Houdini's Fantasy Baseball Break Club (#1 & #2) - April Break

[houdini]

I am charging too much for shipping because we are selling the base... so I will update the button later and refund everyone the difference that already paid. Sorry, I forgot to do this earlier.

[imnotded]

Paid, but only as long as group 2 gets the better case.

[Reid n Owen]

Paid up for April

[houdini]

Updated the payment and reduced the shipping to $2.50. New price is $95.50.

All payments were refunded $2.50.

Please pay before Monday if you haven't already.

Fantasy Baseball Club – April | Cheap Fun Breaks

OP Updated!

[meyer9977]

payment sent

[raidersfan1983]

traveling today, get in after midnight so ill try to get payment in tomorrow at some point when i can get away from the fam for a bit

[joserobles]

Who's on first...
Payment sent

[DizzyDSki]

Houdini - just throwing this out there, but is there anyway we could impose a weekly 2-3 transaction limit? That should be plenty of pickups EVERY week. I know it's an option in the Commish settings. My concern is that this turns into a league where people churn through all the starting pitchers on the waiver wire and will win week after week (Hint: generally speaking, that's all someone needs to do to win every single week, almost regardless of how that pitcher does). Yes, you can get negative points with runs/walks/losses, but the benefits of IP's, K's, wins will generally exceed this over time. This theory isn't perfect, but pretty close. :/ It takes a lot of fun out of managing a good team just to lose to a team working the scoring system. Yes, to an extent I know that's the point...but there's an excess to that, too.

Any thoughts before the season gets too far down the road? I fear people will start dropping left and right once this is realized...

[houdini]

I cannot set a weekly cap, but I can set a season cap. 1-100

I guess we should vote on it.

EDIT: I see the weekly cap now. 1-25

[DizzyDSki]

Originally Posted by houdini

I cannot set a weekly cap, but I can set a season cap. 1-100

I guess we should vote on it.

EDIT: I see the weekly cap now. 1-25

I don't want to stir the pot too much - maybe it's not a big deal to others - but maybe it wouldn't hurt to poll it?

[JohnnyBeGood]

So let me get this straight after the season has started we are going to vote now on a league issue? The penalty is already set so people pay for each transaction so if you want to win just like in MLB you spend money. Needless to say that changing the rules after the season starts is something that I will vote against. Payment sent! When are we going to pay for our transactions?

[houdini]

Originally Posted by JohnnyBeGood

So let me get this straight after the season has started we are going to vote now on a league issue? The penalty is already set so people pay for each transaction so if you want to win just like in MLB you spend money. Needless to say that changing the rules after the season starts is something that I will vote against. Payment sent! When are we going to pay for our transactions?

It might not be that big of a deal, but if you notice that the league is starting to show who is making daily changes and who is not.

I don't want people to start dropping out of the league left and right.

Will it be so transparent one the batters are getting 6 starts a week? IDK

[TheHeel]

Dizzy - I hear what you are saying however I prefer not to change settings because the season has started. I think the $1 per add/drop tax will deter the player pickups. If someone is on pace for 200+ transactions, that is fine with me. More money added to the pot at the end.

Next year (if Houdini decides to run this), we can tinker with the settings.

[DizzyDSki]

Originally Posted by houdini

It might not be that big of a deal, but if you notice that the league is starting to show who is making daily changes and who is not.

I don't want people to start dropping out of the league left and right.

Will it be so transparent one the batters are getting 6 starts a week? IDK

I guess we just play it out and see how it goes. Johnny - I wouldn't say it was a dramatic request to overhaul the rules or scoring system, just simply try to keep this a true Fantasy League with strategy and competitiveness instead of a waiver wire fight to load up on starting pitching every week. In any case, it was just a suggestion. Hopefully the "transaction tax" will help deter churning the SP's...while it could be expensive, someone could churn an extra 20 Starting Pitcher starts (just an example) from an average to below average SP and could in theory double their opponents weekly total.

Not to pick on Swivelhip, but he's going to crush everyone this week in League #1 with the 12 moves he's already made (i.e. picked up Lucas Harrell for a game, started him, dropped him for the next pitcher of the day). Again, not trying to pick on Swivel - he's playing to win and maximizing his results through the league rules - that's part of the game and we can all do it, I just think that takes all the fun out of it for everyone else, and we're all pitching in close to $100/month.

Guess we'll see how it plays out!

[Reid n Owen]

Dizzy is making alot of sense in my opinion, especially about the churning out of the starting pitching. I also see the point that the league has started and rules should not be changed after the fact. But in my opinion if a transaction limit is not implemented the league simply becomes a joke, especially when you are setting rosters daily. The owners that drafted based on talent and not with the intent of turning over their pitching staff weekly will become frustrated and teams will drop out, no doubt. The point of the league, I thought, was to be 90% fun, 10% work not the other way around. I think at a minimum put it to a vote.

[jpitten]

i think houdini picked a group of people that he knew wouldn't drop out. i'm fine with a vote but i think we should keep the rules the same.

[mrmike79]

I would still take one start from Verlander over 2 starts from Blake Beavan or Luiz Mendoza and have to pay $1 for the transaction. I think its fine the way it is.

Payment sent for April

[TheHeel]

Payment sent.....

[Reid n Owen]

Would you take one start from Verlander vs 7 Starts from bottom of rotation pitchers that were add/dropped each night for the same roster spot? even if each of those 7 guys pitched only 4 innings each start that's 28 points in innings alone from that roster spot before any K bonuses. (remember the league doesnt penalize for losses or walks, just a half point for earned runs). Just making a point, I'll play however you guys wish, I just hate doing it this way.

[Butchhig]

Payment sent

[DizzyDSki]

Originally Posted by mrmike79

I would still take one start from Verlander over 2 starts from Blake Beavan or Luiz Mendoza and have to pay $1 for the transaction. I think its fine the way it is.

Payment sent for April

Well, that's a little extreme!

And for the record, per Houdini's e-mail and the response I got from someone, I did not e-mail Houdini with "a complaint that he tricked everyone by not telling them they could do this" - or if that was me, my e-mail was taken WAY out of context! LOL!

And again...I'm not saying one way is right or wrong...and yes, rules have been set...and we can continue as is. But we're a league together, so we should be able to openly discuss this, right? I feel like posting this has been taken as attack and I was just hoping we could all be adults and discuss.

And yes, Houdini, we did discuss this LIVE before the league started...and yes, I know the rules are public...I guess I just didn't think the "loophole" would be used/abused. If anyone complains about the "churning of starting pitching" coming to light...yikes...that's kinda lame IMO. I know you setup both leagues on your own and are doing a great job - just throwing this out there as food for thought.

But it's funny, because in the original Break Club Discussion Thread, these are some of the comments:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Swivelhip:
I think Yahoo is the way to go. Free and easy. I think head-to-head with weekly lineups is probably the best way to go. Baseball is a long season and changing your lineup every day becomes a headache for some people. If they don't keep up with it it ends up ruining the league especially at the end.

...and he's current churning pitchers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reid n Owen:
I agree with weekly line ups. And hopefully head to head, although I'm down for either way. Also limiting transactions is key as I've been in leagues that had guys that add/dropped in excess of 150 times. A limit we use in the league i run is if you pick a guy up u gotta keep him on your roster for 2 games (meaning 2 weeks in head to head)unless he goes on the DL. Just a suggestion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JohnnyBeGood:Fantasy baseball is the best!!!! Count me in. Rotisserie is the best way for a complete season for serious people. Head to head is great because it will be much closer throughout the season. Yahoo is the best for baseball by far. As far as add/drops I think you should be able to do as many as you want unless its head to head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Quoting cwbennett, I have been running leagues for a few years i use Yahoo for all mine! I always put limits on moves for the season somehere around 45-50 just so in the playoffs guys aren't dropping pitchers daily to beat others in wins and strikeouts and i always have the settings where the top 6 teams makes the playoffs makes it real interesting. BTW i would be interested
gr33d - Capping transactions is a must come playoff time; I've seen add-drops ruin leagues.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I guess I'll hope for a good overall season record and maybe sneak out with a weekly prize if someone churning SP's takes a week vacation. ...or if you can't beat 'em, join 'em...look out waiver wire - here I come!!

[JohnnyBeGood]

First off, I had an auto-draft (at work) where I ranked my players but I obviously did not rank everyone so I ended with some less than desirable players at the bottom of my roster. This lead to me making several changes before the season even started. Counting those against me would be dumb since I could not make the draft due to work.

I did realize how scoring was done early in week one thus why I picked up Aaron Harang for tomorrow's start. Figuring out the scoring and how to make it work for you is part of the game. We are all a pretty active bunch if this board means anything, so you could easily drop a lesser pitcher for a starting one in the time it takes to make a post on here.

Now if the rules were set before the season I would be all for it but since its not, I do not believe change is needed. Besides we are doing this league for breaks which we would probably do anyway so I don't see what the issue really is. This is for fun and I think we got a great group of people that are almost always in Houdini's breaks anyway. This does not need to stress anyone out especially Houdini.

Bottom line I say we live and learn then make changes next year if needed. I would be for increasing the $0.50 to $1 as a compromise but I doubt it will change the moves. Like I said before, this is kind of like MLB because the people who spend more money with the tax are not always going to win but it gives them a better chance.

[DizzyDSki]

Originally Posted by JohnnyBeGood

First off, I had an auto-draft (at work) where I ranked my players but I obviously did not rank everyone so I ended with some less than desirable players at the bottom of my roster. This lead to me making several changes before the season even started. Counting those against me would be dumb since I could not make the draft due to work.

I did realize how scoring was done early in week one thus why I picked up Aaron Harang for tomorrow's start. Figuring out the scoring and how to make it work for you is part of the game. We are all a pretty active bunch if this board means anything, so you could easily drop a lesser pitcher for a starting one in the time it takes to make a post on here.

Now if the rules were set before the season I would be all for it but since its not, I do not believe change is needed. Besides we are doing this league for breaks which we would probably do anyway so I don't see what the issue really is. This is for fun and I think we got a great group of people that are almost always in Houdini's breaks anyway. This does not need to stress anyone out especially Houdini.

Bottom line I say we live and learn then make changes next year if needed. I would be for increasing the $0.50 to $1 as a compromise but I doubt it will change the moves. Like I said before, this is kind of like MLB because the people who spend more money with the tax are not always going to win but it gives them a better chance.

Agreed - nothing to stress about - maybe we look at it next year. If the majority aren't worried about it, then I'd think there wouldn't be a problem even with a wide cap - say 3-5 pickups a week (which could still allow for some churning)...but again, maybe next year. If I get in the playoffs, look out waiver wire! LOL

[jpitten]

Originally Posted by DizzyDSki

Agreed - nothing to stress about - maybe we look at it next year

[gr33d]

Originally Posted by DizzyDSki

Well, that's a little extreme!

And for the record, per Houdini's e-mail and the response I got from someone, I did not e-mail Houdini with "a complaint that he tricked everyone by not telling them they could do this" - or if that was me, my e-mail was taken WAY out of context! LOL!

And again...I'm not saying one way is right or wrong...and yes, rules have been set...and we can continue as is. But we're a league together, so we should be able to openly discuss this, right? I feel like posting this has been taken as attack and I was just hoping we could all be adults and discuss.

And yes, Houdini, we did discuss this LIVE before the league started...and yes, I know the rules are public...I guess I just didn't think the "loophole" would be used/abused. If anyone complains about the "churning of starting pitching" coming to light...yikes...that's kinda lame IMO. I know you setup both leagues on your own and are doing a great job - just throwing this out there as food for thought.

But it's funny, because in the original Break Club Discussion Thread, these are some of the comments:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Swivelhip:
I think Yahoo is the way to go. Free and easy. I think head-to-head with weekly lineups is probably the best way to go. Baseball is a long season and changing your lineup every day becomes a headache for some people. If they don't keep up with it it ends up ruining the league especially at the end.

...and he's current churning pitchers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reid n Owen:
I agree with weekly line ups. And hopefully head to head, although I'm down for either way. Also limiting transactions is key as I've been in leagues that had guys that add/dropped in excess of 150 times. A limit we use in the league i run is if you pick a guy up u gotta keep him on your roster for 2 games (meaning 2 weeks in head to head)unless he goes on the DL. Just a suggestion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JohnnyBeGood:Fantasy baseball is the best!!!! Count me in. Rotisserie is the best way for a complete season for serious people. Head to head is great because it will be much closer throughout the season. Yahoo is the best for baseball by far. As far as add/drops I think you should be able to do as many as you want unless its head to head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Quoting cwbennett, I have been running leagues for a few years i use Yahoo for all mine! I always put limits on moves for the season somehere around 45-50 just so in the playoffs guys aren't dropping pitchers daily to beat others in wins and strikeouts and i always have the settings where the top 6 teams makes the playoffs makes it real interesting. BTW i would be interested
gr33d - Capping transactions is a must come playoff time; I've seen add-drops ruin leagues.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I guess I'll hope for a good overall season record and maybe sneak out with a weekly prize if someone churning SP's takes a week vacation. ...or if you can't beat 'em, join 'em...look out waiver wire - here I come!!

Payment sent for April.

No other comments.