RESULTS:

The winning vote is indicated in red below

2004 UAL Fantasy Baseball Rules Vote

Please take the time to read through the proposed changes and if you have any questions please let me know. Please respond via e-mail with your choices. The sooner we can get 100% vote, the sooner we can begin the final preparation for the season. For some of the rules I have listed some pros and cons, but certainly that is just my interpretation. These proposed changes were submitted to me last year and I kept track of all suggestions during the season. I have heard from a few people over the winter, but if you still have any suggestions I am always open to ways to improve the league. We did not have many major issues last year, so I am hoping that the below issues will be all that needs to be addressed. On to the proposed changes:

1)       Conference/Wildcard Teams: The current system we use is to have 4 division winners and two wildcard teams from each conference. It has been suggested that the four wildcard teams can come from any division, eliminating conferences. This format was recently voted in the football league for next year. The 4 division winners would be seeded 1-4, and the 4 wildcard teams seeded 5-8. This format would result in seeding teams 1-8 in the playoffs, and no longer having any type of conference matchups for the playoffs.  It would be 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7 and so on format in round one, and then the same for the remaining rounds. The pros of this would be that the top 4 non-division winning teams would get into the playoffs, regardless of what division they are in. This new format would ensure that the 8 best teams make the playoff each year. It also eliminates the possibility of playoff matchups where a division winner would actually play the 4th best team in the league because they are in the same conference. The negative is that it totally eliminates the conference matchups in the playoffs, something that all pro sports and our fantasy leagues have done for a long time. I guess you could say it is a tradition and is just the “conventional way” of sports leagues. If you end up in a tough conference, that is just part of the game.

Vote:
Option A        Eliminate conferences, change to 4 wildcard teams from any division
Option B        Keep current format, 2 wildcard teams from each conference

2)       Weekly Points Pool:   While most owners have found the weekly points pool to be an enjoyable feature of the league, it has the potential for teams to really lose a lot of money. The current format rewards the stronger teams for putting together and maintaining a strong roster. The bigger the penalty for having a bad team, the more motivating it should be for a team to improve. The negative side is that teams can get hurt by injuries and the weekly points losses can add up quickly.

Vote:
Option A        Keep payouts on weekly points pool at $15-10-5

Option B        Lower payouts on weekly points pool to $12-8-4

Option C        Lower payouts on weekly points pool to $9-6-3

3)       Weekend Doubleheaders: Two years ago we changed the rule and now allow both games of a doubleheader to be used during the M-TH games, and last year we changed the rule to only allow the 2^nd game of a weekend doubleheader to be used if the player was a DNP in game 1. It has been suggested that we also allow teams to use either game of a weekend doubleheader. MLB does not schedule doubleheaders any more, so if a player is playing a weekend doubleheader that means they were rained out some time earlier in the year. This would allow all games played to be eligible to be used. This could have significant impact on games and player points races. There are many times a player in a doubleheader has a great 2^nd game and the stats don’t count. This proposed change impacts many areas. The down side is a team will have an advantage by having the extra game to use on the crucial weekend games. Often doubleheaders are scheduled later in the year for an early season rain out. If a team was rained out in week 3, the make up could be in week 16. Their opponent in week 16 does have a disadvantage with the team having an extra game to choose from that weekend. Keeping the balance of games available on weekends is a key issue.

Vote:
Option A:      Allow either game of a weekend doubleheader to be used.
Option B:      Keep the rule the same, game two of weekend doubleheaders can be used only in case of a DNP in game 1.

4)       All-Star Weekend: Our league takes the All-Star game week off. It has been suggested that we have a pool for the weekend games of All-Star week. This would keep everybody involved on a weekend when baseball is still going full tilt. Even the last place team and lowest scoring team can have a career day on one of those nights. The proposal is to add $15 to the entry fee ($5 for each day) and pay the top 3 teams of each weekend day (F, Sa, Su). The payout would be 1^st-$50, 2^nd-$20, 3^rd-$10. It has also been suggested that any team game high scores or player high game scores be eligible for side pot awards. This will be a separate option.

Vote:
Option A        Add $15 to entry fee for All-Star weekend pool, high games ARE eligible for side pots

Option B        Add $15 to entry fee for All-Star weekend pool, games are NOT eligible for sidepots

Option C        No All-Star weekend pool

If you have any questions or additional suggestions to these proposed rule changes, please let me know. I hope to have responses from everyone and have the 2004 finalized rules on the website by the end of the week.

Thanks                  Jeff