Constitution copied here for reference
I. No Whining Progressive (NWP):
The NWP is a new progressive that will start from with the 1961 season and move forward. We will progress one season at a time.
League Philosophy: The philosophy of the league is summarized in three themes: have fun, each owner takes FULL responsibility for the success of his own team and the league as a whole, and No Whining. This is not a league for owners who have trouble adhering to deadlines, making draft picks on time, keeping track of their roster, or getting keepers in on time. If you are one of those owners, there are other progressive leagues where you will be happier. As the rules below will make clear, it is expected that owners will meet deadlines, take full responsibility for accuracy in their keeper lists and draft picks, and act with integrity at all times. Also, this league uses draft randomization to discourage tanking. Full details below.
II. Rules: Commissioner reserves the right to settle all disputes and to rule on any situation not explicitly covered in these rules. As with all rules, the “No Whining” theme applies to commissioner’s rulings. Changes to the rules may be proposed (within reason) and will be implemented if approved by 2/3 of the owners.
III. Teams: There will be 16 teams initially, for the 1961-1968 seasons. Starting in 1969, when MLB expands we will consider the possibility of expanding. The initial league format will be two leagues, each with two 4-team divisions. All 4 division winners will make the playoffs; there will be no wildcard. If the league subsequently expands, the league format may change to accommodate the new number of teams. Divisions will be aligned geographically by initial park distribution, and that alignment will not change even if parks are later changed. However, the alignment may change due to expansion.
IV. WIS Rules: No DH, No WW, No Salary Cap, No Live play. Injuries off. AAA will be 6/2 below average, generated by WIS. Actual player names will be used for AAA. Trades will be permitted as discussed below. Once the league reaches 1973, league owners will vote as to whether to allow the DH in both leagues, one league, or not at all.
V. Expansion: Expansion will be by the same number of teams as MLB expanded by. So, for example, since MLB in 1969 expanded from 20 to 24 teams, the NWP will expand (if approved by owners) from 16 to 20 teams. The NWP will always be slightly smaller than MLB, in order to allow for adequate PA and IP for each team.
Expansion will require a 2/3 vote of existing owners. For the 1969 season, 11 of the 16 existing owners will need to vote in favor of expansion. This vote will be held prior to the 1968 season, in order to allow owners 1 season to prepare for the expansion draft. Full details on the expansion draft will be decided at a later time, but it is likely that each team will be able to protect a set number of players (10 or so), with additional players eligible to be protected after each round of the expansion draft.
If expansion is not approved in 1969, it will not be considered again until the 1977 season, and so forth.
VI. INITIAL DRAFT
The initial draft will be a 21 round draft, where each owner will choose 25 players plus one franchise/ballpark. The draft will be a standard serpentine draft, reversing in round 3. In other words, round 1 will be 1-16, round 2 will be 16-1, round 3 will also be 16-1, round 4 will be 1-16, round five will be 16-1, round six will be 1-16, etc. ONLY PLAYERS THAT ARE WIS ELIGIBLE IN 1961 MAY BE DRAFTED.
*Rounds 1-16: 1 pick per round
*Rounds 17-21: 2 picks per round
Rounds will be timed with half hour time slots, running from 10AM to 6PM, Eastern Time, Monday through Sunday. The inaugural draft will take 3 weeks.
Missed Picks
If an owner misses a pick in rounds 1-3, all subsequent picks in that round must occur during their scheduled time slot. In other words, no picking ahead of your time slot in the first three rounds unless all owners before you have picked. If the pick is still missing by the start of the next draft day, the commissioner will make the draft pick for the team.
Starting in round 4, owners no longer have to wait for missed picks to be made up. As long as the owner before you has picked, you may make your selection.
An owner who has 2 or more missed picks at any one time will be considered to have the league. The commissioner reserves the right to take over the team and/or give the team to a new owner immediately.
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.
Failure to comply with at least one of these two conditions will be considered a missed pick. As long as you do either of these two things, your proxy will be honored, even if the owner posting for you posts late. All owners are expected to honor proxies responsibly – we will absolutely stop the draft, and undo “incorrect” picks if a proxy is not honored.
Franchise/ballpark selections will be exclusive. Also, only 8 AL and 8 NL franchises may be picked in the inaugural draft. Once a league is “full,” all subsequent franchise picks must be from the other league.
VII. SUBSEQUENT DRAFTS
KEEPERS
Due by the 135-game mark of each season; any owner that fails to do so runs the risk of losing his team. Teams may keep up to 25 players each year, plus injured reserve. Each team is allowed an unlimited number of IR slots for players who are not WIS-eligible in any given year. 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. At the 135-game mark, all keeper lists are final; any subsequent roster corrections must be posted directly in the league forum AND sitemailed to the commissioner.
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 NWP does not use this rule.) Each team will be allotted as many draft picks as necessary to reach 25 players, based on the total roster size of each team at the start of the draft. If, because of trades occurring during the draft, a team finds that it needs additional picks, those picks will be slotted at the very end of the draft.
AVAILABLE PLAYERS
Each season the commissioner will post a list of available players for the upcoming 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. The available player list will be published shortly after the 135-game mark. Since the draft will not start until after the conclusion of the regular season, owners will have at least 9 days in which to verify that the available player list is correct.
The available players list is considered final once the draft
starts – even if it contains mistakes. 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. Obviously, owners should help each other police the list – if you see someone listed as an available who looks too good to be true, it is likely that a mistake has been made; please point it out. However, if someone slips through the cracks and is drafted, the new owner will get to keep the player and the original owner will lose him.
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.
DRAFT ORDER. The NWP removes all incentive to tank. The draft order will be determined by 2 random drawings. In the 16-team league format, the 12 non-playoff teams will be seeded 1-12 in a random drawing, and the 4 playoff teams will be seeded 13-16 in a random drawing. Note that this means that draft picks may not have their conventional value in trades. There will be no exceptions to this draft order, even for expansion teams or teams with new owners.
TANKING. The NWP is designed for managers who want to play WIS competitively and manage their teams to the best of their ability. Tanking is completely discouraged. Plus, the randomized draft order should remove all incentive to tank, with one possible exception. Since any non-playoff team could get the #1 draft pick, there may be a slight incentive for a weaker contender to want to finish 2nd rather than 1st in their division, and thereby get a chance for a high draft pick, rather than make the playoffs. I expect that this rule will never need to be invoked, but just in case…if there is a strong indication that an owner is not putting his best team on the field and trying to win, it will be put to a league-wide vote. A 2/3 vote of the remaining owners will be sufficient to remove the owner from the league.
DRAFTING
The draft will proceed as a standard draft (1-16, 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. Proxies will be handled exactly the same way as in the inaugural draft. Drafting will be in 30-minute time slots, 10AM to 6PM, Eastern Time, Monday through Saturday. The commissioner will 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. 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.
VIII. PARKS
You must use the park that your franchise used each season, and you must change it when they did. No exceptions. Every five seasons (1966, 1971, etc), owners will be eligible to trade in their park for a new one. To do this, an owner must post a notice with his keepers indicating that he is “dropping” his current park. Each owner who wishes to drop a park will be allotted one additional draft pick in the offseason draft; this pick must be used to pick an eligible park, and this can occur in any round of the draft. Remember that parks are exclusive, and that NL teams must have NL parks, etc.
IX. TRADES
Draft picks may be traded up to 2 seasons in advance. For example, in the 1961 season, teams may trade 1962 or 1963 draft picks. During the 1962 draft, teams may trade picks for the current draft, or for the 1963 or 1964 drafts, etc.
There will be no trade vetoes. All trades will be permitted, even ones that seem to be somewhat one-sided. On the off chance that there is a grossly imbalanced trade (eg a team trading stars for AAA players, with no other players or draft picks in compensation) one or more owners may flag the trade as questionable. If an owner flags a trade as questionable, it will be put to a league-wide vote. A vote of 2/3 of the non-trading owners will be sufficient to overturn the trade. Please only invoke this rule if you believe that the imbalance is flagrant. Trades in which one team gets more value than another are part of baseball.