CPBL 2003 Rules

updated 4/09/2003

Number of Teams | Auction | Fees and Awards | Rosters | Position Eligibility | Statistics

Standings | Object of the League | Roster Moves | Innings Penalty | Contact the Commissioner


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1. Number of Teams

The league will consist of 13 teams. 

2. Auction:

Each team will have $260 with which to fill 21 roster spots. Each team 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 "kept" by their 2002 owners) and "topped" players will be available for bidding.

A team may re-sign ("keep") from one to three of its players from its final roster of 2002 (at an increased salary). Or, a team may protect from one to three of its players by "topping" them, having the option of buying the protected player(s) at $1 under their 2003 auction price. Any player on a team’s roster at the end of the previous season is eligible to be protected (by either "keeping" or "topping"), including players on the Major League Disabled List. A player may only be kept or topped for 3 years in a row. With the fourth year, the player will automatically become a free agent. This rule applies even if the player is protected by more than one team during that 3 year span. (Keeper History)

A team may keep from 0 to 3 of its players or top from 0 to 3 of them (any combination of keepers/toppers totaling 3 is okay). The first kept player will get a $4 raise in salary , the second kept player’s salary will be increased by $8, and the third kept player will get a $12 raise. A player who has been topped can be bought by the team that protected him at $1 under auction price.

Each owner must commit to participating in 2003 by Friday, March 7 and must inform the commissioner of the three players that they plan on protecting. Owners need not include specific protection rights at this time. Players not protected will be available to any new owners who may be entering the league. Owners must inform the commissioner of specific protection rights, known as the Protection Declaration, by Friday, March 14.  New owners will get the option of taking over an abandoned team or using one $4 keeper from the pool of unprotected players from last year's rosters. These protection intentions are also due on Friday, March 14

If the number of new owners equals the number of abandoned teams and all of the new owners decide to take over abandoned teams then owners do not have to provide any protection intentions until Friday, March 14 but these must be specific protection intentions. 

If a kept player is injured after the Protection Declaration, the owner may opt to simply top the player rather than keep him and must make this announcement prior to the auction start. If a protected player is injured after March 14 and prior to March 20 then the owner may choose to select a different player to protect. The player must be injured in order for an owner to change his protection status and the owner must immediately inform the commissioner.

Keeper and topper rights may not be traded.

3. Fees and Awards: (Back To Top)

The franchise fee will be $100.00 and is due the day of the auction. These fees, plus the transaction fees collected during season, will determine the total prize pool ($1900). The top five teams will receive an award. The awards based on the overall league standings will be as follows:

1st  Place - 45% of prize pool  ($775)
2nd Place - 25% of prize pool  ($425)
3rd Place - 15% of prize pool  ($250)
4th Place - 10% of prize pool  ($170)
5th Place -  5%  of prize pool  ( $85)

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 1st place at the All Star Break will receive a bonus of $50. The $185 used for these awards will be drawn from the prize pool.

4. Rosters: (Back To Top)

Each team will consist of 21 players. Roster size can increase and/or decrease in the event of a 2 for 1 trade. Teams who trade away 2 for 1 will lose a roster spot while the team that gets the extra player will pick up a spot.

You will collect fantasy stats on only your starting 15 players. These players are referred to as your starting lineup.

Starting Lineup

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

The rest of your team will be referred to as your bench. Statistics are not kept on these players until they go into your starting lineup. Moving players in and out of your starting lineup can be done once a week and is free of charge. Starting lineups for the week are due on Monday at 11:00 A.M. Special exceptions are sometimes made as long as a baseball game has not started. The stat site, CBS Sportsline, will not make exceptions and is very strict about the deadline. An email or phone call must be made to the commissioner prior to Monday's first pitch to make a lineup change after the 11:00 deadline. 

5. Position Eligibility: (Back To Top)

To be eligible for a particular position a player must have played at least twenty (20) games at that position during the previous year. Once a player has played twenty (20) games at a position in a given year then he qualifies at that position as well. However, if by the All-Star Break your player has not played at least five (5) games at a position that he qualified at the start of the year then he will lose his eligibility to play that position on your fantasy team and must then reach twenty (20) to re-qualify. Players who do not play at least 20 games will qualify at the position that they played the most. All position eligibility disputes will be decided by the commissioner.

USA Today Games Played By Position 2002:  AL   NL

USA Today Games Played By Position 2003:  AL   NL
  

6. Statistics: (Back To Top)

Statistics will be kept from each Monday through Sunday. Monday's statistics are considered the official weekly statistics and are used to resolve issues concerning free agent requests of the same player by multiple teams.

7. Standings: (Back To Top)

Points will be awarded to each team according to its position in each of the following nine categories.

1. Batting Average 6. Wins
2. Runs Batted In 7. Saves
3. Home Runs 8. Earn Run Average
4. Runs Scored 9. WHIP (walks + hits/innings pitched) (also called Pitching Ratio, or PR)
5. Stolen Bases

In a 13 team league, if you finish first in a category you will receive 13 points. If you finish second, you get 12 points, ... the highest total number of points in all nine categories will be declared the winning team.

8. Object of the League (Back To Top)

The object is to out-manage the other owners by either spending your money wisely at the auction or by moving your players in and out of your starting lineup at the correct times. It takes a combination of both (in addition to avoiding the injury bug) to be successful! 

9. Roster Moves and Fees:   (Back To Top)

Adding players after the auction can be accomplished in two ways. You may add players to your team at a cost of $2 per player and/or you may acquire players by trading with other owners. In order to add a player you must drop a player to make room. The cost to drop a player is $2 as well. You may also trade players with another team but will be charged a $3 trade fee in addition to the normal add/drop fees per player. If two teams trade one player for one player then each team will be charged $3 for the transaction plus $4 in add/drop fees ($2 to add a player and $2 to release a player) for a total of $7 each. The trading deadline is first pitch on Monday, 7/28. Trades may only be made after the auction  and through the deadline. Off season deals are not allowed.

All roster moves must be approved by the commissioner. Free agent pickups are not allowed until the first official day of standings (April 7th). The team with the lesser amount of points (using Monday's stats) will have priority if more than one team requests the same player on the same day. The team that is awarded the player will move to the bottom of the "priority list" for any other requests made on that same day. Whenever requesting more than 1 player on a particular day, the order that you want the transactions processed must be specified or the transactions will be processed in the order that they are received. 

Players who are dropped will be on waivers for two days. All requests made for players on waivers will be viewed as if they were made on the same day. For example, if a player is dropped on a Monday, he will not be available for pickup until Wednesday and all requests made for this player will be viewed as if they were on Tuesday.

Any player (called a free agent) picked-up during the first two months of the season (April and May) will have a salary of $5. Any player picked-up during the remainder of the season will have a salary of $10.

10. Innings Penalty (Back To Top)

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 in your starting lineup. The catch, however, is that your staff must pitch at least 950 innings or face a stiff penalty! If a team does not meet this innings requirement then it will be placed in last in ERA and WHIP and must also pay a $20 fine. This penalty will be enforced at the end of the season. It's easy to avoid  - just make sure your pitching staff averages around 36 innings each week.

11. Contact The Commissioner (Back To Top)

Email: MartinOC@attbi.com
Home: 630-766-8269
Work:  847-788-4199
Pager: 708-881-0204