2018 BASEBALL LEAGUE RULES
All questions, disputes and interpretations of these rules subject to commissioner’s rulings. All commissioner rulings will be final.
Rule changes for the 2018 Season are in red
The Season
The season will consist of 18 weeks
of regular season play beginning Monday April 2, 2018.
The
games played prior to 4/2/18 will NOT be used in
week 1. There will be no
games played during the week of the All-Star Game, July 16-22. There will be
a All-Star Weekend Pool during the break.
The participants in
the playoffs will be the 3 division winners along with 3 wild card teams from
any division for a total of 6 teams that will participate in post season play. There will be 3 rounds of playoffs to
determine the league champion, with the top 2 division champions receiving a first
round bye.
The schedule will consist of playing
each team in your division three times, each
non-divisional team in the league once and one non-divisonal team twice.
There is 5 games played each week, as well a top 6 bonus win awarded each week. Each team has a possibility of winning
six (6) games each week. The week is broken down as follows:
GAME 1: Monday thru Thursday, BEST TWO GAME AVERAGE
GAME 2: Friday
GAME 3: Saturday
GAME 4: Sunday
GAME 5: Total points scored during the week.
BONUS WIN/LOSS: Top 7 team point totals receive a win.
Game 1 will be the best two game average by each player on the team during the Monday
thru Thursday games. There is a 2 game minimum for a player's scores to be used,
with a few exceptions. If a starter only plays one game during the M-Th games,
no games or average will be used for the starter and the
back up or if necessary optional player weekday average will be used. If the
back up and if necessary the optional player does not meet the two game minimum, the starter's one game will be used.
If the starter, back up and optional player do not play M-Th at all a zero will be taken. Pitching
staffs do not have subs, if they only play one game that will be their weekday
average. If a pitching staff plays no games M-Th a zero will be taken. The
weekday average score will be rounded off to even number. Averages ending in .1
thru .4 will be rounded down, while averages ending in .5 thru .9 will be
rounded up.
Games 2-4 will be a single game for each day and Game 5 will be the highest cumulative point total from Games 1-4. The weekly team point totals will be ranked 1-14, with the top 7 receiving a bonus win. In the event of a tie for the 7th and final spot in the top 7, both teams will receive the bonus win. If there are Sunday games prior to week one, those games will be eligible to be used as part of the M-Th games. This is ONLY prior to the opening week of the season. If there is any day Fri-Sun that a MLB team does not play, we will use the Thursday game in place of the off day if it is the same opponent as the weekend. If there is no Thursday game to use then subs will have to be used.
All-Star Weekend Pool: During the weekend of the All-Star Game (F-Su games only), there will be a daily pool for the top 3 scoring teams. The daily payout will be 1st Place-$30, 2nd Place $20 and 3rd place $10. These prizes will be paid out at year end along with the rest of the prize fund. Player high game and team high game scores are eligible for sidepot awards.
Scoring
The scoring system is available on the main page of the league website. This scoring system will be
used to determine the winner in each game played.
Players reaching base on catcher's
interference will receive 1pt. Players that ground into a triple play (GITP)
will receive a -1. The Commish will
track all league scores each week. Once the weekly results have been posted
teams must notify the Commish of any discrepancies ASAP. In the
event of a discrepancy in the scores, the commissioner will verify the scores
through the MLB.com website.
(If a score discrepancy occurs on
the results posted on the internet, the Commish will review multiple websites to
determine the most consistent and accurate score)
During the regular season, a game or total points that ends in a tie will result
in each team winning a 1/2 point. In the playoffs the same rule will apply, but
if the series ends in a 2.5-2.5 tie the higher seeded team will win the series
based on the better regular season record.
If any owner notices a discrepancy in something that was updated on the website, they will have one week in which to notify the league of the problem. This applies to scores of games, scores of players, game results or side pot issues. After a period of one week, the updated results becomes OFFICIAL unless an official scoring change was made by MLB.
Rosters
Team rosters will consist of 14 players, distributed as follows: 1B, 3B,
CI, 2B, SS, MI, OF(4), C(2), Optional Sub and Pitching Staff. Teams will draft two
catchers. These catchers can be from any MLB team. The Optional Sub player may
be from any player position, pitching staffs are not allowed as the optional sub
player. The corner infielder (CI) must qualify at either 1B or 3B.
The middle infielder (MI) must qualify at either 2B or SS.
Players may be drafted from both the American and National Leagues of Major
League Baseball, and on an active roster. Owners must keep a full and active roster at all times during the season.
Teams are permitted to draft players that are on the DL. 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.
During the draft teams are permitted to draft any player, including players who are projected to start the season in the minors or have already been demoted to the minors. Drafted players who have already been sent to the minors can be placed on the DL at the end of the draft. (Players must have been already demoted to minors, not just projected to) The replacements for these minor league players will come after players who are already or expected to soon be placed on the major league DL. Once the draft is concluded, the rule for minor league call ups applies. (i.e. no players currently in the minors can be claimed as a free agent)
The Commish will evaluate any scenarios of "not in the best interest of the league" and make a determination. This would include but not limited to situations such as dropping healthy top performing players or picking up bench players with limited playing time and starting them, so teams would get consistent use of a back up player. For example, a team has a good SS, and another good SS at mid inf. If the team was to drop their starting 2B and pick up a 2B that never plays so to get both SS on a consistent basis, this would not be allowed. This would apply to any roster spot and back up scenario. Based upon the Commish ruling, teams may be required to adjust the roster/move accordingly.
Position
Qualifications
For a complete list of games played by each player, follow the
links on the main page of the baseball website. To qualify for a position a player
must have played in 20 games at that position in 2017 or 10
games at that position in 2018. If a player did not play 20 games at any position the prior year, they
are eligible at the position the played the most at the prior year. If a veteran
player does not play an entire season (injury, played in Japan, suspended, etc)
we will go back to their most recent MLB season for their position
qualification. For example, a player played in 2010, sits out the entire 2011
season due to injury, returns in 2012, we would use 2010 position qualification
for the 2012 season. In the event
of "common knowledge" that a player is changing positions for 2018, he will be
allowed to be drafted at his new position. The
player must start at their new position on opening day, or a roster change must
be made to return the player to an eligible position. Available free agents
who made a position change for 2018 will be allowed to be claimed at their new
position, provided they started at the new position on opening day. 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, Lance Berkman 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. If a player is a rookie, he will
be eligible at the position he plays in first MLB game, where he played in the
minors doesn't matter. If the rookie starts his first game at DH, they will be
eligible at the position they played the most at in the minors during the
current season. If a rookie plays multiple positions, they would need to
play 10 games at an additional position to gain eligibility there as well. Any player that is only eligible at DH must qualify at a
position in order to be placed on a roster. These DH only players will also
qualify at the position they played the most games at in the previous season. See below for
the list of DH's and positions that they will qualify at. If a DH qualifies at
another position during the year he will increase his qualifications.
DH ONLY ELIGIBILITY:
The Draft
12 rounds of 14 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 14th 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.
Line-ups
Lineup changes are due to
the Commish by 5:00pm mtn Monday and Friday. If a MLB game starts before 5pm mtn on
Monday or Friday, lineup changes for players involved in those games must be submitted before the games
start. Any changes may be made to a team's
lineup by the Friday deadline and it will be in effect for that weekend's games.
This includes starting/benching a player, activating or replacing a DL player
and using any player acquired via free agency during the week. Absolutely no late changes will be allowed
once the 5pm deadline has passed. Once the weekend games start, you are not allowed to replace any DL
player in your active lineup. You can replace a DL player on your roster over
the weekend, but the new player will not be available to use until the following
weeks games. The "default
lineup" for teams each week will be the previous week's lineup
(if no weekend changes are submitted, the
weekday lineup is the default). (The only
exception to this rule is week #1, if no lineup is submitted the starting lineup
will be the order of players drafted) Changes must be made to that default
lineup by the required deadline or the default lineup will be used for the week.
Starting line ups will consist of: 1B 3B
2B SS OF(3) C
PS.
Only points scored by these players will be tabulated into the game results.
When looking at use of subs, the M-Th best two games is treated as one
game. The same sub rules will apply to the weekday game as it does for a single
weekend game. A player must appear in the minimum 2 games with at least 2 PA in
each game to be used on the weekday M-Th game. In the event that a starting player does not play, due to
injury, managers decision, postponement, or the lack of a scheduled game, a sub will be used.
Rosters include a Optional Sub position. Any position player may be put in the
Optional Sub position. The Optional sub will be used in the event that a starter
and immediate sub do not play in a game. The immediate sub is as follows: 1B/3B
use the CI, 2B/SS use the MI, OF's use the 4th OF and C uses the back up
catcher. Example: Team "A"
starts Albert Pujols at 1st base and David Wright at 3rd Base for the weekend,
and they have Ryan Howard as their corner infielder. If Pujols or Wright do not
play in a game, for any reason, Howard will be used for that day.
This applies to each position and its respective back up players. For example, a team started
Pujols at 1B and Howard as the CI. They both do not play on a given day. The
Optional Sub will be used for Pujols. The Optional Sub can only be used once on
a given day. For example, a team's 1B, 3B and CI are all dnp on a given day. The
Optional Sub can only be used for either the 1B or 3B, not for both. If a starter has at least 2 plate
appearances (PA), his stats will be used for that game. If neither the starter, back-up
or optional player makes an
appearance in a weekday or weekend game, the position will get a zero for that
game. In the event that a starter only has 1PA, and the back up or
optional player does not play that day or only has 1 PA, the
starters 1 PA
will count for that game. 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. In the event that multiple positions have DNP's
or 1PA only and the
Optional player is used, but one or more starting positions still have 2 players with 1AB only, the
player with 1AB and the highest score will be used. For example, your starting
2B and SS both have just 1PA, the Mid Inf is used for one. The optional player
was used to cover another position, you would get whichever score is higher
between your starting 2B or SS's 1PA.
In the event that a pitching staff is rained out and does not play on a weekend game two scenarios would be used to determine the score used. 1) If the weekend rain out is made up on the same weekend, the score of the make up game will be used in it;s original spot. For example, a Friday game is rained out and made up Saturday as part of a double header. The specific game that is the make up game will be used in it's original spot on Friday. 2) If a weekend rain out is not made up on the same weekend, the average of all weekday games for the pitching staff will be used for the rained out game. It does not matter how many games the pitching staff had on the weekday, it is an average of all games played M-Th. If a pitching staff is added during the weekday and then is rained out on the weekend, their weekday average is used for the rained out game.
If a position player is rained out on a weekend game and the game is made up in the same weekend, the score of the make up game will be used in it's original spot. For example, a Friday game is rained out and made up Saturday as part of a double header. The specific game that is the make up game will be used in it's original spot on Friday. If the weekend rain out is not made up on the same weekend, a dnp will be given to starting players and a sub used. If a weekday game is rained out and made up on the weekend, it too will be used in the original spot. For example, a Thursday game is rained out and made up on Saturday. The specific game that is the make up game will be used in it's original spot on Thursday.
In the event of a weekend double header that is not a make up of a rain out on the same weekend, the highest game of the two games will be used for a player. If a starting player only plays one game of the doubleheader, that one game will be used. If a starting player is dnp for a weekend game, and the back up has a doubleheader, the same rule will apply as it does for a starter. If a double header is played during the M-TH games, both games will count. Teams may end up with more than 4 games for the M-TH average due to weekday double headers.
If a suspended game is completed within the same fantasy week, the stats will count for the day the game was originally played. There would be one exception: if a suspended game is completed on the Monday following the week, the stats would still count for the original day. (For example a Sunday game suspended and completed the next day on Monday). We would just have to delay the stats for the week by one day. For any game that is suspended and completed on a later date (later than the Monday following that week) we will count the stats for the suspended game on the day the game is suspended. When the game is finished weeks or months later any additional stats accumulated during the completion of the suspended game will not be used.
Entry Fees
There will be an entry fee of $215
and is due on draft day. If a team is drafting online only at the draft, payment
must be made to the Commish prior to the draft.
In the event that the entry fee is not paid by draft day, your team will be restricted from making
any transactions until the entry fee is paid.
-Entry Fee Breakdown: $2580 Entry Fees Collected
-$215 Commish Fee
-$60 Website/Server
-$20 Trophy/Trophy Engraving
-$1570 Playoff Team Breakdown (6 Teams)
-$75 Division Winners (3 Teams)
-$460 Side-Pots
-$180 All-Star Weekend Pool
There will not be any charges for transactions during the year. This should help owners in keeping the best team on the field during the entire season, especially when the playoff spots may be in jeopardy.
Prize Money
The total of all eligible fees collected will be returned to the league in the form of
prize money. All Six (6) of the playoff teams that qualify for the post season will share in the prize
money. The league prize fund breakdown is available on the league website. All
sidepots will conclude at the end of the regular season. The weekday average and Fri-Sun games will
be eligible for the high team game sidepot. All individual player games Mon-Sun
are eligible for the player high game sidepot.
Team pitching staffs are not
eligible for player high game or high series sidepots, there is a separate side
pot just for pitching staffs.
Weekly Points Pool
The top 3 teams scores each week will
receive the following prize: 1st $9
2nd $6 3rd $3
The bottom 3 teams will have to pay the following amounts: 14th $9
13th $6 12th $3
This will be a running total throughout the year and will be available on the
website. Team entry fees will be adjusted by money won or loss in the weekly
points pool the following season. 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
The three Division Winners and
three
wild card teams from any division will qualify for the playoffs. The top 2 division winners
will be seeds 1 and 2 and receive a bye in round one of the playoffs. The lowest
division winner will be seed 3 and the 3 wildcard teams
will be seeded 4-6. In Round One the #3 seed will play the #6,
the #4 seed will
play the #5 seed. In Round Two, the two wildcard round winners will play the two
division winners, with the lowest remaining team playing the #1
division winner and the two remaining teams will play each other. In Round Three, the two
remaining teams 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. "Home-field advantage" will
apply in the playoffs ONLY, with
the higher seeded team receiving the advantage in a tie series.
Rosters are frozen once the playoffs begin, only DL moves will be allowed during
the playoffs.
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/ties(1/2
point) + top 7 finishes)
2) winning percentage ((wins + 1/2 point for ties)/games played)
3) head to head
4) record within division (*only in the event of a tie between two teams in the
same division)
5) most points scored
6) most points scored against
7) coin flip
Transactions
****All transactions should be e-mailed to the commissioner at
ualcommish@gmail.com.
If necessary, transactions may be called in to the commissioner at
303-868-7039.****
Free Agents
After the draft, any players un-drafted are considered free agents. Free agent add/drop moves are NOT permitted during the
first week of play. The first day to claim a free agent and drop a player is
Monday of week 2 once standings from week 1 are posted. All free agent acquisitions are on a daily basis. The cut off time for free agent moves is
9:00
PM each day, with the exception of Monday and Friday when moves are permitted until the
roster/lineup
deadline at 5pm (potentially earlier for players involved in an early game game
on Monday or Friday). Any transactions sent in after 5pm on Monday or Friday
will be processed at 9pm, but not eligible for the roster deadline that just
passed. In the event that more than one
team wishes to acquire the same free agent during the same period, the team with
the lower standings 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. When you acquire a player through free
agency, you must retain him on your roster until they are used in a lineup and can drop them only after the new week
they are used in a lineup has started. A free
agent may be claimed as a DL move and used for the weekend games, and then dropped for the
next week (i.e. they have been used in a lineup). A free
agent can be placed on the DL in the same week they were claimed, provided they
went on the DL after they were claimed. There will a
limit of 5 transactions (free agent or waiver claims combined) that may
be made involving a team Pitching Staff during the season. If a free agent is being recalled from the minors or activated from the DL
they must appear in a boxscore first, and then can be claimed the following day
at either the daily 9pm transaction deadline or at early lineup deadline on
Mon/Fri if that is the next day.
Waiver Wire
When a player is released by a team he will be considered "on waivers".
Players will remain on waivers for 2
days, and then be available to be claimed. For example, a player dropped on
Tuesday can be claimed on Thursday by the 9pm deadline. Players dropped on
Saturday can be claimed on Monday by the 5pm lineup deadline. If a player is
dropped Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, they can be claimed but not used as a weekend
replacement as the player would be active for two different teams at the same
time. 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. 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 or inactive list
(suspension, paternity leave, etc) by his major
league team, 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. DL moves are permitted after the draft and during week
1 of play. Priority of DL moves prior to the
release of standings for week 1 is determined by order of players picked during
the draft. (Highest picked player has priority) If a
player does not play in a game for 7 calendar days and has not been placed on
the DL by their MLB team, they can be placed on the DL at that time. The injured player must go 7 calendar days without playing,
does not matter how many games occur during that time. For example, Player X gets hurt on Monday 4/16 during the game.
He then sits out starting Tuesday 4/17 and is still out the following Monday
4/23. He can then be placed on the DL on
Tuesday 4/24.When a player is activated from the major league DL, you also must
activate him off your DL. Any player can be dropped when activating a player off
the DL, including a player acquired who has not been used in a lineup yet. If a player is
sent to the minors, or released by his team, that player is eligible to be
placed on the DL.
Teams will retain rights to the player if they resurface on another MLB team.
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
and appeared in a game, must be
replaced or activated. Teams will be given ONE transaction date (transaction
dates are Monday and Friday at 5pm, or early game if player is involved) 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(s) 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 and appeared in a game, the player will be forfeited and
placed on the waiver wire.
*Consideration will be given in determining when a player should be replaced.
For example, a player goes on the DL late Thursday. An owner will be given a
chance to catch the DL move and the first transaction date would be Sunday.
**If a suspended player is placed on the DL and will be activated in the middle
of the week or weekend, teams will not be penalized for starting a DL player for
a missed game. For example, a player is suspended 4 games and has no game on
Monday, he will sit out Tue-Fri and return Saturday. Teams can activate that
player for the weekend and not be penalized for the missed Friday game. If the
suspended player is started and sits out an entire M-Th or F-Su period for any
reason then the no sub penalty will apply.
***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 roster 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
the 5PM lineup deadline on
the Monday of week #14 (July 2, 2018). There is maximum of 5 trades per team during the season.
Draft Day
Tidbits
The league will be using ESPN draft room on draft night. There is a 90
second time limit per pick. Teams are allowed one time out to receive a second
90 seconds.
Fines
Fines will be issued for an incomplete lineup. An incomplete lineup occurs when a player on the DL
for more than one lineup deadline is started. A mulligan will be issued
for the first offense and a $10 fine for all subsequent offenses. There will be a running total of fines listed on the standings page
on the website. These fines will be deducted from any winnings a team may have,
or must be paid prior to the draft if a team has no winnings. These fines will
go to draft food, meeting room cost or will be added to the
prize fund if necessary.