ESPN Baseball League #1898
i. league policies
ii. playoffs
iii. tiebreakers

I. LEAGUE POLICIES
a. Basics:
ESPN's RULES OF FAIR PLAY will be used. It is the responsibility of all managers to read and understand the settings and rules, and to have the ability to access the league with appropriate equipment capable of utilizing the features ESPN incorporates into their fantasy leagues. All managers are required to provide a current e-mail address and will be expected to review all trades, vote in polls, and stay up-to-date on all league business.

b. Scoring:
The final scoring observed by ESPN will be the official method of determining categorical winners in the weekly match-ups, and cannot be challenged. Occasionally ESPN makes corrections when the official scoring changes. ESPN states in their rules above that changes could occur up until the Saturday following the end of the match-up. Also, holds isn't an official stat, and in the past Yahoo and ESPN had some minor differences in the criteria for holds- so, again whatever ESPN rules is what we go by. Please be aware that a correction to scoring may result in changes in the outcome of games, the standings, or the playoff bracket.

c. Inactive teams:
It can be expected, to some degree and especially later in the season, for teams to become less involved if they fall out of contention. Please do your best to remain actively competitive.

d. Unruly teams:
Rarely is this a problem and I certainly do not anticipate a problem in this league, but in the event that a manager begins to act in an unsportsmanlike manner for any reason, he will be issued a warning. A continuation of unsportsmanlike behavior will result in termination from the league. I am pretty liberal about what will be tolerated, but the bottom line is that this is my league and I won't allow cheating, insults or threats which I deem to be of a serious or personal nature, or actions that may compromise the integrity of the league. Basically, the rules ESPN has outlined will be observed and upheld.

e. Dropped players:
ESPN's undroppable list will be used, but in a deep league like this, the standard undroppable list may not be long enough. If a drop is questionable, ALL league managers will have the option to call for an inquiry. An email will be sent to the manager making the drop, asking for an explanation. The player may be returned to his team if it is determined he has significant trade value and such a move is not being made in the best interest of the team. In the event such a drop occurs in a match-up where a team is simply going all out to win, such as the last few days of a playoff match-up, only ESPN's do not drop list will be used. The dropped players will be available for anyone to add from waivers, so waiver priority could become quite important.

f. Accidentally dropped players:
If a manager drops a player by mistake, in the process of intending to drop another player to add a player from the FA, he must immediately announce that it was an accident by posting on the league board without delay of his error. If the drop was clearly an accident, the player will be returned to the team who dropped him at the earliest opportunity. If a manager takes advantage of this situation by streaming other players, or benefits from this action in any wrongful way, the dropped player may not be returned to his team.

g. Trades:
Five (5) votes against a trade in the 48 hour review period will result in the trade being vetoed. Remember that this is a money league and because of that there will likely be closer review of trades by some managers resulting in a greater degree of difficulty trading than you would typically have in a casual/free league.

h. Bad trades:
In a league as active and knowledgeable as this one hopefully is, I doubt we have any really bad trades get through. In the event that this were to happen, that a terribly bad trade slipped through, the trade will be voided and the players returned to their teams. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the LM to protect the competitive balance of the league and any trade which undermines or compromises the fairness of play or integrity of the league will be voided.

i. Requested veto:
If it occurs that one of the teams involved in a trade requests that it be vetoed, for whatever reason, injury, demotion, etc, the league will consider this and vote appropriately. In this situation, the manager must depend on the league to veto the trade, because the LM will not overturn it. It is therefore important to retract dated trade offers and not to agree to trades without closely reviewing them.

j. Trading deadline:
The trading deadline will be set as near to MLB deadline as possible, but not before. NOTE: Trades accepted before the trade deadline but are scheduled to process after the deadline, will still process normally.

k. Draft pick trading:
Draft pick trading will no longer be allowed in FSX1 leagues.

l. Keeper lockdown:
Beginning in 2016 teams will not be allowed to retain players from season to season.

m. Moves limit:
The FSX Baseball league will use a weekly transaction limit. For a complete explanation of how this system works, please refer to ESPN's rules at their Baseball front page. ESPN's default allows 7 transactions per match-up, and 7 is what we will use in here.

n. Draft order:
The draft order will be randomly generated by ESPN one hour before the draft.

o. Tanking:
Tanking, for anyone unfamiliar with the term, occurs when a team does not try to win for the current season. Tanking is not allowed. All teams must attempt to maintain competitive rosters throughout the entire season.

II. PLAYOFFS
a. Playoff qualifications:
The top 8 teams based on winning % will qualify for post-season play.
Each Division Winner will automatically make the playoffs and be seeded 1-4 in order of winning percentage.
This is standard ESPN default and will require no editing by LM.
Wildcard playoff spots will be awarded to the four teams with the best winning percentages, which are not divisional winners, and will be seeded 5-8 in order of winning percentage.
In theory, all 4 teams from one division could make the playoffs.

b. Playoff games selection process:
Will be ESPN default. In ESPN default, the top four Division Winners are seeded 1-4 based on winning % and the wildcards are the next four teams with highest win% seeded 5-8. This procedure can be reviewed in ESPN rules section.
*In figuring winning percentage, ESPN counts ties as one-half of a win.

III: TIEBREAKERS
a. In the event that two teams end up tied for a playoff spot:
The league tiebreaker to determine playoff seeding is set to H2H.
ESPN will determine who advances if further tiebreakers are needed. No LM editing of the playoff bracket will occur. Whichever team ESPN has advancing from a tie may not be challenged.

b. In the event a playoff game (including consolation ladder games or the cg) ends in a tie: ESPN will determine the winner. I think high seed is the determiner, but again, whatever ESPN decides is what we will go by and the decision cannot be challenged.