§ 1 General Provisions
The rules provided by Yahoo! govern all transactions, unless otherwise specified by these rules.

§ 2 Rule Changes
(a) The commissioner may change or amend any of the rules herein. The changes may be vetoed by a vote to disaffirm the change by a majority of the owners in the league.
(b) An owner that does not submit a vote within seven days after notice of the rule change is deemed in favor of the change.

§ 4 Major League Roster
A maximum of twenty-eight (28) players are allowed on a team's major league roster. There are no non-roster disabled list positions.

§ 5 Minor League Roster
(a) A maximum of six (6) players are allowed on a team's minor league roster.
(b) A player may be placed on a minor league roster only at the start of the MLB season and only if that player starts the season on a minor league team. A qualifying player may be moved from the team's major league roster to the team's minor league roster within the first seven days of the MLB season.
(c) A player who starts the season on the disabled list of a major league baseball team may be placed on a team's minor league roster only if that player has met the criteria for a salary exemption as defined in section fourteen, excluding the provisions relating to designated hitters, in each year of his professional career.
(d) A player on a minor league roster may be placed on the major league roster at any time during the season. Once a player is on the major league roster, he may not be put on the minor league roster unless the criteria of subsection (b) are met.

§ 6 Starting Lineup
The starting lineup consists of one catcher, one first-baseman, one second-baseman, one third-baseman, one shortstop, three outfielders, four starting pitchers, and four relief pitchers. There is no DH or utility position in the starting lineup.

§ 7 Number of Games Per Position
A team is allowed 162 player games for each non-pitching position. A team's pitchers are allowed to throw a total of 1200 innings. All statistics accumulated for a position will count on the day that the game or inning limit is met. Thus, it is possible to exceed the inning limit for pitchers.

§ 8 Scoring System
The scoring system is as follows:

§ 10 Player Contracts
(a) All players on a team's active roster must be signed to a contract at a salary that is equal to or exceeds the league minimum salary. The minimum salary requirement need only be met at the time the player is signed. In contract years after the signing year, a player's salary may be below the league minimum.
(b) If the salary cap is increased more than ten percent from one season to the next, the current player contracts shall be increased to make the effective increase of the salary cap equal to ten percent.

§ 11 Contract Lengths
A player obtained through the free agent auction may be signed to a contract for a minimum of one year to a maximum of five years. A free agent acquired during the season may be signed to a contract for that season only.

§ 12 Minimum Player Salary
The minimum league salary is equal to one percent of the league salary cap. For the 2002 season, the league minimum salary is fifty cents. The minimum salary shall be rounded to the nearest five-cent increment.

§ 13 Player Contracts Guaranteed
All player contracts are guaranteed, meaning an owner must pay for the player's entire salary for each year of the player's contract, subject to the exceptions listed in sections fourteen through eighteen.

§ 14 Player Salary Exception - Injury or Ineligibility
(a) If a non-pitcher does not play at least ten games for a MLB team, the player's salary does not count against the team's salary cap and the owner need not pay that player's salary.
(b) If a starting pitcher makes three or less starts AND throws less than 21 innings for a MLB team, the player's salary does not count against the team's salary cap and the owner need not pay that player's salary. To qualify as a starting pitcher, the player must not appear in a game as a relief pitcher for the entire MLB season.
(c) If a relief pitcher does not throw at least seven innings for a MLB team, the player's salary does not count against the team's salary cap and the owner need not pay that player's salary.
(d) If a player is only eligible to play the DH position for the entire season, the player's salary does not count against the team's salary cap and the owner need not pay that player's salary.
(e) This section does not apply to players that were on a team's minor league roster at any point during the season. Thus, if a player is called up from the minor league roster, that team must pay the full salary for that player even though the exceptions listed in (a) through (d) may apply.
(f) An owner must notify the commissioner within seven days after the final day of MLB regular season to claim an exemption for that season under this rule.

§ 15 Player Salary Exception - Released Player
(a) If a player is waived (removed from the team's major league roster) by a team prior to the expiration of the player's contract, the owner must pay the full amount of the player's salary in the year the player was waived, and thirty percent of the player's salary for every other year remaining on the player's contract. For example, if a player is signed to a three-year contract and is waived in year one, the owner is responsible for the player's full salary in year one and thirty percent of the salary in years two and three.
(b) If a player is waived before the start of the free agent auction, but after the end of the previous MLB season, that player is not considered to be on that team's roster for that season. Thus, if a team waives a player before the auction, the owner must pay only thirty percent of the player's salary.

§ 16 Player Salary Exception - Acceleration of Contract
(a) If a player is waived, that player's salary in future years (as determined by section fifteen) may be accelerated adding future contract obligations to the player's salary for the current year.
(b) Only the entire salary obligation for a future contract year may be accelerated, acceleration of salary obligations for a partial contract year is not allowed.
(c) If an owner has salary responsibility for a waived player in more than one future year, the last year of salary obligation must be accelerated before any year prior to the last year of salary obligation may be accelerated.
(d) An owner must notify the commissioner within seven days of the season's end to accelerate a contract obligation to that season.

§ 17 Player Salary Exception - Trade
(a) If a player is traded, the parties to the trade will assume the contracts of the players received in the trade. The parties to the trade may split the salaries of the players as desired. Assigning portions of the player's salary is referred to as a trade adjustment.
(b) A player's salary may be adjusted for multiple years, but the adjustment must be equal for each year in which the salary is adjusted and may not exceed the length of the traded player's contract.

§ 18 Player Salary Exception - Minor League Players
(a) The salary of the players on a team's minor league roster at the end of the season do not count against the team's salary cap.
(b) Only thirty percent of the player's salary for that year must be paid if a player is on a team's minor league roster at the end of the season

§ 20 Team Salary Restrictions
(a) The salary cap for the 2002 season is $50. The salary cap will increase ten percent each season starting with the 2003 season. Team's salaries that exceed the salary cap are subject to a luxury tax.
(b) Each team must have salary responsibilities greater than or equal to fifty percent of the salary cap. A team that does not meet this requirement must pay a penalty equal to the difference between the team's salary responsibility and an amount equal to fifty percent of the salary cap.

§ 21 Luxury Tax
A luxury tax shall be paid on all player salaries that exceed the salary cap in accordance with the following:

§ 22 Owner Fees
Each owner must pay a league fee in the amount of its player's salaries plus any luxury tax or other penalties assessed under these rules.

§ 23 League Prizes
(a) All fees collected shall be distributed to the league winner(s). The fees collected for player salaries up to the amount of the salary cap and penalties under section 20(b) are to be distributed to the league winners for that season. The fees collected for player salaries in excess of the salary cap and luxury taxes are distributed in the following season.
(b) Twenty-five percent of the total prize distribution for the season shall be paid to the top finishers in the tournament held during the regular season. The balance of the prize fund shall be awarded to the teams with the most total points in accordance with the following table:

 

(c) The prize amounts provided in the table shall be rounded to the nearest dollar. Any excess due to rounding shall be added to the first place prize amount. Any shortfall due to rounding shall be taken from the lowest placed team on the prize distribution scale.

§ 24 Tournament
(a) The top 16 teams in the total points standings are eligible for the tournament. The commissioner shall assign seeds based on the standings. The tournament shall be double-elimination.
(b) Each tournament game begins on the Tuesday of the week designated by the commissioner and ends on the following Sunday. A team will be credited with the statistics accumulated during those days subject provisions of this section.
(c) A team shall be credited with all of the points scored for the eight starting non-pitching positions on the roster.
(d) A team shall be credited with all of the points scored for the pitchers in the RP starting positions unless the pitcher in the RP starting position starts a MLB game. In the case, the team will not receive credit for the points scored by that pitcher for that day (i.e., no RP starts).
(e) A team shall be credited with the first five starts during the week for pitchers in the SP starting positions. If the number of pitchers making a start in the SP starting positions on a particular day exceeds the number of eligible starts left for that team, then the team shall be credited with the points scored by the first pitchers listed in the four SP starting positions until the maximum number of starts is reached. For example, if a team has one start left and two SPs listed, the team will get credit for the first pitcher making a start that is listed in the SP starting positions.
(f) A team shall not be credited with points scored by relievers in the SP starting positions.
(g) Each team is responsible for reporting its score for the week to the commissioner during the Monday following the game week.
(h) In the event of a tie, the high seed wins.
(i) The prizes for the tournament shall be paid to the winning teams in the following percentages:

§ 30 Free Agent Auction
Before each season, all free agents (players not on an active roster) are auctioned and acquired by the highest bidding team.

§ 31 Free Agents Not Acquired Through the Auction
During the season, free agents may be acquired for the league minimum salary. Free agents not selected in the auction may NOT be acquired until the day before the season begins. The season begins on the first day of the MLB season.

§ 32 Free Agent Player Salaries
If a free agent is acquired through the free agent auction, the player's salary (contract) amount is equal to the winning bid in the free agent auction. If a free agent is acquired during the season, the player's salary is equal to the league minimum salary. The player's salary shall be the same for any subsequent year in that player's contract.

§ 33 Determining the Length of Free Agent Contracts
The owner shall determine the length of a player acquired through the free agent auction in accordance with section eleven. The owner must notify the commissioner of the contract length within fourteen days of the beginning of the MLB season. If the commissioner is not notified during the required period, a one-year contract shall be assigned.

§ 35 Unlisted Free Agents
(a) A player who is not listed on Yahoo when the season begins is put on waivers when the player is added to the player list. In the event that Yahoo does not place new players on waivers when they are added to the player list the rules set forth in subparts (b) and (c) apply.
(b) If a player is not listed as an active player on the fantasy sports website on which the league is organized, that player may be retained in accordance with the following:
(1) Notifying each owner of the name, position, and team of the player to be claimed. This requirement can be satisfied by posting a notice on the message board on the league page, if applicable, or by sending an e-mail to every owner in the league; and
(2) Dropping a roster player if the team claiming the unlisted player has the maximum number of players on its roster. Alternatively, the owner can pick up a non-active player and use that player as a placeholder until the unlisted player becomes available.
(c) A team loses its right to an unlisted free agent if the roster spot vacated for the unlisted player is filled by another player, or if a non-active player is used as a placeholder, the team will lose its rights if that player is waived, or is placed in the starting lineup and accumulates fantasy statistics.

§ 36 Waivers
A player that has been dropped from a team is on waivers for a period of time specified by the commissioner before the start of the season. While on waivers, each owner will have the opportunity to request that the player be added to his or her team. The team with the highest waiver priority will have the requested player added to its roster.

§ 37 Wavier Priority
The waiver priority is set at the beginning of the season. The team that finished last in the previous season shall have the highest waiver priority. The team that finished second-to-last in the previous season shall be second in waiver priority, and so on. When a team claims a player from waivers, it moves to the bottom of the waiver priority list.

§ 40 Trading Players
When a player is acquired through trade, the new owner assumes the player's contract-both the contract amount and length. The salary for the current year shall be split in accordance with section seventeen.

§41 Assigning Player Contracts
Player contracts may be assigned from one team to another if the assignment occurs before the MLB season begins and the player contract was obtained in the free agent auction during the same season that the assignment occurs.

§ 42 Trade & Assignment Approval
(a) All trades must be fair are subject to the approval of the commissioner.
(b) Trades shall be analyzed by looking at a totality of the circumstances. The commissioner shall consider each player's ability in comparison to their salary, the salary responsibility of each party to the trade, each team's position in the standings, and any other factor that may be relevant to the fairness determination.
(c) Player assignments are presumed unfair and shall be analyzed under a higher standard of scrutiny as compared to player trades.
(d) Trades involving a team owned by the commissioner can be vetoed by an affirmative vote by the majority of all owners not involved in the trade to veto the trade. All votes to veto the trade must be received within five days of notice of the pending trade. Owners that do not submit their votes within the specified period are deemed to approve the trade.

§ 43 Appealing Trade Rulings
(a) One or both teams involved in the trade may appeal a trade that is denied by the commissioner. On appeal, the trade ruling may be overturned by:
(1) The decision of the commissioner, or
(2) An affirmative vote by a majority of all owners not involved in the trade to allow the trade.
(b) All votes to overturn the decision of the commissioner must be received within five days of the commissioner's veto of the trade. All owners that do not submit their votes within specified period are deemed approve of the commissioner's veto.

§ 44 Canceling Trades
A pending trade may be cancelled by notifying the commissioner before the trade is approved. One party to the transaction may cancel the trade unilaterally.

§ 45 Trading Deadline
The commissioner shall set a trading deadline before the start of each season. Trades will not be allowed after the trading deadline for the duration of that season. Off-season trades are permitted.