SHOELESS JOE JACKSON INTEGRITY LEAGUE

League Rulebook

Commissioner: Ryan Hargis

League Overview: The Shoeless Joe Jackson Integrity League is a 10 team Head-to-Head fantasy baseball money league using all available MLB players. The league is hosted on the Fantrax Fantasy Baseball system. Every team has a $20 buy-in for each season.

League Divisions: There are two divisions (National & American), each consisting of five teams.

Season Schedule: In 2016, the regular season will start on Sunday, April 3 and end on August 21. The playoffs will last three rounds. They will start August 22 and end September 18. All teams will play 19 games over 20 weeks; they will play every team at least twice and their designated rival three times. MLB All-Star Week is an Integrity League bye-week for all teams.

League Payout: Four teams will receive a portion of the league payout at the end of the playoffs. The payouts are guaranteed for division champions and wild card winners. The semi-finals and finals have a bonus payout for the winners of each of those rounds. Winning the division or wild card matchup is worth $25. Winning the semi-finals is worth another $25. Winning the championship is worth another $50.

Champion’s payout: $100

Runner-up’s payout: $50

Semi-finals losers’ payouts: $25

Playoff Eligibility: Playoff seeds are set by overall record at the end of the regular season. The two division champions are granted first round byes (and will be designated the #1 & #2 seeds). The next four playoff seeds are wild card slots granted by overall record. The wild card round of the playoffs will be seeded by season record [#3 seed v. #6 seed] & [#4 seed v. #5 seed]. The second round of the playoffs will be the division champions against the two wild card winners. The division champion with the best record will play the [#4 seed v. #5 seed] wild card winner. The third round is the championship. The championship round lasts two weeks. The winner of the third round is the overall league champion.

League Scoring: Every week, two teams will compete in a Head-to-Head format. Each team will compete for a win in twelve stat categories. Each category will end in a win, loss, or tie for each team. The categories are:

Offensive Categories: Runs, Home Runs, Steals, RBI, AVG, OBP

Defensive Categories: Quality Starts, Saves + Holds, Strikeouts, K/BB, ERA, WHIP

Stat Corrections: Stat corrections can be applied up to seven days after a game ends. The system will automatically change the stats and it could change category wins up to a week after the fantasy week is over.

Standings Tie Breakers: If two teams have the same win percentage at the end of the season, the following are the tie breakers used.

Head-to-Head record vs team tied with Most wins in entire season Best division record for entire season

Roster:

Starting Lineup:

Offense: C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, OF, OF, UTIL, UTIL

Defense: SP, SP, RP, RP, P, P

* All starting roster spots must be filled every day.

* A team must have a minimum of eighteen innings pitched in a week to get credit for pitching stats.

The penalty for an illegal roster is to have an illegal roster override for the stats on the day(s) that the roster had an empty position.

Bench: Each team has six bench spots available. Bench spots may be used for any position.

DL & ML: Each team has three Minor League positions and two Disabled List positions available for use. Players may be added directly to a DL or ML spots when they are available for those spots.

When a player is no longer on the DL in MLB, the manager has one week to move that player off of the Integrity League DL. When a player is called up from the MiLB to MLB, the manager has one week to move that player off the Integrity League ML (only if that player has been previously called up from the ML spot in the Integrity League that season). If an ML player has not been called up in the Integrity League, they may stay in ML as long as the manager wants them to.

Setting Rosters: A player can be added or dropped from the starting lineup up to one minute before his game is scheduled to start. If a game is delayed, the player will still be locked in one minute before the schedule said the game would start.

Draft System: For the 2016 season, the draft will be on March 20, 2016 at 6:00 pm CST. The draft will be conducted on the Fantrax Fantasy Baseball live draft website.

The commissioner sets the draft date and time.

The draft order will be generated based on the previous year’s season standings. Playoff teams get the last draft spots with the champion drafting last. Non-playoff teams draft order is determined in a draft lottery selection. If a manager is not able to draft on the draft day, the manager may either auto-draft or let someone sign into the manager’s account and draft for him/her. The draft time will not be changed to accommodate individual schedules. There will be twenty-two rounds in the draft to fill each team’s regular roster. It is each manager’s responsibility to make sure you have a legal roster. If Fantrax auto-drafts for any manager, the system will make sure you have a legal roster.

Minor League Draft: There will be an optional minor league draft after the regular draft on draft night. Anyone may be selected in this three round draft, but the players must be on a Minor League roster in real life and also on the Minor League roster in our league on Opening Day. Otherwise, the players will be dropped off the roster onto waivers.

Lottery Draft Selection: The draft will be a standard format and the order will be set by draft lottery and season ending standings. Teams that do not make the playoffs will be put into a draft lottery. The teams will have the following chances for the highest draft picks: 10th – 50%, 9th – 25%, 8th – 15%, 7th – 10%. The playoff team draft picks will be set on final standings.

Trades: Trades between teams will be allowed until the trade deadline arrives. The trade deadline for the 2016 season is August 3. During the trade dead period, managers are allowed to trade draft picks, but no players. Material goods or services existing outside of the league cannot be used as a part of a league trade. After a trade is accepted by all sides, the trade will be reviewed by league members and will be approved or rejected within two days. There is not a limit on the number of trades that a team can make in a year.

Trade Veto: Trades can be voted on for veto by the league managers of the league. A trade can only be vetoed if collusion is suspected. Proof does not have to exist for a veto to occur, but 2/3 of the league managers must vote to make a veto go through. The managers of a trade that is suspected of collusion may state their reasoning for a trade if they wish to have a revote for a vetoed trade. A trade cannot be vetoed simply because it does not seem like a fair trade. There has to be reasonable suspicion of collusion for a trade to be considered for veto.

Offseason Trade Window: A team’s offseason trade window opens when the team has officially selected their keepers. The offseason trade window closes at 7 pm CST on the Thursday before the draft.

When keepers are selected, the team forfeits the draft picks at that time, not on draft day. (ex. you keep Trout with a 1st round pick and trade him for 2nd round keeper, Tulowitzki, in the offseason trade window. You still lost your 1st round pick because you chose to keep Trout. The original owner of Tulo lost the 2nd round pick for originally keeping him.)

A team may never have more than six players on their team from the time their keepers are declared and draft night.

Trades will be voted on just as they are in the regular season and the two-day voting period still applies.

Player Drops & Acquisitions: Teams are allowed to make five player acquisitions to their team per week. When a roster change happens, it will be reflected on the roster immediately if the players in the transaction have not started their game for that day. The roster change will take effect the next day if any of the players have been locked into a game for that day. A team must have an open roster spot to add a player.

Free Agents & Waivers: If a player is on the Free Agent list, he may be added by any team in the league at any time. If a player is released from a league team, the player will go to waivers for two days. A waiver claim may be made by any team, and the team with the highest waiver will be granted the player after the waiver period. There is not a limit on the number of acquisitions that a team can make in a year.

Keeper Rules:

Definition of a keeper: A player that is kept by a team over multiple years in exchange for a draft pick. A keeper cannot be kept out of the draft for more than three seasons

Keeper Eligibility & Procedures: A team may select up to six players to designate as keepers every season. A team is not required to select any players as keepers in any season. A keeper can only be kept if the team has an available draft pick for the round that the keeper requires

Any draft pick may be used to select a keeper. When a drafted player is designated as a keeper, the team will forfeit the draft pick from the round the player was drafted. A Minor League Prospect acquired after the draft will cost the final available pick of the draft and will be tied to that draft round as long as they are kept.

A keeper must be designated as a keeper by the March 13, 2016 deadline, but isn’t required to be designated any sooner.

Only two types of players are eligible to be keepers.

Players drafted onto a team. If a drafted player is traded, the player can still keep his keeper status. The player trade does not restart the keeper player’s clock though. The player must return to the draft pool three years after he was originally drafted. Minor League prospects (who are rookie eligible by MLB rules) owned by a fantasy team before they appear in a Major League game this season.

Players may not be put in the Minor League roster spots until they are officially designated for assignment (unless they are drafted in the Minor League Draft).

– The longest that a player may be locked in as a keeper for any team is three full seasons. If a team trades for a keeper eligible player, the three season clock started when the player was originally drafted, NOT when he was traded. A minor league prospect’s first partial year counts as “year one.” There is no minimum limit for keeping a player. All keepers must return to the draft pool after the third season or earlier.

– A keeper may be dropped at any time during any season. At that point, the player’s keeper status is cleared. Drafted players MUST be kept or traded to keep their keeper status.

Joining the League: When a manager is needed for the league, any current manager is welcomed to refer a new manager for consideration. Prospective Managers will complete a short questionnaire to help determine if they are a good fit for the league. The new manager prospects will be voted on by the current league managers and added to the league as soon as possible.

Leaving the League: It is expected that a manager who wants to exit the league will give the commissioner advanced notice. This will allow the open spot to be filled without any interruption to the league schedule.

Removal from the League: When a team is left vacant during the season (two weeks of inactivity), the team’s manager will be removed and the manager role will be filled as soon as possible. The team’s roster will stay intact and the team’s keeper rules will stay intact. The new manager may rename the team. The team will exist in the same manner that it has all season. The only change will be the manager (and possibly the team name).

A manager can be removed at any time if the league commissioner and managers agree that a manager hurts the competitive balance of the league due to lack of effort and/or knowledge.

League Fees: Every manager has a $20 buy-in. The league buy-in is required to be paid by the keeper deadline day each season. If league fees are not paid on time, the manager will be locked out of his/her team until it is paid. If the manager is locked out during on keeper deadline day, no keepers will be kept. If the manager is still locked out during the draft, the team’s draft picks will be skipped and the team will have to be assembled from the Free Agent market.

League Awards: The league has a perpetual trophy that will be awarded to the league champion at the end of each season. The championship team’s name and the manager’s name will be added to the trophy at the league’s cost. The league champion will be responsible for the trophy until the end of the next season.

Also, the champion of the league each season will be invited to The Champions League. The Champions League is a rotisserie style fantasy baseball league exclusively for Integrity League champions.

Commissioner’s Duties:

Interpret the rules and procedures when there is any question about intent or clarity

Responsible for the day-to-day operation of the league

The person to contact when a manager has a question or a concern

Fix a player add/drop mistake

Can set a manager’s roster if needed

Current League Champion’s Duties:

Hold the league’s perpetual trophy and is responsible for its upkeep.

Responsible for transferring the trophy to the new champion (including shipping costs).

Future Rules & Procedures Changes: There may be situations that require discussions about rules or procedures changes. When these situations arise, all managers in the league will vote for or against the changes. Changes will not be made to the rules during the season unless it is absolutely necessary.