Roster Lock Rules - Opinions Needed!

[Dude]

Just wanted to get a feel for this from some other froobs since I feel like I'm getting shafted:

I'm in three fantasy leagues this year, two that use ESPN and one on Yahoo.

Last night at the last minute I got an alert that Robert Woods was going to be out- I had him starting in one of my ESPN leagues and the Yahoo league. I was busy with some things but I immediately benched Woods to open up the lineup spot and figured I'd find someone in the MNF game tonight to insert so I didn't lose the points.

I had Mattison in my Yahoo league, and it allowed me to drop him and pick up Demarcus Robinson so I'm set there. However, the ESPN app locks bench players even if they're not in your starting lineup so I'm fkd. I reached out to the commissioner on this and he basically told me I'm out of luck, which is pissing me off.

I could understand it if I was trying to drop somebody that was in my starting lineup, or if Yahoo had the same rules. To me, it seems arbitrary.

Thoughts?

[RubeTube]

Just wanted to get a feel for this from some other froobs since I feel like I'm getting shafted:

I'm in three fantasy leagues this year, two that use ESPN and one on Yahoo.

Last night at the last minute I got an alert that Robert Woods was going to be out- I had him starting in one of my ESPN leagues and the Yahoo league. I was busy with some things but I immediately benched Woods to open up the lineup spot and figured I'd find someone in the MNF game tonight to insert so I didn't lose the points.

I had Mattison in my Yahoo league, and it allowed me to drop him and pick up Demarcus Robinson so I'm set there. However, the ESPN app locks bench players even if they're not in your starting lineup so I'm fkd. I reached out to the commissioner on this and he basically told me I'm out of luck, which is pissing me off.

I could understand it if I was trying to drop somebody that was in my starting lineup, or if Yahoo had the same rules. To me, it seems arbitrary.

Thoughts?

So let me understand....

You benched Woods and his game started and then you wanted to drop him off your roster while the game was being played or had already been played?

If that's what you are saying, is it the first time you have played fantasy? Once your players game has started for that week, he's locked on your roster until everything reups for the next week. It's always been like that.

[Dude]

Nope. I was trying to drop Alex Mattison (who had already played) for a guy who played Monday night.

You say "it's always been like that" but you're wrong. Yahoo only locks starting lineups. You can drop players from your roster even if they've already played as long as they're not starting. They don't have a setting that removes that option.

[minnemike]

Once a guys team has played they are locked until the waiver period opens. At least that's how it's been in all leagues I've seen.

[B-Town]

IMO, in season, the rules are the rules. The best thing each owner can do is familiarize beforehand. Of course, you won't catch everything and this seems like an oddball scenario. Tough break, really.

I don't really fault your Commish for not bending the rule. I've run a lot of leagues, and from my experience, changing a rule mid season usually makes 1 owner really happy and irks the rest. If I have to choose between having 1 pissed off owner or 9, I'm choosing 1 every time.

The good news here is that you were forced to keep Mattison. It may be a blessing in disguise.

[Oriole81]

Nope. I was trying to drop Alex Mattison (who had already played) for a guy who played Monday night.

You say "it's always been like that" but you're wrong. Yahoo only locks starting lineups. You can drop players from your roster even if they've already played as long as they're not starting. They don't have a setting that removes that option.

oh yeah, that is true in many Yahoo leagues and I have loved to exploit that. I would purposely have one bench spot on my roster that I would burn through every round of games, grabbing IMO the best available backup RB, so I already have them in the event that the starer goes down in that game. If the starter doesn't get hurt, I drop that backup and try again the next round of games. You can even go to the extreme of doing this same thing with your kicker spot to give you an even extra roster spot to play with during the week, and then just grab the best available FA kicker on either the Sun or Mon night game. There's almost always one that is a good streaming candidate.
It's a great hack, especially if you have the time.

And I've been just as successful in leagues that don't have this or that have transactional limitations, so it's just about knowing your rules and knowing the best way to give yourself an advantage.