Updated
4-12-2025
Offense: (total bases + RBIs + BBs - errors) / 4 = runs scored. Errors do not count for pitchers, the DH or PH.
Pitching: Total earned runs allowed by staff for nine innings pitched.
1. Hitters must have three at bats or three bases to qualify for our game, otherwise stats for the next day are used (same qualification rules apply that day). The hitters have six days to meet these criteria.
2. Players must play the position they are assigned in your lineup, except the DH & PHers.
3. If a starting pitcher does not pitch in the game (even to one batter), the backup starting pitcher's stats are used, followed by the relievers to complete the nine innings. Your lineup must include FIVE relief pitchers.
4. If your backup starting pitcher makes an appearance, he cannot pitch for another two games.
5. We use a three man / three game starting pitcher rotation during the regular season. Starting pitcher rotations start over for each playoff series.
6. Innings Pitched definition: All innings pitched are rounded up or down to simplify scoring. For example, if your pitcher lasts 1.33 innings and gives up three runs, your pitching score would be one IP and 3 RA. If your pitcher lasts .66 innings and gives up three runs your pitching score would be one IP and three RA.
7. If at the end of your game, you do not have nine total innings from your pitching staff, one run will be added to your ERA total for every inning less then nine. For example, if your pitchers only pitched seven innings, two runs will be added.
8. If your pitcher does not make their scheduled start, you may start them the following game. This applies for the playoffs also.
9. Games start on Friday or Tuesday. For a Friday start, hitters must qualify in Friday through Thursday games or be given a zero score. For Tuesday games, they must qualify from Tuesday through Monday games. Pitchers must qualify during those same time frames.
If a game is tied, the following rules, in this order, would determine the winner:
A. The first Pinch Hitter's stats are used. Add their scores to the team's total bases and divide by four.
B. If there is still a tie, add a 10th inning on to the teams pitching staff's scores.
C. If there is still a tie, the second Pinch Hitter's stats are used. Add their scores to the team's total bases and divide by four.
D. If there is still a tie, add an 11th inning onto the teams pitching staff's scores.
E. If there is still a tie, the home team wins.
Include two pinch hitters when submitting your lineups.
Starting Lineups:
Lineups are to be finalized at our web site at: http://www.incredulousfantasybaseball.com/Baseball/Login.aspx by noon CDT on the day of the scheduled game is to begin. Lineups must include a DH, two PH and five relief pitchers.
Expansion Draft:
An expansion draft, if necessary, will be held prior to the regular draft. Each new team may or may not draft players from an unprotected list. They may draft up to seven players. The cost of these players will count against your $750. The list of players will be provided one week prior to the draft.
Regular Draft:
You may save ten players from your last year's team. However, when a player's cost reaches $95 or greater, they will become a free agent and be included in the player pool for any team to draft. An example would be if a team wanted to retain Clayton Kershaw for 2019 with a $95 cost, that team could not keep him and he would become a free agent for that draft.
Club owners may also keep ONE player, who was a pick up before the previous season's trading deadline (week 16), and remained on the team's roster at the end of the previous season. The cost would be $60.
The draft order is: 1. Any expansion teams, 2. Returning teams in order by their last year's record (last place team first and World Series winner is last). The rounds would be number 1 team to number 12 team, 12 team to 1 team, 1 team to 12 team, 12 team to 1 team, etc.
You are given $725 ($750 if you keep at least one prospect) to draft/bid on your first fifteen players (including the players you saved from your last year's team), but you are not required to draft 15 players. When you introduce a player, the automatic bid is $25. Other teams may bid on that player after the introduction. The team with the highest bid gets that player. This process goes on until all the teams have 15 players or run out of money.
Then a round-robin draft occurs with teams choosing players to fill the rest of their roster. This will continue until all teams have 26 total players. Remember you will need a minimum of FIVE starting pitchers and FIVE relievers on your roster.
Prospect Draft:
Definition of prospect: These are rookie players and minor league prospects. In MLB, “a prospect is a player with high potential who has yet to reach the major league level or have a significant impact on a team. There are no specific limits on innings pitched by MLB pitchers in a single game or for the season, but there are rookie eligibility thresholds based on at-bats and innings pitched to be considered a rookie. Likewise, there's no hard limit on plate appearances for hitters, but a minimum is required to qualify for batting championships.”
After each roster is complete from the regular draft, the teams may draft three additional prospects [chosen in round-robin fashion with each round going from last year's worst team to the best team – i.e. team 1 to team 12, team 1 to team 12 and team 1 to team 12]. Exception: The winner of last season's consolation playoffs will get the first pick in the first prospect draft round.
These players are not eligible to be used in your lineups until game number 8 and can not be released from our roster to clear a roster spot before that game. The players will cost $25 to keep the next season and $10 for each additional season. Your team's draft money will increase from $725 to $750 if you keep one of these prospects the following year.
Cost of Players:
Each year, if you wish to keep a player from last year's roster, $25 must be added to player's cost (the amount you paid for that player last year). See rules regarding prospects above. In addition, for each additional year, the cost of that player will go up $10. All round-robin drafted players will cost $60 the following year. Once you drop a player during the year, they are ineligible to be saved for the following year. Only one pick-up from the previous season can be saved (see complete rule above).
Assignment of Teams to Each of the League's Divisions:
The teams assigned to each division will be determined by a blind drawing before the draft.
You may trade as many times as you would like, but NO "four for one" (obvious one-sided) trades. No trades can be completed after play begins for game 15 of the season. Trades must be coordinated with Bob G. who can manually update rosters.
Complete your requests in the "Pickups" page of the web site: http://www.incredulousfantasybaseball.com/Baseball/Login.aspx before the time deadline for the setting of lineups on any game day (see above).
Each team is allowed 12 pickups for each regular season. A "pickup" is defined as the act of adding a player from the league's free agent pool to a team's roster.
For those teams who reach the championship playoffs, three additional pick ups can be completed during the length of the league's post season. Those teams who play in the consolation playoffs will also be able to add two additional pickups beyond the regular season total of 12. However, the participants of the championship playoffs will have first choice of free agent players until the day before each playoff tier begins play.
Effective with the 2009 season, there is no DL.
The top three teams in each division will make the championship playoffs, regardless of record. The winner of each division will have a bye in round one. Team owners can “re-start” their starting pitcher rotation for playoff games.
If two teams are tied for the final playoff spot in a division, a one-game sudden death playoff is held. The team owners involved most following the regular season starting pitcher rotation (i.e. if their number two starter was used in the final regular season game, they most use their number three starter for the sudden death game).
If two or more teams are tied for first place in a division, the team that would receive a bye would be determined by considering their win-loss head-to-head records against the teams tied. The team(s) with the best regular head-to-head season record would receive the bye.
If there is a 3-way tie for the final playoff spot, each team would play each other (as in A vs B, B vs C, A vs C ) in a one-game round-robin; team with the best record advances. If everyone is 1-1 (a tie) the team who had the most bases wins. Most likely one team will win 2 games and the other two will have at least 1 loss.
The format will be best two of three games for division and league championships.
If a game is tied, the following rules, in this order, would determine the winner:
A. The first Pinch Hitter's stats are used. Add their scores to the team's total bases and divide by four.
B. If there is still a tie, add a 10th inning on to the teams pitching staff's scores.
C. If there is still a tie, the second Pinch Hitter's stats are used. Add their scores to the team's total bases and divide by four.
D. If there is still a tie, add an 11th inning onto the teams pitching staff's scores.
E. If score is still even, game is declared a “tie” and an extra game is played in the series (a team must win two out of three of the other games). Normal pitching rotation is followed (starter of tied game can not pitch in next two games).
In case of a tie in the final score, we follow the same tie-breaking rules as in the regular season.
There will be a consolation playoff for teams who did not play in the championship playoff. The winner will get first pick in each round of the prospect draft. The rules governing this playoff may be the same as the championship playoff.
Schedule:
We use a 21-game schedule. Please see "schedule" page in the web site.