THE MINUTEMAN LEAGUE CONSTITUTION
I. TEAMS
The league shall consist of a minimum of eight teams and a maximum of twelve teams. If in any year the league expands, the expansion team(s) will be handled in the manner described within.
II. ROSTER
The roster consists of three parts.
NOTE: The major league rule on rookies is as follows: "A player shall be considered a rookie unless during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the major leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a major league club or clubs during the period of a 25 player limit."
**If a team changes ownership from one year to the next, the player contracts will remain intact.
**A severe injury is defined as missing the first or last four months of the season.
3. When a player is given a contract extension (2 year or lifetime), you must fulfill the commitment of that extension before you have access to reassign the extension to another player.
Commitments will not apply to contracts given after the 1999 season
The commitment for each contract is as follows:
Exceptions to commitments:
After each season, each team will be allowed to protect TEN players from its roster to start the next season with. These players may be a combination on players on the active roster and the taxi squad.
Protected lists must be submitted by March 1.
Kevin Appier Rule – Teams may make a change to their protected lists if a player is injured on or before March 15 and will begin the season on the DL. After March 15, there is no injury exception.
**Players on the inactive list may be protected and shall not count towards the ten player protected list.
The major league draft will always occur during the month of March, when it is convenient for all the owners. The draft order for rounds 1 through 5 will be determined as follows. Round one will be a weighted lottery for all returning teams that did not place in the prize money the previous season. In rounds 2 through 5, the lottery teams will draft in reverse order of finish.
NOTE: If a returning team that has a new owner is in the lottery, that team or teams may not receive the number one overall pick. They will be included in the lottery, but if chosen first, they will be given the next best available draft pick.
After lottery teams, any expansion teams will be placed in the draft. If there is more than one expansion team, the order will be chosen out of a hat. For rounds 2 through 5, the expansion teams will rotate among themselves, with the team with the highest draft spot in the previous round falling to the lowest spot, with all other teams moving up one spot each.
Following any expansion teams, the teams that won prize money the previous season will select in reverse order of finish for rounds 1 through 5.
The remaining rounds of the draft will be handled in a rotating manner. The rotation will go as follows, 1 to 2, 2 to 3……9 (or last pick) to 1.
***The draft will consist of 33 rounds. A team may stop drafting after it has filled all 41-roster spots (24 active and 17 taxi squad)
***A team must cut down to 41 players immediately following the draft.
***Any player with one year of professional experience is eligible for the major league draft.
The minor league draft will consist of four rounds. It will be held after spring training begins, but before the major league draft. The minor league draft order will be reverse order from the previous season’s finish. A team must keep its inactive list at 10 or less players. He may not draft any more players once this is filled up. Expansion teams will be placed between lottery teams and money teams, chosen at random and will not change for the second round. Players drafted in the minor league draft will immediately be placed on a team’s inactive list.
**Any player that still has rookie status is eligible to be chosen in the Minor League Draft.
**Players may remain on a team’s inactive list until one of the following criteria is met.
If any expansion teams are added to the league after the Minor League Draft, they will not have any minor league selections when they join the league.
There is an entrance fee of $25 for all league members. This money goes into the prize pot to be dispersed at the end of the season. An additional fee will be assessed upon entrance to the league. The additional fee is to pay for the statistics service for the season. The total cost is approximately $80 and will be divided evenly between all owners. Any owner that wants standings and statistics mailed to him weekly, will pay an additional $10 for the season.
Additional fees will be assessed as follows:
All money collected from additional fees will be added to the prize pot for dispersal.
All payments must be made in a timely manner, or the owner will receive a penalty for a late payment. The executive committee will impose penalties when they feel it is necessary to impose one against a particular owner.
The following is a list of payment due dates and penalties that can be imposed:
|
Type of Payment |
Moves Thru |
Payment Due |
Penalty |
|
Entry Fee/Stats |
N/A |
Draft Day |
Loss of 1st & 2nd round picks in both drafts |
|
1st Moves Payment |
May 31 |
June 15 |
No moves allowed until payment is made |
|
2nd Moves Payment |
July 31 |
August 15 |
No moves allowed until payment is made & loss of 1 draft pick for each week payment is late (starting w/ rd. 10, 12, 14, etc.) |
|
3rd Moves Payment |
End of season |
October 25 |
Interest of $2 per week & loss of 1 draft pick for each week payment is late (starting w/ rd. 5, 7, 9, etc.) |
The salary of a player is determined by using The Sporting News Fantasy Baseball salary sheet. The salary cap for 2000 will be $____ million. (Appox. $_.___ mil per player)
Taxi squad and inactive list players do not count against the salary cap until activated.
A player is eligible to be placed at a position if he meets one of the following criteria:
**A pitcher is eligible to be switched between starting and relief if he had 5 appearances in that role during the previous season or during the current season.
**If a player is not on the salary sheet and did not play 20 games at a position (5 for pitchers) during the previous season, he is eligible only at the position he appeared most frequently.
The statistic period of the league goes from Monday to Sunday. The following statistical categories will be used to determine our standings.
| Batting Average | Wins
| Home Runs
| Saves
| Runs Batted In
| Earned Run Average
| Runs Scored
| K/BB Ratio
| Stolen Bases
| WHIP Ratio (Walks+Hits/Innings Pitched)
| |
**Pitchers batting statistics and position players pitching statistics will not be counted.
Teams will be ranked from first to last in all ten categories and given points for each category. For example, in a 10-team league, the team in first in each category receives 10 points, the second place team 9, and so on.
**If there is a tie at the season’s end, a "head-to-head" tiebreaker will be used. The tied teams are compared against each other in each category, and given a point for bettering the other team in each category. If one team wins more categories than the other does, that team is declared the winner.
**The second tiebreaker will be determined by whichever team has more first place finishes in a category.
**In case of a tie after both tiebreakers, any prize money will be split evenly between the teams. For determining draft spots for the following season, a coin toss will be used.
Player moves for the following stat week must be into the commissioner by Tuesday, 5 PM (1 PM if any day games) of the new stat week. Player moves may be made by either e-mail (jonblu@2ki.net) or by calling the commissioner.
Home: 716-343-0762 Work: 716-343-5454
All moves must keep a team at or under the salary cap. If a team makes a move that puts it over the cap, the move will be negated for that week and the owner will be notified of this.
**Any move involving a pitcher that throws on a Monday MUST be made before the first game on Monday begins.
The regular season trading deadline is midnight, August 31. During the off-season, a freeze on trades will occur one week before the Major League Draft, and will continue until draft day.
Trades do not have to be an even exchange (one for one), but do have to be made in "the best interest of all teams involved, and the league". Dumping star players will not be tolerated if the team does not receive "fair" value in return. (See Section XIV, Hearings) If a two-for-one trade is made, the team acquiring two players must keep his roster at 41 players.
**When a team acquires a player in a trade, the new player is placed on the taxi squad unless the owner notifies the commissioner to activate this player(s).
**Trades can only involve players and draft picks for the following years draft. Trades may not include draft picks beyond the following season, salary cap money or a money exchange between owners.
**Any trade involving future considerations must be completed one month after the regular season ends, or it will result in the loss of draft picks by the teams involved. In addition, any trade involving a player to be named later (PTNBL), the PTNBL must be a player on the team’s inactive list.
Free agents may be picked up anytime in between the Major League Draft and the end of the regular season. The free agent claim system will be as follows:
Limits – Each team will be limited to 7 free agent pickups during the season. For each of these pickups, a team must keep his roster (active & taxi squad) at no more than 41 players.
**Exceptions – During the course of the season, each team will be allowed three exceptions, which can be used for players placed on the 60-day DL (or other serious injuries). These 3 pickups will not count against the 7 pickups allowed, and no player must be released. When the injured player is activated by his major league team, a player must be cut to trim the roster to 41.
**If an owner believes he has a "serious injury" that should allow an exemption, but his player is not placed on the 60-day DL, he may appeal to the executive committee for this exemption. Each case will be reviewed individually, but a player must be reported out at least 2 months for the executive committee to consider the appeal.
**A free agent that is picked up must be currently playing in the majors.
The executive committee is appointed for two purposes:
The executive committee consists of the following three people; the commissioner (Jon), assistant commissioner (Craig S.) and one senior member of the league (Jeff).
**If any member of the executive committee's team is involved in any accusations, they will not take part in determining any sanctions. Instead, a senior member of the league will be chosen to take his place.
**No member of the executive committee may bring up charges against another team.
**If a substitute member is needed for any reason, his team cannot be involved in the matter.
If at any time one owner suspects that two teams are colluding or making a trade that is not in the "best interests of the game", evidence may be brought to the executive. The Executive committee will decide whether these charges are legitimate, and if deemed so, will require a hearing for the teams involved in the alleged behavior.
The teams involved will have the chance to explain why their action is legal. The executive committee will then decide if any actions should be taken against the teams. The following are actions that may be taken and used as penalties:
**More than one sanction may be used if deemed necessary.
All new teams entering the league will take part in an expansion draft. These expansion draft rules will only be applicable if there are 2 or more expansion teams in a year. (These expansion rules are subject to change if there are only 2 expansion teams.)
In addition to the expansion draft, during the Major League draft, all expansion teams will receive a "sandwich round" selection. This selection will be made after round 3 ends and before round 4 begins. The order of the sandwich round will be reverse order of the 1st round of the expansion draft.
In an expansion draft, new teams will draft 9 players each. These players will be drafted from players left unprotected by the returning franchises. Only players on a team’s roster at the end of the previous season are eligible to be drafted in the expansion draft.
Before the expansion draft, each team will submit a list of 8 players that they are protecting. These players will not be exposed to the expansion teams. The expansion draft will then consist of 3 rounds:
Round 1: The order for round 1 will be determined by either a coin toss or drawing teams from a hat. For the first 2 selections of the 1st round, the order of drafting will be as follows.
Two expansion teams: 1-2-2-1
Three expansion teams: 1-2-3-3-2-1
After the first 2 selection by each team, the remainder of the draft will be conducted in the order drawn.
**The team selected first may differ it’s selection and choose which spot it wants to pick, with the other team(s) moving up one spot.
Each existing team will lose one player each in the first round. After a player has been selected from a team, the rest of the team’s players will be ineligible for the remainder of the round. After round 1 is completed, each team will protect an additional 2 players.
Round 2: In round 2, each team will lose 1 additional player to the expansion teams. Once a team loses a player in round 2, the rest of its players are ineligible for the remainder of the round. After round 2, each team will protect an additional 2 players
Round 3: Will be conducted the same way as round 2. Each team will lose an additional player. No players will be protected after the 3rd round.
Expansion Draft for One team: (Pending approval from league)
Each team will submit a list of 7 protected players. The expansion team will then select 10 players from what is available. After a team loses a player, he may pull back 2 additional players.
The most players that a team may lose in an expansion draft is TWO.
Minor League Expansion Draft:
Each team will expose either 3 or half of their rookies, whichever number is smaller. If you have an odd number on your taxi squad, round down. When each list is submitted, the expansion team (or teams) will draft from these players, in an order to be determined.The new teams will be able to draft up to 4 rookies each. After a player is selected from a teams unprotected list, that team may pull back one more rookie, and protect him from being drafted. The most rookies a team may lose in any draft is TWO.
If there are not enough rookies to compensate each team with 4 rookies, these teams will receive a compensatory rookie pick in between rounds 2 and 3 of the minor league draft. The expansion teams may not pass on available rookies and choose a compensation pick in return. If there are rookies available, the expansion teams must draft, or they will not receive any compensation.
The prize money will be the total of all money collected for entrance fees and fees for player moves, minus a minimal amount (approx. $5) to be used for postage and/or copies. The prize money will be dispersed as follows:
If there are 9 or less teams in the league:
1st Place: 70%
2nd Place: 20%
3rd Place: 10%
If there are 10 or more teams in the league:
1st Place: 60%
2nd Place: 25%
3rd Place: 10%
4th Place: 5%