These are the official rules of the Dead Skippers League (hereafter referred to as the DSL). Although they are based on the original Rotisserie League Baseball Association rules, the final authority for any rule or interpretation is the Committee of the Whole (hereafter referred to as the COW).
To assemble a team of National League baseball players whose cumulative statistics through the regular season, compiled and measured by the methods described in these rules, exceed those of all other teams in the DSL.
The DSL is a rotisserie-style fantasy baseball league using only National League (NL) players. The number of teams is expected to be 12 at the start of the season, but may be adjusted to accommodate unforeseen circumstances (UC) such as absent owner(s), MLB teams switching leagues, or other such conditions.
A DSL team’s roster varies in size and composition between the Auction Week, the regular season and the off-season (the MLB Post-Season is part of the off-season for purposes of the DSL).
During the off-season there are no limits on the number of players or their positions for the Active, Reserve or Minor League (FARM) Rosters.
Within the regular season the Active Roster shall consist of 23 players: 5 outfielders (OF), 2 catchers (C), 1 second baseman (2B), 1 first baseman (1B), 1 third baseman (3B), 1 shortstop (SS), 1 middle infielder (either 2B or SS), one wing man (either 1B or 3B), 1 utility player (either hitter or pitcher), and 9 pitchers (P). Should UC occur that alter the composition of the NL in terms of teams or players, the size and positions of the Active Roster will be adjusted according to a vote of the COW.
The Reserve Roster may contain any number of players at any positions while they are eligible to be on reserve.
The Minor League Roster may have as many as 5 players while they are eligible to be in the DSL minors, plus any number of minor league picks from the current season and the immediately following season.
From Freeze Day until the Auction:
· The Active Roster must have no more than 15 players total and must also adhere to the positional constraints of the regular season Active Roster.
· The Reserve Roster will be empty.
· The Minor League Roster rules are the same as they are for the regular season except that immediately prior to the Auction the Minor League Roster must be pared down to a combined total of 5 minor-league-eligible players and picks. Farm players who are active in the NL must be added to the Active Roster or released, as long as the 15-player/positional requirements are maintained, by removing a previously kept player if necessary.
If one or more teams should be owner-less at the beginning of the Auction, each remaining team will have its player acquisition budget augmented by $2 and its roster (but not its Freeze List) increased by one utility player and one pitcher per owner-less team. All players (both major league and minor league) and picks on the owner-less team(s) will be dropped and forfeited, respectively.
The salary of a player is determined at the time and means of his acquisition and does not change unless the player is waived or signed to a long-term contract (LTC).
A) The salary of a player acquired in the major league portion of the Auction is the winning bid price.
B) The salary of a player called up from the Free Agent pool during season is $1, except that any player picked up from the Free Agent pool from September 1st until the end of the regular season is a zombie (i.e. can’t be kept the following season) and has a salary of $0.
C) The salary of a player in a team’s Farm system is $0 but becomes $1 when he is activated.
D) The salary of a player claimed on waivers is $1 or his previous salary, whichever is greater, and his contract year does not change.
E) The salary of a player acquired in Free Agent Bidding (FAB) is the winning bid price, except that any player acquired by FAB from September 1st until the end of the regular season is a zombie (i.e. can’t be kept the following season) and has a salary of $0.
F) A player who is entering his 3rd consecutive season with the same contract year must be dropped or given a long-term contract. The salary for the duration of his LTC is his current salary plus an additional $0.50 times the number of years on the LTC. (Ex: if current salary is $0.70 then plus 1 year = $1.20 while plus 2 years = $1.70).
FREEZE DAY is the same as the official Opening Day of the regular season (not any overseas opener), at which time each DSL team will provide the League Secretary with his team’s Freeze List by 10:00 AM, conforming to the roster requirements listed above in Article III. Teams should make every effort to post their Freeze List on the Main Board for the benefit of the entire league.
At NOON on the Thursday before the Auction the Secretary or his designee will post on the Main Board a comprehensive list of eligible NL players – active, suspended or injured list – for use as the OFFICIAL AUCTION PLAYER POOL. Any team can propose an addition to this pool immediately prior to the Auction and a vote of the COW will be held to decide eligibility.
The MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYER AUCTION is held on the second Saturday after Freeze Day, beginning at 09:00 AM. It begins with the first toss by last year’s last place team – the nomination of an eligible NL player, along with a legal starting bid amount. If the last place team drops out, the replacement team will serve in its place; if there are 2 or more new teams in this situation, the team (not the owner) with the alphabetically latest name will be considered the “replacement”.
A player is eligible to be tossed if he is:
A) Not on the roster of any DSL team and
B) In the Official Auction Player Pool and
C) Eligible at a position where the tossing team has an opening
A legal bid for any toss is at least $0.10 and no more than maximum amount available for that team to bid. The maximum bid a team may make is the amount remaining in their Salary Budget less $0.10 times the number of open positions on their Active Roster, plus $0.10 (ex: Budget remaining of $0.90 and 3 openings = $0.90 – ($0.10 * 3) + $0.10 = $0.70).
Bidding for that player proceeds around the table in a clockwise manner, with a minimum increment of $0.10 and a maximum bid as described above, until no more bids are forthcoming. The highest bidder acquires the player for a salary equal to that amount. Once a team passes on bidding for a player they may not re-enter the bidding process. Any bids that have a “5” in the position immediately to the right of the decimal point must be pronounced as “fitty”.
The process is repeated by the team to the left of the first tossing team until every team has filled their Active Roster. After every other round of tossing (i.e. all teams have nominated two players), a brief break will be taken and remaining salary balances will be checked. When a team has filled its Active Roster it drops out of the nominating process - but does not forfeit its right to verbally abuse the other teams.
Players eligible at the start of the Auction at more than one position may be shifted during the Auction. Players who acquire new positionality during Auction Week are not eligible at that position until after the Auction. Players who begin the season on an NL team’s injured list (IL) are eligible to be nominated
The MINOR LEAGUE PLAYER DRAFT is conducted immediately following the Auction, in which each DSL team may acquire players who:
A) Not on the roster of any AL or NL team and
B) Not on any AL team’s major or minor league roster – active, suspended, or injured list.
Selection takes place in two rounds of a simple draft, not an auction. The selection order for both rounds is determined by the order in which the teams finished. The order of selection is 5th place team, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st. Picks may be traded, so the actual order of selection could vary from the previous year’s standings based on those trades. If one or more teams are added during the off-season, reference Section XIX for details on handling minor league picks for these teams.
The REPLACEMENT PLAYER DRAFT is conducted immediately following the Minor League Draft, in which each DSL team may replace their players who are suspended or on the IL with active players who remain in the Auction-eligible free agent pool after the completion of the Auction. The selection order of these replacements is determined by the order in which the teams finished in the previous season. The order of selection for the first round is 5th place team, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st, then it is reversed for the second round, reversed again for the third, etc., until all teams are done. Trading of replacement spots is not permitted. The stats for the replacement players do not start accruing until the Deadline as described below.
A player is eligible at any position at which he appeared in 20 or more games in the preceding Major League season. If a player did not appear in 20 games at a single position, he is eligible at the position(s) at which he made the most appearances (ex: Player A played 15 games at 1B and 5 in the OF – he is only eligible at 1B; if he played 12 games at 1B and 12 at 3B he is eligible at both positions). Games played in either the AL or the NL count towards eligibility.
Eligibility acquired during Auction Week does not take effect until after the Auction, but once the season begins a player becomes eligible at any position at which he appears even once. A player who did not play in MLB in the previous season will have their eligibility determined by the most recent MLB season in which they did play, or if they have never played in MLB, by a vote of the league membership immediately prior to the Auction. If such a player is not voted on prior to the Auction but comes up during the Auction, an on-the-spot vote will be taken.
If a season is shortened, player position eligibility for the next season is calculated by multiplying the percentage of games played in the previous season played by 20 (ex: If 114 games are played out of the 162 game season, then 114/162 * 20 means 14 games is the eligibility threshold).
The DSL has a fixed fee of $125 per team covering all league-related expenses. These include prize money, player personnel moves, stats, banquet fund, and administrative fees. No money passes directly from team to team. No bets are made on the outcome of any game. Any UC expenses will reduce the banquet fund first and then the prize pool. However, any such expenses must be approved by the COW.
If there is a fee for use of a facility for the Auction, All-Star Gathering or the World Series Gala, that will be collected separately from the individual teams.
All fees are due at the beginning of the Auction and shall be promptly collected by the League Treasurer. The prize pool will be distributed at the World Series Gala. The league will allocate $5 per team (the BANQUET FUND) from the league fees to defray food and beverage costs at the World Series Gala.
For each of the 10 categories (HR, RBI, BA, SB, R, W, SV, WHIP, ERA, K) the category’s top finisher will receive $25. If there is a tie then the category prize money is split.
The remaining prize pool balance will be divided among the top four teams in the final standings as follows:
First place - 50%
Second place -25%
Third place - 15%
Fourth place -10%
The cellar-dwelling last place team will be known as “Mr. Donut” and shall provide donuts at the next Auction and be subjected to such verbal abuse as is deemed suitable by his betters!
Example #1 – based on a 12 team league
Income = 12 * $125 = $1,500
Expenses:
Stat & administrative fees = 12 * $25 = $300
Banquet fund = 12 * $5 = $60
Category prizes = 10 * $25 = $250
Prize Pool = $1,500 - $300 - $60 - $250 = $890
First Place = 50% of $890 = $445
Second Place = 25% of $890 = $222.50
Third Place = 15% of $890 = $133.50
Fourth Place = 10% of $890 = $89
Example #2 – based on an 11 team league
Income = 11 * $125 = $1,375
Expenses:
Stat & administrative fees = 11 * $25 = $275
Banquet fund = 11 * $5 = $55
Category prizes = 10 * $25 = $250
Prize Pool = $1,375 - $275 - $55 - $250 = $795
First Place = 50% of $795 = $397.50
Second Place = 25% of $795 = $198.75
Third Place = 15% of $795 = $119.25
Fourth Place = 10% of $795 = $79.50
Example #3 – based on a 10 team league
Income = 10 * $125 = $1,250
Expenses:
Stat & administrative fees = 10 * $25 = $250
Banquet fund = 10 * $5 = $50
Category prizes = 10 * $25 = $250
Prize Pool = $1,250 - $250 - $50 - $250 = $700
First Place = 50% of $700 = $350
Second Place = 25% of $700 = $175
Third Place = 15% of $700 = $105
Fourth Place = 10% of $700 = $70
The official statistics for calculating the standings are the ones provided by the stat service paid for by the league fees (currently RotoWire). Although the statistics are accrued daily, the standings are only updated once per week at the completion of the last NL game played (i.e. started) on Monday.
Performance stats of a player only accrue to his DSL team when he is on the Active Roster of that team. Hitting stats for pitchers and pitching stats for hitters are not counted towards their teams’ totals.
The following categories are used to determine team performance and league standings:
For Hitters
· Composite batting average (BA)
· Total Home Runs (HR)
· Total Runs Batted In (RBI)
· Total Stolen Bases (SB)
· Total Runs Scored (R)
For Pitchers
· Composite Earned Run Average (ERA)
· Composite ratio: (Walks + Hits) / Innings Pitched (WHIP)
· Total Wins (W)
· Total Saves (SV)
· Strikeouts (K)
Teams are ranked from first to last in each of the ten categories. The first place team in a category receives points equal to number of teams in the league, the second place team gets one less and so on down to one point for the last place team. The standings are tabulated weekly and determined by summing all the category points for each team and then ranking them as is done with individual categories. The team in first place after the NL regular season – even if it is shortened by a strike or lockout or other UC - wins the pennant.
In case of a tie in an individual category, the tied teams are assigned points by totaling the points for the ranking at issue and dividing by the number of teams tied; all the tied teams then receive the same number of points.
Example #1 = 12 team league, 2 teams tied for 3rd in Ks:
Total points = 10 + 9 = 19; 2 teams tied; each team gets 19 / 2 = 9.5 points
Example #2 = 12 team league, 3 teams tied for 3rd in Ks:
Total points = 10 + 9 + 8 = 27; 3 teams tied; each team gets 27 / 3 = 9 points
If teams tie in total points, standings are determined by comparing the ten individual categories. A point is given to each team for bettering the other(s). If one team totals more points then that team is ranked higher.
Example #1 = 2 teams tied with 80 points:
Team A beats Team B in 5 of the 10 categories and one category is a tie, so Team A is the higher ranked team in the standings
Example #2 = 3 teams tied with 80 points:
Team A is best in all the hitting categories and last in all the pitching categories among the 3 teams; Team B is last in all the hitting categories and best in 3 of the pitching categories, while Team C is the best in the other 2. A = (5 * 2 + 5 * 0 = 10), B = (5 * 0 + 3 * 2 + 2 * 1 = 8), C = (5 * 1 + 3 * 1 + 2 * 2 = 12), so Team C ranks highest, then Team A, then Team B
Should the points total still be equal, the tie is broken by adding each team’s total at bats plus triple the number of innings pitched (AB + 3 * IP). The team that scores a higher total by this method ranks higher.
In the final standings a team that fails to reach the innings minimum (IPMIN) will have its WHIP and ERA category points reduced to 0 in those categories. No other team’s points are affected.
The IPMIN will be the number of required pitchers on the Active Roster times 100 times the minimum number of games played by any team in the NL divided by 162, after rounding to the nearest whole inning. So for a season where each team is required to have 9 pitchers and the entire season of 162 games is played, the IPMIN = 900. If a pitcher is added and the season is only 120 games the IPMIN = (10 * 100 * 120 / 162) = 741.
Transactions must be posted on the Main Board of the stat service, or private messaged or emailed or phoned in to the Secretary (i.e. a timestamp applies).
The Deadline for reporting transactions is Tuesday at the start time of the first scheduled NL game, except that during the week of the All Star Game the transaction Deadline is moved from Tuesday to the start time of the first game involving an NL team following the All Star Game (ALL STAR DEADLINE).
Any transactions recorded on Auction Day following the Auction, including the Replacement Draft, trades and call-ups, are effective at the next Deadline per the above description.
Transactions include the following different types: Keeps, long-term contracts, purchases, replacements, pickups, activations, trades, waivers, claims, FABs, minor league promotions and roster expansion. Each type of transaction is described below in terms of effect on the size and positionality of a team’s roster and its timing.
No DSL regular season transactions can occur after the NL regular season ends. The NL regular season includes any play-in or tie-breaker games, but does not extend to the end of the next DSL stat period, just through the last play of the last NL game.
Keeps and long-term contracts take place only on Freeze Day. Players - either Active or Farm - who are not kept, and option year players who are not given an LTC, are dropped. A maximum number of 15 players - but no minimum - may be kept at the start of the Auction.
A player on an AL major or minor league roster may not be kept or given an LTC (note: Brett Lawrie is grandfathered in as an exception).
At the start of the Auction a kept Farm player who is active in the NL may only be promoted to the Active Roster or dropped, and a kept Active Roster player whose NL team sends him down to the minors or releases him may be kept or dropped. An Active Roster player whose NL team puts him on the IL may NOT drop him.
The sum of the salaries of all kept and LTC players on the Active Roster of a team at the start of the Auction, subtracted from $26 - barring UC - is its Salary Budget. No team may have a Salary Budget less than $0.10 times the number of players needed to fill out its Active Roster, but may choose not to use all of its Salary Budget at the Auction.
Purchases take place only during the Auction and increase the size of a team’s Active Roster by one each time and reduce its Salary Budget by the salary of the purchased player (see Article V). Roster positionality must be maintained throughout the Auction.
In determining a player’s contract year, a “season” is a full season or any fraction thereof. If a player is activated by his DSL team in September, that constitutes a “season”.
A player may be signed to only one LTC, at the end of which he becomes a free agent.
LTCs are entirely transferable, both in rights and obligations; the trade of a player in the DSL in no way affects his LTC. If, during the course of an LTC, a player retires or is traded from the NL to the AL, his DSL team may opt to waive the player without further obligation when the player is replaced. However, players on an LTC who are waived and then subsequently claimed are still subject to the terms of the LTC; if they fall through waivers into the free-agent pool then the LTC is voided.
In all other cases - specifically including a sudden loss of effectiveness - a team may not waive a player on an LTC until Freeze Day.
Any transaction which creates the possibility of a conflict between multiple LTCs and positional requirements is prohibited. This rule is specifically intended to prevent a situation where a team would not be able to activate one LTC player without removing another LTC player from the roster.
From the completion of the Auction until the end of the NL regular season, a team may replace players when they are traded to the AL, sent to the minor leagues, put on the IL, released, designated for assignment, or suspended for 7 or more days (OPENING). They may not replace players who are on the paternity list, bereavement list, or suspended for fewer than 7 days. The player being replaced may be put on the Reserve Roster or, if not on an LTC, waived. There is no limit on the number of players a team may have on its Reserve Roster.
Simultaneous with the replacement, another player must be added to the Active Roster via one of the following methods: activation from the Reserve Roster, pickup from the free agent pool, promotion from the Farm, or claim off waivers. Positionality must be maintained at the completion of the transaction. Stats will begin to accrue for the replacement player (and stop for the replaced player) at the next Deadline.
The free agent pool consists of all players on an NL active roster and not on a DSL roster. Players in the free agent pool who have passed through the FAB process may be picked up as replacements on a first-come/first-served basis; however a pickup into an existing opening has priority over a conditional pickup.
When an unowned player is suddenly added to the pool (i.e., passes through waivers or FAB or returns to NL) then he will be awarded via waiver order (but not as a waiver claim), one such player per team in a round-robin fashion until all pickup requests have been satisfied.
When a player on the Reserve Roster is activated by his NL team he must be reinstated to the active roster of his DSL team within one week from the next Deadline unless he is once again reservable. A player activated by his MLB team on the Deadline day will not have his one week clock start until the following Deadline day. Failure to notify the Secretary of activation by the end of the one week period will result in the waiver of the reserved player, unless that that player is on an LTC, in which case the LTC player will be activated and replace the lowest salaried player at any position that allows the activation. If multiple players qualify under those conditions, the first tiebreaker will be most recent contract year, then youngest in age. The replaced player will be waived, even if he is eligible to be reserved.
A player may not be activated or waived by his DSL team until he has been activated by his NL team.
At all times, any trade made must be “of the entirety”, that is, involves no future considerations, cash or players to be named later, just the players and picks enumerated in the trade. Stats begin to accrue for the new team at the next Deadline.
During the offseason, a team is free to trade with any other team without regard to anti-dumping, positionality or position in the standings.
From the end of the Auction until the All Star Deadline, a team is free to make trades with any other team without regard to position in the standings. During this time anti-dumping and positionality must be preserved in any trades.
From the start of the All Star Deadline until September 1st (i.e. midnight of August 30th), teams may only trade with other teams that are in the same half of the league (top half/bottom half) based on the standings at the most recent Deadline. Standings do not change on the Deadline day until the Deadline itself, so a team is only in one half of the league for an entire transaction period. If there are an odd number of teams then the middle team is part of the top half. During this time anti-dumping and positionality must be preserved in any trades.
During Auction Week and from September 1st until the end of the regular season, no trades of any kind are allowed.
Trades do not affect the salaries or contract year of players.
Trades may include reserved players and minor leaguers and minor league picks. Minor league pick trades are restricted to the current season and the immediately following one.
Players in the last year of an LTC or playing out their option year, and players with a salary of $2.50 or more – but not acquired that season through FAB - are considered “ASTERISK” (*) players. Such players may only be traded under the following anti-dumping conditions:
· A team may trade any number of asterisk players to another team provided that for each asterisk player traded, one is received in the same deal.
· A team may trade one asterisk player to another team without receiving an asterisk player in return or vice-versa, but may make only one such trade in the course of a season.
In addition to reserving or trading a player, there is another way to remove a player from a DSL team’s Active Roster – waive him.
When a player is waived while not on the Active Roster of an NL team (see list of cases below) he is not a free agent immediately. If that player returns to the Active Roster of an NL team he is considered on waivers for the remainder of the week he returns and then falls into the free agent pool if not claimed.
A) Placed on the Injured List
B) Designated for assignment
C) Unconditionally released
D) Sent to the minors
E) Placed on the Disqualified List
F) Traded to the AL, including an AL team’s minor leagues
When a player on a DSL team’s Reserve Roster is activated by his MLB team, he must be activated into an opening or a player must be removed (either the reserved player or another eligible active player) within one week from the next Deadline.
When a player on a DSL team’s Minor League Roster is promoted by his MLB team, he must be activated into an opening or a player must be removed (either the Farm player or another eligible active player) within one week from the next Deadline.
When a team wins a claim for a player on waivers, that player replaces the one noted in the claim (either an opening or another eligible active player).
A player is eligible for removal if positionality is maintained and he is not on an LTC. However, a player on an LTC may be waived during the season if he retires or is traded to the AL when that player is replaced.
Players who are waived are sent to the waiver wire for a one week period that begins at the Deadline. During that period any team may claim him and at the end of the week he becomes the property of the lowest ranked team to have claimed him on the day the claim is awarded (i.e. the standings in effect on the Tuesday morning after the Monday midnight deadline).
A legal waiver claim includes the name of the player on waivers and the player who will be replaced – either an opening or another eligible active player.
The Deadline for waiver claims is Monday night at midnight.
The team that waived the player has the lowest claim on him regardless of rank in standings.
A team may claim many players but can acquire no more than one player per week on waivers.
A player who clears waivers immediately returns to the free agent pool.
All players who appear in the NL for the first time after Auction Day MUST pass through the Free-agent Acquisition Budget (FAB) System. There are two requirements for a player to be eligible for FAB.
First, the player must be posted by an owner on the Main Board by noon of the day immediately before the FAB bidding for that week. Objections may be raised by any team but must be issued before bidding closes or else the posting is considered valid. A vote of the COW will decide eligibility. Players who are not posted in time will be eligible for posting the following week.
Second, the player must have accrued stats OR have been activated per the MLB transactions prior to NOON on Deadline Day in the week prior to posting.
Players who were not purchased at the Auction because they were missed in the Official Auction Player Pool or were part of that pool but suspended or on the IL at the time will be FAB eligible when active in the NL and properly posted.
Each team shall have a FAB of $26 for the purpose of acquiring such players during the season. This money may only be used for bidding on FAB players and may not be traded or loaned or donated to another team.
A valid bid will consist of the name of the player being bid on and the amount of the bid. Only one bid may be submitted per team on a given player, although the bid amount may change up until the bidding closes.
FAB bids must be submitted via the TEAM ADMIN/FREE AGENT CLAIMS option on the Main Board prior to NOON on the Friday following the Deadline where the player first appears (FAB Day).
The minimum bid shall be $0.50; the maximum bid shall be the amount remaining in a team’s FAB. The sum of all bids by a team in a week cannot exceed the balance in its FAB. If the sum of all bids by a team in a week exceeds the balance in its FAB, then ALL of its bids for that week are invalid. DSL teams should use caution early in the season to ensure that they have adequate funds remaining in their FAB for the September call-ups.
The bids will be available on the FREE AGENT CLAIMS webpage after NOON on FAB Day. The Secretary will process the bids and add the newly-acquired players to the appropriate team.
All bids will be examined for validity and any invalid bids rejected. The player is awarded to the team making the highest bid. If more than one team bids the same amount, the player is awarded to the team lowest in the current standings as of the previous Deadline.
The player will be added to the Reserve Roster of the team that won the bidding as of that Friday at noon. Said player will be subject to all other rules of player movement, with one exception: he must spend one week on the acquiring team’s roster, either Active or Reserve. The salary of a player acquired in this manner is his bid price and the player’s contract status is that of a first year player, except as noted above in the case of September FABs.
If no bid is made for a new player, he goes into the free agent pool and can be acquired in the normal manner (see waiver fall-through above). FAB requests must be separated from the regular pick-ups.
Farm players activated by their MLB team at any time during the season after Auction Day and before midnight on the day before the All-Star Break are subject to the one-week activation rule.
After that point, activation is optional. There is no deadline on post-All Star Break activation, but they must be active in MLB to be activated in the DSL.
A farm player who is on the active roster of his MLB team on Auction Day must be added to his DSL team's keeper list or be released to the free agent pool prior to the Auction.
In 2020 MLB created a separate class of players, called “Two-Way Players”. These players must have pitched at least 20 innings AND played 20 games where they got at least three plate appearances, in the current or previous season. They are listed as a distinct category on the official roster webpage of their MLB team.
The DSL will treat this type of player as two separate entities. Each player will require a separate roster spot. One team may own both the hitter and the pitcher, but that is not required.
The DSL owners will establish at the start of the Auction any Two-Way Players to be so designated.
The status (active, suspended, injured list, etc.) of the Two-Way real-world person (TWR) will determine the status of both the Two-Way Hitter (TWH) and the Two-Way Pitcher (TWP) at all times.
A TWH must be in a Utility spot or a Hitter spot that he qualifies at based on our eligibility rules for position players, and a TWP must be in a Utility spot or a Pitcher spot.
A Two-Way Player may suddenly appear during the season, perhaps by a trade from the AL, or when he reaches one of the criteria, or otherwise. The “new” player(s) will be subject to FAB. (“New” in this context means the TWH/TWP who was NOT eligible at the position prior to reaching the criteria or arriving in the NL.) So a TWR traded from the AL to the NL would be subject to FAB for both TWH and TWP.
When a Two-Way Player in a DSL Farm System is called up, each of the TWH and TWP will be considered as called up, and either or both – in separate roster spots – may be activated by his owner. The salary of each such player will be the usual salary of a Farm System call-up. If the owner decides not to activate either or both, then the unactivated player(s) will be subject to FAB.
A team may expand its Active Roster by adding one additional player after 0000 September 1st (i.e. midnight on August 31st) from the free agent pool, its own reserve list, its own eligible minor leaguers, off waivers, or from the FAB. The stats for an expansion player start to accrue at the next Deadline.
The order of precedence and other restrictions for September Roster Expansion are the same as any other transaction, both at the start of September and throughout the remainder of the regular season.
A team may reserve and replace a player who has not appeared for seven consecutive days (not games) in September. The reserved player may NOT be re-activated during the remainder of the regular season.
The COW governs the DSL. The COW may from time to time designate as many League officials as it deems appropriate, although only two - the Secretary and the Treasurer - ever do any work. The COW also designates annually an Executive Committee composed of three owners in good standing. The Executive Committee has the authority to interpret playing rules and to handle all routine League business. All decisions, rulings, and interpretations by the Executive Committee are subject to overruling by the COW. Rule changes, pronouncements, and acts of whimsy are determined by majority vote of the COW. The DSL has three official meetings each year: Auction Day, the All-Star Gathering, and the World Series Gala Postseason Banquet and Awards Ceremony. The All-Star Gathering will generally be held on the night of the All-Star Game and the World Series Gala will be held on the first Tuesday or Wednesday of the World Series, as agreed upon by the COW.
There is no “Grandfathering” of rules. New rule changes or amendments only affect the future and cannot be made retroactive.
“Tough Luck Rule”:
Individual teams are responsible for verifying their own stats and player movements. The Secretary is NOT responsible for making sure all stats and transactions are correct. Errors will be corrected if promptly brought to the attention of the Secretary. The Secretary will occasionally post a notice listing players about to be waived but it is up to the team owner to monitor his own players – otherwise, Tough Luck!
The league rules will be maintained by and made available to the COW.
The COW has right of approval over all new league owners.
A three-fourths vote of the COW will be necessary to expel an owner.
From the end of the Auction until the end of the regular season, a team which loses its owner will be frozen, to minimize the impact on the league for the remainder of the season. No player moves of any kind will be made, except those players on an LTC who must be activated from reserve per Article XI.
Any money won by such a team will be distributed equally among all the remaining owners.
From the end of the season until the beginning of the Auction, a team which loses its owner will be disbanded, its major and minor league players returned to the free agent pool, and the rights to any picks forfeited. A new owner will be awarded the franchise and will receive the fabled “$26 and a handshake”, plus two additional minor league picks sandwiched between rounds 1 and 2 of the minor league draft. The new team may make no transactions of any kind prior to the Auction. If two or more teams are added they will employ a snake-style ordering of the sandwich round picks based on the alphabetically last team name ordering in Article V.
An owner may designate a substitute to act on his behalf during the Auction. Should an owner notify the league that he will be unable to attend the Auction due to unavoidable circumstances (e.g. car accident, childbirth) and no substitute be available, the Auction and subsequent activities will proceed without change in rosters or budgets. The delayed owner will be given until midnight of the day following the Auction to fill out his roster from the remaining players in the free agent pool. He may spend no more than the amount in his Salary Budget, but may buy players at any price at or above $0.10, including asterisk players for $2.50 or more. Only players eligible for purchase at the Auction will be eligible for purchase by the delayed owner. Should two or more owners be so delayed, their order of selection will be determined by the alphabetically last team name method in Article V and they will purchase players snake-style until their rosters are complete.
Should an owner fail to show up at the Auction within a reasonable time period (one hour), the best available candidate will be selected by the COW to perform the Auction functions for that team. The team ownership will revert to the league and a new owner will be found to take over that team. If no suitable candidate is available the team will be disbanded (see Article III).
To consecrate the bond of friendship that unites all DSL owners in pursuit of the pennant, to symbolize the eternal verities and values of the Greatest Game for Baseball Fans since Baseball, and to soak the head of the DSL champion with a sticky brown substance before colleagues and friends duly assembled, the Yoo-Hoo Ceremony is hereby ordained as the culminating event of the baseball season. Each year, at the World Series Gala Banquet and Awards Ceremony, the owner of the championship team shall have a large, ice-cold container of Yoo-Hoo poured over his head by the preceding year’s pennant winner. The Yoo-Hoo ceremony shall be performed with the dignity and solemnity appropriate to the occasion. Should the preceding year’s champion be unavailable, the prior year’s (and so on) champion will do the honors.
Over the course of the DSL’s existence several precedents have been set and certain practices have become established as the norm. These are listed below for reference.
1) The one week activation clock does not start until the following Deadline day for players who are activated on a Deadline day, regardless of the time of activation that day. A team may still activate that player on that day if desired, but the clock starts on the following Deadline day.
2) Conditional activations are subject to the same Deadline as all others, i.e. prior to the first NL game on that day. The transaction itself does not have to appear prior to the Deadline, but it must be in the following day’s list for the Deadline day or the player must appear in the Deadline day’s boxscore.
2017-02-18 – Rules rewrite approved (9-0-0).
2017-04-17 – Rules change: Adjust activation period from two weeks to one week. (8-4-0).
2017-04-17 – Rules change: Make September Roster Expansion the same priority as all other replacements. (12-0-0).
2017-04-17 – Rules change: Allow reserve and replace for any player who does not appear for 7 consecutive days in September; that player cannot be activated again that season. (9-3-0).
2017-06-20 – Rules clarification: Use the standings on the Tuesday after the Monday midnight deadline to rank teams for waiver claims. (11-0-1).
2018-04-07 – Rules change: A player who returns to the Free Agent pool (i.e. is not FAB-eligible) will be awarded to the lowest ranked team in the most recent standings among the teams making a pickup request for that player on the day the player is activated.(11-1-0).
2018-04-07 – Rules clarification: An NL player who signs late or is rehabbing in the minors (but not on the NL IL) is not eligible for the Auction Pool. (8-4-0).
2019-03-10 – Rules clarification: No DSL regular season transactions can occur after the NL regular season ends ... (Article IX); The player will be added to the Reserve Roster of the team that won the bidding ... (Article XIV). (9-0-1).
2022-04-13 – Rules change: All players acquired via FAB in September must be thrown back into the Pool and the minimum FAB bid in September is $0.10. (Articles IV and XIV). (11-0-1).
2023-04-08 – Rules change: Activation of Minor Leaguers brought up after the All-Star Break is optional. (Article XV). (9-3-0).
2024-04-06 – Rules clarification: All references to Disabled List/DL will be changed to Injured List/IL (11-0-1); addition to RULE V to make it clear that a player cannot be eligible for both the Auction and the Draft (10-1-1); addition to RULE XIV to state that all of a team’s bids are invalid if their sum exceeds the balance remaining in the team’s budget (11-0-1).
2024-04-06 – Rules changes: Adjust RULE XIV so that the minimum bid is $0.50 and the initial budget is $26.00 (8-3-1); add new RULE XVI for Two-Way Players (9-2-1).
2025-03-18 – Rules change: Adjust RULE V to reflect the Freeze Day (Opening Day) and Auction Day (second Saturday) changes that were approved in 2018 but never added to the Constitution (7-0-0).