The Draft

Overview

Teams are assembled through player drafts held on the last Sunday before the official Major League Baseball Opening Day. If that last Sunday falls on Easter, then the draft will be moved to a day agreed upon by the owners. The Draft Day can also be moved by consensus of the owners to accomodate schedules. The National League draft will begin immediately after the American League draft. At least one person representing each franchise must be physically present at the draft. The draft order for the American League is determined by lot, while the National League order is the inverse of the American.

Rounds

A "round" consists of each franchise having one turn to choose players. In every other round the draft order is reversed. The first two rounds consist of picks by the first through the last team, and then the last through the first. The number of players chosen by each team increases as the draft proceeds.

Round Specifics

Rounds 1-6One player chosen per Franchise
Rounds 7-14Two players chosen per Franchise
Rounds 15-19Three players chose per Franchise
Note that only 37 players are actually selected in the draft. The other spots are left open for future free agent drafts.

Eligibility

Any player is eligible to be drafted. Position eligibility depends on whether or not the player is a rookie. For the purposes of this league, a rookie is any player who has not played more than 10 games at any single position. If a player plays 8 games at one position and 8 at another, then he still is considered a rookie.

Hitters

A player is eligible for a given position if he played 10 games at that position in this season or the previous season. Rookies may be listed at a position for the first two scoring periods if he played one game at that position prior to the draft. After the two periods, he must follow the "10 game" rules followed by veteran players.

Pitchers

Any pitcher who starts 50% or more of the games in the previous season will be considered a starter for the draft. Their position each week may vary based on whether or not they start games.

Changes

A hitter may become eligible to play a new position at any time during the season. If a hitter listed at one position plays 10 games at another, the franchise can declare him eligible to play both, if 10 box scores proving the case are presented.

Time Limits

Each team will have two minutes each round to make selections. A warning will be issued when 20 seconds remain in the time. A team failing to make a pick within the given time may use the pick between picks by other teams.

Player Draft Limits

No more than 7 starting pitchers, 5 relief pitchers, 2 from any other position may be drafted in the first 14 rounds.

Protection

One player per team (one AL and one NL) may be "protected" from being drafted by other owners on the following year's Draft Day, with the following restrictions:

Ownership Changes

If the ownership of any franchise changes during the off-season, then the new owner has the right to peruse the previous owners' roster for eligible players. If more than one franchise changes during the off-season, then the Protection rule will be suspended for that year.

MLB Player Trades

If a franchise elects to protect a player, then that franchise must forfeit their seventh pick in the league the player was in at the end of the first season, regardless of which league the player is in at the beginning of the second draft.

Example: At the end of the 2001 season, a franchise chooses to protect John Smith, currently with the Twins. Smith is traded in the off-season to the Dodgers. The protecting franchise would still forfeit their seventh AL pick because Smith was protected as an American Leaguer. As a result, the franchise's AL roster would be one player short and the NL roster would be one player over. This discrepancy will be corrected at the end of each draft, either by having one extra round or one fewer selection in the last round.

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