Ethical Dilemma

[gooding74]

This happened recently in one of my fantasy baseball leagues, but it could just as well happen in any fantasy league.

Someone dropped a player that was 99 percent owned in Yahoo leagues. A short time later, he sent a message to the entire league saying that he dropped the player by accident and to please not try to add him. Do you submit a waiver claim?

By the way, the player just cleared waivers and this owner was able to add him again. He sent a message to the league thanking everyone after.

[PenguinHunter]

I think this is where you need an active commissioner to make the ruling.

But a 99% owner player and the message being sent shortly after the drop... I would say that it was truly an accident and that noone should make a move to add him.

However a commission who is active would be able to make an official ruling so that you are not caught up in trying to decide if you should or should not make the waiver move.

I feel like the fact that no one made a waiver claim shows good faith in all the managers in the league.

[Godin]

I would give him the benifit of the doubt....this time.

[Dennis]

If he posted about his mistake shortly after he made it I'd give him the benefit of the doubt that it was an accident and not make a claim.

Good on your league for no one pouncing on an honest mistake.

[lucafen4]

I would have added said player and traded for a mid-pick... kidding. Sounds like a sound league with good GM's you got there

[ericdaoust]

The league should have a rule in place for this situation. Either decide as a league that all drops are final or allow a certain leeway where the move can be reversed by the commissioner provided it is reported right away. After that you don't have to worry about whether or not it is ethical to submit a waiver claim.

[Moses]

I try to be extra careful and do my diligence when adding and dropping players. Borderline anal. That said, I dropped Erik Karlsson last season. Completely by accident. Fat thumbs on a small phone screen. It happens. We are human. I sent a message to the league right away and the player was returned and the correct drop was exectuted. That adventure left me thinking about it afterwards...

I think ericdaoust is correct when he says (look one post above), "The league should have a rule in place for this situation."

In my case, the commissioner simply added the player back to my team.

While that was the correct move for the Commish, I did not have to suffer any repercussions for my mistake, and that, I thought afterward, wasn't quite right. It was me who made the mistake. It was someone else (everyone in the league) who had to see my emails about how I muffed up and it was the Commish who had to stop what ever it was he was doing and fix my team on the back end. I should have been punished.

Now when I say punished I do not mean 'a pound of flesh'. I mean more of a trivial or ceremonial punishment. Like a punishment that says "Don't be an idiot!". In my league's case, with 3 transactions allowed per week, to add Karlsson back should have cost me one of those transactions (or the 1st one of next week - anyways, one transaction). Other leagues, for example, could cost you $1, or a one point deduction, merciless teasing or.....etc. Something, anything - to drive home the point that you cannot simply use the Commish's powers to reverse your cock-ups as your own safety net.

TL;DR - Mistakes are made. Fix them if they are honest and reported immediately. Have a rule in writing. Make sure the offending GM has to "pay a price" to have someone else go out of their way to reverse 'their' error.

[MZac]

Commish needs to just step in and right the wrong. Don't allow someone to make the waiver claim, it could ruin the league.

[hockeyrobot]

Yep this checks all the boxes of something that is an accident and can be corrected easily.

[pmorrow]

I had this happen one time in a playoff league; owner dropped a player by accident. It was obvious they were telling the truth as there was really no explanation why they would do this on purpose as a knowledgeable member of the league. The move was undone and nobody had a complaint.

But there could be times where its not so obviously a mistake. I agree with the others and think all leagues should establish a rule ahead of time so that nobody gets mad - that if a player is dropped by accident the manager has a certain amount of time to contact the commissioner to explain what happened to rectify the situation. The complaint should be made before any waiver claim can be processed; I also think they should be forced to bench the player they added. I don't know what you would do if the manager did it more than once though - if it happens a second time do you give them the same benefit of the doubt? Tough call - I think maybe you get 2 a season or something. There is a small concern that some may use this as a couple free reversals for any reason, but hopefully most get the spirit of the rule.

[ericdaoust]

This is a lot different than another situation I witnessed a few months back when "Player A" was dropped accidentally. The 48-hour waiver period expired with "Player A" going to a new team and if I remember correctly "Player B" was traded to make room for "Player A". Then the accidental drop claim was made which is clearly too late because this would result in multiple transactions being undone.

[Grapes]

TL;DR - Mistakes are made. Fix them if they are honest and reported immediately. Have a rule in writing. Make sure the offending GM has to "pay a price" to have someone else go out of their way to reverse 'their' error.[/QUOTE]


I’m the Commish in our league and will be adding a rule to cover this situation. Great idea.
I did the no glasses drop of Tarasenko instead of Teravainen. Immediately sent the league email and reversed the drop.
I also like the “pay the price”.

[hockeymanG23]

Totally fair to have it turn out like that since the GM quickly acknowledged that it was an error.

[blayze]

If someone accidentally drops a $20 bill from their pocket in public, and everyone sees him drop it... do you pick it up and keep it or do you return it to him?

[hockeymanG23]

If someone accidentally drops a $20 bill from their pocket in public, and everyone sees him drop it... do you pick it up and keep it or do you return it to him?

Thats a good way to phrase it, if you're associates with that person the question becomes even more relevant.