League Rules have been amended as follows:
I. Alpha Progressive League (Alpha):
Alpha is a progressive that started with the 1885/1886 seasons and moves forward. We will progress two seasons at a time. Owners may select either season for any players they draft who played in both seasons.
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. 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.
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 were 16 teams initially, for the 1885/1886 season. The league contracted to 12 teams for the 1887/1888 season, with two six team divisions (leagues). Currently the 2 league winners play in the World Series. If the league subsequently expands, the league format may change to accommodate the new number of teams. Divisions were aligned for 1885/1886 based on historical league alignments to the extent possible, 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 AAA, No Salary Cap, No Live play. Injuries off.
V. Expansion: Expansion will require a 2/3 vote of existing owners (i.e. will require 8 votes to approve). Expansion will not be considered before the 1901 season. 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 1901, it will not be considered again until the 1906 season, and so forth.
VI. ANNUAL DRAFTS
KEEPERS
The commissioner will set up a keeper thread in the private forum after the 120 game mark of each season. Keeper lists are 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 Alpha League 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.Tanking will be discouraged by the following measures: 1.There will be a random lottery among the 4 teams with the worst record to determine draft order for the first round only. 2. Despite the results of the lottery, no team that fails to win at least 40 games during the regular season will draft higher than 3rd in the first round. 3. All other teams will draft in inverse order of their regular season record. All rounds subsequent to the first will be in inverse order of their regular season record. Ties will be broken by total run differential (total runs scored less total runs allowed) with the team having the worst run differential drafting earlier.
TANKING. The Alpha league is designed for managers who want to play WIS competitively and manage their teams to the best of their ability. 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 (1-12, 1-12, etc except for the modified lottery result in round 1) and 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, Noon to 5:30 PM, 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.
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.
Missed Picks
If an owner misses a pick in rounds 1, 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 round 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 2, 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 without any communication to the commissioner or in the forum may be considered to have the league. The commissioner will make the missing picks and reserves the right to take over the team and/or give the team to a new owner immediately.
VII. PARKS
You must use the park that your franchise used each season, and you must change it when they did. No exceptions.
VIII. TRADES
Draft picks may be traded up to 2 seasons in advance. For example, in the 1885/1886 season, teams may trade 1887/1888 or 1889/1890 draft picks. During the 1887/1888 draft, teams may trade picks for the current draft, or for the 1889/1890 or 1891/1892 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.