MiLB Draft

Players who have less then 130 ABs and less then 50 IP will be eligible for the MiLB draft, anyone who exceed those limits will be MLB draft. College and high school players will not be eligible for either draft, and once they are drafted by a MLB team and under contract they will be able to be drafted in one of our future MiLB drafts. We will draft and have 12 MiLB spots. As previously stated, the MiLB draft order will be the reverse order of the MLB draft and in future drafts will be the reverse order of standings. Japanese, Cuban, and players from other countries, whether under contract or not with a MLB team, will be eligible for the MiLB draft.

Rule Changes for 2010 - RRF (Approved by league vote / Czar)

With the new rule changes passed by league vote in 2010, all unsigned players at the time of pre-MILB offseason draft roster cuts (date set annually), whether from North America or International, are now protected from drafting and/or in-season pickups or WW adds. The players will go into the Offseason MILB draft for the next season. In the case of International Free Agents who sign the year prior, if there is no MLB or MILB experience to base their status, the nature of their contract and status on the 25-man roster will determine their MLB eligibility - unless that player's destination is announced when a player is signed (MILB vs. MLB). In the case of any North American drafted player from the prior year, their MILB status is dependent on their MLB career IP or AB's (50 IP, 130 AB's). For example, if Stephen Strasburg had been drafted in 2009, called up immediately and accumulated 51 MLB IP by the end of the 2009 season, he would be ineligible for the MILB draft for 2010. This also means that ALL players who were unsigned in real-life before the off-season TBD MILB draft cannot be drafted or picked up through in-season bidding. The deadline set for confirmed signing will be the MILB keeper cut-down deadline, when rosters are locked - 1 week prior to the MILB draft date each year.

Going forward, the draft order will be decided in a non-snake order (same order each round), based on reverse order of standings for the non-playoff teams occupying spots 1-14 using W-L record as the standard measure (games above/below .500). In the case of a tie (same number of games above/below .500), H2H records between the teams will be the first tiebreaker (and remember, if there is more than 1 match that year, the totals are added up for a cumulative 28-category score). In the case of a deadlock in the H2H score between teams, the second tie-breaker will be winning percentage, so a team with a 49-48-3 record would have a better record than a team with a 50-49-1 record, as their winning percentages are not identical. If there is still a tie, a coin flip will determine the draft order.

For the playoff teams, draft order will be in reverse order of playoff finish. The 1st round losing teams will then be ranked in 15th and 16th spots by overall W-L record (games/above .500), then H2H records against each other, winning percentage, and if there is still a deadlock, a coin toss. The finals and consolation finals results will determine the order of the 17th-20th spots, in reverse order of finish.

From 2010 onwards, the MILB draft will consist of a "draft until your keeper spots are filled, then you are done" system. Once a team has filled their 15 keeper spots, they have completed the MILB draft. Teams can create extra spots in preparation for the MILB draft by dropping keepers, but must do so at least 48 hours before the MILB draft begins, so the players can be added to owners' draft lists with enough advance notice. This also means that in order for teams to use a pick in a round - they MUST have an open spot on their team, counting all 15 draft picks originally assigned to that team. This means if you want to use your 4th round pick either by taking a player, or by making a trade, you can ONLY have 11 keepers going into the draft. Teams can't use or trade draft picks if a keeper is using that spot.

Trades involving future off-season MILB draft picks must specify a round # - "last round" picks are not a valid form of designation. All trades involving future off-season MILB draft picks must be posted on the Trading Outpost. It is the owners' responsibility to ensure that trades involving future off-season MILB draft picks are posted on the Trading Outpost, so that the appropriate changes are made for future draft orders.

Failure to maintain timely involvement in the draft may result in an auto-pick, or in the case of new ownership, replacement of the owners in question will be considered. Inability to maintain regular contact may result in team replacement, at the discretion of league commissioners.

MILB ELIGIBILITY CHANGES FOR 2013...

MILB Offseason Draft Eligibility - as you know, the eligibility for MILB draft was confusing, out of past history. Based on overwhelming feedback from the past season, the Commishes have agreed to simplify MILB eligibility for the draft – if you have 130 career MLB AB's or less (hitter), or 50 career MLB IP's or less (pitcher) - you are eligible for the MILB draft. If you have more than 130 career MLB AB's (hitter) or 50 career MLB IP's (pitcher) - you are ineligible for the draft, and are eligible for the WW only. That means the Darvishes of the world from last year would be now draftable in the 2013 MILB draft.

In-season WW pickups & MILB promotions– with the switch to Fantrax, they have a simple solution – all players who are unrostered who get promoted from the MILB to MLB in real life get sent to the WW – and they can be claimed or not by that first, then after WW the FA claims can take place. Fantrax can also restrict any team from picking up MILB-status players on the WW.

Once players are drafted or acquired via WW legally onto team rosters, the same rules on eligibility for MILB/MLB spots during the season and at the end of the season remain the same as above...

It's been a while, but FTR, our MILB system is now midseason, and passed by a 12-1 vote to remain as a one-time midseason draft, details in FT thread below (in case of FT Armageddon):

http://www.fantrax.com/thread.go?threadId=3srowpswi5sqf9mv&leagueId=gnqhf8zqi0rjm8uk

As an addendum to the Dec. 2012 - that change for FT to send FA players promoted in-season from MILB to MLB in real-life to the WW is now on their worklist to do...2.5 years later.  LOL.