Preserve the league dilemma

[ch4351]

I have a situation in a league where the top two team own 3 of the first 4 projected first round picks for 2017. Two of the teams that had traded their first are proving to be truely talentless teams and will be bottom of the barrel in the near term especially factoring in that they have no first round reinforcements for 2017.

As one of the top teams I feel obligated to at least consider a way to keep the league balanced even if that might mean giving up my Leonard fournette David Johnson tandem next year. No one has threatened to leave but we (top teams) want to be preemptive showing we care and want to continue playing together.

Have others encountered this? How have you handled it?

Worst team: best players are Blount Yeldon Shepard doctson seahawks D (he traded Ap and his 2017 first for yeldon and my 5th and 6th pick(Shepard doctson) last offseason

2nd worst: best players Cobb Landry prosise Treadwell Tevin Coleman Hyde ryan Mathews wentz (traded a late first and their 2017 1st for Landry)

3rd : best players Dez Hilton Cam horns Duke hill (traded away their 1st for hill)

[skip]

This happens in every league. You cannot protect yourself from bad team management.

[joeday]

This happens in every league. You cannot protect yourself from bad team management.

Yeah, completely agree.

[DinoDynasty]

In the 1st year dynasty league I am running I am also dealing with a similar situation as the 2nd place team owns 4 1sts, (3 of which are from the bottom 5 teams) and his own. He also has Evans, Arob, Baldin, Parker, Fitz, Gordon, Ware, Crowell, Doctson.

The bottom team's best assets are; Rodgers, Adams, D Lewis, Reddick, Tate, Prescott, D Henry. This team also traded away Sammy for D Lewis/2nd earlier in the year.

While I want to step in and try to do something to help ensure the longevity of the league, I've come to realize that so much can happen in a season that shiny names don't guarantee wins. Just because he has 3 of the top 5 picks, sure his chances of landing the next Zeke are great, but remember DJ wasn't a first round pick when he was drafted. There's so much chance it's hard to justify trying to regulate trades, picks, or teams.

[LibertyCountyBrawler]

I have a situation in a league where the top two team own 3 of the first 4 projected first round picks for 2017. Two of the teams that had traded their first are proving to be truely talentless teams and will be bottom of the barrel in the near term especially factoring in that they have no first round reinforcements for 2017.

As one of the top teams I feel obligated to at least consider a way to keep the league balanced even if that might mean giving up my Leonard fournette David Johnson tandem next year. No one has threatened to leave but we (top teams) want to be preemptive showing we care and want to continue playing together.

Have others encountered this? How have you handled it?

Worst team: best players are Blount Yeldon Shepard doctson seahawks D (he traded Ap and his 2017 first for yeldon and my 5th and 6th pick(Shepard doctson) last offseason

2nd worst: best players Cobb Landry prosise Treadwell Tevin Coleman Hyde ryan Mathews wentz (traded a late first and their 2017 1st for Landry)

3rd : best players Dez Hilton Cam horns Duke hill (traded away their 1st for hill)

There's nothing you can do here. Sure you can be a good Samaritan and give up your picks in the top five but is that something you really want to do? If I was in your league and you did that, even if I wasn't one of the worst, I'd walk. See ya. No time for that. If the owners can't manage their teams properly that's my benefit. If it's a constant issue then replace the owners.

[_yeti]

Your team is nowhere near as good as you think it is. Chill, relax, and don't let your overconfidence ruin the league as the action you are thinking of taking is much more likely to mess it up longterm than talent imbalances. Not everyone is good at dynasty but that's part of it.

QB: Rodgers, Goff
RB: David Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Ingram, I. Crowell, J McKinnon West Ervin Lasco
WR: Green, Hopkins, D. Adams, D. Parker, DGB, J. Janis, D. Funchess, Enunwa Montgomery
TE: T. Kelce, Pitta
D/ST: Carolina
K: mcmanus
2017 picks: 2 1sts, 1 2nd, 1 3rd

[ch4351]

My team looked better in August certainly.... more interested if anyone had put thought in to this issue as this is a league with friends that we want to make sure stays healthy. Sounds like a lot are of the opinion it's not really our responsibility to maintain parity in the league.

[_yeti]

My team looked better in August certainly.... more interested if anyone had put thought in to this issue as this is a league with friends that we want to make sure stays healthy. Sounds like a lot are of the opinion it's not really our responsibility to maintain parity in the league.

My team is crushing it right now and I worked hard on strategy to get the players i have. I do worry that some of the weaker teams will quit or a scenario where the league folds but I think it will be ok. All it takes is some bad injuries or matchups to derail powerful teams. It should find equilibrium as people who traded picks that turn out great may learn from it. And if you really do crush it for a very long time, I mean isnt that all of our goal?

Also, those teams have players that aren't performing right now that could end up crushing it in a year. Think you might be living in the moment a little too much. Believe it or not I came in second to last last year! With this roster. Now I have a 100-9 all-play record and average 40-50 points over everyone else. Things change

[Novacane]

For every New Englant Patriots, there is a Cleveland Browns. It is the circle of life.

[ArrylT]

If you are seriously concerned that a couple of teams are going to become perennial cellar dwellers / farm teams for other teams & this is meant to be more of a friendly league than a cutthroat league - a quick fix is to add compensatory picks at the end of a round.

So say if you have a 10 team league and the teams that would have finished last & 2nd to last, and have no 1st roud pick, give them each a pick at the end of the first - a 1.11 & 1.12. And make a rule that these picks (like in the NFL) cannot be traded away - they have to use or lose. That way - especially with a draft coming up that appears to have good depth, they have an influx of some talent coming in.

Otherwise, yeah not much you can do - no matter what you do the cream always rises to the top - ergo some people are just better at dynasty/fantasy football than others - or just have more time & ability to focus on it.

[ch4351]

Just a little guilt too I had traded Carlos Hyde Tevin Coleman and Eli manning to one of the teams for Mark Ingram and David Johnson pre breakout early last season. I think the best course of action is for the top teams to stop gunning for firsts from those already poor teams. Unless we're giving far and away strong value to them.

[clarion contrarion]

winners guilt? pass ! winning is the objective and if the sadsack managers don't get it then they should be comedic fodder on the league message board . Either they will get wise, amend their ways or move along if weak ( I always try to keep a list of managers in case I need to fill an orphan) or stay awful if they are inept.
I have a couple leagues where I have won several titles and I have mixed up the squad for my own enjoyment or because I was bored with my roster. I am not gutting a team or giving someone a sweetheart deal for their sake or to keep the league healthy. If I have to shave points or pass on the best players to keep a league alive call the undertaker .

[LibertyCountyBrawler]

Just a little guilt too I had traded Carlos Hyde Tevin Coleman and Eli manning to one of the teams for Mark Ingram and David Johnson pre breakout early last season. I think the best course of action is for the top teams to stop gunning for firsts from those already poor teams. Unless we're giving far and away strong value to them.

Again, your course of action is to have the smart owners stop what they're doing to get better? If you want to preserve your league you need owners that aren't pushovers. The nature of dynasty is making deals in the offseason to better your team. Sometimes one team comes out better than the other in the deal. Sometimes it's equal. You can't stop that. I would never ask the top guys in my league to stop gunning to make their team better. That in itself would force the league to fold.

I get what your worry is, you don't want a top heavy league with the same guys winning year in and year out. Maybe this will help with that.

I'm now in the 4th or 5th season of my dynasty league. We have the same core group of friends (about 5-6 of us) the other 6 have rotated over the years for various reasons. One of the guys in the league is my cousin. He started off the first three seasons in the gutter. Wasn't great at the concept of the dynasty league. He figured it out though. He went from a sub .500 team in years 1-3 (while gutting his team and trading tons of picks) to years 4 and 5 he is division leader and this year top two team in the league (overall points, average, wins, etc). Actually two of the top 3 teams have been perennial cellar dwellers but have flipped the switch in the past two seasons. Also have a guy that has been ranked 10-12 the past three seasons but now has a solid team of Dak, Elliot, Diggs, Fuller, K. White, Moncrief. He's got a good core. Has two of next seasons top 5 picks (after trading away his first rounders for 2 seasons). He's going to be a top team in 2 seasons.

My point is just because it is so top heavy right now. In 2 years you may be on the opposite side of the spectrum. Let the league run the way it runs with minimal interference. It's best that way. Don't be afraid to shake up the owners if it's needed. It can help. That's the advice I'd give you.

[dlf_jules]

This is an unusual situation. Most of us are in leagues with mostly acquaintances and strangers, but in a fun league with friends, I understand why you would want to put a thumb on the scale for bad teams.

Whatever you do, I would make it objective and build it into the structure of the league. For example, maybe if a team misses the playoffs two years in a row, they get a compensatory pick between the first and second rounds of the next rookie draft (as ArrylT suggested).

[_yeti]

Just a little guilt too I had traded Carlos Hyde Tevin Coleman and Eli manning to one of the teams for Mark Ingram and David Johnson pre breakout early last season. I think the best course of action is for the top teams to stop gunning for firsts from those already poor teams. Unless we're giving far and away strong value to them.

To go along with what Liberty said, your feeling on this one is no bueno.

That trade was completely reasonable given the current valuations of the people involved. You took a risk giving up a couple of guys who were supposed to be starters (Hyde and Coleman) bc if it was pre-DJ breakout than Devonta Freeman couldnt have really broken out yet either and Hyde likely wasn't hurt yet and had a monster game against the Vikes to start last season. Eli Manning puts up decent numbers perenially (even though I hate him). Ingram has injury history and DJ was a small school prospect who I STILL DOUBTED going into this season (those doubts have been put to bed by his play though).

Point is, you won the trade but it was reasonable at the time and no shoe-in that you would come out on top! Would you rather Hyde and Coleman took over like they were supposed to, DJ flopped, and Ingram was on the IR? Because that was a plausible outcome. You strategized, you took a risk, your risk paid off, put this guilt crap to bed! Would they have guilt for you if the outcome was reversed?

One more from my team, I schemed all off-season on one team's first because I thought he was heading for a bottom three finish. He didn't think so. I proposed trades for his first over the course of three months and had them all turned down. When he lost Jordy and KB preseason he should have packed it in. Instead, in desperation to not have a lost season and to compete he dealt me his first which turned into Zeke. I put in a whole lot of time scheming and plotting to get that pick, so no, I can't be guilty about getting it, that is the name of the game!