Rule/Point/Keeper Changes

The following are the proposed changes for next season:

Roster Changes

Roster size = 25 (Down from 28)

Designated Hitter = eliminated
Utility Player = added
Starting Pitching Spots = 3 (down from 5)
General Pitching Spot = 1 (up from 0)
Relief Pitching Spots = 3 (up from 2)

Notes:
The Utility player addition comes by popular demand... The amount of bench spots has been reduced by three in order to limit stockpiling of players and to maintain the value of the free agent market… The total amount of starters (hitters and pitchers) has not changed and there is no limit to how many times a player can be started or how many innings a player can play… The reduction of the two starting pitcher spot is to make room for the added relief pitcher position and general pitching position… The general pitching spot can be filled by either a starter or reliever.

Point Changes

Hitting: All hitting statistics will remain the same.

Pitching:

H = -0.5 (adjusted from –1)
BB = -0.5 (adjusted from –1.5)
K = 2 (adjusted from 3)
W = 5 (adjusted from 10)
L = -5 (adjusted from –10)
QS = 10 (adjusted from 5)

Added Statistic: Holds = 2.5

Notes:
I have heard minimal complaints about the hitting formula so I will no changes will be made… The changes to W, L, QS are being made as to better reflect a pitcher’s performance and not his team’s… I had no idea how to quantify a “hold” in fantasy terms so I just made it half a save – feel free to send suggestions on holds.

Keeper Rules for This Offseason

Total Keepers Allowed: 5
Trade Deadline with 2008 Rosters: Saturday, March 14, 2009
Keeper Deadline: Saturday, March 14, 2009
Proposed Draft Date: Sunday, March 15, 2009 at 3 p.m.
- Players drafted in the first or second round in 2008 are NOT eligible to be kept.
- Players who were kept coming into this season who were drafted in the first or second round of 2007 are NOT eligible to be kept.
- Undrafted players from 2008 ARE eligible to be kept.
- Undrafted players from 2007 who were kept coming into this season ARE eligible to be kept.
- Undrafted players count as a 15th round pick
- Multiple undrafted players will count as a 15th, 14th, etc. round draft pick.

Here is the list of UNELIGIBLE keepers:
Vladimir Guerrero
Hanley Ramirez
Johan Santana
Jose Reyes
Albert Pujols
Chase Utley
Alex Rodriguez
Brandon Webb
Grady Sizemore
David Wright
Carl Crawford
Brandon Phillips
Ryan Howard
Ichiro Suzuki
Carlos Beltran
B.J. Upton
David Ortiz
Mark Teixeira
Carlos Zambrano
Carlos Lee
Justin Morneau
Troy Tulowitzki

Draft rounds three through twenty-eight:
(Note: The following players are eligible to be kept after this season is finished. Additional keeper rules are noted at the end of the post.)

Round Three
Roy Oswalt
Alex Rios
Victor Martinez
Nick Markakis
Miguel Cabrera (two years left of keeper eligibility)
John Lackey
Aramis Ramirez
Brian Roberts
Felix Hernandez
Travis Hafner (two years left of keeper eligibility)

Round Four
John Smoltz
Derrek Lee
Manny Ramirez
Garret Atkins (two years left of keeper eligibility)
Fausto Carmona
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Joe Mauer (two years left of keeper eligibility)
Derek Jeter
Jake Peavy (two years left of keeper eligibility)
Lance Berkman

Round Five
Yovani Gallardo
Alfonso Soriano
Tim Hudson
J.J. Putz
Carlos Guillen
Chipper Jones
Jimmy Rollins (two years left of keeper eligibility)
Bobby Abreu
Adam Dunn
Roy Halladay

Round Six
Hunter Pence
Jeff Francis
Michael Young
Matt Holliday (two years left of keeper eligibility)
Hideki Matsui
Adam Wainwright
Chris Young
Francisco Rodriguez
Eric Byrnes
Alex Gordon

Round Seven
Matt Kemp
Robinson Cano
Mike Lowell
Miguel Tejada
Brad Penny
Brian McCann
Takashi Saito
Carlos Pena
Chone Figgins
Joe Nathan

Round Eight
Chad Billingsley
Khalil Greene
Aaron Rowand
Javier Vazquez
Ben Sheets
James Shields
Brett Meyers
Brad Hawpe
Matt Cain
Ian Kinsler

Round Nine
Ryan Zimmerman
Chien-Ming Wang
Conner Jackson
Torii Hunter
Francisco Liriano
Orlando Hudson
Chris B. Young
Mariano Rivera
Placido Polanco
Adrian Gonzalez

Round Ten
A.J. Burnett
Jose Valverde
Jorge Posada
Pat Burrell
Johnny Damon
Billy Wagner
Kelvim Escobar
Gary Sheffield
Jim Thome
Adrian Beltre

Round Eleven
Jeremy Bonderman
Bobby Jenks
Jered Weaver
Pedro Martinez
Francisco Cordero
Gil Meche
John Maine
Justin Verlander (two years left of keeper eligibility)
Geovany Soto
Kenji Johjima

Round Twelve
Howie Kendrick
Brad Lidge
Billy Butler
Dustin Pedroia
James Loney
Kevin Youkilis
Dan Haren (two years left of eligibility)
Rich Hill
Phil Hughes
Joe Blanton

Round Thirteen
Ivan Rodriguez
Jason Varitek
Kosuke Fukudome
Dustin McGowan
Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Jason Isringhausen
Cory Hart
Todd Helton
Clay Buchholtz
Zack Greinke

Round Fourteen
Oliver Perez
Dontrelle Willis
Mark Buehrle
Huston Street
Rafael Soriano
Al Reyes
Derrek Lowe
Ian Snell
Ubaldo Jimenez
Greg Maddux

Round Fifteen
Rich Harden
Trevor Hoffman
Scott Kazmir (two years left of keeper eligibility)
Jeremy Guthrie
Brian Bannister
Jacoby Ellsbury
Jeff Francoeur
Jon Lester
Randy Johnson
Joe Borowski

Round Sixteen
Mark Prior
Juan Pierre
Shane Victorino
Josh Beckett (two years left of keeper eligibility)
Hiroki Kuroda
Jacque Jones
Micah Owings
Vernon Wells
Homer Bailey
Andy Pettitte

Round Seventeen
Nick Swisher
Chad Cordero
Tom Gorzelanny
Coco Crisp
Magglio Ordonez (two years left of keeper eligibility)
Edgar Renteria
Dan Uggla
Bronson Arroyo
Joakim Soria
Josh Hamilton

Round Eighteen
Jay Bruce
Ty Wiggington
J.J. Hardy
Dave Bush
Paul Konerko
Jason Bay
Michael Bourn
Shaun Marcum
Evan Longoria
Andruw Jones

Round Nineteen
Joba Chamberlain
Erik Bedard (two years left of keeper eligibility)
Jeremy Accardo
Michael Cuddyer
Matt Capps
Jorge Cantu
Delmon Young
Manny Corpas
Matt Garza
J.D. Drew

Round Twenty
Kevin Kouzmanoff
Jeff Kent
Melky Cabrera
Barry Zito
Kevin Gregg
Frank Thomas
Todd Jones
Kelly Johnson
Kerry Wood
David DeJesus

Round Twenty-one
Cole Hamels (two years left of keeper eligibility)
Johnny Cueto
Yorvit Torrealba
Rick Ankiel
Curtis Granderson (two years left of keeper eligibility)
Chris Duncan
Jack Cust
Carlos Marmol
Rickie Weeks
Chad Tracy

Round Twenty-two
Rafael Furcal
Jason Giambi
Aaron Cook
Jake Westbrook
Tony Pena
Nate Robinson
Kyle Kendrick
Josh Fields
Jermaine Dye
Kevin Correia

Round Twenty-three
Cameron Maybin
Adam Miller
Freddy Sanchez
Jhonny Peralta
Franklin Morales
Colby Rasmus
Bengie Molina
Bartolo Colon
Andrew Miller
Chris Sampson

Round Twenty-four
Joey Votto
Chuck James
Scott Baker
Brandon Lyon
Ervin Santana
Hideki Okajima
Tom Glavine
Steven Drew
J.R. Towels
Adam Jones

Round Twenty-five
David Price
Scott Hatteberg
Ryan Church
Ramon Hernandez
Kenny Rogers
Braden Looper
Josh Willingham
Daniel Cabrera
Tim Wakefield
Jhonny Estrada

Round Twenty-six
Clayton Kershaw
Yunel Escobar
Hank Blaylock
Pat Neshek
Lastings Millage
Troy Glaus
Aubrey Huff
Jon Garland
Brandon Wood
Jeff Suppan

Round Twenty-seven
Andre Either
Cliff Lee
Paul Byrd
Gustavo Chachin
Ryan Garko
Jair Jurrjens
Willie Blumquest

Round Twenty-eight
Carlos Delgado
Shawn Hill
Mark Mulder

A Really Overdue Blog Post

Note to self: Working with SPED kids does not increase blog productivity.

Additional Note to Self: Not having the internet seriously hinders posting on blogs.

One More Note to Self: Not having a computer makes having the internet difficult.

Next topic!

***

This season is only eight days away from being over. THANK GOD!!! What a disastrous season it has been. Any time Andrew has the number one seeded team and 20 wins should tip people off that something extremely foul is afoot. Seriously, 20 wins for Andrew? Really??? And what the hell is Joel doing in the playoffs? Andrew and Joel are living proof that anybody, ANYBODY, can win a fantasy league.

Anyway, we’ll do this whole season in review thing later. For now, there are still those 8 days we have to mercilessly live through.

WHAT IS BECOMING THE OBVIOUS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Baring something insane happening, Andrew and Erik are going to be playing for the league title. I hope they both lose.

Each team is built on pitching and has multiple guys with over 400 points.

Andrew: CC Sabathia, Francisco Rodriguez, Mariano Rivera, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Johan Santana

Erik: Roy Oswalt, Jake Peavy, Tim Lincecum, Cole Hamels, Chad Billingsley, Rich Harden, Josh Beckett, A.J. Burnett

While Erik clearly has a pitching edge he almost losses all of it because of his poor lineup. Erik has four hitters who have yet to hit 400 points on the season and only three who have passed the 600-point plateau. In comparison, Andrew has just one starting hitter who has yet to surpass 600 points. To add to Erik’s problems, it is likely Gary Sheffield will be suspended for a few games this week (baring an appeal) and will leave Erik without a legit DH for championship week.

There will be more on this Monday.

CHECK THE BLOG SUNDAY

I have already written and scheduled for a post to show up Sunday that will detail Keeper rules and point changes for next season. Please get back to me after you read the post with your thoughts and comments.