The league will (hopefully) consist of 12 to 14 teams. Not everyone who participated in the 1998 season is back for 1999, so we’re looking for another few team owners to join us!

As always, each team will have $260 with which to fill all 21 of its roster spots. You must always have at least $1 available for each unfilled roster spot. Bids can only be made in $1 increments. All Free Agents (players not "frozen" by their 1998 owners) will be available for bidding.

A team may re-sign from one to three of its players from its final roster of 1998 (at an increased salary). OR, a team may retain the final bid, known as "Topper" rights, on up to three players from the old roster. Any player on a Team’s roster at the end of a season is eligible to be protected (by either "Freezing" or "Topping"), including players on the real Major League Disabled List. A player may only be Frozen or Topped for 3 years in a row. With the fourth year, the player will automatically become an unrestricted Free Agent. PLEASE NOTE: due to some 1998 trades,some teams do NOT have rights to Freeze/Top three players.

Freezes/Toppers for 1999 Season - Starting with the 1999 Season, a team owner will have more Roster flexibility. A Team may Freeze from 0 to 3 of its players, OR, Top from 0 to 3 of them (any combination of Freezes/Toppers totaling 3 is OK). The catch is that the first "frozen" player will get a $4 raise in salary , the second frozen player’s salary will be increased by $8 for the following season, and the third frozen player will get a $12 raise. This means that if a Team trades away one of its freeze rights, it must specify whether it’s a "$4 Freeze" or an "$8 Freeze", etc. Topper rights will continue to work as they always have. A player who has been "Topped" may have his last bid amount Topped by the Team owning the right to do so.

By Monday, March 1, 1999, each Owner must commit to participating in 1999. Any remaining franchises will then be offered to a list of interested parties. NEW owners will then have the chance to assume ownership of EXISTING franchises under the following rules: No matter what the 1998 team owner did with respect to trading 1999 Freeze rights, the new owner will get the full three (3) Freezes mentioned above. By MARCH 10, 1999, each team must submit its Frozen/Topped Roster list containing the names and new salaries of the players being protected. Players not Frozen will come up for bid at the Auction.

No trades are permitted by a team from the time its Frozen/Topped Roster is received by the Commissioner (March 10, 1999) until after the completion of the Auction (March 20, 1999). Even if a Frozen Roster has not been submitted, no trades are permitted until after the Auction. AGAIN, no alteration to a team’s Frozen Player or list of Toppers is permitted from the time it is received by the Commissioner until after the Auction. No exceptions! But, feel free to trade until the Frozen Roster deadline. Remember, Freeze and Topper rights are commodities and may be traded. However, only the next season’s rights may be traded - the rights cannot be traded in perpetuity!

RULE CHANGE—Any player (called a Free Agent) picked-up during the First two months of the season (April and May) will be considered to have a salary of $5 (meaning, to freeze him for the following season will cost the owning team $9+). Any player picked-up during the remainder of the season will be considered to have a salary of $10 (to freeze him for the following season will cost $14+).

The franchise fee will be $100.00 and is due by April 10, 1999. Failure to do so without prior permission by the Commissioner will result in the loss of your $20 in "free" transactions. The franchise fee allows you to purchase 21 players on Auction Day and allows you to make $20.00 worth of "free" transactions. These fees, plus the transaction fees collected during the season, will determine the total prize pool. The top five teams will receive an award. The awards based on the overall league standings will be as follows:

* Totals assume $1,300.00 from franchise fees.

1^st Place - $510.00 (45%)
2^nd Place - $285.00 (25%)
3^rd Place - $170.00 (15%)
4^th Place - $115.00 (10%)
5^th Place - $55.00 (5%)

In addition, the winner of each team category will receive $10.00 and the individual leaders in each category will receive $5.00. ALSO, the Team in 1^st-Place at the All-Star Break will receive a bonus of $25. AND, the Owner of the WORST pitcher (based on ASFBL stats only and chosen by the Commissioner) will receive a prize of $5.00. ONLY the award totals (based on overall standings) will increase as transactions occur (using the above percentages). The percentages are based on the total money in the prize pool after $165 is deducted to pay for the team and individual awards.

Each team will consist of 21 players (with the ability to add more through 2-for-1 trades). The following is a breakdown of the required number(s) of position players. You will collect ASFBL stats on only your starting 15 players. These players are referred to as your Major League Team (MLT).

MAJOR LEAGUE TEAM

Each position must be filled at all times:
5 - Infielders: 1^st-, 2^nd- & 3^rd-Base, Catcher and Shortstop
3 - Outfield positions
1 - Designated Hitter - Anyone can be a DH
6 - Pitchers - any combination of starters & relievers

These 15 players represent your Major League Team, and statistics will be collected on only these players. The rest of your team will be referred to as your "bench" or Minor League Team.

MINOR LEAGUE TEAM

You may purchase six (6) additional players at any position (can be either pitcher or hitter). Note, though, that a player can only play a position on your Major League Team that he plays in real life! These players form your "bench," and can be called-up to your starting line-up for $2.00. Statistics are not kept on these players until they go into your starting line-up.

NO player may play on your MAJOR League Team in a position he doesn’t actually play in "real life." Attached is a list of likely "multi-position" players. These are players who were on an ASFBL team last year, or might be drafted this year. I’ve examined, to the best of my ability, the number of games played at different positions last year and the 1999 team’s intentions, and have developed this position eligibility list. This list is final and NOT subject to change prior to the March 10, 1999, Frozen Roster date mentioned above. It IS subject to change after discussion at the Auction. If a team owner makes a "Freeze" decision based upon this list, it may not be retroactively changed at the Auction!

To be eligible for a particular position for 1999, a player must either play (or have played in 1998) that position on a regular basis, e.g. Sammy Sosa is an Outfielder, or, he must have played at least 20 games at that position. By this I mean that once a player has played 20 games at a position in 1999, he is then eligible to play that position on your ASFBL team for the rest of that particular season. However, this is a double-edged sword! If, by the All-Star Break, your player has not played at least five (5) games at the position that you are using him, he will LOSE his eligibility to play said position on your ASFBL team! Later, he may "regain" his eligibility by playing 20 games at the position.

At the Auction, a bidding team must state a player’s position when putting a player up for bid. If any other owner questions that player’s position eligibility, the player/position decision will be made by a majority vote of all the owners (with the Commissioner’s vote being a tie-breaker, if necessary). Teams must meet the positional requirements set down in the rules above.

Statistics for National League (only) players will be kept from each Tuesday through the following Monday. Roster changes involving National League players will become effective on Tuesday mornings. Statistics for American League (only) players will be kept from each Monday through the following Sunday. Roster changes involving American League players will become effective on Monday mornings. Roster moves, regardless of whether they involve American or National League players will only be accepted prior to 9:00 p.m. on Sunday. It is possible to "game the system" by moving AL and NL players in and out to get an extra at-bat, etc., but remember, each roster move costs $2 (see below) and, based on previous results, it hasn’t made any difference in the final standings (believe me!).

Points will be awarded to each team according to its position in each of the following nine categories. In addition, team awards ($10.00) will be made to the team that receives the highest points in each of the categories.

In a 14-team league, if you finish first in a category you will receive 14 points. If you finish second, you get 13 points, ... The highest total number of points in all nine categories will be declared the winning team. Updates will be distributed on at least a bi-weekly basis.

($5.00) will be awarded to the owner if his player finishes first in the following categories:

is to out-manage the other owners by either purchasing the greatest team ever or by moving your players in and out of your MAJOR League Team at the correct time(s). It takes a combination of both (in addition to avoiding the injury bug) to be successful! So, you should: (1) Prepare for the Auction; (2) see as many games as possible; and (3) make adjustments to your team to get the maximum out of your players. Each move between your MINOR and MAJOR League Team will cost $2.00 (after the first ten).

Adding players after the Auction can be accomplished in several ways. Trades - Trades cost $1.00 for every player you add to your team. Every trade must be approved by the Commissioner and can only involve the exchange of players, no "real" money can be exchanged. When MAJOR League players are involved in a trade, the stats begin collecting for the new owner effective the next Monday (if AL) or Tuesday (if NL). Previous statistics are not traded, only a player’s future statistics are exchanged. The Trading Deadline will be the same as in the "big leagues" - August 15^th.

Disabled List - If one of your MAJOR League players goes on the DL, you have an opportunity to replace him. This can be done by either calling-up one of your MINOR leaguers or by dropping the injured player from your roster and replacing him with a free agent. The free agent must play the same position as the injured player. These free agent pick-ups will cost an owner $2.00. As in previous years, an injured MINOR league player can be replaced for $3.00.

During the season, you can drop a MAJOR leaguer who is not hurt for a mere $3.00 -- a MINOR league player can be replaced for only $5.00. When adding players to your roster via this mechanism, the team with the least points will have priority if more than one team requests the same player (on the same day).

In an effort to let owners have flexibility with their rosters, there isn’t a prohibition regarding the make-up of your six-member pitching staff. You can have six starters or six relievers or any combination of starters/relievers on your Major League Team. The catch, however, is that your staff must pitch at least 950 innings or face a penalty! The penalty is, for each inning under 950, your staff will be charged with an inning of 7.50 ERA and a WHIP of 2.00 (who knows, for some teams, this may actually be an improvement!). This penalty will only be charged at the end of the season, and it’s easy to avoid receiving it - just make sure your pitching staff averages a total of 36.5 innings each week.

Edward Holton
3355 Nelson St. Wheat Ridge, CO 80033
847.329.8402 (home) or  312.353.0860 (work) - good until 3/11!

You’ll note the address has changed - that’s because the Holton’s are moving to Colorado in early March. My NEW phone # will be 303-237-2574. My e-mail address, "holtonsej@aol.com" will remain unchanged! Please use this e-mail address to get in touch with me until I let you all know differently! (I’m not positive my work e-mail will stay the same).

Auction Day is Saturday, March 20, 1999, at 9:30 a.m. SHARP!!! It will be held in a NEW LOCATION - either at the home of Jeff Fraterrigo (EVES co-owner) in Chicago or the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Naperville, IL. I will let you know the exact info prior to March 1, 1999 (I promise). So set the date aside and start planning your strategy! Call me for more info & PLEASE be prompt!