Tyler White FAAB issue

[Ken]

An owner in one of my leagues "won" Tyler White, Astros RP this week in our AL only 12 team CBS league. Obviously he was trying to get Tyler White, Astros 1B.

Historically we've said if you bid on the wrong player, sorry.

But this one is unique. You see, to my knowledge, there is no Tyler White, RP Astros.

It looks like CBS merged a retired minor league player named Tyler White who used to play for the Tigers, with Tyler White, the Astros 1B. Such that they show 2 available players named Tyler White who play for the Astros -- despite the fact that only one exists.

I've never seen a situation like this where a mistake was made due to an error on the hosting site.

How would you handle?

[Ken]

Of note, CBS has the real Tyler White's picture on their page for the non-existant RP.

So the owner likely saw the picture and bid FAAB money on him.

https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/players/2228718/tyler-white/

[Redbirds Fan]

If those are all of the relevant facts, I would award him the player, since he could not have been legally bidding upon anyone other than the Astros 1B Tyler White. If he didn't know the difference and was trying to buy a pitcher, it might be a different matter, but you said it was "obvious" he was trying to buy a hitter. (I would be curious to learn what facts made it obvious. Did he have a hole to fill, or was there some specific circumstance?)

[Ken]

If those are all of the relevant facts, I would award him the player, since he could not have been legally bidding upon anyone other than the Astros 1B Tyler White. If he didn't know the difference and was trying to buy a pitcher, it might be a different matter, but you said it was "obvious" he was trying to buy a hitter. (I would be curious to learn what facts made it obvious. Did he have a hole to fill, or was there some specific circumstance?)

This is your old league!

"Legally" he could have been bidding on any non-NL owned played.

"Obviously" may have been the wrong word for me to use. I don't think it's reasonable for me to guess that he was actually trying to bid on the single A pitcher from Detroit that retired after 2012 which CBS incorrectly showed as now being an Astro and displays the picture of the 1B Tyler White on his player page.

Just out of coincidence, this was Byron, one of the RotoJunkie creators who made the bid. He's graciously agreed to just lose the player to avoid others in the league objecting to reversing it (Byron is commissioner of this league).

[cool hand]

100% give him the player. Obviously.

[Gregg]

100% give him the player.

Still a game that is supposed to fun.

[Redbirds Fan]

This is your old league!

"Legally" he could have been bidding on any non-NL owned played.

"Obviously" may have been the wrong word for me to use. I don't think it's reasonable for me to guess that he was actually trying to bid on the single A pitcher from Detroit that retired after 2012 which CBS incorrectly showed as now being an Astro and displays the picture of the 1B Tyler White on his player page.

Just out of coincidence, this was Byron, one of the RotoJunkie creators who made the bid. He's graciously agreed to just lose the player to avoid others in the league objecting to reversing it (Byron is commissioner of this league).

Ahh, the Magnolia Alternate Reality Baseball League (MARBLe). I was going through some old 3.5" floppy discs the other day, looking for an old document, and ran across the original league Constitution from 1995.

I agree with your use of "obviously" in that context. My conclusion that he could have been legally bidding only upon the Houston 1B is now supported by the fact that MARBLe historically deferred to the stat service on whether someone was available for FAAB purposes, except in cases of obvious error.

As a former commish, though, I can certainly understand why Byron would opt to lose the player rather than create a possible ruckus. Sometimes you take a hit for the league.

But, hey, this has given me an idea...I could just resolve fantasy baseball league disputes for a small fee...sort of a 'roto-adjudicator', if you will. I can't believe nobody has thought of this before!

(slight, good-natured )

[Kevin Seitzer]

Tyler White the Astros 1B also threw an inning in relief for the Astros on July 30 in a 13-1 blowout loss. So Tyler White Astros RP and Tyler White Astros 1B are the same person.

[Sour Masher]

This is your old league!

"Legally" he could have been bidding on any non-NL owned played.

"Obviously" may have been the wrong word for me to use. I don't think it's reasonable for me to guess that he was actually trying to bid on the single A pitcher from Detroit that retired after 2012 which CBS incorrectly showed as now being an Astro and displays the picture of the 1B Tyler White on his player page.

Just out of coincidence, this was Byron, one of the RotoJunkie creators who made the bid. He's graciously agreed to just lose the player to avoid others in the league objecting to reversing it (Byron is commissioner of this league).

I'd try to get him to keep the player. I'm all for rules and fairness, but anyone who would challenge him on this particular issue is probably someone I wouldn't want to play this game with. The fact that Mike chimed in to point out it is actually the same player just solidifies what everyone else has said--he should get the guy. Really, anyone challenging it given the facts is just outing themselves as a jerk.

[Ken]

Update --- due to Seitzer's post here we convinced Byron to go ahead and correct the move and put the correct Tyler White on his team. Thanks guys, this was the right resolution!