You are being asked to review this information and confirm that it is acceptable. Once the decision is made, all managers should get behind expansion and find ways to make this a positive experience for the entire league.
Preparation Expansion managers will be selected in January and February of 1999. During this time, expansion teams will select names, parks, and each will be assigned to a different and existing Division.
Each existing team will submit a list of fifteen (15) protected players to the commissioner by February 28, 1999. All other non-protected players will be put into an expansion pool. In the event that the Commissioner feels the pools is inadequate for the expansion teams to meet minimum usage requirements, the pool will be expanded by selecting a limited number of 1998 player cuts. This process has yet to be determined.
The expansion pool will be posted on the web site for review by the expansion managers and the rest of the league. A minimum of three weeks will be give for review of the pool. Any errors must be promptly brought to the attention of the Commissioner.
Expansion Draft The four expansion teams will then participate in the expansion draft held by the commissioner and appointed assistants. The draft is targeted for the end of March, 1998. The draft will consist of each expansion team selecting one player per round from the expansion pool, for no more than 26 rounds.
Trades with the expansion teams will not be recognized until after the expansion draft is complete since they do not formally have rights to any tradeable commodity. (Expansion picks may not be traded to existing temas). Other league trading will proceed normally.
A random order of the expansion teams will be determined by the Commissioner. The commissioner will ask each manager, following the random order, to select where he/she wants to draft in the first round of the expansion draft. The order will follow a serpentine progression (1,2,3,4, 4,3,2,1) until all 26 rounds are complete or earlier if all managers pass on their selection.
After a player is selected from an existing team, that team will be permitted to pull back one or two players from the expansion pool. The pullback quantity will be determined based on how many players the team has lost. One pullback will be granted after the first selection, two pullbacks after the second selection, two after the third selection, one after the forth selection, and one after the fifth selection (1-2-2-1-1).
At the conclusion of the expansion draft, all unselected players will be returned to their respective rosters. Existing teams will have between 27 and 33 remaining rated players. The likely outcome is that each existing teams will have 27 to 29 players, or 1 to 3 more than the expansion teams.
Upon completion of the expansion draft, each expansion team should have a minimum of 108 starts (67% of required starts), 3500 plate appearances (67% of required PAs), and 300 plate appearances (52% of required PAs) at each position. It will be difficult for any team to meet the minimum usage stats if they don't have these minimums. An adjustment to the expansion process may be necessary, depending on how close the teams are to these values.
Maximum Loss No team will lose more than six players. If a 6th player is selected from and existing team's roster, that team will be awarded a compensatory pick the the 1999 Free Agent draft. Draft order will be determined by the rules in effect for that round of the draft. After the sixth player is selected, all of that team's remaining players will be removed from the expansion pool.
1999 Free Agent Draft A minimum of three weeks will follow the conclusion of the expansion draft to allow expansion teams to participate in league trading before the Free Agent draft begins. Target for the 1999 Free Agent will be the first week of May, 1999.
The expansion teams will select just in front of the existing playoff teams (positions 17-20). Draft order will be the reversed from the first round of the expansion draft. Existing teams will select in a normal progression as done each year. The expansion selections will follow the serpentine format used in the expansion draft.
A compensatory round will exist after the second round of the Free Agent draft. The purpose of this round is to compensate expansion teams for starting with fewer players on their roster and to compensate existing teams who lose the maximum number of players in the expansion draft. Draft order will follow rules for the Free Agent draft for all teams eligible to participate.
Other Information Expansion teams will be awarded two extra protected roster spots during their first season in the league. This will likely be necessary for these teams to meet their minimum usage requirements.
Final cut down for existing teams will be moved forward to July 31, 1999. Expansion teams will have two to three weeks to make waiver picks from the pool of final cuts.
The most important thing to remember is that the process needs to be fair to everyone. As a league, we need to be prepared to admit if this proposal creates a mistake. Our goal is to make teams competitive after 3 seasons. If the expansion yields real pigs or superstar team, we need to quickly admit the mistake and get it fixed. To that end, the Commissioner should be granted the authority to fine tune this proposal without going through a long emotional voting process.