Rules of the Game

Fantasy Baseball A-League Multi-Keeper Rules

1. This year’s draft (2008) will be the inaugural year of our multi-keeper league.

2. Each owner may choose to keep up to the maximum numbers of players allowed. To be eligible, the player must be on the owner’s roster at the end of the previous season.

3. This maximum number of players will start at ONE for this year’s draft (2008). The following year (2009) this maximum will increase to TWO. The year after (2010) will see the maximum increase to THREE. At the 2010 draft, we will decide whether to continue to increase this maximum number for subsequent drafts or keep as is.

4. Each player is kept in lieu of a draft pick.

5. The draft pick used to keep a player is based on one of the following scenarios:

a. A player drafted in the previous year’s draft may be kept using their Drafted Keeper Round (DKR)

DKR = Previous year’s draft round / 2 (rounded up)

Example 1: AQ drafts Tim Lincecum in the 5^th round this year (2008). In next year’s draft (2009), AQ can choose to keep Lincecum with his DKR. In this scenario, the DKR would equal a 3^rd round draft pick.

b. A player picked up off the waiver wire or as a free agent may be kept using their Pickup Keeper Round (PKR)

PKR = (O-Rank / # of Managers) + 2 (rounded up)

Example 2: Esteban Loaiza goes undrafted in our upcoming draft (2008). During the season, Bobby picks up Loaiza as a free agent. In next year’s draft (2009), Bobby can choose to keep Loaiza with his PKR. Assume next season Loaiza had an O-Rank of 110. With 11 managers, his PKR would equal a 12^th round pick.

c. For the inaugural season (2008) only, the previous two scenarios will NOT be used. Rather, any player may be kept using their Inaugural Keeper Round (IKR).

IKR = (O-Rank / # of Managers) (rounded up)

Example 3: Mobster decides to keep Alfonso Soriano in our upcomping draft (2008). Soriano will be kept using Mobster’s IKR. Soriano currently has an O-Rank of 13. With 11 managers, this will equal a 2^nd round pick.

6. The same player can be kept (any round) for three consecutive seasons. The following season, he returns to the players draft pool.

Example 4: Andre Ethier goes undrafted this year. One month into the season, FQ decides to add Ethier as a free agent pickup. Ethier remains on FQ’s roster throughout the season. Next year (2009) FQ can keep Ethier using his PKR. Assume next year Ethier’s O-Rank is 220. With 11 managers, this will equal a 22^nd round pick. The following season (2010), FQ can keep Ethier using his DKR, an 11^th round pick. The season after that (2011), FQ can keep Ethier with a 6^th round pick. After keeping Ethier for three consecutive seasons, FQ is forced to release Ethier into the player pool for the following year’s draft (2012).

7. The same player can be kept as a 1st round draft pick for two consecutive seasons. The following season, he returns to the players draft pool.

Example 5: Hanes keeps Hanely Ramirez this year using his IKR. With an O-Rank of 2, Hanes would keep Ramirez using his 1^st round pick. Next year (2009), Hanes can keep Ramirez using his DKR. This would again cost Hanes a 1^st round pick. After keeping Ramirez as a 1^st round pick for two consecutive seasons, Hanes is forced to release Ramirez into the player pool for the following year’s draft (2011).

8. If a drafted player is dropped during a season and picked up by another manager, the player’s original draft position will continue to count for keeper purposes. He will not be considered a waiver wire pickup.

Example 6: Mobster drafts Dustin Pedroia in the 20^th round this year. One month into the season, Mob drops Pedroia, releasing him to the waiver wire. Kao has the highest waiver priority and puts in a waiver claim to pickup Pedroia. Pedroia is added by Kao and he remains on Kao’s roster throughout the season. Next year (2009) Kao can keep Pedroia using his DKR, a 10^th round pick. If Kao decides to keep Pedroia the following year (2010) he will cost a 5^th round pick. The following year (2011), Pedroia would cost a 3^nd round pick if kept. After keeping Pedroia for three consecutive seasons, Kao is forced to release Pedroia into the player pool for the following year's draft (2012).

9. If a player is traded during the season, the player’s original draft position will continue to count in determining DKR for keeper purposes. If the traded player was a waiver wire or free agent pickup prior to being traded, the PKR will continue to be used for keeper purposes.

10. If the traded player was previously kept by the manager, the draft pick used to keep the player continues to escalate as it would have had the player remained with the original manager. The number of consecutive years as a keeper will continue to accrue as well and will not reset.

Example 7: Bobby keeps Russell Martin this year using his IKR, a 3^rd round pick. During the season, Bobby trades Martin to Hyams. Next year (2009), Hyams can keep Martin using his DKR, a 2^nd round pick. The following year (2010), Hyams can again keep Martin using his DKR, a 1^st round pick. Martin has now been kept for three consecutive years, despite only two of those years being with Hyams. The following year (2011), Hyams is forced to release Martin to the player pool.

11. When the league advances to mulitiple keepers, players who count as draft picks in the same round can still be kept, but the draft picks would stack forward.

Example 8: For the 2009 draft, Neil decides to keep Howie Kendrick using his DKR, an 8^th round pick. For his second keeper, Neil decides to keep Andy Laroche, who’s PKR will also cost an 8^th round pick. Neil is not prevented from keeping these two players because they both would count as a pick in the same round. Rather, the keeper picks would stack forward, costing an 8^th and 7^th round pick.

12. Multiple keepers cannot be stacked forward beyond the 1^st round.

Example 9: Hanes keeps Hanely Ramirez as his 1^st round pick this year. During the season, Hanes pulls a trade for Albert Pujols. Next year (2009) Hanes woud not be able to keep Ramirez and Pujols since their DKR would both equal a 1^st round pick, and there is no round ahead of the 1^st to stack forward to.

13. Draft order will be determined randomly. It will be announced by the commissioner 2 weeks prior to the draft.

14. All keepers must be announced the day of the draft, prior to any draft picks being made. They will be announced in a manner so that no manager has prior knowledge to other manager’s keepers.

15. Waiver priority will be determined randomly.

16. Keeper system management will be maintained by the league commissioner or a manager delegated by the league commissioner. This person’s responsibility will include accessing the previous year’s Yahoo league homepage to:

a. View the previous year’s rosters to validate keeper eligibility

b. View the previous year’s draft results to validate DKR

c. View the current O-Rank to validate PKR

17. Any changes to these rules shall be proposed, voted on, and decided by majority decision during an off-season prior to the draft. Changes will go into effect one year from the date they are finalized.