In addition to the traditional waiver wire rules, all teams will now have a FAAB or Free Agent Acquisition Budget.
As we’ve done every year, each manager may add up to three free-agent players per week off of the waiver wire. If two managers both wanted to pick up the same player, then the manager with the higher waiver wire order would get the player. These same rules apply for 2020.
In addition to the above rules, each team will start the season with $100 FAAB. FAAB works like a silent auction. If a team is willing to bid FAAB dollars to acquire a player, they skip over the waiver wire order and enter the auction. The team with the highest FAAB bid acquires the player.
FAAB Rules:
- Bids are blind, so other managers can’t see what your bid is.
- Your bid can range from $0 to the remainder of your budget.
- The highest bid at the end of the waiver period wins the player.
- The winning bid is removed from that manager’s budget.
- Ties are broken by Continual Rolling List waiver priority.
FAAB Notes:
- FAAB is completely separate from auction dollars.
- Leftover auction dollars do not become FAAB.
- If you keep a player for the following year acquired with FAAB dollars the minimum price is $5 (like all other players). However, if the FAAB price paid exceeds $5 then the keeper price is the FAAB paid, even if the player is traded to another manager.
Example 1: Classic example
Manager A, who has the #1 waiver wire spot, adds free agent David Peralta.
Manager B, who has the #8 waiver wire spot, also adds free agent David Peralta. Manager A bids $0 FAAB. Manager B bids $1 FAAB.
The result, Manager B will acquire David Peralta at the cost of $1FAAB.
Example 2: Tie
Manager A, who has the #1 waiver wire spot, adds free agent David Peralta.
Manager B, who has the #8 waiver wire spot, also adds free agent David Peralta. Manager A bids $1 FAAB. Manager B bids $1 FAAB.
The result, Manager A will acquire David Peralta at the cost of $1 FAAB because they are higher in the waiver wire order.
Example 3: Large Bid
Manager A, who has the #1 waiver wire spot, adds free agent David Peralta.
Manager B, who has the #8 waiver wire spot, also adds free agent David Peralta. Manager A bids $20 FAAB. Manager B bids $1 FAAB.
The result, Manager A will acquire David Peralta at the cost of $20 FAAB.
David Peralta can be kept the following year at $20.