It's My Sports Fantasy

As simple as picking up and dropping players may be, there is always a little bit of an exception to the rule.  The part of fantasy transactions that has people slightly confused deals with the waiver wire, and how the whole process works.  Here is a little bit on how the waiver wire works.

Any time a player is dropped from a team’s roster, they are placed on waivers.  While the player is on waivers, any owner can try to claim the player.  The player is on waivers for as long as the league settings stipulate.  Generally it is around 2 days.

If a player is claimed by multiple owners, the owner who has the higher waiver priority has the rights to the player.  So if two owners try to claim a player off waivers, and one of them has a waiver priority of 5 and the other has a waiver priority of 10, the owner who has the waiver priority of 5 will have rights to pick up the player.

The waiver priority is based on the draft order initially.  The owner who has last pick in the draft order will start the season off 1st in waiver priority, and conversely, the owner who had the first pick in the draft, would have last priority.

The waiver priority list updates throughout the season, however, so team’s don’t always have higher priorities than other teams.  When a team adds a player off waivers to their roster, they are pushed back to the end of the waiver priority list.  So back to the above example; the player with the 5th priority ended up getting the player, so he would move down to last in waiver priority, and the person who had 6th would then be 5th, and whoever was 7th would now be 6th, and so on.  The list continuously updates throughout the season.

The waiver priority listing should be listed on your league’s webpage for you to view.  If you can’t find it, or don’t know what the priority listing is, you should contact your commissioner so you know where you stand.

If a player on waivers is never claimed during the waiver period, he is then just a normal free agent, and anybody can add him without having to wait.

If you are the owner who dropped the player initially, and you decided you want him again, you cannot add him back to your roster until the player clears waivers.  This means you cannot add the player until the mandatory waiver period has concluded.  If you decide that you do not want to waive the player, the transaction can be cancelled in certain leagues.

Waiver periods can be changed, and can even be removed, by the Commissioner.  If the waiver period is removed, when players are dropped, they are immediately placed on the free agent listing, and can be added immediately, without having to wait.

Being able to remain active in your league is a must for all fantasy owners if you want to succeed in your league.  Scouring the waiver wire, as it is known, is one of the best ways to keep your team competitive, and in contention throughout the season.  Knowing the basics of how the waiver wire works is important to all fantasy owners.

**NOTE**
The term “owner” and “team” was used interchangeably in the above guide; they refer to the same thing.