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1st Fantasy Baseball is a non-profit organization. Our express purpose is to promote the gaming side of baseball. Our flagship is the fantasy game BB3000, which is only possible through the graces of Fantrax.com’s Fantasy Baseball section. Our fantasy managerial game is in its 12th full season in this year 2011 A.D.

The philosophy of this league is as follows. Have fun, don’t trash other gm’s, be on time with your picks and participate with votes and opinions when asked. Once your lineup is set at the beginning of the year, if all you want to do is sit back and relax and watch your players, and not worry about daily roster management the remainder of the season, even it’s to the detriment of your position in league standings, that is your perogative.

This is a keeper’s league. The 20 franchise names have been established, and even if the GMs may change from year to year, the franchises will remain intact. This allows continuity to easily tracking franchise records. The 20 franchise names are as follows:

Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Dodgers, Giants, Orioles, Phillies, Pirates, Reds, Braves, Indians, Tigers, White Sox, Cubs, Cardinals, Senators, Angels, Athletics, Twins, Colt 45’s

These were the 20 franchises that baseball had when it first expanded to the 162 game schedule in the 1960’s. The Braves were still in Milwaukee, the Senators moved to Texas and became the Rangers, KC moved to Oakland, and the Colt 45’s changed their name to the Astros when the Astrodome in Houston was built.

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1. Scoring

1a. Batters accumulate points and are ranked using the following formula:

(2 x 1B) + (3 x 2B) + (4 x 3B) + (6 x HR) + (1.5 x BB) + (1.5 x HBP) – (IBB x .5) – (0.33 x (AB-H)) + SB - CS

1b. Pitchers accumulate points using the following formula:

(saves x 4) + (holds x 2) + (innings x 3) - (earned runs x 2) + (strikeouts ¸ 2) - walks - hr's

Only the RP slot can get Saves points. Only the P slots can get holds points.

How is position eligibility established?

Games needed from previous season for a player to qualify at a hitting position : 5

Games needed from current season for a player to qualify at a hitting position: 3

Starts needed from previous season for a player to qualify as a starter : 1

Starts needed from current season for a player to qualify as a starter : 1

Relief appearances needed from previous season for a player to qualify as a reliever : 1

Relief appearances needed from current season for a player to qualify as a reliever: 1

Use Fantrax's default position(s) even if player qualifies for at least one position based on above criteria: No

Note: If a player does not qualify for any positions based on the above selections, he will qualify at the position(s) played most in the previous season. If he did not play at all last season, then the default position(s) will be used.

2. The Draft

Starting in 2011 season there will be a post-season point adjustment for all teams except the winner. This adjustment will add 2.5 points for each position game played less than 1458 and inning pitched less than 1458. Teams will be resorted for the 2012 draft except for the 2011 winner, who will draft 20th.

Addendum: Games played calculations will be based on 159 games played rather than 162 games played. Thus the number is no longer 1458, but rather 1431.

2a. Our draft will consist of enough rounds to bring all rosters up to 25 eligible players who can be protected if kept for the whole season.

Any player taken is part of your 25 man Active Playing roster whether he is in the major leagues or not.

2b. Any of these 25 players can be protected during the winter at the end of the season.

2c. If you release one of these players during the season and another team picks him up at a later time, he can no longer be protected over the winter. The same rule applies if you pick up your own player at a later time.

2d. The draft will begin in mid-December and conclude just before the start of the regular season.

2e. If any of your players, whether they are on your Winter Protected List, or they are drafted, suffers a MLB CAreer Terminating/major interrupting Situation (CATS) between December 1 and Opening Day, then you are eligible for compensation in the form of a draft pick for his roster spot. That pick must take place at least 49 hours before the start of the next round of the draft. Forms of CATS are:

2e.1. your player leaves MLB (either retires or decides to play baseball in a foreign league)

2e.2. your player suffers a season ending injury

2e.3. your player is thrown in jail for at least one week

2f. The drafting order in the succeeding springs will be based on worst to best teams, with the teams with the fewest protections selecting first. For example, a team that protected 6 players will draft before a team that protected 7 players, regardless of where they finished. However, once both teams have 7 players on their roster, then the team with the worse previous season will select first.

2g. However, to begin the draft there will be the Free Agent Bonanza (FAB) round. Every team will get one pick, based on last season's order of finish. The worst team will pick first, all the way to the #1 regular season team picking last.

Round FAB is for all teams. After FAB the Catch up Rounds start.

Catch up Round 1 is only the teams who protected the least number of players over the winter.

Catch up Round 2 is only for teams who protected the least and 2nd least players over the winter.

After the catch up rounds, all teams will have 12 players on their roster by this time. The draft will conclude in Round 13. All teams will have a 25 man roster (excluding trades) at this time. If your roster is greater than 25 then you must bench players to get down to 25, unless players are on the DL. If your roster is less than 25, then you may add players from Fantrax’s Available list, but these players cannot be protected after the season.

Round Dump happens on Opening Day. Send a list by noon EDT who you want to dump. If you're not dumping anyone but your active playing roster is less than 25 due to DL's and trades, then declare you will be participating and how many picks you will be taking in the Dumping Round. No one selected in the Dumping Round can be protected on the Winter List.

************ The Commissioner's Office will draft for any team that has no GM. Picks will be made keeping with the Best Interests of Baseball.

3. Keeper Rules

3a. You may protect up to 11 players maximum on your Winter Roster at the end of the season.

3b. c. d. If a player is under 30 years of age he can be protected on the Winter Roster. If 30 or older he cannot be protected if he has been protected 4 or more straight winters, regardless of how many different teams protected him during that 4+ year stretch. The player's age is determined by the calendar year ending December 31.

Example:

· If you have a player born in 1985 and has already been protected 4 winters (he has **** beside his name), but he is not yet 30, you can keep him and play him including the 2015 season, but he becomes a free agent after that since he turned 30 that year.

· If you draft a 29 year old this year, you can keep protect him for 4 winters. You in effect can have him for 5 years.

· If you draft a 30 year old this year, it’s the same as a 29 year old.

· If you draft a 25 year old this year who is still 25 on December 31, you can protect him for 5 winters. During his 6^th season with you he will turn 30. Here’s how:

· He is drafted and plays 1st season, protected on December 1, and on December 31 he is 25.

· Plays 2^nd season, protected on December 1, and on December 31 he is 26.

· Plays 3^rd season, protected on December 1, and on December 31 he is 27.

· Plays 4^th season, protected on December 1, and on December 31 he is 28.

· Plays 5^th season, protected on December 1, and on December 31 he is 29.

· Plays 6^th season, and on December 31 he is 30. He is a free agent.

3e. Once a player is released, either during the season or at the end of the season, that player goes back into the re-entry draft. He can be kept for a brand new 5-year tenure.

3f. Players picked up after the last round of the spring draft cannot be protected. Thus, if you pick up a player during the season, he must be put back into the available pool.

3h. *********** If the Commissioner's Office takes over for a GM after the Winter Protected List has been submitted, but before the draft starts, the Commissioner's Office has the right to make changes to that Winter Protected list in keeping with the Best Interests of Baseball.

4. Minor Leaguers

4a. There is a 3 man minor league system. A player is eligible to stay in your minor league system until either a batter gets to 130 MLB plate appearances or a pitcher gets to 50 MLB innings, going into the next season.

4b. If a player on your farm gets called up in real MLB, you can now call him up in BB3000, but you still cannot exceed a 25-man active roster. This rookie can be sent back to the farm if he still has rookie status, at which point you can fill your 25-man active roster's void.

4c. If during September any of your farm system players lose their rookie status, you must put them on your 11-man winter keeper list, or release them on December 1.

4d. Minor league players may be traded.

4e. If a team through trade expands their farm roster beyond the limit of 3, they must cut back their farm to 3 players on August 27 (This rule takes effect in the 2013 season). For example, a team with 4 on the farm may keep all 4 but will only be allowed to keep up to 10 major players. There are no Ketchup Rounds if your active major roster and farm system total 14 players, or your major roster is 11. You cannot participate in the minor league draft if your minor league roster is 3.

4f. The in-season minor league draft will be conducted on September 1, 2, and 3. Any player with NO MLB experience on the morning of Sept. 1 is eligible for the draft. Thus, if a player is not drafted on Sept. 1 and appears in his first MLB game later that day, he is STILL eligible for our minor league draft on Sept. 2 and 3.

4g. Starting in 2013, players taken in Spring Draft with no MLB games played must have appeared in at least one game by September 1. If they don’t then they are thrown back into the minor league draft pool.

5. Rosters

5a. Your active playing roster can never exceed 25 players. You must cover 8 fielding positions (outfield is broken into CF, OF, OF, and a DH for 162 games. There are 2 starting slots for each of the 9 batting slots, which means you could start 2 players on the same night and get stats for both. Once you reach 162 games started Fantrax will stop counting stats for that position. You must maintain each position getting 4 games played a week throughout the whole season.

There are 4 Starting Pitcher slots that can only be filled with SP’s, one of which must always be a lefty, and one P slot that must be filled with a Lefty relief pitcher that is pitching at least once a week. Beyond these 5 pitching slots there are 10 more pitching slots you can fill with either starters or relief pitchers. The one RP slot is for a closer. It is the only slot that can accumulate SAVES points. Your pitching staff will not accumulate points beyond 1450 innings, as controlled by the Fantrax scoring system.

How you make up this 25-man roster is up to you. If you wish to go with 10 batters and 15 pitchers, then that is your prerogative. Also, during the course of the season you can change your balance based on your current needs.

5b. If a player goes on the DL you can pick up players that are not on anyone's roster from Fantrax’s FA list. Once the player comes off the DL then you must decide whether to keep him or release him. If you keep him then you must release another player.

5c. This league will be keeping a lineup balance. You MUST have at least 3 left handed and 3 right handed batters in your starting lineup at all times, and one left handed pitcher in your starting rotation, and one left handed pitcher in one of the P slots. Switch hitters count as left or right-handed batters and make it easier to meet your requirements. If you have 3 switch hitters then you have met requirements for both sides of the plate. The starting and relief lefties must be appearing at least once a week to meet the requirement.

5d. I have listed our teams in alphabetical order. The team that is directly after you is the team that you will monitor this season for their lefty / righty minimums. Thus, the Angels will check on the A's, the A's on the Braves, etc. The Yankees will check on the Angels.

Angels, Athletics, Braves, Cardinals, Colts, Cubs, Dodgers. Giants, Indians, Mets, Orioles, Phillies, Pirates, Red Sox, Reds, Senators, Tigers, Twins, White Sox, Yankees

5e. If you find any team not complying with the lefty / righty rules then please email me. This list does not prohibit other teams monitoring you. Anyone can monitor anyone and make a report of non-compliance. I would suggest a weekly check to be enough.

5f. You will receive one warning of non-compliance. A second infraction will eliminate you from any playoff considerations.

5g. You cannot pick up a player after Round Dump (the last round of the Spring Draft) who has either DL status in Fantrax or has yet to play a game in the current season. He cannot be claimed until 24 hours following the game time of the first game he appeared in. If you do you must put him back on waivers immediately.

6. September Roster Expansion

6a. Rosters can increase to 30 active players for September. That will allow you to call up your minor leaguers and pick up another couple of players for the stretch run.

6b. Minor leaguers will not be penalized and can be kept in your minor league system, and need NOT be protected on your 11 man Winter list ... unless they lose their rookie status. Rookie status is 130 at bats or 50 innings pitched.

6c. If you're in a big shortage anywhere you can try and fill the shortages with those extra players, 5 regular MLBers and none of your minor leaguers.

6d. Anyone on your September 1 roster cannot be released the rest of the year. You can't make current season trades after August 15. Your September 1 roster is your roster should you make the playoffs.

6e.. If a player goes on DL or gets “shut down” for the rest of the season, then that player can be replaced with a free agent. However, this player is NOT eligible for the playoffs, but the player shut down or on the DL does come back for the playoffs.

7. Trades

7a. Trades are allowed. However, any trade is subject to appeal. If a GM disputes a trade then that trade will be voted upon. A simple majority of all cast votes will determine yea or nay.

During the season a trade must be rejected by the Fantrax Veto button, which requires 3 gm’s to click on it. Then it goes to league vote as in 7a.

7b. The trade deadline for the current season will be around August 15. Trades after that date are only for the future season.

7c. Draft picks can be traded, but only after the Winter Rosters have been declared December 1, and not after the completion of the draft. Draft picks for future years cannot be traded.

7d. If a trade involves a draft pick, the trade must be reported at least 49 hours before that pick’s round. Thus, if a draft round starts Sunday at noon, then the trade must be reported by Friday 11am … if the trade involves a pick from the upcoming round.

8. Playoffs

8a. While the real winner of the league will be the team with the most points at season’s end, ya gotta have playoffs. Each of the 4 division winners will play in the BB3000CS.

Last year we used a game generated by Excel. This year we go real-time. It’s simple. Any player on your team in the real MLB playoffs can accumulate points. At the end of the World Series, the team with the most points will be our playoff champion. The point system follows our regular season point system.

9. Rule Changes

In order for one of these rules to change we need a 2/3 of those voting majority to pass. At least 15 must vote for the voting to be valid. (10/15, 11/16, 11/17, 12/18, 13/19, 14/20)

Strategies

Since this is a keepers league, your drafting strategy can take many forms. If you wish to try and win right away you can go for older and established players who will give you consistent numbers. However, if you are willing to sacrifice this season in hopes of great teams down the road, you can draft younger players with a huge upside. Or, you can take a middle of the road approach, blending youth and experience.

Want to Join?

If you are interested in joining this league please send an email to thomvan@yahoo.com. Please indicate your experience in fantasy or simulation baseball leagues, and why you want to join a long-term keepers league.

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