1996
OFFICIAL LEAGUE CONSTITUTION
THE WOLFPACK FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE (WFBL)
League Commissioner : Adam Brake
Co-Commissioner: Clay Lowman


I. INTRODUCTION
II. ROSTERS
III. STATS
IV. TRANSACTIONS
V. THE DRAFT
VI. OWNER RESPONSIBILITIES
VII. COMMISSIONER RESPONSIBILITIES

I. INTRODUCTION

League History

The Wolfpack Fantasy Baseball League begun in 1994 with four teams. In 1995, the league grew 50% and expanded to include owners across two states. The league championship went to the Power Rangers NL Baseball Club. The founders of the league formed the WFBL in order to elucidate our baseball expertise into a tangible, quantitative form, increase our knowledge of the game, and have a great time doing it!

Owner Objective

The goal of each owner is to finish as high as possible in the year-end standings.

Summary Description of the League

The WFBL consists of five to ten National League fanatasy baseball teams. The rules are generally the same as traditional fantasy league rules, with the most important exceptions being:
  1. Each team will be required to remain at or below a $260 salary cap at all times throughout the season. Any transaction that violates this rule will be void. Player salaries will remain static for the duration of the season and will be determined by the latest values documented in USA Today's Baseball Weekly magazine at the time of the draft.
  2. Scoring is based on 11x10 stats, in the following categories (S, D, T, HR, RBI, R, BB, SB, CS, SO, E for field players and IP, W, L, ER, SV, BS, BB, H, SO for pitchers).
  3. At the beginning of the season, owners will be notified with their draft number determing when they will pick in the draft.
  4. Owners can make unlimited free agent pickups throughout the year, until the August 31st deadline.
  5. There is a general 5-12 man reserve roster which may be expanded up to 17 on August 24th until the end of the season.
  6. League fees are $35.
  7. Four cash award prizes will be issued at the end of the season based on final standings in the league. First place 50%, second place 25%, third place 15%, and fourth place 10%.
  8. Winter rosters and off-season trading is not recognized by the league.

League Name

The official league name is the "WolfPack Fantasy Baseball League" (abbreviated WFBL)

II. ROSTERS

Active Roster

The active roster consists of 13 National League players that have position eligibilities which allow them to fill the following spots: * At least one but no more than two of the five pitchers must be an established reliever.

There is no penalty for not filling one or more of the 13 positions designated for field players and pitchers. It is the owners' responsibility to replace injured players. All activations and deactivations go into effect at the beginning of the next week.

Interleague Trade Compensation

In the event a player on a team's active roster is traded to the American League during the season, the owner will receieve all points for that player for the week in which he was traded regardless of his National League status. The player then becomes in-eligible at the beginning of the next week and no further points will be awarded. As a means of compensation, the owner which lost the player to the American league has the immediate option to sign the player or player(s) sent to the National League in exchange for the lost player, assuming no salary conflict exists.

Reserve Roster

The reserve roster consists of backup and/or injured players. There is no separate disabled list. Each team must have a minimum of 5 players on their reserve roster at all times and a maximum of 12. The maximum reserve roster value will expand to 17 players on August 24th at which point free agents may be signed on a first-come, first-serve basis. The signing period will exist for one week only.

Position Eligibilities

Once the season begins, players become eligible at new positions if they play in 20 or more games at the position.

Disabled List

If a player goes on the Major League disabled list (15-day, 60-day, season), an owner may option to place him on their reserve roster. The player may be reactivated at any time regardless of his status on the Major League disabled list (designed for cases when a player is expected to return during the week activated).

Initial Rosters

The initial 13-man rosters and 5-12 man reserve rosters will be filled by the draft.

Changes in Rosters

During the season, you can make changes in your roster by contacting one of the commissioners and making one or more transactions.

Post-season Roster Protection

The Wolfpack Fanatasy Baseball League has incorporated "bracketed" player protection for returning owners. The number of roster protection brackets will be determined by the number of owners divided by two and rounded up to the nearest whole number (i.e. 6 owners = 3 brackets, 9 owners = 5 brackets, etc.). Owners will fall into a bracket based on their final standings in the previous year. The first bracket will allow the protection of 2 players. Each additional bracket will allow the protection of one more player than that of the preceeding bracket. Each returning team is required to provide the current commissioner with a protected list 7-10 days prior to the next season's draft. All unprotected players will go into the pool of players available for the next draft.

III. STATS

Software

SpinStats commercial Windows™ based fantasy league software will be used this year in creating weekly status reports and in keeping track of team rosters both active and reserve. The stats will be provided by SpinStats for the previous week each Tuesday.

Scoring

The following points are awarded/deducted for field players.
 
Statistic Points
Homerun (HR) +4
Triple (T) +3
Double (D) +2
Single (S) +1
Run batted in (RBI) +1
Run scored (R) +1
Walk (BB) +1
Stolen Base (SB) +1
Caught stealing (CS) -1
Strikeout (K) -1
Error (E) -1
The following points are awarded/deducted for pitchers.
 
Statistic Points
Win (W) +10
Save (SV) +5
Complete game (CG) +5
Strikeout (K) +1
Innings pitched (IP) +1
Walk (BB) -1
Earned run (ER) -1
Hit against (H) -0.5
Blown Save (BS) -2
Loss (L) -3

Standings

Weekly standings are determined by each team's combined point totals in all of the 21 statistical categories for active roster members. Year-end standings are determined by the total points accumulated by each teams weekly active roster.

Ties in Overall Standings

If two or more teams are tied at the end of the season, the tiebreaker is highest active roster batting average at the time of the tie. In the unlikely event the tie is not yet resolved, the winner will be determined by coin toss.

Weekly Reports

Each weekly statistical report will reflect those values accummulated from the games from the previous Monday through Sunday. Weekly reports will be available every Tuesday through electronic mail when available. For those owners without access to electronic mail, reports will be sent through postal mail for an additional fee.

Free Agent Reports

Updated free agent reports will be made available at least once every two months by the commissioner. It is the responsibility of each owner to update these reports manually in the time between released reports.

IV. TRANSACTIONS

Transactions Types

The following is a list of possible transactions:
  1. activate (from reserve roster)
  2. acquire a player in a trade
  3. sign a free agent
  4. deactivate (to reserve roster)
  5. trade away
  6. waive (i.e. release, allowing the player to be picked up by another owner or yourself)
  7. move player to new position
The commissioner can declare any transaction null and void. The only two reasons that this may be necessesary are if:

Transaction Deadline

The weekly transaction deadline is Sunday night, midnight ET.

Free Agents

You can pickup free agents at any time during the season until the deadline, which is 12 midnight, August 31 (ET). Free agents are eligible to be picked up only if they are not on any other owner's 13-man active roster or reserve roster. If you pick up a free agent, you must either waive or trade away another player to make room for him if no empty slot is available. An owner must keep a free agent on their active or reserve rosters for a minimum of two weeks.

Note: Minor leaguers are not eligible to be picked up until the day after they appear on a 25-man major league roster.

Multiple Claims

If more than 1 owner claims the same player in the same day, the owner with the lowest overall team standing gets the rights to that player.

Waivers

If a player is waived, they can be picked up in the same week (or any time afterward that they are available, of course) by another owner. It is the owner's responsibility to ask the commissioner about transactions and what new players become available throughout the week. When a player is waived by an owner, that player may not be re-signed to his old team for a period of two weeks.

Trades

Trades may be made between two teams for any players on their 13-man active roster or reserve list at any time before the trade deadline. The trade deadline is August 1 midnight ET. Important: BOTH teams must notify the commissioner by the transaction deadline for the trade is valid. You must include free agent pickups, player waivers, reserves or position moves with your trade (if necessary) to make sure your 13-man active roster position requirements and salary requirements are met.

Player Activation/Deactivation

Players may be moved between the active roster and reserve roster to satisfy position requirements.

V. THE DRAFT

Pre-Draft Activities

The ordering in which new owners select in the expansion draft will be performed by lottery at least two weeks before the scheduled draft. In the same manner, normal draft selection ordering will be performed by lottery at least two weeks before the scheduled draft. Player protection lists for returning owners are required 7-10 days before the draft. If this list is not received by this deadline, no players will be protected. A complete free agent guide will be provided as soon as available with all position eligibilities and salaries before the draft.

Player Eligibility

For the draft, players are eligible at a position if they played at least 20 games at that position in the previous season or are established at that position (rookies only). The commissioner will have the final say on position eligibility. The players eligible to be chosen for your initial 13-man roster must be on an National League team's 25-man roster or disabled list on opening day. Players put on National League 25-man rosters during the draft cannot be added until the draft is over.

Note: Any player in the world is eligible to be on your 5-12 man reserve roster. This includes American League players.

Draft Format

Each year needed, the Wolfpack Fantasy Baseball League will conduct a two round expansion draft. The order in which new owners select during this draft is determined by lottery before draft day. The order in which returning owners select in the expansion draft will be determined by the previous year's final standings.
 
New Owners
...
3
2
1
New Owners
New Owners
1
2
3
...
New Owners
Normal Lottery
Table 3: Draft Selection Ordering

After the two-round expansion draft is completed, a normal draft will commence with selection ordering pre-determined by lottery. With each selection made in the draft, the owner is required to disclose the player's name and salary and the remaining funds available to that team for additional signings.

Draft Date and Location

The 1996 draft is scheduled for March 30th to be held in a location specified by the commissioner.

VI. OWNER RESPONSIBILITIES

  1. Keep active throughout the season.
  2. Adhere to the league rules.
  3. Submit the entry fee to commissioners on time.

VII. COMMISSIONER RESPONSIBILTIES

  1. Provide a complete listing of all owner names, mailing address and phone numbers for all owners.
  2. Keep player status information up-to-date at all times.
  3. Run draft smoothly, accurately, fairly, and quickly.
  4. Enforce the league rules.
  5. Reply to transaction requests promptly.
Copyright © 2000, Wolfpack Fantasy Baseball League