2019 End of Year Accounting

First things first.  Here is the draft order for 2020:

1. Suspended Atomnation
2. Golden Graham's
3. Team Harbaughs
4. ~ AirMatt ~
5. Orion River Horses
6. Leviathans
7. The Team Formerly Known as the Craptastics
8. The Team Formerly Known as Strike Team
9. Los Diablos
10. Psychotic Ninjas
11. Air Apparent
12. Merrill

Second things second.  Here is how much money I owe everyone:

• Merrill: $300 for the title, plus weekly wins in weeks 3, 4, 5 and 9, makes $360.  After deducting 2020 dues, Merrill gets $300. - Check mailed 2/5/2020.
• Taylor: $120 for second place, plus weekly wins in weeks 6 and 10, makes $150.  After deducting 2020 dues, Taylor gets $90. - Check mailed 1/30/2020
• Myself: $60 for third place, plus a lonely weekly win in week 16, makes $75.  After deducting 2020 dues, I get $15.
• Jody: Actually won BOTH of the first two weeks of the season, then fell off from there.  So Jody has a $30 credit going into 2020.
• Kevin: Really came on at the end (after it was too late), winning weeks 12 and 15.  So Kevin also has a $30 credit going into 2020.
• Aaron: Aaron really likes living in the basement, he does, claiming last place for (I think) the fifth time in the four years we've had this rule.  Anyway, he did manage to win week 7, so he has a $15 credit going into 2020.
• Matt: Won week 8, for a $15 credit going into 2020.
• Pete: Won week 11, for a $15 credit going into 2020.
• Kubicek: Even though we was the #1 seed, he didn't win a week until week 13.  And his playoff performances were forgettable.  $15 credit going into 2020.
• Adam: Won week 14 for a $15 credit going into 2020.
• Jason lived down to his team name, winning NO weeks in 2019.  Levi didn't either, so both of them get doodly-squat.

It appears that I actually need to send money to Merrill and Taylor.  So if you guys will email me and let me know either a mailing address where I can send a check, or an email address where I can send you your money via PayPal, that would be great.

Aaron, I want to apologize in advance for whatever team name Merrill decides to saddle you with next year.  For some reason, I don't think he'll be quite as casual about it as Matt was when he named Jason's team this year.  But you knew the risks when you decide to finish last!

Sorry that there wasn't more pernicious nonsense, or badinage and schadenfreude for that matter, this season.  There may be more of that next year; there might not.  At this point, it's hard to say.

See you in July, everybody!

Marauders Bring the Title Back to --- Wherever Merrill Lives!

I dunno.  Boca Raton, I think.  Anyway.

Yes, the Marauders won the title for the first time since I've been part of this league (which goes all the way back to last Tuesday 2007), and as you might imagine, Merrill's pretty pumped about it.  So pumped, in fact, that he has specifically requested 'a nice long write up to the league on the Marauder's championship run back to the TTFFL mountaintop'.

A 'nice long write up', you say?  I think I can manage that!  Let's give this a shot ---

Week 1: It was a cold, snowy September morning.  The Marauders' spirits were low, but their hopes were high, as they went in to wherever Pete lives --- Orion River, I suppose --- to take on Pete and his horses hippos.  Led by the surprising Dak Prescott, the hippos put up a formidable 82.9 points, which would ordinarily be enough to crush most TTFFL opponents, but not these Marauders.  With no standout performances by any one player, the Marauders instead brought out above-average play in pretty much their whole lineup to tally an impressive 105.8 points, beating not just Pete, but all other teams in the league as well.

I mean, except for Jody, who won the week with 116.2 points.

Week 2: It was a warm, sunny September morning.  The Marauders' spirits were low, and their point total was even lower, as Merrill made the questionable decision to start Baker Mayfield over Russell Wilson.  Is this the kind of decision-making you really want to have chronicled in sickening detail?!?

Well, whatever!  The mighty Marauders prevailed despite scoring only a puny 55.5 points, because Atom only managed an even punier 51.9 points, thanks mainly to underwhelming performances by Jared Cook (1.3 points), Alvin Kamara (3 points) and Ben Roethlisberger (1.5 points).  The Marauders were 2-0 and on a roll!

Week 3: It was a mild, windy September morning.  The Marauders were hosting their first home game of the season at wherever Merrill lives --- Albuquerque, maybe.  Once again, they faced a high-scoring opponent in Team Harbaughs (Mahomes!  Cook!  Hooper!), and once again, they vanquished that opponent with even mightier firepower (Wilson!  McCaffrey!  Kupp!  Hardman!).  They outscored everyone in the league, including the Ninjas, who had the second-highest score!  The Marauders were quickly demonstrating to the rest of the league that they were not to be trifled with!

Week 4: It was a wet, blustery September morning.  The Maruders went on the road again, at wherever Matt lives --- I actually know this one!  It's in Burnsville; I've been there!  I won 5 straight games of 9-ball against him!

Well anyway.  This week, they faced a laughably overmatched AirMatt team.  I mean, seriously.  EVERY OTHER TEAM IN THE LEAGUE outscored AirMatt by at least 10 points.  Adam Thielen and Odell Beckham scored 1.3 points COMBINED!  It was truly an embarrassing performance by AirMatt.  So embarrassing, in fact, that the Marauders came close to TRIPLING his score, and this was even with Mecole Hardman scoring NEGATIVE 1.6 points.

The Marauders won ANOTHER week, and were a commanding 4-0.

Week 5: It was a warm, snowy October morning.  The Marauders' spirits were high, but their blood sugar was low as they went into wherever it is Taylor lives --- let's call it Tuscaloosa --- for a slugfest against the mighty Air Apparent.

(BTW, what is the deal with the Marauders playing 4 of their first 5 games on the road?  It's almost like the guy who makes up the schedule doesn't even pay attention to home versus road games)

Air Apparent would be nipping at the Marauders' heels all season, and this game was just one example of it.  Both teams put up epic point totals --- Russell Wilson scored 31 points for the Marauders, a point total matched by Matt Ryan for Air Apparent.  Christian McCaffrey scored 29.9 points for Merrill --- BAM!  But Aaron Jones scored 33.1 for Taylor --- COUNTERBAM!  And all of the other players who started that day scored points as well!

But of course, when the dust settled, the Marauders once again claimed victory, and their THIRD CONSECUTIVE weekly win.

Week 6: It was a hot, greasy October morning.  The Marauders were once again back in the comfy confines of wherever it is Merrill lives (I want to say La Jolla).  And there was more on the line this week than just a win or loss --- this week, the mighty 5-0 Marauders faced the even mightier 5-0 Psychotic Ninjas in a battle for league dominance!

Which the Marauders won by a convincing 24-point margin.  So much for the dominance of the Psychotic Ninjas, who essentially disappeared for the next 6 weeks (but we'll hear more about them later).

Week 7: Tragedy struck.  On a freezing cold, yet somehow still warm October morning, the Marauders tasted defeat for the first time, as they hosted the Leviathans.  Despite the best efforts of Ezekiel Elliot (13.4), Josh Lambo (13), Russell Wilson (10.2) and T.Y. Hilton (9.7), the rest of the Marauders team was crap that day, and they fell to a Leviathans team led by Jared Goff (23.5), Ka'imi Fairbairn (12), Tyreek Hill (9.7) and Eric Ebron (9.5).  The rest of the Leviathans didn't play any better than the rest of the Marauders, but the damage was done.  The 13-point advantage Goff gave the Leviathans at the QB position told the tale, and for the first time this season Merrill's Marauders, the scourge of the TTFFL, were defeated.

Sorry, guys.  I just love this image, and I didn't get a chance to use it this season.

Week 8: On a dry, snowy October morning before Halloween, the Marauders hosted a hapless Los Diablos team.  So hapless, in fact, that the Marauders' top three performers --- Russell Wilson, Christian McCaffrey and Darren Fells --- were almost able to defeat Los Diablos single-handedly.  In the entire history of the TTFFL, rarely have we ever seen a team so devoid of hap.

The Marauders recovered from their week 7 loss, and appeared to be back to their dominant ways.

Week 9: November broke with a tasty, vanilla-flavored morning, as the Marauders continued their run of 100+-point performances, this time crushing Kevin and his Golden Grahams into dust.  And while the Grahams had a bit more hap than the previous week's Los Diablos, the Marauders were so dominant that just their top two players --- Russell Wilson, with a stunning 40.6 points, and Christian McCaffrey with a much-less-impressive-but-still-respectable 26.3 --- combined to outscore the whole Golden Graham's team.

The Marauders rang up their fourth weekly win, and seemed unstoppable!

Week 10: In the final game of their 5-game home stand at historic Wherever-Merrill-Lives Stadium (located in scenic downtown Tulsa), the Marauders easily disposed of the puny and insignificant Craptastics.  But the 70.6 - 57.1 final score was mundane, and the Marauders were not as dominating as they had been in previous weeks.

The Marauders were 9-1, but there were clouds on the horizon ---

Week 11: DISASTER!!!  On a hot, muggy, sulphur-laden morning in November, the Marauders hit the absolute low point of their season.  With Russell Wilson on bye and Kyle Allen stinking up the joint, the Marauders tallied their lowest point total of the season (46.1) to go down to defeat against the lowly Strike Team, wherever it is that Aaron lives (what the hell: Port Au Prince).  As bad as it was losing to Aaron, that was nothing compared with ---

Week 12: The Marauders slide continued, as they dropped their rematch against Suspended Atomnation by an agonizingly close 61.8 - 60.6 tally.  But the bleeding didn't stop yet, because ---

Week 13: On a freezing cold December morning, with rocks and garbage falling from the sky, the Marauders visited Orion River for the second time this season (the schedule maker was most likely drunk), to avenge their earlier victory over the hippos.  And avenge it they did, in spectacular fashion, losing to the River Horses by a measly 0.5 points to conclude their regular season on a 3-game losing streak.

Week 14: On a calm, sunny and surprisingly warm December morning, the Marauders played no one at all, because their early-season dominance earned them a first-round bye, despite the fact that they spent the final three weeks of the regular season playing like turds with feet.  They mostly spent the week sitting around the pool sipping margaritas, taking the occasional break to go dangle their toes in the waves.  All in all, the Marauders thought --- life isn't bad.

Week 15: On a starkly violent, wind-tossed and rain-streaked day, filled with broken promises and shattered dreams and stinking of pig vomit, the Marauders won their semifinal-round playoff game, led by the efforts of stupid Ezekiel Elliott and even stupider Christian McCaffrey.  All in all, the whole Marauders team was stupid and bad and didn't deserve to win their playoff game half as much as their kind and noble opponent, the Psychotic Ninjas, who never did anything to hurt anybody and deserved the victory much more and yes they did and nahnahnahnahnah I can't hear you and you're stupid and shut up.

AND FINALLY ---

Week 16: On a crisp, clear, cold but still really quite pleasant Christmas Eve Eve, stuffed with a wild rice, garlic and mushroom stuffing and served with seasoned Italian sausage and garnished with rosemary, thyme and shallots, coated with a lemon garlic butter and served with a side of freshly-picked asparagus, the Marauders finally claimed the title over the scrappy but overmatched Air Apparent.  The championship teams were really quite evenly matched, but the difference in the game was the ridiculous TWENTY-THREE points scored by the Colts' defense for the Marauders.  And most of THAT total came from the ridiculous TWO punt return touchdowns by Nyheim Hines, a player who wasn't even on the Marauders' roster --- which, let's face it, is enough to make you want to tear your hair out.

And with that, the Marauders claimed their first TTFFL title since --- what, 1999?  1972?  I don't know, someone will have to tell me.  That was before my time.

Anyway, congratulations to the Marauders!  Merry Christmas to all!  I will be posting usual end-of-year accounting stuff soon!

(Did you notice that I went through that entire review, and NOT ONCE did I mention that if the Psychotic Ninjas had reversed their scores in weeks 15 and 16, THEY would be the champs, and not Merrill?

I thought it was pretty damn classy of me not to call attention to that fact.  If you had to pick just one word to describe me, I'm pretty sure it would be 'class').

Hi Everybody!

Yeah, it's been a while.  I'm guessing most of you enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Fortunately, I'm back just in time for the week 13 playoff scenarios.  So, let's see --- there are five teams within one game of each other between fifth and ninth place.  Of course, three of them (Air Apparent, Psychotic Ninjas and Suspended Atomnation) have a 6-6 record, so as long as one of them wins, then it comes down to who scores the most points, so ---

NO, WAIT A MINUTE!!!

I forgot all about the stupid Kubicek rule, which means we need to take into account the individual matchups between potential playoff teams.  So if we look at the three 6-6 teams, and consider possible week 13 outcomes, then --- hold on just a minute ---

Oh yeah.  Now I remember why I don't do playoff projections any more.

Well, good luck to everyone but Aaron, I guess.  I'll try to come up with more playoff-appropriate badinage and schadenfreude next week.

Title Week Preview?

The past two weeks in the TTFFL have seen some interesting trades.  As a result, the only two remaining unbeatens have some pretty stacked rosters.  And if this trend continues, consider the possibility of this title game matchup:

	Merrill's Marauders	Psychotic Ninjas
QB	Russell Wilson	Lamar Jackson
RB	Christian McCaffrey	Saquon Barkley
RB	Ezekiel Elliott	David Johnson
WR	T.Y. Hilton	Mike Evans
WR	Cooper Kupp	Tyler Lockett
TE	Mark Andrews	George Kittle
Flex	Melvin Gordon	Kareem Hunt
DST	Steelers	Rams
K	Who	Cares?

Now obviously, this won't happen.  Because one of us will have his team decimated by injuries over the next three weeks.  And the other one will finish the season as the #1 seed, crush their opponent in the semifinals, and then inexplicably put up about 23 points in the title game.

But still.  It's a pretty stunning possibility to comtemplate.

Allow me to introduce --- the Craptastics!!!

Matt has decided that Jason will play the 2019 season under the team name The Craptastics.  And Jason's new avatar is pretty much what you would expect:

This should give Jason added motivation in weeks 1 and 13.  Congrats, Jason!  You earned it!

FAABulous!!!

I am pleased to report that common sense prevailed in the voting for our recent rule change proposal:

So --- that's that.

As far as other proposed rule changes are concerned (and there were several: superflex, changes to QB scoring, PPR scoring, an additional RB/WR/TE flex), I'm not inclined to put any of them up for a vote, because there seems to be substantial opposition to all of them.

On the other hand, if anyone else would LIKE to have a vote on these or any other rule changes, I'm happy to put them out there.  Drop me a line and let me know.

Otherwise, this closes the door on the 2018 season.  Unless another rule change is proposed, I'll (virtually) see you all next year!

Waiting in Line Sucks

Clearly under the influence of some kind of mind-altering chemicals, Adam had this to say about our waiver system:

If it's not broke, don't fix it.  Waiver system has worked fine for years.

At least one other owner has seconded this notion, and after pondering things for a couple of days, there really seems to be only one reasonable response:

Of course, it's possible that this is just a simple difference of opinion.  So I decided to do a scientific test recently.

My daughter is in the 10th grade, and is on her high school dance team.  Next weekend, they're holding their invitational dance meet, which is their major fundraiser for the year.  As part of the dance meet, they're holding a blind auction of various goods and services.

So, during the planning of this event, I went to the moms in charge (it's a dance team; of COURSE the ones in charge are the moms), and I proposed handling the auction a different way.  I suggested that everyone who wanted one of the auction items should stand in a long line, and then we would randomly choose one of the auction items and give it to the first person in line.

Of course, that person might not want it, and if they didn't, they could offer it to the next person in line --- and if they didn't want it, they could offer it to the next person, and so on.  As soon as someone decided they wanted an item, they would have to go to the back of the line before we brought the next item out.

Also, we wouldn't tell anyone what the items were ahead of time.  That way, when people were deciding whether or not to keep an item, they would have no way of knowing whether something better was available.  I explained that while this wasn't really an 'auction', at least this approach still included the 'blind' element.

I assured all of the moms in charge that this was, indeed, the fairest and best way to run the blind auction --- but the moms weren't buying it.

So, I tried my best, I really did.  But it still seems pretty obvious to me that FAAB is the better way to handle waivers.  I do agree with Adam on one point, though.  Since auction is the best way to handle waivers, we should also be using auction for our draft as well.  But I know better than to propose an auction draft to this league.

Anyway, just because we draft the wrong way doesn't mean we need to handle waivers the wrong way!  Heed the wisdom of the dance moms!

(Full disclosure: I lied about the dance moms.  I didn't suggest handling the blind auction differently, because I didn't even go to the planning meeting.  I went last year, and I know that they really don't want me to participate in the planning; they just want me to show up to the invitational and sell stuff.)

If my compelling and made-up dance moms story hasn't persuaded you, then go back and read my original essay championing the rule change, because I think I made some good points there.  Then go vote for the rule change!

http://games.espn.com/ffl/leagueoffice?leagueId=303219

Remember: The only real change is that when you put in a waiver claim, you would also include a dollar amount (which can be $0), and the decision about who gets a player is based on who bid the most, and not who happens to be first in line that week.  Nothing else would change.

One thing I didn't lie about is the dance invitational on January 12.  I really will be at the high school helping out most of the day.  So let's say this poll closes at 9:00 PM EST on January 12.

P.S. Wondering about other rule changes, like scoring and superflex?  Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about them.  Just wanted to start cleaning up the discussion a bit.

P.P.S. One other angle I considered for pitching FAAB is that our current waiver process makes us wait in line, like they did in the old Soviet Union under communism.  So I was going to make outlandish charges about Adam hating America and so forth, and say that our current waiver system is 'slavic', but it didn't really feel organic.  But if it helps you decide to vote for FAAB, then great!

Harbinger of the Zombie Apocalypse

In response to my recent proposal that we adopt the superflex rule, Kevin had this to say:

Dont really like this one. I would counter propose that we reduce QB TD passes from 6pts to 4pts. In fact this is the only league I've been in where the QB gets that many points making their value so much more than everyone else. 

Under your rule any team that has 2 good QB's would have that much of an advantage over everyone else. In fact QB's would be selected by everyone in the first 2 rounds in my estimation. 

And then on a bye week you're basically screwed unless you have 3 QB's to compensate.
By lowering the TD points everything evens out giving more value to RB's and WR's. 

Also not opposed to going to a PPR league.

To which Merrill replied:

Hate to say it, but I agree with Graham on both points.

To repeat: Merrill and Kevin agree on something!  Which can of course mean only one thing:

Uh.

Well, okay, maybe it could mean one of TWO things.  EITHER the Zombie Apocalypse is imminent, OR they're on to something.

Assuming it's the latter --- I agree with them, too.  Or more specifically, I agree that our scoring system has a bias toward QBs, and that we should address that imbalance before moving to superflex. It also weights TDs too much relative to yardage.

I'm sure it will surprise no one that I have specific responses to the concerns Kevin raised, and that I still think we should adopt the superflex rule.  But just like the FAAB rule (remember that one?  People seem to like that one), we should fix our scoring wheether or not we ultimately adopt superflex.

So here are two separate scoring systems we could adopt.  One is less aggressive, one more so (and preferrable, in my opinion).

Option 1 (yardage undervalued)

1. Change the value of passing TDs from 6 points to 4 points
2. Add 0.25 points per reception for RBs
3. Add 0.5 point per reception for WRs
4. Add 0.75 points per reception for TEs

Option 2 (yardage properly valued)

1. Double the points for all yardage scoring (0.04 points per passing yard, 0.1 points per rushing/receiving yard --- this is double how we score things currently).
2. Change the value of passing TDs from 6 points to 4 points
3. Add 0.5 points per reception for RBs
4. Add 1 point per reception for WRs
5. Add 1.5 points per reception for TEs

I'm sure the fractional PPR points will catch everyone's attention.  And if folks would prefer that all receptions are 1 pt, that's fine.  The thinking here is that giving a full point to RBs unbalances that position for players like Christian McCaffrey; at the same time, giving TEs 1.5 points per reception makes TEs in general a more desirable position (although it also makes Kelce, Kittle and Ertz even more valuable than they are already).

My big concern is that we DON'T go full PPR without also adjusting or scoring for yardage.  If we went full PPR under our current scoring system, yardage scoring would almost be irrelevant.

I'm just throwing this out for discussion.

Rule Change 2: Superflex

I am proposing that we adopt the superflex rule: Instead of limiting the flex position to only RB or WR, we will allow players from any offensive position, including TE and QB.

Why?  Well, consider the following facts:

1. This year, Patrick Mahomes was the #1 QB, and it wasn't close.  On the season, under our scoring system, he outscored the #2 QB (Matt Ryan?) by 91 points.
2. At the same time, the difference between Ryan and the #15 QB (Dak Prescott) was also basically 91 points.
3. This means that, in a given week, unless you had Mahomes as your starter, it didn't really matter who your QB was.  You could reasonably expect that your QB would score within 1-2 points of your opponent's QB.

I'm too lazy to do the research on previous seasons, but this year is fairly typical.  Every year there's one (or two, or three) QBs who outscore the rest of the field by a substantial margin, and after that, the next 10-12 are all pretty much the same.  Since we're a 12-team league and we only start 1 QB, that means that unless you're lucky enough to draft a stud, the QB position is irrelevant.

I also notice that practically everyone drafts 2 QBs, presumably to have a backup in place for the bye week, or in case of injury.  But for the most part, a randomly-selected QB out of the waiver pool can do as well on a one-week fill-in basis as any QB you draft as your backup.  This year, for example, you could have picked up Baker Mayfield, Jameis Winston, Sam Darnold, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen or Nick Mullens depending on the week, and they would have done just fine for you.  So consequently, the standard league practice of drafting 2 QBs means that your backup QB is dead weight on your roster for most of the season.  Also, it means if you have 2 really good QBs (Kevin had both Luck and Goff, for example), you can't ever trade the backup, because no one else isn't willing to give up anything for a small improvement at QB.

(Okay, Adam traded away Roethlisberger, but such trades are really rare).

The bottom line is, we should consider doing something to make the QB position more interesting.  And the obvious solution is superflex.

If we adopt this rule, the QB position becomes much more interesting.  Since it will now be possible to start 2 QBs in a week:

1. QBs become a much hotter commodity in the draft, because if you manage to land TWO of the stud QBs, it gives you a huge edge.  In turn, this will mean that stud players at other positions will be available in later rounds, making the whole draft more interesting.
2. With only 1 starting QB, it doesn't much matter who your QB is, since there's not a lot of difference between the QB4 and the QB15.  When we can start 2 QBs, suddenly there's lots of competition to get ANY starting QB --- even a player like Josh Johnson can be worthy of a waiver pickup.
3. Because QBs will be in higher demand, there is likely to be more trade activity involving the QB position.  Would you trade Chris Carson for Ryan Fitzpatrick?  Suddenly that's not a stupid question.
4. Bye weeks become more challenging (and hopefully more fascinating).

I want to particularly emphasize how much this rule change will affect the draft.  This year, we drafted 21 QBs in the first 11 rounds.  If we adopt this rule, I anticipate that 21 QBs will go in roughly the first 5 rounds.  This is why I wanted to propose this rule change well before next year's draft.

Also, I shouldn't undersell the additional value this would give to the TE position.  Maybe you try to corner the market on TE with Travis Kelce and Zach Ertz?  Neither of those guys is going to score as much on a weekly basis as someone like Alex Smith (should he return), but it would be a nice double-threat when one of your QBs is on bye, or in case of a QB injury.

My thought is that we would simply change our existing flex spot to a superflex, but I'm open to the possibility of adding a superflex position to our starting lineup (and reducing bench size to 8 players, so we still have an 18 round draft).

As with the previous proposal, I'm not planning to schedule a vote on this change any time soon.  Instead, I'll give everyone time to ponder, discuss, question, etc.

(Footnote: This rule change has been a long time coming.  Does everyone remember my ill-fated attempt to eliminate the kicker position 5 years ago [yes, it has been five years]?  That was the first step of a two-step plan I had, to eliminate the kicker and replace it with a superflex.

When all of you inexplicably told me how much you loved the kicker position, it foiled my plans.  And it's taken me this long to take another stab at it).

Rule Change 1: A FAABulous Way to Pick Up Free Agents

Okay, so.

You know how sometimes a REALLY GOOD free agent running back will pop up during the season?  And maybe it just so happens that you REALLY NEED a running back, but it also just so happens that you're at the bottom of the waiver order?  So stupid Merrill gets the really good running back, even though he already has THREE of them on his roster?

And not only that, but --- you're SO desperate at running back that you put in a waiver claim for some other guy who's only kind of good, so you're still at the bottom of the waiver order next week when another REALLY GOOD running back pops up?

Yeah.  That sucks, right?

I propose that we change the way we handle waivers.  I propose we move to blind-auction bidding on free agents, where everyone bids using a $100 Free Agent Acquisition Budget (otherwise known as FAAB --- not real money) for the whole season.  I'm guessing most of you are familiar with this process from other leagues, but for those who aren't, basically, it works like this:

1. Before waivers runs, you put in a claim for a player you want and identify a player to drop, just like you do today --- but you ALSO specify an amount of FAAB you're willing to pay for this player (you can bid $0 and hope that no one else wants him).
2. When waivers runs, the guy who bid the most money gets the player.  The money is deducted from his FAAB.
3. If multiple owners bid the same amount for the player, then the owner who currently has the lowest seed (worst record) gets the player.  This seeding is determined by an ESPN algorithm, and we can't replace it with our own, Kubicek.
4. Once a player passes through waivers, its possible to do free add/drops without spending FAAB, just like we do currently.

My reasons for proposing this change are threefold:

1. This adds an element of strategy --- you need to budget your $100 for the whole season.
2. It also insures that the guy who wants a player the most gets him.
3. It also adds fairness, because presumably if Merrill and I each spend our full $100 FAAB over the course of the season, that means we each added $100 of value to our roster.  This isn't necessarily the case if you get stuck at the bottom of the waiver order under the current system.

So --- that's rule change proposal #1.  I'll put up a poll about it in a week or so, but first I want to give folks an opportunity to ask questions, discuss, etc.

And to be clear, I think we should adopt this change whether or not we adopt rule change #2.  However, as you'll see, this change becomes especially necessary if we DO adopt rule change #2, because free agent bidding will become much more competitive.