps and isn't even more confusing.
Greg Ambrosius
Founder, National Fantasy Baseball Championship
General Manager, Consumer Fantasy Games at SportsHub Technologies
Twitter - @GregAmbrosius

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