I. Preamble
II. Object
III. Teams
IV. Rosters
V. Minor League Draft
VI. Transactions
VII. Statistics
VIII.Governance
IX. Ratification
I. Preamble
A. We, the people of the Rotisserie League, in order to pitch a more
Perfect Game than Randy Johnson, drive in David Justice, insure domestic
tranquility after watching Baseball Tonight, provide the Rockies with
some defense, promote kids who are tearing up the Carolina League, and
secure the blessings of First Place to ourselves and those we've left on
base, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Luis Gomez
Memorial League, and also finish this run-on sentence.
II. Object
A. To assemble an active lineup of 25 National League baseball players
whose cumulative statistics during the regular season, compiled and
measured by methods described in these rules, exceed those of all other
teams in the League
III. Teams
A. The are 12 teams in a duly constituted Luis Gomez Memorial League (LGML)
composed of National League players
IV. Rosters
A. Frozen Rosters
1. A minimum of 7 and a maximum of 15 players must be protected before
the draft
2. Players frozen are eligible at any position at which they played at
least 15 games during the previous season
a. If the player did not play 15 games at any position he will be
declared eligible at the position(s) that he played the most
games
b. At the draft players may be considered eligible at another
position if agreed upon by the league as a whole
3. A maximum of 7 minor leaguers may be protected on the farm team
c. To be allowed to use any minor league draft picks a team may
protect no more than 5 minor leaguers
B. Draft
1. Immediately following the draft the following must be met:
a. Complete active roster of 25 players meeting roster integrity:
1) 2 catchers
2) 1 1st baseman
3) 1 2nd baseman
4) 1 3rd baseman
5) 1 shortstop
6) 1 corner man (either 1st or 3rd baseman)
7) 1 middle infielder (either 2nd baseman or shortstop)
8) 5 outfielders
9) 11 pitchers
10)1 utility man (any one of 1 through 9 above)
b. Total team salary less than or equal to $260
c. Minor league farm team of seven or less players
C. During the Season
1. Total team salary no longer limited
2. No limit on number of players owned but active roster must still
meet roster integrity
a. Players not on the active roster must be in the minor leagues
or on the Major League disabled list
3. To be eligible at a position the player must either:
a. Have been declared eligible for that position at the draft per
Section A, subsection 2
b. Played a minimum of 5 games at that position during the current
season
4. Farm team still limited to a maximum of 7
D. During the Off-Season
1. No limits on total team salary
2. Roster integrity need not be met
3. Farm team still limited to a maximum of 7
V. Minor League Draft
A. Player Eligibility for Minor League Draft
1. Any player in the minor league system of a National League team as of
the date of the LGML Draft can be taken in the minor league draft
2. Any player currently playing for an independent team can be selected
3. Any player currently with a U.S. college or high school team can be
selected
4. Any player currently signed with a foreign league (Japan, Taiwan,
etc.) can be selected
5. In all cases of 1-4 above, any player traded to or signing with an A.L.
team is lost immediately
B. Selection Order
1. Draft order is based on the final standings of the previous season
a. The first round order is:
1) 6th place team
2) 7th place team
3) 8th place team
4) 9th place team
5) 10th place team
6) 11th place team
7) 12th place team
8) 5th place team
9) 4th place team
10)3rd place team
11)2nd place team
12)1st place team
b. Second round order is the reverse of the first round
2. A team forfeits its remaining picks when:
a. Six (6) or more players are protected on the farm team when frozen
rosters are submitted
b. During the draft, the team has reached its maximum of seven (7)
players on the farm team
C. Trading Picks
1. Minor League Picks can be traded freely except:
a. Only picks for the next Minor League Draft may be dealt, you may
NOT trade picks multiple seasons away
1) EXAMPLE: In November 2001, you may trade Minor League
picks for 2002, but not for 2003
VI. Transactions
A. Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB)
1. A total budget of 180 LGML dollars is allotted for transactions
2. All waiver claims, free agent acquisitions and minor league
activations are deducted from this fund
3. Members may use any (minimum of $9) or all of their remaining FAAB in any
sealed bid
4. Once FAAB is exhausted, none of B, D or H below may be made
B. Free Agents
1. All previously un-owned players will be assigned a salary of $9 unless:
a. More than one team claim a player in a given week
1) Sealed bids will be submitted (minimum bid $9) with highest bid
winning
i. should no bid be submitted with the transaction, a
minimum bid of $9 is assumed
ii. in case of a tie, lowest team in standings wins
2) Winning bid becomes players salary
b. It is September 1 or later - all of above applies except base
salary is $20 and minimum bid is $20
2. Previously owned players who have cleared waivers will keep their
assigned salary
a. If claimed by more than one team the player goes to the team
lower in the standings
b. Players previously owned who go to the A.L. then return to the N.L.
will be considered as not having been assigned a previous salary
c. Players currently on the disabled list may not be claimed as free
agents
3. Once acquired the player must be placed on the active roster
a. A player of the same position on the active roster must be placed
on the reserve roster, waived, or have been lost to the A.L.
C. Waivers
1. LGML Members can waive a player at any time under any one the following
conditions:
a. The LGML team is acquiring a player of the same position via free
agency or waivers
b. The LGML team is activating a player of the same position from the
farm team
c. The LGML team is activating a player of the same position from the
reserve roster
d. The player has been activated by his National League team but his
LGML team does not wish to activate him
2. Players already on the reserve roster may be waived at any time
D. Waiver Claims
1. Waiver claim period is one stat week
2. Lowest team in standings to claim player gets him
3. Player's salary is $9 or previously assigned salary, whichever is greater
E. Reserve Roster
1. A player can only be placed on the reserve roster if one of the following
conditions is met:
a. The player has been put on the disabled list by his National League
team
b. The player has been demoted to the minors by his National League team
c. The player has been released/designated for assignment by his
National League team
d. The player has been suspended for 20 or more games by the National
League and/or Major League Baseball
e. The player has signed with a team in a foreign league
2. To reserve a player another player must be acquired via free agency,
waivers or activation from either the reserve roster or the farm team to
fill the spot on the active roster
F. Trades
1. Trades made during season must maintain roster integrity
2. Minor league maximum of seven cannot be exceeded at any time
3. Players who have been lost to the American League cannot be traded,
regardless of their status on the active roster
4. FAAB dollars cannot be traded
5. Trades involving "future considerations", "players to be named later"
and/or a post-season "return" of a traded player are prohibited
G. Reserved Player Activations
1. If activated by his National League team a player must be released or
activated immediately by his LGML team
a. If activated, and release of another player is required, the release
is retroactive to the date of the player's activation
2. Player may be traded before weekly transaction deadline with no penalty
H. Minor League Activations
1. Salary of $8 is assigned unless:
a. It is September 1 or later - salary becomes $20
2. Two stat week grace period to activate minor leaguers unless:
a. The player has been up once already, must be activated or
waived immediately
3. Minor leaguers called up after August 31 can be left, inactive, on the
farm roster for the remainder of the season
I. September Call-Ups
1. Roster can be expanded starting with the first transaction period after
September 1 by one, two or three spots
a. Expansion of one position may be either hitter or pitcher
b. Expansion of two or three positions must include one pitcher
and one hitter
2. Each transition week September call-ups will be processed by round in
reverse order of the standings until all players claimed are signed
3. September call-ups are supplemental to normal free agent acquisitions
and will not be deducted from FAAB
J. Players Moving to American League
1. Any player traded to or signing with an American League team is
immediately removed from his LGML team's roster
K. Deadlines
1. To be put in effect for the following stat week, transactions must be
reported by 12:01 am (Eastern) Monday morning, via the official transaction
form
2. In cases of players coming over from the A.L. only, the transaction
deadline becomes noon Monday
L. Executive Committee Appeals
1. Any owner may appeal any league transaction to the Executive Committee
2. The Executive Committee may disallow any transaction it feels
violates either the word or spirit of the rules
VII. Statistics
A. Categories
1. Total home runs (HR)
2. Total runs batted in (RBI)
3. Total stolen bases (SB)
4. Composite batting average (BA)
5. Total wins (W)
6. Total saves (SV)
7. Composite earned run average (ERA)
8. Composite ratio (WHIP)
a. Ratio is computed by adding hits and walks and dividing the
sum by innings pitched (H+BB)/IP
B. Standings
1. Teams are ranked from first to last in each category and assigned
points for each place
a. Points are assigned 12 points for 1st, 11 points for 2nd, and
so on down to 1 point for 12th
2. The teams are then ranked from first to last by total points
C. Minimum At Bat Requirement
1. In the batting average category, any team with fewer than 4500
total at bats will receive no points
a. Other teams' points in batting average are not affected
D. Minimum Innings Pitched Requirement
1. In the earned run average and ratio categories, any team finishing
the season with less than 1100 innings pitched will receive no
points
a. Other teams' points in these categories will not be affected
E. Ties
1. In cases of ties in an individual category points will be
assigned by totaling points for the places in question and
dividing by the number of teams tied
2. In cases of ties in total points final places in the standings are
determined by comparing the teams in each category, whichever
team leads the other in the most categories is the winner
a. Should no winner be determined by the above method, the tie
is broken by adding each team's total at bats to three times
its innings pitched (AB+(3*IP)), greater total winning
F. Restrictions
1. Pitchers' hitting statistics are not counted
2. Position players' pitching statistics are not counted
3. Statistics are only counted when a player is on a team's active
roster
a. Statistics compiled before a player is acquired, after he is
released or while on a team's farm roster do not count toward
that team's totals
VIII.Governance
A. Commissioner
1. The Commissioner shall record and forward transactions, statistics,
and standings
2. The Commissioner shall be given narrow latitude to bend time deadlines
according to a rough rule of reason
3. The Commissioner shall have the authority to rule on player
transactions (excluding trades) and Constitutional interpretations
4. All complaints and requests for rulings shall be brought to the
attention of the Commissioner
5. The Commissioner must either make a ruling within seven days of the
request and communicate this decision to the franchises or move the
request on to the Executive Committee
6. All interpretations by the Commissioner can be appealed to the
Executive Committee, but a strong burden of proof will rest with the
aggrieved League Member
B. Executive Committee
1. The Executive Committee shall be comprised of three League Members in
good standing duly appointed by the Commissioner
2. The Executive Committee shall have the authority to rule on trades as
well as appealed player transactions and Constitutional
interpretations decided by the Commissioner
3. The Executive Committee must make a ruling within seven days of the
request and communicate this decision to the franchises
4. All interpretations by the Executive Committee are final, but at no
time can the Executive Committee violate the language of this
Constitution
5. Should an Executive Committee member be directly involved in or make
a request for a ruling, the Commissioner will substitute for that
member
C. Sergeant-At-Arms
1. The Sergeant-At-Arms shall function as the Chairman of the Executive
Committee
2. Orchestrates all actions of the Executive Committee pertaining to
meetings, votes, disciplinary actions and league betterment
D. Franchisees
1. The Members of the League are not the owners of their respective teams
2. All teams are the property of the Luis Gomez Memorial League, and are
franchised to the League Members
3. Each Member is a franchisee who is responsible for the management of
one team in the League
E. Franchise Transfers
1. Any League Member who wishes to dispose of his franchise must return
that franchise back to the League
2. A League Member may not sell or give his franchise to another person
3. A League Member who is removed from the League by Executive Committee
vote must return his franchise to the League
4. A current League Member may not exchange his current franchise for
any vacated franchise
5. Once a franchise has been returned to the League, the League may
create a Search Committee to select a new League Member to manage the
franchise
F. Multiple Franchise Vacancies
1. Should more than one existing Member tender their resignations, the
Replacement Members may draft from the combined pool of the players
from the "old" Members intact teams
2. The draft order will be assigned by random drawing, and the draft
will be conducted reversing the order each round
G. General Collusion
1. No person exercising any management authority or responsibility for
one team shall be allowed to have such authority or responsibility
over any other team in the League
2. No two or more teams are allowed by combined efforts of individual
League Members to control or to attempt to control the outcome of
standings, statistics, transactions, or any other League matters
3. If the violation is deemed serious enough, the Commissioner may call
for an Executive Committee vote to remove the League Members in
question from the League
H. Collusive Trades
1. Any franchise believing that a trade violates the League's Collusion
Restrictions as outlined, may appeal the trade in question to the
Executive Committee by notifying the Commissioner
2. Once notified, the Executive Committee will vote on whether or not to
veto the trade in question
3. If the violation is deemed serious enough, the Commissioner may call
for an Executive Committee vote to remove the League Members in
question from the League
IX. Ratification
A. The League Members of the Luis Gomez Memorial League hereby acknowledge
and ratify this Constitution and have evidenced their agreement to be
governed by it and to be subject to the rules and provisions contained
herein by accepting membership into the LGML.
