National Fantasy Baseball Championship

Auction Leagues

OFFICIAL CONSTITUTION OF THE NATIONAL FANTASY BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP AUCTION LEAGUES

1. LINEUPS
The National Fantasy Baseball Championship will offer three separate Auction Leagues in 2008, each with individual league prizes only (there is no overall grand prize for auction league contests). The NFBC Auction Leagues will consist of: 13 National League-only teams; 12 American League-only teams; or 15 Mixed League teams. Each Auction League team will compile 24 players in National League-only leagues, or 23 players in American League-only and Mixed Leagues using an imaginary $260 on Draft Day. The NFBC regular season will extend from Opening Day of the MLB regular season through the final game of the regular season (including a season-ending tie-breaker if needed). Teams will compete for accumulative stats in five offensive and five pitching categories, with each category weighted equally. Categories include: (for hitters) Batting Average, Home Runs, RBIs, Stolen Bases and Runs; (for pitchers) Wins, Saves, Earned Run Average, Strikeouts and WHIP Ratio (Walks plus Hits divided by Innings Pitched). The team at the end of the year with the most cumulative points in each league wins the league title.

2. SCORING
We will use a 5x5 Rotisserie Based Scoring System. The below tables show the standard Rotisserie scoring categories for hitting and pitching.

Batting:

Home Runs
Batting Average
Stolen Bases
Runs Batted In
Runs

Pitching:

WHIP (Walks+Hits divided by Innings Pitched)
Earned Run Average
Saves
Wins
Strikeouts

Total possible points in the NL with 10 categories is 130 as first place in each category is worth 13 points, second place 12, etc. down to one point for last place. Total possible points in the AL with 10 categories is 120 as first place in each category is worth 12 points, second place 11, etc. down to one point for last place. Total points in the Mixed Auction League with 10 categories is 150 as first place in each category is worth 15 points, second place 11, etc. down to one point for last place. In the event of a tie, the points will be split. Points will be aggregated over all 10 scoring categories and the team with the most points wins.

In the case of ties in total points, the total money for those spots (i.e. 1st place and second place money) will be divided among the teams that finished in a tie.

POINTS QUALIFICATIONS

There is a 700 minimum innings pitched level in the NFBC auction leagues, but no minimum number of at-bats required in the NFBC auction leagues. Should any team not reach the required limit of 700 innings pitched by the end of the season, the rankings will be altered to show that team getting 1 point in both ERA and WHIP. No other teams will switch positions in the standings, but the team that didn't reach the minimum IP will automatically earn 1 point in ERA and WHIP. All players must have played 20 games in 2007 or 10 games during the 2008 season to qualify at a certain position. Minor-leaguers who did not play 20 games at any position in 2007 but who still played at least one game in the majors last year, will qualify at the position they played the most at in the majors in 2007. If a prospect didn't play at least one game in the majors last year and he makes the 2008 Opening Day roster, he will qualify at the position he played the most at in the minors in 2007. Any minor-leaguer who didn't play any games in the majors in 2007 and who starts the 2008 season in the minors will earn position eligibility for 2008 based on his minor-league games played total in 2007 and he will earn other position eligibility after he plays 10 games at a different position in the majors. If a player returns from retirement or rehab after missing the previous year, his position eligibility will be his previous year's eligibility. If no Week One lineup is submitted, the NFBC will determine your starting lineup. After Week One, if no starting lineup is submitted, your starting lineup will be that of the previous week.

3. TEAMS
There will be 12 teams in the American League, 13 teams in the National League and 15 in the Mixed League.

4. ROSTERS
A team's active roster consists of the following players: 5 outfielders, 2 catchers, 1 second baseman, 1 shortstop, 1 middle infielder (either second baseman or shortstop), 1 first baseman, 1 third baseman, 1 corner infielder (first or third baseman). In the AL and Mixed Leagues, there will also be 1 Designated Hitter (who may play any non-pitching position) and 9 pitchers. In the NL, there will be one Utility Hitter (who may play any non-pitching position) and 10 pitchers (who may be either starters, relievers or both).

Teams will also have a six-man reserve roster (7 in the Mixed Auction Leagues), which will be acquired after the auction through a regular draft process. The order of the reserve draft will be pre-determined before the auction and the draft will be held in a serpentine fashion, meaning 1 through 12 (in the AL, 13 in the NL and 15 in Mixed Leagues) for the first round and back up in reverse order in odd-numbered rounds. Each team will be allowed only six reserve players at all times (7 in the Mixed Leagues) and they can move them freely in and out of their starting lineup each week. At no time can a team have more than six players (7 in Mixed Leagues) on their reserve roster.

Only members of the active roster generate statistics.

5. AUCTION: ACQUISITION OF INITIAL ROSTERS
A. BACKGROUND
A major league player auction in the form of an open auction will be conducted. Each team must acquire the requisite number of players at a total cost not to exceed 260 dollars. Teams will nominate players for bidding counter clockwise from the auctioneer. The pool of players that may be bid upon includes members of every organization for the league in question (American or National or both in Mixed). Unsigned free agents at the time of the draft may also be added to the list of eligible Draft Day pickups in the NFBC, but they only accumulate stats if they land in the league they were acquired in (ie: Roger Clemens is a free agent and is acquired in an AL-only auction league and an NL-only auction league and then signs with Houston; he only accumulates stats in the NL-only auction league and the Mixed Auction League. He would not be eligible in the AL-only auction league unless he was traded over to the AL later in the year).

B. PROCEDURE
An auctioneer will entertain bids from any team who has the dollars and roster space for that player. All decisions of the auctioneer as to the team last recognized as having made the high bid, etc. are final. The auctioneer will award the player to the owner that is the high bidder. The owner who acquires the player will have his/her budget reduced by the amount of the winning bid, accordingly. The owner must also announce the roster position that the player will fill. The process is repeated, with successive team owners introducing players to be bid on, until every roster is filled.

C. ELIGIBILITY
The NFBC will use the following position eligibility rules in 2008:
a) Players who played at least 20 games at any position in 2007 will qualify at that position for the entire 2008 NFBC season. Players who play 10 games at a new position in 2008 will be eligible at that position after they have played for the 10th time there this year.
b) Players who played less than 20 games total in the majors last year will be eligible at the position they played the most games at, not including DH or pinch-hitting.
c) Those players who only pinch-hit in the majors in 2007 will be position eligible according to their minor-league games played status in 2007. They would qualify at the position they played the most games in the minors.
d) Players who played all of 2007 in the minor leagues will be awarded position eligibility for 2008's NFBC season based on the most games played at all levels in the minors. STATS will determine that one eligible position before Draft Day and that will determine that players' status for 2008 once he is called up to the majors. Those players who only pinch-hit or DH in the minors will only be UT-eligible.
e) Players who played 20 or more games in the majors last year and didn't play 20 or more games at one position will be deemed UT-only eligible in 2008 unless otherwise designated by the NFBC Commissioner. The NFBC Commissioner will rule on player eligibility prior to the draft as he deems necessary. Those eligibility lists are final.
f) Additional position eligibility will be awarded during the season when a player has played a new position 10 times which he was not previously eligible.

D. RESTRICTIONS/CORRECTIONS
No team may make a bid for a player that it cannot afford. For example, a team with 3 dollars left and two openings on its roster is limited to a maximum bid of 2 dollars for any one player. An owner that bids over his/her limit will not be allowed to obtain that player and the auctioneer will determine whether to give that player to the next highest bidder or put that player up for auction again (if the error was discovered too late).

No owner may bid for a player who qualifies only at a position (or positions) that his/her team has already filled. For example, a team that has acquired 2 catchers and whose utility spot (or DH spot) is occupied may not enter the bidding for any player who qualifies ONLY at catcher. If the error is not discovered until after another player is nominated the auctioneer will determine whether to enter that player back into the bidding.

E. RESERVE DRAFT
At the conclusion of the major league auction there shall be held a supplementary serpentine draft in which each team may draft up to 6 extra players (7 in Mixed Leagues) for its reserve list. A team may draft any person not already chosen by another team through the auction who is not under contract to a major league team in the other league (either a major or minor league contract). In other words, in the NL reserve draft, any former major league player who is not under contract to an American League team is fair game.

6. INTRASEASON PLAY
A. STATS
The daily player performance summaries from STATS Inc. constitute the official data for the computation of the standings. The effective date of any transaction for purposes of statistical calculation is Monday. The player pool is deemed closed of new free agents each Sunday at 7 a.m. EST before the FAAB bidding deadline. The FAAB Bidding Deadline is at 8 p.m. EST each Sunday and rosters will be updated shortly after that by STATS.

Transactions will begin on Sunday, March 30. Performance stats of a player shall be assigned to a team only when he is on the active roster of that team and on the active roster of a major league team in either league. Players traded to the opposite Major League continue to generate stats, if on the active roster.

B. FAAB (Free Agent Acquisition Budget)
During each transaction period, bids may be made on free agents by means of Free Agent Acquisition Budget dollars (FAAB $). Each team is given $1,000 of FAAB.

For purposes of this Constitution the free agent pool is defined as the set of players who, at the time of a Transaction Deadline, are on the active roster of a major league team in the appropriate league but who are not: 1) on the active roster of a league team prior to the transaction period; 2) the reserve list of any league team.

To acquire a free agent, an owner may use his/her FAAB budget to bid on that player. If s/he has the highest bid, then that owner's FAAB budget is decreased accordingly, and the player is acquired. If an owner is outbid for a free agent, then no loss of FAAB budget is incurred, nor does s/he acquire that player. A minimum bid of FAAB $1 is required for each player.

A free agent goes to the highest bidder. If more than one team bids the same amount on a player, and if that amount is the highest bid, the player goes to the team that is lowest in the most recently compiled weekly standings--that is, to say, the standings as of the conclusion of the games from the prior Sunday.

FAAB bids may be conditional. Such cases must be made clearly to the league office. An example of a conditional bid might be:

DROP: Joe Jones (Utility; CHC)
ADD: Mario Ramirez (Utility; PIT) $65
If I don't get Ramirez, then
ADD: Steve Smith (Utility; MON) $50

In this case, it should be clear that the bid on Smith is predicated upon failure to acquire Ramirez. Note that the maximum total bid is only $65 as only one of the two bids can actually apply. The computer will always process the bids in order of highest dollar amounts, no matter what priority you have placed on the bids, so realize that when you are assigning a dollar amount for your free agent pickup.

For each free agent acquired, an owner must also release a player from its active or reserve roster so as to properly conserve roster composition. Each owner shall identify the players who are being replaced by their bids and where more than one player could be replaced by acquired free agents, the order in which their players shall be replaced. At the waiver deadline for each transaction period, each owner shall receive those free agents on which s/he was the high bidder.

C. PLAYER DROPS
A player that is dropped from a roster (and is therefore unowned) becomes part of the free agent pool starting the next week. The only exception to this is if the player is no longer in the same Major League as the corresponding league.

Example: Jamie Moyer is owned in the AL. Moyer is traded to a National League team. Moyer can continue to generate stats on his AL team. However, if he is ever dropped, he cannot be acquired through FAAB as he is now strictly an NL player.

D. TRADES
To prevent collusion, trading is not allowed in any of the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Rotisserie Auction Leagues.

The last transaction deadline in 2008 is September 21.

E. THE RESERVE LIST AND THE DISABLED LIST
At any time prior to a Transaction Deadline, an owner may:

Drop a player from its roster (active or reserve) to pick up a free agent
Move any player who is on the reserve list from inactive status to active status

In all cases, legal roster composition must be maintained. Owners are responsible for ensuring that replacements, through FAAB, or activation from either the Reserve or Disabled Lists are put in place.

7. Setting Starting Lineups: The weekly NFBC deadline for setting starting lineups is 6:55 p.m. ET each Monday. Any game that occurs before that, NFBC owners are required to get those players involved in their starting lineups five minutes before the start of those games. Owners are also allowed to remove a player (or players) who is officially on the DL from their starting lineup with one of their players from their reserve roster before each Friday's first game as long as the position eligibility works out. Players must officially be on Major League Baseball's DL list according to STATS and the NFBC by 12:01 a.m. on Friday for this move (or moves) to take effect for the weekend games.

8. Commissioner Decisions: All decisions made by the Commissioner of the NFBC are final. Tough decisions sometimes must be made about eligibility rules, lineups, etc., and NFBC participants must accept the unbiased ruling of the NFBC Commissioner.

9. Refunds: Once a participant submits valid payment, no money will be refunded to participants or co-managers unless The National Fantasy Baseball Championship Auction League is canceled. A team spot is considered filled when the entire entry fee is paid. Krause Publications reserves the right to cancel any entries not comprising a full 15-team league, or in the case of AL-only and NL-only Rotisserie Auction Leagues, 12 team and 13 team leagues, respectively. When a participant agrees to finish the registration form and submit payment, that participant has demonstrated his/her acceptance of the official rules and regulations for the NFBC.

At its sole discretion, Krause Publications also reserves the right to terminate The National Fantasy Baseball Championship in its entirety if there are an insufficient number of teams by March 10, 2008. In this unlikely event, Krause Publications will refund all entry fees within 48 hours of cancellation notice and/or provide a new application form with the newly stated prize figures. All pre-registered applicants would have the right to a full refund or agree to play for the newly announced prize structure. Krause Publications is not responsible for any loss or liability incurred by any participant or co-managers due to cancellation of the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, including but not limited to travel or hotel expenses, time taken off from employment, etc.

9. Taxes: If the principal participant's prize winnings exceed $600.00, The National Fantasy Baseball Championship must file a Form 1099 with the IRS at the end of this calendar year. We will request your social security number and signature on this form. The Form contains the amount paid to you and you will receive a copy of the Form for tax purposes. Krause Publications pays ONLY the principal owner of each NFBC team that was submitted on the entry form and you are responsible for paying any taxes that result from your cash prize. Please consult your income tax advisor for filing advice.