CRL CONSTITUTION

The following is from "Rotisserie League Baseball – The Official Rulebook and Complete Guide to Player Values" pp 10-30, by Glen Waggoner and Robert Sklar, Bantam Books, New York, 1989.

OFFICIAL CONSTITUTION OF
ROTISSERIE LEAGUE BASEBALL

PREAMBLE

We, the People of the Rotisserie League, in order to spin a more perfect Game, drive Justice home, kiss domestic Tranquility good-bye, promote the general Welfare in Tidewater – where it’s been tearing us the International League – and secure the Blessings of Puberty to ourselves and those we’ve left on Base, do ordain and establish the Constitution for Rotisserie League Baseball, and also finish this run-on sentence.

I. OBJECT

To assemble a lineup of 23 National League or American League baseball players whose cumulative statistics during the regular season, compiled and measured by the methods described in these rules, exceed those of all other teams in the League.

II. TEAMS

There are ten teams in a duly constituted Rotisserie League composed of National League players, 12 if composed of American League players.

NOTE: It is possible to play with fewer teams. If you do, be sure to make necessary adjustments so that you acquire approximately 80% of all available players at your auction draft. You could have a six-team league using American League players, for example, and draft only from the AL-East or AL-West (or your seven favorite teams, whatever their division). Unless you reduce the available player pool proportionately to reflect a reduced number of teams, you’ll never learn to appreciate the value of Daves Bergman and Anderson, which is to say you’ll never grasp the importance of a good bench.

NOTE: Do not mix the two leagues. Bryant Gumbel does, and he’s got a job that requires him to get up at 4:30 in the morning, for Jane Pauley’s sake! It’s unrealistic and silly, it’s not the way the big leagues do it, it means you end up using only All-Stars and established regulars, and it’s fattening.

III. ROSTER

A team’s active roster consists of the following players:

1. NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYERS

Article V

2. AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYERS
The same, except that the utility player is replaced by a player who qualifies as a designated hitter. (See Article V for rules governing position eligibility.)

IV. AUCTION DRAFT DAY

A major league player draft in the form of an open auction is conducted on the first weekend after Opening Day of the baseball season. Each team must acquire 23 players at a total cost not to exceed $260. A team need not spend the maximum. The League by general agreement determines the order in which teams may nominate players for acquisition. The team bidding first opens with a minimum salary bid of $1 for any eligible players, and the bidding proceeds around the room at minimum increments of $1 until only one bidder is left. That team acquires the player for that amount and announces the roster position the player will fill. The process is repeated, with successive team owners introducing players to be bid on, until every team has a squad of 23 players, by requisite position.

NOTE: Don’t get hung up on the bidding order; it’s irrelevant. Do allow plenty of time; your first draft will take all day. If possible, recruit someone who is not an owner to conduct the auction for you. Keeping track of the players you want is tough enough; keeping track of who everyone else has, and how much everyone has spent, taxes the capacity even of our current Commissioner-for-Life, Cork Smith, who will not be available for your draft. Unlike the big league version, Rotisserie League Baseball can be played for very little money, or none at all. Our stakes require a $350-$450 investment per team, depending on the number of trades and call-ups over the course of the season, but you can play for pennies, Cracker Jacks, or nothing at all and still have fun. Or you can play for more and add new meaning to the word "anxiety."

Players eligible at more than one position may be shifted during the course of the draft.
No team may make a bid for a player it cannot afford. For example, a team with $3 left and two openings on its roster is limited to a maximum bid of $2 for one player.
No team may bid for a player who qualifies only at a position the team has already filled. For example, a team that has acquired two catchers, and whose utility or designated-hitter slot is occupied, may not enter the bidding for any player who qualifies only at catcher.
Players who commence the season on a major-league team’s disabled list are eligible to be drafted. If selected, they may be replaced (see below, Article XII, for details).

NOTE: Final 24-man rosters for all 12 National League teams will be needed on Auction Draft Day. Getting them is a pain, as newspapers are generally careless about reporting last-minute player moves before Opening Day. Appoint a committee or obtain them with your membership in the Rotisserie League Baseball Association. Immediately following the major-league draft, a minor-league player draft shall be conducted, in which each Rotisserie League team may acquire players who:

are not on any National/American League team’s active roster and
still have official rookie status as defined by major League baseball.

NOTE: The major-league rulebook reads: "A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during the previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the major leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a major-league club or clubs during the period of a 24-player limit (excluding time in the military service)." And he has an agent.

Selection takes place in two rounds of a simple draft, not an auction.

In the first season, the selection order shall be determined by drawing paired numbers from a hat (that is, positions 1 and 20, 2 and 19, and so on in a ten-team league).

In subsequent years, the selection order is determined by the order in which the teams finished in the previous season. In the National League version, the order of selection is 5^th place team, 6^th, 7^th, 8^th, 9^th, 10^th, 4^th, 3^rd, 2^nd, 1^st. In an American League version, the 6^th place team selects first, proceeding in descending order to the 12^th place team, which is in turn followed by the 5^th, 4^th, 3^rd, 2^nd, and 1^st place teams.

The price and subsequent salary upon activation of each farm-system player drafted is $10.
See Article XII for operational rules governing farm systems.

NOTE: The order of selection stated above represents a change from previous years, when teams selected in reverse order of the final standings of the preceding season’s pennant race. By awarding the first selection to the highest finisher among second-division teams instead of the last place team, we seek to offer an incentive to teams to keep plugging and a disincentive to finish last (i.e., in the past, a last place finish would be "rewarded" with the first farm system draft pick). V. POSITIONAL ELIGIBILTY

A player may be assigned to any position at which he appeared in 20 or more games in the preceding season. If a player did not appear in 20 games at a single position, he may be drafted only at the position at which he appeared most frequently. The 20-games/most games measure is used only to determine the position(s) at which a player may be drafted. Once the season is under way (but after Auction Draft Day), a player becomes eligible for assignment to any position at which he appears at least once. In American League versions, players selected as DHs must qualify according to the rules. In National League versions, players selected for the utility slot may qualify at any position except pitcher.

NOTE: The best sources for determining player eligibility are the National League’s Green Book and the American League’s Red Book. Both list appearances by position under fielding averages. The Red Book lists all players who appeared as designated hitters the preceding season. Circulating an eligibility list by position before Auction Draft Day saves a lot of time. Prepare one yourself in March, when copies of the Green Book and Red Book are published. Or obtain it with membership in the Rotisserie League Baseball Association – our list is available at least three months earlier, so you’ll be able to spend the winter doing something worthwhile. VI. FEES

The Rotisserie League has a schedule of fees covering all player personnel moves. No money passes directly from team to team. No bets are made on the outcome of any game. All fees are payable into the prize pool and are subsequently destributed to the top four (NL) or five (AL) teams in the final standings (see below, Articles VIII and IX).

1. BASIC: The cumulative total of salaries paid for acquisition of a 23-man roster on Auction Draft Day may not exceed $260.

2. TRANSACTIONS: $10 per trade (no matter how many players are involved) or player activation (from reserve list or farm system). In a trade, the team that pays the fee is subject to negotiation.

3. CALL-UP FROM FREE-AGENT POOL: $20 until the All-Star Game, $40 thereafter until season’s end.

4. RESERVE: $10 for each player placed on a team’s reserve list )see Article XII).

5. FARM SYSTEM: $10 for each player in a team’s farm system (see Article XIII).

6. ACTIVATION: $10 for each player activated from the reserve list or farm system.

7. WAIVERS: $10 for each player claimed on waivers (see Article XIV).

8. SEPTEMBER ROSTER EXPANSION: $50 (see Article XV).

VII. PLAYER SALARIES

The salary of a player is determined by the time and means of his acquisition and does not change unless the player becomes a free agent or is signed to a guaranteed long-term contract (see below, Article XVI).

The salary of a player acquired in the major-league draft is his auction price.
The salary of a player called up from the free-agent pool during the season is $10 (regardless of his call-up fee).
The salary of a player activated from a team’s farm system during the season is $10.
The salary of a player claimed on waivers is $10.
The salary of a player called up during September Roster Expansion as an extra (24^th) player is $25 if he is drawn from the free agent pool (see below, Article XIV).

NOTE: Because you can commit only $260 for salaries on Auction Draft Day, and because you will keep some of your players from one season to the next, salaries are very important, particularly after the first season ends and winter trading begins. Would you trade Rickey Henderson for Ellis Burks? George Steinbrenner and Dallas Green wouldn’t trade for the 1927 Yankees, but a smart Rotisserie League owner just might make that deal. Rickey’s salary in Tony’s Italian Kitchen League, an officially authorized Rotisserie League using American League players, is a whopping $50, among the highest in organized baseball (Rotisserie League Baseball, that is). Burks only makes $10, and the $40 difference is enough to buy Roger Clemens and a first-rate batterymate.

Maintaining accurate, centralized player-personnel records (i.e., salary and contract status) is the most important task of the League Secretary, who deserves hosannas from the other owners for all the work he does.

VIII. PRIZE MONEY

All fees shall be promptly collected and wisely invested by the League Treasurer, who is empowered to subject owners to public humiliation and asses fines as needed to ensure that payments are made to the League in a timely fashion. The interest income from this investment can be used to defray the cost of a gala postseason awards-ceremony and banquet. The principle shall be divided among the first four teams in the final standings as follows:

First place – 50 %
Second place – 25 %
Third place – 15 %
Fourth place – 10 %

NOTE: Ton’s Italian Kitchen League – an American League version with 12 teams – throws a bone of $260 to the fifth best team. Call it balm for the best of the also-rans. IX. STANDINGS

The following criteria are used to determine team performance:

Composite batting average (BA)
Total home runs (HR)
Total runs batted in (RBI)
Total stolen bases (SB)
Composite earned run average (ERA)
Total Wins (W)
Total Saves (S)
Composite ratio: bases on balls (BB) plus hits (H) divided by innings pitched (IP)

Teams are ranked from first to last in each of the eight categories and given points for each place. For example, in a ten-team league, the first-place team in a category receives ten points, the second-place team nine, and so on down to one point for last place. The team with the most total points wins the pennant. NOTE: A team that fails to pitch a total of 900 innings cannot be ranked ahead of any team that does pitch 900 innings, in either ERA or Ratio. (This is a new rule, passed in 1988, to prevent an "all-relief" strategy attempted by the Okrent Fenokees in 1987. The strategy was not successful, because Swampmaster Dan Okrent abandoned it after six weeks or so. But it might have worked, in more disciplined hands. Hence the new rule.)

NOTE: Pitchers’ offensive stats are not counted, mainly because they don’t appear weekly in USA Today or The Sporting News. Nor are the pitching stats of the occasional player called in to pitch when the score is 16-1 and the relief corps is hiding under the stands.

In cases of ties in an individual category, the tied teams are assigned points by totaling points for the rankings at issue and dividing the total by the number of teams tied.
In cases of ties in total points, final placings in the standings are determined by comparing placement of teams in individual categories. Respective performances are calculated and a point given to each team for bettering the other. Should one team total more points than the other, that team is declared the winner.
Should the point totals still be equal, the tie is broken by adding each team’s total at-bats at season’s end, plus triple the number of its innings pitched. The team that scores a igher total by this measure wins the pennant.

NOTE: In the early days of Rotissehistory (1980), the Sklar Gazers and the Eisenberg Furriers finished in a flat-footed tie for second with fifty-two points each. Only seven categories were employed at that time. (Wins were added in 1981.) The Gazers were ahead in four categories, the Furriers in three, so the Gazers got second place and the bigger check, while the Furriers got heartburn. X. STATS

The weekly player-performance summaries published in USA Today beginning in late April constitute the official data base for the computation of standings in Rotisserie League Baseball.

NOTE: Box scores in daily newspapers are riddled with errors, and official scorers occasionally change rulings. USA Today is the final word. When we first started out, we used The Sporting News. That was when TSN cared more about baseball than about all the Stanley Cup skate-offs, NBA playoffs, and NFL summer camping rolled into one (which, by the way, is how the Rotisserie League’s Founding Fathers view them). Not for nothing was the Holy Bible known to baseball people as The Sporting News of religion. But that was then, and this is now. The Sporting News has passed from the last Spink to new owners who seem intent on taking the "Sporting" part seriously – that is, covering other sports at the expense of baseball. Also, when we first started out, USA Today had not yet been born. With stats that are a lot fresher (one-day lag vs. seven for TSN), USA Today is Rotisserie League Baseball’s official newspaper of record.

The effective date of any transaction for purposes of statistical calculation is the Monday (AL) or Tuesday (NL) immediately after the deadline for reporting transactions to the League Secretary.

NOTE: This is because cumulative weekly stats appear in the USA Today on Tuesday for AL games through the preceding Sunday and on Wednesday for NL games through the preceding Monday. Reporting deadlines should be established as close to those breaks as possible but not later than the start of any game at the beginning of a new week. We use noon on Monday (Tony’s Italian Kitchen/AL players) and 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday (Rotisserie League/NL players). Why the difference? Might as well ask why the strike zones in the two leagues are different.

Transactions recorded on Auction Draft Day, including trades and call-ups to replace disabled players, are effective retroactive to Opening Day. Transactions occurring after Auction Draft Day but before the closing date of the first cumulative summaries to appear in USA Today in April are effective the Monday (AL) or Tuesday (NL) immediately after the first closing date.

NOTE: It’s a lot simpler than it sounds. Really.

Performance stats of a player shall be assigned to a Rotisserie League team only when he is on the active 23-man roster of that team.

NOTE: It is common for a player to appear on the roster of more than one Rotisserie League team during the season because of trades and waiver-list moves. Even a player who is not traded may spend time on a team’s reserve list, during which period any numbers he might compile for his major-league team do not count for his Rotisserie League team.

Standings shall be tabulated and issued in a regular and timely fashion, as determined by the League owners.

NOTE: Keeping score is the only part of Rotisserie League Baseball that isn’t any fun. It’s eight or nine hours of number-crunching for each standings report if you’re not computerized, a couple of hours of data entry if you are. It’s especially important to have weekly standings during the April-May-June trading period, however, and teams still in the race will want weekly standings as the season draws to an end. So divy up the workload (if some poor innocent won’t volunteer), hire someone to do it for you, or become a member of the Rotisserie League Baseball Association and subscribe to its statistical service. XI. TRADES

From the completion of the auction draft until the final out of the All-Star Game, Rotisserie League teams are free to make trades of any kind without limit, so long as the active rosters of both teams involved in a trade reflect the required position distribution upon completion of the transaction, and so long as the anti-dumping rules outlined below are adhered to. From the All-Star game through August 31, trades may take place only between teams contiguous in the preceding week’s standings. Trades made from the day after the season ends until rosters are frozen on April 2 prior to Auction Draft Day are not bound by the position distribution requirement.

NOTE: This means that if Team A wants to swap Darryl Strawberry to Team B for Orel Hershiser anytime between Auction Draft Day and the trade deadline, Team A will have to throw in a bum pitcher and Team B a duff outfielder to make the deal. During the off-season, the Strawman could be dealt for the Big O even-up.

Trades do not affect the salaries or contract status of players.
Each trade is subject to the $10 transaction fee. The fee is not affected by the number of players involved in the trade.

NOTE: Unless you want knife fights to break out among owners, prohibit a trades involving cash, "players to be named later," or "future considerations." Trust us. Players in the last year of a guaranteed contract, or playing out their option year, and players with a salary of $25 or more, are considered ""sterisk""players. Such players may be traded only under the following conditions:

One team may trade asterisk players to another team provided that for each asterisk player traded, one is received in the same deal.
The above notwithstanding, a team may trade one asterisk player to another team without an asterisk player coming in return, but may only make one such trade with each team in the course of the season.
Between the end of the season and Roster Freeze Day, asterisk players may be traded without restriction whatsoever.

NOTE: "Dumping" is the inelegant but scientifically precise term used to describe what happens when a team out of contention gives up on the season and trades to a contending team its most expensive talent and its players who will be lost to free agency at the end of the year, typically for inexpensive players who can be kept the following season. A "dumping" trade is always unbalanced, sometimes egregiously so, with the contending team giving up far less than it gets, and the non-contending team giving up much more in order to acquire a nucleus for the following season. While this strategy makes sense for both clubs, extreme cases can undermine the results of the auction draft, which should always be the primary indicator of an owner’s ability to put together a successful team. What the new anti-dumping rule outlined above is intended to accomplish is to restrict the most extreme forms of dumping, while at the same time permitting a non-contending team to rebuild for the future. XII. THE RESERVE LIST

A team may replace any player on its 23-man roster who is:

Placed on the disabled list,
Released,
Traded to the other league, or
Sent down to the minors by his major league team.

To replace such a player, a Rotisserie League team must first release him outright, waive him (see below, Article XIV), or place him on its reserve list. A team reserves a player by notifying the League Secretary and paying the $10 transaction fee. A reserved player is removed from a team’s active roster at the end of the stat week (on Monday or Tuesday) – when formal notification is given – an placed on the team’s reserve list. There is no limit tot he number of players a team may have on its reserve list. Teserving a player protects a team’s rights to that player. A suspended player may not be reserved, released or replaced. NOTE: When we first wrote that, we were thinking about the old-fashioned things players would do to get themselves suspended – Bill Madlock hitting an umpire (1980), say, or Gaylord Perry throwing a spitter (1962 to 1983), although he was suspended only once for doing it (1982). Then came the drug suspensions of 1984 and afterwards. We have decided to consider players suspended for substance abuse as if they were on the disabled list, and allow teams to replace them.

Once a specific action has been taken to remove a player from its 23-man roster (via release, waiver, or placing him on the reserve list), a team is then free to select any eligible player from the free-agent pool of players not already owned by another Rotisserie League team. The salary assigned to a player so selected from the free-agent pool is $10; the call up fee is determined by the time of the season in which the call-up is made (see above, Article VI).
The call-up takes place as soon as it is recorded by the League Secretary, although the player’s stats do not begin to accrue to his new team until Monday (AL) or Tuesday (NL) of the week the League Secretary records the call-up.

NOTE: On a black Monday in May, your first baseman, Andres Galarraga, foes into the hospital for arthroscopic knee surgery. On Tuesday, the Expos get around to announcing officially that Galarraga has been placed on the disabled list. On Wednesday, you tab Cardinal utility man Jose Oquendo to fill in for your beloved Gato Grande. The valuable Oquendo qualifies everywhere, and on Thursday he drives in two runs and steals a base. His stats don’t start counting for you until next Tuesday, but you’re thinking he’ll help you in steals while Galarraga is mending. On Friday Oquendo goes 4 for 4. Oh, boy! On Saturday he pulls a hamstring trying to beat out an infield hit (he’s out). On Sunday Whitey Herzog says he’ll be out about 10 days but will not be put on the disabled list at that time. Knowing hamstrings, you figure he’ll come back too soon, pull it again, and be put on the DL. In the meantime, what you have is zip – no stats, no hot streak, no way to replace him, and the likelihood that he won’t steal any bases even if he does come back and doesn’t hurt himself again. Good morning, black Monday.

When a player on a reserve list returns to active major-league duty, he must be reinstated to the active 23-man roster of his Rotisserie League team two weeks after his activation or be waived. Failure to notify the League Secretary shall be considered a waiver of the player on the reserve list. A player may not be reinstated or waived until he has been activated by his major-league team.

NOTE: Intended to prvent stockpiling of players, this rule is tricky to monitor. Daily newspaper transaction columns and telephone sports-information lines are unreliable about reporting major-league roster moves. The clock starts ticking when the League Secretary is made aware of a player being reactivated. By the way, "two weeks" means two full reporting periods and may actually be as much as two weeks plus six days (as in the case of a player being reactivated the day after a reporting deadline).

When a player is reinstated to the active 23-man Rotisserie League roster from a team’s reserve list, the player originally called up to replace him must be waived, unless the replacement player or the original player can be shifted to another natural opening on the roster for which he qualifies. In either case, it is the replacement player who is linked to the player whose departure created the natural opening. If the replacement player has been traded, reserved, released, or waived within the Rotisserie League must be waived or put into a natural roster spot if one exists. A reinstated player may not displace any player on the active 23-man roster other than his original replacement or the player for whom the replacement has been traded. The rule holds through successive replacements that may occur for the duration of the season.

NOTE: The intent of all this is to minimize the benefit a team might derive from an injury. Say Wally Joyner is injured and you call up Steve Lyons to replace him. Joyner comes back. What you’d like to do is activate Joyner, keep Lyons, and waive your other corner man, Bill Pecota, who hasn’t had an at-bat in six weeks. Our rules say you can’t, on the premise that a team should not be helped by an injury to a key player. We know the big leagues don’t handle it this way, but art does not always imitate life. Without restrictions of this sort, a team might draft a bum and hope that it would be "lucky" enough for a good player at that position to go on the 15-day DL (with a minor injury, or course), thus giving it a chance to acquire a quality player who has been passed over in the draft or a hot rookie who’s just been promoted.

Placing a player on the reserve list and activating a player from the reserve list are each subject to a $10 transaction fee.

XIII. FARM SYSTEM

If a farm-system player is promoted to the active roster of a major-league team at any time during the regular season prior to September 1 (when major-league rosters may expand to forty), his Rotisserie League team has two weeks after his promotion to activate him (at any position for which he qualifies) or waive him.

The fee for activating a player from a team’s farm system is $10.
If a farm-system player is activated, the player displaced from the 23-man roster to make room for him must be placed on waivers, unless the farm-system player can be activated into a natural opening, in which case no waiver is required. Example: One of your pitchers is placed on a major-league disabled list; you reserve him and activate a pitcher from your farm system who has been called up by his major-league team.
Once brought up from its farm system by a Rotisserie League team, a player may not be returned to it, although he may be placed on a team’s reserve list in the event he is returned to the minor leagues by his major-league club.
A farm-system player not brought up to a team’s 23-man roster during the season of his initial selection may be kept within the farm system in subsequent seasons upon payment of an additional $10 per year, so long as he retains official rookie status and the League Secretary is duly notified on April 2 each year, when rosters are frozen (see also Article XVII).
At no time may a team have more than three players in its farm system.
A farm-system player may be traded during authorized trading periods, subject to prevailing rules governing transactions, as may a team’s selection rights in the minor-league draft.

NOTE: This means that a team could acquire and exercise as many as three farm system draft picks, providing that it does not exceed the maximum of three players in its farm system at a given time. XIV. OUTRIGHT RELEASE AND WAIVERS

Under certain conditions, a Rotisserie League player may be released outright or placed on waivers.

When a team activates a player from its reserve list, the player called up earlier to replace him must be placed on waivers (see Article XII).
When a team activates a player from its farm system, except into a natural opening (see Article XIII), the player dropped from the 23-man roster to make room for him must be placed on waivers.
A player no longer on the active roster of his major-league team and whose Rotisserie League position is taken by a player activated from the reserve list may not be placed on waivers but must be released outright.

NOTE: This is to prevent a team from picking up a player on waivers merely for the purpose of releasing him and replacing him with a player of higher quality from the free-agent pool.

The waiver period begins at noon on the Monday (AL) or Tuesday (NL) after the League Secretary has been notified that a player has been waived and lasts one week, at the end of which time the player shall become the property of the lowest-ranked team to have claimed him. To make room on its roster, the team acquiring a player on waivers must assign the player to a natural opening or waive a player at the same position played by the newly acquired player.
Waiver claims take precedence over the replacement of an injured, released, or demoted player. That is, a player on waivers in a given week may be signed by a team with a roster opening at his position only if no other team lower in the standings claims the player on waivers.
A team may acquire on waivers no more than one player in a given week, but there is no limit to the number of players a team may acquire on waivers during the season.
A player who clears waivers – that is, is not claimed by any team – returns to the free agent pool.
The fee for acquiring a player on waivers is $10. The salary of a player acquired on waivers shall be $10 or his previous salary, whichever is greater, and his contract status shall remain unchanged.
A player with a guaranteed long-term contract may not be waived during the season. However, he may be released and replace if he is traded to the "other" league.
A player may be given his outright release only if he is

                    (a) unconditionally released,
                    (b) placed on the "designated for assignment" list,
                    (c) sent to the minors,
                    (d) placed on the "disqualified" list,
                    (e) traded to the "other" major league, or
                    (f) placed on the disabled list.

XV. SEPTEMBER ROSTER EXPANSION

If it chooses, a team may expand its roster for the pennant drive by calling up one additional player after September 1 from the free-agent pool, its own reserve list, or its own farm system.

The order of selection for September Roster Expansion is determined by the most recent standings, with the last place team having first selection, and so on. This selection order pertains until midnight, September 2 only, after which time a team forfeits its order in the selection process, though not its right to make a selection. Selection after midnight, September 2, is on a first-come, first-served basis.
The performance stats of a player called up during September Roster Expansion start to accrue on the Monday (AL) or Tuesday (NL), after the League Secretary has been notified of the player’s selection.
The fee for expanding the roster in September is $50.
The salary assigned to a September call-up from the free agent pool is $25. The salary of a September call-up from a team’s reserve list or farm system is the salary established at the time he was previously acquired (on Auction Draft Day, or subsequently from the free-agent pool or via waivers).

NOTE: A device for heightening the excitement for contending teams and for sweetening the kitty at their expense, September Roster Expansion will generally not appeal to second-division clubs *who should, however, continue to watch the waiver wire in the hope of acquiring "keepers" for next season at a $10 salary).

XVI. THE OPTION YEAR AND
GUARANTEED LONG-TERM CONTRACTS

A player who has been under contract at the same salary during two consecutive seasons and whose service has been uninterrupted (that is, he has not been waived or released, although he may have been traded) must, prior to the freezing of rosters in his third, or option, season be

released,
signed at the same salary for his option year, or
signed to a guaranteed long-term contract.

If released, the player returns to the free-agent pool and becomes available to the highest bidder at the next auction draft. If signed at the same salary for an option year, the player must be released back into the free-agent pool at the end of that season. If signed to guaranteed long-term contract, the player’s salary in each year covered by the new contract (which commences with the option year) shall be the sum of his current salary plus $5 for each additional year beyond the option year. In addition, a signing bonus, equal to one half the total value of the long-term contract, but not less than $5, shall also be paid. NOTE: This rule is intended to prevent blue-chippers, low-priced rookies who blossom into superstars, and undervalued players from being tied up for the duration of their careers by the teams who originally drafted them. It guarantees periodic transfusions of topflight talent for Auction Draft Day and provides rebuilding teams something to rebuild with. And it makes for some interesting decisions at roster-freeze time two years down the pike.

Here’s how it works. Let’s say you drafted Mark McGwire of the Oakland Athletics for $4 in 1987, a fair price then for an unproven talent who wasn’t even in the Opening Day lineup. It’s now the spring of 1989 and McGwire, who has become the next Babe Ruth, is entering his option year. Only a Charlie Finley would let him play out his option; only a Calvin Griffith would trade him. You compare McGwire’s stats with those of other players at various salary levels, assess your needs, project what’s likely to be available in the upcoming draft, cross your fingers against injury – and sign him to a five-year guaranteed contract. McGwire’s salary zooms to $24 ($4 plus $5 plus $5 plus $5 plus $5), but he’s yours through the 1993 season. His signing bonus, which does not count against your $260 Auction Draft Day limit, is $60 (one half of 5 X $24). If he really is the next Babe Ruth, you’ve got a bargain.

In determining a player’s status, "season" is understood to be a full season or any fraction thereof.

NOTE: Thus, a player called up from the free-agent pool in the middle of the 1998 season and subsequently retained at the same salary without being released in 1989 (even though he may have been traded) enters his option year in 1990 and must be released, signed at the same salary for an option year, or signed to a long-term contract.

A team may sign a player to only one long-term contract, at the end of which he becomes a free agent.
Option-year and long-term contracts are entirely transferable, both in rights and obligations; the trade of a player in no way affects his contract status.
If, during the course of a long-term contract, a player is traded from the National League to the American League (or vice versa), the contract is rendered null and void. The team that loses the player’s services shall be under no further financial obligations.
In all other cases – specifically including permanent disability or sudden loss of effectiveness – a team must honor the terms of a long-term contract, as follows:

A player with such a contract may be released (that is, not protected on a team’s roster prior to Auction Draft Day), but a team that chooses to do so must pay into the prize pool, above the $260 Auction Draft Day limit, a sum equal to twice the remaining value of the player’s contract. The player then re-enters the free-agent pool.

NOTE: This is an escape hatch for the owner who buys a dog but can’t stand fleas. It’s costly, but it’s fair.

XVII. ROSTER PROTECTION

For the first three seasons of the League’s existence, each team must retain from one season to the next, no fewer than 7 but no more than 15 of the players on its 23-man roster. After three seasons, this minimum is eliminated, the maximum retained.

NOTE: The minimum is removed because, after three seasons, a team might find it impossible to retain a specific minimum because too many players had played out their option.

The names of players being retained must be recorded with the League Secretary by midnight, April 1. Specific notice must also be made at that time of any guaranteed long-term contract signings and farm-system renewals.

NOTE: The April 1 roster-protection deadline was originally set to correspond with the end of the major leagues’ spring interleague trading period, a rite of spring that no longer exists. We’ve stuck to April 1 anyway, because it gives us a couple of weeks to fine-tune draft strategies. Until you know whom the other teams are going to keep, you won’t know for sure who’s going to be available. And until you know how much they will have to spend on Auction Draft Day, you won’t be able to complete your own pre-draft budget. So April 1 it is; don’t fool with it.

The cumulative salaries of players protected prior to Austin Draft Day are deducted from a team’s $260 expenditure limit, and the balance is available for acquisition of the remaining players needed to complete the team’s 23-man roster.
The League Secretary should promptly notify all teams in the league of each team’s protected roster, including player salaries, contract status, and amount available to spend on Auction Draft Day.
Failure to give notice of a guaranteed long-term contract for a player in his option year will result in his being continued for one season at his prior year’s salary and then released into the free-agent pool. Failure to renew a farm-system player’s minor-league contract will result in his becoming available to all other teams in the subsequent minor-league draft.
A farm-system player whose minor-league contract is renewed on April 1 and who subsequently makes his major-league team’s active roster may, at his Rotisserie League owner’s option, be added to the protected list of players on Auction Draft Day (and another player dropped, if necessary, to meet the 15-player limit), or he may be dropped and made available in the auction draft. He may not be retained in his Rotisserie League team’s farm system.

XVIII. SUBSTANCE ABUSE

After one year from the ratification of this article, the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territories subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposed is hereby prohibited.

NOTE: The Rotisserie League is convinced that you have to take a stand somewhere, even if it didn’t work so well the first time. XIX. GOVERNANCE

The Rotisserie League is governed by a Committee of the Whole consisting of all team owners. The Committee of the Whole may designate as many League officials as from time to time it deems appropriate, although only two – the League Secretary and the League Treasurer – ever do any work. The Committee of the Whole also designates annually an Executive Committee composed three team owners in good standing. The Executive Committee has the authority to interpret playing rules and to handle all necessary and routine League business. All decisions, rulings, and interpretations by the Executive Committee are subject to veto by the Committee of the Whole. Rule changes, pronouncements, and acts of whimsy are determined by majority vote of the Committee of the Whole. The Rotisserie League has three official meetings each year: Auction Draft Day (the first weekend after Opening Day), the Trade Deadline Meeting (at the All-Star Break), and the Gala Postseason Banquet and Awards Ceremony. Failure to attend at least two official meetings is punishable by trade to the Atlanta Braves.

XX. YOO-HOO

To consecrate the bond of friendship that unites all Rotisserie League owners in their pursuit of the pennant, to symbolize the eternal verities and values of the Greatest Game for Baseball Fans Since Baseball, to soak the head of the League 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 awards ceremony and banquet, the owner of the championship team shall have a bottle of Yoo-Hoo poured over his or her head by the preceding year’s pennant winner (or by the most recent victor, in the event of successive championships). The Yoo-Hoo Ceremony shall be performed with dignity and solemnity appropriate to the occation.

NOTE: If Yoo-Hoo, the chocolate-flavored beverage once endorsed by soft-drink connoisseur Yogi Berra, is not available in your part of the country, move.