Objective
League Officers
Players
Statistics
Scoring
Roster Moves
Position Eligibility
Auction
Keeping Players
Off-Season Roster Moves
The objective of roto
baseball is to own a National League baseball team and then compete against
other owners in the league. You will own hitters and pitchers whose
accumulative statistics will be measured against the same statistics on the
other teams.
A team consists of 22 players:
All team statistics are cumulative (i.e.,
total numbers for the entire team). For hitters, the five
statistics are batting average, home runs, runs batted in (RBI), stolen bases,
and runs. For pitchers, the statistics are
wins, saves, earned run average (ERA), ratio (number of baserunners
divided by innings pitched), and strikeouts.
Hitting statistics are not used for pitchers.
We will once again use CBS Sportsline's
commissioner service to calculate our statistics. Statistics will be calculated
daily and a link to the appropriate reports will exist on the LORH Web site.
Daily, the commissioner service will produce
a report of all teams in the league. For each category you will be awarded
points based on how your team compared with other teams in that category. The
top team in each category will receive 10 points for that category,
with the next team receiving 9, and so on. For example, if your team has the
most team home runs, you receive 10 points for that category. The only points
that really count are at the end of the season. The daily reports are for your
sake (and so we have something interesting to talk about).
The points for the ten categories are added
together to arrive at your team’s total points.
Throughout the season, you can make a variety of roster moves. Each owner can make two non-injury roster moves per week (a week runs from 12:01 A.M. Saturday to midnight Friday). There is no limit on moves made because of injuries. All roster moves are made by using the Transaction forms available on the LORH Web site. DO NOT USE THE COMMISSIONER SERVICE TO MAKE TRANSACTIONS. The forms will e-mail all transactions to the commissioner who will approve the transaction and then enact on the official rosters. All transactions will be posted on the LORH Home Page and a Transaction Log will be kept. The log is also available on the Web site.
If two owners attempt to make a move for the
same player, an e-mail auction will occur for that player. The salary cap of $250 must be maintained. Therefore, if
the bid for a player cause an owner to exceed the
salary cap, additional roster moves will be required to get that team under the
cap. These additional moves will not count against the number of moves allowed
in a week.
You must maintain your roster in accordance
with the player breakdown stated earlier. In other words, you cannot release a
catcher and replace him with a first baseman. Multi-player moves are allowed as
long as the roster is maintained.
Injuries
If one of your players is placed on the official
National League disabled list, you can select a replacement player from the
list of available players (any player at the appropriate position not currently
on a roster). The salary of the replacement is $1. When the original player
returns, you have five days to decide if you are going to keep the original
or the replacement. Use the Release/Acquire form to release either
the replacement or the original player. If you do not make ths
transaction within five days of the original player leaving the DL, the replacement
is automatically released and the original player returned to your roster.
Player Release
At any time, you can release a player. This
is normally done because the guy is stinking up the joint. When you release a
player, you replace him with another player from the list of available players.
The salary of the replacement is $1 or the draft salary if that player was
released in the last two weeks (unless an auction occurs due to two owners
wanting the same player). The new player must play the position of the player
released or additional moves must be made to balance
your roster. Players released after July 31 must clear waivers before they can
be acquired.
Waivers
Any player released after July
31 must clear waivers before they can be acquired by another team. The waiver
period lasts 48 hours. During that time, any team can try to acquire the player
with the one lowest in the standings receiving rights to the player. After the
waiver period, the player can be acquired using normal procedures. The Waiver Wire will be
posted on the LORH Home Page.
Trades
Up until the major league trading deadline
(July 31), you can trade players with any other owner. Between July 31 and
August 31, you can only trade with an owner adjacent to you in the standings.
For example, if you are in third place you can only trade with the second or
fourth place owner. After August 31, no trades can take place.
Players Changing Leagues
If a player changes leagues his eligibility
changes. If one of your players leaves the National League, you must release
him and select another player from the list of available players. If a player joins the National League, a 48-hour waiting
period is instated, during which any team can request the player. If multiple
teams request the player, a lottery is held to determine who acquires the
player. If no team requests the player, he is added to the list of available players.
Salaries
Each team has a salary cap of $260 at all times. If a
player is released, the draft salary remains for two weeks giving all teams an
opportunity to acquire that player at the draft salary. This is to prevent a
team from releasing a player and reacquiring him two days later for $1. This
rule shall be known as "The Crick Rule." After the two-week waiting
period, the player’s salary returns to $1. If a player is traded, the
salary is assumed by the new team (this prevents sandbagging). You may need to
release a player to make salary cap room for a trade.
All free agents are acquired at the minimum salary of $1. If two Roto Heads ask for the same free agent within 48 hours, the
Roto Head willing to pay the most for the free agent
receives him. If a player is called up from the minors or switches leagues, an
auction is held between any Roto Head requesting the
new player will take place in a online auction for the
new player (no more lotteries).
To simplify things, you can never have more than a total of $260
worth of salaries on your team. If you no longer own a player, you no longer
have that salary. If you get a new player, you assume the new salary. Injured
players do not count against the salary cap.
During the draft, players who played at least 20 games at a
position are eligible to be drafted at that position. Players may be eligible
at more than one position. After the season starts, a player has to only play
one inning at a position to be eligible at that position. For example, Matt
Williams played a couple of innings at SS in a late-game substitution last
year. He was then eligible to be moved to SS (he was drafted at 3B).
General Concept
The LORH auction works like any other auction. Whoever is the
highest bidder wins the rights to a player. You can pay any price for a player
as long as you have enough money remaining to fill your roster.
Process
1. Each Roto Head will start with $260 of Monopoly money.
2. A random draw will
determine who nominates the first player.
3. A player is
nominated with a starting bid amount. The minimum bid is $1.
4. All Roto Heads can then bid on
that player until a high bidder is determined. The minimum raise is $1. A high
bid stands until another Roto Head outbids it or five
seconds expire.
5. The player is
added to the high bidder’s roster (at any eligible position) and the salary is
recorded.
Example:
Each LORH team roster freezes after the last regular season game is played. No players can be released or acquired after this time. However, off-season trades are allowed. All players on the DL at the end of the season can remain there during the off-season and their replacements remain on the roster.
Each team must declare a minimum of 3 and a maximum 5 five players to keep on their roster. The date for declaring keepers is March 1. An additional opportunity to release a kept player is available two weeks prior to Draft Day. For example, if a team declares five keepers on March 1, they can drop 2 of those players two weeks before the draft. However, after the two-week deadline keeper rosters are frozen and keepers cannot be dropped.
All declared keepers automatically receive a $5 salary increase. This is designed to level the playing field for a "stacked team" or a team loaded with $1 "sleepers" and "rookies". For example, Albert Pujols was acquired two years ago for $1. His salary would increase to $6 the first year and $11 the following year, if kept.
Off-season trades will become legal starting this year. Any time
during the off-season, any player can be traded to another team or dropped. Of
course if this occurs, salary rules from above apply (a traded $1 player has a
$6 salary if kept). Free agents cannot be acquired in the off-season. If
players are traded in the off-season, the salaries follow the players just like
in the regular season.
There is no salary cap during the
off-season. However, keep in mind that the salary of all keepers is subtracted from
the $260 draft amount. For example, if your keepers salaries
total $60 (after salary increase), you will have $200 left with which to draft.