It has been suggested to me that, in light of having one 5+ hour slog through both C and FA lists, we could have two separate auctions, either on Sat and Sun or on back-to-back weeks.
Personally I think I prefer getting it all out of the way rather than setting aside two days, but I'm certainly open to an alternative approach.
If we could split it over two days, about 2 hours each, that would be preferable. The one day for 5 hours is just too much, so either splitting over two days, or coming up with ideas to shorten the process for one day, would be great.
Unfortunately I can't think of a way to artificially cut the time down and a time cap doesn't work (unless it's like X hours for Day 1, finish on Day 2).
i think the only logical way to split it would be C on one day and FA on another. It might be nice to have some time to regroup in between, but I would prefer to get it all done in a weekend. There are pros and cons either way, but the CFA has become a grueling marathon in recent years.
I don't care whether we do one or two days, but I want to know the schedule well in advance.
The only way I see to shorten the auction without fundamentally altering how it works is by reducing the number of players available (e.g., guys who have less than 40 innings or less than 100 PA aren't available in the auction at all, they are treated the same way we treat "rookies"). But that's not something we can do at this point. If we were going to consider something like that, we'd want to start the conversation now in order to have something in place for next season.
I think a conversation worth having is limiting the number of players a team can put into the auction, thereby limiting the total number of players we bid on and thus shortening the time commitment. For Free Agents, perhaps again limiting the number of players a team can release and/or having released players go straight into the Waiver Draft, instead of being put into the bidding process of the FA Auction. There are just too many players in the auction pool.
It wasnt that long ago the IOD was done in person also, so if we split the c and fa auction we would really just be going back to two in person events.
I also have to say if you think about it 5 hours pales in comparison to the total amount of time spent on ARBA playing games.
Five hours is, true, just a small percentage of the total ARBA time commitment. But, a five hour block of time at a pre-described time is very different, too. Speaking for myself, I can usually find time in the mornings when the family is still sleeping to devote to ARBA and other similar pursuits; it is very different (and more challenging) to block out a large portion of a day at a time when others have demands on my time.
Proposal: let's split the C/FA auction for this year with the understanding it is a one year experiment, and see how we like it?
Second Proposal: since we have all become proficient at Zoom, do we think an auction where people can respond verbally would move quicker than the all-writing Slack version? Would it be too chaotic?
I'm certainly open to splitting the C and FA portions of the auction, either on Saturday/Sunday or even on the same day with a significant break in between. My time is more flexible than those with young kids, but I'm sympathetic to the concerns about such a long consecutive period dedicated to the auction. It gets pretty exhausting even for me. However, I'm strongly opposed to trying Zoom or any sort of video call. I think that would be doomed to extreme chaos and take more time, plus we would lose the valuable bidding documentation that we get with Slack.
I am hopeful there can be consensus around a one year experiment of splitting the auctions over separate days. My slight preference would be for a 1-week gap since it would allow for reflection and planning, but perhaps two different days on the same weekend works (I think doing both on same day, even with a large gap, defeats the purpose and may create late/early hours for folks in different time zones)?
As for Zoom, more of a suggestion than advocacy, but Tom raises good points. So in the words of Sideshow Bob, "cheerfully withdrawn."
I've been thinking about this for over two years now but didn't want to be the one to rock the boat.
We have come a long way since I joined this league when we sent out instructions written long hand and exchanged disks. The C and Fa auction was always a highlight of the year. Like Christmas when I was a kid. Back then it was manageable in a reasonable amount of time. With that said I feel now it's time for another change.
I have an idea that we should consider that I've been running through my mind and asking myself why this idea wouldn't work. So I would like to present this and get some reaction.
1) I propose we keep the C draft exactly the way it is. We meet and go through the group meeting on line like we have for several years if not decades. That will last 3 hours in these times and I only see that time frame going higher as more players are introduced to MLB. ( Roster sizes increasing, salaries going down, and suggested rule changes.)
2) That brings us to the FA part. The problem is that there so much down time that the interest fades fast. As interest is bidding and accepting bids or declining bids in the C part it's not as exciting in FA. Both parts have made this league the way it is. The best league that I have ever been involved in.
3) How can we fix this. Well I have an idea. I use this in another league I'm in and it works smooth. And is kinda fun. The Fa part of the draft we run through Strat Draft. Putting anywhere from 20 to 30 players a day on the draft site. We can set the draft site to take bids on these 2 players. The next day what ever number we decide we add those players. We do this everyday. If there is a player on the site that day and you want him you bid. Everyday strat draft up grades the site. We set a time limit on every player. For example lets say player A goes on the board. He doesn't get any bids in a 24 hour time limit the he is nobody's. But lets say player A gest 40 K bid and 2 hours later he gets another 20K. and the bidding goes on until there are no bids for playerA. High bider at that time gets him. And so on
3) As a manager you have to check the web site on Strat draft. You can set your autodraft feature to go upto so much for a player or bid manually. But you have 24 hours from your last bid to check.
4) The few players that run their value up, yeah it's might take a couple of days to get them through the system. But in a week we are done and you put in 15 minutes every 24 hour either on your computer or your phone.
5) The technology is there and we should use it. I don't want to go back mailing results and instructions!
6) How do we set this up. Not sure but am willing to get into this and help or do anyway I can to get to this stage.
7) Please ask questions if you have any. I can contact the other league I'm in to see how we set this up.
Sorry for rocking the boat but lets take another leap of faith in technology
i will always defer to the members of this league that have been here for a long time. That being said I truly believe we should split this draft into a c draft on one day and a FA draft another day. I would also do it on two separate weeks. I feel one reason to split it up, is because of time and losing interest as the night moves on. the reason I like the idea of doing it one week apart is so we can regroup and study up. yes we study up before the draft, but how many times do our plans get derailed and maybe we need to consider other FA players we wouldnt normally have thought of.
A little late to responding, but, I also prefer splitting it into two different dates. Last year's one day event went on WAY too long and I couldn't stick around for it for the whole day, because, well, I have a family that I have to particpate with lol.
I'm def all for splitting it into two dates.
As far as ZOOM etc., although a neat concept, I think there will be way too much technical hurdles to overcome just to get that many people together in one zoom meeting, and, probably for the person running the drafts, it is easier to see things written as opposed to hearing what was said....because when its written there is a record of it.
