League Layout and Overview
12 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 21-week regular season and a 5-week, 5-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 ([email protected])
Prize league with a league fee of $125 per season per team
No league transaction fees
Owners/Teams
There shall be a maximum of 12 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.
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)
3 SP’s
2 RP’s
4 Pitchers
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. Teams are not allowed to start players that have the status of minor leagues, except upon approval by the league commissioner.
Each team must have their lineups set 5 minutes prior to the players 1st game of the week.
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. For Starting/Relief Pitchers the setting is 5 Games Appeared the Previous Year or 3 Games Appeared the Current Year.
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. Starting pitcher and relief pitcher designations are determined by the CBS Sportsline site and are not changed. Eligibility is 10 starts in either this year or the previous year or 10 relief appearances in either this year or the previous year.
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 12 teams are placed in three 4-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 21-weeks of the MLB season, including the short week 1 and a shortened All-Star week. 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
Team with the Worst Draft Slot
Playoffs
At the conclusion of the regular season, the three division winners will automatically be seeded and advance to the playoffs. The next two best teams based on Winning % regardless of division will play a 1 week playoff to determine the #4 seed. This will occur during Week 22, after that he playoffs are a four team tournament where each matchup is a two-week matchup between the teams. In the case of a tie in the matchup after two weeks, the team with the higher seed wins the tie-breaker. The playoff tournament is as follows:
#1 vs #4
#2 vs #3
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. For suspended games if the game is not resumed in the same fantasy week, then the resumed game stats will not be counted.
Trades
Trades may be made at any time from the conclusion of the draft until July 30th. 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.
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:
Starting on the 1st period of the week teams submit waiver claims for waivers based on the current waiver wire order (the reverse of the draft order). The waiver process runs nightly at around 2 AM (CBS Sportsline). 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 pickups, with all teams below moving up 1 spot. All players are on waivers for a term of one-day and always must go through the waiver process.
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.
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 12 team random number draw. After the first year, the teams that drafted in the top 6 in the previous year will draw for the bottom 6 picks in the next year and the bottom 6 in the previous year will draw for the top 6 picks in the next year. This will ensure that every other year each franchise will have a chance at a top 6 pick. After the draft order draw the commissioner will place the odd numbered draft picks in one division and the even numbered draft picks in the other division.
League Schedule of Events
League Draft held prior to the upcoming baseball season (March/April)
WCBB League season (April-September)
League Fees/Prizes
The cost of the WCBB season is $125 per team. This must be paid to the commissioner one week prior to the league draft. $200 and odd dollars are allotted to the league software and for Paypal fees, etc.
The league prizes will be paid out as follows:
#1 seed: $100
#2 seed: $100
#3 seed: $100
#4 seed: $75
League Champion: $500
League Runner-Up: $300
3rd Place Winner: $125
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 off-season.