Another newbie question

[Poker in the Rear]

Hey guys when free agency kickoff can you put in the first bid at the starting point of $425,000 or do you have to go $450,000 right out of the gates? I'm sure that's what MJD is gonna go for right?

[bonesman]

Ha... MJD went for like 10 mill last year when there was concerns about the knee. He could be this years 12 or 13 million dollar man, easy.

But yea, when you bring a guy up it'll be 425k until someone raises it.

[Poker in the Rear]

I can only hope so!

Thanks Bones!

[bonscott]

However you can actually bid say 10 million right out of the gate but it will show up as 425K until someone raises it. It's called a proxy bid. So you'll keep the highest bid no matter what until someone goes over your proxy. So say you open up MJD at 10 mil even. Say I bid 9 mil you'll actually have the highest bid at 9 mil. If nobody else bids you'll win him for 9 mil. But say the Wabbits bid 10.5 mil then they will have the high bid at 10.5.

Hope that makes sense. If you're not familiar with proxy auction bidding then check the MFL help file.

In fact here is an FAQ on it:

How does Proxy Bidding work?
Answer: Enable this option to allow for proxy (eBay) style bidding for all of your preseason auction bids on the Setup > General Auction Setup screen. The default option of "No" means that bids will be treated the same way they were before the introduction of this option. Here's a detailed example of how proxy bidding works. Let's assume your league is set up (on theSetup > General Auction Setup page) with the following parameters:
Minimum Opening Bid: $1.00

Minimum Bid Raise: $0.25

Let's assume that Franchise 1 opens bidding on Player A, and the initial bid is $5.00. The system will "remember" the maximum bid of $5.00, and report the initial bid on this player equal to the "Minimum Opening Bid" of $1.00. Then, Franchise 2 submits a bid of $2.00 on Player A. The system recognizes that Franchise 1 was willing to pay up to $5.00 for Player A, so immediately after Franchise 2 submits his $2.00 bid, the system notifies him that he has been outbid, and then considers the high bid on Player A to be $2.00. Then, Franchise 2 submits a bid of $5.00 on Player A. The system recognizes that this bid amount is equal to the maximum bid made by Franchise 1, so the system then considers Franchise 2 to be immediately out-bid (earlier bids always beat later bids of the same amount), but the system then considers the current bid amount for Player A to be $5.00 (the maximum amount that Franchise 1 was willing to bid). In other words, this "proxy" bidding configuration allows a franchise owner to bid only as much as he needs to on any given player, and no more.

[Poker in the Rear]

Awesome, thanks. Yeah, while I've been with MFL for several years now, I've never actually done the online auction so it will be a learning experience.

[Wascawy Wabbits]

Can't say that I've got the luxury to spend $10.5m on anyone this offseason with the number of roster spots I have to fill... But I'll be more than happy to see everyone else spending $10m and up on the elite talent currently available

[bonscott]

Any other newbie questions or concerns about the auction draft? Better to ask what you think may be an obvious question now then after 100 players are on auction by Friday morning.

Biggest things I can think of:
1) Know about the proxy style bidding and how it works.
2) Auction on each player will end 36 hours after the last bid that went over someone elses proxy has come in.
3) After you win an auction you have 24 hours to post on the message board what contract length you want or else the player will be at the default of 1.
4) We have no roster limits now in the off-season so you can have say 30 players on your team if you want, but the salary and contract caps still apply.
5) Only rookies can go on the Taxi Squad.
6) Auction runs until 1 week before the first NFL game after which no new players can be brought up but any players that are up for bid have that week to finish up.
7) Also keep in mind what salary cap space you have left going into the season is your budget for in-season free agent pickups via blind bidding or FCFS.

NOTE for Rookies: You must have enough salary cap space to sign your rookies from the rookie draft in May so keep that in mind when filling your team in the auction. You can of course trade or drop players if needed to get enough space for the rookies and remember if they are on the TS their salary only counts 50% toward your cap but if promoted to the active roster will count the full 100%.

Ask away with any other questions!

[Wascawy Wabbits]

Sounds pretty straight forward.

For me, being new to MFL, it's mainly about getting accustomed to the UI more than anything... But I'm sure after loading the page at 9am on Thursday I'll get a quick enough idea on what to do

[Poker in the Rear]

I can't get out of my head Europes, "It's the final countdown"

[Poker in the Rear]

and yes, it is driving me crazy

[bonesman]

For me, being new to MFL, it's mainly about getting accustomed to the UI more than anything

That reminds me of an issue I have ever single year

I'll accidentally bring up guys I have no intention of bidding on because I'll scroll through who's left at a position at the bottom of the page... then decide to browse who's already been brought up instead... then I'll raise the bid on someone... and someone on the freeagent list (usually with a last name beginning in W or Z) who I have never heard of will have been bid on by me as well. Happens 3 or 4 times every year.

I'm gonna make sure to refresh before making bids to prevent it this year though.

[Wascawy Wabbits]

I really hope it's more user friendly than "My Watch List"... That's absolutely AWFUL to try and use and organize the players you selected.

[Poker in the Rear]

I'm assuming even when using proxy bidding when you are outbid and receive the notification you have the opportunity to place a higher bid(as long as within the 36 hours), right?

[braven112]

I'm assuming even when using proxy bidding when you are outbid and receive the notification you have the opportunity to place a higher bid(as long as within the 36 hours), right?

Yes, if you get outbid the timer will reset. So you'll have another 36 hours to place a bid.

[bonscott]

And that's a reminder to make sure in your franchise contact information to have the various draft notifications on so you'll get an email. Also I believe there are mobile apps for drafting too.