Keeper League Rules

(Posted for Marc)

• Each team is allowed to select up to 2 players as 'franchise' players - which can be held for up to three seasons - and up to 4 players as 'keepers' - which can only be retained for one additional season.

• Each owner designates these players at the end of each season.
• Technically, you do not declare your 'franchise' players until after season 2 when you try to retain 2 players for more than one additional season.
• Once you declare your ‘franchise’ player, you may retain the player up to 3 years of total service.
• Each owner must designate a minimum of 2 batters and 2 pitchers - thus, allowing for the following configurations: 3 pitchers/3 batters; 2 pitchers/4 batters; 4 pitchers/2 batters
• Once a keeper or franchise player is traded to another team, the original owner must wait one season before they can reacquire that player in a trade.
• However, if able, the owner may draft that player in the following draft.
• This rule is designed to close a potential loophole in which two or more owners collude to trade franchise/keeper players to each other with the intention of trading them back after a short time.

• We will now allow for the trading of draft picks under the following conditions:
• Teams may only trade 'next year's' picks
• For the 2006 season, you can only trade 2007 picks, not 2008 or later
• Teams must trade an equal number of picks - this ensures everyone has the same number of picks in each draft for even rosters after the draft.

• After this year, the league draft order will be determined based on the previous season's order of finish with the following exceptions:
• The 1st round draft order will be determined each year by a lottery system (similar to the NBA draft lottery)
• The 7 teams that do NOT finish “in the money” will participate in the Draft Lottery.
• The number of entries is determined by the team finish the previous year: 10^th - 7 entries, 9^th - 6 entries, 8^th - 5 entries, 7^th - 4 entries, 6^th - 3 entries, 5^th – 2 entries, 4^th – 1 entry
• The 1^st team name drawn receives the 1^st pick in the draft. The 2^nd team name drawn receives the 2^nd pick in the draft. The 3^rd team name selected receives the 3^rd pick in the draft. After the top 3 picks are selected, the remaining draft order will be based on the previous season’s final standings.
• Thus, the top 3 teams will automatically receive the 8, 9, 10 picks in the first round. The team with the worst record is guaranteed no worse that the 4^th pick in the draft.
• In all subsequent rounds, the order is based strictly on the snake-format based on the 1^st round order.
• This system is being adopted to create some risk for those seeking to tank the season in order to secure the #1 overall pick.

• The entrance fee is $20. The payout structure is the following: 1st - $130, 2nd - $50, and 3rd - $20.