Official Rules for Rotisserie Baseball (2013)

I. TEAM REQUIREMENTS

A)Team Structure

Each team shall consist of 28 under-contract players (AL) or 27 (NL), all with a reasonable chance of making an opening-day major league roster, at the conclusion of the post-auction lottery: 24 starters (23 for NL), and 4 reserve players. Specifically, by the weekly deadline (starting time of first game on Monday), each team must field the following:

B) Player eligibility

  1. The position eligibility of each position player is determined prior to the auction by the commissioner based on the player's projected actual position. A player can become eligible at another position during the season by playing 15 games there. A player omitted from the preseason position list or a DH who joins the NL shall be granted new position eligibility by the commissioner.
  2. The eligibility of pitchers, be they starters or relievers, will be announced upon their nomination at the auction.
  3. Any pitcher who makes a relief appearance can be used as a reliever until he makes 3 consecutive starts, after which he may only be used as a starter.

II. THE AUCTION

A) Procedure

No children may be present for the auction. The auction begins with the defending champion nominating a player for bidding. Subsequently, nominations then proceed in a predetermined order (generally clockwise around the table). Owners may pass rather than nominating, and a nomination shall be forfeited at the commissioner's discretion if not made within one minute. Nominations include an opening bid of .10 unless a higher bid is specified prior to the naming of the player. The minimum bidding increment is $.10. The salary cap is $30. By the end of the auction, including free-agent pickups for disabled players, each team must have all the necessary positions filled as well as four reserve players. During some point in the bidding for a certain player, one owner must volunteer to be the auctioneer; i.e., to announce with rhythmic cadence, "Going once, going twice, sold." The auctioneer cannot bid on the player he is auctioning. Owners may not gain access to news sources during the auction. Internet access for static data, such as historical player statistics, is permitted. Should an owner come across news during the auction that might affect player valuation, he must immediately disclose this to the league.

B) Disabled players and the post-auction lottery

  1. It is legal to bid on a disabled player, whose disabled status will be announced by the commissioner after he is won. To replace the disabled player designated as such at the auction, a free agent must be picked up immediately after the auction. Order of selection shall be determined by lottery. Trades and trade discussions are forbidden until the post-auction lottery concludes.
  2. You may only bid on players currently in a major league spring training camp. This includes non-roster invitees, but you cannot bid on players who have been sent down or who are unsigned at the time of the auction.
  3. A preseason roster spot that is the result of a player being released, sent to the minors, or designated for assignment cannot be filled after the season starts. Roster spots that result from a player being released or demoted may only be filled with a player who was available at the time of the auction. These roster spots may not be used to manipulate player attachments.
  4. The commissioner may deem a player eligible for the DL any time between when that player is purchased at the auction and the time at which MLB teams must set their opening day 25-man rosters. Evidence of the disabling injury must be presented by the player's owner.

*** Effects of the above rules ***

  1. An owner may complete his auction at the post-auction lottery, e.g., by picking up a 10th pitcher and attaching him to an injured infielder. He must have a legal team by the end of the lottery. A legal team may include an injured player. In between the post-auction lottery and the first pitch, teams need not be positionally correct.
  2. An owner may attach players who were not available at the auction to DL players purchased at the auction. This includes FAAB bids. But purchased DL players may not be cut.
  3. Purchased DL players not attached to a free agent at the post-auction lottery are then attached to free agents via FAAB bidding.
  4. Contingency pickups are recommended to avoid immovables.
  5. Post-auction roster spots due to trades or injuries may be carried into the season.

C) Time outs

Each owner has one time-out. If an owner calls for a time-out when he has none, he shall be slapped upside his head and the countdown resumed immediately.

III. ROSTER MOVES

A) Disabled list

  1. A player put on the disabled list by his major league team may be placed on his Rotisserie team's disabled list and simultaneously attached to a free agent or a player activated from the Rotisserie team's disabled list.
  2. The player and his replacement are considered "attached". You cannot trade one of the pair without trading the other, unless you first separate the two players by retaining the pickup unattached.
  3. When the disabled player is removed from his MLB team's DL, his Rotisserie owner has a week from the upcoming deadline to activate him, or the disabled player will automatically "float," becoming a free agent. If he is not added to his MLB team's active roster, then he may be activated and then cut, leaving his owner with a blank roster spot.
  4. A player activated on the first day of the week is presumed activated prior to the deadline and will float at the following deadline, unless his owner can demonstrate prior to that presumed float deadline that said player was activated after his team's first game.
  5. Activating a DL player "bumps" his attached replacement off the team; the replacement can be kept only if another roster spot is available and his owner states his intention to do so when activating the DLed player. This roster spot may be used to attach either the DL player or his replacement.
  6. A disabled or suspended player may be activated only if his MLB team has activated him or if you keep his replacement unattached.
  7. Attachments may not be manipulated in such a way as to potentially hasten the bumping of a player.
  8. No more than two players may be attached at any time.

B) Supplemental DL

  1. On or after September 1, position players who have missed four consecutive games or pitchers who have missed five consecutive games because of an injury documented by his owner, or any player who has been shut down for the season for any reason, may be placed on the supplemental disabled list and attached to a free agent.
  2. Activation is automatic upon his return to play.
  3. An SDL player who returns on the first day of the period is activated effective the following week.
  4. An SDL player cannot be activated before he returns to play.

C) Suspended list

  1. A player on the restricted list, the bereavement list, or suspended at least seven days or “indefinitely” may be placed on the suspended list and a free agent picked up for him.
  2. Like disabled players, a suspended list player is "attached" to his replacement, and the two may only be traded as a pair while they are still attached.
  3. Unlike disabled players, a suspended list player is automatically activated upon his return to a major league roster. If at the end of the suspension the player does not immediately return to an active major league roster or the disabled list, he floats immediately and does not bump his attached player.
  4. A suspended list player who returns on the day of the weekly deadline is activated the following week.

D) Cutting players

  1. Players may be cut if they are not on a 25-man roster in the relevant league, for example, if they are released, traded out of the league, in the minors, on the disabled list, designated for assignment, declared retired, or dead.
  2. A player placed on a 25-man roster is presumed active before the first game that day.

E) Reserve players

Each team must conclude the auction with four players on reserve (the maximum allowable number). However, it is not required that a team's reserve remain filled. Reserve players can be of any position. Their statistics do not count until the deadline following their insertion into the starting lineup.

F) Trades

  1. When making a trade, the transaction is not official until all participants have said or written "Agreed," while cognizant of the terms of the agreement.
  2. Stipulations, agreements, players to be named later, future considerations, cash, etc. may not be part of a trade.
  3. Prior pick-ups and Rotisserie trades must be disclosed to a potential trading partner.
  4. Unless otherwise specified, an acquired player shall inherit the same status (active or reserved) as the player for whom he was traded. Lineups should be clarified following a deal.
  5. By the weekly deadline a legal team must be fielded, and at no time may a team have more than 27 active players in the NL, or 28 active players in the AL.
  6. The trading deadline for the ESRA National League is 11 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on August 1. The Park Slope Rotisserie league's trading deadline is one hour later, at midnight Eastern Daylight Time on the morning on August 2nd.
  7. Upon a trade between Rich Najjar and Jim Olechowski, a rape crisis counselor shall be dispatched immediately to Najjar with a rape kit, and Jim shall submit a DNA sample.

G) Free Agents and the Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB)

  1. To pick up a free agent you must enter a bid on that player before 6:00 AM EDT on the day of the weekly move deadline. At that point the RotoValue web site processes FAAB auctions, awarding the player to the owner with the highest valid bid when the auction ends. Free agents must be on an active roster in the relevant league.
  2. Each owner's FAAB begins at $6.00. It increases by the auction price of owned MLB players traded to the other major league and then cut by their Rotisserie teams. Players traded to the other league but assigned to a minor league affiliate do not affect FAAB when cut. FAAB decreases by the amount of any winning bids. Owners must self-report changes to their FAAB. Players acquired as free agents have no FAAB value, even if previously drafted.
  3. Between the bidding deadline and the move deadline, free agents who have been in the league for at least 6 hours (as determined by RotoValue.com) before the bidding deadline may be picked up on a first-come, first-served basis. Players new to the league (e.g. recent call-ups or players traded into the league) would be subject to FAAB bidding until the following week's regular bidding deadline.
  4. The RotoValue web site will "validate" each bid (and its associated moves) before resolving an auction. If winning the bid and applying the associated moves would result in an illegal lineup for the owner, it is withdrawn and does not count. When entering bids, you may enter other moves to be made if the bid succeeds. Sometimes this is necessary to make the bid valid, but be warned that if you later make moves that would result in a bid no longer being valid, that bid will be withdrawn.
  5. Bids cannot be disclosed to any league owner prior to the 11 p.m. deadline, and must be registered at the www.rotovalue.com web site.
  6. The minimum bid is zero.
  7. For any auction, your maximum FAAB is defined as the lower of your publicly reported FAAB 10 minutes before the bidding deadline and your FAAB at the bidding deadline. If your bid is higher than your maximum FAAB, then that bid is automatically reduced to your maximum FAAB. This rule means that you cannot bid with FAAB acquired less than 10 minutes before the bidding deadline.
  8. If the owner does not have a blank roster spot, the roster spot to be used for the pickup must be specified with the FAAB bid.
  9. If your bid wins, then any moves associated with the bid take effect at the next deadline after the auction is run, even if there is more than one move deadlines after you enter your bid.
  10. Contingency moves attached to FAAB bids are considered made at the FAAB deadline (and thus don't take precedence over standard pickup attempts) but may be applied retroactively to the time of the bid.
  11. Disputes about the timing of transactions that trigger FAAB bidding deadlines will be resolved by the commissioner based on all available evidence.
  12. FAAB may be traded, but you cannot bid with newly acquired FAAB until after the trade is reported to the league.

H) Transaction Protocol

  1. Moves should be recorded at the RotoValue web site and take effect at the subsequent weekly deadline. In the event of extenuating circumstances, moves may be reported to another owner or even a non-league source, provided that the commissioner can verify those moves with that source, that the extenuating circumstances are explained, and that the moves are reported to the league promptly.
  2. Moves should be reported promptly to all owners in the league. Failure to do so may result in fines, or perhaps even in nullifying the transaction.
  3. Contingency moves, such as "If he hit a home run today, I pick him up," are forbidden. To put a player on the disabled list, for example, you must know he is on his team's DL from a news report, newspaper, or the like; you cannot assume information.

J) Illegal rosters

  1. If, during the season, a team with six starters (the maximum) has one of its four relief pitchers moved by his major league team into the starting rotation, the relief pitcher officially qualifies as a starter when he makes three consecutive starts without a relief appearance. The owner cannot have seven starters; he must remove one of them, either by a trade, free agent pickup, or reserve call-up, by the next deadline. In emergency situations, the commissioner may grant a one-week grace period (from the deadline following the three starts) to make his lineup legitimate. If it is after the trade deadline, and the owner has neither a usable roster spot nor a relief pitcher on reserve, he must cut the new starting pitcher and pick up a relief pitcher.
  2. In the case of correctable illegal rosters discovered after the weekly deadline, the commissioner will issue a ruling benefiting the greatest number of other owners. "Correctable" implies accidental and changeable with a simple reserve call-up or pickup, to be made by the commissioner at the conclusion of the week.
  3. Rosters can be "illegal" with regard to position eligibility within a week, but the penalty for not fielding a legal team at the beginning of a week is zero stats for the week, if the roster is not "correctable" (see above). The commissioner can make special rulings if extenuating circumstances apply.
  4. An owner may not benefit by the reversal of his illegal transaction.

IV. STATISTICS

A) Procedure

The rankings of each team in eight different statistical categories are what determine the overall Rotisserie league standings. The categories are: composite batting average, home runs, RBIs, stolen bases, composite earned run average, composite pitching ratio, wins, and saves. Ratio is your pitching staff's [hits + walks] / innings. The standings are determined as follows: In a league with seven owners, the team with the most home runs, for example, would receive seven points, the team second in homers six points, etc. Last place in a category earns one point.

B) Innings pitched requirement

A team must pitch at least 1,300 innings on the season. Teams short of that number shall be allotted penalty innings sufficient to reach 1,350 IP. Penalty innings shall be accompanied by earned runs and hits+walks at the same rate as that of the pitcher with the worst numbers in each of those categories and at least 130 IP in the relevant league.

V. EXPENDITURES

A) Transactions

These transactions cost $.50 each:

  1. Placing a player on the disabled list
  2. Cutting a player
  3. Activating a player
  4. Letting a player float
  5. Picking up a free agent
Trades cost $.20 per player acquired.

B) Fees

Each owner will be charged commissioner's and secretary's fees determined by the commissioner.

C) Fines

  1. Fines may be handed out by the commissioner for any reason. Fines may be appealed only in writing.
  2. Owners may not withdraw from the league in midseason. Any owner who threatens to will be fined $5 and excluded from all future leagues.

VI. CODE OF CONDUCT

A) Opinions

You may not give another owner your opinion of his prospective trade. You may, however, offer predictions on what a player might do statistically the rest of the season (and lie if you wish).

B) Lying

You must disclose to a prospective trading partner if any of the players you agree to trade away are, to your knowledge, injured or have been traded or demoted.

C) Conspiracy

Conspiracy is the worst crime in Rotisserie. Information should not be exclusively and selectively conveyed to another owner, particularly if it directly benefits that owner. If it is, the other owner cannot act on the information until the rest of the league is aware of it. Owners may not advise other owners on specific pickups.

D) The Commissioner

The commissioner will rule on conspiracy matters, as well as adjudicate all other disputes in the best interests of the league. He may create new rules or clarify old ones during the season.

VII. THE WINNER'S CIRCLE

The only standings that count are the final standings. The total pot, including the $30 per owner from the original auction, is divvied up as follows:

Rotisserie debts must be paid within three weeks of notification of those debts. Debtors should send their payment to the commissioner, who upon receipt of all payments will promptly distribute the winnings. Failure to pay within the allotted time may result in the owner being banned permanently from the league.