Our entire fantasy baseball league is threatening to quit because I vetoed a trade.
By @remywelp · Sports
I'm the commissioner of a long-running, $100 buy-in league. I vetoed an obviously lopsided trade I believe was collusion, and now the two guys involved are trying to turn the whole league against me.
The full story
I've been running this 12-team fantasy baseball league with my friends from college for almost a decade. It's a serious league—we all put in $100, so there's a decent pot at the end. I've always tried to be a fair commissioner, but now I'm being painted as some kind of dictator. Here's the trade I vetoed: the guy in first place was getting a top-5 player (a real MVP candidate) from the guy in last place. In return, the last-place team was getting two injured players who might not even play again this season and a low-level prospect who is still in the minors. It was a league-breaking trade, plain and simple. The guy in last is totally out of it, and he's basically just handing his best player to his buddy who's already in first. I sent a message to the group chat explaining that the trade was being vetoed on the grounds of suspected collusion and undermining the integrity of the league. All hell broke loose. The two guys involved started spamming the chat, saying I'm on a power trip. They claim the last-place manager is 'rebuilding for next year' (our league doesn't even have keepers, so that makes no sense) and that I have no right to tell them how to manage their teams. Now they've somehow convinced half the league that I'm the bad guy. People are saying I'm taking it too seriously and that I should 'let the managers manage.' A few guys who I know agree with me are staying silent, probably because they don't want the drama. The two guys who made the trade are now saying if the veto isn't reversed, they're quitting and demanding their money back. A few others have said they'll quit in solidarity. The whole league is about to implode because I tried to stop one blatantly unfair move. Am I supposed to just let them cheat to keep the peace?
How people voted
- Facts — 24% (10 votes)
- Depends — 45% (19 votes)
- No Way — 31% (13 votes)
Readers say “Depends” (45%) — 42 votes and 4 comments so far.
What people are saying
@edieyy — A man's handshake used to mean something in fantasy leagues.
@vincehm — The problem isn't the trade, it's that you're trying to enforce rules on a social group that has already decided it doesn't care about them.
@zanekay — Is there anything in your league's rules about the commissioner's veto power?
@brynnsorta — can't wait for the documentary on this.
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