FSX2 ~ ESPN Baseball League #82705
i. league policies
ii. playoffs
iii. tiebreakers

I. LEAGUE POLICIES
Basics:
ESPN's Rules of Fair Play will be upheld in this league.
It is the responsibility of each manager to read and understand all settings and rules prior to participating in the league. The amount of keepers, scoring categories, lock dates and other important information can be found at the settings page of the league. Also, each manager is responsible for accessing the league site on equipment capable of utilizing the features ESPN incorporates into their fantasy games. 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. Failure to demonstrate active involvement could be grounds for expulsion from the league. I like to keep these rules available as a written reminder of policy- for several reasons, one being so that I won't forget how we've done stuff in the past when certain situations arise. And so that anyone can reference them at any time if something comes into question. Most of what's below is nothing out of the ordinary.

a. Team name:
Teams will need to be properly named, and will be expected to provide a logo, which can be generated with ESPN's logo builder or by using an appropriate image. Obscene or offensive team names or logos will not be allowed.

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:
All teams must remain competitive throughout the regular season. Any team that has shown no activity for the period of one week, and has an injured player starting or a good player parked- or something which indicates he is not trying to be competitive, will receive an email from the LM asking him to set his LU. Continued failure to respond and/or update their LU may result in the team being re-assigned to a new owner and/or not being invited back next season. If a manager quits, a replacement manager will be sought. If a manager becomes inactive, and no longer wishes to remain in the league, it will be at the discretion of the LM whether or not to try and give the team away to a new owner for the current season. 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.

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:
Trading is a fun and necessary part of the game and adds interest to the season. It is true that your team may not benefit from a trade between two others, but you should only consider the fairness of the trade when voting on it. Unless there is clear evidence that one team is getting an unfair advantage, trades need to go through. It requires one quarter of the league to veto a trade. Four (4) votes against a trade in the 48 hour review period will result in the trade being vetoed. If a trade fails to make it through the veto process, please try to explain your thinking and/or re-work the deal and try it again. If the trade is seemingly fair, yet is vetoed twice, the LM will, at the request of both trading parties, email the league and inquire as to the reasoning of those in objection. A team voting against the trade will need to offer a legitimate reason stating why he feels the trade is unfair and deserving of veto. In the event that improper discretion has been used to veto an obviously fair trade, the trade may be put through by the LM. Obviously, it is to the benefit of all league members to be fair in reviewing trades and to handle league business in a sportsmanlike manner at all times.

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. It could be within the realm of possibility that a retarded trade somehow gets through (like if it was on July 4th or during the all-star break) In the event that this were to happen, that a bad trade slipped through- (like Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols for Jason Kendall and Mike Lowell or something) 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 may 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. Trading will be re-opened when the league resets or when requested. Please note that the league is open for business YEAR ROUND- this means that teams may add players from free agency or waivers anytime.

k. Draft pick trading:
Once the league resets and only after ALL teams have been picked up, will draft pick trading be opened.

l. Keeper lockdown:
All draft-pick trading should ideally be completed more than 48 hours in advance of the keeper lockdown time in order for the trade to go through normal league review process. The lockdown date is established not as a deadline for trading, but is a pre-determined time that has been set to lock the league in order to allow teams to prepare for the draft. I usually aim for a period of 3 days for this once the draft date has been agreed to. In the event a trade is made less than 48 hours in advance of the lockdown time, it will not clear on its own and will be dependent upon the LM putting it through. The LM will email the league, expediting a decision. At this stage, having already passed lockdown, as little time as needed will be spent in determining a ruling so that lockdown will not be set back. Also, if the trade involves keepers, the trading teams must specify to the LM in advance how the trade will affect his keeper situation, and he will not be allowed to change this after the lockdown, since he will have had an opportunity to view everyone else's keepers.

m. Keeper selection:
THIS YEAR: Teams will be permitted to protect from 6 players. Due to time constraints, it will be required that each team keep 6 players. Players must be assigned as keepers in order to retain them to your team. Players with a BLUE K beside their name will be kept to your team and players w/o a BLUE K will be returned to the available player pool prior to the draft by ESPN. These players will be available to be drafted by all teams during the draft. Kept players will be auto-drafted to their teams in the keeper rounds, which are straight, and are rounds 1-6. The snake draft does not start until round 7; prior to that the draft is straight order, as previously noted. This is the way ESPN handles the keeper rounds and cannot be altered. Keeper selections will be final. Teams that fail to set keepers will have their top 6 ranked players set as keepers by the LM. Failure to set keepers isn't necessarily grounds for expulsion from the league, but managers who aren't involved enough to fulfill basic managerial obligations will be removed from the league and replaced with actively involved managers.
NEXT YEAR: Teams will be required to keep 32 players from their 40-player rosters. This is a total of 512 players that will be kept by the league. If 32 players are not assigned as keepers by the team manager, 32 will be selected by the LM. There will be an 8 round draft next year, and each following year.
n. Moves limit:
The FSX2 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.

o. Unwaivered rookies:
All new players must clear waivers before they can be added from the available player pool. If a new player enters the available player pool on the FA, such as at the beginning of the season, he cannot be added from the FA but must be drafted into the league. If a new player enters the pool during the season, he will automatically be put on waivers by ESPN, and can be added by the team with the highest waiver priority or by any team after he has cleared waivers.

p. Draft order:
The draft order will be generated by ESPN.

q. 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. Depending on the severity of the offense, an owner who tanks may be removed from the league immediately, or may not be invited back for the next 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 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.