And the hits just keep on coming....

[ALL-IN JD]

You think I would have picked up on that!! Sorry!

[knuckleheads]

1) If you feel the need to say, "I'm not whining," experience tells me you're probably whining.
2) Outlaw, if you don't like the injuries, I suggest we bring back PEDs.
3) If you don't want a clogged bench, don't draft and sit on Hamels, Chapman, and Iwakuma.
4) If you don't like your starters getting hurt, don't draft Tulowitzki, Mauer, CarGo, or anybody named Drew.
5) Quite simply, 450 players takes a lot out of the potential pool. For example, it is enough to take every starting position player, all 5 starters, and 2 relievers from every team in baseball. Tell me exactly who outside of that pool should be regularly rostered?

Moron, i'm not whining, as I repeat myself. All I am trying to say is that injuries are at an all time high and maybe should be looked at a little closer. You talk about not drafting guys like Tulo, Mauer and Cargo? How about Ryan Zimmerman? Alex Cobb? Avisail Garcia? Guess we all should have known better and stayed away from them too?

1) If when I call out a forum full of whiners, you feel you need to respond, you're probably whining.
2) If a guy has averaged 133 games played for the last four years, you should probably count on him missing time (Zimmerman).
3) If a guy weighs 240 pounds at age 23, you should probably count on him missing time (Garcia).
4) If a pitcher is 26 and has never made more than 23 starts in a major league season, you probably shouldn't count on 33 starts from him (Cobb).

So in short, I'm not saying you should stay away from those guys, I'm just saying you can't be surprised if they don't play a full season.

[Steel Lugnuts]

If someone is stashing a player on DL, it's probably because he was a starter, and would therefore need to roster another starter, not to stash a closer to be or prospects...no way 7 bench spots would afford this to happen.[/quote]
You're going to remove an equivalent amount of players from the FA player pool as number of DL slots you add. It gives owners further roster flexibility, so if you're afforded the ability to DL Minor/Hamels and you're fine with the rotation you have in the coming weeks, it only makes sense to take a flier on some spec plays in hopes of hitting. Currently you wouldn't be able to do that since you have those guys clogging your bench slots. For some the DL player will definitely be a starter for a starter. I had to do this w/ Reyes, but most of the time you are going to have a CI, OF, or P already rostered that might be better than anybody on the waiver wire. On top of that anybody that is lucky enough to have a fully healthy squad will be scooping up any wired player to take advantage of the DL slot, so you can say good bye to guys like Maybin, Quentin, Profar, Harrison, etc. Add 2 DL slots and you're removing 30 players from the FA player pool in the 15 team format. That's a lot![/quote]

Players will go back in the pool once the players come of the DL and have to be rostered, could make from some interesting decisions by the managers on which players to put back in the pool.

[Outlaw]

Any business and let's face it, this is a business, in order to thrive and survive needs to adjust as circumstances change with their product. The product here is a fair and competitive fantasy game. I did an informal review of just this thread. Its about a 50-50 split on no DL/extra roster spots in this thread. Approx 31 different users have commented on this thread. Of those, roughly 20 or so have made a post on their view of DL/No DL or an alternative. It has been to most read Topic and most viewed topic this entire year, and by a wide margin over all other topics, excluding signup threads. Older topic like Roto snips are 2 years old and not counted.

Breaking down the comments, almost of all the No change comments come from Veteran players, who also are some of the top players/winners year in and year out. Most of those suggesting some sort of change appear to be newer players, players struggling to stay in the game possibly, players maybe never having won here at NFBC.
Lets just say their are approx 3000 different Team owners in all of the NFBC. Using comments from the boards to decide changes does not appear to very wise. I would suspect out of the 2400 views on this post, there could be at least a couple of hundred other owners, who do not post for various reasons, but follow the thread because of the subject. 30 posters on any important subject is but a small sample size and cannot and should not be used to make decisions, but it does appear that some decisions and changes are based on what is said on these boards.

This subject about injuries is a big one for the NFBC IMO. If its big enough for MLB to consider some possible radical changes to the game itself, it should be big enough for the NFBC to look at it further and what their customer base would like to see. I would assume the NFBC knows it churn numbers inside and out. That being said, it would be my guess that a majority of newer owners, owners that own 1, maybe 2 or 3 teams, owners that have not been too successful, might want to see some changes to roster rules, like a DL or something.

There are the Hardcore, long term, veteran, successful NFBC owners who hang at these boards and at times can dominate with their views and opinions, but quite frankly that number is only about 30-50 and again a small sample size. Many a new poster over the years has been cut to shreds if he or she made a perceived dumb comment or statement and many have appeared briefly and gone away forever when that happens. Deadheadz is one who has stuck it out through all the barbs hurled at him. The point being, the boards appear to be heavily weighted to the views of long term veteran NFBC players and may not be indicative of the general views of all NFBC owners. There is room for both in the different games offered. The 2 biggest and most popular games at NFBC are the DC and online draft champions offering/games. The high stakes Auction, Diamond, Main and 12 Team main owners generally play all formats. Most of the DC and online owners do not.

Considering all that, the suggestion is to poll all your owners and see how they truly feel about DL, roster size, etc. Take those results and change the current games if that is what the majority want or possibly add some different types of leagues/games, all the while still retaining most of what makes the NFBC special. Their is 10's of $$$ millions spent on just fantasy baseball every year, with almost all leagues having $$$ prizes. Espn, Daily, CBS, MLB and even other private leagues. NFBC has just a sliver of the total pie of spent $$$ on just baseball. If the goal is to the continue to grow the NFBC business model, then the views of its customer base need to be measured. If the goal is to keep it a small happy family with little or not growth year over year then do nothing and the NFBC can run it the way the want. The change will happen though if the churn rate continues or there is ever a dip in the players. By then though it very well could be too late.

As an example for the 2015 Season offer 2 versions of the Online Championship. One with 30 man rosters and same scoring rules as today. The other with 30 man rosters, same scoring rules as today, but 2 DL roster spots or 3-5 DL moves per season or something along those lines. Now I'm only guessing, but I suspect there might be a lot more signups for the leagues with a DL. There are 1248 OL teams this season. I would venture to say using that number and breaking it across 2 different types of leagues, that it might be 800 for a DL league and 400 for a no DL league. Now the posters here are all going to say that affects the overall prizes and it does, but how many owners, new players realistically think they can win those. Sure everyone dreams of it, but they play to win their individual league prizes. To win the overall prize, the teams that have a chance will generally have little or no injuries and predicting injuries is not even close to a skill anymore. in yesteryear there were injury prone players, so you could stay away from them. In this day and age, healthy players go from never having an injury to gone for months or complete seasons at a time overnight. At that point, it is nothing more than luck with injuries, not any sort of skill. People should not underestimate the whole PEDS issue. Who's still taking them, who has stopped taking them. My guess with all these young players getting injured, probably more than a few stopped taking Peds. The negative affects of having once taken peds, then stopping taking them, is more then just conjecture. I watched Cervelli go down last night and first thought was PEDs related.

There will be a lot of leagues and probably the overalls won this year determined by the injury factor. Every year you hear the overall champs say how their team stayed healthy. Some teams could very well be out of the mix in another month because of injuries and then those owners give up.
When an owner stares at his or her roster, whether its a DC with 13 DL players or a 30 roster team with 3-4 DL players it does become discouraging. Combine all the injury news with MLB teams who quite frankly don't ever reveal the extent of these injuries now and team owners who rely on places like Rotosnips and what they think the injury is and how long player could be out, its all guess work and luck on making any decisions. We are 10 days into Matt Moore's injury and owners are still in limbo. How many cut him and how many did not this past FAAB?

So the NFBC should consider the injury issue a big issue that will have an impact on their offerings. The NFBC most surely would not want to get the reputation as a fantasy game with shark infested waters. One thing I have no clue about is how or what the NFBC aspires to be in 5 years in terms of growth. Whether they are happy with what they have now, whether they will move faster with change and adjustments, whether they will resist major change at all costs, I have no idea what they are thinking.

One mans opinions and views, don't assassinate the writer, just be open to consider the views.

[Steel Lugnuts]

Any business and let's face it, this is a business, in order to thrive and survive needs to adjust as circumstances change with their product. The product here is a fair and competitive fantasy game. I did an informal review of just this thread. Its about a 50-50 split on no DL/extra roster spots in this thread. Approx 31 different users have commented on this thread. Of those, roughly 20 or so have made a post on their view of DL/No DL or an alternative. It has been to most read Topic and most viewed topic this entire year, and by a wide margin over all other topics, excluding signup threads. Older topic like Roto snips are 2 years old and not counted.

Breaking down the comments, almost of all the No change comments come from Veteran players, who also are some of the top players/winners year in and year out. Most of those suggesting some sort of change appear to be newer players, players struggling to stay in the game possibly, players maybe never having won here at NFBC.
Lets just say their are approx 3000 different Team owners in all of the NFBC. Using comments from the boards to decide changes does not appear to very wise. I would suspect out of the 2400 views on this post, there could be at least a couple of hundred other owners, who do not post for various reasons, but follow the thread because of the subject. 30 posters on any important subject is but a small sample size and cannot and should not be used to make decisions, but it does appear that some decisions and changes are based on what is said on these boards.

This subject about injuries is a big one for the NFBC IMO. If its big enough for MLB to consider some possible radical changes to the game itself, it should be big enough for the NFBC to look at it further and what their customer base would like to see. I would assume the NFBC knows it churn numbers inside and out. That being said, it would be my guess that a majority of newer owners, owners that own 1, maybe 2 or 3 teams, owners that have not been too successful, might want to see some changes to roster rules, like a DL or something.

There are the Hardcore, long term, veteran, successful NFBC owners who hang at these boards and at times can dominate with their views and opinions, but quite frankly that number is only about 30-50 and again a small sample size. Many a new poster over the years has been cut to shreds if he or she made a perceived dumb comment or statement and many have appeared briefly and gone away forever when that happens. Deadheadz is one who has stuck it out through all the barbs hurled at him. The point being, the boards appear to be heavily weighted to the views of long term veteran NFBC players and may not be indicative of the general views of all NFBC owners. There is room for both in the different games offered. The 2 biggest and most popular games at NFBC are the DC and online draft champions offering/games. The high stakes Auction, Diamond, Main and 12 Team main owners generally play all formats. Most of the DC and online owners do not.

Considering all that, the suggestion is to poll all your owners and see how they truly feel about DL, roster size, etc. Take those results and change the current games if that is what the majority want or possibly add some different types of leagues/games, all the while still retaining most of what makes the NFBC special. Their is 10's of $$$ millions spent on just fantasy baseball every year, with almost all leagues having $$$ prizes. Espn, Daily, CBS, MLB and even other private leagues. NFBC has just a sliver of the total pie of spent $$$ on just baseball. If the goal is to the continue to grow the NFBC business model, then the views of its customer base need to be measured. If the goal is to keep it a small happy family with little or not growth year over year then do nothing and the NFBC can run it the way the want. The change will happen though if the churn rate continues or there is ever a dip in the players. By then though it very well could be too late.

As an example for the 2015 Season offer 2 versions of the Online Championship. One with 30 man rosters and same scoring rules as today. The other with 30 man rosters, same scoring rules as today, but 2 DL roster spots or 3-5 DL moves per season or something along those lines. Now I'm only guessing, but I suspect there might be a lot more signups for the leagues with a DL. There are 1248 OL teams this season. I would venture to say using that number and breaking it across 2 different types of leagues, that it might be 800 for a DL league and 400 for a no DL league. Now the posters here are all going to say that affects the overall prizes and it does, but how many owners, new players realistically think they can win those. Sure everyone dreams of it, but they play to win their individual league prizes. To win the overall prize, the teams that have a chance will generally have little or no injuries and predicting injuries is not even close to a skill anymore. in yesteryear there were injury prone players, so you could stay away from them. In this day and age, healthy players go from never having an injury to gone for months or complete seasons at a time overnight. At that point, it is nothing more than luck with injuries, not any sort of skill. People should not underestimate the whole PEDS issue. Who's still taking them, who has stopped taking them. My guess with all these young players getting injured, probably more than a few stopped taking Peds. The negative affects of having once taken peds, then stopping taking them, is more then just conjecture. I watched Cervelli go down last night and first thought was PEDs related.

There will be a lot of leagues and probably the overalls won this year determined by the injury factor. Every year you hear the overall champs say how their team stayed healthy. Some teams could very well be out of the mix in another month because of injuries and then those owners give up.
When an owner stares at his or her roster, whether its a DC with 13 DL players or a 30 roster team with 3-4 DL players it does become discouraging. Combine all the injury news with MLB teams who quite frankly don't ever reveal the extent of these injuries now and team owners who rely on places like Rotosnips and what they think the injury is and how long player could be out, its all guess work and luck on making any decisions. We are 10 days into Matt Moore's injury and owners are still in limbo. How many cut him and how many did not this past FAAB?

So the NFBC should consider the injury issue a big issue that will have an impact on their offerings. The NFBC most surely would not want to get the reputation as a fantasy game with shark infested waters. One thing I have no clue about is how or what the NFBC aspires to be in 5 years in terms of growth. Whether they are happy with what they have now, whether they will move faster with change and adjustments, whether they will resist major change at all costs, I have no idea what they are thinking.

One mans opinions and views, don't assassinate the writer, just be open to consider the views.

Agree 100% with everything you said, but be prepared to be attacked by said NFBC longtime sharks that don't like change!

I've already started in on the daily leagues, perhaps that is the way to go from now on.

[Edwards Kings]

"Brian McCann is getting X-rays on his right index finger.
McCann's finger was grazed by a pitch Sunday night that first struck A.J. Pierzynski. McCann was able to stay in the game and could move his finger in the clubhouse afterward. He said he's not worried about the X-rays."

Well if he is not worried....

[Edwards Kings]

There are the Hardcore, long term, veteran, successful NFBC owners who hang at these boards and at times can dominate with their views and opinions, but quite frankly that number is only about 30-50 and again a small sample size. Many a new poster over the years has been cut to shreds if he or she made a perceived dumb comment or statement and many have appeared briefly and gone away forever when that happens. Deadheadz is one who has stuck it out through all the barbs hurled at him.

Hardcore - check
long term - yup
veteran = old...gotcha
successful - phew! for a moment I though you were talking about me!

You are right about how some new posters are treated. Credit to Deadheadz who has the cajones to post (badly sometimes )and give as good as he gets, but lately has been adding some decent content to the boards. The others who have fallen, bloodied and abused, got that way by coming in here full of piss and vinegar to tell us how they used to do it in their Yahoo! eight-team league. Kind of like some fourty-something dude wearing twenty-something clothes going up to Yu Davish and saying "No...you are throwing that pitch wrong! Here, let me show you how I used to do it when I wowed them at Our Lady of Sunshine and Perioxide Middle School in Carcinoma, California".

This is an established board and I do not imagine others are much different. Should we be a kinder/gentler board? Maybe, but it would not be nearly so much fun. We wear long pants here. We do need fresh perpectives and voices, just expect that here newbies earn respect over time.

Just my opinion.

[Deadheadz]

Thanks for the knee jerk reactions guys.

What happens when next season if the rules changed and there are hardly any injuries? You'd have modified the game in such a way that will be exploited in ways not intended by the creators of NFBC.

What no one seems to talk about is the player pool is not finite. Everytime an MLB team has a player put on the DL they call up another player to replace him. Part of the challenge of this game is to scout and recognize which callups are worth owning.

You guys who want expanded benches and/or DL slots just want your cake and eat it too.

[Hells Satans]

Maybe before we decide to make fundamental changes to the structure of NFBC leagues we can get more than 11 days worth of DL data. I know it seems impossible, but injuries, like batting averages and everything else about baseball, may regress as we go along. Small sample sizes often make for stupid decisions.

[Steel Lugnuts]

Maybe before we decide to make fundamental changes to the structure of NFBC leagues we can get more than 11 days worth of DL data. I know it seems impossible, but injuries, like batting averages and everything else about baseball, may regress as we go along. Small sample sizes often make for stupid decisions.

No decision are being made for this year, just discussions for future years.

[Glenneration X]

Anyone who drafts a George Springer or Javier Baez or Archie Bradley that will be spending a good third of the season in the minors KNOWS that they'll be tying up a roster spot with an unusable player that may be needed in-season for injuries, etc. That was a draft strategy roll of the dice decision they knowingly made.

Anyone who drafts a Kendry Morales or Stephen Drew that may not be signed until June when the draft pick compensation is waived KNOWS that they'll be tying up a roster spot with an unusable player that may be needed in-season for injuries, etc. That was a draft strategy roll of the dice decision they knowingly made.

Anyone who drafts a closer-in-waiting or an upside bench player or an upside backend starter or a backup catcher, MI, or outfielder KNOWS that they'll be tying up a roster spot with a player that may only be usuable in specific circumstances, etc. That was a draft strategy decision they knowingly made.

Injuries are part of the game. How you deal with them is part of the strategy of the game. It is some of what seperates the best players from those who can't deal as well. The makeup of your roster and reserves is part of the strategy of the game and part of what allows any particular roster to cope with injuries. All of this is integral to determining the best of us in any given year.

The worst decisions are those made based on the fresh perspective of those dealing with the issues they want to have rules changed to address. The following year, these issues may not be as prominent and the perspective may change.

[Steel Lugnuts]

Thanks for the knee jerk reactions guys.

What happens when next season if the rules changed and there are hardly any injuries? You'd have modified the game in such a way that will be exploited in ways not intended by the creators of NFBC.

What no one seems to talk about is the player pool is not finite. Everytime an MLB team has a player put on the DL they call up another player to replace him. Part of the challenge of this game is to scout and recognize which callups are worth owning.

You guys who want expanded benches and/or DL slots just want your cake and eat it too.

If a player is on an MLB roster, then they can be on an NFBC roster...I would think.

[Deadheadz]

[Hells Satans]

Maybe before we decide to make fundamental changes to the structure of NFBC leagues we can get more than 11 days worth of DL data. I know it seems impossible, but injuries, like batting averages and everything else about baseball, may regress as we go along. Small sample sizes often make for stupid decisions.

No decision are being made for this year, just discussions for future years.

OK. Until we see a large spike in injuries for a sustained period of time this year that suggests some shift in baseball health that requires changing the NFBC roster format, I'll remove myself from the discussion. Getting all worked up over two weeks of data seems misguided to me.

[Deadheadz]

[Outlaw]

Thanks for the knee jerk reactions guys.

What happens when next season if the rules changed and there are hardly any injuries? You'd have modified the game in such a way that will be exploited in ways not intended by the creators of NFBC.

What no one seems to talk about is the player pool is not finite. Everytime an MLB team has a player put on the DL they call up another player to replace him. Part of the challenge of this game is to scout and recognize which callups are worth owning.

You guys who want expanded benches and/or DL slots just want your cake and eat it too.

Everyone likes Cake! Don't disagree with what you say Dead, but then again if you have leagues with a DL and leagues with No DL, each fantasy owner/player can choose what they feel comfortable with.
It Might also help if the entire player pool is allowed to be picked up and scouted and speculated on. Like the hot Double/Triple A player (Joc Peterson comes to mind, Polanco too) who could be a step away, but is not available because he wasn't drafted by anyone and then does not exist in the player pool. Almost every other Fantasy league uses the entire player pool and any minor player can be picked up. What Rays minor player will replace Moore if he is out for the season, very possible hes not in any of the FA player pools in most leagues. Same with the Nats, what IF in the minors might replace Zimmerman or Espinosa if he bombs, again not in the FA player pools. Just a different perspective on the impact of So many injuries.

I checked real quick this morning 30 out of 104 Online dropped Moore. One could assume the other 74 teams are praying and hoping, but by not dropping him, they potentially have lost out on a decent replacement pitcher that was in the FA pool this week. Right now all anyone knows about Moore is basically nothing other then hes out and wants to try to pitch through a torn ligament...lol.. But don't worry RotoSnips has us all covered as to what's going on.

[Outlaw]

"Sometimes you have to look underneath the surface and I tend to agree it has a lot to do with youth sports and travel teams and multiple travel teams and kids pitching to win when they're really young and throwing too many pitches. I think the more recent epidemic curiously might be tied to what they're doing before they even get here professionally."

Words of Wisdom from Goggle specs Maddon, but he is dead on correct.

[Glenneration X]

For one of my teams today where I lost Hamilton and Zimmerman this week to join Kershaw, Tex, and now maybe Kazmir and Crawford, I had to drop Kendry Morales today, who I was hoping to stash until he was finally signed, to make sure I'd be able to field a full roster this week. Last week I had to drop Travis Wood for this team.

On another team, my reserves are filled with 6 players on the DL and another minor leaguer.

Tough choices have to be made. That's the game.

I spent a good portion of today struggling with FAAB for my 15 teamers and AL Auction team. FAAB is barren enough. I've always been against the idea of DL roster moves whether they'd benefit me at any particular time or not. FAAB is the heart of fantasy sports. It's what separates the greatest players from the merely great. Let's keep it somewhat meaningful.

Glen,

As we both have a similar number of teams I will have to humbly disagree with my neighbor. Please keep in mind I am not bitter nor am I whining. I love the strategy involved in the 15 team leagues and the tough decisions that have to be made. That being said the sheer amount of injuries on an almost daily basis can not and should not be ignored. I am not saying the I have the answer but it should certainly be given a closer look. As I stated previously I agree about not increasing the bench size or adding dl slots but maybe allowing 5 DL moves for each team for the entire season. Im not sure if that's the right number (maybe three) but something to possibly soften the blow. It almost seems like the best path to victory now is to be the most fortunate owner and miss out on the incredible number of injuries.

I got your point Bud and I respect it and those of others who would like to see change. However as per my last post on the subject, I fear that as always seems to happen, these calls for change are coming because of the "current" impact this rash of injuries is having on our "current" teams.

I personally do not think what would be addressed and helped by the change would be worth what else would be diminished in the contest.

[Deadheadz]

The best Roto players are at NFBC.
The stakes are high at NFBC.

Why dumb down the game and make it "easier" for everyone?
Just step your game up.

Next you'll want a DL slot on FanDuel.

[Outlaw]

Maybe before we decide to make fundamental changes to the structure of NFBC leagues we can get more than 11 days worth of DL data. I know it seems impossible, but injuries, like batting averages and everything else about baseball, may regress as we go along. Small sample sizes often make for stupid decisions.

Trends, numbers never lie, Statistics, averages, shoot we all know that when it comes to HR's SB's K's ,etc, but the same can be said for injuries. Until something is fundamentally identified and fixed as to cause/reason, the trend is going in the wrong direction with injuries and MLB knows it too, because its showing up in the bottom line. Just like the National Debt, up, up and away and no change in the direction is on the horizon.

Maybe they should legalize PEDS for athletes...lol

[Outlaw]

The best Roto players are at NFBC.
The stakes are high at NFBC.

Why dumb down the game and make it "easier" for everyone?
Just step your game up.

Next you'll want a DL slot on FanDuel.

Dead- that Makes no sense, FD is daily, one would have be to be an idiot to pick a player on the DL...geez


If its my business and its not, but in 5 years I would want 10000 Teams playing the 12 team online leagues and maybe 7000 of them play in DL spot leagues and 3000 do not. That is the point and quite possibly not just 10000 teams, thats just a number thrown out for arguments sake. They grab those other lower price point owners and then they reel them into the higher price point games. The NFBC sometimes I think doesn't realize just how much potential there product has.

[knuckleheads]

Thanks for the knee jerk reactions guys.

What happens when next season if the rules changed and there are hardly any injuries? You'd have modified the game in such a way that will be exploited in ways not intended by the creators of NFBC.

What no one seems to talk about is the player pool is not finite. Everytime an MLB team has a player put on the DL they call up another player to replace him. Part of the challenge of this game is to scout and recognize which callups are worth owning.

You guys who want expanded benches and/or DL slots just want your cake and eat it too.

Deadheads is the voice of reason on a thread. Funny you don't see roster threads with this much passion in the winter.

Nothing says subjectivity more than results-based, rule-change requests. You wan't credibility on this subject, ask for it in February. Otherwise, I say whiners all.

[Bronx Yankees]

Anyone who drafts a George Springer or Javier Baez or Archie Bradley that will be spending a good third of the season in the minors KNOWS that they'll be tying up a roster spot with an unusable player that may be needed in-season for injuries, etc. That was a draft strategy roll of the dice decision they knowingly made.

Anyone who drafts a Kendry Morales or Stephen Drew that may not be signed until June when the draft pick compensation is waived KNOWS that they'll be tying up a roster spot with an unusable player that may be needed in-season for injuries, etc. That was a draft strategy roll of the dice decision they knowingly made.

Anyone who drafts a closer-in-waiting or an upside bench player or an upside backend starter or a backup catcher, MI, or outfielder KNOWS that they'll be tying up a roster spot with a player that may only be usuable in specific circumstances, etc. That was a draft strategy decision they knowingly made.

Injuries are part of the game. How you deal with them is part of the strategy of the game. It is some of what seperates the best players from those who can't deal as well. The makeup of your roster and reserves is part of the strategy of the game and part of what allows any particular roster to cope with injuries. All of this is integral to determining the best of us in any given year.

The worst decisions are those made based on the fresh perspective of those dealing with the issues they want to have rules changed to address. The following year, these issues may not be as prominent and the perspective may change.

I find myself in complete agreement with this post and, therefore, am in the "leaves things as they are" side of this debate. A seven-player bench is very challenging, and forces tough decisions. In addition to the strategy involved in terms of drafting/tying up roster spots on minor leaguers, unsigned free agents, upside bench players, closers-in-waiting, etc., as Glenn mentions, there also is a lot of strategy in drafting/rostering players that stay healthy and play a lot. (I'm firmly entrenched in the camp that believes that health is a skill that should be taken into account when drafting/rostering players.) It sucks when key players get hurt, but I think having to make the tough calls as to when to tie up a roster spot on an injured player or cut him loose is a real challenge that should not be weakened at this time. (When a good injured player does get cut loose, it then also presents additional challenges for the owners as to whether to allocate limited FAAB budgets and a roster spot on someone who will be no help to your team for a number of weeks or months.)

I suppose if there is a dramatic, long-term trend of substantially more injuries, this could or should be revisited during the off-season, after the dust has settles, but I'm not sure it makes sense to decide now in the heat of battle. If any changes are required, they should be minimal, such as adding one extra roster spot. I do not think there should be a designated DL spot - that would seem to favor those teams with one or more players on the DL over a team with no players on the DL at any point in time. Each team always should be able to roster the same number of players - it is up to individual owners whether to allocate roster spots on injured players (or players in the minors, or closers-in-waiting, etc.)

Mike

[Deadheadz]

The best Roto players are at NFBC.
The stakes are high at NFBC.

Why dumb down the game and make it "easier" for everyone?
Just step your game up.

Next you'll want a DL slot on FanDuel.

Dead- that Makes no sense, FD is daily, one would have be to be an idiot to pick a player on the DL...geez

These guys would want the option to change out a player to get the points of his replacement.
Yes, it makes no sense. Yes, it's ridiculous.

THAT's the point. It doesn't make sense to change the rules based on short term rashes of injuries.
There are thousands of leagues for players who want to play with a DL. It's arrogant to show up where there's no DL and say "this game is too hard for me, you should change it to make it easier."

[DOUGHBOYS]

Those wanting a dl list will be the same ones wanting it abolished because other players found a way to game it.
An injured Cameron Maybin would be worth the same as a healthy Lucas Duda. Maybe even more so because Maybin could be stashed in dl, while Duda 'counts against us' on the bench.
Derek Holland, injury known, could still be taken in the middle of drafts, right beside a healthy Tim Lincecum with this rule change.
Theoretically, I can have seven folks on my bench, control Holland, Maybin, Zimmerman, and Hamilton on my dl and have a tremendous advantage later in the year over those with no injuries.
A dl bench seemingly helps the problem, but in practice, it only changes the game in a way that few would enjoy.