HELP! Our league needs some constitution tweaking.

[wedgedbacks]

We need to revamp our constitution because we've been running into some problems in the first year of our keeper league. I've posted our constitution below. Some of the problems we're having is that trades are completely valued poorly, and rules are too open to interpretation. I'm not asking for a complete revamp from you guys, just some ideas that could help make us a better league. This is all born out of us just discussing ideas for a some tweaks for down the road.

League Constitution

-----------Table of Contents ------------

=======================

1. The Objective

2. Teams and Rosters

3. Prizes

4. The Draft

5. Frozen Players

6. Position Eligibility

7. Standings

8. Trades

9. Waivers/Free Agent Claims

10. The Commissioner

1. THE OBJECTIVE

The objective of Fantasy Baseball is to assemble a lineup of 16 active baseball
players whose cumulative statistics, compiled, and measured by the methods
described below, exceed those of the other teams in the League.

2. TEAMS AND ROSTERS

(a) Each team is comprised of 22 Major League players and 3 minor league players.
Each team's active roster consists of the following players:

1 [1B] First baseman

1 [2B] Second baseman

1 [SS] Shortstop

1 [3B] Third baseman

1 [C] Catchers

3 [OF] Outfielders

1 [U] Utility (may be filled by any non-pitcher)

7 [P] Pitchers 3 [sp] 2 [rp] 2[p]

6 Bench/Reserve Players

2 DL spot

3 Minor League Slots

b) Bench: 6 players, either major or minor league. There will be a separate
minor league only bench slot consisting of 3 people. Once a player has 130
(Major League Baseball standard for rookie of the year eligibility) at bats
or 50 innings pitched he is no longer eligible to be included on the minor
league roster. Foreign players who enter MLB without spending any time in the
minors are not eligible for a minor league roster spot.

(c) DL spots: 2 spots for disabled players only. Once his major league team
activates a player, owners have 3 days to move him from the spot or he will
be released.

(d) Position Eligibility

A player must have played 10 games at a position during the previous year to
begin the year at the position. Once the season begins, new positions will
be added based on 5 games started at that position. Any player may be placed
at the utility position.

3. PRIZES

(a) Prizes are awarded based on the amount of entry fees. Owners are charged
*$35 per team.

(b) The prize pool for 14 teams is $378 (minus any donation made). The payout
is: $200 first, $100 second, $50 third.

(c) The team with the most total points at the conclusion of the season is
determined to be League Champion. *Amount subject to change for future years.

4. THE DRAFT

(a) The Commissioner will assign teams left ownerless from the last completed
season from a list of potential FBB owner applicants. These teams, now so owned,
will be subject to all terms and conditions of the rules herein.

(b) The draft will be held on Thursday, March 16th at 7pm est. We will be using
http://www.mockdraftcentral.com for the draft. It will be a standard snake-style draft
meaning the 14th pick will also have the 15th overall pick (pick 1 of the second
round) There will be 60 seconds between picks. A team does not have to draft
a full starting lineup prior to drafting bench players. This means a team may
draft 5 OF before drafting a second basemen if he so desires.

(c) Any player not in the player pool before the draft begins can be added
by request to the commissioners. They will notify everyone on the league site
of players added to the player pool as they are requested before the draft.
Once the draft is complete all players unlisted by rotowire.com are not available
for add/drop until added into the system by rotowire.com (presumably when they
make a major league appearance). At this point they can be added to your team
via waiver rules.

5. FROZEN PLAYERS

(a) Up to two weeks prior to the draft, each team is required to submit its
Frozen Players for the draft. Each team may freeze from 0 to 4 players from
his roster with a 1 round penalty for the next year. EXAMPLE: David Wright
is drafted in the 3rd round of the 2006 draft. The owner that owns his rights
may freeze that player at the cost of a 2nd round pick the next year.

(b) No player drafted in the 1st round of the previous draft may be frozen.

(c) If an owner freezes 2 players that have been drafted in the same round,
that owner will lose the next highest draft pick. EXAMPLE: David Wright and
Mark Teixeira are both on TEAM A and were drafted in the 3rd round. TEAM A’s
owner wishes to freeze both…that owner would lose the 2nd round pick by rule
for Teixeira. If the owner wishes to then freeze Wright, he must use lose the
1st round pick unless another 2nd round pick is acquired. (See Trading in section
8) * A team may freeze only 1-2nd round pick from the previous year unless
a second 1st round pick is acquired.

(d) Non-receipt of a team's Frozen Roster assumes no players have been frozen.

6. Innings Max

Inning Max: 1200 innings. Since http://www.rotowire.com doesn’t allow us to set this
yet, we will manually do it until the feature becomes available. The innings
max isn’t hard, so that means if you are at 1199 innings and accumulate 30
the next day all 30 will count. Starting lineups aren’t required to be full.
If a team wishes to start only one position player, they do so at their own
risk.

7. STANDINGS

(a) The following criteria are used to determine team performance: Composite
Batting Average Total Runs Scored Total Home Runs Total RBI's Total Stolen
Bases Composite ERA Total Wins Total Saves Total Strikeouts WHIP (walks plus
hits divided by innings pitched)

(b) Teams are ranked from first to last in each of the 10 categories above
and given points commensurate with their categorical standings. The sum of
the points in each of a team's 10 categories determines their standing in the
league.

(c) In cases of ties in total points, a team's final place in the standings
shall be determined by:

• Overall total score

• Head-to-head comparisons in the 10 categories

• Total amount of categories won

• Lower Earned Run Average

• Tie – winnings split

(c) Rotowire.com shall calculate the official league standings.

8. TRADES

(a) After the completion of the draft to the trade deadline, teams are free
to make trades.

(b) The offering or trading of draft picks is allowed. No future draft picks
PAST THE NEXT YEAR may be traded.

(c) The Commissioner may void any trade if he deems the trade to be not in
the best interest of the league. All trades will be processed after a 48-hour
period unless vetoed by the trade committee on he decision. Note: Teams involved
in the trade are not allowed to protest it or be involved in the judge’s decision.
They are however, allowed to state their view in an email or PM to the committee
members.

(d) No trades may be made from the trade deadline on August 14th until January
1st of the next year.

(e) A traded player retains his draft status after the trade.

(f) Trades are presumed to be made in good faith.

9. WAIVERS/Free Agent Claims

(a) The waived player becomes placed on waivers for a period of one full day.

(b) The waived player will spend ONE FULL day on waivers. All teams based on
the reverse order of standings will be able to claim that player. If unclaimed,
that player becomes a free agent.

(c) Waivers run every morning at approximately 6am EST.

(d) Teams may claim any available player.

(e) Any undrafted player claimed/picked up from the free agent list is equivalent
to a 10th round draft pick.

(f) Any drafted player released and picked up by another team holds his draft
position selected the previous year.

10. THE COMMISSIONER

(a) The Commissioner will be responsible for interpretation and adjudication
of all rules and procedures. If there is a situation involving the commissioner,
than the Vice-Commissioner will make the final decision.

(b) The Commissioner may take such disciplinary actions, as deemed necessary
to correct participant actions found be detrimental to the league. The success
of fantasy sports depends both upon a spirit of competition and a modicum of
good faith.

(c) Actions that may be subject to disciplinary action include improper trades,
abusive behavior, unauthorized proxy assertions, and frivolous transactions.

(d) The Commissioner is responsible for contracting a source for statistical
data and league maintenance on that source. The league is currently using Rotowire.com

many thanks.[/b]

[wedgedbacks]

to expound on some of our issues, 1st round picks don't have much worth in trades, keeper rules are just plain wierd and there's a call for a change there (which could change 1st round values), rules for the guys on the DL have been too open for interpretation, etc.

The biggest issue is that there is no good reason to trade for a 1st rounder right now. Not to mention the term "frilvilous transaction" has taken on a whole new meaning.

[CBV]

wow. this seems very complicated. maybe i should let the managers know about all this before we go through with our league in '07

[wedgedbacks]

wow. this seems very complicated. maybe i should let the managers know about all this before we go through with our league in '07

This is not the model you should use. I don't know a whole lot about keepers, but this is just a mess.

[garf112]

I never understood the whole keepers take the place of the round that they were previously drafted in for the next years draft thing. Why not just let teams keep from 0-4 players REGARDLESS of where they were picked and have the supplemental rounds for those who kept less than 4 players be S1 (chosen after the first round is completed) for 3 keepers, S1 and S2 for 2 keepers, S1, S2 and S3 for 1 keeper and S1, S2, S3 and S4 for 0 keepers.

That seems alot easier and will give value back to the draft.

[tianyi86]

I never understood the whole keepers take the place of the round that they were previously drafted in for the next years draft thing. Why not just let teams keep from 0-4 players REGARDLESS of where they were picked and have the supplemental rounds for those who kept less than 4 players be S1 (chosen after the first round is completed) for 3 keepers, S1 and S2 for 2 keepers, S1, S2 and S3 for 1 keeper and S1, S2, S3 and S4 for 0 keepers.

That seems alot easier and will give value back to the draft.

Definitely agree with this. The current system makes the perennial all stars in your league have little value bc players like pujols, arod, and ortiz will be drafted in the first round every year then goes right back, while the sleepers become insanely valuable. Imagine if u drafted lirano, fielder, kazmir and the likes in this league format, u will have them for 10-15 years to come.

[CBV]

can anyone with keeper league experience post a good "constitution" to follow?

what fantasy websites to use for a keeper league?

something tells me i will be doing a lot of work in the offseason researching and trying to get this together

[Matthias]

I never understood the whole keepers take the place of the round that they were previously drafted in for the next years draft thing. Why not just let teams keep from 0-4 players REGARDLESS of where they were picked and have the supplemental rounds for those who kept less than 4 players be S1 (chosen after the first round is completed) for 3 keepers, S1 and S2 for 2 keepers, S1, S2 and S3 for 1 keeper and S1, S2, S3 and S4 for 0 keepers.

That seems alot easier and will give value back to the draft.

why? because it then rewards managers who are more shrewd and pick a gem in the late rounds rather than just having everyone keep their high picks for another year.

i would tweak it, though, so that the round you lose the pick in becomes progressively higher. i.e. you draft player A in round 10. the next year you could freeze (keep) him and forfeit your 9th round pick. but then the next year you'd have to give up your 7th round pick. and then the following year the 4th. and then 1st rounder or unkeepable the year after. something like that.

if you want to get more fancy, i devised a keeper points system for someone earlier in the year that they really liked. i can pm it to you if you're interested. basically, higher round picks cost you more and lower round picks are cheaper. so you can keep a couple high round picks or keep a few mid-round picks and some late-rounders. makes it more in the control of the manager. and then players become progressively more expensive the longer they're kept so someone doesn't hold onto pujols for 10 years or whatever.

[markj11]

I never understood the whole keepers take the place of the round that they were previously drafted in for the next years draft thing. Why not just let teams keep from 0-4 players REGARDLESS of where they were picked and have the supplemental rounds for those who kept less than 4 players be S1 (chosen after the first round is completed) for 3 keepers, S1 and S2 for 2 keepers, S1, S2 and S3 for 1 keeper and S1, S2, S3 and S4 for 0 keepers.

That seems alot easier and will give value back to the draft.

This would clear up everything.

[wedgedbacks]

I never understood the whole keepers take the place of the round that they were previously drafted in for the next years draft thing. Why not just let teams keep from 0-4 players REGARDLESS of where they were picked and have the supplemental rounds for those who kept less than 4 players be S1 (chosen after the first round is completed) for 3 keepers, S1 and S2 for 2 keepers, S1, S2 and S3 for 1 keeper and S1, S2, S3 and S4 for 0 keepers.

That seems alot easier and will give value back to the draft.

why? because it then rewards managers who are more shrewd and pick a gem in the late rounds rather than just having everyone keep their high picks for another year.

i would tweak it, though, so that the round you lose the pick in becomes progressively higher. i.e. you draft player A in round 10. the next year you could freeze (keep) him and forfeit your 9th round pick. but then the next year you'd have to give up your 7th round pick. and then the following year the 4th. and then 1st rounder or unkeepable the year after. something like that.

if you want to get more fancy, i devised a keeper points system for someone earlier in the year that they really liked. i can pm it to you if you're interested. basically, higher round picks cost you more and lower round picks are cheaper. so you can keep a couple high round picks or keep a few mid-round picks and some late-rounders. makes it more in the control of the manager. and then players become progressively more expensive the longer they're kept so someone doesn't hold onto pujols for 10 years or whatever.

I suggested the first two ideas you guys threw out to our league. I didn't the points thing because I think the other owners in the league are that keen on points, since it was shot down pretty fierce when discussing the league.