Section 7: SUBSEQUENT DRAFTS
7.1 Keepers. The keeper thread will be started by the commissioner shortly after the All-Star break. All keeper lists (which must include full names of players, primary WIS position for the upcoming season, and remaining contract duration) are due by the 135-game mark of each season; any owner that fails to meet this deadline runs the risk of losing his team, at the commissioner’s discretion. Teams may keep up to 25 active WIS players each season, plus injured reserve. Each team is allowed an unlimited number of IR slots for players who are not WIS-eligible in any given season (keeping in mind the 75 point contract limit). Each owner is responsible for keeping track of his IR players and making sure each year’s keeper list is correct. Failure to list a player as a keeper means that player will be added to the available draft list, and you risk losing the player.
After game 135, any subsequent roster corrections must be posted directly in the league forum AND sitemailed to the commissioner. Keeper lists will be considered final (and no further changes to them may be made) once the randomized draft order is posted.
7.2 Roster composition. Keeper lists (and all subsequent draft picks) must comply with WIS roster limitations. For example, you may not keep 14 or more active pitchers, because WIS will only allow a team to have 13 pitchers on its roster at any time. Similarly, at no time during the keeper/draft process may a team have more than 25 active WIS players on its roster.
In the event that an owner drafts a player (or completes a trade) who puts him over the limit (e.g. selects a 14th pitcher during the draft), this draft pick (or trade) will be considered invalid.
7.3 Lists of draft-eligible players. At the 135-game mark, the commissioner will use the posted keeper lists to determine which players are eligible for the next draft.
This list will be compiled from the list of all WIS-eligible players in the given season, subtracting out all players listed as keepers. Since the draft will not start until after the conclusion of the regular season, owners will have plenty of time in which to verify that the available player list is correct.
IT IS EACH OWNER’S RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT NONE OF HIS KEEPERS ARE LISTED AS AVAILABLE. In the event that a mistake is made by the commissioner, and a keeper is listed on the available players list, that player WILL BE ELIGIBLE TO BE DRAFTED.
Similarly, if a player who should be eligible for the draft is not listed on the available list, he may not be drafted. Such a player will be added to the available list for the following season.
7.4 Allotted draft picks. Unlike some progressives, you do NOT need to drop players to account for traded draft picks. (Some leagues have a rule whereby a team that, say, trades its 2nd round pick can keep no more than 23 players, in order to “free up” the traded 2nd round pick; the NWPEE does not use this rule.)
Each team will be allotted as many draft picks as necessary to reach 25 players, based on the number of keepers on the roster at the start of the draft. See section 7.5 and section 9 for discussion of how we handle trades that happen during the draft.
7.5 Trading draft picks. In addition to the general trade rules outlined in section 9, the NWPEE adheres to the following rules regarding the trading of draft picks. Prior to the draft, teams may trade any picks they choose, regardless of how many draft picks they anticipate being allotted. If prior to the draft a team trades a 4th round pick, and then ends up keeping 23 players (thus only needing 2 picks), the team that acquired the 4th round pick will draft where the original team would have drafted had they needed a 4th round pick.
Once the draft starts, however, teams may only trade picks that they have on the board. If a team keeps 23 players (thus only needing 2 picks), then once the draft is underway they may trade only those picks.
7.6 Draft Order: The NWPEE removes all incentive to tank. The draft order for the next season's draft will be determined at the All Star Break by a completely random drawing using www.random.org by a WIS HOF owner who is not part of our league, in which all 16 teams are equally weighted. This is an important and founding principle of the NWPEE, and all owners are asked to understand its implications, including the following:
§ The annual draft in the NWPEE is not primarily intended as a way to address competitive imbalance. Instead, we will use the contract system as a way to force teams to make hard choices and not hoard players they may have been fortunate enough to acquire through a series of lucky draws in the draft order process.
§ This also means that draft picks may not have their conventional value in trades.
§ It is entirely possible (and will happen on average once every 16 seasons) that the World Series champion will get the top overall draft pick. Similarly, one team could get very lucky and draw a top pick several seasons in a row.
§ It is entirely possible (and will happen on average once every 16 seasons) that the worst team in the league will get the worst overall draft pick. Similarly, one team could get very unlucky and draw a lousy pick several seasons in a row.
§ There will be no exceptions to this draft order, even for teams with new owners, or who have experienced a lengthy run of bad draft luck, etc.
7.7 Drafting: The draft will proceed as a standard serpentine draft (1-16, 16-1, 1-16, etc.)with the exception that owners do not have to wait for missed picks to be made up once round 1 is completed. Once round 1 is complete, as long as the owner before you has picked, you may pick. All rounds of all NWPEE drafts will be “on the clock.” Round 1 of the annual draft will have 60-minute time slots and will take place across two days, 10AM to 6PM, Eastern Time. All subsequent rounds will have 30 minute time slots. As with the inaugural draft, owners with 17 or more active players may stop drafting at any time and fill out their roster with any of the Scrub players. They must post that they are doing this, and they may not reenter the draft after doing so.
7.8 New contracts. At the conclusion of each draft, owners must allocate contract points to all newly drafted players, while staying within the 75 point maximum.
7.9 Timing of the draft. Drafts will typically start 1-2 days after the conclusion of the regular season, and owners are expected to prepare accordingly. While the NWPEE will attempt not to start a draft on a major US holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas), we will not in general delay the draft more than 1 day or so for this purpose. Nor will drafts be delayed to accommodate owners who are on vacation, away from the internet, etc.
7.10 Updating the draft board. During the draft, the commissioner will attempt to update the available players list and draft board as often as possible, but each owner is ultimately responsible for keeping track of who has been picked and who is still available. If you make a mistake and pick a player who has already been selected or is otherwise not eligible, your pick will be considered “missed” and can be skipped.
7.11 Proxies. If you will be away during your pick, you have two options:
(a) post a public proxy in the league forums OR
(b) send a proxy to the commissioner and the two owners immediately following you AND post in the league forum draft thread that you have done this.
Public proxies (i.e. proxies adhering to rule 7.11(a)) will become valid as soon as your time slot starts, or (starting with round 2) as soon as the owner scheduled to draft before you posts a legal pick, whichever comes first.
Private proxies (i.e. proxies adhering to rule 7.11(b)) will become valid as soon as your time slot starts, or as soon as another owner legally posts for you, whichever comes first.
All owners are expected to honor proxies responsibly – we will absolutely stop the draft, and undo picks if a proxy is not honored.
In the event that an owner misses his first round pick, the commissioner will make a proxy pick for that team at the end of the first round. Any such teams have the option of changing their pick to another available player, until the next scheduled team makes its pick. Once the next scheduled team makes its pick, the proxies become official.