I. League Layout and Overview
14 team fantasy baseball league based on actual
MLB games (not a simulation league)
Auction draft
Keeper format
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 auction draft in
the spring
Required to turn in a 10-man roster list due one
week after the completion of the World Series,
and a final keeper list due one week before the
auction
Required to pay league fees on or before one
week 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.
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.
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.
All other teams that do not qualify for the
playoff round would play out the remaining
5-weeks amongst themselves. 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. Salary Cap
At the conclusion of the auction/draft, each
team will have a total salary of no more than
$266. At no time during the season shall a
team's roster (including DL players)
exceed the salary cap of $320. Any transaction
that will cause a team's salary to exceed the
salary cap will be rejected.
IX. Trades
Trades may be made at any time from the
conclusion of the draft until July 31.
Trades made after the league draft through July
1st are restricted to trades that have a $10
total salary difference. If a trade is
made that is beyond the $10 salary difference
during this time period the trade is put up for
a league vote for veto purposes. 5 veto
votes and the trade is vetoed. Owners have
24 hours to veto the trade. After July 1st
the following trade process is in place:
Teams are not allowed to make trades involving
future considerations, players-to-be-named
later, auction dollars, or draft picks.
All trades will need to go through a 24-hour
approval process before completion. Trades must
be approved by the commissioner to ensure that
teams do not exceed the salary cap. This
approval process has nothing to do with the
merit of the trade, just to make sure that teams
are within the cap.
All trades are also subject to review by the
"Trade Committee". The trade committee consists
of 3 league members, along with 2 alternates. If
a trade is made involving any of the trade
committee members, then the alternates step in.
If two of the three committee members feels that
a trade was made and should be brought under
investigation, then the trade is immediately put
on a 48 hour hold by the commissioner. This is
the trade "cooling off" period. The owners that
made the trade are asked by the commissioner to
review the league trade guidelines (below) and
asked to provide in email form their
justification for why the trade was made.
Committee members and the traders should be in
contact with each other to explain their
concerns. If either owner does not provide
his/her justification on the trade, the trade is
vetoed after 48 hours. If both owners provide
justification for why the trade was made and the
reasons the trade follows the guidelines, the 3
committee members will vote on whether the trade
will pass. 2 out of 3 votes are required for a
trade to pass. If a trade is vetoed, the owners
are able to re-submit a new trade with different
players and the same process will be followed.
If the "cooling off" period extends through the
deadline for lineup submissions, the players
involved will not be allowed to exchange teams
for the upcoming week, until the trade is
resolved.
The types of trades that will be looked at
unfavorably:
A trade that involves unloading several (more
than 3) high quality players for one keeper
prospect.
A trade that involves unloading several star
players for 1 keeper prospect and some marginal
starters.
A trade that involves unloading several star
players and 1 keeper prospect for several
marginal players and 1 keeper prospect.
A trade that involves unloading a star player
for a marginal keeper prospect.
The trade committee will determine, based on
their years of experience and knowledge of the
game, the level of players involved in each
trade. The committee's decision on trades is
final and cannot be overruled by the
commissioner. If a trade is vetoed, the
committee members will be required to email the
league and explain why they voted against the
trade.
For the 2009 season, the trade committee will
include Brad North, John Lindley, and Greg
Houston, with alternates Brian Kreklau and Dave
Meyer (in that order). Each offseason,
the league will conduct a vote whether or not to
elect new members to the trade committee and
alternates list. The only constant member is the
commissioner.
X. 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. Each
free agent picked up will be given a value of
$5. If a player is picked up that already had a
value assigned from the auction, then the
player's value will be the auction value.
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. On August 15th at Midnight
Eastern time there is a roster freeze of all
teams for the purposes of keepers for the
off-season. Once the playoffs are complete, the
commissioner will roll back all rosters to their
frozen, August 15th status for the purposes of
the 10 man cut-down list.
There is no free agency during the off-season.
XI. Auction and Reserve Draft
A major league player draft in the form of an
open auction is conducted on dates as near as
possible to Opening Day as is practical. These
dates will be set by the commissioner well in
advance.
Each team must acquire 23 players at a total
cost not to exceed 260 dollars. This list of 23
players includes the dollar values and slot of
the players that each team elects to keep for
the upcoming season.
There will be an auctioneer who will run the
proceedings. All decisions of the auctioneer are
final. The commissioner or a
commissioner-appointed person will serve as
auctioneer.
No team may make a bid for a player that it
cannot afford.
Players eligible to be drafted include any
player currently on the 40-man roster or in the
minor league system of a team within the league
being drafted who has not yet been demoted, cut
or designated for assignment. Players who were
kept by their previous team are not eligible.
Players who start the season on a major league
team's disabled list are eligible.
Immediately following the major league draft, a
reserve player draft shall be conducted. This
draft will be 6 rounds and will be the inverse
of the previous season's winning %. Drafting
will be conducted in a serpentine fashion. All
reserve players selected carry a contract value
of $1.
XII. Keeper System
One week after the World Series is completed,
each team will be required to turn in a 10-man
roster list. This list is NOT the final keeper
list, but a list of players that you want to
either work offseason trades with or possibly
keep.
One week before the auction, each team will turn
over its final keeper list to the commissioner.
Each team is able to keep from 0 to 6 players at
5 dollars over their previous season's dollar
value. You are not required to keep any players,
but you can only keep a maximum of 6 players.
The dollar values of your keeper players will be
deducted from your $260 auction payroll.
In the event of an owner leaving the league,
a new owner may make adjustment to either their
10-man cut down list or final keeper list,
depending on when they joined the league.
XIII. League Schedule of Events
League Auction/Reserve Draft held prior to the
upcoming baseball season (March)
EOBL League season (April-September)
10-man roster lists and league fees for upcoming
season turned in (November, one week after the
completion of the World Series)
Auction keeper final list turned in to the
commissioner (one week before auction)
XIV. League Fees/Prizes
The cost of the Wild Card Auction/Keeper league
season is $125 per team. This must be paid to
the commissioner in November with the 10-man
roster list. $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
XV. 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 Ed Ott
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. Every February, each franchise will
be given the chance to suggest up to 3 new
amendments. Then at the end of November, all of
the suggestions will be placed on one voting
form and the league will vote on them. Any
amendments must be ratified by a vote of 8 out
of 14 teams. These changes will then be
incorporated into the constitution. This would
then conclude the policy changes for the year.
This constitution was put into place by the
league members on November, 24, 2003.
League Constitution Amended on 10/3/9:
We will increase the number
of starting OF positions from (4) to (5). This
means that we will maintain a roster of 23
active players instead of 22. We will still
maintain 6 reserve players and up to 3 DL
players. The auction will require teams to
auction 23 instead of 22 players with no
increase in the auction dollar amount ($260).
No salary cap increase.
When looking at a team’s
roster all salaries including players on the DL
will be counted against the salary cap of $320.
Teams have an illegal roster and are not allowed
to make any transaction that would put them over
the salary cap. No increase in the salary cap.
From the time period after
the draft through July 1st, teams are
restricted in making trades. Teams can make
trades that are within $10 salary dollars
difference in the total trade without league
veto. This includes the entire trade. For
example, if Team A trades 3 players that add up
to $40 in salaries to Team B for 2 players that
add up to $32 in salaries, this trade would be
approved. Trades that are made beyond the $10
salary difference during this time period would
be put up for possible veto by the franchises in
the league. If a trade of this type is made,
the commissioner will inform the league of the
trade. Franchises will have 24 hours after the
commissioner notifies the league to veto the
trade. 5 veto votes and the trade is denied.
After July 1st, the league will use
it’s already documented trade process through
the trade deadline.
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