Often in these columns, I cite examples of situations gone wrong to illustrate my suggestions on how you may be able to avoid similar problems in your leagues by proactively addressing matters ahead of time.
Perhaps less sexy, but still worthy of attention and learning from, are those cases in which the system works as intended.
Such an example occurred recently in National League Tout Wars. In an –only league such as this one, any warm body, especially on offense, draws interest. Further, unlike in LABR, a prospect can be acquired in Tout even before his promotion to the Majors, leading to some interesting speculative bids.
In a small digression, be sure you check out the weekly Tout Wars bidding reports, posted on the league website, ToutWars.com. In a major change for 2018, they are posted late Sunday afternoons, hopefully giving you time to digest the free agent moves made by the Touts prior to your own league deadline.
Back to the story.
Fixing Farmer
Even with the wrist injury suffered by Justin Turner, the Dodgers still had an experienced replacement option at the hot corner, Logan Forsythe, as well as three backfills for Forsythe at second. That left Kyle Farmer to open the season as the rarely-used third catcher and reserve third baseman.
Matters changed, however, when Forsythe also went down with a shoulder injury. After a report out of Los Angeles suggested Farmer would see more action at third, his viability in NL Tout increased. Regular at-bats and catcher eligibility would serve as a double bonus.
However, there was a potential rub. The stat site used by Tout listed Farmer as a third baseman only. Likely that was based on his MLB games played last season: 3B (four games), C (three) and 1B (one).
One owner knew his league rules, however, and suspected Farmer’s posted position designation was not right for Tout. He not only realized the third base eligibility was incorrect based on the Tout constitution, he approached his league SWAT (Secretary of Waivers and Trades) in advance of the bidding deadline for a ruling – rather than hoping to unravel the potential mess later.
Importance of an impartial SWAT
Another digression – this one more important than last. Tout deploys SWATs for each league. They are experienced Tout warriors whose job it is to interpret the rules and keep the leagues running smoothly.
Here is the key – the SWAT does NOT play in the league he administers. This is huge.
For example, in this situation, the owner interested in Farmer may have been reluctant to bring the situation forward in advance had the league SWAT also been a fellow NL Tout competitor.
Had the owner instead let it go, likely there would have been chaos after the fact, potentially with other angry owners and incorrect bids to back out.
Instead, all of that unpleasantness was avoided. In fact, most of the participants in the league did not even know it happened.
The rule
Here is the Tout rule for draft day eligibility.
“If a player did not appear in 15 games at any position, or did not appear the prior season in the majors at all, he qualifies at the one position he played most frequently the prior season in any league(s) he played in combined.”
In 2017, Farmer played a majority of his games behind the plate. Therefore, he was catcher eligible on draft day. However, the 2018 season is already underway. Did that change matters?
Here is the other relevant clause from the Tout constitution (from which you should feel free to borrow text any time!).
“In addition to Draft Day eligibility, a player becomes eligible at all other positions at which he appears at least 5 times in the major leagues.”
At the time this was brought forward, Farmer had just three games played in 2018. The fact they were all at third base was not yet relevant.
Per the rules, Farmer would retain his catcher eligibility for 2018 based on last season and was just two games away from adding third base.
The SWAT made a change to Farmer’s listed eligibility on the website to catcher well before the waiver deadline and the owner who brought forward the issue won the bidding, which included two other owners.
Happy end of story?
Not quite. Knowing nothing gets by the other experienced Touts, I was not surprised to learn that another owner came forward post-bidding, questioning Farmer’s eligibility behind the plate.
Interestingly, that owner was not even among the trio who put in offers for Farmer. I guess you could label him a FAAB enforcer, whistleblower, watchdog or whatever.
However, it mattered not. Based on the research previously completed, that inquiry was quickly shut down and the winning bid for catcher Farmer stood.
So, all did end well. But, it shouldn’t stop there.
Address the root problem, not just the symptom
If I was running Tout, which I clearly do not, I would attempt to fix the core problem. We are still in April and there has already been at least one other situation in which a call-up’s position eligibility was out of sync. I would proactively contact the league’s stats provider to determine if they can re-align their eligibility designations with the published Tout rules.
Otherwise, this problem is sure to persist, with the risk that someone spends a lot of money to acquire a free agent who is actually not eligible at the position listed on the stat site and cannot fit on the new owner’s roster without another drop. That could lead to a big ugly mess for which no one would be at fault.
Before you say, “That is too bad. The bidder should have checked,” I get your point, but it is neither practical nor reasonable. I make offers on up to a dozen free agents each week. It is not too much to expect that the site on which I am bidding has accurate position designations for my league.
At least, take the extra time to check out what is possible. An ounce of prevention…
Key takeaways for your league(s)
- Deploy an independent league arbiter (SWAT) if at all possible. (The Tout rules also lay out the duties of the various roles, including SWAT.)
- Bring concerns forward in advance, if possible. Include all the relevant facts, cleanly and clearly, making it as easy as possible for the SWAT to rule in your favor. Don’t make the SWAT do your research for you, or you might not like the answer you receive. Finish the job by documenting any changes.
- And, last and most importantly, know your league rules. The owners who do have a clear advantage over the ones who don’t. Don’t be “that guy” – the annoying owner who peppers the SWAT with questions and objections about items that are clearly documented in the rules.
- OK, this one is really last. Keep your league constitution updated. That includes reflecting any new rulings or clarifications made along the way. Don’t depend on vague memories of “past precedence”. Write it down!
Do these straightforward things and your league will almost surely run more smoothly than ever before.
Brian Walton was the 2009 National League Tout Wars champion, scoring the most points in the league’s history. He also holds the all-time NL Tout single-season records for wins and saves. His work can also be found daily at TheCardinalNation.com. Follow Brian on Twitter.
