Veto Warfare

Just about all of us has played in a fantasy league where every team has a vote to either allow or veto every trade that takes place. People have different thoughts as to what is necessary to allow a trade. Lets take a peak into the different types of thinking an owner might have as your trade is considered.

The first type is the “all trades need to be fair to both sides” person . This would be beneficial to both teams and in theory would not change the “balance of power” in the league. This option reminds me of those kids tee-ball leagues where there are no winners or losers and everyone just gets a participation trophy.

The second type is the “how will this affect me” person. This is an owner who will vote to veto any trade that either hurts their teams chances or if the proposed trade involves any player that they really wanted.

The third type has to do with standings I call it the “He’s in first place, I cant let him get better” person. This is happens when the first place team gets Mike Trout and the last place person gets Mike Carp. Trade gets vetoed. Conversely if the last place team gets Mike Trout and the first place team gets Mike Carp the trade gets allowed because it weakens the team in first place.

The fourth type is the “Troll” person. This owner will veto against every trade that is not their own. They hide behind a cloak of anonymity since no one can tell who casts which vote. This person is usually either very competitive or just loves to “stir the pot”. If you have a handful of people in your league that fall under the troll designation then trades may be VERY difficult to be processed in your league.

The Fifth type is the “to each their own” person. There is a reason this is called FANTASY. It is the prerogative of each owner to draft, buy or trade for the player that they love to watch. Baseball is a long season and if you watch all 162 games played by the San Diego Padres then maybe it makes it a little more fun if you have Wil Myers on your fantasy team. In your mind Paul Goldschmidt is on the hated Arizona team that torments the Padres on a regular basis. Seems like a no brainer you would unload a guy you hate for one you love. Only problem is the other owners don’t care. They veto because the trade is unfair to them.

The Sixth type is the “I only veto if there is collusion” person. This is the ideal thought I would want everyone to have but when everyone else in your league has there own agenda as to how this affects them then it is hard to stay the course.

These scenarios are the reason i believe only the commissioner should be allowed to approve or veto a trade. That being said all trades should be allowed to happen as long as collusion does not come into play. like “hey all trade you my best players for your worst”  or “I’ll give you Jake Arrieta if you pay for drinks tonight”

In my experience there has been times when i will negotiate with an owner back and fourth for weeks. Finally a trade is agreed on and a weight is lifted off your shoulders as you have in your eyes improved your team. 48 hours later sorry, the Trolls strike again.

If anyone has any other “types” i’d love to hear about them!








Leave a Reply


You are commenting using your account. Log Out /  Change )

Google photo


Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Connecting to %s