Each team has a possibility of winning or loosing six (6) games each week.

The league will be divided into 2 conferences that will each have 2 divisions of 4 teams each, for a total of 16 teams. The
participants in the playoffs will be the 4 division winners along with 2 wild card teams from each conference for a total of 8 teams that will participate in post season play.

The Scoring
The scoring system is accessed by clicking here or through the main page of this website. This scoring system will be used to determine the winner in each game played. The performance of your players on each day will be the deciding factor for that days game. Each owner will be responsible for calculating the scores of not only his team, but also for his opponents team. Scores for Monday thru Thursday (Single high game) are due by 9pm Saturday. Scores for Friday, Saturday and Sunday are due by 9pm Monday. As a part of the league you are expected to fulfill your obligation in reporting the scores of the games. If any team does not report scores to the league on time, you will be allowed one "mulligan". On the second violation, your team  will not be given credit for any points scored (team totals or individual totals) for that time period. Your team will still receive wins and losses for that week. In addition, a $10 fine will issued against the team owner. All fines will go towards food at the draft the following year. In the event of a discrepancy in the scores, the commissioner will verify the scores through the official stat service website, MLB.com and the decision will be final. (If a score discrepancy occurs from the results posted on the internet, the Commish will review multiple websites to determine the most consistent and accurate score) For each series there will be a "home" and a "visiting" team. 

The home team will receive a 1/2 point "home field advantage" for each game of the series and also on total points, solely for the purpose of breaking any ties that may occur.

When reporting your weekly scores to the Commissioner each week, teams are encouraged to compare scores with their opponent, and once the two teams agree on the scores, send a single scoring summary to the commissioner. With 16 teams in the league, it will severely delay the process of posting weekly results if all match-ups must have their scores reviewed. Excel files will be provided to assist in the process of reporting scores.

The Teams
The teams will consist of 13 players, distributed as follows:
(2) Catchers    (1) 1st Baseman    (1) 2nd baseman    (1) shortstop    (1) 3rd baseman    (4) outfielders
(1) middle infielder    (1) corner infielder    (1) pitching staff        

The two catchers will  be from the same team. A specific catcher must be drafted and you will be awarded his back-up as well. The back-up catcher must be declared as well each week. You roster will show two specific players at the catcher position. Once a MLB team's catchers are selected, that team can not be claimed as their catcher, even if another player on the MLB roster is eligible at the catcher position.

The corner infielder must qualify at either 1st or 3rd base
The middle infielder must qualify at either shortstop or 2nd base

Players may be drafted from both the American and National Leagues of Major League Baseball. 
Owners must keep a full and active roster at all times during the season.

Every player on a roster will be considered a Franchise Player. Teams will have the rights to a players replacement in case of injury. If the back-up/replacement is on another teams roster, you will have to seek another replacement. If a player is benched, you do not have rights to his replacement.

Position Qualifications
For a complete list of games played, follow the following links:

2002 Season         NL         AL     (click on league)

For any given player to qualify at any given position he must meet certain criteria. By either playing in 20 games at that position in 2002 or playing 10 games at that position in 2003, the player will be considered eligible for that position. In the event that a player is changing positions for 2003, if any player makes a start at a position on opening day, he will be considered qualified for that position. During the draft, if it is considered "common knowledge" that a player is making a position change for 2003, he will be allowed to be drafted at his new position. Since we will not have the DH in our league, any player that is a DH within the American League must qualify at a position in order to be placed on any team roster in our league. See below for the list of American League DHs and positions that they will qualify at for draft purposes. If he plays at another position during the year he will increase his qualifications. If a player is a rookie, he will be eligible at the position he plays regularly or has the most games played at until he reaches the 10 game minimum.

DH's    Edgar Martinez, Sea -1B        Ellis Burks, Cle -OF                 Matt LeCroy, Min -1B        Josh Phelps, Tor -1B
             Frank Thomas, CHW - 1B     Dimtri Young, Det - 1B          David Ortiz, Min - 1B

Players may qualify at more than one position, but will only accumulate points for a specific position side pot on weeks they play that position. For example, Ryan Klesko qualifies at 1B and OF. Weeks 1-4 he is started at OF. Then in weeks 5-7 he is started at 1B. Only the points scored on weeks 1-4 will go towards the High OF sidepot. The stats from weeks 5-7 will go towards the High 1B sidepot.

The Draft

The draft will consist of 12 rounds of 16 picks with teams picking in reverse order in even numbered rounds. Example: If you have the first pick in the first round, you will have the 16th pick in the 2nd round. Draft position has been determined and is posted on the website. You are permitted to make trades of your draft positions. When a catcher is selected, the team will also receive the back-up catcher for that player as part of the pick. Specific players must be declared at the position (the backup can be declared when lineups are due week #1).

Line-ups

Each team must submit a starting line up for each week. Line ups are due to the league by 9:00 PM Sunday. In the event that a player is placed on the DL on Sunday night, that an owner was unaware of when line-ups were due, there will be a grace period given to that owner to make the change in his line-up. This grace period will expire once the first game is played on Monday. If a player goes on the DL between Monday and Friday, you will be allowed to replace him for the weekend games (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) prior to the Friday lineup deadline. If the DL player replaced is a sub, the newly acquired replacement can not be moved into the starting lineup for the weekend games. Once the weekend games start, you are not allowed to replace any DL player. You can replace a DL player over the weekend, but the transaction will not take effect until Sunday night for the following weeks games. The affected owners will have until the start of the first game of the affected players to notify the league of the desire to make the change. If no line-up changes are received by the league, it will be assumed that none are to be made, and the previous week's line-up will be used. 

Starting line ups will consist of :

(1) Catcher    (1) 1st Baseman    (1) 2nd Baseman    (1) Shortstop    (1) 3rd Baseman
(3) Outfielders    (1) Pitching staff

Only points scored by these players will be tabulated into the game results

In the event that one of the players in your starting line-up does not play, due to injury, managers decision, postponement, or the lack of a scheduled game, the back up player at his position will be inserted into the line up for that day ONLY. Example: Team "A" starts Frank Thomas at 1st base and Matt Williams at 3rd Base for the weekend, and they have Jeff Bagwell as their corner infielder. If Thomas or Williams do not play in the game on Saturday, for any reason, Bagwell will be inserted into their line up for that day only and his scores will be tabulated along with the rest of the starting team. This applies to each position and its respective back up players. If a starter has at least 2 plate appearances (PA), his stats will be used for that game. If neither the starter or back up player achieves the 2 PA limit, and they have an equal number of PA's, the starter then will be used. If neither the starter or back-up makes an appearance in a game on any given day, the position will get a zero for that game. If a starter does not play or get the necessary 2 PA during any game on the Mon-Thu games, the back-up will be used and their best game during the Mon-Thu period will be used. In the event that a starter makes a appearance, but fails to get 2 PA, and the sub does not play that day, the starters 1 AB or 0 PA will count for that day. (Note, this rule does also apply to the weekday M-Th games, but only if a starter does not get 2PA for the entire week, and then the sub does not get 2PA for the entire week as well. If both were to happen, then a starter's 1 AB or 0 PA game would be used)  In the event that 2 starting OF's both only get one PA, the sub OF will be used for one player, and the team will use which ever of the 2 starting OF's that had the highest score for the day for the second score.

Please keep in mind when applying these rules to the M-Th games, you must treat those four days as ONE SINGLE GAME. You do not apply rules on individual days, and overlook the rest of the week.

Since your roster will show two specific players at catcher, the same 2 AB rule will apply in any other games as listed above for all other offensive players. You must declare the 2 specific players at catcher on your roster each week. If a MLB team happens to carry 3 catchers, you do not receive stats from all 3, only the two catchers you have declared on your roster.

In the event that a pitching staff is rained out and does not play (on the Weekend games only), the scores most recent game not used on the Mon-Thu games will be used.  Example: Team B has Florida's pitching staff, the Marlins are rained out on Saturday, they played on Thursday. The performance from Thursday's game will be used in the scoring for Saturday if the Thursday game was not used. If the Thursday game was used, then you go back to Wed and so on.. A team may not use the game they used as their high game on Mon-Thu. While going backwards to find the most recent game not used it comes to a day that the pitching staff played a doubleheader, game 1 will be used first and then game 2 if necessary.

In the event your catchers game is rained out and does not play (on the Weekend games only), the same rule for pitching staffs will apply. (See above for rule)

 There are no other line up changes permitted during the course of the weeks series.

In the event of a double header during the M-Th games, both games are eligible to be used as the high game of the week. If a team's pitching staff or team catcher is rained out during the F-Su games, both games of a doubleheader will be used when going backwards to find the most recent game not used, which will be substituted for the rainout game.  In the event of a double header in MLB on any weekend games, the statistics from the first game will be used in tabulation of scores unless a player does not achieve the required 2 PA minimum. If a starter does not get 2 PA's in game one, then the stats from the second game of a weekend doubleheader may be used. In the event a player only has 1 PA in both games of a weekend doubleheader, game one will be used.

********A weekly report will be published each week during the season on the league web-site, updating the leagues standings and scores, if any owner notices a discrepancy in something that was published in the report, he will have one week in which to notify the league of the problem, after such time NO CHANGES will be made. This applies to scores of games, scores of players, to game results to side pot issues. After a period of one week, the results and published reports becomes OFFICIAL***************

Prize Money
The total of all fees collected will be returned to the league in the form of prize money. All Eight (8) of the  playoff teams that qualify for the post season will share in the prize money.

The prize money pay-out breakdown will be as follows:

1ST-$600        2ND-$420        3RD-$300        4TH-$240        5TH-$200        6TH-$140    7TH-$80    8TH-$60

$60 Each Division Winner (4 Teams)

Side Pots: $100-High Team Series Average    $65- Most Team Points            $25-All-Star Game MVP
                   $50-High Team Series                      $40-High Player for a game     $50-High Player for a Series
                   $40-High Team Game***                $40-High 1B for the Year          $40-High 2B for the Year
                   $40-High SS for the Year                 $40-High 3B for the Year          $40-High OF for the Year
                   $40-High C for the Year                   $40-High P Staff  for the Year
                    
***ONLY FRI-SUN GAMES WILL USED TO DETERMINE THE HIGH TEAM GAME***

Weekly Points Pool
The top 3 teams scores each week will receive the following prize: 1^st $15         2^nd $10       3^rd $5
The bottom 3 teams will have to pay the following amounts: 16^th $15    15^th $10       14^th $5
This will be a running total throughout the year and will be available on the website. Payoffs will be at the following years draft. Any winnings or losses from the prior year, would be the responsibility of the owner that incurred them. If a team chooses not to come back to the league the following year, they would receive any winnings they may have won, as well as must pay any losses they may have had. If a team does not pay off any losses, they would not be permitted to participate in ANY UAL Fantasy League until their debt is settled.

Post Season Play
Each Division Winner and 2 wild card teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs.  In Round One the #1 seed will play the #4  in the first round, and the #2 seed will play the #3 in each conference. In Round Two, the two winners in each conference will play. In Round Three, the two conference champions will play for the league championship. Each playoff series will be the best of 5, with the winner moving on to the next round. When determining final order of finish, a wildcard team can never be ranked higher then a divisional winner, regardless of the teams final record.

The "home-field advantage" will continue throughout the playoffs, with the higher seeded team receiving the advantage.

Tie Breakers
If at any time during the season a tie occurs with respect to records, the league will use the same formula through out:
1) total team points (wins + top 8 finishes)
2) total wins
3) head to head
4) record within division
5) record within conference
6) points scored
7) points against
8) coin flip

******* Please note that ALL rosters will be frozen for the playoffs, unless a team has a player that goes on or comes
off of the DL.*******

Transactions

****All transactions should be e-mailed to the commissioner at ualcommish@comcast.net. If necessary, transactions may be called in to the commissioner at 303-248-9259.****

Free Agents
After the draft, any players that remain un-drafted are considered free agents. Any team may acquire a free agent at any time during the year, provided he releases a player that qualifies at the same position as the acquired player. All free agent acquisitions are on a daily basis. The cut off time for free agent moves is 9:00 PM each day. In the event that more than one team wishes to acquire the same free agent during the same period, the team with the lower ranking will be awarded the player.
 
If a team wishes to place a bid on more than one free agent or waiver wire player during any given claim period, the owner
must rank the players in an order of preference. The league will then award the players in a draft like manner, with the lowest ranked bidding team getting their first choice of players then the next lowest ranked team getting their choice, and so on. During week #1, priority will be determined by reverse order of drafting positions. Players must be on an active roster in order to be claimed as a free agent. DL players are not eligible to be claimed as a Free Agent until they have been activated from the DL, and then they are an eligible free agent to be claimed.

If a catcher is claimed as a free agent or waiver wire claim, you will also receive his back-up as well. The starting catcher and the back-up must be declared as specific players (not just team catcher) when line-ups are due.

If you want to claim a player at catcher, and they played the necessary 20 games last year or 10 games this year, that MLB team's catchers can not be on an active fantasy team.

There will a limit of 4 transactions (either free agent or waiver claims combined) that may be made involving a team Pitching Staff for all teams in the league. 

Waiver Wire
When a player is released by a team he will be considered "on waivers". The weekly waiver period will end at 9pm
Tuesday when the latest standings come out. All players on waivers for the week will be processed at 6pm Saturday. Players claimed from waivers on Saturday will be eligible for line-ups that Sunday. The same rule for multiple claims applies for the waiver wire as for free agents. If a player goes unclaimed during the waiver period he will then be classified as a free agent. When you acquire a player through free agency, you MUST retain him on your roster for the remainder of that week's scheduled games. A player claimed off waivers MUST be retained for the week following the waiver claim, which is the first week they are eligible for. A player may be claimed and then traded during the same week.

Disabled List
When a player on an active roster is placed on the DL by his major league team (click here for latest injury status), the fantasy team is also required to place the player on our DL. This is a mandatory transaction. There is no limit to the number of players that you can have on the DL.

When a player of yours is activated from the major league DL, you also must activate him off your DL. All mandatory DL
transactions must be made by Sunday at 9:00 PM.

In the event that a player is lost to injury, released or sent to the minors, the fantasy team that has that player will have first rights to the replacement player.

If a player is sent to the minors, or released by his team, that player is eligible to be placed on the DL.

No team will be permitted to acquire a player that is on the DL of his major league team once the draft has been completed.

Any player that goes on the DL or is activated from the DL, must be replaced or activated. Teams will be given ONE transaction date (transaction dates are Friday before 1st game played, and Sunday at 9pm) as a grace period. On the second transaction date, if a player is not replaced or activated, the following penalties will be enforced:
1) If a player is on the DL and listed as a starter, the back-up at that position will be ineligible for any scheduled games until the player is replaced. 
2) If a player has been activated from the DL, the player will be forfeited and placed on the waiver wire.
***Roster deadlines will still apply to any move. If a DL player is replaced after the roster deadline has passed, it will not take effect until the next deadline.***

Trades
Trades are permitted at anytime until the trading deadline. Owners must have a complete and balanced line up at the conclusion of a trade. In the event of a "2 for 1" trade, owners must release and/or acquire free agents to fill any roster voids. The trading deadline for our league will be 9:00 PM on the Sunday prior to week #13 (June 22nd, 2003). There will be a cap on the number of trades a team can make. The trade cap will be 5 trades per team during the season.

Draft Day Tidbits
Mulligan
During the course of the draft, if a team drafts a player that has already been drafted by another team the drafting team will
forfeit that draft pick. The League will allow one "mulligan" to be used by each team for such an occasion. Each team, in effect, gets one "screw-up". The forfeit rule will go into effect with the second wrongful pick.

Drafting of DL Players
Teams are permitted to draft players that are on the DL. The lone requirement be that, immediately following the draft, the team must acquire a free agent to replace the DL player in order to satisfy the complete and active roster rule. Teams will select DL replacements in order of the DL players drafted. Once the draft is completed, you will not be permitted to acquire a player on the DL. A player must come off the DL and then will be available as a free agent.

Refreshments
The draft will be a cash bar function.