2015 RULES: Free Agency (Anonymous Bidding)

[clu]

Has it ever been discussed to not show pending bids on the players at all? So you wouldn't know if a FA has any bids at all let alone the amounts. This would definitely decrease the veteran minimum type deals but I'm not sure what issues that could cause.

[Knighty Knight]

Just moved back to the US from Africa. This year won't have to make draft selections using my nokia phone tethered to my computer at 3 am.

[RebelFan]

having a GM attach his name to a bid would alleviate a lot of the concerns people have regarding last minute or other actions that some GM's don't like.

I disagree with this Larry. I place last minute bids all the time and I don't give a hoot in hell if anybody knows it or calls me out for it. We only get 5 bids per 24 hours, sometimes in the early going, I'll be using those bids again just as soon as the 24 hours expires. I hate it for those GMs who have their fragile hopes & expectations crushed by a last minute re-up of their bid, but that's how the system works. And within that framework they have the right to rebid as soon as they have a bid available. Each league has 32 different GMs from all kinds of different time zones, hell, we've got one guy in Africa I believe, so not everyone is going to be working within the same schedule. The 5 bids & 24 hour clock is a brilliant solution that makes it fair for anyone, no matter what their schedule.
The reason anonymous bidding was implemented and the reason it has been so popular is because it eliminated the ability for one GM to mess with another GM by driving up the prices. Division rivalries, payback for bidding on each other players, personal vendettas, keeping rivals from signing guys cheaply. These are all moot points and things of the past now because with anonymous bidding you can't tell who the hell is bidding on who.
It was a great and needed change and I'm glad that it has received widespread support.

Yet it still happens all the time, so it would be best to put a name to that bid so everybody can see the people who wait till last second to bid even if they don't really want the player they are doing it for one reason only and that is to drive up that bid.

I gotta disagree with ya there Onyx. Yes last minute bids happen, but the personal nature of the way it was in the past are eliminated because you don't really know who you're bidding up. Like I and other GMs have noted, we only get 5 bids per 24 hours, and lots of times I'm rebidding as soon as a new one comes open, and obviously the priority of who to place that bid on has got to be the player signing soonest (that I'm targeting). It's not to drive up the price (not my intentions in my case anyway), but out of necessity. I may have 30 soft targets as FA gets going, and I'm usually not in a great position cap-wise with my teams, so using my bids wisely and discreetly is not something I'm going to be ashamed of whether people know it's me or not.

[Onyxgem]

having a GM attach his name to a bid would alleviate a lot of the concerns people have regarding last minute or other actions that some GM's don't like.

I disagree with this Larry. I place last minute bids all the time and I don't give a hoot in hell if anybody knows it or calls me out for it. We only get 5 bids per 24 hours, sometimes in the early going, I'll be using those bids again just as soon as the 24 hours expires. I hate it for those GMs who have their fragile hopes & expectations crushed by a last minute re-up of their bid, but that's how the system works. And within that framework they have the right to rebid as soon as they have a bid available. Each league has 32 different GMs from all kinds of different time zones, hell, we've got one guy in Africa I believe, so not everyone is going to be working within the same schedule. The 5 bids & 24 hour clock is a brilliant solution that makes it fair for anyone, no matter what their schedule.
The reason anonymous bidding was implemented and the reason it has been so popular is because it eliminated the ability for one GM to mess with another GM by driving up the prices. Division rivalries, payback for bidding on each other players, personal vendettas, keeping rivals from signing guys cheaply. These are all moot points and things of the past now because with anonymous bidding you can't tell who the hell is bidding on who.
It was a great and needed change and I'm glad that it has received widespread support.

Yet it still happens all the time, so it would be best to put a name to that bid so everybody can see the people who wait till last second to bid even if they don't really want the player they are doing it for one reason only and that is to drive up that bid.

I gotta disagree with ya there Onyx. Yes last minute bids happen, but the personal nature of the way it was in the past are eliminated because you don't really know who you're bidding up. Like I and other GMs have noted, we only get 5 bids per 24 hours, and lots of times I'm rebidding as soon as a new one comes open, and obviously the priority of who to place that bid on has got to be the player signing soonest (that I'm targeting). It's not to drive up the price (not my intentions in my case anyway), but out of necessity. I may have 30 soft targets as FA gets going, and I'm usually not in a great position cap-wise with my teams, so using my bids wisely and discreetly is not something I'm going to be ashamed of whether people know it's me or not.

It is really not that hard to look at your competition in your division or conference to tell what their needs are so even with 5 bids you can still guess which ones they are looking at and be right alot of the time. The last second bids 99% of the time are nothing more than to drive the price of the guy up.

[Ulrich82]

The last second bids 99% of the time are nothing more than to drive the price of the guy up.

I couldn't disagree more. I mean, sure, that's the point, but I never bid on a player unless I am willing to have him on my roster. I'll use last minute bids commonly though, either because I just freed that bid up to use again or because it is in my team's best interest to draw out the bidding on a player. Plus, if someone else counter's before I do, I can use my bid elsewhere knowing I'll still have a chance to bid on that player in the next 24 hour window if I still like the price. It's just part of the game.

Anonymous bidding has done a lot to clean up vendetta bidding, but nothing will make late bids go away. Having to attach my name to a bid won't change my behavior. I'll do what's best for my team.

[Onyxgem]

The last second bids 99% of the time are nothing more than to drive the price of the guy up.

I couldn't disagree more. I mean, sure, that's the point, but I never bid on a player unless I am willing to have him on my roster. I'll use last minute bids commonly though, either because I just freed that bid up to use again or because it is in my team's best interest to draw out the bidding on a player. Plus, if someone else counter's before I do, I can use my bid elsewhere knowing I'll still have a chance to bid on that player in the next 24 hour window if I still like the price. It's just part of the game.

Anonymous bidding has done a lot to clean up vendetta bidding, but nothing will make late bids go away. Having to attach my name to a bid won't change my behavior. I'll do what's best for my team.

Problem is alot of last second bids are not to sign the guy but to only DRIVE up the price, that much is fact and has been said as a fact by other gm's on this site many of times

[larry linke]

I don't know about the last minute bids. I just chalk it up to some people have nothing better to do than set an alarm to bid in the last 5 minutes on a player.

Larry
Minnesota AFFL

[jerrydlux]

I would agree some last second bids are to drive up a salary. It is cheap that someone could be had for a three year minimum deal. Not sure where the vote is at but I would think maybe limiting those to a one year deal would be better.

[jmondo]

I could be in the minority here... but seeing a bidders name attached might actually keep the bids LOWER than what you might expect...

It happens in our DMBO league all the time, we get to see who we are bidding against.. and if I have $4 Million under the cap, and I'm bidding with one of those crazy teams that have 50 Million under the cap...

I'm not wasting another bid on that guy, knowing that my chances of getting him are pretty slim.

Also I agree in the sense that the "Driving up the price at the last minute" isn't really accurate... You stand the risk of acquiring that player every time you make a bid.

So wasting a bid to "drive up the price", isn't good business. Because in theory, you are driving up the price on yourself for future players as well.

[Jared A]

Nope... I'll be the first to admit that I'd be happy to bid against some of my rivals.


Rebel has been running away with the NFC North the past few years... he doesn't need anymore GOOD deals. If I know who is bidding on them, I will ensure they don't get a "steal".