SGSFBL Constitution
I. League Layout and Overview
14 team fantasy baseball league based on actual
MLB games (not a simulation league)
Serpentine Draft style with contracts and a
keeper system (see below)
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)
22 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
Attendance at the reserve draft one week later
Required to turn in a list of contract years to
the commissioner once a year prior to opening
day
Required to pay league fees on or before January
15th of each year for the upcoming season
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)
4 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 30 minutes
prior to the first game of the week (Monday) of
each week.
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
Total Bases + Walks
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
playoffs would be finished for the season. Once
the playoffs are set, only playoff teams are
allowed to make waiver wire moves for the
remainder of the year. 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. Contract Cap
Each team has a contract cap of 45 contract
years to use however they choose. The minimum
contract year on any player is 1 year. Players
on Injured Reserve don't count against a teams
contract cap. Teams may at no time cut a player
with a contract value more than 1 year. Players
with 1 year contracts can be waived at any time.
A team may at no time go over the contract cap
of 45 years. No trades made that violate the cap
will be approved. All players without contracts
(free agents) have an automatic 1 year contract
value. Contracts may never be added to players.
IX. Trades
Trades may be made at any time from the
conclusion of the draft until July 31.
Teams are not allowed to make any trades
involving future considerations, players to be
named later, etc. Teams can trade future draft
picks up to 1 year into the future. These draft
pick trades will be noted by the commissioner.
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 2006 season, the trade committee will
include Brian Kreklau, John Lindley, and Travis
Dennee, with alternates Brad North and Scott
Koehler (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 1
contract year. Once the playoffs teams are set,
only playoff teams are allowed to make waiver
wire moves through the end of the season. August
31st of each season is the roster freeze. All
players on teams rosters as of Midnight, Eastern
time on August 31st are frozen for use after the
season. Waivers can continue after this time,
but at the conclusion of the season the
commissioner will place rosters back to this
state.
There is no offseason waivers allowed.
XI. Regular Draft and Reserve Draft
A major league player draft in the form of a
serpentine draft 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.
The 1st year of the league we will hold a
serpentine 22 round draft. At a later date prior
to opening day, the league will hold a 6 player
reserve draft. Both draft orders will be drawn
for seperately from a random online dice drawn.
This draw will occur well in advance of the
draft and allow teams to trade draft picks.
The draft will be held online and each team will
have a 60 second time limit to draft their
player. If they don't make the pick within 60
seconds the next team in the draft order is up
and the team that missed has to wait for that
team to draft and then has another 60 second
window to make their pick.
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. Amateur
players are not eligible.
During the draft and reserve draft, a team is
not required to fill the active roster spots as
specified in Section III. A team can draft any
number of players at any position, so long as
they do not exceed the total number of 22
players during the draft, 6 players during the
reserve draft.
After Year 1, the draft will be a straight draft
for the 1st 6 rounds and then a serpentine draft
for the remaining rounds. Teams that have
players under contract on their roster forfeit
draft picks from the regular draft starting in
Round 22 and going up. Teams may not waive 1
year contract players in the offseason to pickup
extra draft picks. The draft order after Year 1
will be determined by the reverse order of the 8
non-playoff teams from the prior season (through
Week 19), followed by the reverse order of the 6
playoff teams based on their playoff standings.
After Round 6 of the regular draft, the draft
will start in a serpentine manner until it is
completed. Some teams may have more or fewer
picks in the regular draft based on how many
players they have under contract and if they
have made any draft pick trades. At then end of
the regular draft of each season, all teams will
have 22 players on their team. After Year 1 the
reserve draft will be a 6 team straight draft
that is based completely on the same draft order
described above.
XII. Keeper System
At the conclusion of the reserve draft and up to
MLB Opening Day each team must submit to the
commissioner via email, how it would like to
allocate contract years for it's newly acquired
players. Any player that has a contract value,
cannot have their contracts adjusted. Each team
has a contract cap limit of 45 years. Team don't
have to use all 45 years, but that is the cap.
XIII. League Schedule of Events
League Regular Draft/Reserve Draft held prior to
the upcoming baseball season (March)
SGSFBL season (April-September)
SGSFBL Trade Deadline, Midnight Eastern on July
31st.
End of the MLB Regular Season, All player
contracts rolled back one year by the
commissioner.
After player contracts are rolled back, trading
resumes.
XIV. League Fees/Prizes
The cost of the SGSFBL season is $125 per team. This must be paid to
the commissioner on or before January 15th. $100+
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 Brian Kreklau
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 January-February, each
franchise will be given the chance to suggest up
to 3 new amendments. Then at the end of
February, 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 10 out of 14 teams. These changes will then
be incorporated into the constitution. This
would then conclude the policy changes for the
year.
|
