Perhaps it’s fate that today is the 4th of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom, not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution – but from trade veto.
TRADE VETO SYSTEM
The capability to veto trades was originally designed to prevent collusion. Collusion is defined as illegal or secret cooperation or conspiracy; especially to cheat or deceive others. The veto system allows owners to cast a vote if they feel a trade is unfair. If enough votes are cast against the trade, then it will be canceled. Let’s take a step back real quick. “If they FEEL it’s unfair”. See, that’s the thing, feelings are not facts. Feelings can be deceiving, and they don’t count for much when it comes to determining complicity.
Allowing owners to reject trades based on how they feel is a very slippery slope, which inevitably leads to one of the following unpleasant and unintended consequences.
WHY YOU SHOULD BAN THE VETO SYSTEM
Veto Abuse
This is certainly the main reason to eradicate the vile veto. Veto abuse is a rampant epidemic among leagues all across the globe. Especially in redraft leagues. If you’ve ever been a victim of veto abuse, please use the hashtag #NEVERVETO. If you haven’t stumbled upon this tactic, consider yourself lucky.
The issue here is owners who disagree with player evaluations can simply band together and vote your trade illegitimate. The gall! To impose their tyrannical evaluations on others like the monarch of assessment.
I’ve always been against the trade veto because then other owners possess the powers to affect a team by using a loophole. Owners are exploiting the privilege they’ve been entrusted with to prevent collusion and instead, using it to conspire against trades they deem “unfair”. Usually out of jealousy, as the trade makes opposing teams better. Now we see the veto system having the exact opposite effect it was intended to have. Instead, of serving teams, teams end up colluding with each other to prevent trades. Do you see the problem now?
We should all subscribe to team #NEVERVETO and banish this apathetic method of managing collusion.
No Delay
Veto abuse, although the most egregious, is not the only unfavorable characteristic of the trade veto system. A trade veto also causes transaction delays for even the fairest of trades. Consider it a Wednesday or a Saturday before game day. Your trade has been accepted, but now it’s required to go through the trade approval/veto process. Every league I’ve ever played in with an active veto system included at least a 48-hour review/voting period to allow all owners time to vote. There’s no way the trade will process in enough time to insert the player you traded for in your lineup. Owners could miss a huge opportunity if that player performs well. This unintentional consequence creates an unreasonable dynamic and disadvantage for any trades accepted at an inopportune time. If two teams agree on trade terms there should be little to no delay in processing time, which gets to my next point, independence.
Autonomy
Autonomy is the right to self-govern; the freedom to act independently.
Last time I checked, we are all of sound mind and body and have autonomy over our fantasy teams. Every owner has the right to make stupid decisions, decisions nobody agrees with, or even decisions that hurt their team now but may pay off in the future. While this also applies to redraft leagues, dynasty formats specifically require a heightened level of freedom and control over one’s team.
Collusion
The veto system was originally designed to obstruct collusion. Let’s be very clear, every one of us knows collusion when we see it. We don’t need a veto system to detect or prevent it. If two owners are colluding, the trade should be reversed, season played out, and the guilty parties should be booted from the league at end of the season, without question. That’s the appropriate way to prevent and handle collusion as a commissioner.
COMMISH APPROVAL REQUIRED?
If you play in free leagues then there’s no logical reason to implement a trade veto system or commissioner review. Once a trade has been accepted the transaction should instantly be finalized and players moved to their new teams.
For dynasty leagues specifically, the only scenario where commissioner approval should be required is in money leagues with trades involving future picks. This design aims to repel owners who enjoy selling a bunch of picks and ditching their team when they’re unhappy with the mess they made. This, in my opinion, is the only legitimate excuse for having any kind of commissioner trade review.
The above also applies to redraft leagues involving money. Considering an act of collusion in a redraft league derails the entire year and ruins the league for good. The commissioner needs to take a look at every trade to ensure nothing suspicious slips through the cracks.
Commissioner approvals should take no longer than 24-hours and, remember, we’re trying to limit delays while increasing autonomy.
Should we win the battle against trade vetoes, the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day when the world declared in one voice: “We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight!”
Today, we celebrate our Independence Day!
Thank you for reading. If you have any thoughts or would like to discuss, you can find me on Twitter @WillieBeamanDFF.
