Fantasy 101 - What is FAAB? How does it differ from Waiver Wire Priority?
On a weekly basis, a critical part of being successful in fantasy leagues is finding the right players off of the waiver wire. Knowing who to add, and when to add them can set your team apart from the others in your league. Each week, there is an established waiver wire period in which it is a free for all to grab the players who are not on a fantasy team yet, and add them to yours to make an impact in future weeks. There are 2 approaches to handling the waiver wire in fantasy leagues:
WAIVER WIRE PRIORITY
Waiver Wire Priority is an approach in which there is an established order that the waiver wire selections on determined. Each member in the fantasy league has a position in the priority list, and that is initially determined by the order in which the draft was set. For example, if you have 12 members in your fantasy league, the 1st pick in that league becomes the 12th pick in the waiver wire priority list during week 1 (2nd pick is the 11th waiver wire selection, 3rd pick is the 10th waiver wire selection, and so on).
During the established waiver wire period, each team puts a "claim" on a player in the waiver wire. Once the waiver wire period is over, the member of the league that had the highest claim priority receives that player. So if 2 members put a claim in on the same player, the member with the highest priority receives that claim. Now, since the member used his priority to receive a player, they then go to the back of the priority list, and all other members move up one spot for next weeks waiver wire. This process continues all season long.
Within the league settings, the league can determine the frequency in which the waiver wire priority is changes. They can either have the priority order change each week (as mentioned above), or, they can keep the waiver wire locked all season based on the draft order. This means that if you have the 1sr pick in the draft, you will receive the last waiver wire priority all season.
WHAT IS FAAB?
FAAB stands for Free Agent Acquisition Budget. This allows each member of the league to put a bid on the waiver wire players each win. The winning bid is the one that receives the player on their roster. Each team has an established amount of ""dollars" (fake money) to spend for the entire season on players. Once you have spent all of your money, you will no longer be able to put bids in above $0 on a player for the rest of the season.
The FAAB system does have a flavor of the Waiver Wire Priority engrained within the system. If a member of the league decides that they want a player on the waiver wire, but decides they do not want to put any money up for them, they can always be a zero dollar bid in. If multiple people take this approach on the same available player, then the waiver wire priority kicks in (this also is used to break the tie if 2 members put the same amount of money up for the same player). If you put up money for a waiver wire player, and you lose the bid, you will receive all of your money back, and it if not deducted from your total.