updated 03/12/2024

The league will consist of 10-16 teams (12 in 2023). 

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 previous year's owner) and "topped" players will be available for bidding.

Keepers

A team may re-sign ("keep") up to four of its players from its final roster of the previous year (at an increased salary). Or, a team may protect up to four of its players by "topping" them, having the option of buying the protected player(s) at $1 under their new price which is determined during the auction. The first kept player will get a $3 raise in salary , the second kept player’s salary will be increased by $6, the third kept player will get a $9 raise, and the fourth will get a $12 raise. Any combination of keepers/toppers totaling 4 is okay. Any player on a team’s roster at the end of the previous season is eligible to be protected (by either "keeping" or "topping") but a player may only be kept or topped for 3 consecutive years. 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)

Protection Declaration \ Expansion Teams

The specific protection declaration for all teams is 03/20/24. You may protect any player left on your roster at this time. You may change any one of your protected players to a topper in the event of an injury and adjust your other keepers accordingly. For instance, you protect Babe Ruth at $3 and Hank Aaron $6 and Babe gets hurt after declaration, you can change your $3 keeper to a topper and change Hank to a $3 keeper.

If adding new teams:

New owners can take over a team if available or can choose to protect players that are on current team rosters and have not been protected. In the event that there are more new owners than teams available, current owners will need to declare the 4 players that they want to protect from the expansion teams. This declaration is due by ##/##/##. Specific declarations are not due at this time. The expansion team(s) will then get to choose their protected players from existing rosters. Expansion teams will get 3 keepers. One $3, one $9, and one $12 keeper. New owners will receive 4 days to choose their keepers and the league will be informed  as soon as they have made their picks. New owners do not need to be specific when choosing their 3 players at this time.

Keeper and topper rights may not be traded.

The auction will be on 03/23/24 and will start at 1:00 PM. The location of the auction (tentative) is the BigCat Poker Dome. Pizza, pop, and beer will be served. The pizza is normally covered by last year's champion.

The franchise fee will be $200.00 and is due the day of the auction. These fees, plus the transaction fees and any penalties collected during 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:

1^st  Place - 45% of prize pool 
2^nd Place - 25% of prize pool
3^rd Place - 15% of prize pool 
4^th Place - 10% of prize pool
5^th Place -  5%  of prize pool 

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 $50. The $185 used for these awards will be drawn from the prize pool.

Each team will consist of 21 players.

You will collect fantasy stats on only your starting 15 players. These players are referred to as your starting lineup. Lineups are due on Monday and will lock for the entire week.

Starting Lineup

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

2 - IL List (Needs Update)

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, 5 minutes before the first game of the day. The stat site, CBS Sportsline, will not make exceptions and is very strict about the deadline. I will make exceptions if you miss the deadline but contact me before the first game has started.

Injured Players (Needs Update)

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 league vote at the auction or by the commissioner. Please contact the commissioner if you have a question regarding a player's eligibility. 

Games Played By Position 2023:  AL   NL
  

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.

Points will be awarded to each team according to its position in each of the following ten 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 champion.

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 and having the proverbial horseshoe up your ass) to be successful! 

Update needed: Waiver Run Days

Adding players after the auction can be accomplished in two ways. You may add players to your team by claiming them off the waiver wire 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. You may also trade players with another team but will be charged a $3 trade fee in addition to a $4 fee per player. If two teams trade one player for one player then each team will be charged a $3 trade fee plus a $4 player fee for a total of $7 each. The trading deadline is first pitch on 07/29/24. Trades may only be made after the auction and through the deadline. Off season deals are not allowed. Trades must include the same number of players from each team.

Free agent pickups are not allowed until the first official day of standings (04/01/24). 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. The waiver process runs on Sunday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.

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 off of the waiver wire who was not purchased at the auction will have a salary of $5. Salaries are meaningless for the current season as there is not a salary cap. They are only important for the following year for keeper concerns.

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 850 innings or face a stiff penalty! If a team does not meet the innings requirement then it will receive zero points in ERA and WHIP and must also pay a fine of $1 per inning under the 900 minimum. Teams will receive zero points in ERA and WHIP but it will not affect the standings for the other teams. Teams who do not make innings will also not be eligible for any pitching awards. 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.

Email: martyoconnell@gmail.com