SJL Constitution

VII. Scoresheet Format. The following is an overview of the new rules and regulations governing Scoresheet.

A)Weekly Matchups and Format. Each at-bat, the Scoresheet simulation establishes a probability of what the batter is going to do, based on how well he hit in the majors that week, how the pitcher he is facing did, and the quality of the fielders. Then the computer 'rolls dice' to see what happens. There is some chance (luck) involved in this 'dice roll', just as there is in any game based on probabilities. If because of luck your player is performing differently in Scoresheet than he should be, the computer will adjust for that difference in future at-bats or appearances. So, if you had a player hit 3 home runs for his major league team, and even though he faced 'average' pitchers in Scoresheet he hit only 1 or 2 HRs for you that week (in the same number of at-bats), he will make up for the lost HR's in future weeks. This also works the other way. If because of the computer 'dice roll' a player does better for you than he should have he will make up for that in a later week also.

However, if a pitcher doesn't get his shutout because you had him buried in the bullpen, or if your hitter did not get all the hits for you that he did in the majors because you had him on the bench, then those stats are lost to you. Scoresheet is a game where you must predict how your players are going to do. If you choose not to play a guy, then his stats that week are lost to you.

B)Scoresheet Pitching. The way pitching rotations work in Scoresheet is that each week the computer figures out which of your pitchers will start that week's games, and then the actual rotation is drawn randomly so that your #1 pitcher is not always facing your opponents #1 pitcher, #2 vs. #2, etc. By listing teams a pitcher prefers to face that random drawing becomes heavily weighted towards that pitcher facing that particular team(s). You might use that column to have your top pitcher or two go against the team at the top of your division, or to have your lefty or righty pitchers face teams that are weaker against that type of pitcher. Also, if more than one of your starting pitchers has 2 starts available that week, then the computer will give the second start in Scoresheet to the pitcher who is listed higher in the rotation, unless a pitcher listed lower down in the rotation has a "prefer to face" against one of the teams you are playing that week. So, that teams "prefer to face" column will also influence how many starts a pitcher might get in a certain week.

Carry-over pitcher starts: There is a star (*) printed next to your starting pitcher if that start is being carried over from a previous week. This 'carry over of unused starts' happens only if one of your starting pitchers started twice some week in the majors, but was only needed to start once for you. That unused start (and stats) are carried over to a later week for use when you are short a start. (Actually, since those unused stats are added into the later week's stats, the star appears next to both his starts in the later week.) For instance, if you have Tim Belcher, who started twice the first week in the majors, but he started only once for you, then in a future week when Belcher only starts once in the majors, but you need him to start twice, he will use that unused start (and those unused stats) for your Scoresheet team. (This will also be explained in greater detail in a future newsletter.) However, in general, unused player stats are NOT carried over to future weeks. If you have a guy whose major league at bats or innings pitched are not used because you had him on the bench or in the pen then those stats are lost forever. The only unused stats we carry over are unused pitcher starts when you did have that guy in your rotation.

Each starting pitcher is removed from a game if he has reached the hook number designated by his GM or if he has exceeded his actual innings during a given week. If a starting pitcher reaches his maximum number of innings, he comes out or stays in depending on the type of batter he is facing. For instance, if a pitcher is a righthander and is facing either a RHB or a switch-hitter, he will stay in to face one more batter; if a lefty is coming up the RHP will come out.

C)Managerial Strategies and Trades. Your managerial strategies can affect your won-loss record in Scoresheet. If you are leaving a lot of guys on base maybe you need to juggle your lineup - moving speedier guys in front of your big hitters, or getting some RBI guys hitting directly behind your best on-base percentage players. Having a strong, reliable closer can also greatly improve your record in close games; and having a top set-up man has also seemed to work really well in the majors the last dozen years. If you have a great set-up guy and a reliable closer than you can have almost a perfect record when leading after 6 or 7 innings, which translates into a pennant contending team!

To report a trade in Scoresheet, all you have to do is have both owners turn in a trade note with their new lineups (with the players you have traded away off of your lineup, and with any newly acquired players that you want to use listed on your new lineup card.) We must receive a note confirming the trade from BOTH owners involved in the trade before implementing the trade; after all, we can't have the same player on two different teams the same week. There is no extra fee for trades, just the normal $5 charge for turning in a new lineup card is needed ($3 if you only change one side of the card.) And please, mail in your trade note by the very first Monday after you make the trade!

If the trade is so minor that you do not even want to change your lineup card then you can just turn in the trade note without a new lineup, in which case you do not have to include any money! (We'll just take the guys you traded away off of your team, and put your new players on your taxi squad.) But please, even if you are not changing your lineup, do write or call in your trade confirmation!

D) Scoresheet Substitutions. We always get some questions about how we juggle your batting order when bench players have to start. (We don't just put the sub in the same spot as the starter because too often the sub is a far weaker hitter than your starter. For instance, you may have Barry Larkin batting third, but if Rafael Belliard is your backup SS you certainly don't want him hitting third if he starts a game!)

Before we do any lineup juggling we figure out who your starters are; the juggling procedures occur after your starters are determined. Here are the rules we follow when juggling lineups.

1) A starter never moves down in the order.

2) A starter batting leadoff, 2nd, or 3rd never moves at all.

3) A starter who is in your 3, 4, 5 or 6 slot never moves higher than the third slot.

4) Since we never move a 3 thru 6 hitter above the 3rd slot, your new leadoff and 2nd batter (if either is subbed for) comes from either a sub or your 7th or 8th hitter (and/or 9th hitter in the AL.) If your leadoff or second batter is out we first look for a batter who has a Y in his steal column to fill that spot. If more than one batter has a Y we put the batters with the better PH rank (the lower the number the better - #1 is best) at the top of the order.

5) In the 3 thru 8 (or 9) spots, we put the guy with the best pinch hit number highest in the batting order. (We never move a starter down in the order. But when a sub comes in the decision of whether to move other guys up, or to bat the sub higher than a starter, is based on PH rank.) Lineup juggling is another reason that ranking your hitters in the PH column is important, as we do put the hitters with the better rank higher up in the order.

6) And finally, some more random notes:

a) If a reliever has an earliest inning of 6 or more he is designated as a set-up man. These are generally a team's better relievers, and so owners do not want them wasted; a set-up man will NOT come in a game that you are trailing by more than 3 runs. Also, for all relievers, they never come in as a reliever before the earliest inning used you put for them.

b) The numbers you list for your relievers only apply when they are used as relievers. The earliest inning and rank do NOT apply when looking for starters from the pen. To find an emergency starter we just go down your pen looking for the first guy listed who started a game that week in the majors. If no one in the pen has a start available we go down the list looking for the top guy listed who pitched at least 3 innings that week in the majors. Bullpen pitchers moved into the rotation take on the hook numbers listed for your 5th starter (but not the prefer to face numbers).

c) We will automatically pinch hit for a pitcher when he is going to come out of the game next inning because he is out of major league innings pitched (we do this even if you are ahead.)

d) If a pitcher's hook number is tied then he will come out if he's facing a batter with the platoon advantage, but he'll stay in if he has the advantage (throws from the same side as the batter hits from.) Also, you can only use 8 pitchers, and up to 16 hitters, in a single game. So, if you are using your 8th pitcher he will not be hooked when he reaches his hook number. If he does run out of innings we will bring in a AAA pitcher, and then he will pitch till the game is over.

e) Fast players (guys with a lot of major league steals, triples, and runs scored) do score in Scoresheet more often from second on a single, or from first on a double. (Major league runs scored are used in our game to determine how far a guy advances on a base hit, and if the batter has a lot of RBIs in the majors then your runner also will have a better chance of scoring.) However, in both Scoresheet and the majors, even the fastest guys do NOT always score from second on a single. There are infield singles, and sometimes the ball is just hit too hard for even a Kenny Lofton to score. And scoring from first on a double is definitely not a sure thing, though it does happen more often in Scoresheet when there are 2 outs.

Over the course of a season your 'faster' players will take more extra bases - and overall we have players go from second to home and first to home at the same rate as in the majors.

E)Taxi Squad and Defensive Usage. Players on your roster who are not listed on your 30 man lineup card are considered your taxi squad. These taxi squad players will come in to play for you if needed, before we shuffle other players out of position, and before we go to AAA players. For example, if you only have 2 shortstops listed on your active lineup card, and they do not have enough major league playing time to start all your games some week, then if you have a SS on your taxi squad he will start a game before we move a 2B or 3B out of position to start at SS. Also, before using a taxi squad player the computer does check to see if any of your 30 players on the lineup card qualify at the position needed - if they qualify there they will be used before the taxi squad player, even if you do not list that position for them on the card. But, taxi squad players will be used before we move guys 'out of position'. Of course, just like any player, a guy on your taxi squad can only appear in a Scoresheet game if he has major league playing time that week. When you have a player automatically brought up from the taxi squad they are called up in order of 1998 season to date playing time.

If you list more than one position for a player on the lineup card the order you list the positions in does NOT matter; listing 2B-3B is the same as 3B-2B. And since the computer will automatically move players to similar positions you should only list players at positions they do qualify at. If you list a position for a player the computer assumes you really want him to play there!

Scoresheet includes a fielding aid feature with a lineup print-out. When you list a player at a position he is not qualified for Scoresheet lets you know by putting an x (or X) next to that position. A small x means that the player is not qualified at that position - but that the fielding penalty may be somewhat small. A capital X means that that player is not only out of position, but that the fielding penalty for him there is so large you almost certainly do NOT want to list him at that position in future lineups!

Any player listed at a position in our player packet qualifies at that position. If a player qualifies at an additional position because he played there in past years then he has that position listed next to his name in the drafting packet. Otherwise he does NOT qualify there! Even if a player used to play at a position, if he is not listed as qualifying at that position in the draft packet, then he will hurt you a lot if you play him there! (When we say qualify we mean that they can play this position without penalty once the season starts, with the range shown for them at that position). If you drafted a player who was not on your draft packet's player list then the positions he qualifies at, and range, were listed with your draft results.

Players can also qualify at new positions during each new season. Each week we will print the names, positions, and ranges for any players who have qualified at a new position that week. To qualify at a new position a player must first appear in about 10 games there during the course of the season. We also occasionally qualify a player at a new position before he has played 10 games there if that player has switched positions during the off-season, and that is clearly going to be his new main (regular) position during the current season. For example, Konerko now qualifies at 1B, since he started most of the Dodgers games the first week at 1B. Any players we've listed as qualifying at new positions the first week, were qualified at their new positions before we played the first week's Scoresheet games on the computer. We do recommend you only list players at positions they really qualify at (except that you can play guys at 1B with a very small penalty.)

F)Playoff System. In all playoff series, playing time limits will be based on player's major league playing time for games from August 31st through September 27th (the final 4 weeks of the regular season). Pitchers in the Scoresheet playoffs will be allowed to pitch up to half as much as they did during those final 4 weeks of the major league season; and hitters have up to 40% of their total major league at-bats during those final 4 weeks available for Scoresheet playoff use. This means that even if your players do some sitting in the majors in September, they should still be able to play pretty close to full time for you in the playoffs. However, since playing time in the playoffs is just based on how much they play in September, a player who does not play at all in the majors in September will not play at all for you in the Scoresheet playoffs! (We base playing time on September so that a team can not trade for a hurt player who is not going to play again this year, such as Rondell White, and then use his early season stats for the playoffs. After all, a team which is not headed to the playoffs would have no use for Rondell, so would give him up for virtually nothing. We don't want some team getting unfairly strengthened for the playoffs by trading very little for such a player, and then getting to use him, so we made the September playing time limit to make such trades useless for the playoffs.)

How a player does will be based 40% on how he does in the majors the last 4 weeks of the season, the other 60% is based on how he did in the majors before August 31st, assuming he was a full-time player all year. The way we actually figure out what stats a player uses for the playoffs is: we multiply his major league stats in the last month of the season by 3.33, then add in his stats for the first 5 months. Thus if he played the same amount of time in the majors for the whole year, a player's major league stats after August 31st would count for 40%, and the ones before August 31st would count 60%. If a guy plays more per week in the majors in September than he did earlier in the year then his September stats would count for more than 40%; if he plays less in September than his September stats would count less than the normal 40%. And don't forget: playing time is just based on September - if a player gets hurt and does not play at all in the majors in September then he will not play at all for you in the playoffs! Finally, all stats are based on a players major league performance, NOT his Scoresheet numbers.

All playoff series will be 7 games. In each series a 4 man rotation will be used, in the order the pitchers are listed. For a pitcher to start for you in the playoffs he must start at least once in the majors the last 4 weeks of the season. (If one of your top 4 starters listed does not get a start during that time then for the playoffs we will drop him to the bullpen, with an earliest inning of 1, a hook of 3, and a rank as a reliever versus both left and right handed batters of 3. If your 5th starter is not needed to start then he goes to the pen with those same numbers.) For a pitcher to start twice for you in the playoffs he must have at least 3 major-league starts the final 4 weeks of the season (and a pitcher can start at most 2 playoff games for your team - you will always use at least 4 different starting pitchers in the playoffs).

Whatever lineup you have in effect for games played the week of August 31st thru September 6th is your playoff lineup also; or, you can choose to submit a 'playoff only' lineup. As the name implies, we will only use that lineup for (if you make) the playoffs. If you want to turn in a 'playoff only' lineup it still needs to be postmarked by (or anytime before) Monday, August 31st. We do this to prevent Scoresheet gms from basing their starting playoff lineups on September performance numbers. As noted, we now do use stats from earlier in the season in the playoffs because, after listening to owners comments in past seasons, it seems most of you feel the team that has been better all year long should have a better chance at winning the playoffs. However we do give more weight to September stats and we don't want gms to be able to base their playoff lineups on knowing how their players did in September. Thus playoff lineups must be received early.

VIII. Free Agency System.

A. Contracts

By November 30, all SJL GMs must submit to the league a list of 6-year plus major league players that the team elects to sign to 1-5 year contracts, indicating a commitment to pay the actual major league salaries of such players during the designated period. Once a player completes his first designated Shoeless Joe contract, then that player must be released to free agency. The number of years of major league service will be determined by the on-line baseball encyclopedia (www.baseball-reference.com) or the annual Major League Baseball Handbook (released in November) if for some reason the on-line encyclopedia is not available. Both of these sources count one year of service time for every year that a player had an AB or an IP. Any 6+ year player claimed off waivers or selected in the March draft is under a 'TBD' (To Be Determined) contract status until the ensuing post-season signing period, at which time the GM must either extend a 1 to 5 year contract to the claimed player or announce that the claimed player is entering the SJL free agent bidding pool. Such players' status should be noted on each GM's roster.

This contract commits GMs to pay the real-life salary to the designated player UNLESS

1) The player has been traded and/or claimed from waivers by another team willing to pick up the salary.

2) The player has retired or is playing in Japan or in another professional league, in which case the contract can be voided.

3) A seriously injued player can be DL'ed for the season, as long as the player has not played in any games for his SJL team, in order to avoid contract obligations for that year. Just as in real life, the insurance would pick up the contract. For GMs to take advantage of this provision, the player in question must be on an actual MLB 60-day DL. GMs may appeal to the commissioner's office to request year-long DL status for players not on the 60-day DL in MLB, if there is compelling evidence that the player is likely to miss more than half of the upcoming season.

B. Eligible Free Agents

1) By November 30, SJL teams must submit a list of players that will be released to free agency. These must include players whose first SJL contract has expired; there are no team options on these players.

Players who are declared free agents on Novemeber 30 cannot be traded by their former teams, but instead will be placed in a pool for competitive and open bidding beginning in early December and extending until the pool is exhausted in February.

2) The bidding process uses the chatzy chat room service to post a chat room for each player eligible for bidding. A select number of free agents will be eligible for bidding in a given timeframe, in order of productivity as measured by either VORP or RAR. GMs will receive an e-mail link that allows them to begin bidding on select players.

3) GMs are required to include a salary figure in their bids, rounded to the nearest tenth decimal point, along with years of contract, from 1 to 5, and the total value of the bid. The total value is calculated by multiplying the salary times the factor based on term as follows: 1 year=1; 2 years=1.5; 3 years=2; 4 years=2.5; and 5 years=3.

GMs will be excluded from the bidding once they have reached the league-wide salary cap for the upcoming year and/or if they have exhausted their ability to provide adequate compensation to the team losing the free agent (more on this below). In these circumstances, GMs lose the right to acquire a player, with the rights passing to the GM that has offered the next highest bid.

GMs must also have ADEQUATE ROSTER SPACE to be able to successfully bid on a free agent, so that no SJL roster may exceed 60 during the bidding process.

4) A tie bid goes to the team with the lower winning percentage from the previous season. If the teams in competition had identical winning percentages, then the tiebreaker will be (in the following order): head-to-head competition, record within division, and, finally: run differential, with the team faring the worst in these categories winning the bid.

5) All players in the free agent pool that are not taken during the bidding process will be placed in the March supplemental draft as free veteran players. GMs claiming them during that draft will not have to surrender a draft pick to the former team, but they will have to pay the player their actual major league salary for the coming season, after which time the player can be released to free agency again if the team does not wish to sign them to a long-term contract. Players not selected in the supplemental draft go to the SJL waiver wire, where their selection is governed by the same rules as other waiver players.

C. Compensation

1) Teams winning the bidding rights to SJL free agents in January will have to pay compensation for those free agents who have a PROJECTED runs above replacement ranking of 30 or higher. There will be no compensation offered for free agents that project below 30 runs above replacement (source used for this will be Ron Shandler's annual Baseball Forecaster). The following compensation scale will be used:

PROJECTED RAR > 40.0 = First Round Pick or $25.

39.9 > PROJECTED RAR > 30.0 = Second Round Pick or $15.

Compensation will always involve a draft pick if available, but if the bidding team has no draft pick to give, then $ compensation, as specified above, will be mandated. The team must either have a draft pick or have the necessary cash on hand (ie available by the next supplemental draft) in order to win rights to the above players.

. IX. Waiver Wire. Each manager may pickup anyone off the waiver wire by contacting the commissioner before that player is claimed by anyone else. Managers must then make sure that their roster does not exceed 60 players upon the waiver acquisition. Necessary drops and additions must be presented to the Commissioner's office for official approval. Waiver pickups may occur at any time during the year (not limited to the season). Players waived by all Shoeless Joe organizations are available free of charge and on a first come, first served basis, unless two or more teams make the same claim for a player within the first 48 hours of the player's release Under this circumstance, the GM with the worse record the previous season would get rights to the player.

X. Expansion Rules and Format. Expansion teams may only be brought into the league with the approval of 2/3rds of Shoeless Joe general managers. All future expansion drafts will follow the major league pattern and involve each expansion team choosing among existing Shoeless Joe rosters to fill out their expansion club. All expansion drafts will take place in November, over one month after the Shoeless Joe season has been completed. This will involve the following terms:

A) Protected Rosters. One month (October) prior to first round of the expansion draft, each Shoeless Joe general manager must freeze his roster at 60 players in preparation for the expansion draft. Two weeks prior to the expansion draft, all SJL GMs must announce the 15 players that he wishes to protect in the first round. Also, a player who meets ALL of the following three conditions shall be automatically protected from the expansion draft:

• 1. Two years or less of professional league play. AND

• 2. Those two years are played under contract with an MLB organization (examples; play in the Japanese League does not count, but play in the Dominican Summer League does so long as the player is under contract with an MLB club). AND

• 3. The player has not yet lost MLB rookie status (i.e. pitched 50 innings or more, or had 150 ABs or more).

The Baseball America Super Register should be consulted if there is uncertainty regarding the possible 2 year exempt status of any player.

B) Draft Method. Expansion drafts will be involve the selection of one from each SJL team in each round. Once a player is selected from an SJL roster in a given round, that SJL team is exempt from having another player taken in that round. For a 2-team expansion, assuming a league size of 16 teams, each expansion club will be allowed to choose 8 players each round through 6 rounds, ending the draft with a roster of 48 players. For a 4-team expansion, assuming a league size of 16 teams, each expansion club will be allowed to choose 4 players each round through 12 rounds, ending the draft with a total of 48 players.

C) Supplemental Draft. Expansion teams will then be allowed to participate in the annual Shoeless Joe supplemental draft, but they will draft last in each round (if there is more than one expansion team, then the draft order of expansion teams will be determined by coin flip, with the expansion clubs rotating draft slots at the end of each round). In addition, each expansion team will have 60 dollars and will be able to draft until they fill out their roster to the 60 limit.

D) Freeze period. Prospective trades may be negotiated with the expansion teams prior to the expansion draft. But these trades may not be announced until after the completion of the expansion draft.

XI. Replacement of League GMs. The commissioner will have the authority, in the event of a GM resigning from the league, to select a suitable replacement.

XII. Playoffs and World Series. The first and second place teams in the Northern and Southern Divisions will face each other in the post-season in October. Of the playoff eligible teams, the first round will pit the division winner with the best overall record against the second place team with the worst overall record, and the other divisional winner against the second-place team with the best record in a best-of-seven series. The winners of the playoffs will face each other in the Shoeless Joe World Series, which will also be best of seven. Player eligibility for the post-season=all players on the 30 man roster on August 31. The team with the best record will play 4 home games, if necessary, meaning the first 2 and the last 2 games of the series.

XIII. Divisional Ties. All end-of season divisional ties for playoff spots between two or more teams will be settled via a best of seven series, with a round robin best of seven played in the event that more than two teams are tied for a playoff spot. Tiebreakers to determine seeds for playoff positions will be: 1) Record in head-to-head competition, and, if the teams split in head-to-head, 2) Run differential.

XIV. Shoeless Joe Awards. All Shoeless Joe World Series winners will get to keep (for the duration of their crown) the celebrated bronze Shoeless Joe shoe and trophy. The trophy consists of a shoe and a plaque that lists each World Series winner from each season of the league. In addition, starting in 1996, the World Series runnerup has received the Mr. Shoelaces trophy to commemorate the achievement.