Roncalli Keeper League Constitution
Finances
Cost per team = $75
Total Pot = $940
Cost of League = $150
Weekly Winner = $10
Leader at the All-Star Break = $40
Winner of the League = $150
2nd Place = $125
3rd Place = $100
4th Place = $75
9th Place = $40
In the event of a tie, the prize money will be added together and divided evenly. Example: If two teams tie for third, we will add the third and fourth place money together and divide by two.
The cost of the league will continue to rise $10 per year until the fee works out to leave $100 per team in the pot after the cost of the website. In 2009, the cost will $70. The Commissioner pays half of the entry fee.
Rosters
Rosters must be set by noon on Monday and will run for an entire week (M-Sunday). The commissioner retains the right to alter lineups if they are illegal or if they have inactive players listed as active. In the case where no changes can be made to make a lineup legal short of an add/drop, the owner will be notified immediately.
Draft Values
A Draft Value (DV) represents the pick an owner must forfeit to keep a player for the next season. Example: A player with a DV of 3 would cost the potential owner a 3rd round pick in the following year’s draft.
DV’s remain with players even if they are cut/traded from their original teams.
DV’s remain with players in the off-season until the beginning of the next draft. At the beginning of the draft, all players in the free agent draft pool have their DV’s wiped clean. Example: Travis Hafner has a 2009 DV of 1 meaning that it would cost his owner a first round pick to keep him for the 2009 draft. His owner elects not to keep him, sending him back to the free agent draft pool. Hafner loses his DV and can be drafted by any team in any round.
DV’s are assigned in three ways:
1. A player being drafted from the free agent pool (ie not being kept from a previous season) will be assigned a DV value equal to the round he was drafted in. Example: Shane Victorino is not a keeper from the previous year and reenters the free agent draft pool. He is drafted in the 10th round. His DV for the upcoming season would be 10 (the round he was drafted in).
2. Any player kept from a previous season (by any team) will see his previous DV cut in half (and rounded up when needed). Example: David Wright had a DV of 3 for the 2008 draft. His DV for the 2009 draft is 2 (3 / 2 = 1.5 rounded up to 2). If kept for 2010 his DV will be 1 (2 / 2 = 1).
3. A player without a DV (someone who was not kept or drafted) may be assigned a DV at season’s end by their owner. Owners may keep non-DV players by slotting them anywhere between rounds 1-14 or in the first open draft pick slot beginning in round 15 working towards round 27. Example: At season’s end a team has 5 players who are without DVs that they wish to keep. Once all of their other players are slotted, they are left with open draft picks in rounds 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 21, 24, 25, 26, and 27. The owner can choose to slot any or none of those players in any of the following draft slots: 8, 9, 12, or 13. However, if he chooses to slot none of them this high, he has to start at 15 and work his way back. He would end up slotting them in 15, 16, 18, 21, and 24, leaving his last three picks empty.
Minor Leaguers and DVs:
If a minor leaguer is actually drafted, he will retain his DV for the next draft regardless of his standing in reality (minor/major leaguer).
A Minor Leaguer will be eligible to be kept without a DV if the following conditions are met:
a. He is still on a minor league roster at the end of the MLB season.
b. If he was not called up before August 15th in any way that season. However if an owner pulls up a player after August 15th to either his reserve or active roster, that players loses his minor leaguer status.
c. If a batter has less than 100 ABs, starting pitcher with less than 10 starts, or a relief pitcher with less than 30 innings. The gray area is if a pitcher has appeared in more than 15 games he will not be eligible.
If a player has multiple players with the same DV, he has the following options at season’s end:
1. Choose one to keep and cut the others.
2. Obtain an extra draft pick in that round through trade.
3. Move the extra players into earlier round slots.
Trade Deadline
The trade deadline is August 31.
Off-Season Player Rights
At the end of the season, owners retain the rights to all of their players (even those they are not keeping) until 1 week before the scheduled start of the draft. Owners may trade any of the players or use them to change their keeper list as the rules state.
Owners will be asked to declare their keepers in the order of finish from the previous year (first place declares first). Once the process begins, two teams per week will declare their keepers. They have one week to submit their picks. Failure to submit their picks will result in a loss of their 27th round pick. They will lose another pick for each week they are late.
Rules for changing a team’s keeper list:
1. Teams will be allowed to make any changes desired after completing an off-season trade so long as the player received is kept for the upcoming draft. If a team only receives picks, then they can freely replace the player lost either by position or round (not including utility unless it is a DH scenario).
2. Outside of trades, teams can make 2 adds and 2 drops at any time.
Minor Leaguers
A player may be placed on a minor league roster if he is currently in the minor league system or is on the DL.
During the last week of each month, rosters will be audited. Any player found on an RKL minor league roster who is currently on a MLB roster will either have to be moved up or cut. The final audit will take place on August 15th. At that time, ML players elgible to be kept will be chronicled.
David Price Rule – Players drafted in the MLB amateur draft are not eligible to be picked up until the following years RKL draft. Example: If Tony Bigbat is drafted by the Cubs in 2009, he is not eligible to be picked up until the 2010 RKL draft.
Draft
The draft will be a snake style draft based on the final standings from the previous year. The draft positioning will be determined as follows based on the order of finish of the previous season. 1st pick goes to the 10th place team; 2nd - 11th place; 3rd - 12th place; 4th - 13th place; 5th - 7th place; 6th - 8th place; 7th - 9th; 8th - 6th; 9th - 5th; 10th - 4th; 11th - 3rd; 12th - 2nd; 13th - 1st. Picks 1-4 are considered group 1, picks 5-7 are group 2; picks 8-13 are group 3. In the event of a tie, the tie breakers will be as follows: BA, QS, OPS, WHIP, coin toss.
Teams failing to meet the minimums (AB or IP) will face the following punishments:
1. If AB’s are not met, they will forfeit all points in the Batting Average and OPS catagories.
2. If IP’s are not met, they will forfeit all points in the ERA and WHIP catagories.
3. The final standings will be adjusted to reflect these changes. Any team failing to meet the minimums from groups 1 or 2 will be moved to end of group 2. Any team failing to meet the minimums from group 3 will be moved to the end of group three. Example: Team X finishes in 10th place after the standings are adjusted. This would slot them as the first pick. However, they failed to meet the minimum AB requirements. They would therefore move to the end of group 2 and receive the 7th pick.
Amendments
There will be two ways that the Rules may be amended:
1. The Commissioner may choose to amend these rules as he sees fit so long as the amendment is in line with the long-standing practices of the league. Over the years there have been items come up that were understood but not written. In this case, the commissioner may amend the rules provided that he makes the amendment known immediately to all league members and that no more than three owners object to the change.
2. Any owner may submit a rule change for discussion. If the rule change is seconded, there will be a league wide vote. If the change gains a 2/3 majority then it will pass. In the event of a tie, the commissioner holds the deciding vote. A failure to vote will always stand as vote for the status quo.
