1) We will have an auction with each owner having a salary cap of $260 to fill all 23 positions on his team. The positons will be as follows == Two Catchers, One 1B, One 2B, One 3B, One SS, One CI, One MI, One UT, Five OF, Nine Pitchers. == The scoring stat catagories will be a 5 X 5 using Batting Average, Home Runs, RBI's, Steals and Runs Scored. The pitching catagories are Wins, Saves, ERA, Ratio, Strikeouts. == Each Owner will also Draft one player that will be on his Minor League Roster. The salary of this player will be $10 and when activated during the season will not cost a move. These players will be Drafted before we start the regular Auction in the reverse order of last years standings.
2) We will retain players from one season to the next. An Owner may keep a maximum of 11 players. Topper Players are not counted in this total and may not be kept.
3) We have daily transactions with the deadline of 30 minutes before the first game that day. An unlimited number of substitutions
may be made for injuries each week, but the substitutions
for poor performance will be limited to twelve moves
total during the season. -- Note that a player who is
replacing a DL or Minor player are Linked to each other.
If one is traded, both are traded. If the Active Linked
Player is replaced due to an Injury or sent to the Minors,
he must be dropped from your team (unless a move is used
to keep him) and the replacement becomes Linked to the
same DL player. When the DL player is ready to be activated,
the replacement player MUST be dropped. There is not a
choice of dropping the DL player or the Replacement Player.
You do have the option of keeping the Replacement Player
and dropping another player at the cost of a Move. In this case the Replacement
Player would become a Topper for next season and receive a $10 salary.
== Note that a player can be activated from the Fantasy DL, while still on the NL DL, but cannot be put back
on the Fantasy DL, without the Owner winning a Bid or
picking up the same player previously dropped (not a Move).
==If a player is on the DL, activated and immediately sent to the Minors, the Owner
has the option of changing active links.
== A player that is dropped by an Owner, may not be picked
up as a DL/ML Replacement by that same Owner for 24 hours.
== Players MAY BE picked up from the National League Injury List and put on a
Fantasy Owners Injury List by starting a Bid. In this case, there would be no linking of players due to the Owner using a Move. Any player may be dropped when the DL Player is activated, assuming the position requirements
were met. -- If a trade is made such as a 2 for 1, both Owners
will be charged a Move when they drop or add the additional
player to even out their roster.
== If a player is "Designated for Assignment", the Owner has the option of putting him on the ML List or dropping the player. The option of dropping the player is eliminated as soon as the player is assigned to a ML team. If the Owner chooses to drop the player, a free move can be used to pickup another player who will become a Topper and receive a salary of $5 or the salary of the dropped player, whichever is lower.
4) All Players picked up in mid-season will be done so
through Bidding and may be kept for next season (see link on Reports Page for procedure on FAAB Bids).
The exception to this are DL/ML replacements. These are picked up
"First Claim, First Get". If the player is
replacing a DL/ML, this replacement will be Linked to the original
player and receive the salary of the player he is
replacing. When the orignal player returns to the Active Roster, the Linked Player
may be kept as a Topper Player with a salary of $10 (using a Move) or must
be dropped.
== A Player obtained in a Bid to replace a Linked Player will NOT BE Linked to the DL/ML player due to a Move being used. When the DL/ML is ready to be activated, he may
replace any player (meeting position requirements) without using a Move.
==If an Owner uses a Move to keep a DL/ML replacement player as a Topper and
decides to drop another linked player, both the active link and the DL/ML linked player must be dropped.
== If a Mid-Season Bid is started by an Owner and the player is put on the NL DL/ML before the bid is completed, the winner of the bid can put that player on his appropriate list (DL/ML) and no link will be attached.
== Any new player entering the NL may only be picked up by a Bid until the second calendar day at 8 PM after he enters the league (approximately 48 hours). After 8 PM, the player may be claimed for a DL/ML replacement. -- If an owner attempts to pickup a player newly entered into the NL, as a DL/ML replacement that has not satisfied the two calendar day wait, that owner may not pickup the player for an additional 24 hours. For our purposes, a player "new to the league" will be defined as having no NL stats for the current year.
== A transaction may not be protested later than 48 hours after the time it is either approved or denied by the commissioner.
== If an owner should win more bids than he has moves remaining, he shall not be credited with winning any of the bids and would lose any remaining moves he might have.
== Any player won in a bid before July 1, will be in his first contract year. Any player won on July 1 or after will get a zero for his contract year and the following season will be the first contract year.
5) A Player won in the Auction will have that salary for the first two seasons of his contract. The salary will increase $5 the third season. All seasons starting with the fourth will have a $10 salary increase for each year. Note that a Topper player won in the Auction will be on his first year regardless of who owned the player the previous season.
6) Each Fantasy Team will have an In-Season Salary Cap of $290. At no time during the season may the Team Salary exceed this amount. The Team Salary on Auction Day will still remain at $260. If an Owner wins a bid and his Team Salary exceeds $290, the bid shall be VOID with the move counting. The player dropped will be added back to the team at the same salary and contract status.
7) Change Due to CBS Stats -- If a player on your team shows on one of our four Official Websites transactions page -- MLB.com, Sports.ESPN.go.com, Rototimes.com and CBS.com -- as going on the DL or being sent to the Minors (also being activated from those lists), but does not show on the CBS Site, you may post on the Message Board that you wish to make the specified move. If the player is eligible for pickup by our rules, the Commish will make your move. The time of your message will determine when the player starts getting stats.
8) A player coming to the NL in a trade can be bid on by any owner. The owner losing a player to the AL in a trade will be allowed a free move to pickup a replacement. The player picked up will receive the salary of the player lost or $5, whichever is lower. The player will be a Topper player.
9) If when activating a DL/ML player, position requirements can not be met due to the DL/ML player having a different position than the active link and it is impossible to switch players positions to meet the requirements, the following options are available. == A) Use a move to keep both the link and the DL player and drop a third player. == B) Use a move to keep the link and drop the DL player. == C) If the Owner has no moves remaining, he must drop the active link, the DL/ML player will remain inactive and his team will remain at 22 players until a trade can be worked out so position requirements can be met. At that time, the DL player may be activated to bring his team up to 23 players again.
10) The League will have "Trading Periods". The first period is from the end of the Auction through August 31 at 11 PM. The next Period begins January 1 and ends on a "floating date" in March which is two days before we turn in our Keeper Lists. The January period can have trades that do not have postions according to the in-season rules and your roster does not have to stay at 23 players. Trades may not be made other than during these two periods.
11) Players are eligible for any position in which they played 20 games in the last season or one game this season. If a player did not play 20 games at any position last season, he is eligible for the position in which he played the most games. == When a player is picked up in mid-season who has not played in the Majors before, his position can be the one he played in the Minors.
12) Any player that has not played in the Majors, may be used at a position he has played during Spring Training. Once the season starts, he must play at that position by April 15 or he is no longer eligible.
13) Each team will have an Injury List and a Minor List (this will also apply to players that are suspended) for inactive players. When a player is put on this list he can be replaced on your team and you still retain the rights to the inactive player. When the player is active again, he MUST be activated by the Fantasy Team by the Second Monday 8 PM deadline after the player is activated by his NL team (If a player is activated on a Monday, this counts as the First Monday). The Owner does have the choice of dropping the DL/ML Player and keeping the Replacement Player by using a move. In this case the Replacement Player would become a Topper Player and receive a $10 salary. == If a player remains on the Fantasy Injury/Minor List after that time, EITHER the Inactive Player or Active Link is subject to being claimed by another Fantasy Owner through a Bid immediately when two reporting periods have passed or through a Message Board claim as a DL/ML Replacement 48 hours after the two reporting periods pass. In order to start a bid on a DL/ML player, post a Message requesting the player be dropped from his team and the FAAB be started. If the DL/ML player is claimed, the Active Replacement Link would automatically remain on the team as a Topper Player and receive the salary of the replacement player or $5, whichever is less. If the Active Replacement Link is claimed, the DL/ML player is automatically activated. If neither the DL/ML player or Active Replacement Link is claimed by another Owner, no action will be taken to automatically drop either player from the team. == A player who is on the active NL roster may not have a replacement player picked up for him.
14) Each team must pitch a minimum of 1000 innings or they do receive zero points in all pitching catagories. The minimum at bats is 4250 or that team will receive zero points in all hitting catagories.
15) After the Fantasy Season has started (after Auction Day), if any Rule Change is voted on, it must receive YES votes from at least 75% of the league in order to become a new rule.
16) If any player should be released from his NL team, the Fantasy Owner will retain rights to that player as long as the player is on the Active Roster of the Fantasy Team. Dropping the player and getting a replacement will be a free move and the new player will be a Topper and get a salary of that dropped player or $5, whichever is lower.
17) If a player is on the Fantasy Active Roster and is sent to the Minors to work on fundamentals, the Fantasy Owner retains rights to this player until he comes back to the Majors by putting him on the Minor List. When the player is back in the Majors, the Owner MUST activate him by the second Monday Deadline and drop his Replacement Player. The Replacement Player may be retained and the player returning may be dropped, but this would cost a Move. The Replacement Player would receive a salary of $10 and become a Topper Player. == When a Player is sent to the Minors, there is no option to drop the player. He must be put on the Minor List and Linked to his replacement. There is no maximum of Players on the Minor List.
18) A Mid-Season Bid may not be started on any players after September 15 at 8 PM. Due to this, the two day wait to claim recently activated ML players as replacements for other players will be waived at this time.
19) If a player is activated from the DL/ML List, and the Owner wishes his link to be retained at the cost of a move and also a player goes on the the DL/ML in one transaction, no link is attached to the player on the DL/ML due to a move being used in the transaction.
20) If AFTER turning in your Keeper List and BEFORE Auction Day, a player on the List is lost to the AL, you have the option of adding another player from your Winter Roster to the List. If an Owner happens to put on his Keeper List a player who is in the AL or one that is not playing this season, that player may be dropped from the Keeper List, but no other player added as a replacement.
21) At the end of the season, each Owner must Activate or Drop the Linked Players on his DL List and Minor List, so that only 23 active players are on his Winter Roster, plus one Drafted Minor Leaguer (if there is still one on your team) on your Inactive List. These players must conform to the specified positions. An Owner may also use Moves (if any remain) to Activate DL or Minor List players and drop players not Linked to them. == When trading players during the Winter, trades may be made without regard to position (i.e. you may trade two pitchers for two hitters), uneven trades (2 for 1) may be made and your roster does not have to be at 23 players. If an Owner fails to turn in his Winter Roster after the Season, It will be assumed that there is no interest for the following year and a search will begin for a new Owner. == A Keeper List of the players that are being retained for the upcoming season must be turned on a date specified about 7 days before our Auction.
22) Any Owner who has not participated in our league in a previous season, may not vote on rule changes. He may have voting privileges on everything else that does not involve league rules.
23) If an Owner is going to be out of town and unable to make transactions on his players, he may state in a message the time period he will be away and this freezes his roster. The Owner will have until 8 PM on the day after his return date to make all moves. If an Owner chooses to use this rule, no transactions may be posted by him during the dates indicated. If he chooses to prematurely end the roster freeze by stating this and making a transaction, this will be allowed, but the freeze may not be started again.
24) A player selected in the Auction must be on a NL team Active Roster or Injury List.
25) Replacements for DL players selected at the Auction start getting stats at the next stat period after the Auction. This rule is only pertinent if we have our Auction after opening day.
26) During September, injured players are often not put on the NL DL due to roster expansion. For our purposes, a player may qualify for the DL during September, if he has an injury and has missed six consecutive games. He may then have a replacement as in a normal DL transaction. Also if one of our sites list the player as "Out for the Season", but not on the DL, he may be replaced immediately. There is no limit on these type of special DL transactions and they may not be claimed from the DL by other owners.
27) Computer use during the Auction is permitted, provided the software only serves database functions and does not function as a management program which recalculates standings and values as the Auction proceeds. This would give the user an unfair calculation advantage. John Benson's software is an example, but others of the same type are also covered by this rule. == During the Auction, in order to create consistancy, money checks may only be done at the end of a complete cycle of bids, i.e. between the last owner and the first owner in our bidding cycle.
28) The tie-breaking procedure for the standings are as follows: A) The tied teams are ranked in each catagory as in the normal standings (In a three-way tie, the top team gets 3 points - second, 2 points and last, 1 point). The points are totaled for each catagory and the most points gets the higher place in the standings. B) If a tie still exists after the first tie-breaker, the tied teams will take their total innings pitched and multiply by three. To this number they will add the total at bats. The higher of this composite number will determine the higher place in the standings.
29) Our Fantasy League Champion will be determined by Regular Season stats as put out by the National League.