Commissioner Advice

[rataylor22]

Hey all, so in a little bit of a sticky wicket in my keeper fantasy league and not sure how to approach it. In our league we have 3 teams that we need to replace (old owners quit), and in our league chat (just on Facebook) I sent a message telling everyone to ask around to their friends, and if anyone wanted to join teams could be claimed on a first come, first served basis. I sent a few texts out with a picture of each roster and one of my buddies responded around 7:30 last night saying "I'm in, I want team X".

"Bob", another member in our league, got a message from one of his friends saying he was in, and the new member got added to our league chat by Bob around 4:30 PM (earlier in the night than when my friend joined and claimed a team). Bob didn't tell me that his friend had agreed to join the league, nor did I notice him get added to the league chat until this morning. When Bob texted his friend to ask if he wanted to join, he did not send the available rosters to him.

So while NewMember1 joined at 4:30 PM, he has yet to claim a team, but he also did not know what teams were available. NewMember2 joined at 7:30 PM, immediately claiming his team.

Does NewMember1 get the ability to choose his team first (based on joining the league first) or does NewMember2 get to keep the team he claimed when he joined at 7:30? NewMember1 hasn't said specifically he wants the same team that NewMember2 claimed, but he likely will as IMO it is the best team available.

Can I get some help? Thanks guys

[Pengwin7]

Coin. Flip.

[Artamus]

You as commish get to make the call. Go by timestamp on email if in doubt, but you as commish make the call. Dont let it turn into a pissing contest.

Hey all, so in a little bit of a sticky wicket in my keeper fantasy league and not sure how to approach it. In our league we have 3 teams that we need to replace (old owners quit), and in our league chat (just on Facebook) I sent a message telling everyone to ask around to their friends, and if anyone wanted to join teams could be claimed on a first come, first served basis. I sent a few texts out with a picture of each roster and one of my buddies responded around 7:30 last night saying "I'm in, I want team X".

"Bob", another member in our league, got a message from one of his friends saying he was in, and the new member got added to our league chat by Bob around 4:30 PM (earlier in the night than when my friend joined and claimed a team). Bob didn't tell me that his friend had agreed to join the league, nor did I notice him get added to the league chat until this morning. When Bob texted his friend to ask if he wanted to join, he did not send the available rosters to him.

So while NewMember1 joined at 4:30 PM, he has yet to claim a team, but he also did not know what teams were available. NewMember2 joined at 7:30 PM, immediately claiming his team.

Does NewMember1 get the ability to choose his team first (based on joining the league first) or does NewMember2 get to keep the team he claimed when he joined at 7:30? NewMember1 hasn't said specifically he wants the same team that NewMember2 claimed, but he likely will as IMO it is the best team available.

Can I get some help? Thanks guys

[butch]

would having a mini draft of the 3 available teams amongst the 3 new gm's be an option ?

[wendelclark17]

If you stated that the teams could be claimed on a "first come first serve basis" then the first person to claim a team gets it. So NewMember2 gets team X in my opinion as he was the first one to claim a team.

[MarmotKing]

if anyone wanted to join teams could be claimed on a first come, first served basis.

If this is what you said, then I think NewMember2 would have first pick of teams.

Both NewMember1 and NewMember2 got in the league.
NewMember1 got in 1st, but didn't chose his team.
NewMember2 got in 2nd, but did chose his team.

My logic is based on the above quote only.

Hope this helps.

[petegreg21]

Tougher as the guy who actually claimed the team is your buddy.

In a regular situation, I'd say first come first serve. NM2 actually picked a team, NM1 had not yet. That isn't your fault, it's Bob's fault for not sending available rosters.

[vitun-tyhmä]

Coin. Flip.

LIke this, that's how we've done it before, do a little mini draft lottery for them and let them pick their team. It shouldnt matter what order they joined the league in, that's arbitrary

[havanablast21]

If this is what you said, then I think NewMember2 would have first pick of teams.

Both NewMember1 and NewMember2 got in the league.
NewMember1 got in 1st, but didn't chose his team.
NewMember2 got in 2nd, but did chose his team.

My logic is based on the above quote only.

Hope this helps.

think it's more complicated than that.

New member 1 joined first but was not given the lists of rosters to choose from before Member 2 joined and chose. Member 1 should have had 1st crack at rosters IMO based on the expectations rataylor sent out to recruit.

As far as I'm concerned...New Member 1 gets first crack then new member 2 based soley on the Time Stamps.

However...due to this admin issue, if it means losing a member (and assuming you're up to 3), I would see if the 3 new members would be interested in holdilng a mini draft of ALL players currenlty held on each of the 3 teams. if nothing more it serves to balance out those 3 teams into more expansion teams?

WAYS TO AVOID THIS:
I was always weary to the out of the blue quitting when our league started up. In en effort to curb this and promote more of a sense of commitment we increased our leageu fees by 50% for 2 straight years and now keep a reserve in the bank for 1 year's fees.
Eg... $50 to play each year... we charged $75 for 2 years and now have $50 per team in the account.

If someone simply decides to leave...they forfeit their $50 to the league and the league can sell or disolve the franchise.
If someone decides they no longer want to participate, they have an option to try and sell their franchise for whatever cost they want and the $50 continues to be held in trust for the new franchise. Makes the selling owner accountable to get as much as he can for his franchise or risk being out...or partially out his $50 down payment.

Ofcourse the commish and existing members all have a say in who buys into the league and could veto any sale in favor of buying the team as a whole and re-selling it or disolving it.

Just how we avoid issues like this which I see all too often.

[Call of Doughty]

I'd give 1st crack to the 730 guy and tell Bob he did a poor job of relaying the information to you. Give 2nd crack to Bob's friend in the choice of the remaining 2 teams. If he is upset, he can either stay and wipe his tears/pick team or leave. Seems like an honest mistake in today's digital world.

[MarmotKing]

think it's more complicated than that.

I know it is a complicated situation, but as far as I was concerned, teams needed to be claimed to whoever picked them first. I didn't understand 1st in the league gets 1st pick. But again, english is only a second language to me.

If this is an issue, then either coin flip or mini-draft are acceptable solutions as stated above.

[blayze]

I think you're making mountains out of mole hills here. You're the commish - take charge.

Personally, I'd give it to the 7:30 guy - he claimed it, he gets it. The other guy didn't get the rosters? Oh well, too bad. There are 2 other teams to choose from, otherwise sorry.

[Burgundy]

You could have them each make a silent bid for the right to choose first - add a little more to the league's pot.

[smartfantasyhockey]

I agree it doesn't need to be that complicated.

In the end, it's your decision, but based on what you said, I'd give first choice to the 7:30 guy who made an actual claim first.

I think that if Bob's friend agreed to join in without knowing the rosters, there's a good chance he won't mind anyways. And if he does, then too bad for him. It's already a fair amount of work to run a league, don't start off on the wrong foot with an unhappy member. It's only august, you'll find someone else in the worst case.

[rataylor22]

Thx to all for the opinions. I was of the opinion that 7:30 guy gets the team he claimed, but I can also see the side of its not 4:30s guy fault, and I also didn't want it to seem like I was favoring my friend, which I'm not trying to do.

To be clear, neither of them know the issue, so it's not like it is becoming an pissing match or anything, I just didn't want to come off as shady