Trading future picks

[Hahaclintondix]

Question(s):

When you trade picks from a future year, are you forced to pay the buy in for that year’s picks? Do you have a system in place that prevents teams from trading away future picks and leaving the league?

I ask because I have tried to put something in place where you would do just that. I have found the league very resistant to the idea. We are all friends and most have been for 10+ years. Their logic is 1) “well nobody is leaving”, 2) “this isn’t a problem so why are we trying to solve it”, 3) “we can give a free year if someone leaves”, or 4) “this will deter trading”. My counters were 1) that it’s always possible for someone to leave due to unforeseen circumstances, 2)we can nip the problem before it happens (have had issues that could have been solved by better planning) 3) a free year means less prize money for teams that have built contenders/a bad team will be harder to find another friend to take over (we experienced this in another league and it folded) and 4) if you’re committed to the league then you’ll trade anyway.

We can trade picks from up to 3 years in advance. I settled by asking for this year’s buy in and next year’s buy in to at least give us a little wiggle room in case something were to happen. Also encountered resistance to that.

Tell me what to do.

[abloom]

If no one is going to be leaving, then they should be willing to pay 3 years in advance if needed.

always require a downpayment when trading picks so you can give a free year if needed.

[bjd5211]

That's pretty standard operating procedure, all my leagues require it for at least 1st round picks. Some leagues require to be paid up 1 year in advance at all times even if you haven't traded any picks yet. Just helps maintain league continuity and prevent people from completely mortgaging the future to win immediately and then bailing when their championship window closes, leaving the league with an unappealing orphan with no picks to fill.

All that being said, if this is a league full of people who have known each other for years and have been friends outside of fantasy football then it certainly minimizes the risk and may in fact not be completely necessary. Most of us are in leagues with people we've never met and don't know personally, we meet them through the Internet in places such as this forum so certain measures need to be put in place to protect the league.

[trader_nation]

This is home-league so chill out. Do you have steroid testing? a personal conduct policy? Home leagues are inherently risky and unfair sometimes.

If you want to play in a modern league with standard rules, quit the league, and join a different one.

[CubfanAA]

In my league with friends we don't require payment ahead to trade future picks. If you have friends that would purposefully sell the future to win this year knowing they are going to leave the league....you need to get better friends.

In an online league where I don't know everybody...I would not join if the league didn't require this to trade future picks.

[Hahaclintondix]

For reference to our league that folded: was also a friends league with player contracts. Didn’t even make year 3. Guys left for “financial reasons”and “not enough time”. Those things can happen and finding a replacement was impossible.

We’ve had multiple situations where people have circumnavigated a set of bylaws by exploiting small holes in the system. We’ve since closed those holes to prevent it from happening again. I wanted to take a preemptive step to prevent a future problem. It felt like this was just standard practice among most dynasty leagues.

[trader_nation]

apologies i thought the league had be going for 10+ years- my fault

[Shcritters]

If no one is going to be leaving, then they should be willing to pay 3 years in advance if needed.

always require a downpayment when trading picks so you can give a free year if needed.

I'm all in on this. Imagine these two scenarios:
- Owner A pays their dues 3 years in advance... trades away all of their picks and imbalances the league... and then walks away after they realize their team is garbage. No harm no foul, right?
- Owner A doesn't pay ahead... trades away all of their picks and imbalances the league... and then walks away after they realize their team is garbage. You're telling me there wouldn't be at least a little bit of hard feelings from the owners of the league who stayed as a result of this? Not only is the league now imbalanced, but you're going to have a really hard time finding a new owner if they have to pay for 3 years before they have a chance at being competitive.

I'm likely in the minority and will get feedback on this, but if I'm the commish I'm going to set up the rules so that - as much as I possibly can - I'm preventing things that could happen in a 'for fun game setting' from hurting real life relationships. Everyone wants to be 'on their honor', but the more explicit you are in the rules the less opportunity there is for grey and less likely real relationships will get hurt, especially in a 'buddy' league. Obviously there are limitations to how far you can go, but this is a really easy way to prevent a bad situation.

[Hahaclintondix]

apologies i thought the league had be going for 10+ years- my fault

No problem. Entering year 5, but starting to see a rather large imbalance among teams. I think 3 or 4 teams own 75%+ of the top 30 players.

[WhatWouldDitkaDo]

Compromise: require 50% of next year's dues in advance to trade away a 1st. That way the owner is more invested in sticking around, and in the unfortunate case of them needing to leave for whatever reason, the new owner only has to pay half for Year 1.

[bjd5211]

If you are uncomfortable with the direction the league is going but the rest of the league refuses to heed your concerns and is not interested in putting in these safeguards, then you ultimately may have to just leave the league and find one that better suits you.

[Slackalacker]

In my league we require a 50% deposit to trade future picks. If they leave that money goes towards the teams buy-in for whatever year it is paid for (we allow trading picks 2 years out).

[M-Dub]

I had the exact worst-case scenario you’re envisioning play out in a friends league that didn’t require payment in advance to trade future picks. We wound up deciding to give the new owner compensatory picks that first offseason. We also grandfathered in a new rule requiring owners to pay in advance to unlock future picks. Has it stifled trading? Maybe a little bit, but that’s just an unfortunate but necessary side effect of keeping everyone honest.

Since your league is already five years old and owners have presumably already traded some future picks, you’ll probably have to grandfather it in like we did. Just start with the earliest future season in which all picks are still intact. Tell the whiners to suck it up and deal with it. As someone else mentioned, if everyone is friends and nobody is planning on bailing, then they shouldn’t have a problem with paying ahead to unlock future picks.

[jomaed]

Its a friends league. Its meant to be fun. Do whatever the majority wants. Nothing worse than having another owner wanting to accept a trade, but cant do so because they can't pay right away. I know in my friends league this could deter trading and take some fun out of it. If you are that worried about it, maybe reduce the number of years in the future teams can trade. But wouldn't mess with what you have or what the majority wants though.

[BradysBunch]

I just started a new league with coworkers. I told them if they trade a future 1 or 2, they are responsible for that year. Hopefully it works.