Free Agency This Week

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 2:30 am

The first FAAB deadline for all NFBC leagues is this Sunday night. Just an FYI that we have two changes in store for free agency this year:

1. The FAAB deadline is now 8 p.m. EST, not 7 p.m. EST.

2. And all free agent lists are locked as of 7 a.m. on Sunday, which means no new free agents will be added to the lists after 7 a.m. That should save owners plenty of time each Sunday as they don't have to wait for new call-ups to be included to the FAAB lists.

I have asked STATS to give me an update on the free agent bidding process as they were going to help us simplify that. Once I hear back from them, I'll post here. Good luck all.

Here are the three FAAB rules for all to see:

7. Free Agents: 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. Even players on the MLB disabled list are eligible to be picked up during the FAAB bidding process. The player pool is deemed closed of new free agents each Sunday at 7 a.m. EST before the FAAB bidding deadline.

8. Free Agent Acquisitions: The free agent system will be a "blind bidding" process for each individual league. Each team will start with 1,000 free agent "dollars" for the season, and will be permitted to bid for free agents on a weekly basis with a minimum bid of $1 per player. Teams will not be able to see other team's free agent bids. The team with the highest bid on any given player will be awarded that player. The amount of the winning bid will be deducted from the winning team's free agent dollars. For each winning bid, the winning team must drop a player to make roster room for the free agent acquisition. If a team's free agent dollars goes to zero, that team will no longer be allowed to bid for the rest of the season. No bid will be accepted that is larger than a team's free agent dollars. All bids must be in increments of dollars (no cents). Only winning bids and the runner-up bids on each player will be shown after the FAAB bidding period for each NFBC league.

9. Bidding Time Frame: The bidding process starts just prior to Opening Day and ends at the completion of Week 26 (there is no new FAAB period if there is a regular-season tie-breaker game). Bids will be accepted on the league web site from Monday at 3 p.m. ET until Sunday at 8 p.m. ET in each of these weeks. If you are submitting by phone, you must submit your bids by 5 p.m. on Friday. Rosters will be updated shortly after 8 p.m. ET on Sunday with the results of all successful bids and starting lineups for the upcoming week must be finalized five minutes before the first game every Monday.

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 3:34 am

greg - if by chance STATS has the wrong position elgibility listed next to a player and that player is bid on and won on any given sunday, will he keep his incorrect elgibility or will his eligibility change after bids have been processed. (and no, i don't have anyone in mind )

i hope this never happens, but it's good to get this answered ahead of time.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 4:08 am

Originally posted by Gordon Gekko:

greg - if by chance STATS has the wrong position elgibility listed next to a player and that player is bid on and won on any given sunday, will he keep his incorrect elgibility or will his eligibility change after bids have been processed. (and no, i don't have anyone in mind )

i hope this never happens, but it's good to get this answered ahead of time. The correct position eligibility will be used according to the rules.

Quahogs · Post by **Quahogs** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 4:46 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

7. Free Agents: 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. does anybody recall how this worked from last season... If for example Billy Butler (who was never drafted on draft day) was called up to KC in May. He's then bid on and rostered. 2 weeks later he's sent back down to AAA and dropped the following week by that nfbc team. He was never drafted and is currently in AAA but at one point was on a roster. Is he eligible still to be bid on or is he off the free agent lists ?

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 6:12 am

Originally posted by Quahogs:

quote:Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

7. Free Agents: 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. does anybody recall how this worked from last season... If for example Billy Butler (who was never drafted on draft day) was called up to KC in May. He's then bid on and rostered. 2 weeks later he's sent back down to AAA and dropped the following week by that nfbc team. He was never drafted and is currently in AAA but at one point was on a roster. Is he eligible still to be bid on or is he off the free agent lists ? [/QUOTE]Not 100% sure, but I believe that the "locking" only occurs when the player was drafted. If an undrafted player gets picked up during the season and then dropped, he will not appear on the free agent lists as long as he's in the minors.

Quahogs · Post by **Quahogs** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 6:52 am

thanks King. Sounds right.

Purple Helmets · Post by **Purple Helmets** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 7:34 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

quote:Originally posted by Quahogs:

quote:Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

7. Free Agents: 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. does anybody recall how this worked from last season... If for example Billy Butler (who was never drafted on draft day) was called up to KC in May. He's then bid on and rostered. 2 weeks later he's sent back down to AAA and dropped the following week by that nfbc team. He was never drafted and is currently in AAA but at one point was on a roster. Is he eligible still to be bid on or is he off the free agent lists ? [/QUOTE]Not 100% sure, but I believe that the "locking" only occurs when the player was drafted. If an undrafted player gets picked up during the season and then dropped, he will not appear on the free agent lists as long as he's in the minors. [/QUOTE]I'm only a rookie at this baseball thing but I believe in the example above that Butler would be an eligible free agent in that particular league. The way I understand it, any player that was ever on a roster in your NFBC league (doesn't have to be via the fantasy draft) is an eligible free agent when dropped, regardless if he ends up going down to the minors.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:33 am

Originally posted by Quahogs:

quote:Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

7. Free Agents: 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. does anybody recall how this worked from last season... If for example Billy Butler (who was never drafted on draft day) was called up to KC in May. He's then bid on and rostered. 2 weeks later he's sent back down to AAA and dropped the following week by that nfbc team. He was never drafted and is currently in AAA but at one point was on a roster. Is he eligible still to be bid on or is he off the free agent lists ? [/QUOTE]Once a player is on an NFBC team in that league, he remains in the free agent pool all year long. I checked with STATS on this again and that's the way it's always been. I just wanted to check to make sure before responding.

Quahogs · Post by **Quahogs** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:44 am

I thought I recall guys disappearing. I can't be certain though. Thanks for the clarification Greg.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:56 am

Not how I remember it either, but thanks for the clarification.

Even the 5-year vets learn something new every day!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:48 am

I'd like to add one more thing about free agency this week: Some players aren't currently showing up in your league as free agents because they were undrafted in your league and they are now Non Roster Invitees. I believe they will be added once they are signed to a major league contract. Keep checking your free agent lists if you are looking for specific players and remember that no free agent will be added to your league after 7 a.m. EST on Sunday morning.

We've asked STATS to time-stamp free agents going forward so that you can tell when new players have been added to the list and hopefully we'll get that done down the road. For now, you'll have to keep checking your free agent lists for those NRI's to be added. Good luck this week.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:41 am

Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

1. The FAAB deadline is now 8 p.m. EST, not 7 p.m. EST.Greg, hopefully you're checking the boards today. While setting my free agents today, I noticed the following:

"This page was loaded at XX:XX PM ET, waiver bids lock today at 7:00 PM ET"

It would appear that they still have the old deadline in place.

CC's Desperados · Post by **CC's Desperados** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:54 am

Glenn, did you try to E-mail or call Greg about this?

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 8:56 am

Originally posted by CC's Desperados:

Glenn, did you try to E-mail or call Greg about this? I sent him an e-mail immediately after posting this. If I don't get a response by 5:00pm EDT, I'll try calling.

CC's Desperados · Post by **CC's Desperados** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 9:00 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

quote:Originally posted by CC's Desperados:

Glenn, did you try to E-mail or call Greg about this? I sent him an e-mail immediately after posting this. If I don't get a response by 5:00pm EDT, I'll try calling. [/QUOTE]He should get the E-mail. He carries his phone with him all the time.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:19 am

From Greg:

"They are changing the display time. It's set for 8:00 tonight."

SluggoJD · Post by **SluggoJD** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:27 am

Thanks Glenn, didn't notice your comments here when I created a thread about the cutoff time.

John

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:30 am

Originally posted by SluggoJD:

Thanks Glenn, didn't notice your comments here when I created a thread about the cutoff time.

John No problem, it's an important issue and getting the word out was the first order of business.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:32 am

Free Agents page is down right now -- my guess is that they are updating the cutoff time as we speak.

Gordon Gekko · Post by **Gordon Gekko** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:35 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

Free Agents page is down right now -- my guess is that they are updating the cutoff time as we speak. mine is up with 8pm!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:35 am

Originally posted by King of Queens:

quote:Originally posted by Greg Ambrosius:

1. The FAAB deadline is now 8 p.m. EST, not 7 p.m. EST.Greg, hopefully you're checking the boards today. While setting my free agents today, I noticed the following:

"This page was loaded at XX:XX PM ET, waiver bids lock today at 7:00 PM ET"

It would appear that they still have the old deadline in place. [/QUOTE]They are changing the text on that. FAAB deadline is 8 p.m. EST and STATS is ready to run it at that time. Thanks for the heads up.

King of Queens · Post by **King of Queens** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:38 am

Thanks, mine is updated, too.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:41 am

Someone mentioned that there are some free agents still in their league's free agent pool who were sent to the minors today. STATS locked all free agent lists this morning at 7 a.m. and that includes players who were sent to the minors after that deadline. They remain in each league's free agent pool today and are eligible to be picked up by any owner. If the player is still listed, feel free to bid on any of them.

Good luck all with the first FAAB transaction.

Raskol · Post by **Raskol** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 12:02 pm

My 3/6 125 top 3 league has locked and it is 4 pm pacific/7 eastern....can you unlock?

[ March 30, 2008, 06:03 PM: Message edited by: Raskolnikov ]

RedRyder · Post by **RedRyder** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 12:03 pm

It looks like my FAs are locked, but it's not 5pm (pst) yet, anyone else having this problem?