RULES FOR NEWTON SOUTHEAST LITTLE LEAGUE

2013 MAJOR LEAGUE DRAFT (updated 2/16/2013)

1) The draft shall be “open” -twelve, eleven, and tenyear olds shall be selected from one pool. Nine year olds are eligible per little league rules and may be invited to tryout. New players must have tried out in order to be drafted (unless approved by the board prior to the draft). All 12 year olds, returning players, and players reentering the draft must be drafted before completion of the draft.

2) The draft order shall be “snaked";the team drafting in the first position in odd number rounds shall draft in the last position in even number rounds, the team drafting in the last position in odd number rounds shall draft in the first position in even number rounds, and all positions in between shall be comparably shifted.

3) Teams will select in the following order (first round of snake draft). Draft slots cannot be traded/swapped:

  • In years where all teams are blown up (e.g. 2013), each manager will draw a # from a hat to determine draft order. The # you draw will be the slot in the draft you will pick.
  • In years where returning players remain with their teams (e.g. 2014), team’s will draft in reverse of their seeding in prior year’s playoffs.

4) Each team will draft for a number of rounds equal to that number of twelve year olds that were on the roster of that team during the playoffs of the prior year. In the event of a “blow up” year or in a year when the roster size changes, each team will draft in the number of rounds it takes to fill up the roster size. Each team, regardless of the number of total rounds in which it is to draft, will draft in the order dictated by the "snake” system described in Rule 2.

5) If a player who has further year(s) of eligibility with a team decides to not play any longer in Newton Southeast Little League for any reason (and teams are kept together), that team shall be assigned an extra pick at the end of a designated round based on the round that the player (or in the case of a substitute under Rules 13 or 14, the substituted for player) was originally drafted. To substitute for a player originally chosen in the first round, the sandwich pick shall be after the first round; to substitute for a player chosen in the second round, after the second round; to substitute for third and fourth round picks, after the third round; to substitute for fifth and sixth round picks, after the fourth round; to substitute for seventh and eighth round picks, after the fifth round. If there are more than one pick after any particular round, a team that loses a player who was selected two years previously shall have priority over a team that loses a player who was selected one year previously. If both players were selected in the same year, the team that loses the player that was selected first shall have priority.

6) A player who has further year(s) of eligibility with a team may not reenter the draft after resigning from his or her team unless the player claims an irreconcilable conflict with the player’s head manager in the prior year and that manager continues as manager of the player’s former team. In such a case, each of the remaining teams shall have an opportunity to claim the player with its first round draft pick, and the player shall be assigned as the first round pick of that claiming team that wins a special lottery drawing for that player. If no team claims the player as its first round pick, the player mustbe chosen in the normal course of the draft at any time pursuant to rule 9.

7) The Major League Commissioner (Commissioner) after consultation with the President of the League (President) or someone designated by him and the managers of each team shall determine the minimum number of twelve year olds who must be drafted. In setting this number, the Commissioner shall take into account the desire of twelve year olds to play one year in the major league, possible safety risks of having relatively unskilled players in the major league, and the maximum and minimum number of twelve year olds allowed under the national Williamsport Little League Rules. Whatever the number set, no team will be allowed to complete its draft with more twelve year olds on its roster than one more than the number of twelve year olds on the roster of any other team, and no team will be allowed to complete its draft with fewer twelve year olds than one less than the number of twelve year olds on the roster of any other team. The only exception is if teams already have more 12 year olds returning than the number of 12 year olds all teams must end with then they can finish the draft with their existing roster of 12 year olds.

8) The Commissioner, after consultation with the President or a designee and managers of each team, also shall determine whether each team shall have to draft a minimum number of ten year olds and/or eleven year olds.

9) If at any time during the draft, because of numbers established by the Commissioner pursuant to Rules (7.) and/or (8.) above, only one team remains eligible to draft from a particular age group or returning player pool (in the event of a blow up year OR players that reenter the draft pursuant to Rule (6)), that team must use its next draft selection to pick from that age group.

10) When a player entering the draft has a sibling currently on the roster of a team and the parents request that siblings be on the same team, that team must select the draft-eligible player at the position that the Commissioner, after consultation with the President or his designee and managers, shall determine that the new player reasonably would be selected by the sibling’s team. If the player is borderline draft worthy, the team and Commissioner can agree to leave the sibling undrafted.

11) When siblings enter the draft together and the parents of the siblings request that the siblings be on the same team, the Commissioner after consultation with the President or his designee board member(s) and managers, shall determine the round in the draft each sibling reasonably would be selected. If a team selects one of the siblings, that team must select the second sibling on the round assigned to the second sibling, or, if that round has passed, with its next available pick. If the younger sibling is picked first, the older sibling must be picked in the same draft by the same team. A team drafting the older sibling does not have to draft the younger sibling.

12) When a parent assigned by the President and Commissioner and approved by the Board to manage a particular team has a child in the draft, the Commissioner after consultation with the President(or designee board member(s)) and managers, shall determine the round of the draft the child reasonably would be selected. The parent-manager shall have the opportunity to select the child on that round or, if preferred, to remove the child from the draft for that year. (This Rule, in the discretion of the Commissioner and with the consent of all managers, may also apply to the child of a parent assigned by the Commissioner to be an assistant manager or coach of a particular team.)

13)The Commissioner, after consultation with the President or a designee and managers of each team, shall determine the roster size for the upcoming season based on the number of openings, the number of eligible players trying out, and the quality of players trying out.

A replacement player will be determined as follows: the team manager shall submit to the minor league commissioner a list of 3 names of minor league players who had tried out for the majors. The minor league commissioner(s) shall select a player from that list to be brought up to the majors. The minor league commissioner(s) can consult with the major league commissioner, the President, and the player agent before making a decision. The need for a replacement player will depend on the roster size as follows below:

13a) 13 player rosters:If a Major league team loses 1 player during the season, the team will play with 12 players. If a team loses a second player at any time during the season, the team must request a replacement player.

13b) 12 player rosters: If a Major league team loses 1 player during the season, the team will play with 11 players. If a team loses a second player at any time during the season, the team must request a replacement player.

13c) 11 player rosters: If a Major league team loses 1 player during the season, the team must request a replacement player.

14) If a player is injured at anytime during the season, the player may forfeit his or her place on the team for that season. If the player wishes not to forfeit his or her place on that team for the season, the player/ team must obtain commissioner approval.

15) [eliminated in 2012 starting with 2013 draft]Prior to the draft commencing, teams may opt to pick in any slot not previously picked by a lower seeded team (based on the order specified in rule 3 above). The lowest seed team can pick any of the six draft positions. The next lowest seed can then pick any remaining slot not already occupied by a team picking before it, until all remaining slots are filled. The draft will then be conducted in accordance with rule 2 above (“a snake”) once the order of the first round is determined by this rule.

16) After all rounds of the draft are complete, the draft will end. No trading of players is allowed at any time. teams are free to swap / trade current year drafted players if both teams agree. Once the draft is declared complete, there will be no swapping / trading allowed.

17) Prior to the current year draft, any draft rule change proposals will be discussed by the managers. Any proposed changes will then be voted on by the board at the next scheduled board meeting on but will not go into effect until the following year’s draft.

18) In the event of contraction, the players from the contracted team re-enter the draft pool and must be selected during the course of the draft pursuant to rule 9.
Appendex:

2013 Decisions:Steve Brooks (Commissioner) and Bob Gelles (Player Agent) will make all decisions regarding slotting, age caps, etc. for 2013.

2012 Decisions: as voted on by: Phillies (Lee, Pappas), Tigers (Miller, Norcross), Orioles (Taft, Justin), Dodgers (Krantz, Taylor), Cubs (Weiss, Ebling), Red Sox (Sack, Wallace, Goldblatt). Gelles and Brooks presiding.

  • Rule 15 (“sliding”) was eliminated by 3-2 decision (Sox/Orioles/Dodgers voting for; Cubs abstained).
  • 2007 version of rule 4 (not enforced for 2008-2012) was voted down by 4 teams (Sox/Cub/Dodgers/Orioles). Teams will not be forced to draft in last round.
  • Regular season rule proposed – establishment of Replacement Player pool. Gelles, Goldblatt, Brooks to verify if allowed within Little League rules. Need to amend that replacement players must have tried out for majors. Teams want a certain player designated to their team rather than a pool of players that switch between teams.

Proposal(s) for 2014 draft:

  • Add an ability to set a cap on # of players from an age group (10s) – i.e. 2 per team (max or must) – addition to rule 8 to add a max from an age group?
  • Add provision for expansion – what happens when add a new team?

Waiver approved for 2013 (must be re-approved each year). The spirit of the rules we have documented (rules 10-12) are still in effect and we should do our best to honor parent’s wishes in terms of siblings in draft.

Dear Ellen,

NSELL would like to requesta waiver from the Draft rules entitled "Options on Sons, Daughters and Siblings". In NSELL this year, some of the children of managers are clearly in the top players in the league (i.e. would be drafted in the first round if their parent were not a manager). However, by LL rules, the parent manager could choose not to draft their child until the 3rd round (12 year old) etc. Upon review, we feel that this would lead to an unfair situation whereby the parent/manager would essentially be allowed two first round picks: the player drafted in the first round and his own son in the third round. After careful discussion, we believe that the rules proposed below will lead to a more fair outcome. Please note that neither of our major league commissioners have a child in the major leagues (indeed, this is a requirement in NSELL to be a league commissioner). Therefore, our commissioners do not have a conflict of interest in this regard. The rules we propose for NSELL are:

When the parent(s) of a player entering the Major League Draft desire that the player be placed on the team with his/her siblings and/or manager parent; then

1. when a player available in the Major League Draft has a sibling currently on the roster of a major league team; and/or

2. when two or more siblings are available to be drafted in the Major League Draft; and/or

3. when the child of a manager is available to be drafted in the Major League Draft;

the League Commissioners, in consultation with the Player Agent and the Major League managers, and subject to the approval of the (Co-)President(s),shall determine the round of the draft in which the child or siblings shall be selected, and the player(s) shall thereafter be selected in that draft round, unless (except regarding 12 year olds)the manager of the team so impacted shall decline such selection(s) in which event the player(s) shall be eligible to be drafted without regard to this rule.

The determination of the Commissioners shall be published to the Player Agent, Major League Managers and (Co-)President(s) at least 24 hours before the Major League Draft.

Sincerely,

Charlie Roberts

Co-President

NSELL