Team Formation/Draft Procedure Guidelines

Adopted January 31, 2023

This document defines the process for forming teams for the Spring Season and applies to both baseball and softball unless otherwise noted. 

1. Objectives:

The objectives of the team formation process is to:

1. Comply with Little League International rules

2. Create competitive parity among teams 

3. Consider player school and residence

4. Consider player requests 

5. Be fair to players, parents and coaches 

6. Result in a memorable and fun playing environment for players

7. Provide transparency of the process 

8. Be consistent in the application of procedures within divisions and between Upper and Lower County (as applicable). 

II. Definitions:

“Career Player”  - Once a player is assigned to a Majors team, the player will remain with that returning team for the duration of the player's participation in that Division.

“Draftee” - A player who is placed in a draft pool and eligible to be picked by a Coach during the draft process.

“Player Evaluations” or “Evaluations” - The evaluation process in which players are run through a series of drills to assess and evaluate the skills, athleticism, emotional and physical maturity, and baseball/softball knowledge of draftees. See Operating Guidelines for more information.

“Returning Team” - A Majors team in which a core of 3 players are returning from the previous Majors Spring season. A returning team will stay together along with the coach. If the coach is not returning a new coach will be assigned to the returning team. In cases where a team is returning with fewer than 3 players, the players become draftees and are guaranteed placement within the same division of play.  The Player Agent may decide it is not in the best interest of players or league and dissolve a team and return its players to the draft pool. ONLY Majors teams will remain together.  Teams at all other levels are disbanded at the end of each season.

III. Team Formation/Draft Process

1. Player Evaluations will be held according to Operating Guidelines

2. Teams will be formed according to the process below and as consistent with the Operating Guidelines

3. Teams in the Majors Division will be formed by using a draft based on the procedures below.

4. Teams in all other Divisions will be formed by the league based on the procedures below.

IV. Tee-Ball Division Team Formation Procedures:

1. The Tee-Ball Commissioner in consultation with the President, Player Agent, and Board of Director will determine roster size.

2. Player Agent,Commissioner, and any other person or member of the Board of Directors as appointed by the President will form the teams for the Tee-Ball Division.

3. There are NO career players in the Tee-Ball divisions

4. Each year teams will be newly formed based on the evaluation process

5. Team placement criteria will include:

   1. School player attends

   2. Player’s residence

   3. Player’s requests

6. MCLL will attempt to honor player placement requests , however no guarantee is provided with the exception of:

   1. Placing players and parents that volunteer to coach on the same team.

   2. Siblings

7. There is no softball tee-ball division.

V.  Coach Pitch/Rookie Ball Division Team Formation Procedures:

1. The Coach Pitch Commissioner in consultation with the President, Player Agent, and Board of Director will determine roster size and whether the Division will be divided into different levels by skill as laid out in the Operating Procedures.

2. Player Agent, Commissioner, and other person or member of the Board of Directors as appointed by the President will form the teams for the Coach Pitch Division.

3. There are NO career players in the Coach Pitch divisions.

4. Each year teams will be newly formed.

5. This process applies to all coach pitch divisions.

6. Team placement criteria will include:

   1. School that player attends

   2. Player residence

   3. Player’s requests

7. MCLL will attempt to honor player requests however no guarantee is provided with the exception of:

   1. Placing players and parents that volunteer to coach on the same team.

   2. Siblings

VI.  Minors Division Team Formation Procedures:

1. The Minors Commissioner in consultation with the President, Player Agent, and Board of Directors will determine roster size and whether the Division will be divided into AA and AAA levels.    

2. Player Agent, Commissioner(s) and any other person appointed by the President will form Minor league teams for Minors AA and AAA.

3. Coaches will be provided the opportunity to review rosters at least 48 hours prior to public release and request roster changes which may be made subject to approval of the Division Commissioner and Player Agent.

4. There are NO career players in the Minors divisions.

5. Each year teams will be newly formed by MCLL, except Minors AAA Division teams may be formed through the utilization of a draft (see b.).  

   1. If teams are formed by MCLL the following placement criteria will be considered: 

      1. Player Evaluation scores

      2. Skill level based on past experience in the league including history of pitching and catching in MCLL

      3. Player’s residence

      4. School player attends

      5. Player’s requests.  Requests made for a specific coach are considered, but not guaranteed.  MCLL will attempt to honor player requests, however no guarantee is provided with the exception of:

         1. Placing players and parents that volunteer to coach on the same team. Each team is permitted a maximum of 2 assistant coaches.

         2. Siblings

   2. If teams at the Minors AAA level are formed by a draft, the following process shall be utilized:  

1. The Minors League Commissioner will provide a list of all draftable players to all Managers at least 24 hours before the draft meeting. 

2. MCLL will provide player evaluation ratings for each player to all Managers prior to the Player Draft. Managers should consider this to be confidential information and it should not be shared with anyone else (especially players.) 

3. If a player declines to be drafted, he/she shall be placed in Minors AA and shall not be promoted to the Minors AAA division at a later time if a vacancy becomes available.

4. Order of draft picks will be randomly selected by the Player Agent.

5. Draft will be conducted using a snake draft. ie. The draft order will reverse each round.  For example, the team with the last pick of the first round will have the first pick of the second round.

6. A draft matrix will be created showing who has the pick at each round.   

7. There are no career players at the Minors level.  All players with the exception of any coach's child must be drafted.

8. Coach’schildren  will be placed at round three for ages 11/12, round four age 10, and round five for ages 8/9.

9. The draft will begin on the Player Agent’s command and each Manager will have 3 minutes to name their draft pick(s).

10. The selection process is then repeated until each team has completed their roster.

11. MCLL will attempt to honor parent requests to play together. After each Manager's pick, the League will evaluate the pick.

12. Managers will have 24 hours after the draft meeting to trade players. All trades must be reviewed and approved by the Minors League Commissioner and MCLL Player Agent.

    1. Subsequent trades can be made up to 2 weeks after the draft, subject to approval from the player agent.

13. Teams will be declared official 48 Hours after the draft meeting and rosters will be published online and Managers may contact their players.

14. Any draftee who is not selected onto a Minors AAA team will be placed on a Minors AA team in a manner consistent with the Minors AA team formation procedures outlined in this document.

VII. Majors Division Draft Procedures:

1. The Majors Commissioner in consultation with the President and Player Agents will determine  the number of teams per Majors division and roster size.

2. There are Career Players at the Majors level.  MCLL will follow the rules set forth by LLI concerning Career Players.  A Manager may not request that a Career Player be dropped from his/her team roster.

3. A player becomes a Draftee and must enter a draft pool when:

   1. Player is new to Majors. 

   2. Parent has requested for the player to play for a different team in the Majors Division.

   3. There is a limit of no more than eight 12-year olds per team. If a Major League team has more than eight Career 12 year-olds, the Manager must work with the Player Agent to return 12 year-old players to the draft pool so the team has exactly eight 12-year olds.

4. Little League recommends that all 12 year-olds play in the Major Leagues. The League will place all 12 year-olds on a Major League team. If circumstances dictate that a 12 year-old player is not ready for play in the Majors, in conjunction with the parents, the MCLL Player Agent will process a waiver with the District 2 Administrator to place the player on a Minor League team. This is something that is rarely granted due to player safety issues with a 12 year-old playing against nine year-olds.

5. Based on the number of 12 year-old draftees, Commissioner will determine the minimum number of 12 year-olds that must be drafted by each team. Each team must draft their designated number of 12 year-olds during the draft. 

6. The League Commissioner will provide a list of all Major league players to all Managers at least 24 hours before the draft meeting. The list will designate Career players by team and all draftees.

7. MCLL will provide player evaluation ratings for each player to Manager prior to the Player Draft. Managers should consider this to be confidential information and it should not be shared with anyone else (especially players.) 

8. If a Minors division player declines to be drafted to the Majors division, he/she shall not be promoted to the Majors at a later time if a vacancy becomes available.

9. Order of draft picks will be reverse order of finish from the previous season. New teams will be placed at the end and ordered by coin toss or equivalent method if more than two new teams. e.g. draw straws

10. Draft will be conducted in a Straight order as outlined in the Little League Operating Policies Plan A. ie. The last-place team of the preceding season gets the first choice in every round of the draft, the next to last place team gets the second selection in every round and the remaining teams select in the reverse order of standing.

11. A draft matrix will be created showing who has the pick at each round. Prior to the draft the matrix will be filled with Career players for each team starting at the top. Assigned coaches players for new teams will be placed at rounds three for age 12, round four for age 11 and round five for ages 9/10.

12. The draft will begin on the Player Agent’s command and each Manager will have 3 minutes to name their draft pick(s).

13. The selection process is then repeated until each team has completed their roster.

14. MCLL will attempt to honor parent requests to play together. After each Manager's pick, the League will evaluate the pick.

15. Managers will have 24 hours after the draft meeting to trade players. All trades must be reviewed and approved by the League Commissioner and MCLL Player Agent.

    1. Subsequent trades can be made up to 2 weeks after the draft, subject to approval from the commissioner and player agent

16. Teams will be declared official 48 Hours after the draft meeting and rosters will be published online and Managers may contact their players.

17. Any draftee who is not selected onto a Major League team will be placed on a Minor League team  in a manner consistent with the minor team formation procedures outlined in this document.

VIII.  Intermediate Baseball Division League Team Formation Procedures:

1. The Intermediate Commissioner in consultation with the President, Player Agent, and  Board of Director will determine roster size.

2. President, Player Agent, Commissioner, and any other person or member of the Board of Directors as appointed by the President will form the teams in this division.

3. There are NO career players in the Intermediate division

4. Each year teams will be newly formed based on the following placement criteria:

   1. Skill level based on past experience in the league including history of pitching and catching in MCLL

   2. School player attends

   3. Player’s residence

   4. Player’s requests

5. MCLL will attempt to honor parent requests to have a player placed with a specific coach or other player, however no guarantee is provided with the exception of:

   1. Placing players with their parent if the parent is  a team volunteer (i.e., coach, assistant coach, team parent)

   2. Siblings

6. There is no Intermediate softball division.

IX. Juniors/Seniors Baseball Division League Team Formation  Procedures:

1. The Juniors/Seniors Commissioner in consultation with the President, Player Agent, and Board of Director will determine roster size.

2. President, Player Agent, Commissioner, and any other person or member of the Board of Directors as appointed by the President will form the teams in this division.

3. There are NO career players.

4. Each year teams will be newly formed based on the following placement criteria:

   1. Skill level based on past experience in the league including history of pitching and catching in MCLL

   2. School player attends

   3. Player’s residence

   4. Player’s requests

5. MCLL will attempt to honor parent requests to have a player placed with a specific coach or other player, however no guarantee is provided with the exception of:

   1. Placing players with their parent if the parent is  a team volunteer (i.e., coach, assistant coach, team parent)

   2. Siblings

X.  Juniors/Seniors Softball Team Formation Procedures:

6. The Softball Commissioner in consultation with the President, Player Agent, and  Board of Director will determine roster size.

7. President, Player Agent, Commissioner, and any other person or member of the Board of Directors as appointed by the President will form the teams in this division.

8. There are NO career players.

9. Each year teams will be newly formed based on the following placement criteria:

   1. Skill level based on past experience in the league including history of pitching and catching in MCLL

   2. School player attends

   3. Player’s residence

10. Parents Requests

11. MCLL will attempt to honor parent requests to have a player placed with a specific coach or other player, however no guarantee is provided with the exception of:

    1. Placing players with their parent if the parent is  a team volunteer (i.e., coach, assistant coach, team parent)

    2. Siblings