I need some help from someone who has a minors draft

[SHOCKandAWE]

Our keeper league is going to incorporate a minors thi syear. we are looking for the best way to do this. If anyone has exp with a minors draft please explain to me the details along with how it works with the majors rosters.

[stumpak]

We incoprated minor leagues into our existing keeper auction league a couple of years back and it went well:

--4 minor league spots
--has to be players that were never previously owned in the league and meet MLB "rookie" qualification in terms of ABs and IPs
--draft occurs after the auction (this gives people a chance to pay premiums for rookie/minor league types they really want)
--you can keep a player as long as you want so long as you don't add him to your major league roster. At that point he becomes like any other player and can't return to the minors
--these players can be traded; you can carry more than 4 if players if you obtain extra players via trades during the season, but you have to pare the roster back down to 4 before the next season.
--a new minor league draft occurs at the same time as the auction to fill any open spaces.

[SHOCKandAWE]

Good feedback. I would be interested in listening about other way as well but this seems easy.

[Savoy Special]

FARM SYSTEM
A.Each owner can draft up to 10 Minor League Players, 10 Reserve Players, & 20 Active Players, which will make up the team’s 40-man Roster.
B.ML players will not count against the salary cap ($300).
C.ML players can be from any MLB team’s Farm System.
D.ML players CANNOT be drafted if they have been used towards an MLB team’s 40-man roster as being there with that MLB team. See http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/fe ... n1104.html for updated MLB 40-man rosters. This even applies to Rule 5 players (i.e. Chris Shelton DET). If a player has played in the major leagues, he is not qualified for the ML draft.
E.The ML rosters will be maintained on the Leagues Official website, not Yahoo.
Since Yahoo does not track ML players, be aware when activating the ML player. Wait until he has been activated on the Yahoo site before you make any Roster Moves to call him up.
F.In order to activate the ML player, owners must drop an active player before doing so. Although ML players do not count against the Salary Cap, they must takeover a salary for the player he is replacing. Therefore, the ML player will takeover the MLB player’s salary before being activated (minimum of $4 and maximum of $15).
G.EXAMPLE: "FinleyFlops" drops Shawn Green ($29) and activated Cole Hamels from the ML System. Cole Hamels will then have a $15 salary since that is the maximum limit for a 1st year ML player. Shawn Green will then go to the Reserve-List, which players also do not have salaries counted against the cap.
H.In order to carry over a Minor League player to the following year, same rules for drafting apply: you cannot keep a ML player if he has made his perspective MLB team.

Here are our rules for our league. We are a new 20 team keeper league this year so we will draft 10 minor leaguers (very deep). We also will not allow you to draft a player if he was active at all on the MLB squad last year.
If an owner activates a minor league spot, that spot remains open until the following year's draft. For instance, if 3 of my minor leaguers become activated by their big league squad, I must either cut them or activate them to my team. Those 3 spots will be empty until our draft next year. So I would carry over 7 and draft 3 more.

[Bukoski77]

Here is a cut and paste from one of my leagues rules to the minor league draft. Some of the names are out dated but I think you will get the concept.

MINOR LEAGUE DRAFT & PLAYER QUALIFICATIONS

After our major league draft we will conduct a three round minor league draft, probably in late April or early May once major league rosters stabilize. The draft will be conducted on the message board, with teams picking in the opposite order of the major league draft. Each team will have 24 hours to pick a player that is playing in the minor leagues at the time of the draft (NOTE: no player on a major league roster on the day the draft begins may be picked as a minor leaguer). After your three minor leaguers are picked you will be able to place in minor league slots on your roster. During the season you will have a total of 9 minor league slots to use to stock your farm system.

MINOR LEAGUE PLAYER F.A.Q.S:

1) What if I didn't pick any minor league players last year becasue my team had a lame duck owner? What if I don't have a minor league system?

ANSWER: Some of you inherited teams that did not participate in the minor league draft the previous season. Therefore, you don't have minor league players. If this is the case you may make a special arragement with the Commissioner to pick up minor league players. However, if the previous owner of your team has established a minor league system you will not be eligible for this arrangement.

2) What if a player gets called up from the minors after we conduct the minor league draft?

ANSWER: Then that player is a free agent and open to whoever gets him first, because he is now on a MAJOR LEAGUE ROSTER. If at some point he gets sent down to the minors again the fantasy team that picks him up is allowed to place him into their minor league system or release him.

3) Can we pick up minor league players after the minor league draft is over?

ANSWER: No. Only if they get called up to the majors and are on a major league team roster.

4) How do we define someone as a minor leaguer versus major leaguer?

ANSWER: For purposes of the draft, a minor leaguer will be defined as a player that is the minors at the begining of our minor league draft. After the draft, it will be also be the same: any player that is in the minors during the season is a minor league player and cannot be picked up outside the minor league draft. Any player that is on a major league roster at any time is eligible to be picked up by a fantasy team.

5) Can I place a major leaguer in one of my minor league slots, like perhaps a Jay Payton or a Alfonso Soriano?

ANSWER: No. Only players who are in the minors may be in minor league roster spots.

6) What if one of my minor league draft picks gets called up to the majors? Do I have to move him to my major league roster, or can I keep him on my minor league roster if I want?

ANSWER: If a player on your minor league roster gets called up to the majors you have one week to move him to your Major League roster. Either the Commish or another owner will notify the team in question and the rest of the league (via email) that their roster is illegal. If the change is not made within one week of the player being called up to the majors he must be released into the free agent pool. If that player gets sent back down you are free to transfer him from your major league roster to your minor league roster

7) Do I get to keep my last years minor league picks as minor leagers if they are in the majors at the start of the next season?

ANSWER: For position players if they played 65 or more games in the majors the previous year they are no longer considered "minor league players". For pitchers if they made 15 appearances in the majors the previous year they are no longer considered "minor league players". If a player no longer qualifies as a "minor leaguer" you must either release them when keepers are declared on March 15th, trade them or add them to your keeper list. Players who have played in less then 65 major league games (or pitched in less than 15 games) still qualify as minor league players and can be kept on your minor league roster for the following year. (NOTE: this rule only applies to the end of the season roster moves and not during the season roster moves. See #6)

8) I picked up some players who got called up to the majors, then later got sent back down to the minors. I put them on my minor league roster, and now all nine spots are filled. How do I participate in the next minor league draft with my minor league roster full at 9 players?

ANSWER: You can either drop three of those players to make room for your minor league draft picks in the next draft, or simply not participate in the minor league draft. Or drop two of them and make two picks in the draft, etc. It's up to you.

9) How many minor leaguers do we get to keep at the end of the season for next year?

ANSWER: Your roster has 9 minor league slots. If a player qualifies as a minor leaguer (see #7) you may "carry them over" to the next season in those roster spots along with your six Major League keepers. You can have 9 Minor League players total at any given time. You can fill those spots with minor league draft picks, free agents pick ups that got sent down to the minors, or players you picked up in the Major League draft that got sent down later.

10) Say I have Marlon Byrd as one of my 9 minor league keepers (he played in the majors last year, but did not appear in 65 games) along with my 8 Major League keepers. I draft my team and have to set my lineup for Week 1, but now Marlon Byrd is on a Major League roster. Can I keep him in a minor league slot?

ANSWER: No. You have to drop someone from your 25 man roster to make room for him OR you have to release him. Otherwise, your roster will be illegal.

As we are a limited keeper league (3 years keeping a player maximum) we also have a few more rules that allow you to protect players going into their sophmore year (at no cost to your total amount of keepers) and give you an extra year of keeper eligibility for players you drafted in the minor league draft. I'll post those later if you want.