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2008 CBSSports.com Fantasy Baseball Rules
| Introduction | 2008 CBSSports.com Fantasy Baseball The Commissioner |
| Leagues | Signing Up Eligibility Scoring Systems and Player Pool Private or Public Leagues Winners Leagues League Joining Deadline Refund Policy |
| Draft | Two Ways to Draft Live Draft Instructions Automated Draft Instructions |
| Teams | Overview Roster Restrictions Position Eligibility |
Schedule & Playoffs (head-to-head leagues only) | Regular Season Playoffs |
| Scoring | Overview Rotisserie Scoring Systems Weekly Head-to-Head Scoring System Statistics Corrections |
| Lineup Changes | Weekly Lineups Lineup Setting Deadline |
| Adding and Dropping Players | Overview Free Agents Waivers Waiver Rank Undroppable Players |
| Trades | Trade Approvals Multi-Player Trades Trade Deadline |
| Sportsmanship | General Sportsmanship Multiple Teams Collusion Inappropriate League Communication |
| Prizes | League Champion Prize |
| Legal Disclaimers | General Conditions Rules/Winners Information Internet Sponsor/Administrator's Mailing Address |
Introduction
2008 CBSSports.com Fantasy Baseball
Welcome to 2008 CBSSports.com Fantasy Baseball ("the Contest"), where you can start your own 10-team Fantasy league, or join an existing one. You can play in a Rotisserie or Head to Head league. No matter what your skill level, we'll have plenty of leagues to choose from. Most leagues include one sentence describing the type of player the league is looking to recruit (e.g., "experts," "beginners," "Mets fans," etc.) so you should have no trouble finding the right league for you. The rules for this Contest are explained fully in this document. If you'd rather make your own rules than play by ours, check out the CBSSports.com Baseball Commissioner stats service. Now, get ready to play ball!
The Commissioner
The Commissioner of a Fantasy Baseball league is traditionally the individual responsible for coordinating and managing the league, including setting the rules. CBS Interactive Inc. ("CBSII") will serve as the commissioner for all CBSSports.com Fantasy Baseball leagues and will be responsible for resolving any disputes that arise, such as unbalanced trades or rules violations or any other matters that may come up in connection with the Contest.
Leagues
Signing Up
You may sign up and play the Contest after the start of the MLB season, however the last day to sign up will be no later than 7/16/08. Signup cost depends on the level of competition you choose. Gold level costs $29.95 per team for the first team and $24.95 per team for each additional team. Platinum level costs $99.95 per team for the first team and $79.95 per team for each additional team. Diamond level costs $249.95 per team for the first team and $199.95 per team for each additional team. Double Diamond level costs $499.95 per team for the first team and $449.95 for each additional team (prizes available in connection with the foregoing levels are outlined in "Prizes" section below). For purposes of the Official Rules, all dollar amounts are in US Dollars.
NOTE: Any additional team purchases may NOT be used in a league where you already have a team. If you have multiple teams each team must be in a different league.
If you are not a Registered User (as defined below), you'll be prompted to register free with CBSII prior to signing up for the Contest. As noted, we will provide a list of available leagues for you to choose from after you sign up.
Eligibility
*CBSSports.com Fantasy Baseball Gold is open to: (a) Registered Users; (b) legal residents of one (1) of the fifty (50) United States, Washington DC and Canada (excluding Quebec) (for purposes of clarity, Puerto Rico is expressly excluded); and (c) at least eighteen (18) years of age or age of majority at the date of registration in the Contest.
PLEASE NOTE: Notwithstanding the foregoing: (i) eligible legal residents of Canada, Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, and Vermont may play Fantasy Baseball Gold, but are not eligible to win any prizes; and (ii) in all events you must be eighteen (18) years of age or older or age of majority at the date of registration in the contest in order to win any prizes.
*Fantasy Baseball Platinum, Diamond and Double Diamond are open to: (a) Registered Users; (b) legal residents of one of the fifty (50) United States (excluding residents of Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Montana, and Vermont) (for purposes of clarity, Puerto Rico is expressly excluded), and Washington D.C.; and (c) at least eighteen (18) years of age or age of majority at the date of registration in the Contest.
For purposes of these Official Rules, "Registered Users" means a person who has successfully completed the registration form and has obtained a User Identification ("ID") and associated password ("Password") on one or more of the following CBSII Property Websites (the "CBS Interactive Property Websites"): CBS.com, CBSnews.com, CBSSports.com, CBSgames.com, NCAASports.com, NFL.com, SuperBowl.com, ETonline.com and/or theinsideronline.com. If you are not a Registered User you may become a Registered User and obtain an ID and a Password by completing the CBS Sports Service registration form by going here on the CBS Sports Service. There is no fee or charge to you to become a Registered User.
*All CBSSports.com Fantasy Baseball games are subject to the complete applicable Official Rules. Void where prohibited by law.
Employees of CBS Interactive Inc. and CBS Broadcasting Inc. (collectively the "Contest Entities" ) and each of their parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion and fulfillment agencies and members of the immediate family or household of each are not eligible to win. Immediate family member is defined as a parent, sibling or any person residing in the same household as an employee of the Contest Entities. Void where prohibited. Such excluded employees and/or family members may play, but WILL NOT be eligible to receive the prize
Scoring Systems and Player Pool
The Contest allows you to choose one of four different scoring systems -- three Rotisserie-style (a.k.a. "Roto") systems and one weekly Head-to-Head points-based system. More information can be found in the Scoring section below. You can also choose one of three different player pools: AL-only, NL-only, or AL/NL combined. Please note, if you choose an AL-only or NL-only league and one of your players is traded out of the league you're using, that player is put in an "out of league" status. The player will continue to accumulate statistics for your team. However, once you drop or trade that player, he will be removed from your league and will not show up on free agent reports.
Private or Public Leagues
If you know all the owners who are going to be in your league, or you want to recruit individuals, you may want to join or create a Private League. The person who creates a Private League, sets a password. Other owners need that password to join that league. However, please keep in mind that the creator of a league will not have the ability to control any other league functions. If you already know all of the owners in your league and want complete control of your league's rules, you should also check out CBSSports.com's Baseball Commissioner, our powerful and fully-customizable league management service.
Public Leagues are open to anybody. Be sure to read the description of the league you want to join to make sure it is suitable for you.
Winners Leagues
If you played a CBSSports.com fantasy league (excluding Commissioner leagues) in a previous year and won your league, you can play in an exclusive Winners League. To create or join a Winners League, you must use the same CBSSports.com ID you used when you won your league.
League Joining Deadline
You'll be able to sign up and join a league no later than 11:59 PM ET on 7/14/2008. All leagues are required to have 10 participants, or team "owners." Opening day of the MLB season is set for 3/30/2008. In order for your league's season to start with opening day of the MLB season, you must sign up by 11:59 PM ET on 3/28/2008 and your draft must be completed by 11:59 pm ET on 3/29/2008. There will be no drafts held on opening day, 3/30/2008. For drafts held after 3/30/2008, the league's start date will be the first Monday after your draft. Note that if your league's draft is held on a Monday, the draft must be completed by 12:00 Noon ET or your league's season will begin the following Monday. Stats from prior weeks will not count in your league.
Refund Policy
After you sign up for the Contest, you may receive a full refund of the purchase price up to 48 hours prior to your league's draft date. All other refund requests will be subject to the sole discretion of CBSII.
Draft
Live Draft Instructions
After you join or create a Live Draft league, you will have the opportunity to make changes to CBSSports.com's default Rank List, which is a list of all MLB players that are eligible to be drafted, ranked from best to worst by our Fantasy experts.
It is recommended that, prior to your draft, you organize the Rank List according to your own player preferences. However you are welcome to leave the Rank List in the order our experts have provided. During the live draft CBSSports.com will use your Rank List as a backup in case your time limit expires before you make a pick (explained below). If you decide to make changes to your Rank List, you will have until approximately 24 hours prior to your draft time to do so. At that time, the Rank list will be closed and considered ready for the draft.
On draft day there will be a "Draft Room" link at the top of your League Home page, also available in the Draft Prep column located to the left side of the screen. This link will allow entry into the draft room. During the Live Draft, each team will have 90 seconds to select an MLB player. The order of the draft will be randomly generated between midnight and 6:00 AM ET either the day of, or the day before the draft. If your league does not have 10 team owners on the morning of the draft, your league will be disbanded and each owner will have to join or create another league.
In the draft room, you will be able to place MLB players into a Draft Queue -- which is simply a list, in order of priority, of players you are interested in taking with your next draft pick. When it is your turn to pick, you will have 90 seconds to draft a player. If the 90 seconds pass and you have not manually selected a player, the player ranked highest in your Draft Queue will be automatically drafted. If the Draft Queue is empty, a pick will then be made from your Rank List. The draft order will "snake" at the end of each round, meaning that the team with the last pick in the current round will have the first pick in the next round.
You'll find more help with the live draft inside the league after signup.
Automated Draft Instructions
Due to the DH not being a required position in Auto Drafts, the following players will be included within the 1B (First Base) or OF (Outfield) position for player ranking purposes ONLY:
| Team | Pos | Player Name |
| TB | DH | Jonny Gomes-RF |
| TEX | DH | Erubiel Durazo-1B |
| KC | DH | Calvin Pickering-1B |
| CLE | DH | Travis Hafner-1B |
| CHW | DH | Jim Thome-1B |
| MIN | DH | Ruben Sierra-LF |
| TOR | DH | Frank Thomas-1B |
| DET | DH | Dmitri Young-1B |
| BOS | DH | David Ortiz-1B |
| MIN | DH | Jason Botts-LF |
| SEA | DH | Carl Everett-LF |
| KC | DH | Justin Huber-1B |
| TOR | DH | Matt Stairs-1B |
| KC | DH | Mike Sweeney-1B |
These players are NOT eligible to start at 1B or OF until they reach the required 5 games played at that position this year. Until they reach that eligibility, they can only be used at the U (Utility) position within your league. As with a Live Draft, after creating or joining an Automated Draft league, you will have the opportunity to rank all the eligible MLB players.
However, in an Automated Draft you will organize multiple Rank Lists; each list will include players at a specific position (e.g., 1B, 2B, SS, etc.). You will assign these rank lists to each of the 22 rounds of your draft, based on the position you would like to draft in each round (e.g., If you feel SS's represent the strongest position, then assign the SS's rank list to the first round; if you feel C's represent the next strongest position, assign the C's rank list to the second round, and so on.)
As in the Live Draft, you are not required to make changes to our rank lists. If you choose not to, our default lists, which reflect the rankings of our Fantasy experts, will be used. However, if you decide to organize the lists yourself, you will have up to 24 hours prior to your draft day to do so. When there are 24 hours left until your draft day, the rank lists will be closed and considered ready for the draft.
On the morning of the scheduled draft day, your league's draft order will be randomly generated and an Automated Draft will be conducted. Players will automatically be drafted for you using your Rank Lists. An e-mail will be sent to each owner after the draft has been completed.
Please refer to the table below for the draft order for the full 22 rounds of the draft. You'll see that the order staggers each round of the draft (Team #1 has the first pick in round 1; Team #4 has the first pick in round 2, etc.) so that each team will have the opportunity to draft 1st in a round at least once.
Please refer to the table below for the draft order for the full 22 rounds of the draft. You'll see that the order staggers each round of the draft (Team #1 has the first pick in round 1; Team #4 has the first pick in round 2, etc.) so that each team will have the opportunity to draft 1st in a round at least once.
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Draft Order for a 10-team League | | Picks | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | | Round 1 | Tm1 | Tm2 | Tm3 | Tm4 | Tm5 | Tm6 | Tm7 | Tm8 | Tm9 | Tm10 | | Round 2 | Tm4 | Tm5 | Tm6 | Tm7 | Tm8 | Tm9 | Tm10 | Tm1 | Tm2 | Tm3 | | Round 3 | Tm7 | Tm8 | Tm9 | Tm10 | Tm1 | Tm2 | Tm3 | Tm4 | Tm5 | Tm6 | | Round 4 | Tm10 | Tm1 | Tm2 | Tm3 | Tm4 | Tm5 | Tm6 | Tm7 | Tm8 | Tm9 | | Round 5 | Tm3 | Tm4 | Tm5 | Tm6 | Tm7 | Tm8 | Tm9 | Tm10 | Tm1 | Tm2 | | Round 6 | Tm6 | Tm7 | Tm8 | Tm9 | Tm10 | Tm1 | Tm2 | Tm3 | Tm4 | Tm5 | | Round 7 | Tm9 | Tm10 | Tm1 | Tm2 | Tm3 | Tm4 | Tm5 | Tm6 | Tm7 | Tm8 | | Round 8 | Tm2 | Tm3 | Tm4 | Tm5 | Tm6 | Tm7 | Tm8 | Tm9 | Tm10 | Tm1 | | Round 9 | Tm5 | Tm6 | Tm7 | Tm8 | Tm9 | Tm10 | Tm1 | Tm2 | Tm3 | Tm4 | | Round 10 | Tm8 | Tm9 | Tm10 | Tm1 | Tm2 | Tm3 | Tm4 | Tm5 | Tm6 | Tm7 | | Round 11 | Tm1 | Tm2 | Tm3 | Tm4 | Tm5 | Tm6 | Tm7 | Tm8 | Tm9 | Tm10 | | Round 12 | Tm4 | Tm5 | Tm6 | Tm7 | Tm8 | Tm9 | Tm10 | Tm1 | Tm2 | Tm3 | | Round 13 | Tm7 | Tm8 | Tm9 | Tm10 | Tm1 | Tm2 | Tm3 | Tm4 | Tm5 | Tm6 | | Round 14 | Tm10 | Tm1 | Tm2 | Tm3 | Tm4 | Tm5 | Tm6 | Tm7 | Tm8 | Tm9 | | Round 15 | Tm3 | Tm4 | Tm5 | Tm6 | Tm7 | Tm8 | Tm9 | Tm10 | Tm1 | Tm2 | | Round 16 | Tm6 | Tm7 | Tm8 | Tm9 | Tm10 | Tm1 | Tm2 | Tm3 | Tm4 | Tm5 | | Round 17 | Tm9 | Tm10 | Tm1 | Tm2 | Tm3 | Tm4 | Tm5 | Tm6 | Tm7 | Tm8 | | Round 18 | Tm2 | Tm3 | Tm4 | Tm5 | Tm6 | Tm7 | Tm8 | Tm9 | Tm10 | Tm1 | | Round 19 | Tm5 | Tm6 | Tm7 | Tm8 | Tm9 | Tm10 | Tm1 | Tm2 | Tm3 | Tm4 | | Round 20 | Tm8 | Tm9 | Tm10 | Tm1 | Tm2 | Tm3 | Tm4 | Tm5 | Tm6 | Tm7 | | Round 21 | Tm1 | Tm2 | Tm3 | Tm4 | Tm5 | Tm6 | Tm7 | Tm8 | Tm9 | Tm10 | | Round 22 | Tm4 | Tm5 | Tm6 | Tm7 | Tm8 | Tm9 | Tm10 | Tm1 | Tm2 | Tm3 |
Waiver priority immediately after the draft will be the reverse order of the first round of the draft. So Team #10 will have the highest waiver priority and Team #1 the lowest waiver priority.
Teams
Overview
CBSSports.com offers two Fantasy Baseball league styles: Rotisserie and Head-to-Head. Each league will have a total of 10 teams. Each Head-to-Head league will be randomly divided into two divisions of five teams each. There are no divisions in Rotisserie leagues. All rosters will be subject to certain restrictions.
Roster Restrictions
During your league's draft, each owner will draft 22 MLB players. In Rotisserie leagues, each team may have up to 24 players, with no more than 22 in the active lineup each week. Reserve players may be picked up after the draft. In Head-to-Head leagues, each team may have up to 22 players, with no more than 16 in the active lineup each week. Any player not in the active lineup may be put in reserve status, as long as the total number of players on the roster doesn't exceed 22.
All teams, in both Rotisserie and Head-to-Head leagues, must have a minimum of 5 pitchers in the active lineup. This is the only minimum roster requirement. There are, however, maximums imposed for active rosters each week, as specified in the table below.
| Roster Restrictions |
|   | Rotisserie | Head-to-Head |
| Position | Weekly Lineup Max | Weekly Lineup Max | Draft Maximum |
| Catcher | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| First Basemen | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Second Basemen | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Third Basemen | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Shortstops | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Outfielders | 5 | 3 | 6 |
| Utility | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Pitchers | 9 | 7 | 9 |
| All Positions | 22 | 16 | 22 |
Note: The Draft Maximum numbers only apply to Head-To-Head Automated Drafts, not Live Drafts. In Live Drafts, you may draft any player you like with each pick. Just make sure your lineup complies with the Roster Restrictions specified above before the season starts. Your team will not accumulate points for any period in which your lineup is illegal.
Position Eligibility
Each team has a Utility position, which is a "wildcard" spot where any player, except pitchers, can be placed at any time.
The Utility position is filled in the same manner for both Rotisserie and Head-to-Head leagues, although there are differences between Live Drafts and Automated Drafts. In Head-to-Head Live Drafts, the first player drafted at a position other than pitcher that is already "filled" (in terms of the lineup maximums specified above) is placed at the one utility spot allowed for in Head-to-Head leagues. In Rotisserie Live Drafts, the first two players drafted at "filled" positions other than pitcher are placed in the two utility spots allowed for in Rotisserie leagues. In AL-only or mixed leagues, you can draft an available Designated Hitter for an open Utility spot as well. In head-to-head leagues, you can still draft a Designated Hitter if your Utility position is filled and you have a reserve spot available.
In Head-to-Head Automated Drafts, the 4th outfielder drafted is placed at the Utility position. In Rotisserie Automated Drafts, the 6th outfielder and 2nd first baseman chosen are placed at the Utility position.
Once the draft is complete, you may
select any batter from the pool of Free Agents to use at the Utility position.
During the season, all MLB players will remain eligible at their initial (pre-season) designated primary position, and will also be eligible at any position at which they played at least 20 games in 2007 or at least 5 games in 2008. Also, be aware that a player's primary position may change at any time.
Schedule & Playoffs (For Head-to-Head Leagues)
Regular Season
The MLB season runs 26 weeks from 3/30/2008 through 9/28/2008. Rotisserie leagues will run the entire season and there are no playoffs. This Schedule & Playoffs section applies only to Head-to-Head leagues.
For Head-to-Head leagues, the Fantasy Regular Season will run for 23 weeks from 3/30/2008 through 9/7/2008. During the regular season, each team will play 23 weekly (Monday-Sunday, with the exception of Week 1 which takes place from Sunday-Sunday) Head-to-Head matchups as follows:
• 3 matchups versus every divisional opponent (12 matchups total)
• 2 matchups versus every non-divisional opponent (10 matchups total)
• 1 extra matchup versus a random non-division opponent (1 total)
Playoffs
When the 23-game fantasy regular season ends on September 7, 2008, four teams from the league will make the fantasy playoffs..
The winners of each division, based on win/loss record, will go to the playoffs as the top two seeds. The division winner with the better regular season win/loss record will be the #1 seed and the other division winner will be the #2 seed. The remaining two playoff spots (Wildcards) will be filled with the two teams with the best win/loss records, excluding the division winners.
If there is a tie for the division lead, the following tie-breakers* will be used:
- Division Record
- YTD Points Scored
If there is a tie for a Wildcard spot, the following tie-breakers* will be used:
- YTD Points Scored
- Points Against
*Note: These division-lead tiebreakers apply to leagues that drafted prior to 11:59 on 3/29/2008 only. For late-start leagues (leagues that draft after the beginning of the MLB season), the only tiebreaker will be YTD points scored. This method will not apply to Wildcard tiebreakers.
Teams with the higher seeding will be awarded home-field advantage for each playoff matchup. Each playoff matchup will run from Monday-Sunday.
In the event of a tie in a playoff matchup, the team with more points from its reserve (a.k.a. "bench") players will get the victory. If there is still a tie, the team with the home-field advantage gets the victory.
For teams that do not qualify for the playoffs, the season will effectively end. No further add/drop transactions will be permitted for any team that does not make the playoffs, or for any team that is eliminated from the playoffs.
| Playoff Schedule |
| Semi-Finals 9/15-9/21 | World Series 9/22-9/28 | World Series Results |
#1 vs. #4 #2 vs. #3 | Winner #1-#4 vs. Winner #2-#3 | Winner: Champion Loser: Second Place |
Scoring
Overview
CBSSports.com offers four scoring systems to choose from. Three are Rotisserie-style, where each team is ranked in a number of statistical categories and points are awarded based on a team's ranking in each category. The fourth scoring system is a weekly Head-to-Head points system, where the team earning the most points wins the week's matchup.
Rotisserie Scoring Systems
In a 10-team Rotisserie league, your team is awarded points according to its order of finish in each statistical category. Your team's point totals for each category are then added together for your team's overall score, and standings are based on these overall scores. The first-place team in a statistical category (e.g., Home Runs) gets 10 points, second-place 9 points, and so on with the last-place team in the category getting 1 point. If two teams are tied within a category, each team receives an average of the total points available; so if two teams tie for first place in a category, each team gets 9.5 points rather than 10 to the first-place team and 9 to the second-place team. The tables below list the specific statistical categories for each of the Rotisserie scoring systems available.
| Traditional Rotisserie |
| Batting Category | Pitching Category |
| Team Batting Average | Team Earned Run Average |
| Runs Batted In | Wins |
| Home Runs | Saves |
| Stolen Bases |
Team WHIP [(walks+hits)/innings pitched] |
| 5 x 5 Rotisserie |
| Batting Category | Pitching Category |
| Team Batting Average | Team Earned Run Average |
| Runs Batted In | Wins |
| Home Runs | Saves |
| Stolen Bases | Team WHIP |
| Runs | Strikeouts |
| Roto-Plus Rotisserie |
| Batting Category | Pitching Category |
| Team On-Base Percentage | Team Earned Run Average |
| Team Slugging Percentage | Wins |
| Runs | Saves |
| Runs Batted In | Team WHIP |
Rotisserie Notes:
- Each team's pitching staff must accumulate at least 900* innings pitched over the course of the season or it will be placed in last place in the team ERA and WHIP categories. Each team's batters must accumulate a total of at least 3,950* at-bats or it will be placed in last place in Batting Average (or On-Base Percentage and Slugging Percentage in Roto-Plus leagues). All leagues that begin after 5/21/08 will use 600 innings pitched and 2,900 at-bats as the minimums. All leagues that begin after 7/08/08 will use 450 innings pitched and 1,900 at-bats as the minimums.
- There will be no tie-breaker to determine Rotisserie league champions. In the event of a tie for first place, the tied teams will evenly split any prizes for which they are eligible.
- Pitchers' hitting stats will not generate any hitting points, and batter's pitching stats will not generate pitching points.
- In the event that there are any regular season tie-breaker playoff games, the statistics accumulated in such games will NOT be counted towards your overall Rotisserie score.
Note: Categories that are based on percentages (e.g., Batting Average, Earned Run Average, etc.) are determined by adding the individual numbers of every player on your team, and then computing the average. We do NOT compute a percentage for each individual player and then compute a team average. For example, if you have two batters -- one goes 1-for-1 (1.000 BA) and the other 0-for-4 (.000 BA), then the team BA is .200 (1-for-5), NOT .500 (the average of 1.000 and .000.)
Weekly Head-to-Head Scoring System
The Contest also offers a weekly Head-to-Head scoring option. During each week (Monday-Sunday, with the exception of Week 1 which takes place from Sunday-Sunday), two teams face each other in a Head-to-Head matchup. Each team earns points based on statistics accumulated by its players that week. Point values are listed in the table below. The team with the most points that week gets a Win, and the other team gets a Loss. In the event of tie, the team with the most reserve (a.k.a. "bench") points gets the win. Standings are based on teams' Win/Loss records.
|
| | Head-to-Head Point Values |
| Batting Category | Point Value |
| Single | 1 point |
| Double | 2 points |
| Triple | 3 points |
| Home Run | 4 points |
| RBI | 1 point |
| Run | 1 point |
| Base on Balls | 1 point |
| Stolen Base | 2 points |
|
| Pitching Category | Point Value |
| Win | 10 points |
| Save | 10 points |
| Complete Game | 5 points |
| Strikeout | 1 point |
| Base on Balls | -0.5 points |
| Inning Pitched | 2 points |
| Hits Allowed | -0.5 points |
| Earned Runs | -1 point |
|
Head-to-Head Notes:
- A team's score is tabulated daily.
- Pitchers' hitting stats will not generate any hitting points, and batter's pitching stats will not generate pitching points.
- A player will accumulate hitting stats whether or not he plays at the position designated by The Commissioner. (e.g., Darin Erstad is listed at 1B on a Fantasy team's roster and he plays OF in a particular game. His hitting stats in that game will still count towards his Fantasy team's total points.)
- Only official regular season MLB games will be used to determine Fantasy points. Minor league or exhibition stats generated by your players will not be used.
- In the event that there are any regular season tie-breaker playoff games, the statistics accumulated in such games will NOT be counted towards your Head-to-Head score.
Statistics Corrections
Your league's web site will be updated to reflect official MLB statistics corrections that occur up to five days after the game has been completed. For example, for a Saturday game, the official scoring change would have to be made by the following Thursday to be included in our statistics. If the change is made any later, it will not be included in our statistics and your official Fantasy scoring will be based on the original statistic.
Lineup Changes
Weekly Lineups
The Contest uses weekly lineups for all leagues that choose the weekly lineup option. A week runs from Monday's games through Sunday's games (with the exception of Week 1, which runs from Sunday to Sunday) and, once a week begins, lineups can't be changed for that week. Each week, owners can set a new lineup for the upcoming week. If an owner does not set a lineup for a particular week, the owner's lineup from the previous week will be used. Your team will not accumulate points for any period in which your lineup is illegal.
Lineup Setting Deadline
The deadline for setting your weekly lineup is thirty (30) minutes before the first game of the week. After the deadline, any lineup changes you enter will become effective for the next scoring week.
Daily Lineups
The Contest uses daily lineups for all leagues that choose the daily lineup option. A day runs from beginning of the first game of the day through the completion of the last game of the day and, once a day begins, lineups can't be changed for that day. Each day, owners can set a new lineup. If an owner does not set a lineup for a particular day, the owner's lineup from the previous day will be used. Your team will not accumulate points for any day in which your lineup is illegal.
Daily Lineup Setting Deadline
The deadline for setting your daily lineup is thirty (30) minutes before the first game of the day. After the deadline, any lineup changes you enter will become effective for the next scoring day.
Adding and Dropping Players
Overview
Throughout the season, you may want to improve your roster by adding free agent players and releasing players that aren't performing to your expectations. With only two exceptions, there are no limits to the number of Add/Drops you can request, nor are there any transaction fees.
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The first exception is when an owner drops his entire team or a significant number of players, also known as "team dropping". Team dropping has a negative impact on the league and as such, any owner who elects to drop his team shall be subject to immediate removal from the league. Players selected from waivers or added from free agency that were part of a team drop may be reversed at our discretion. In such move reversals, the waiver ranks will not be reset. CBSSports.com Fantasy Baseball uses weekly lineups, so any changes made may go into effect for the following week's games.
- The second exception is abuse of the waiver process. This is when a team owner adds then drops a series of players, putting those players on waivers and making them inaccessible to other team owners. Such an action could result in forfeiture of points as well as that team owner being blocked from making any additional add/drops for the remainder of the season.
If either of these situations occurs within your league, please contact CBSSports.com through the Help Center as soon as possible.
Free Agents
Any player not on any other team's Fantasy roster and not on Waivers (discussed below) is considered a Free Agent. Requests for free agents are effective for the following week's games. For example, if an owner adds a Free Agent and drops a player on Wednesday, the roster is instantly updated for the following week, but the "pre-Add/Drop" roster is still in effect for the remainder of the current week's games. The deadline for submitting a Free Agent request is thirty (30) minutes before the first game of the scoring period in order to have the transaction effective for that week.
In daily lineup leagues, requests for free agents are effective for the following day.s games. For example, if an owner adds a Free Agent and drops a player on Wednesday, the roster is instantly updated for the following day, but the "pre-Add/Drop" roster is still in effect for the remainder of the day. The deadline for submitting a Free Agent request is thirty (30) minutes before the first game of the day in order to have the transaction effective for that day.
Waivers
In order to provide an equal opportunity for all owners to add players that are new to the free agent pool, a Waivers process is used. Owners' requests to add players on waivers are not executed immediately, but are put in a pending status for at least 24 hours. This allows multiple teams to request the same players. Every night between midnight and 6:00AM ET a Waivers process will be run, executing the pending requests in Waiver Rank order (explained below). All transactions during the waiver process are effective for the next scoring period.
Waiver Rank
As stated, during the waiver process, pending transactions are processed in Waiver Rank order. The team with a waiver rank of 1, considered the highest, will get its first requested player. After the transaction is executed, the team's waiver rank is then set to 10 (last), and all other teams move up one. The initial waiver rank of the season is based on the reverse order of the draft. The team that selected last in the first round of the draft will have a waiver rank of 1.
If a team's highest pending transaction becomes invalid because another team received the requested player, the transaction gets deleted and the team's next transaction, if one exists, becomes that team's highest. If a team doesn't have any pending transactions because all players requested were taken by other teams, or the owner simply didn't request any players, there isn't any penalty and the team's waiver rank will not be changed.
Undroppable Players
To maintain the integrity of your league, you will be prevented from dropping certain star MLB players throughout the season. CBSII, as commissioner of all CBSSports.com Fantasy Baseball leagues, will decide - in its sole discretion - which MLB players are undroppable. If there are players we've deemed undroppable on your roster, they will not be displayed on the Transactions, Add/Drop page. You may appeal to CBSII for permission to drop an undroppable player, however CBSII will make the final decision on all undroppable player requests. Appeals can be sent via the Help Center page and should include the names of the players you want to add and drop.
Trades
Trade Approvals
In an effort to prevent collusion among owners, and to ensure fair competition, a trade approval process is used. After a trade is made, it will be in pending status for at least 24 hours. If 4 owners in your league object to the trade within the pending time period, the trade will not be executed, but will go to The Commissioner for final approval. If 4 owners do not object before the pending period is up, then your trade will be processed. As an example, a trade made at 5 PM ET Tuesday will not execute at 5 PM ET Wednesday, but will be processed between midnight and 5 AM Thursday morning.
Therefore, all trades must be made (i.e., accepted by both parties involved) prior to 11.59 PM ET each Saturday night to be effective for the following week. However, trades in which 4 or more owners object are then subject to Commissioner approval, and may NOT be effective for the upcoming period. Please always check your team Monday morning.
In daily lineup leagues, the same approval process will apply to all trades. |
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