Just Kidding

Article 1 - Definitions

(a) Managers in this league will henceforth be termed Participants.
(b) Players in major league baseball will henceforth be termed players.
(c) The website where this league is played (Yahoo!) will henceforth be termed Host.
(d) The blog where league news is posted (http://bpguineapigs.blogspot.com/) will henceforth be termed Blog.
(e) Any hitter or pitcher who has not yet qualified as a rookie in accordance with MLB rules (e.g. a hitter who has not had 130 ABs or a pitcher who has not pitched 50 IP in any one major league season) will henceforth be termed a minor league player. See http://www.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/ about_mlb/rules_regulations.jsp.

Article 2 - General Rules

(a) Roster - Participants begin with 26 roster slots that must be filled as follows: 1 C, 1 1B, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 SS, 5 OF, 1 CI, 1 MI, 1 UTIL, 9 P, 3 BENCH - any position, 1 BENCH - limited purpose, see Article 6(c). Once the season begins, a DL slot may be filled by an injured player as made eligible by the Host.
(b) Scoring - Scoring categories are as follows: R, RBI, HR, SB, OBP, W, K, ERA, WHIP, K/BB.
(c) Innings Pitched Limit - IP limit is 1500.
(d) Free Agency - All Participants start the year with a Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB) and all players not drafted start the year as a Free Agent (FA).
(e) Entry Fee- Participants must pay an entry fee of $25 to the Commissioner, due on March 1. If entry fee is not received by March 1, the Commissioner may find a replacement Participant.
(f) Prizes - Prizes are as follows: 1st Place - $150; 2nd Place - $75; 3rd Place - $25. In the event of a tie, for all purposes the tiebreaker will be the order the teams are listed on the Host.
(g) Roster Freeze - Rosters are frozen on the last day of the regular season until draft results are posted. Trades may be allowed in the off-season at the discretion of the Commissioner.
(h) Incorporation - These rules are not exhaustive. Additional applicable rules and interpretative material may be found at the Host, the Blog, and elsewhere.

Article 3 - Auction Process

(a) Draft Budget - Generally, the budget for the draft is $260. Keeper costs are subtracted from this total before the start of the draft. A Participant may include draft money in trades.
(b) Draft Nomination Order - The Participant who finished in 10th Place the previous season nominates the first player, followed by other Participants in snaking order.
(c) Draft Bidding - A Participant who nominates a player makes the initial bid on that player, which shall be not below $1. A Participant may not nominate a keeper. Another Participant may bid a higher dollar amount in whole dollars. Once a Participant fills his roster with players, he is ineligible for subsequent nomination of or bidding on players.Tying bids are not permitted. At no time may a Participant bid more money than would be necessary to fill out all remaining empty roster spots on his team with $1 players.
(d) Draft Bidding Closure - The Commissioner will give two warnings when the bidding slows down that bidding is about to conclude. Then, the Commissioner will call an end to the bidding. The Participant with the highest final bid wins the player, which constitutes the player's auction cost, which shall be subtracted from his budget. No bids will be accepted after the Commissioner concludes the bidding. The Commissioner's post regarding auction cost on the Blog shall be authoritative.
(e) Draft Remedies - In the event that a Participant bids an amount exceeding his budget according to subsection (c) of this article, this bid will be disallowed at the time it is made. In the event that bidding has already closed on that player, bidding shall be reopened at the last acceptable bid.
(f) FA Budget -All Participants start the season with a $100 FAAB.
(g) FA Bidding - A Participant must initiate the bidding process on a FA by adding the FA and making a post on the Host message board with the player's name as the subject line. Other Participants will have 48 hours from the required post's time stamp to bid on the FA via that message board. Failure to make the required post will result in the time period being tolled from the time stamp of the first bid on FA. At no time may a Participant bid more money than remains in his FAAB.
(h) FA Bidding Closure - The winning bidder will be awarded the player at the final price which constitutes that player's auction cost which shall be subtracted from his FAAB. If there are no bids on the FA, the cost shall be $0. No bids will be accepted after the Commissioner concludes the bidding. The Commissioner's post regarding auction cost on the Blog shall be authoritative.

Article 4 - Keepers

(a) Keeper Quantity - Each Participant may tag up to 4 players as keepers per year. A Participant may keep a 5th player as a Franchise Player in accordance with Art. 6(f). A Participant may tag as few keepers as desired.
(b) Keeper Cost - The cost to keep a player is a player's auction cost plus inflation. See Art. 3(d), (h), and Art. 6(e). Inflation shall be calculated as 20% of a player's auction cost, rounded up. The minimum cost to keep a player is $15.
(c) Young Player Inflation Adjustment (YPIA) - A Participant may apply the YPIA tag to a player whose age is less than or equal to 26 on opening day of the current season, thus avoiding inflation for that season. In the following season, standard inflation applies. Once the YPIA tag is applied to a player, no Participant may apply the tag to that player again.
(d) Keeper Notice - The deadline for submitting keepers will be posted on the Blog. Submissions made after the deadline will be accepted solely at the Commissioner's discretion. All finalized submissions must be emailed to the Commissioner with the subject line - (Team Name) Keepers. Those emails will remain unopened until the deadline date, at which point all finalized keepers will be posted on the Blog. When a Participant submits his keepers to the Commissioner, Participant must provide a good faith valuation of the keeper. If any circumstances apply besides the general rule regarding inflation, the Participant must justify a deviation from the general rule in this email. The Commissioner's post regarding keeper cost on the Blog shall be authoritative.
(e) Catastrophe Allowance - In the event that a keeper becomes significantly injured or otherwise unavailable in the time between the deadline for keeper selection and the start of the draft, a Participant may name a replacement keeper provided that the replacement has been submitted to the Commissioner prior to the start of the draft. The Commissioner reserves the right to review all replacement requests and will determine whether or not a replacement is allowable and warranted under this rule.

Article 5 - Commissioner's Powers

(a) Rule Making Power - The Commissioner shall have the power to make any changes to the rules that he deems fit so long as he gives the league adequate notice.
(b) Trade Review Power - The Commissioner shall have the power to veto any trades consummated during or after the season. The Commissioner shall exercise his veto only if the trade is grossly unbalanced.
(c) Remedial Power - The Commissioner shall have the power to impose sanctions on Participants that violate any rules or correct any injustices.
(d) Advice & Consent - Before exercising rule, veto, or remedial power, the Commissioner shall attempt to obtain the advice and consent of an executive committee consisting of at least two other Participants.
(e) Referenda - In regard to any of the aforementioned executive actions, any Participant may call for a yes or no vote on these actions to be conducted by the Commissioner. 5 votes are required to strike the Commissioner's actions.

Article 6 - Minor Leagues

(a) Minor Leagues - Each Participant has a Minor League. To be eligible for placement in a Minor League, a player must have been selected in a Minor League Draft and must qualify as a minor league player. Players kept in the Minor Leagues do not count towards the keeper limit. At no time may a Participant have more than three players in his Minor League. The Commissioner's post regarding the composition of the Minor Leagues on the Blog shall be authoritative.
(b) Minor League Draft - Prior to the start of the season, the Commissioner shall announce the commencement of a one round Minor League Draft. All minor league players are eligible for this draft with the exception of minor league players who have been kept or who are in a Participant's Minor League. The Participant that finished in 10th Place the preceding season shall have top pick, followed by other Participants in snaking order. Each Participant shall have one calendar day to make his pick known via an e-mail addressed to all Participants. In the event that a Participant does not make his pick in his alloted time, his turn shall be skipped. That Participant may make a pick at any time afterwards, but shall forfeit his pick if not made by midnight draft day. The Participant's draft pick shall be added to his Minor Leagues.
(c) Minor League Bench Slot - In connection with the passage of this article, the Constitution shall be amended to include an additional roster slot consisting of a bench slot. Only a player in a Participant's Minor League is eligible to fill this roster slot. At all times, the 4th bench slot must either: (1) remain empty; (2) fill the slot with a player in his Minor League; or, (3) fill the slot with a major league player and fill an active slot with a player from his Minor League. In the event that a Participant uses this bench slot for any other purpose, the Commissioner shall impose an appropriate sanction.
(d) Minor League Transactions- A Participant may lose exclusive rights to a minor league player in three ways: (1) the minor league player is added to the Host's player universe and is not added to the Participant's roster at or before 15 days; (2) a Participant notifies the Commissioner prior to the Minor League Draft of his desire to release a player currently in his Minor League in order to free up a spot that will be filled at the upcoming draft; or, (3) a trade. In the event that a Participant picks up a minor league player that another Participant has exclusive rights to, the Commissioner shall nullify the transaction.
(e) Player Cost - Players in a Participant's Minor League cost $0. In the year that follows a player losing eligibility for a Participant's Minor League, a Participant may keep this player at a cost of $5. In subsequent years, normal keeper rules apply except as noted in this article.
(f) Franchise Player - In the year immediately following a player losing eligibility for a Participant's Minor League that particular Participant may tag that player as a "Franchise Player". A Franchise Player may be kept as a fifth keeper as long as this tag has not expired. This tag may only be applied to one player on a Participant's team. This tag expires when applied to another player or when that player is dropped, traded, or not kept. If a Participant declines to apply the Franchise Player tag to a player when he becomes eligible, the tag may not be applied in subsequent years, although that player may be kept according to normal keeper rules.
(g) Effect on YPIA - A Participant may not apply the YPIA tag to a player whose cost is below the normal minimum keeper cost, set at $15.

History:
2007: OBP replaced AVG and K/BB replaced SAVES; 1500 IP instead of 1600 IP.
2008: Special rule for 2007 draft stricken; Added Article 6 - Minor Leagues; 20% inflation instead of $3; FAAB rules.

BPGP League 2008 - Deadlines

Hey,

Originally, I set the keeper deadline for March 1st b/c I wanted the keepers in before the minor league draft starts in case some one wanted to keep a player who may qualify for that draft. However, I have changed my mind. I will extend the keeper deadline to March 15. Nonetheless, if anyone is planning on keeping someone who qualifies for the minor league draft, you should definitely let me know by March 1st or you may not get to keep him. So, here are the deadlines:

March 1 - league dues due to me, keepers who qualify as minor league players due
March 2 - Minor League Draft begins, each player gets 24 hours to submit their pick
March 15 - Keepers due
March 30 - Draft, 12 PM EST

2008 Resolutions

RESOLVED FAAB Proposal B to be implemented.

RESOLVED Inflation to be changed to 20% (rounding up).

RESOLVED Minor Leagues to be implemented.

RESOLVED Draft date is 12:00 PM, March 29.

Alternative Proposal

As a competing proposal to the one offered by Mike and Ryan, I have the following two proposed changes which are similar in some ways to their idea and different in many other ways. Please comment.

1) Following the draft and entirely seperate from the money allotted for the auction, each team be allotted a budget for signing Free Agents during the season. If there is competition for signing a free agent, an auction for that player will take place. If there is no competition, the interested player merely forks over $1 in free agent money. The amount allotted to the free agent budget and the specifics for how this will work I will propose later if there is enough interest in this idea. The primary benefit of this change, in my eyes, is it puts league members on a more even footing for picking up free agents so the team that wants a player most (determined by how much they're willing to pay) gets him as opposed to just the players who sit by the computer watching sports news come over the wire.

2) Teams should be allowed to add auction money for the next year's auction to trade proposals for players. This will allow teams to mortgage their future somewhat for a better shot at winning this year while allowing the bottom teams to have a better shot and competing in the next year.

FA Proposal

Dear League Members:

Ryan and I wanted to make a proposal for the future of the Yahoo! League:

We both enjoyed the auction portion of the league, but feel that it is a letdown to introduce monetary values during the draft and then ignore these for the remainder of the year. Ultimately, it makes draft strategy rather frustrating. You had a good draft, but reverting to traditional fantasy rules regarding waiver pickups and trades throughout the year defeats the purpose of valuing players independently. Given that it is a keeper league, we think it makes sense to create longer term budgets.

Exact details of our proposal are as follows:

--All current valuation of keeper rules would remain the same or similar (we don’t have Internet as we write this, and neither of us can recall the rules immediately). Also there would be an unlimited number of keepers, with decisions being made solely on financial constraints.

--Teams will receive $250 at the beginning of the season and will be able to carry over whatever is left over at the end of the season. So if I finish the season with $22 in my account, I would come into the auction with $272, etc.

--Trades can involve either cash or players. If Owner A wants to make a player-for-player trade and is acquiring a player with a higher value, Owner A must be able to cover the extra salary. If Owner A wants to sell a player for cash, both must agree on the valuation. All transactions will be subject to league protest.

--All free agent pickups would all cost $1. This makes wise pick-ups a really good investment because you can either keep the player for next year, or spin a $1 pick-up into a larger chunk of cash for next year. Attaching cost to free agent pick-ups also encourages team owners to budget for pick-ups for the year.

--All player values and total team cash would be kept on a Google spread sheet.

We would like for this to be posted on the blog so that you lawyers can go over the fine details.

Thanks

Mike and Ryan

2007 In Review

Before we launch into 2008, let us reflect upon 2007. With respect to MLB, I will not acknowledge that 2007 existed, else I would be forced to confront the Mets epic collapse. For BPGPL, however, there is something worth exploring -- the impact of the auction. The common wisdom for Rotisserie Baseball is that the draft/auction is only one piece of the puzzle, since there are significant transactions that determine a winner throughout the season. Thus, I set out to map out expected results for each team as if the original roster was maintained all season.

Assuming everyone was drawing on the same fountain of knowledge, I used the Baseball Prospectus projections from the beginning of the season. A few players did not have projections due to their status as rookies or retirees, so I just threw in their actual totals at the end of the season, which was generally negligible except for Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa. The bottom line is that the results were fairly clustered, but the top two teams projected to be the same as the actual.

		Actual		Projected
Replacement Levelers		93		67
Boston Doodles		72.5		62
Maniacal Mets		65		53
Smooth Segues		64		42
TINSTAAPP		63		59
PECOTA Monkeys		62		62
Makyuu no Shoutai		52		56
donkeys		34.5		51
LeetSauceII		23.5		45
Norcal Peaceniks		20.5		53

The other things of note are that the PECOTA Monkeys were projected to finish tied for 2nd, but fell to the bottom half of the league. Meanwhile Smooth Segues spent $3.00 on Moises Alou, Sammy Sosa and Kenny Lofton (featuring a combined 120 years of experience on planet earth) and got 190 runs, 41 hrs, 179 RBIs and 26 SBs. That was good enough to take a strongly projected 10th place and turn it into a finish close to being in-the-money. Everyone should be on notice that Bobby Bonilla will likely go for more than $1.00 in 2008.

Special mention goes out to the Maniacal Mets who spent a whopping $1.00 on Chien-Ming Wang in the middle of the auction. That was a point where everyone else could have easily bid higher, but BP projected bad things for Wang, so why would would we?

And lastly, several people called me out during the auction for focusing on high OBP and SB players while ignoring power hitters and pitchers. Surely enough, I finished #1 in both of those categories...and last or next-to-last in HRs, ERA, WHIP and Wins. Whoops.