NOTE: All rule changes for the 2013 season are in bold italics.  All rule changes for the 2012 season are in italics.

 

I. OBJECT

 

A. To assemble a lineup of 23 National League baseball players whose cumulative statistics during the regular season, compiled and measured by the methods described in these rules, exceed those of all other teams in the league.

 

B. To give the other owners in the league as much crap as humanly possible.

 

II. ROTO TEAMS

 

A. National League roto baseball should be played with no less than 12 roto teams and no more than 14 roto teams assuming that there are 15 major league teams in the National League.

 

B. Roto baseball teams remain intact through the off-season.

 

C. Replacing owners who quit or get kicked out of the league.

1. If a single owner decides not to play roto baseball next season, a new owner may be found to take over the abandoned team. If no owner is found to take over the abandoned team, the roto team will be dismantled with their players becoming available for the following year’s auction—provided they are still in the National League.

2.  If multiple owners decide to not to play rotisserie baseball the next season, their rosters will be dismantled and their players will become available for the following year’s auction.  Any and all replacement owners will start the following year’s auction with blank rosters.

3.  If, any only if, an owner finishes in the money AND decides not to return the following year, he must release his entire roster before he can receive his winnings.  Which means that owner is responsible for buying out all players on his roster with guaranteed long-term contracts.  See rule VII:D for more details.

 

D. A simple majority of owners must agree upon the selection of any new owners.

 

E. Seventy-five percent of existing owners is required to boot an owner out of the league.

 

III. ROSTERS

 

A. A rotisserie team's 23-man active roster consists of the following players:

·         Five (5) outfielders

·         Two (2) catchers

·         One (1) second baseman

·         One (1) shortstop

·         One (1) middle infielder (second baseman or shortstop)

·         One (1) first baseman

·         One (1) third baseman

·         One (1) corner infielder (first baseman or third baseman)

·         One (1) utility man (any pitcher or position player)

·         Nine (9) pitchers

B. During seasons in which 25-player active rosters are deemed appropriate, each team will carry an additional pitcher and utility player.

C.   If a player on a rotisserie’s roster (active or reserve list) is traded to the American League, the owner must release the player off of his roster at the earliest possible convenience. See rule XV:A.2 for more details.

 

D. Before the first game of the World Series, each owner must reduce the number of non-farm players on their roster to 23.  In other words, owners cannot carry any players on their reserve list into the Off-Season.  All players on this Off-Season roster must satisfy the position eligibility requirements detailed in rule III:A.  Owners can accomplish this by any (or all) of the following methods:

1.   Release any or all players that have completed the final year of their contract.

2.   Release any or all players on their reserve list.

3.   Activate any or all players on their reserve list. Provided that for every player activated, a subsequent player is released off of their active roster. An owner can move eligible players on his active roster to different positions to accommodate the reserve list player activation.

4.   Any transaction fees (activation off reserve list or breaking a long-term guaranteed contract) incurred while getting down to the 23-player limit will be applied to the following season’s prize pool.  See rule VII:D for more details.

 

IV. THE ACTIVE PLAYER AUCTION

 

A. Rotisserie teams acquire players at the start of the season via an active player auction.

 

B. Active Player Auction Rules

 

1.   Existing rotisserie teams begin the auction with selected players retained from the previous year's final roster.  See section XVIII:A on roster protection for more details.

2.   Traditionally, each owner has a total of 260 cents to fill each of the 23 roster spots; however, when there are only 11 owners, each owner will have a total of 280 cents to spend on a 25-player roster.

3.   Last year’s winner is responsible for finding an outside party to be auctioneer.  If no such person can be found, the defending champion becomes auctioneer.

4.   The auctioneer must allow a reasonable amount of time from when a player is introduced until closing of the bidding on that player.

5.   Rotisserie owners take turns nominating eligible players for auction.  Turns progress clockwise around the table.

6.   Owners who have open roster spots cannot pass their turn at nomination.

7.   Owners who have filled their active roster cannot nominate players for auction.

8.   Owners cannot nominate or bid on a player if they do not have an open roster spot in which he is eligible.

·         Example: a team that has acquired two catchers, and whose utility slot is occupied, may not enter the bidding for any player who qualifies only as a catcher (see section VI on Position Eligibility)

9.   The minimum bid for a player is 1 cent.

10. The maximum bid for a player is that which would force the owner to fill all of their other open roster spots for players at a salary of 1 cent.

Example: an owner with four (4) open roster spots to fill and only 10 cents remaining can bid no more than seven (7) cents for any single player.

11. When the bidding is closed for a player, the owner who acquired him must state what open roster spot he will place him in.

12. Players eligible at more than one position (including utility if it remains open) may be shifted during the course of the auction.

13. If an owner has money left over after the conclusion of the auction, his FAAB will increase by the amount of money he didn’t spend at the auction.

14. If an owner activated one (or more) of his off-season farm players onto his active roster prior to the auction but the farm player failed to make his parent club’s opening day roster, the player in question CANNOT be returned to the roto owner’s farm team—he must be reserved or released. See Section XIV for more details.

 

C. Eligible Players for the Auction:

 

1.   All players who are on a National League roster on Auction day are eligible to be auctioned off.
This also includes:

·         Players on a National League team’s active roster at any time between Opening Day and before auction day.

·         Players on a National League team’s disabled list.

·         Players who are on suspension for less than the season and who are also still on a National League team’s roster on opening day.

But doesn’t include:

·         Players who are on the disqualified list.

·         Players in the minor leagues who were never on an NL team’s active roster at any time between Opening Day and the Auction.

·         Players who have been designated for reassignment.

·         Players on any other owner’s active rotisserie league roster (The Larry McGuire rule).

2.   Two lists of eligible players will be provided to each owner:

a.) NL opening day rosters will be provided no later than the first Thursday after opening day.

b.) An amended list containing any player called up from the minors between opening day and the rotoball auction will be provided on auction day.

c.)  Any player not on these lists may be added prior to the beginning of the auction with every owner being made aware of this addition. Once the auction has begun, no player may be added to the list of auctionable NL players.  These lists will be provided/kept by the commissioner at the auction.

d.)  If the auction is held before Opening Day, a list of players still on the active roster of the NL teams will be made available for each owner. Once all owners agree on the lists, no further changes may be made during the Auction.

 

D. Replacing players on auction day: The replacement of “non-active” players acquired on auction day no longer occurs.  The earliest replacement players can be acquired is during the first transaction period following auction day.

 

V. THE FARM PLAYER DRAFT

 

A. A minor league player draft is conducted immediately following the NL player auction. At this time rotisserie owners may acquire players so that their farm team has a total of 4 players.

 

B.   The farm player draft is a simple draft, not an auction.

1.   Selection order is determined by the previous year's final standings. The team finishing just out of the money (i.e. 5th) the previous year is allowed the first selection. In a 12-team league the selection order would be: 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,4,3,2,1.

2.   The selection order is maintained for each round of the draft.

3.   Roto owners can “pass” their turn during the farm player draft.  The number of passes allowed by a roto team is equal to the number of farm player retained from the previous season. (See Section XIV:C for more details.)

 

C.   As many as 4 minor league players may be carried over from a rotisserie teams previous year if they were never called up to the rotisserie teams active roster.

 

D.  Players eligible for the farm player draft must:

1. not be on any major league team's active roster or disabled list.

2. not be on any other rotisserie team's farm.

3. still have official rookie status (See Section V:E.)

4. be under contract with one of the major league teams from the National League. For example, you cannot draft Matt LaPorta if he is in the Indians organization.

 

E.   A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the major leagues, or accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a major league club or clubs during the period when major league clubs are required to have no more than 25 players on their active roster (excluding time in military service).

 

F.   When the auction is conducted before opening day, each rotoball owner will submit a list of eligible minor leaguers—in order of preference—to the league commissioner at the end of the auction. Once the National League rosters are set, farm teams will be determined from these lists in a manner consistent with the normal farm player draft until all rotoball farm teams contain four eligible farm players.

 

G. Also see sections XIV and XVIII.

 

VI. POSITION ELIGIBILITY

 

A.  During the active player auction:

 

1.   A player may be assigned to any position at which he appeared in 20 or more major league games the preceding season. Players not qualified at any position as a result of major league experience are qualified only at the position that they played most the previous year in the major or minor leagues.

·         Example: In 2007, Ryan Braun played third base for the Brewers. In 2008, he started the season in left field. Even though he was the starting left fielder for the Brewers, during the 2008 auction he was only eligible at third base. After auction day, the owner could move Braun to an outfield spot.

·         The 20-game threshold must be pro-rated if the previous year’s season was shortened due to strike or other disaster.

2.   Any player may be assigned to the utility spot(s).

 

B.   After the active player auction:

 

1.   A player’s auction-day position eligibility (20+ games) will carry over for the entire season

2.   Any player, regardless of salary, becomes eligible at a “new” position once he plays a minimum of TWO (2) games at the new position.

3.   Players cannot change from hitters to pitchers or pitchers to hitters unless they play more than 3 games in their new role.

4.   If a player gets traded into the National League after auction day, his position eligibility will be treated exactly like every other National League player. See rule VI:B.1-2 for more details.

 

C.   We will use the eligibility of minor league players as defined on the CBS site, even if it conflicts with minor league statistics.

 

VII. FEES

 

A.  Rotisserie league baseball has a schedule of fees covering all exchange of actual money.  No money passes directly from team to team.

 

B.   A league treasurer must be elected by a majority of the owners in the league to handle the actual money.  While the commissioner is assigned the task of recording and monitoring the legality of all transactions, the treasurer is responsible for keeping track of all transaction fees.

 

C.   Owners pay an annual fee of $38.60 ($35 team fee, $2.60 for auction-day roster salaries, and $1.00 for FAAB) at the start of each year for the privilege of owning a rotisserie baseball team and to drive up the prize pool.  This is due on active player auction day.

 

D.  Fee Schedule:

Transaction
 
Fee
 
Conditions
 
Trading
 
10 cents
 
Each owner independent of 

number of players involved.
 
Activation from Reserve List
 
10 cents
 
Each player
 
Placement on Reserve List
 
10 cents
 
Each player
 
Free Agent Call Up
 
25 cents + salary
 
Each player
 
Farm Player Call Up
 
10 cents
 
Each player
 
Farm Player Retention
 
10 cents
 
Per player, per year
 
Waiver Wire Acquisition
 
10 cents
 
Each player
 
Signing Bonus for Guaranteed

Long-Term Contracts 

(non-free agents)
 
Player’s new salary times years divided 

by two
 


Each player
 
Guaranteed Long-Term 

Contract Release
 
$5 or ˝ of player

salary X 100 cents

  (whichever is greater)
 
Each player

 

E.   Accrued transaction fees from the past season are tallied by the league treasurer and released to the entire league shortly after the end of the regular season.  See rule IX:D for more details.

 

F.   Any transaction fees (activation off the reserve list or breaking a guaranteed long-term contract) incurred while getting down to the off-season 23-player active roster limit will be applied to the following season’s prize pool.

 

VIII. PLAYER SALARIES

 

A.  The salary of a player is determined by the time and means of his acquisition and does not change unless the player becomes a free agent, is placed on waivers or is signed to a guaranteed long-term contract.

 

B.   The salary of a player acquired during the active player auction is his auction price.

 

C.   The salary of a replacement player called up from the free agent pool is 10 cents.

 

D.  The salary of a player acquired from the free agent pool VIA FAAB BIDDING is his acquisition price (see section XV:C on free agents).

 

E.   The salary of a player claimed on waivers is the greater of 10 cents or his salary when he was placed on waivers.

·         Example 1: Bill Hall (auction day salary 2 cents) is waived. The next week another owner picks him off the waiver wire. Bill Hall’s new salary is 10 cents.

·         Example 2: Glendon Rusch (auction day salary 12 cents) is waived. The next week another owner—foolishly—picks him off the waiver wire. Rusch's salary remains an exorbitant 12 cents.

 

F.   The salary of a player activated from the farm team is 10 cents.

 

G.  After the active player auction, transactions may legally drive a team’s payroll above the 260-cent limit.

·         Example: An owner spent his last 3 cents at the auction to pick up So Taguchi. His final auction day payroll is now 260 cents. After the season begins, he trades Taguchi and Nate McLouth (8 cents) to another owner for Geoff Jenkins (12 cents) and Shane Victorino (19 cents). His new team payroll is 260 - (3+8) + (12+19) = 280.

 

H.  In the event that a player is traded his salary goes with him to the new team.


 

IX. PRIZE MONEY AND FINANCIALS

 

A.  The WCGDL fiscal year ends on the last day of the MLB season. The next day denotes the beginning of the following season’s fiscal year.

 

B.   The pool of money available for award is that resulting from all fees during the course of the season, less all costs involved in conducting league business (CBS web site).  The labor of the league officers throughout the course of the season is donated and does not constitute a cost.

 

C.   Available prize money shall be divided among the owners of the first 4 teams in the final standings as follows:

·         1st place                50 %

·         2nd place               25 %

·         3rd place                15 %

·         4th place                10 %

 

D.  Payment of transaction fees accrued during the year should be paid at the EOY meeting; however, if an owner is in the money, the fees will be subtracted from their winnings. All prize money will be paid out by the league treasurer at following year’s auction.

 

X. STANDINGS AND STATISTICS

 

A.  The following categories will be used to determine team rankings within the league

OFFENSE

On-Base Percentage                             (Walks + Hits + HBP) / (AB + Walks + HBP + SF)

Slugging Percentage                             (1B + 2*2B + 3*3B + 4*HR) / AB

Stolen Bases minus Caught Stealing     (SB - CS)

Runs Batted In                                                 (RBI)

Runs Scored                                        (R)

PITCHING

Earned Run Average (ERA):                (ER) / (INN / 9)

Ratio (WHIP):                                      (Walks Allowed + Hits Allowed) / INN

Appearances                                        (APP)

Net Saves/Holds                                  (S) + (H) – Blown Saves (BS)

Strikeouts                                             (K)

 

B.   Statistics for each rotisserie team will be derived by accumulating each individual player's statistics while on the active roster of their respective rotisserie team and will reflect any transactions (changes to the active roster) submitted prior to the previous week’s transaction deadline (See Rule XI:B).

 

C.   Statistics are calculated every night using the CBS Sportsline.com web site.  It will be the responsibility of each owner to acquire/download the league statistics (formerly rule XI:A [version 2011 and earlier]).

 

D.  Player statistics acquired prior to a trade, being picked up via free-agency or waiver wire, or before being activated after coming off of the rotisserie team's disabled list or farm team, are not included in the team's total statistics since the player was not on the active roster of the rotisserie team.

 

E.   Players acquired on Auction Day will accumulate stats for the first week.

1.   Stats accrue for an owner’s team beginning on Opening Day from players who were:

a.   retained from the previous year.

b.      chosen during the active player auction.

2.      All other acquired player’s stats will not begin to accrue until the Tuesday after the (legal) transaction has been submitted to the commissioner (formerly rule XI:G).

 

F.   A pitcher's offensive numbers are NOT included in the cumulative statistics for each roto team.

 

G.  Cumulative points collected by each team within the 10 statistical categories will determine the overall ranking for the team.

 

H.  Teams are ranked top-down in each category, with (assuming twelve teams in the roto league) 12 points awarded to the first place team in each category, 11 points to the second place team, 10 points to the third place team, and so forth to 1 point for the last place team. Teams, which are tied within a category, will split the points for the positions they are tied at (for example, two teams tied for second in runs will both receive 10.5 points).

 

I.    Standings are updated daily during the season; however, the standings emailed by the CBS web site Tuesday morning will serve as the OFFICIAL standings for the entire week. These standings will be used to determine the order upon which owners can select players from the waiver wire and/or the free agent player pool during the subsequent transaction period.

 

J.    At the end of the year, each roto team must have 5000 total at bats and 1100 innings pitched. In the event of a shortened season (strike, act of God, etc) these requirements will be prorated to the actual average percentage of the 162-game season played by all NL clubs.

 

K.  Any team not meeting the at bats requirement will forfeit their accumulated points for the categories OBP and SLG. Any team not meeting the innings requirement will forfeit their accumulated points for the categories ERA and WHIP. Teams who finish below a team not meeting the minimum requirements for at bats or innings pitched (within the applicable statistical categories) do not gain additional points.

 

L.   The team with the highest total cumulative points at the end of the season will win the league and receive the coveted "We Can't Get Dates League" trophy.

 

M.  In the case of a tie between two or more teams with the same amount of cumulative points, final standings are determined as follows.

1.   Two team tie-breaker method:

a.   Direct comparison of the two teams within each individual category. The team who wins the greater number of individual categories is determined the winner.

b.   In the case of a further tie (each team won five categories), the winner is determined by comparing the following statistic for each roto team:

Total At-Bats + 3* (Total Innings Pitched).

c.   The team with the higher total of this final statistic is declared the winner.

2.   Three (or more) team tie-breaker method:

a.   Direct comparison of the teams involved within each individual category. The team who wins the greatest number of individual categories is determined the winner.

b.   In the case of a further tie (each team won the same number of categories), the winner is determined by comparing the following statistic for each roto team:

Total At-Bats + 3* (Total Innings Pitched).

c.   The team with the higher total of this final statistic is declared the winner.

3.   Once a team emerges from the multi-team tiebreaker as the winner (after EITHER tiebreaking procedure in section X:M.2), the remaining teams will repeat the process within section X:M.1/2 (whichever one is applicable) to determine who finishes second among the tied teams.

4.   Conversely, if a team (or teams) DON’T finish in the lead after the tiebreaker in section X:M.2.a is applied, the eliminated team(s) will be assigned the lowest place(s) in the standings among the tied teams. Moreover, the remaining teams will repeat the process within section X:M.1-2 (whichever one is applicable) to determine who finishes first among the tied teams.

 

XI. ROSTER MANAGEMENT (Definitions and Submitting Transactions)

 

A.   Roto owners can make weekly adjustments to their active roster, reserve list, and/or farm team. These (non-trade) adjustments fall into three categories as defined below:

1.   Position Change: when a player’s position on the active roster is changed; the player does not leave the active roster.

·         Example:         Rickie Weeks              2B    -> U

2.   Move: when a player is moved onto or off the active roster.

·         Examples:       Rafael Furcal              SS    -> Res

Clint Barmes               FA    -> MI

Roy Oswalt                  Res   -> P

3.   Transaction: a series of moves and/or position changes after which all positions on the active roster are properly filled.

·         Example:         Kris Medlen                 FA    -> EP     (7 cents)

Ike Davis                     U     -> CI

Chipper Jones             CI    -> 3B

Chase Headley                        3B    -> OF

Ryan Spillsborghs       OF   -> Waive

 

B.   ALL Transactions are due to the commissioner by 9PM Monday night and can be submitted via email, fax, telephone, pony express or in person. The commissioner also has until 9PM to submit his transactions.

 

C.   A TRANSACTION PERIOD shall be defined as each and every Monday evening (until 9:00 PM Central Time) after the Active Player Auction (or Opening day, which ever is LATER) until the end of the regular baseball season. Owners can submit requested modifications to their rotoball rosters.

 

D.  Transactions submitted before 9PM Monday night will take effect for Tuesday's major league games, and will be reflected in the team statistics the following week assuming the transaction(s) is (are) legal.

 

E.   Any transaction(s) which become(s) illegal between the time the move is submitted to the commish and 9PM Monday night will be voided.

 

F.   Transactions are submitted and processed using the following priority:

1.   Trades

2.   Reserve list activation

3.   Farm Team call ups

4.   Waiver Wire claims

5.   FAAB bids

6.   Replacement Player Free Agent claims

 

G.  In the midst of any transaction, an owner can execute multiple position changes to his active roster in order to meet the active roster guidelines detailed in section III:A.  Position integrity must be maintained before AND after each and every transaction.

 

H.  Rules are applied to all transactions (except trades) the day they are due (Monday), not the day they are submitted.

·         Example: The minimum bid for a free agent during a transaction period (Monday) in September is 10 cents, even if the request was submitted in August.

 

XII. TRADES

 

A.  Trades do not affect the salaries or contract status of the players involved.

 

B.   Each trade involves a $.10 fee for each owner, and is not affected by the number of players involved. See section VII:D.

 

C.   After July 31, roto teams may only trade with other roto teams within six (6) positions up or down in the current standings. For instance, the roto owner in first place can only trade with the owners in 2nd through 7th place.

 

D.  From Auction Day to August 31, roto teams can make as many trades as desired, as long as the rules governing trades are followed.

 

E.   No trades can take place from 1 September until all off-season 23-man active rosters have been set (see section III:D).

 

F.   Roto teams are NOT bound by the position distribution requirement from the day after Off-Season 23-man active rosters have been set until the day roto teams are required to submit their "keeper list" for the upcoming auction (See section III).

 

G.  Once a trade between teams has been consummated; each team must have every roster slot on his team filled. As part of a trade, the teams involved may include activating a player from the reserve list (or farm team) as well as waiving players so that their roster meets the specifications detailed in section III:A.

 

H.  If a player is involved in a trade, he can be involved in ONLY ONE other transaction during the current transaction period (waive, trade, release, reserve, or activation from farm team).

 

I.    If an owner trades away a player on his reserve list for an active player (i.e. he is on an active NL roster), the owner must either activate or waive the acquired player during that same transaction period.

 

J.    No trading for "players to be named later" or "future considerations".

 

K.  Unbalanced trades are now defined as follows: Any trade where the difference in the sum of the salaries going from one owner to another exceeds 20 cents.

The following rules will govern all unbalanced trades:

1.   The owner that receives the greater salary sum will have the difference in the sum subtracted from their FAAB balance. The acquiring owner must have enough FAAB to “pay” for the trade.

2.   The team acquiring the lesser salary sum will NOT have their FAAB balance increased by the difference in salary sum.

3.   There is no limit to the number of unbalanced trades that a team can make in a particular season.

 

L.   The salaries of farm players that are involved in a trade (whether or not they are on an NL active roster) will be used to determined if a trade is “balanced” or not.

 

M.  If owners involved in a trade choose to use the CBS web site for accepting a trade, the commissioner MAY execute the trade before transactions are officially released (Tuesday AM). If owners wish to keep a trade confidential, they should communicate via email.

 

XIII. RESERVE LIST

 

A.  A roto team can place a player on its reserve list only if the player is:

1.   Placed on the major league team's disabled/concussion list

2.   Sent down to the minor leagues.

3.   Designated for assignment.

4.   Placed on the restricted/disqualified list.

5.   Suspended for 7 or more games.

 

B.   Players suspended for a non-drug-related offense by their major league club or MLB for less than 7 games cannot be placed on the reserve list.

 

C.   The fee for reserving a player is $.10.  See section VII:D for more details.

 

D.  A maximum of six players can exist on a roto team’s reserve list

1.   If an owner, with six players occupying his reserve list, wishes to add a player to his reserve list, the owner must release, waive or activate a player off of his reserve list.

2.   During the processing of transactions, more than six players can (temporarily) exist on an owner’s reserve list; however, once all of the owner’s transactions have been processed, no more than six players can exist on the reserve list.

 

E.   A player placed on the reserve list MUST be replaced with a player from the free-agent pool, the waiver wire, the farm team, or via trade. The salary of the player called up is determined by the type of transaction made, and is subject to the fee assigned to the transaction.

 

F.   Once the player on the roto team's reserve list is activated by the National League club, the roto owner has three (3) transaction periods (See section XI:C) to act on the player in question.  If no action is performed on the player to be reinstated, that player is automatically placed on the waiver wire. No warning by the commissioner or other league officer is required! It is expected that owners will use the honor system if they notice an issue on their own roster.

 

G.  An owner can preemptively activate a player off his reserve list or farm team—even if he has yet to be activated by his NL ball club. The activation will take effect for the next scoring period (See sections XI:C-D).

 

H:  If the preemptively activated player happens to suffer a setback or another injury, the owner will have to wait until the next transaction period to reserve him again (while no doubt receiving tons of sympathetic emails from his co-owners).

 

I:    A player is allowed to only be involved in one roster move (see section XI:A.2) per transaction period (in addition to one trade, as in section XII:H).  Thus, any player moved to/from a roto team reserve list cannot be involved in any other roster moves during the same transaction period except for a trade with another roto team.  Also see section XVI:J (waivers).

 

J:    After 1 September, if a player on an active rotisserie roster has been deemed “out for the season” for any reason yet is not placed on his team’s disabled list, that player can be placed onto that owner’s reserve list and can be replaced by a replacement player free agent claim OR a waiver wire claim.  Once reserved, this player must remain on the reserve list through the end of the regular season.

 

K:  After 1 September, a rotisserie owner can reserve a player on his active roster if all of the following conditions are met:
The player…

1.      has not appeared in an MLB game for 14 days.

2.      has not been placed on his NL team’s disabled list.

3.      has not been deemed ‘out for the season’ (see Rule XIII:J).

Once the owner successfully is able to reserve a player who meets the above criteria, this player must remain on that owner’s reserve list for the remainder of the season.

 

XIV. THE FARM SYSTEM

 

A.  A roto team can have a maximum of six (6) farm players in its farm system at any given time during the regular season. Only four (4) farm players may be carried into the active player auction and only a total of four (4) can be on the farm at the end of the farm player draft.

 

B.   Farm players are drafted immediately after the National League active player auction (see section V).

 

C.   The salary associated with a farm player is now determined by the round they were selected.

·         1st or 2nd round    10 cents

·         3rd round              5 cents

·         4th round               3 cents

 

D.  Any farm players drafted or acquired before the 2012 season will have a salary of 10 cents.

 

E.   Extra farm players may be acquired via trades. Farm players involved in trades have a salary that is determined by the round (or year) they were selected (see Sections XIV:C-D) for the purposes of “balanced” trade calculations (see Section XII:L).

 

F.   Farm players can be retained from one year to the next, but a fee of 10 cents must be paid to do so (see section VII:D), and the player must retain his major league rookie status (See Section V:E.).

 

G.  A player cannot be activated off a rotisserie owner’s farm team until after 1 May.

 

H.  Any farm player who is called up to an active National League roster—after 1 May but prior to 1 September—and remains on the NL team’s active roster for at least three (3) weeks must either be waived or activated.  The roto owner will have three transaction periods (See section XI:C) to decide on the status of the farm player.  If a farm player is to be kept, an opening must be made for the new player, either by waiving an active national league player or placing an inactive player on the reserve list (if such player qualifies for the reserve list).

 

I.    If, within the three transaction period time frame, the player is returned to the minor leagues and the roto team has not moved on that player, no move is necessary.

 

J.    If a roto team activates a farm player, that player may not be returned to the farm system of that (or any other) roto team for the remainder of the baseball season, even if that player is returned to the minors. In such a case, the player can be placed on the roto team's reserve list or released.  However, that player may be eligible to be drafted as a farm player next season provided he still has rookie status (See section V:E).

 

K.  If a roto owner’s farm player is activated by the NL team and then placed on the major league DL before the owner is required (or has) moved on him, the rotoball owner must leave the farm player on their farm team.  A roto owner’s three-transaction period time frame will restart once the injured farm player is activated to his team’s active National League roster.

 

L.   The fee for activating a farm player is $.10 (section VII:D), and will have a salary of $.10.

 

M.  Farm players who are called up after major league rosters expand (September 1) need not be activated within the three-transaction time period. They can remain on the owner's farm team through the off-season and be retained on the farm for the following season (see section XVIII and section V:D).

 

N.  A maximum of two farm players may be released between the end of the season and the date of roster protection.  Thus, a rotoball team with four farm players must retain a minimum of two farm players entering the farm player draft.

 

XV. FREE AGENTS

 

A.  Who is a Free Agent.

1.   Definition: Any player on an active National League roster who is not on a current roto team's active roster, reserve list or farm team, or on the waiver wire for that current week is a free agent.

2.   Exception: A player—on an owner’s active roster—who gets traded to an American League team and then gets traded back to another National League team is considered a free agent even if the original rotisserie owner has not had the opportunity to release said player off of his roster. See rule III:C for more details.

 

B.   Claiming a free agent replacement player.

 

1.   Any player within the current free-agent pool can be claimed by any roto team that has a player on his active roster who is eligible to be placed on their team’s reserve list (see section XIII:A).

2.   If more than one team tries to claim the same player, the team lowest in the current week's standings (section X:I) gets the player. The salary of that free agent is $.10. The fee for signing him is $.25.

3.   A roster spot can be filled by a free agent replacement player if the active player being replaced was:

a.   Placed on the major league team's disabled/concussion list

b.   Sent down to the minor leagues.

c.   Designated for assignment.

d.   Placed on the restricted/disqualified list.

e.   suspended by the league for 7 or more games.

 

4. Contingency claims are allowed to acquire free agent replacement players.

 

C.   Acquired via FAAB (but before 1 September):

 

1.   Any player within the current free-agent pool and on an active National League roster can be bid upon without need for a natural opening within the roto team's active roster.

2.   Each owner shall have $1.00 for use in signing free agents.  This amount is called the Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB). Additionally, any money the owner has left over from the auction will get added to his FAAB.

3.   Bids are submitted—confidentially—to the commissioner (or acting commissioner) after 6:30 PM Monday and before 9:00 PM Monday night (along with any other moves).  The commissioner (or acting commissioner) must submit his transactions by 6:30 PM Monday.

4.   An owner can submit an unlimited number of free-agent bids (as allowed by the team's remaining FAAB), but contingency bids are not allowed.  If an owner bids on Greg Dobbs, he cannot also bid on Dmitri Young to replace the same player on his active roster.  However, the owner could also bid on Young to replace a different player on the active roster.

5. A free agent goes to the highest bidder.  In case of a tie, the team lowest in the current standings (section X:I) is awarded the bum.  The third tiebreaker involves the type of player.  Batters go to the team lowest in batting standings.  Pitchers go to the team lowest in pitching standings.

6. The salary of the free agent is whatever is bid, and that amount is taken out of the roto team's remaining FAAB.  The minimum bid is $.05 (except after September 1, when it is $.10).  The fee for a free agent call up is $.25.  See section VII:D.

7. The player's contract status is a first-year player.

8. The player that is replaced by the FAAB free agent is either waived or released (depending upon the current National League status of that player) and cannot be reserved.

a. The replaced player is waived if he is on a National League active roster.  He will appear on the next week's waiver wire.

b. The replaced player is released if he was:

i.    placed on the major league team's disabled list

ii.   dumb enough to get suspended for drug or steroid use.

iii.  sent down to the minor leagues.

iv.  designated for assignment.

v.   placed on the restricted list.

vi.  placed on the bereavement list.

vii. traded to the American League.

viii.            suspended by the league for more than 15 games.

·         Example 1: Craig Counsell is claimed via free agency for $.12 and will replace free swinging Bill Hall (who is on the Brewers active roster).  Hall must be waived.

·         Example 2: David Weathers is claimed via free agency for $.08 and will replace Josh Fogg (The Pirates released him).  Fogg must be released.

9.   If a released player returns to a National League active roster during the following week, his status is still that of a free agent, and is not placed on the waiver wire.

10. A player legally placed on the waiver wire by a roto owner, who subsequently is removed from a National League active roster and then returns to a National League active roster during the same transaction week, will be considered a free agent and is no longer on the waiver wire.  See the example in section XVI:C.

11. If a player is released or is not on an active major league roster—by definition—that player cannot be claimed by another team until a National League club activates him. See Section XV:A.

12. Any free agent claimed for between $.11 and $.24 is signed to a guaranteed two-year contract.  Such a player can be released before the next year's auction, but only by "buying out" the contract for half the players salary times 100 cents.  See section VII:D.

·         Example: To buy out Brad Ziegler's guaranteed contract of 15 cents, it would cost $7.50.

13. Any free agent claimed for greater than or equal to $.25 is signed to a guaranteed two-year contract and must be retain through next year’s auction (if he is still on a National League roster).  After the following year's auction, such player may be released from his contract for a fee as described in Section VII:D.

14. Any roto team suffering a loss of a player due to a trade to the American League will get an immediate FAAB credit commensurate with that player’s salary. The owner is under no obligation to notify the rest of the league of his FAAB windfall; however, other league owners are at liberty to broadcast these types of developments to the rest of the league.

 

D. On or after 1 September, free agents can still be bid upon per the post all-star break rules, but the minimum bid for any free-agent is $.10.  All other rules in section XV:C apply.

 

XVI. WAIVERS

 

A.  If a National League team places an owner’s reserve list or farm player on their active roster, the owner has three transaction periods to either

1.   waive the reserve list/farm player or

2.   activate the reserve list/farm player to the active roster and waive (or release) a player from their active roster.

If a roto owner takes no action on the player coming off the farm team or reserve list within the allotted time, that player is automatically waived.

 

B.   A player who is not on an active National League roster that is replaced on a roto owner’s active roster by a player from the roto team's farm team, reserve list, waiver wire, or from the free agent pool cannot be placed on waivers, but must be released.

 

C.   Any player that is placed legally on the waiver wire, but becomes ineligible for the waiver wire during the subsequent week (put on a major league DL, sent to the minors, etc.) cannot be claimed off the waiver wire, and is considered to be released even if that player returns to an active National League roster during that same week.

·         Example: An owner waives Wes Helms on Monday night.  On Wednesday, he is sent to the minors, and then brought back up to the majors on Saturday.  Helms would be considered a free agent and would be removed from the waiver wire.  He could be picked up via free agency.

 

D.  Waiver claims are handled in reverse order of the standings.  In other words, the roto team lowest in the standings (section X:I) is awarded the cast-off in case of multiple claims on that player.

 

E.   A maximum of ONE waiver claim is allowed for each roto team per week.

 

F.   The fee for claiming a player off of the waiver wire is $.10, and that player's salary shall be either $.10 or the current salary of that player (from the team he was waived from), whichever is greater.

 

G.  An owner can make a waiver claim on a player he waived the previous week.  That player can only be obtained if no other owner makes a waiver claim on the player in question (but why you would want to do such a thing is beyond me).

 

H.  Players remain on the waiver wire for one week.  If left unclaimed, they become free agents.

 

I.    A player with a guaranteed contract may be waived during the season provided the rules regarding guaranteed contracts in Section XVII are followed.

 

J.    No player can be waived and involved in another transaction during the same transaction period—except for a trade with another roto team.  Also see section XIII:M (reserve list).

 

K.  In the event an owner’s waiver claim is denied, the player on his team’s active roster cannot be involved in any other transactions…PERIOD.

 

L.   Players on the waiver wire are not eligible to be Free Agent Replacement Player pick-ups nor can they be bid upon using FAAB.

 

M.    The official location of the weekly waiver wire is the (EXCEL) master roster sheet maintained and delivered (via email) by Bruce.

 

XVII. PLAYER CONTRACTS

 

A.     National League baseball players occupying a spot on any roto teams active roster or reserve list or on the WCGDL waiver wire have one (1) of the following contract types:

·         1st Year

·         2nd Year

·         3rd Year

·         Long-Term Guaranteed

 

B.   For the duration of this discussion, a player’s continuous service shall be considered all the time that he was continuously either on

1. any roto team’s active roster,

2. any roto teams reserve list,

3. or the WCGDL waiver wire.

 

C.   A player’s continuous service need only comprise a part of any season for him to have used a year of contract status.

 

D.  Players having a 1st year contract status are those whose continuous service includes one (1) season.

 

E.   Players having a 2nd year contract status are those whose continuous service includes two (2) seasons.

 

F.   After the completion of a player's 2nd year of continuous service he may either be signed to a long-term guaranteed contract or allowed to play out his final (3rd) year.

1.   Players having a third year contract are those whose continuous service includes 3 seasons who were also not signed to long-term guaranteed contracts.  After the completion of a player’s 3rd year of continuous service he must be released back into the free agent pool.

2.   Players may be signed to guaranteed long-term contracts of any length after their second year of service but they cannot be released from such contracts without considerable monetary penalty (See sections VII:D, and XV:C.12-13).

3.   The salary of a player who is signed to a long-term contract immediately goes up 5 cents for each additional year of the guaranteed contract.

4.   Players must be released back into the free agent pool after the normal completion of a long-term guaranteed contract.

5.   The first year of a guaranteed long-term contract begins during a player’s 3rd year of continuous service.  In addition to the guaranteed salary, a signing bonus equal to one-half the total value of the long-term contract shall be paid (See sections VII:D).  This signing bonus does not count against your $2.60 salary cap.

Evolution of a guaranteed long-term contract

Back in 1995, the Indiana Wizards acquired a young, hard throwing, right-handed reliever named Mark Wohlers for 1 cent.  Wohlers quickly emerges as a dominant closer for Atlanta—a real bargain!  After Wohlers completes his tenure as a 2nd year player Gary Cannalte decides to give him a long-term deal because this guy seems like a lock for 30+ saves a year.  Our roto owner gets a little too excited and gives him a 5-year deal.  Wohlers’ salary immediately becomes 21 cents (((5-1 yrs)*5 cents)+1 cent).  Wohlers, at 21 cents, is still a modest bargain and Cannalte is thinking that he doesn’t have to worry about saves until the next millennium.  By 1998, Wohlers is unable or unwilling to throw a strike and Atlanta banishes him to the nether regions of their farm system.  Our roto owner, sheepishly, decides to release Wohlers from his guaranteed long-term contract at a cost of $10.50.  But the ridicule of having this story recounted in our rules is, of course, priceless.

 

G.  Players who were acquired via free agency at a price greater than 10 cents have guaranteed 2-year contracts. See section XV:C.

 

H.  A player who has a guaranteed long-term contract and has a salary greater than 24 cents (asterisk player) must be retained through a minimum of one active player auction.

 

I.    Contracts are entirely transferable during trades between roto owners, both in status and salary. A player, initially acquired during a given year, who has been on 6 different roto teams that same year can still be a 1st year player as long as his service has been continuous.

 

J.    Contract status is entirely transferable during waiver moves—this includes guaranteed long-term contracts. A player can be on the waiver wire 6 times during a season but his status does not change as long as he never clears waivers and is released back into the free agent pool.

 

K.  If an owner waives a player with a guaranteed long-term contract (provided the conditions in section XVII:H are met or don’t apply), the owner must pay the fee for releasing a player from a guaranteed long-term contract regardless if the player is subsequently claimed off of waivers the following week.

 

L.   A player’s contract salary is increased to 10 cents during a waiver claim if the player’s original salary was less than 10 cents.  If a player’s contract salary is greater than or equal to 10 cents, it remains unchanged during a waiver claim.

 

M.  Any contract becomes null and void at no expense to the roto owner if the player in question is traded from the National League, retires or is released from their National League club and is not subsequently acquired by another NL club.  If the player was in an active roster spot a new player may then be acquired to replace him if the other rules on player acquisition allow it.

 

N.  At the end of the season all owners will be asked to verify the contract status and salary of all players on their roster.  After this point, all contracts are exactly as shown on the final roster sheet.  Errors found subsequently are not propagated between seasons.

O.  Examples

1.   In July of 1993, the Gashouse Gorillas picks up a guy named Barry Bonds from the free agent pool for 8 cents.  He decides to keep him for the 1994 season.  Because 1993 is considered a complete year of service, at the end of the 1994 season Larry must decide whether to:

a. release him back to the free agent pool.

b. keep him for one more year at 8 cents

c. sign him to a long-term contract

The Gorillas sign him to a 4-year contract; Bonds' salary for 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998 is 23 cents. (4-1)*5+8=23.  In addition, he must pay the league one half the total salary as a signing bonus ((4*23)/2=46 cents).

2.   Bruce acquires Ruben Amaro at the 1993 auction for 3 cents. He keeps him for the entire 1993 season and through the 1994 auction.  In May of 1994, he waives him. The following week, Larry picks him up off the waiver wire (new salary = 10 cents). Larry keeps him for the entire 1994 season. Because Amaro never cleared waivers, at the end of the 1994 season Larry must decide whether to release him, let him play out his option year, or give him a long-term deal.

3.   Scaife acquires Terry Mulholland at the 1997 auction for 3 cents and keeps him through June of 1998, at which point he is waived.  Nobody picks Mulholland off waivers so he is moved to the free agent list. The following week, Jeff picks Mulholland up off the free agent list.  Because Mulholland cleared waivers, 1998 is his first year of continuous service.

4.   In July 1997, Mark McGwire is traded to the St. Louis Cardinals from the American League.  Larry acquires him for 62 cents via his FAAB.  Since McGwire’s salary is greater than 24 cents and he has guaranteed long-term contract, Larry was required to retain McGwire through the 1998 auction.

5.   Kasten has Barry Bonds in the second year of his contract for 22 cents.  Before the 2001 auction, Kasten signs Bonds to a guaranteed 3-year contract extension putting Bonds’ new salary at 32 cents.  In April, Bonds decides he wants to hit right-handed for the rest of his career.  Predictably, his production plummets.  Kasten waives Bonds in May.  Kasten must pay $16.00 to break Bonds’ guaranteed long-term contract.

 

XVIII. ROSTER PROTECTION

 

A.  Each owner can retain—from one season to the next—no more than 10 players that do not have guaranteed long-term contracts (see section XVII). The list of “keepers” can include as many players with guaranteed long-term contracts as the owner desires. Hereafter, this will be referred to as “10+LTC”.

·         Example: For auction day 2009, Scaife’s Stud Ponies decide to give a LTC to Jorge Cantu. He already has Jose Reyes signed to a LTC. Therefore, SSP would have the option of retaining up to 12 keepers for 2009 (10 + 2 LTC players).  A team who doesn’t award any guaranteed LTC would be limited to a maximum of 10 keepers for the auction.

 

B.   Any player on a rotoball team’s OFF-SEASON roster (see section III:D) is eligible to be retained on the 10+LTC protected roster prior to the following season’s rotoball auction.

 

C.   Players on rotoball team’s OFF-SEASON roster can be retained on the active roster at the start of the next season as long as he is still affiliated with an eligible National League team—even if he does not make a National League active roster.  His salary will subsequently count against the $2.60 available on draft day.

 

D.  The names of players being retained must be recorded with the commish by 10 AM on the opening day of the National League season or three days prior to the auction in years when the auction is conducted before the opening day of the National League season.  Specific notice must also be made at that time of any long-term guaranteed contract signings and farm system renewals.  Farm players not explicitly requested to be retained will be lost.  3rd year players not explicitly given long-term guaranteed contracts will be assumed to be playing out their option year.

 

F.   The cumulative salaries of players protected prior to auction day are deducted from a team’s 260-cent payroll, and the balance is available for acquisition of the remaining players needed to complete the team’s 23-man roster.

 

G.  All teams' protected rosters will be supplied to all owners by the league commissioner within 2 full days prior to auction day regardless of when the auction is held.

 

H.  If an owner has a farm player that makes an NL opening day roster, he can choose to carry him on his active roster OR keep him stashed on his farm team when the owner’s protected roster is due. However, no farm players can be activated onto an owner’s active roster until after 1 May.

 

I.    Only two farm players can be released between the end of the season and the day protected rosters are due.

 

J.    If an owner is absent from the auction, his roster at the end of the auction will consist of his keepers list. The unused portion of his team's $2.60 auction budget will get rolled into the absentee owner's FAAB allotment. Within 24 hours after the auction is complete, the absentee owner will ‘purchase’ as many free agents as necessary to fill out his roster (5 cents/player minimum) to fill out his 23-man roster.

 

 

XIX. GOVERNANCE

 

A.  Before the start of each season, a commissioner is elected by a simple majority of the roto owners in the league.

1.   The commissioner collects transactions and supplies rules clarifications as necessary during the course of the season.

2.   The commissioner cannot rule alone on issues not completely covered in these rules, disputed interpretations of these rules, or issues that are brought up during the off season.

 

B.   Before the start of each season, a small panel of 3 roto owners (the triad) is elected to rule over all disputes during the course of the season.

1.   Disputes may be brought up to the triad by any owner in the league.

2.   The commissioner cannot be a member of the triad.

3.   The triad rules on interpretations of these existing rules.

4.   The triad cannot make decisions on new rules.

5.   The triad may elect to put disputes before the league in its entirety if such an opportunity presents itself.

 

C.   When the league decides on issues as a whole, a simple majority is necessary during voting unless the issue involves changes to these rules.  For such issues, a 75% majority is necessary.

 

D.  If a rule change or clarification to fix an obvious problem is deemed necessary by 75% of the owners, and there are only two choices to fix the problem, the choice receiving the majority of the vote is all that is necessary to enact the choice.

 

E.   By the end of the calendar year, new rules or rule modifications can be brought up for a vote to the league.  This allows rules to be introduced and voted upon OUTSIDE of our "end of the year" meeting.