Post by Hawks GM (Connor) on Jun 30, 2023 14:24:00 GMT -5
As discussed in the GroupMe chat, our current RFA structure doesn't make a lot of sense -- I'm not really sure why it is blind bidding & I'm not sure why it is separate from UFA. I believe those rules were taken from another league and I figure after 5 seasons, it's about time we took a look at why we have them!
We certainly don't have to make any changes, but it would be worthwhile to see what everyone thinks considering the contracts being handed out in RFA would certainly be different if it wasn't blind & weeks before UFA.
The example I gave in the group was Nic Claxton & Lu Dort last offseason in RFA. They are both the same age, had similar production in 21-22, and very similar qualifying offers, yet Dort got a single bid (4 years @ $1.3M) while Claxton got seven bids (highest was 4 years @$14M).
Again, I'm sure we'd see very different result if the bids weren't blind (but maybe that's the fun of RFA!). While there are many pretty reasonable bids, the blind bidding process will randomly help some owners and hurt others.
I'll lay out a couple options below, please vote on what you'd like to do & leave any comments / concerns / suggestions. Here are my slightly biased pros/cons for each option, so any input on these would be very helpful in finding the right solution:
(1) No Changes
(2) Remove Blind Bidding, Separate from UFA
(3) Remove Blind Bidding, Merge w/ UFA
We certainly don't have to make any changes, but it would be worthwhile to see what everyone thinks considering the contracts being handed out in RFA would certainly be different if it wasn't blind & weeks before UFA.
The example I gave in the group was Nic Claxton & Lu Dort last offseason in RFA. They are both the same age, had similar production in 21-22, and very similar qualifying offers, yet Dort got a single bid (4 years @ $1.3M) while Claxton got seven bids (highest was 4 years @$14M).
Again, I'm sure we'd see very different result if the bids weren't blind (but maybe that's the fun of RFA!). While there are many pretty reasonable bids, the blind bidding process will randomly help some owners and hurt others.
I'll lay out a couple options below, please vote on what you'd like to do & leave any comments / concerns / suggestions. Here are my slightly biased pros/cons for each option, so any input on these would be very helpful in finding the right solution:
(1) No Changes
- same process as we currently have, RFA will take place before UFA & you will need to send all of your bids to the RFA proboards account
- as an RFA owner, essentially random whether you get a cheap / reasonable / expensive winning bid on your player
- as an RFA bidder, unknown if you are bidding way too much or way too little on the players you want
- last season we had 25 RFAs & (zero) of them were offered enough to where the RFA owner had to decline to match
(2) Remove Blind Bidding, Separate from UFA
- RFA will still take place before UFA, but it will be designed under the same public bidding system -- leading bids need to stand for 24 hours, everyone can see the bids
- as an RFA owner, more balanced prices across RFAs but potentially higher prices compared to UFA contracts
- as an RFA bidder, won't be blindly underpaying / overpaying for players but may need to pay more with all teams bidding on only RFAs (& not UFAs)
(3) Remove Blind Bidding, Merge w/ UFA
- bidding will be the same process as UFA & will take place simultaneously
- as an RFA owner, more balanced prices across RFA/UFA -- RFA prices become more reasonable with a bigger pool of FAs
- as an RFA bidder, won't blindly underpay / overpay for RFAs, but have more control over outbidding other teams on the players you want with a larger FA pool