I. League Layout and Overview

14 team fantasy baseball league based on actual MLB games (not a simulation league)
Straight draft, 29 rounds with a serpentine format
Re-Draft league, no keepers
Head-to-head style with a 19-week regular season and a 5-week, 6-team playoff based on 12 categories (6 hitter, 6 pitcher)
23 active players, 6 reserve spots, and 3 injured reserve spots
Weekly lineups (Monday-Sunday)
Internet-based, using CBS Sportsline
Commissioner is Brian Kreklau (brian@smartguysports.com)
Prize league with a league fee of $125 per season per team
No league transaction fees

II. Owners/Teams

There shall be a maximum of 14 teams in the league. Teams may have multiple owners, but for the purposes of voting on league issues, each franchise is considered equal to all other franchises.  Each owner is required to meet the basic guidelines of ownership in this league:

Attendance at the online league draft in the spring
Required to pay league fees on or before one month prior to the draft
Required to adhere to the rules of the league
Required to participate in all league-wide constitutional amendment votes
Required to maintain a team and keep up-to-date with a starting lineup

Failure to comply with the above basic guidelines of ownership will result in possible expulsion from the league.

III. Rosters

Each team's active roster consists of the following players:

2 catchers
1 second baseman
1 shortstop
1 middle infielder (either second baseman or shortstop)
1 first baseman
1 third baseman
1 corner infielder (either first or third baseman)
5 outfielders
1 DH (any hitter, regardless of position)
9 pitchers (who may be either starters, relievers or both)

All teams will have 6 bench spots and 3 injured reserve spots. To be eligible to be placed on injured reserve, the player must have achieved the status of being on one of MLB's injured lists. Once the player is removed from the MLB injured list, he must be activated from injured reserve before the following week.  This is enforced through the CBS Sportsline site.

Each team must have their lineups set one hour prior to the 1st game of the week (Monday).

IV. Position Eligibility

A player may be assigned to any position at which he appeared at least 10 times in the major leagues in the preceding season.  If a player did not appear in 10 games at any position, he may be drafted only at the position at which he appeared most frequently.  A player becomes eligible for an additional position once he appears in the major leagues at that position at least 10 times.

MLB players that only qualify as a DH can only be put in the DH spot, no other.

If a player did not appear the prior season in the majors, he qualifies at the position he played most frequently the prior season in any league(s) he played in. If a player sat out the previous year for any reason, his eligibility will be determined by the last season in which he played professional baseball in the United States.  This is enforced through the CBS Sportsline site.

V. Standings

The following statistical categories will be used to determine team performance and league standings:

Hitting
Batting Average
Home Runs
RBI's
Runs Scored
Stolen Bases
OPS

Pitching
WHIP ((Walks plus hits) divided by innings pitched)
ERA
Wins
Saves
Strikeouts
Innings pitched

All 14 teams are placed in two 7-team divisions.  Teams will play a weekly head-to-head schedule to be determined before the season by the commissioner.  The regular season schedule will span the first 19-weeks of the MLB season, not including the week of the All-Star game.  The week of the All-Star game will be omitted.  Each team will play each intra-division team twice and each inter-division team once.  Each category that a team wins will count as 1 victory, each category a team loses will count as 1 loss.  Each category a team ties will count as a tie.

The standings for each team will be determined by winning %.  The formula to determine winning % shall be [wins + (.5 * ties)] divided by (wins + loses + ties).

Ties: If there is a tie in the standings for two teams the following formula will be used:

Head to Head record with opponent
Record over the last 4 weeks
Post-All Star Break record

VI. Playoffs

At the conclusion of the regular season, the two division winners and the following four teams with the best record, regardless of division, would advance to the 5-week playoff round.  Each playoff team would face the others once.  At the conclusion of the 5-week playoff round, the teams with the best records during the round would be determined champion, 2nd place, and 3rd place.  The final standings will be determined using the same basis as the regular season standings.  The playoff seeding schedule is posted with the regular season schedule by the commissioner.

The final week of the MLB season would also be omitted.

VII. Statistics

All statistics determined by the league software (CBS Sportsline) are final unless a dispute is brought to the attention of the commissioner and an adjustment is made.

VIII. Trades

Trades may be made at any time from the conclusion of the draft until July 31.  Teams are not allowed to make trades involving future considerations, players-to-be-named later, auction dollars, or draft picks.

Trades must be approved by the commissioner prior to approval and his say is final.

IX. Free Agency

Beginning with the first transaction period following the conclusion of the draft, through the end of the season, free agents in the free agent pool may be signed, without limit, in the following manner:

Teams can sign players on a first come, first serve basis unless a player has just recently been released. In that case the league has a 24 hour waiver wire window, based on the reverse order of the draft and changing throughout the season. Once a team picks up a player from the waiver wire, they will be placed at the bottom of the order for any future waiver wire pick ups, with all teams below moving up 1 spot.

Free Agency continues all the way through the regular season and into the playoffs. Once the playoffs begin only playoff teams are allowed to make roster moves.

X. Draft

Each spring prior to the draft, the commissioner will draw random numbers to determine the draft order.  In the first year of the league this will be a complete 14 team random number draw.  After the first year, the teams that drafted in the top 7 in the previous year will draw for the bottom 7 picks in the next year and the bottom 7 in the previous year will draw for the top 7 picks in the next year.  This will ensure that every other year each franchise will have a chance at a top 7 pick.

XI. League Schedule of Events

League Draft held prior to the upcoming baseball season (March/April)
WCBB League season (April-September)

XII. League Fees/Prizes

The cost of the Wild Card Baseball League is $125 per team. This must be paid to the commissioner one month prior to the season. $200 and odd dollars are allotted to the league software and for Paypal fees, etc.

The league prizes will be paid out as follows:

League Champion (Team with the best record during the playoff round): $575
League 2nd Place (Team with the 2nd best record during the playoff round): $300
League 3rd Place (Team with the 3rd best record during the playoff round): $125
Division Champions (Teams with the best regular season record in each division): $125
Wild Card Teams (4 non-division winning teams with the best record during the regular season, regardless of division): $75

XIII. Responsibility and Governance

The commissioner is empowered to interpret the rules.

All illegal player moves made by a league member will be nullified. For an illegal draft pick, the player will be immediately released back into the free agent pool. For an illegal roster move, the transaction will be nullified and any affected statistics will be recalculated back to the date of the offense.

Approval for participation in the Wild Card Baseball League will be determined by the commissioner. Three recorded complaints received by the commissioner against any participant, for rule violations or behavior not in the best interest of the league, will be grounds for termination from the league either immediately or at the conclusion of the season. No fees reimbursement will be required for expulsion from the league.

Any issues not covered by this constitution will be determined by the commissioner in the best interests of the league, until a suitable amendment can be ratified by the league in the offseason.