ESL Constitution

ETERNAL SQUABBLERS LEAGUE
OFFICIAL CONSTITUTION

Number of people who don't know the rules:

I.	Overview & Scoring
	C.	1000 Innings Rule
II.	League Officers
III.	Team Owners
IV.	In-Season Rosters
	A.	1.	Breakdown of (26) active roster position requirements
	B.	In-season reserve roster requirements
V.	Position Eligibility
VI.	Auction Draft Day
	A.	ACTIVE ROSTER
	B.	RESERVE ROSTER
	B.	4.	Rookie rule (what makes a player a "rookie"?)
	B.	9.	Retaining "Rookies" from one year to the next
VII.	Stats and Transactions
VIII.	Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB$)
IX.	Fees and Debts
	H.	CONTRACT BUY-OUTS
X.	Trading and "Anti-Dumping"
	L.	"Anti-Dumping" Rules
XI.	September Roster Expansion
XII.	Prize Money
XIII.	Pre-Draft Roster Protection
XIV.	Waivers
XV.	Player Contracts and Salaries
XVI.	Surveys and Rule Changes

Overview & Scoring

The object of ownership in the ESL is to assemble a team that finishes the season with more cumulative points than the other teams in the 8 statistical categories used to determine team performance. For example, in a 10 team league, the team that has the best stats in a given category receives 10 points, the team with the second best stats in the category receives 9 points, and so on down to 1 point for the team with the worst stats.

The 8 statistical categories are as follows:

composite batting average
total home runs
total RBIs
total stolen bases
total wins
total saves
composite ERA
composite "ratio" (hits + walks allowed per inning pitched)

Any team which does not compile a minimum of 1000 innings pitched during the course of the season will drop to last place in the ERA and Ratio categories, thereby dropping that team to 1 point in each of those categories. (There is no minimum requirement for composite number of at-bats.) All other teams moving up one to keep the overall number of points each category the same amount. (In other words, if a team finishes the year with 4 points in ERA but has only 999 innings pitched, that team will drop from 4 points to 1 point in ERA. The team that would have gotten 3 points, will not get 4, etc.) If TWO teams finish with less than 1000 IP, the team with the least amount of innings will be given 1 point in ERA and Ratio, while the other team will get 2 points in ERA and Ratio. In the event that a strike or lock-out shortens the season, the innings requirement will be pro-rated. For example, in 1994, only 70.9% of the games were played, so only 709 innings were required for each team.)

(Official Butch Miller rule of 2002) The league president and vice president may void any move, transaction, trade or other league function if it is determined to be detrimental to the league as a whole, or if it is the result of a loop-hole in the rules. The president and VP may or may not chose to poll the league to come to a final conclusion.

If the AL or NL is forced to play a tie-breaking game at the conclusion of the season to determine which team gets to the Play-offs, that game is counted by MLB as a 163rd game for those teams, and their stats count towards the regular season. The ESL will do likewise and count those stats.

II.

League Officers

(2007 and prior) League President (Chris Malinowski) - to be paid $15 by each team in the league.

League President (Jamie Schlesinger) - to be paid $15 by each team in the league.

Vice President (Drew Gallagher)

(2006 and prior) Treasurer (Scott Winterburn)

Treasurer (Drew Gallagher)

III.

Team Owners

In the event of a vacancy in the league, any league owner may make a nomination as a replacement. The League President and Vice-President shall chose the new owner among all of the candidates. If a decision cannot be made by the Prez and the VP, the League may be polled for a decision.

Teams may have more than one owner.

Any owner not meeting up to the standards of the league, causing dissension within the league, caught cheating or colluding may be expelled from the league at any time.

If a team drops out of the league, the replacement owner will inherit everything from the previous team AS IS. In the event that more than one team drops out of the league after the season is over, the league officers will chose to do one of the following:

Place all of the players on those teams will be put into a "pool" and the new owners will select them one at a time. For two teams, a coin flip will determine which team gets to choose whether they want to pick first or second. For more than two teams, the new owners will draw numbers out of a hat. Picks will be made, for example, 1st-2nd-3rd-3rd-2nd-1st, etc. The order that the teams pick will determine where they will be placed for things such as the reserve roster rotation draft and when they call out names during the Auction draft. (i.e. The team which picks the first player will be given the slot of whichever team was highest in the standings, and so on.) If it is not practical for all new owners to pick their players at the same time, the new owners will be asked to submit a list of players they want in the order that they want them. New owners will not be allowed to trade their "new owner draft picks" before or during the "new owner draft." The league president will divvy up the reserve picks as evenly as possible.

The league officers will distribute the players and reserve picks as evenly as possible, and then assign the owners randomly to each newly created team. This option will generally be used when one of the new owners has never played Rotisserie baseball before, in an effort to keep the Rotisserie veteran's from scooping up all of the better players if the above method was used.

No owner shall have ownership of more than one team.

COLLUSION: No two (or more) teams shall be allowed by combined effort of the individual owners to control the outcome of the standings. If it is concluded that this has taken place, such team's place in the final standings shall be forfeited and every other team moved up in the standings. Additionally, each team involved will be penalized $25 draft dollars at the following season's draft.

The league may expel an owner by a majority vote of the other owners in the league. Causes for expulsion include, but are not limited to: collusion, failure to pay league fees, repeated violations of league rules, and conduct detrimental to the preservation and continuance of the league. An owner expelled during the regular season will not receive a refund of any fees. Players on teams expelled from the league during the regular season shall remain unavailable until a replacement owner is named. If none is named until after the season, the team shall remain in the standings as is.

IV.

In-Season Rosters

ACTIVE ROSTER

Each team shall have an active roster consisting of 26 players (was 27 prior to 2013) which is comprised of the following:

(2) catches
(1) firstbaseman
(1) firstbaseman or thirdbaseman
(1) thirdbaseman
(1) secondbaseman
(1) secondbaseman or shortstop
(1) shortstop
(1) utility infielder (can play any infield position)
(5) outfielders (was 7 prior to 2013, and was 6 prior to the NL adopting the DH in 2022.)
(1) designated hitter (starting in 2022 when the NL adopted the DH.)
(1) wild card (can be offense OR a pitcher)
(10) pitchers

The utility position can be drafted as either an offensive player OR a pitcher. That position can be changed back and forth from offensive to pitching during the season as well, as the team owner sees fit to do so.

On September 1st, teams may expand their active roster by promoting from their reserve roster an unlimited number of players. (See section on "September Roster Expansion.")

RESERVE ROSTER

Each team shall also have a reserve roster of up to 19 non-active players during the regular season (but may contain less than that.) One the 19 player limit is reached, a team may only add additional players to its reserve roster if a like number of players are dropped at the same time.

Once the regular season has begun, a team may replace any player on its active roster with a player from its reserve roster, provided that the replacement player is on a major league team's active roster at that time (NOT a player on the D.L. or in the minor leagues) and the proper position requirements referred to in Paragraph A above have been met.

An owner may release a player from his team's active or reserve roster at any time during the season. (However, if an active player is released, he must be subsequently replaced by a player from that team's reserve roster who is on an AL team's 25-man active roster.)

If an auction drafted or FAAB$ selected player on an ESL team's active or reserve roster winds up in the American League by any means during the draft, after the draft or during the course of the regular season (via trade, waivers, etc.), the ESL team can do one of two things: (1) retain that player on its roster for the duration of the regular season, or (2) release that player, there-by picking up additional money for Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB$). (NOTE THAT THE PLAYER MUST BE AFFLILIATED WITH THE NL ORGANIZATION AT THE TIME OF THE RELEASE.) The amount received will be equivalent to the player's salary. If retained, all of the player's AL stats will count for the ESL owner's team for the duration of the regular season.

If the player never returns to the NL, the player's contract is automatically expired at the time rosters are frozen the following season no matter what year of the contract the player was in prior to his trade to the AL.

The player must still be a member of an AL team at the time the player is released to receive the FAAB$. In other words, if a player is trade to the AL and then returns to the NL, or is traded to the AL and is then released, the opportunity to receive FAAB$ has been lost.

(Again, note that you may pick up additional FAAB money by dropping such players only if the player was either a "keeper" on your active roster, auction drafted or originally picked up via FAAB. In other words, you will NOT receive $5 or $10 for dropping a player that was retained as a rookie or picked up in the present year's supplemental draft. Also note that a player under long-term contract CAN be dropped if he is traded to the AL.)

If a opts to drop a player to pick up additional FAAB$, they must do so 48 hours in advance of the next FAAB deadline. In other words, for the additional FAAB$ to be effective immediately, teams must contact the Commissioner by Friday at 10:00pm for the FAAB$ to be added to their team's budget for the nearest Sunday's FAAB draft. As soon as the Commissioner is contacted about a FAAB drop, he will notify the league via email to let everyone know that a team is increasing their FAAB budget.

If a team contacts the Commissioner between 10:00pm on Friday and the 10:00pm Sunday FAAB draft, the additional FAAB$ will be added for the following week.

Position Eligibility

On Draft Day:

A player may be assigned to any position in which he appeared in 20 or more major league games during the preceding season. If a player did not appear in 20 games at a single position, he may be used only at the position in which he appeared most frequently. If a player did not appear in the majors during the previous season, he will be eligible at any position in which he appeared 20 or more MINOR league games.

If a player has never appeared in a major league game, his position eligibility will be based on any position(s) he played in the minor leagues in his most recently played minor league season.

If a player did not play a single game in the majors or minors the previous season, he will qualify at the positions he qualified in his most recent major league season.

If the previous season is cut short for some reason, the 20-games rule will be prorated. For example, in 1994 only 70.9% of the season was completed. 70.9% of 20 games is 14.18 games - everything will round up - in this case, 14.18 becomes 15 games.

The "infield" position is a player that qualifies at 1B, 2B, SS or 3B, not a combination of all the infield positions. In other words, if a player who already "qualifies" as an outfielder also plays 7 games at 1B and 13 at 3B in the present year, that does NOT make him a "infielder."

Once the season begins:

A player may be moved to any position in which he has played at least five (5) or more times in the major leagues, and he is also eligible to be moved to any position(s) in which he was eligible on draft day. (In other words, if a player was eligible at 2B on draft day based on games played the previous season, and then plays 5 games at SS, but has played 0 games at 2B, that player is eligible to be placed at both 2B and SS throughout the season.)

A player called up mid-season who has not yet played in the majors in the present season but has played in the majors in a previous season will be eligible at the position he qualified in his most recent major league season. (20 or more games in the previous major league season or the position he played the most games.)

A player called up mid-season who has never played in the majors previously will be eligible both at his draft day eligibility (any position he played 20 or more times in the previous or most recent minor league season, or if no position was played 20 or more times it will be the the position he played the most games in the previous or most recent minor league seaosn) PLUS any position he played 5 or more times in the minors in the present minor league season (If the player did not play any position 5 or more times in the present season, the position of eligibility will be the position he played the most games in the present minor league season.)

Note that OnRoto does not account for minor league eligibility, and the commissioner does not police this for every player, so if you feel you have a player that needs a position added, you will need to contact your commissioner to have it manually applied.

The "infield" position is a player that qualifies at 1B, 2B, SS or 3B, not a combination of all the infield positions. In other words, if a player who already "qualifies" as an outfielder also plays 3 games at 1B and 2 at 3B in the present year, that does NOT make him a "infielder."

OHTANI RULE OF 2018: "Dual threat" players (players who are both a hitter AND a pitcher) will be "Conjoined Twins." In other words, while the stat service has the ability to treat such players as TWO separate players - a hitter and a pitcher - the ASL will treat such players as ONE player with a single salary and contract. An owner can only have this player active as either a hitter OR a pitcher but not both at the same time.

VI.

Auction Draft Day

ACTIVE ROSTER

As noted above, teams must acquire a total of 26 players (was 27 prior to 2013). Teams will be given $290 to "auction draft" those 26 players (27 prior to 2013).

A free agent list of available players will be provided by the league. If the draft is held prior to the start of the regular season, any player not yet assigned to the minor leagues will be eligible for the auction portion of the draft. The stat service ML rosters will be used to determine the eligibility of players available for the auction. Note that the stat service ML rosters will be the final decision maker in determining if a player is eligible to be auction drafted, not the list that is provided at the draft which could be in error or out of date. Also, the position eligibilities shown on the list of draftable players is also meant as no more than a guide. In other words, if the draft list shows a player eligible at only SS, but in reality he played 20 or more games at SS AND 2B, he will still be eligible at both positions. Errors on the draft sheet do not trump the facts.

The player auction is conducted via the nomination process using the reverse order of the preceding season's final standings (i.e., the previous season's last place team will begin by introducing a player into the auction; the 9th place team will introduce the next player, etc.) Once an owner completes his active roster, he shall drop out of the nomination process. If a player nominated is not drafted, he cannot be nominated again until four teams have completed their active rosters.

The team which nominates a player is NOT obligated to bid on that player. That is, however, until four (4) teams have completed their active rosters and have dropped from the nomination process. At that point, all nominations MUST have an accompanying minimum opening bid of $1.

Each owner may choose to "pass" two times during the nomination process thereby deferring the nomination to the next owner in the auction order. If an owner chooses not to nominate a player when it is his turn to do so and has no passes remaining, his team will lose $1 from the remaining amount of his $290 team salary.

Players may be shifted to another position before and during the player auction.

An owner may not bid on a player that it cannot afford (that would cause his team to exceed the $290 salary limit.) In addition, the owner must have enough remaining salary to bid at least $1 on each player needed to complete his active roster. (For example, a team with $3 remaining and two openings on its roster, is limited to a maximum bid of $2.)

An owner may not bid on a player who qualifies only at a position that the team has already filled. For example, a team that has acquired two catchers and whose utility spot is occupied, may not entered the bidding for any player who qualifies only at catcher.

If it is discovered during the auction that an owner obtains a player in violation of the above criteria, the ineligible player will be removed from the owner's team, and re-auctioned immeidately with any of the other eligible teams allowed to start the bidding. In addition, the owner will forfeit his two lowest round picks in the supplemental draft.

If the error is discovered after the auction, the violating owner will relinquish all rights to the player and be assessed a penalty of $25 to be deducted from his $100 FAAB budget. The owner must fill the vacated roster spot from his reserve roster assuming he has a player eligible to fill that spot. The ineligible player will then be available for selection through FAAB.

10.

Players who commence the season on a major league team's disabled list are eligible to be drafted. If selected, they may be sent to the reserve roster following the draft if a player is available to be called up from reserve. If the draft is after Opening Day but less than one week after opening day, transactions such as this will be retroactive to the first game of the season. If draft day is more than 7 days AFTER opening day, these transactions will simply be effective the next day.

11.

(Starting 2022) Players previously associated with an International, Professional Baseball League (including but not limited to, such leagues in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Central and South American, and the Caribbean) during previous season(s), AND currently participating in AL Spring Training or on an AL team�s active roster/ disabled list, are eligible for the auction draft as well as the reserve draft (contract code S2, NOT S3)."

Other players still in major league camp or on the active roster at the start of the draft but with ZERO previous major league at bats or innings pitched are NOT eligible to be auction drafted, but can be selected in the Reserve Draft (S3 contract). Players with non-zero MLB AB or IP may be nominated for auction (S2 contract) or selected in the reserve draft (S3 contract, as long as < 130 AB or 50 IP).

If the ASL auction draft occurs after Opening Day, rookie-eligible players on the MLB active roster/ disabled list with non-zero AB/ IP are eligible to be auction drafted (S2 contract) or selected in the reserve draft (S3 contract).

RESERVE ROSTER

At the conclusion of the player auction there will be a supplementary draft consisting of 10 rounds so that each team can compile a reserve roster of backup players. Teams may select only players affiliated with an National League team not currently on another ESL team's active or reserve roster. In other words Major League free agents, college players, high school players, Japanese players, Steve Julian, etc. are not eligible to be drafted.

OLD VI.B.1. THRU 2007 - At the conclusion of the player auction there will be a supplementary draft consisting of 10 rounds so that each team can compile a reserve roster of backup players. Any player who is not currently on another ESL team's active or reserve roster can be chosen in the supplementary draft except for players affiliated with an American League major or minor league team. That includes any non-AL minor league player, unsigned players, Japanese players, high school players, college players, and Steve Julian.

Each team may trade their picks from the first two rounds of the reserve draft at any time, and may even trade them up to 15 years in advance. Any picks in rounds 3 thru 10 are NOT tradeable. (Specific draft picks must be named at the time of the trade. For example, you may not trade "whichever pick winds up being the 2nd best pick.")

The order of the Reserve Roster draft:

The first two rounds will be in the reverse order of the previous season's standings. That is, the first pick will belong to the last place team, the 2nd pick to the 9th place team, etc. Of course, as stated above, these picks may be traded at any time and years in advance.

Rounds 3 thru 10 will be in the following order: 5th place, 6th place, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 1st.

Players drafted in any of the 10 rounds will be considered "rookies" if they are (a) not on any Major League teams' major league roster at the time of the draft, and (b) still have rookie status as defined by Major League baseball. The major league rule reads: "A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during the previous season or seasons, he has exceeded 130 at bats or 50 innings pitched in the major leagues." The major league rule also says that if a player has accumulated more than 45 days on an active roster of a major league club or clubs during the period of a 24-player limit that the player will lose rookie status. For the purposes of the ESL, this part of the rule will be dropped simply because it is not information that is easily obtained.

In case of a tie in the standings the previous season, a coin flip by the President will determine which team will pick first in rounds 3 through 10. For distributing the picks in Round 1 and 2, one team will get the best and worst picks, while the other will get the middle two picks. (For example, if two teams finished tied for first, Team A will get picks #9 and #20, while Team B will get picks #10 and #19.)

(Starting with the results of the 2024 used to determine the picks on 2025 draft-day) In case of a tie in the standings the previous season, the following will determine which team will pick first in each of the rounds 1 through 10:

First Tie-Breaker: Total active roster at-bats
2nd Tie-Breaker: Total active roster innings pitched
Last Tie-Breaker (2 teams): Commissioner to flip a coin
Last Tie-Breaker (3 or more teams): Commissioner will draw names from a hat

For distributing the picks in Round 1 and 2, the team winning the tie breaker will get the best and worst picks, while the other will get the middle two picks.

For rounds 3 thru 10, the winner of tie breaking criteria will get the better pick in round 3, 5, 7 and 9 and the lesser pick in reserve rounds 4, 6, 8 and 10. The loser of the tie-breaking criteria will be the other picks.

6A.

Teams with less than two picks in the first two rounds (due to trades) have the option of making up those picks after the last round, but only if they request it after the final round is over. (Those players will have a contract value of $10.)

6B.

Teams with MORE than two picks in the first two rounds (due to trades) will lose picks starting in Round #3 so that each team will finish the reserve draft with only 10 players. (For example, if a team has 4 picks in the first 2 rounds, they will have their turn skipped in Round #3 and Round #4 to make up for those extra 2 picks.)

Although there will be only 10 reserve draft rounds, each team has a maximum of 19 reserve slots. Any "rookies" retained from the previous season count against those 19 "slots." A team may not draft more players on reserve than 19. So, for example, if a team retains 10 "rookies", they may only reserve draft 9 more players even if they may have more than 9 picks.

See section XV.G. for info on the salaries of players taken in the reserve draft.

If a player taken in the reserve portion of the draft is not affiliated with an NL-team at the time that he is drafted, but subsequently signs with an AL-team, that player is immediately removed from the roster of the team that drafted that player. In other words, you only retain such players if they eventually sign with an NL-team.

10.

Retaining "Rookies" from one year to the next:

A "rookie" rotisserie player retains his "rookie" status if he has maintained his official rookie status as outlined above (even if the team that owns that player promotes had promoted him during the previous season.)

If, on the day of the draft, a "rookie" player has already been assigned to the minor leagues, he may be put directly onto a team's reserve roster.

As noted in Section XV.G., such players will have their salaries increased by $3 over their salary from the previous season.

If a player who still has "rookie" status for Rotisserie purposes but still has not been reassigned to the minors by the day of the draft, his team must make a decision before the auction portion of the draft begins: (a) add the player to the team's active auction-draft roster at the salary he was the previous season (do not add $3), or (b) keep the player on reserve, but have his salary increase by $3.

11.

(Starting in 2022): A timer will be used to set a 30 second limit for each pick. Once the 30 seconds expires, the timer moves to the next pick. If a manager doesn't get his pick in by the time the clock expires, he will be given another 30 seconds at the end of that round. If he again does not pick within 30 seconds, that selection will be forfeited and will simply be an extra open slot available for FAAB bidding.

MISCELLANEOUS DRAFT INFO

(Through 2021): No owner is allowed to use a computer or other electronic aids (besides a calculator) at the auction.

Starting 2022: ESL owners be allowed to use computers for in-person drafts, for the following activities:
-- creating lists/ spreadsheets of players to target in the draft
-- maintaining those list of players as they come off the auction board
-- using personal algorithms/ spreadsheets the track the progress of the draft and the player pool
-- in other words, using the computer as if it were the exact equivalent of the papers that team managers would bring into the draft.

To the extent that computers can be calculators (dollars remaining and max bids), and can replace writing down which team(s) acquired which player(s) and which roster slot(s) are open/ filled, Excel, Google Sheets, or any other spreadsheet program can do this very nicely. Those same kinds of general productivity applications can also be used to create list(s) of players satisfying owner-specific prioritization/ selection criteria (what players are left at a particular position, against personal roster construction strategies). I think we can all agree that computer usage for these tasks is the functional equivalent for what the original rule intended, and computers should be allowed for those functions going forward, based on personal preference. However, using a computer to provide an in-draft, strategic advantage, through access to custom draft software, real-time draft (automated) inflation calculation, breaking player news updates, subscription services for enhanced player data, etc, is the reason why computers were banned (IMO), in order to give all team owners a relatively equal seat at the draft table. In the recent past we could have said "we'll solve that problem by making team owners turn off network access on their computers", but now that application suites from Microsoft and Google (not to mention the OnRoto draft tool itself) require users to be connected to the internet to use those tools, we really can't do that either. So at this point, it becomes a self-policing situation; asking all of the league members, under the honor system, to use their computers only as the functional equivalent of a calculator, and not as a differentiating tool. In other words, if you were printing out hard copies from your computer to bring to the draft, and working from those copies, and manually updating those copies while the draft is in progress, you can do all of that on a computer going forward. Anything else is strongly discouraged. We have no real enforcement process or capability, but ask for your agreement to these principles. Otherwise, the fantasy gods will find out and punish you accordingly!

Each team is allotted two "time outs" of one full minute during the entire draft.

2a.

(The Family Jules Amendment of 1997) Any team which calls a "time-out" when they no longer have any remaining will first be given a warning. After that they will lose one draft dollar. If it is not possible to take draft dollars away from them, $1 will be added to the player which they paid the least amount of money for - if there are two such players it will be the last one they drafted.

VII.

Stats and Transactions

Transactions can be made on a daily basis using the stat service web-site.

Transactions will be effective on the date indicated by the stat service - NO EXCEPTIONS unless the stat service system is down. If their system is down, you should send an email or contact Chris Malinowski immediately to register the move(s) you intended to make. You MUST do this immediately. If you wait until the next day, you have lost your opportunity to make the transaction - NO EXCEPTIONS!

Transactions must be made prior to the first Major League game of the day even if the first game is an American League game - and even if the players involved in the transaction do not play in the first game of the day. (This is necessary because we are allowing stats of players traded [or waived, etc.] to the "other" league to continue to accrue.)

All owners have 2 weeks following the end of the regular season to challenge the final stats.

See Section IV.E. for how you may obtain additional FAAB$ by dropping players who become under contract to A.L. team (via trade, waivers, etc.)

See Section VI.A.10. for transactions made on Draft Day to replace drafted players that are on the Disabled List.

No player may be demoted without being replaced on his active roster by an eligle player. That is, a player who fulfills position eligibility requirements and who is currently on a Major League active roster and not on a Major League disabled list.

The only exception to Rule G. is that a team may replace a player on its active roster who is on the D.L. with a player from his reserve roster that is also on the D.L. (You may want to do this if you anticipate one player coming off the disabled list before another.) You may also replace an active player who has been sent to the minors with a player who is on the D.L., but you may NOT replace an active player on the D.L. with a player in the minors leagues.

VIII.

Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB$)

Each team will be provided with a Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB$) of $100 which may be used to acquire "free agent" players after Auction-Draft Day.

The first FAAB pick-up day will be the first Sunday (was Thursday thru 2009; changed to Sunday in 2010) of the season. The last FAAB pick-up day will be the first Sunday (was Thursday thru 2009; changed to Sunday in 2010) in September. (Note, however, that for that last period of Free Agent pick-ups in September, only players which were available on 8/31 may be selected. This includes players on the D.L. If a player was on the D.L. on 8/31, and comes off on 9/01, he is NOT eligible for FAAB selection.)

During each "auction week" which runs from Sunday 10:00 p.m. to Sunday 9:59 p.m. (was Thursday at noon thru 2009; changed to Sunday at 10PM in 2010), an owner may submit a "bid" utilizing web-site on any player on an National League team's 25-man roster that is not already on another ESL team roster. No owner shall have knowledge of another owner's bid(s).

The stat service will award a player to the owner who submitted the highest bid on that player during auction week (assuming the owner with the successful bid did not exceed his remaining FAAB budget.) In cases where the owner did exceed his remaining FAAB budget that bid is voided, and the player is awarded to the team with the next highest bid. (In other words, you can bid a total amount that exceeds the amount of FAAB money you actually have. So if you have, for example, $80 left, you can bid $50 on Player A, and $40 on Player B. If you receive Player A, your bid on Player B will be invalid because you wouldn't have enough money left. If you bid $50 on BOTH players and are high-bidder on both, the system will give you the player which you bid on FIRST.)

In cases where the highest bid was submitted by 2 or more owners, the owner whose team was in the lowest position in the standings thru Saturday's games will receive the player. If the teams submitting the same highest bid are tied in the standings, the player will be awarded to the team that was most recently lowest in the standings.

OLD VIII.D. THRU 2005 - Player(s) will be awarded to the owner who submitted the highest bid on that player during auction week (assuming the owner with the successful bid did not exceed his remaining FAAB budget.) In cases where the owner did exceed his remaining FAAB budget the bid will be reduced to the team's maximum bid. Owner's may submit as much clarifying information with their bids as they want. (For example, "Please award me with a maximum of 3 of the follow 5 players" or "$25 on Player A, if I don't get Player A, then increase bid on Player B by $5.") In cases where the highest bid was submitted by 2 or more owners, the owner whose team was in the lowest position in the standings thru Wednesday's games will receive the player. If the teams submitting the same highest bid are tied in the standings, the player will be awarded to the team that was most recently lowest in the standings. If neither team can confirm which was lowest in the standings most recently, the next tie breaker is the most recently printed standings. (This will go back to the previous season if necessary. If this is not possible - say for example, if one team is new, then a coin flip will determine which team gets the player.)

(through the 2015 season) The bid price of each player obtained via FAAB becomes the player's salary. That amount is then deducted from the team's $100 FAAB budget.

(Starting the 2016 season the ASL adopted the "Vickry Auction Method.") The price of each player obtained via FAAB will be +$1 more than the 2nd highest bid. (Note that if there is only 1 bidder, the player will be awarded for $1 regardless of the bid.)

FAAB bids may range from $1 to the owner's maximum remaining FAAB budget. No bids may be made on players in an NL team's farm system, disabled list or AL players.

A player is eligible to be taken as long as he is listed on the stat service system unless that player is in the minor leagues or on the Disabled List. The only exception is if a player is released from someone's roster on Saturday or Sunday, no one is allowed to select that player until the following week. PLAYERS ON THE D.L. MAY NOT BE SELECTED VIA FAAB$.

OLD VIII.G. THRU 2005 - Teams may select players as soon as they become available provided proof of their availability is shown in USA Today, Thursday edition. (Essentially, a player who gets called up or doesn't become available until Thursday morning will have to wait until the following week.) Players in the minor leagues and players on the Disabled List are NOT eligible to be selected.

Any player acquired through FAAB who carries a salary of $60 or more is considered an "asterisk" player for reason of "Anti-Dumping" (see "Trading" section.)

Bids will be evaluated based on which players received the highest bids. That is, if Team A bids $50 on Player Y, and Team B bids $30 on Player X; then Player Y will be evaluated before Player X. (You wouldn't think this would matter, but trust me, there are scenerios where it does!)

If a successful FAAB$ selection or selections causes a team's reserve roster to exceed 16 players, that team has until Tuesday at midnight to release a player or players to bring them back down to the maximum of 16.

OLD VIII.J. THRU 2005 - Every bid must also be accompanied by a subsequent waive or release of another player, if necessary to keep a team's roster from exceeding the maximum. Instructions should also be included with all bids explaining where the player - if claimed - would be placed (i.e. reserve or active roster, and if active, which position.) If a player is to be active - if acquired - the bid must also include information explaining what player will be sent to reserve. Players should also be listed in order of preference in the event a team would be high on two players but could only "afford" one of them.

Up until the deadline, all bids may be modified or withdrawn once they are submitted.

OLD VIII.L. THRU 2009 - Minor All-Star Stats glitch: If a player is sent to the minors after a bid is put in on him, the bid does not get deleted. Bids on players sent to the minors before the Sunday night deadline will be voided. Please retract your bid if you see a player you bid on has been sent to the minors.

OLD VIII.L. THRU 2005 - If a player is sent to the minors after a bid is put in on him, the bid is automatically voided.

In the event of a mid-season strike or lock-out, bidding will continue to the next deadline into the strike. After that, FAAB$ bidding is on hold until play resumes.

See Section IV.E. for how you may obtain additional FAAB$ by dropping players who become under contract to A.L. team (via trade, waivers, etc.)

Teams may NOT trade FAAB dollars.

If a team makes a mistake in their FAAB bidding (i.e. claiming a player that is sent to the minors, or a player on the D.L., or just flat out enters a bid they didn't intend), there will be no adjusting of other bids. In other words, if you have $10 left and bid $8 on a player on the D.L. by mistake, and $7 on another player; your $8 bid will be voided, and you will NOT get the $7 player even if it meant you would have if you hadn't made the mistake in the first place.

NEW FOR 2010: After August 1st, teams may not bid on players that were last owned by the bidding team. In other words, if you release a player at any point during the year, you may NOT be the next team to FAAB select that player in August or September. (This is to prevent the possibility of 1 team being left with substaintially more FAAB $$$ than everyone else towards the end of the year, and releasing their players and picking them back up at a cheaper salary and a new contract.)

IX.

Fees and Debts

YEARLY ENTRANCE FEE will be $220. The stat service costs will be taken out of that $220, including the extra cost to remove ads from the stat service site.

Through 2007: $15 per team (out of the $220) will be given to Chris Malinowski for administrative costs.

Through around 2005: $50 total will be given to Steve Stremba for keeping track of FAAB$.

Each trade is free. (Was 25 cents through 2003.)

Each transaction and FAAB acquisition is free. (Was 25 cents through 2003.)

Every rookie retained from one season is free. (Was 25 cents/each through 2003.)

Each September Call-up is free. (Was 25 cents/each through 2003.)

CONTRACT BUY-OUTS: If a team chooses not to retain a player with a "long-term contract" from one year to the next, the owner must pay into the prize pool whichever is lower: $20 or equivalent value of the player's salary. (Note that if the player becomes under contract to an AL team, the owner is no longer obligated to "buy out" the player's Rotisserie contract.)

OLD IX.H. THRU 2007 - CONTRACT BUY-OUTS: If a team chooses not to retain a player with a "long-term contract" from one year to the next, the owner will have to pay into the prize pool, 20% of the player's salary. (For example, if a team previously had given a player an extra year onto his contract, bumping his salary from $10 to $15, and then the next year that team decides not to keep that player, the owner of that player must pay $3 into the prize pool ($15 x 20%).

In the event of a strike, lock-out or similar circumstances, the season will count as full if (a) more than 81 games are played, or (b) if play resumes in mid-season and carries on through the end of the regular season. The season will count as "81 games" as soon as at least one team plays 81 games (e.g. Wins plus losses must equal 81 or more for at least one team. Games post-poned or not completed will not count as "one game" until that game ends in a win or a loss.) If the season "counts", no money will be refunded and money will be awarded to the top 5 teams as if a full season had been played in full. If the season does not "count," all money (minus fees paid to the stat service) will be refunded.

Any team which neglects to pay full entrance fee on draft day, will be prohibited from making any transactions what-so-ever until the debt is paid in full. This may be waived by the Commissioner if an owner has good reason why he is not able to pay on or before the day of the draft.

Any team that has their entrance fee check bounce will be required to pay in cash the following year, and will, of course, have to pay the bank fee penalty for the bounced check.

The treasurer will cash all checks immediately following the draft. If checks are not cashed until after the season is over, it will be out of the league's hands and the treasurer will have to make arrangements personally to resolve the issue.

The team making the least amount of transactions will be fined $5 at the end of the year.

CONE TARIFFS: The President may fine any team any amount of money (up to $1) for the owner himself doing something "stupid" or the player owned by any team doing or saying something "stupid."

Trading and "Anti-Dumping"

During the regular season, teams may make trades with any other team until trading deadline set for noon on 8/31, with "Anti-Dumping" restrictions as noted below.

Trades are effective when then are entered into the Stats service system - NO EXCEPTIONS. Trades are NOT effective the minute they are made. If it takes you more than a day to enter the trade, that's your loss.

During the off-season, teams may make unrestricted trades with any other team between the end of the regular season and the time that rosters are frozen before draft day. Off-season trades are, obviously, not bound by the position distribution requirement. There is also no limit to the SIZE of a team's roster during the off-season.

Teams MAY receive a player back in trade during the regular season which it traded away previously during the regular season. (This is noted simply to clarify because some leagues do not allow this.)

During the regular season, since each team has its own reserve roster of players, trades may be made unevenly (e.g., a pitcher can be traded for two outfielders) as long as the integrity of each team's active roster has been preserved at the conclusion of the trade. No team may have a "hole" in its active roster. A trade causes an exceed of players on a team's roster during the regular season must be accompanied by a subsequent move to drop the appropriate number of players.

Players to be named later and/or future considerations are not allowed when making trades. You may NOT trade a player today with a promise to trade another player or the same player back at a later date - that is collusion!

You may not agree to make a trade to benefit one team in the league with an agreement that that same team would make a trade to benefit your team in another league. This is also collusion.

OLD X.H. THRU 2009 - Each team may trade their picks from the first two rounds of the reserve draft at any time, and may even trade them up to 15 years in advance. All other picks are NOT tradeable. (Specific draft picks must be named at the time of the trade. For example, you may not trade "whichever pick winds up being the better pick.")

NEW X.H. AS OF 2010 - Each team may trade their picks from the first two rounds of the reserve draft during the off-season leading up to the freeze date. All other picks are NOT tradeable. (Any picks from future years when teams could trade reserve picks up to 15 years in advance are grandfathered and will remain on those teams. Those picks cannot be traded until the off-season before the year they will be used.)

NEW X.H. AS OF 2013 - Each team may trade their picks from the first two rounds of the reserve draft only for the following season. Those picks may be traded during the regular season or during the off-season, but only for the next draft. All other picks are NOT tradeable. (For clarification, our league's "off-season" is defined as the moment the last out is recorded during the MLB regular season, and the time that rosters are frozen.)

If a team notes - to anyone - in mid-season that they will not or may not be returning to the league for the next season, that team will not be allowed to make any additional trades.

An active player on the D.L. may be traded to another team's active roster. Conversely, a player on reserve who is on the D.L. may NOT be traded to another team's active roster.

A Rotisserie team is allowed to trade a player that had previously been traded to the American League. The team receiving the player may continue to accrue the player's statistics as if he was still in the NL, or that team may drop the player for additional FAAB$ money. (See section IV.E. for more info.)

"Anti-Dumping" Rules

Between Draft Day and noon on the Friday (prior to 2014 this was Thursday) after the All-Star Game, teams may accept only TWO "asterisk" players total and those two "asterisk" players must be from different teams. On the flip-side, a team may trade AWAY as many "asterisk" players as they like (but no two "asterisk" players to the same team.) "Asterisk" players are any players auction drafted for $20 or over (was raised to $25 in 2011 and 2012, but back to $25 for 2013), any players FAAB drafted for $60 or over, players of any salary in the final year of their contract, and players traded to the A.L.

RULE ELIMINATED AT THE END OF 2006: Between 12:01 p.m., June 14th and noon on the Thursday after the All-Star Game, any player involved in a trade automatically has a contract status that expires at the end of the year. NO RESERVE DRAFT PICKS MAY BE TRADED DURING THIS PERIOD!

Between 12:01 p.m. on the Friday (prior to 2014 this was Thursday) after the All-Star Game, and noon on 8/31, you may trade with any team +/- 5 points in the standings (based on the most up to date standings on the front page of the the stat service web-site. "Live" standings will not count, as there will be no way to verify it later.) Also during this period, teams with less than 40 points and not in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th place will also be able to continue trading with each other. The asterisk rules will apply during this period.

(Starting the 2011 season) Each team is allowed one "asterisk for asterisk" trade during the season. The trade is only one asterisk for one asterisk and other players cannot be involved in the trade. This trade can be utilized at any point in the season up until the trade deadline. The intent of the rule is to allow fair trades. Again, it is simply one asterisk player for one asterisk player. It is not two or three asterisks for two or three asterisks and no other players (or rookies) can be included in the trade. This trade does not count against a team�s limit of two asterisk trades. However, you may not make two trades involving asterisk players within 30 days. In other words, if you make your asterisk-for-asterisk trade with 1 team, you may not make another trade with that same team unless you first wait 30 days. Your asterisk-for-asterisk trade also can not happen within 30 days after a previous trade with that same team.

Between 12:01 p.m. on 8/31 and the end of the regular season, there can be no trading what-so-ever.

XI.

September Roster Expansion

Each team may add players to its active roster for the month of September at any time during the month beginning as early as September 1st. Teams may add any or all of the players from its reserve roster as long as they are not in the minor leagues or disabled.

During the period of September Roster Expansion, the "extra" players added may be demoted or replaced by another player at any time. These "extra" players may be sent down later without subsequently recalling another player.

The additional players added are, in effect, considered an additional "utility" spot on the team's active roster. (e.g. a player initially added to a team's active roster who only qualified at outfield may be replaced by a player who only qualifies at catcher.)

A "expanded" pitcher may be replaced by an offensive player, and vice versa. (This is noted only because this is not the case in some leagues.)

XII.

Prize Money

All prize money shall be divided among the first five teams in the final standings as follows:

45% - First Place
25% - Second Place
15% - Third Place
10% - Fourth Place
5% - Fifth Place

In case of a tie, both teams will divide the money equally. For example, if two teams tie for 4th place, each team will get 7.5%; or if two teams tie for 2nd place, each team would get 20%, etc.

Any team finishing the year with negative debt smaller than $10 will not have that money refunded.

XIII.

Pre-Draft Roster Protection

An owner may retain between 0 and 16 players on his team's active roster for an upcoming season. In addition, up to 19 players may be retained on a team's reserve roster in accordance with the rules set forth below.

Teams may NOT protect players that are not under contract with an NL team. (This means that you may NOT keep a player if he is a free agent.)

The pre-auction Roster Protection date will be approximately one week prior to Auction Draft Day weekend. Exact date and time to be set by the Commissioner. This date and time will also act as the trading deadline. At that time, all teams must submit their "keeper lists" including any long-term contracts that will be given to players entering their "option" year, as well as any "rookies" being kept on reserve. (The "Rookies" retained do NOT count against your maximum-16 active-roster keepers.)

A player may be retained on his ESL team's reserve roster only if he still has rookie status as defined by Major League baseball. The major league rule reads: "A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during the previous season or seasons, he has exceeded 130 at bats or 50 innings pitched in the major leagues." The major league rule also says that if a player has accumulated more than 45 days on an active roster of a major league club or clubs during the period of a 24-player limit that the player will lose rookie status. For the purposes of the ESL, this part of the rule will be dropped simply because it is not information that is easily obtained. (See section VI.B.9. for more info!)

On auction draft day, any reserve roster player ("rookie") that is on an NL major league roster or disabled list must be promoted to his ESL team's active roster or must be released to the free agent draft pool. If a player's promotion causes a team's active roster protection list to exceed the 16 player limit, a corresponding player on the list must be released to the free agent pool. (Teams also have the option of releasing a player even if they have NOT reached the 16 player limit!)

Starting with the 2012 draft: If the draft is held prior to the start of MLB, you have the following two options if a "rookie" is still in major league camp at the time of the draft: You may include him in your list of keepers at his present salary (usually $5), and the player's salary clock starts ticking immediately. The player cannot be returned to your team's farm roster. Alternatively, you may maintain the player on your reserve list, but his salary increases by $3 (so if his salary was previously $5, it will increase to $8.)

A rookie added to an active roster may be placed in the positions in which he qualifies from the previous season in the Major Leagues. If a rookie did not appear in the major leagues the previous season, his positions of eligibility will be based on games played in the minor leagues.

Any protected player that is placed on the Disabled List, released or sent to the minors between the "freeze date" and draft day may be released to the free agent draft pool. Teams may then add another player to their protected list if they chose to do so. (Note that this only applies to players whose status has changed BETWEEN the freeze date and draft day. For example, if you have a player who was disabled BEFORE the freeze date, and you decide to make him one of your 13 keepers, you may not then change your mind on draft day.)

Once a team calls in their "keeper list" to the league Commissioner, that team may not make any additional trades until after the draft.

STARTING 2007 - If a player is traded to the AL between the time rosters are frozen and the draft, you may retain or drop such a player, just as you can during the season. However, if you do decide to drop such a player, you will not receive FAAB money, and instead have the option to replace that player with someone you didn't originally keep. (Note that if you keep that player going into the draft, and decide to drop that player during the season you would then receive FAAB money.)

OLD VIII.H. THRU 2006 - If a player is traded to the AL between the time rosters are frozen and the draft, that player is removed from that team, and the team gets nothing in return. (The same as if the player was traded to the AL at any other time during the Winter.) The only consolation is that the team may, if it chooses, add another player to their freeze list that wasn't previously protected.

If a National League team is moved to the American League (for example, the Houston Astros switch from the NL to the AL in 2013), teams which own those players will be grandfathered. Those players may be retained until their contracts expire as if those players were still in the NL. Such players may also be extended. Rookies may also be retained.

XIV.

Waivers

The "Waiver" system was voted out of the ESL after the 2002 season. Players released from a team during the regular season who are in the majors and not on the disabled list will no longer be subjected to the "waiver" process and will now be available for FAAB$ acquisition just like every other available player.

XV.

Player Contracts and Salaries

A player may be kept under contract for as long as the owner wishes. After two years under contract, a player may be offered a long-term contract. If a team does not chose to offer a long-term contract, the player may be released or retained for a third year after which the contract ends. If a player is signed to a long term contract, the player will be retained for the duration of the contract unless he becomes under contract to an American League team or the owner "buys out" the remaining contract term at the time rosters are frozen just before the draft. In all other cases - specifically including permanent disability or sudden loss of effectiveness - a team must honor the terms of a long term contract.

For each season a player is retained, his contract status and salary are as follows:

Contract Year	Stat service Designation	Player Salary
1st year 2nd year 3rd year (no contract extension) 3rd year (contract extension) Last year (contract extension) Rookie drafted prior to 2009 Rookie drafted in 2009 or later	s2 s1 O L(#) L1 L8 s3	Price obtained at auction Price obtained at auction (same as 1st) Price obtained at auction (same as 1st) Auction$ + $5 times # of years extended Same as "3rd year w/contract extension) (See XV.G. below) (See XV.G. below)

At the end of a player's second year, an owner may extend the player's contract for additional years at the cost of $5 added to the player's base salary (e.g., his auction price) for each year that the contract has been extended. For example, a player with a base salary of $10 who was extended for an additional 3 years would have a salary of $25 for the remainder of the contract term.

Players obtained via the FAAB acquisition process and players drafted in the reserve/supplemental draft will have a contract status of "s2", the same as if they had been drafted in the auction draft that year.

There are no waivers in the ESL. (All players released during the season drop directly into the free agent pool and are available immediately for FAAB acquisition.)

The contract period for a player with "rookie status" (no more than 130 career major league at bats or 50 career major league innings pitched), will be considered to begin when that player loses his major league "rookie" status (or when he is activated on auction draft day.) Note that you may activate a "rookie" player during the season and he still retains his Rotisserie "rookie" status until he exceeds either 130 career at bats or 50 career innings pitched.

The following are the guidelines for determining salaries of players selected in the reserve/rotation draft.

"Rookies" taken in the first two rounds of the reserve draft will have a salary of $5 if they are in the minor leagues on auction draft day. Players with "rookie status" who are still on a major league roster on auction draft day, will be $10, but will still be conisidered "rookies." (Note that this is different from the ASL where a "rookie" drafted on reserve is $5 whether he is in the major leagues or not.)

Non-"Rookies" taken in the first two rounds of the reserve draft will have a salary of $10.

In rounds 3 thru 10, players will be given the following salaries...

Round 3: $10
Round 4: $9
Round 5: $8
Round 6: $6
Round 7: $5
Round 8: $3
Round 9: $2
Round 10: $1

4a.

Any "rookie" drafted in prior to 2009, and retained from the previous season will have a salary equal to his previous salary plus $5. These players will be listed with a contract status of "L8".

4b.

Starting in 2009, Any "rookie" retained from the previous season will have a salary equal to his previous salary plus $3. These players will be listed with a contract status of "s3".

Teams with less than 2 picks in the first two rounds of the reserve draft may chose to make their 9th or 10th selection in an "11th" or "12th" round. Those players will have a salary of $10 regardless of whether or not the player is a rookie or a "non-rookie."

If a player becomes under contract to an AL team, his Rotisserie contract is terminated if he doesn't return to the NL by the time rosters are frozen the following year - even if the player had a "long-term guaranteed contract". If he does return to the NL, his contract remains unaffected by the trade to the AL and back to the NL again. (Note that a player under long-term contract CAN be dropped during the regular season for FAAB$ if he winds up in the AL.)

CONTRACT BUY-OUTS: If a team chooses not to retain a player with a "long-term contract" from one year to the next, the owner must pay into the prize pool an amount equal to 20% of the value of the player's salary. (Note that if the player becomes under contract to an NL team, the owner is no longer obligated to "buy out" the player's Rotisserie contract.)

A player with a "long-term contract" may not be released at any time during the regular season (unless the player becomes under contract with an AL team via trade, waivers, etc.) Buy-outs may occur only when rosters are frozen prior to the draft.

If Major League baseball moves a team from the NL to the AL, any players on that team may be retained until their contracts expire. However, such players may not be given contract extensions.

If Major League baseball contracts (eliminates a team), any players which subsequently wind up on an AL team may be retained until their contracts expire. However, such players may not be given contract extensions.

In the event of a strike, lock-out or similar circumstances, the season will count as full if (a) more than 81 games are played, or (b) if play resumes in mid-season and carries on through the end of the regular season. The season will count as "81 games" as soon as at least one team plays 81 games (e.g. Wins plus losses must equal 81 or more for at least one team. Games post-poned or not completed will not count as "one game" until that game ends in a win or a loss.) If the season "counts", player contracts will be treated as if the year was played in its entirety. If the season does not "count," player contracts will be "frozen" for that year.

XVI.

Surveys and Rule Changes

Any AND ALL rule changes which do not require immediate attention will be addressed each year in the "Winter Survey" which will be issued each year in November with a deadline of December 31st.

Only when absolutely necessary will a rule change at any other time outside of the "Winter Survey." If a rule change does require immediate action it will always be done via email to allow anonymous voting and sufficient time for group discussion. Again, unless absolutely necessary, no voting/rule changes will be made in person or on draft day.

Any rule change suggestion which would have affected a team's prior strategy or in which the voting would be swayed by a team's present situation will NOT be immediately effective, but, rather, must wait one full year. Such rules include changes in keeper-limit/size, order of the reserve draft, etc. (The reason for this is to retain the integrity of all votes. For example, if a team knows they have very few keepers such a team is likely to vote to reduce keeper limit size. By making such votes effective one year later, all votes are "honest.")

A "majority" vote will be a majority of positive votes out of all people who do not abstain. For example, if 4 people vote "yes", 1 vote "no" and 5 "abstain", the rule will pass. In other words, SIX "yes" votes are not necessary for a new rule to pass.

An "even" vote will not be enough for a vote to pass. More "yes" votes than "no" votes are required for a rule to change.

Starting with the 2006 survey, there will not be an option to "abstain" on a question. All owners will be required to chose a side on every issue.