Fantasy Baseball Rules for 2009
Preliminaries and Dates
1. The draft will be held on Friday,
March 20 at Perry’s house. The first pick is set for 7:30pm, and all free
agents must be resigned by 7pm. All
free agent that are not resigned by that time return to the draft pool.
2. Initial rosters will be due prior to opening day, but may be changed after being submitted prior to opening
day without penalty.
Rosters
You must turn in a 30 player roster consisting of the following position requirements.
For each of the following positions, choose two players; catchers, 1B, 2B, shortstops, 3B, and designated hitter
(who can play any position).
For each of the following positions, you need 6 players; outfielders, starting pitchers, and relief pitchers.
Your roster will consist of drafted and undrafted players. The drafted
players are exclusive to your roster, all other players that are not drafted by other teams will be called “free agents”
from here on.
The Draft
You may use your draft choices to do the following;
1. To draft a player. After the draft you will sign them for 1 to
5 years.
2. To resign or release players you already own:
a. 1 player may be resigned or waived for a 3rd round pick.
b. 2 players may be resigned or waived for a 1st or 2nd round pick.
3. To trade for players and/or picks in up to the next three drafts.
4. If you do not resign a player and that player is drafted in the first draft they are eligible for, the former
team will receive a fourth round pick, which may only be used to draft a player (i.e. not resign or waive a player).
Drafted Players
1. The players you draft are yours until
the contract expires, the player is traded, or the contract is terminated (by releasing a player). At any point prior to February 1 you may resign a player to an extension at the current season’s
value. You will in turn forfeit a draft choice in the following draft. After February 1 you may resign players, but it will be for next season’s cost.
2. If a drafted player is on the MLB disabled list, sent to the minor leagues or has retired, you may replace
him for the period of time he is off his team’s official roster for a substitute.
The replacement player must cost less than the player he replaces. In
the event you have a player suspended, you may use a free agent trade to replace a player who is suspended, up to the salary
of the drafted player. At the end of the suspension, your drafted player will
return to your roster.
3. If, at any point, you have a free agent replacing a drafted player
and want to make a transaction involving the replacement player, it will cost you a trade and is subject to the same rules
of replacing a drafted player.
“Free Agent” Players
1.
These players, who will make up the majority of your roster, are all on one year contracts, and
do not necessarily belong to only one owner at a time.
2.
You may add/drop your “Free Agents” at your discretion so long as you remain under
the salary cap at all times. You will
be allowed 6 of these trades before the 2009 all-star break and 6 after the all-star break.
3.
When moving an offensive player to his position or to DH it will cost you a transaction. If you move a free agent player to DH and replace them with a FA, it is essentially 2 moves, and will cost
you accordingly. However, if at least one player involved is drafted then it
will only cost 1 of your allotted trades. If a position change is made to accommodate
players involved in a team to team trade, then it will not cost you any trades.
Trading
1. Drafted players must be traded team to team. These deals are unlimited in number, and may occur at any point prior to September 1. You may trade players and draft picks but not salary cap money. If
these trades cause you to change your roster and make “Free Agent” trades due to positions, NOT CAP MONEY, they
will not count against your allotment. Future considerations and conditional
draft choices may be traded, but must be clearly defined at the time of the trade to avoid confusion.
Player Movement During the Season
If for any reason you wish to release a drafted player during the season, you may waive him. In this case, all other teams will have 3 days to place a claim for the player. In the event multiple teams claim the player the team with the least points will acquire that player and
honor the rest of said player’s contract. If no team claims the released
player, the releasing team will forfeit a 3rd round pick the following year.
At this point, that player becomes a “Free Agent”.
Salary Cap
The salary cap for the 2009 season is
$35,000,000.
League Formation
Each team has been placed in a six team
division. You will compete within this division for the right to ‘make
the playoffs’. The teams that win their divisions will meet in the ‘World
Series’. The ‘World Series’ will determine the winner by comparing
each team category by category, and the team that wins the most will be declared the 2009 Fantasy Baseball champion. In the event of a tie, the tie breakers are as follows;
1. Overall points (using all 12 teams in the league)
2. Division points
3. Victory margin within division
4. 2009 MLB playoff ERA by your final pitching staff
5. 2009 MLB playoff batting average by your 18 offensive players.
Miscellaneous
If you wish to change your team name you must do so by March 1, otherwise it will remain the same as last season,
except for new owners. In general,
for continuity purposes, you may only change one of your team names per year (across all sports), and not in consecutive years
within the same sport.
Any rules not specifically covered in
these rules will be decided by majority vote of owners, with the league commissioner having the tie breaking vote.
NEW RULES/RULE CLARIFICATIONS FOR 2009
A.
For trades involving future considerations/picks the following rule changes are in effect:
1.
Trades involving players to be named (i.e. exchanged after the season ends) may not be made until
July 1. For trades made prior to July 1 the player(s)/pick(s) must be exchanged
within 3 months of the trade.
2.
Teams will no longer be allowed to trade draft choices they don’t have at the time of the
trade.
3.
Teams may trade draft choices for the 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 draft between now and November
1. After November 1, teams may begin trading draft picks for 2013.
B.
All transactions go into effect 1 full day after they are turned in. For
example, if you make a trade with another owner and I am notified any time on Monday the players involved (and any subsequent
free agent moves) go into effect beginning with Wednesday’s games.
C.
When making franchise trades, you may not use it as a way to get around the free agent pickup limits. In two team trades, when players of the same position are involved the new player will take the roster
spot of the player that was traded (unless a team trades an offensive player that they choose to use as a DH). Here are examples of what is allowed and what is not allowed:
LEGAL: Nature Boys trades SP Javier Vazquez and SS Miguel Tejada to the
New Market Mallers for SP Roy Oswalt and 1B Josh Phelps. He replaces Tejada at
SS with the free agent of his choice, puts Phelps at 1B or DH and releases a free agent.
Oswalt takes Vazquez’s spot on the roster. This would not cost a
trade.
ILLEGAL: Nature Boys trades SP Javier Vazquez and SS Miguel Tejada to the New Market Mallers for SP Roy Oswalt and
1B Josh Phelps. He replaces Tejada at SS with the free agent of his choice, places
Phelps at 1B or DH and release a free agent. However, at pitcher, he replaces
Vazquez’s spot on the roster with Doug Davis (for our purposes in this example, a free agent), and puts Oswalt in for
Glendon Rusch (a different free agent pitcher). This is illegal because by putting
the new pitcher in a different slot and replacing the old pitcher he made a free agent trade, essentially Oswalt and Davis
in for Vazquez and Rusch.
D.
A three team trade will officially be recognized when a team makes multiple trades within a 48 hour period of time. For these purposes, rosters do not freeze after each trade.
LEGAL: Nature Boys on Monday trade SP Javier Vazquez to the New Market
Mallers for SP Roy Oswalt. On Tuesday, Nature Boys then trade Roy Oswalt to Temple
Guard for SP Roy Halladay. Tuesday
afternoon, they submit their roster change and have Halladay as a SP with Vazquez off the roster. On Thursday their new roster has the same starting pitchers, except Halladay is on the team and Vazquez
isn’t.
ILLEGAL: Nature Boys on Monday trade SP Javier Vazquez to the New Market Mallers for SP Roy Oswalt. On Tuesday, Nature Boys then trade Roy Oswalt to Temple Guard
for SP Roy Halladay. Tuesday afternoon, they submit their changes and have Halladay
in the spot of Glendon Rusch (a free agent) and Doug Davis (also a free agent) in the spot formerly held by Vazquez. On Thursday the new roster is illegal, because they really made a free agent move
in the process of what was really a three team trade.
E.
When making roster changes please inform me of them as you make them. In
the past some people have just written them in the binder on their team sheet. It
is pretty simple to send an email, make a phone call, or say something while you write them in, so if I am not told about
your trade, it is not official.
F.
When making a trade with another team, please make sure all parties agree to all terms of the deal. If trades are made over the internet, I will require confirmation from both parties before the trade is
deemed official. If the trade is made in person, all parties must sign their
name to the trade as it is written, and the wording of the trade used by all involved parties will settle any disputes.
G.
All players not listed on the official 2009 salary sheet will cost $500. In
addition, their position eligibility will be determined by the commissioner using the following criteria:
1.
The Jason Phillips Rule: Assuming the player has been in the major leagues, they will be eligible
for the position in which they have played the most games at the time a team is interested in adding them to their roster.
· In 2003 Jason Phillips was unlisted and counted as a 1B (and he had 299 ABs at 1B compared to
95 at C) for our league. However, he has officially been listed at C since 2004. This is an imperfect system and will be handled on a case by case basis.
2.
If the player is unlisted and beginning his Major League career, his position eligibility will
be determined based on the position they are likely to play.
H. On draft night the following procedures
will be in place:
1.
If you have already resigned a player(s) before draft night or decide to do so prior to the first
pick for the 2009 draft, you must indicate the number of years the player has been signed for prior to the first pick of the
2009 draft.
2.
When turning in your draft card on draft night, you must indicate the number of years that you
wish to keep the player for on the card.
I. League realignment. This is going to be a complex rule, so please pay attention. In
recent seasons some people have asked if it would be possible to switch leagues in an effort to promote more competitive balance. As a result of this request, and because of the recognition that rivalries can be
enhanced by altering league formations slightly, limited realignment will be allowed.
Here is how it will work:
1.
If you are interested in switching leagues, you must petition the league by February 15.
2.
The team with the lowest total of overall points from the previous season will be granted the first opportunity to
switch leagues.
3.
That team will then be granted permission to negotiate with a similar team from the other league to switch. For our purposes, a similar team is defined as a team in the same half of the standings in their respective
division (divisional finish of 1-3 may negotiate with 1-3 from the other division, likewise, 4-6 may negotiate 4-6).
4.
The matter will be resolved on the date of the league-sanctioned pre-draft gathering.
If the teams agree to switch without compensation, that is allowed, otherwise players and/or draft choices may be exchanged.
5.
League formation will be officially determined on the afternoon of the pre-draft meeting.
J.
Finally, a rule regarding position changes. Position eligibility will
not differ from the league salary sheet with one exception. If you have a drafted
pitcher, and their role clearly changes, i.e. from starter to reliever, you will be given the option of making a similar change. This will not be allowed for offensive players since there is no inherent disadvantage
to a player playing in a different position like this would be for a pitcher. This
DOES NOT apply to undrafted pitchers.
