NFBC Cutline Championship Rules

[Greg Ambrosius]

We have thought long and hard about creating a "Best Ball" type of fantasy baseball game that could be interesting for our die-hard NFBC members and still lure in new players to our contests and we think we have a pretty good creation. It's still in the working stages and we still have a lot of work to do on the technical side to pull this off, but I think we are on the verge of creating a new monster game for the fantasy baseball industry.

The goal of the NFBC Cutline Championship is to create a contest that allows owners to draft every night, build a winning championship team through drafting and minimal in-season pickups, and then let the computer pick your optimal scoring lineup every single week. And then of course we'll have a cool survivor element to the final weeks of the playoffs where the top teams are trying to survive, advance and then excel for the top prize money. Having the chance to win $50,000 for a $125 entry isn't bad, either.

We found out in football that this impulse buy and the ability to draft a full team quickly with little to no work during the season was a big hit with our players and with new people who joined the NFFC for the first time. Creating a similar format for baseball was tougher because of the roster sizes, the new scoring method that had to be created to allow an optimal scoring lineup and of course the depth of the rosters due to injuries, minor-league callups and more.

Again, this isn't a final version of the rules because I think there are some areas of tweaking that still needs to be done, but here's a tentative version of our game. We want to hear from you about the rules and get your feedback here. It's not 100 percent that this game will go off this year, but we are doing all we can to get that done and start drafts in January if possible. Your feedback is wanted here, so give us your honest opinions.

Here's the rules for the 2014 NFBC Cutline Championship:

OFFICIAL RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE NATIONAL FANTASY BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP (NFBC) CUTLINE CHAMPIONSHIP
1. Overview
The National Fantasy Baseball Championship Cutline Championship will consist of multiple leagues each comprised of 10 teams/managers. This is a “Best Ball” format where the computer will pick a team’s optimal scoring lineup throughout the season, giving owners the best possible lineup every single week. The top two teams from each league after the regular season will advance to the Championship Round and attempt to survive above the cutline in each of the three-week playoff periods.

Teams will initially draft 30 players online. Rosters will be expanded to 35 players via FAAB before Week 1, with owners having the option to add 5 new players without dropping any players. A second set of FAAB will take place before Week 5 and again allow owners to expand rosters to 40 players at that time. A third FAAB will follow before Week 8 where owners can expand rosters to 45. The fourth and final FAAB will be held before Week 12. The NFBC Cutline Championship has a regular season, which concludes just prior to the MLB All-Star Break, and a championship playoff which runs for 9 weeks beginning in the week of the All-Star Break and ending in mid-September.

Teams will compete in a points-based system with the computer picking your optimal scoring lineup each week (Monday through Sunday) from the required 23 starting positions. Categories include:

For Hitters
Home Run: 6 points
Stolen Base: 5 points
Hit: 4 points
Run: 2 points
RBI: 2 points
At-bat: -1 point

For Pitchers
Win: 6 points
Save: 6 points
Inning Pitched: 3 points
Strikeout: 1 point
Hit or Walk Allowed: -1 point
Earned Run Allowed: -2 points

The Cutline Championship is a points-based league designed to approximate the relative contribution value of batter and pitcher outcomes in standard NFBC rotisserie leagues. The Cutline Championship has a regular season, which concludes just prior to the MLB All-Star Break, and a championship playoff which runs for 9 weeks beginning in the week of the All-Star Break and ending in mid-September. Cost of entry is $125 per team.

A starting lineup will consist of 14 hitters and 9 pitchers, with the same positions and position eligibility of standard NFBC leagues. Scoring is automatic, with each team’s highest scoring players assigned to the available starting lineup slots at the end of each week (Monday through Sunday). Accordingly, each week a team’s highest scoring lineup of 2 catchers, 1 first baseman, 1 second baseman, 1 third baseman, 1 shortstop, 1 Middle Infielder (2b or SS), 1 Corner Infielder (1b or 3b), 5 Outfielders, 1 Utility Hitter and 9 pitchers will count towards that team’s points.

DRAFT AND FREE AGENTS
Each league will consist of 10 teams participating in a 30-round draft. Rosters will expand to 45 players per team through FAAB.

Each team will have a free agent acquisition budget of $1000, but there will be only 4 free agent periods during the regular season and none during the championship playoff. The first free agent period will be prior to Week 1, followed by the end of the 4th full week of the baseball season, the 8th full week and the 12th full week. Players will be allowed to pick up as many free agents each week as they’d like, with five pickups being allowed without cutting a player during the first three FAAB periods. If an owner picks up less than five players during any of those weeks, they have the right to expand to the roster limit in the following FAAB periods. At no time can any team roster have more than the required number of players on their roster per period.

CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF
The top two teams in each league will advance to the Championship Playoff. The Playoffs will consist of 3 rounds and each round will be 3 weeks in duration.

Round 1 (July 11 through Aug. 3) – Each advancing team from the regular season will begin this round with their weekly average point total from the season, which will be combined with their 3-week playoff total, for a Round 1 Total Score.

Round 2 (Aug. 4 through Aug. 24) – The highest scoring 50% of teams from Round 1 will advance to this round, while the remaining teams will be eliminated from the playoffs. Each team will begin this round with 25% of their Round 1 Total Score, which will be added to their total of the next 3 weeks for a Round 2 Total Score.

Round 3 (Aug. 25 through Sept. 14) – The highest scoring 50% of teams from Round 2 will advance to this final playoff round, while the remaining teams will be eliminated from the playoffs. Each team will begin this round with 25% of their Round 2 Total Score, which will be added to their total of the next 3 weeks for a Final Playoff Score.

2. Event Location and Fees
All NFBC Cutline Championship leagues will hold their drafts at nfbc.stats.com. The cost per entry is $125 and there is no events fee or co-manager fee.

Once you have signed up, you'll find your team link for this league under MY TEAMS and a link called DRAFT. There you'll find a DRAFT PREP link where you can rank the player default list for that online draft and all of the players will show up in your draft room exactly as you have ranked them. If you don't do that, the player default list will appear as STATS has it. Then on the day of your draft, the DRAFT ROOM link will appear and you'll enter the room there and draft your team. Use the Flash version if you have Flash on your computer and pick the player you want when it's your turn. There is a DRAFT BOARD link within the draft room that allows you to see colored stickers of every player being selected and to easily see the draft results.

3. Prizes
Prizes are awarded for league and overall standings.
Overall Prizes
1. First Place = $50,000
2. Second Place = $25,000
3. Third Place = $10,000
4. Fourth Place = $6,000
5. Fifth Place = $4,000
6. Sixth Place = $1,000
7. Seventh Place = $1,000
8. Eigth Place = $1,000
9. Nineth Place = $1,000
10. Tenth Place = $1,000

League Prizes
1. League Champion $250

Cash prizes are awarded in U.S. dollars and are awarded to the principal owner of the team. Teams can split prizes among multiple owners by filling out the proper paperwork with STATS' accounting department before season's end. In the event of a tie, cash prizes are divided evenly among those who have tied.

4. Draft
Each league will be comprised of 10 teams, and each draft will consist of 30 rounds, with each team selecting a player from the AL or NL in each round in a serpentine fashion (team 1 through team 10 in odd-numbered rounds, team 10 through team 1 in even-numbered rounds). In all NFBC draft leagues, you do not need to fill your 23 required starting positions with your first 23 picks; your No. 2 catcher could be selected with your 30th overall pick if you choose. Players will be selected from all 30 Major League Baseball teams and minor-league prospects are eligible to be selected on Draft Day.
Rosters will expand to 35 players through FAAB before Week 1 as owners can pick up additional players without cutting any drafted players, while still making additional pickups with cuts at that time. Five more players are added during each of the next two FAAB periods for a maximum roster size of 45 players. Each week the computer picks your optimal scoring roster from the 23 required starting positions and will add up your yearly point total.

Time Limit for Draft: There will be a 60-second time limit for each owner to make his/her pick during each round of the NFBC Cutline draft. If a participant does not make a selection in the allotted time, the computer will select the top player from that owner’s Player Que and if no player is in the Que then the top available player from the player’s default list will be selected. If there is a computer failure, an error made with a selection by an owner or any other type of technical malfunction, the draft moderator can stop the draft at any time and correct the error and then resume the draft. The NFBC reserves the right to allow the draft moderator to roll-back the draft if a technical error occurred, but if the desired player had already been selected before the draft was stopped, that player is no longer available to be drafted.

Commissioner Decisions: All decisions made by the NFBC commissioner are final. Tough decisions sometimes must be made about eligibility rules, lineups, etc., and NFBC participants must accept the unbiased ruling of the NFBC commissioner.

5. Random Draft Orders
The NFBC Cutline Championship will randomly select draft orders and announce them shortly after leagues are full. KDS is not used in the NFBC Cutline Championship.

6. No Trading
Trading is not allowed during the NFBC season and owners are not allowed to trade draft picks.

7. Roster Requirements
Maximum of 30 players on Draft Day, 45 players after Week 8 FAAB.

8. Starting Lineup Requirements
Starting lineups will consist of:
1. 2 Catchers
2. 1 First Baseman
3. 1 Second Baseman
4. 1 Shortstop
5. 1 Third Baseman
6. 1 Middle Infielder (2B/SS)
7. 1 Corner Infielder (1B/3B)
8. 1 Utility Player (any offensive position)
9. 5 Outfielders
10. 9 Pitchers

There is no innings pitched minimum requirement for NFBC Cutline Championship teams. All players must have played 20 games in 2013 or 10 games during the 2014 season to qualify at a certain position. Minor-leaguers who did not play 20 games at any position in 2013 but who still played at least one game in the majors last year, will qualify at the position they played the most at in the majors in 2013. Additional eligibility guidelines can be found in Section 9. If a player returns from retirement or rehab after missing the previous year, his position eligibility will be based on his previous year's eligibility. If no Week One lineup is submitted, the NFBC will determine your starting lineup. After Week One, if no starting lineup is submitted, your starting lineup will be that of the previous week.

9. Position Eligibility
The NFBC will use the following position eligibility rules in 2014:
a) Players who played at least 20 games at any position in 2013 will qualify at that position for the entire 2014 NFBC season. Players who play 10 games at a new position in 2014 will be eligible at that position after they have played there for the 10th time during the 2014 MLB regular season. Any player who missed all of the previous season to injury or retirement will qualify at the position he last was eligible for in the majors.

b) If a player did not appear in 20 games at any position, he qualifies at the one position he played most frequently the prior season in the majors. Designated Hitter is considered a position for these purposes (pinch-hitting is not). A player who only qualifies as a DH may only be assigned to the UT position. If a player's most games played at a position is less than 20 and tied among more than one position, the NFBC commissioner will assign eligibility at one position only.

c) Those players who only pinch-hit in the majors in 2013 will be position eligible according to their minor-league games played status in 2013. They would qualify at the position they played the most games in the minors.

d) Players who played all of 2013 in the minor leagues will be awarded position eligibility for the 2014 NFBC season based on the most games played at all levels in the minors. STATS will determine that one eligible position before Draft Day and that will determine that player's status for 2014 once he is called up to the majors. Those players who only pinch-hit or DH in the minors will only be UT-eligible.

e) The NFBC commissioner will rule on player eligibility prior to the draft as he deems necessary. Those eligibility lists are final and will be available to all owners prior to Draft Day.

10. League Management Web Address
You can access your team and league via the Internet by going to nfbc.stats.com. You will need a username and a password to access the game site. Contact [email protected] if you are signed up for the contest and do not have a username and password.

11. Lineup submission
The NFBC Cutline Championship has an optimal scoring lineup setup where the computer picks your highest scoring player from each of the 23 starting positions at the end of each week. Owners do not have to set their starting lineups at all during the season. Live league scoring and overall standings will be run in real-time, but the final calculation for each week is done after all Sunday games are complete. Weeks run from Monday through Sunday.

12. Free Agents
Any player who is not on a team roster within your league and is on a major league roster or once was on an NFBC team in your league is considered a free agent for that league. Even players on the MLB disabled list are eligible to be picked up during the FAAB bidding process. The player pool is deemed closed of new free agents each Sunday of the weekly FAAB deadline at 7 AM ET and a player must have played at least 1 MLB game to be added to the pool at that time. New For 2014: Once a minor-leaguer plays his first game in the majors, he remains in every NFBC FAAB pool whether he returns to the minors or not. Once in the majors, he remains in all FAAB pools. Participants should also note that MLB unsigned veteran free agents at the time of Draft Day are eligible to be picked up or bid on in all NFBC leagues.

Free Agent Bidding Process: The free agent system will be a "blind bidding" process for each individual league. Each team will start with 1,000 free agent "dollars" for the season, and will be permitted to bid for free agents four times per year with a minimum bid of $1 per player. Teams will not be able to see other teams' free agent bids. The team with the highest bid on any given player will be awarded that player. The amount of the winning bid will be deducted from the winning team's free agent dollars. JUST FOR THE NFBC CUTLINE: Owners will be allowed to add 5 free agents without cutting a player during each of the first 3 FAAB periods, and can add additional pickups by cutting players on their current roster. If a team's free agent dollars go to zero, that team will no longer be allowed to bid for the rest of the season. No bid will be accepted that is larger than a team's available free agent dollars. All bids must be in increments of dollars (no cents). Only winning bids and the runner-up bids on each player will be shown after the FAAB bidding period for each NFBC league.
Bidding Time Frame: There are only four free agent time periods in the NFBC Cutline:
FAAB 1: Sunday, March 30
FAAB 2: Sunday, April 27
FAAB 3: Sunday, May 25
FAAB 4: Sunday, June 22

The NFBC bidding process will start the week before Opening Day and run for the first time on Sunday, March 30. FAAB will run after Weeks 4, 8 and 12. There are no additional FAAB pickups in the Championship Round. Bids will be accepted on the league website from Monday at 3 PM ET until the Sunday deadline at 8 PM ET in each of these weeks. Rosters will be updated shortly after 8 PM ET on Sunday with the results of all successful bids. First and Last Free Agent Bidding Deadlines: The first free agent bidding deadline is Sunday, March 30, at 8 PM ET. The last free agent bidding deadline is after Week 12 on June 22nd.

The NFBC Cutline Championship has a unique FAAB system from our other games in which rosters are expanded after Draft Day by 5 spots on three different occasions. During those FAAB periods, NFBC owners can pick up five players without cutting anyone and still pick up additional players by cutting current players from rosters. There is no limit to the number of free agent pickups each FAAB period, but all owners are limited to their $1,000 FAAB budget. Rosters expand to 35 players before Week 1, 40 players after Week 4 and 45 players after Week 8. There are no free agent pickups after Week 12.
Conditional Bids: Conditional bids can also be offered. In the event you may lose out on a player, you can place conditional bid(s) for other players during the bidding time frame. Subsequent conditional bids will become relevant only if the previous conditional bid fails. Bids do not require conditional bids. Bids may have several sequential conditional bids. Participants should note that the computer takes the HIGHEST BIDS and processes each bid in that order if you have multiple FAAB acquisition bids. ALL BIDS WILL BE PROCESSED IN THE ORDER OF DOLLAR VALUE ASSIGNED TO THOSE FREE AGENTS, highest to lowest.

Example:
1. Acquire Jason Hammel, $19, cut Phil Hughes
2. Acquire Jon Garland, $16, cut Phil Hughes
3. Acquire Jeremy Guthrie, $2, cut Phil Hughes

Number of Bids Limit: There is no limit to the number of bids that may be submitted each week in which bids are permitted.
Tied Bids: If there is a tie bid during the season, the team that receives the player will be determined in order by
1. Worst league standing at the time FAAB was run (Sunday night using Saturday's standings).
2. Lowest standing the previous week.
3. Lowest draft position from Draft Day.

Any tied bids during the first FAAB period will be given to the team with the lowest draft order from Draft Day, whether there were a few games played before then or not.

Commissioner Review of Player Drops: All player drops for free agents are subject to review by the NFBC commissioner and can be revoked if the dropped player is deemed too valuable to be offered to that league's free agent pool, thus damaging the credibility of the overall contest. In the case of a "star" player being dropped in a league for a valid reason, the NFBC commissioner reserves the right to allow the cut but keep the player out of that league's free agent pool for any length of time, possibly the entire season. All decisions by the NFBC commissioner will be final.

13. Trades Between Managers
To minimize the possibility of collusion, there will be no trading allowed.

14. Scoring
The NFBC Cutline Championship is a “Best Ball” points style game and teams are trying to accumulate the most points in their league. Scoring is as follows:

PLAYER SCORING
Batter Scoring:
Home Run = 6 points
Stolen Base = 5 points
Hit = 4 points
Run = 2 points
RBI = 2 points
At-Bat = -1 point

Pitcher Scoring:
Win = 6 points
Save = 6 points
Inning Pitched = 3 points
Strikeout = 1 point
Hit or Walk Allowed: -1 point
Earned Run Allowed: - 2 points

Teams are ranked by most points accumulated each week. The top scoring team after the regular season finishes first and wins $250. The top two scoring teams in each league advance to the Championship Round.

CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF
The top two teams in each league will advance to the Championship Playoff. The Playoff will consist of 3 rounds, each round will be 3 weeks in duration.

Round 1 – Each advancing team from the regular season will begin this round with their weekly average point total from the season, which will be combined with their 3-week playoff total, for a Round 1 Total Score.

Round 2 – The highest scoring 50% of teams from Round 1 will advance to this round, while the remaining teams will be eliminated from the playoffs. Each team will begin this round with 25% of their Round 1 Total Score, which will be added to their total of the next 3 weeks for a Round 2 Total Score.

Round 3 – The highest scoring 50% of teams from Round 2 will advance to this final playoff round, while the remaining teams will be eliminated from the playoffs. Each team will begin this round with 25% of their Round 2 Total Score, which will be added to their total of the next 3 weeks for a Final Playoff Score.

15. Taxes
If the principal team owner's prize winnings are $600.00 or greater (or any other threshold subsequently established by the IRS), the National Fantasy Baseball Championship (“NFBC”) must file a Form 1099 with the IRS at the end of this calendar year. We will request your social security number and signature on this form. The form contains the amount paid to you and you will receive a copy of the form for tax purposes. STATS pays the principal team owner of each NFBC team that was submitted on the entry form and you are responsible for paying any taxes that result from your cash prize; please consult your income tax advisor for filing advice. In the event that the awarding of any prizes to winners of the Contest is challenged by any legal authority, STATS reserves the right in its sole discretion to determine whether or not to award such prizes. After 12 months, any unclaimed prize will be forfeited.

16. Eligibility; Registration
The National Fantasy Baseball Championship is open to individuals who are at least 18 years of age (or the age of majority in your state of residence) and are a resident of the United States of America or Canada. Notwithstanding the foregoing, residents of Washington State, Louisiana, Montana, Arizona, Iowa, and Vermont are not eligible to register or play in the NFBC. All registrations must be in the full legal name of the primary team owner, though owners will have the option to add a co-manager(s).

17. Official Rules
Registration for, and continued participation in, the National Fantasy Baseball Championship constitutes your full and unconditional agreement to these official rules (“Official Rules”) and to STATS’ decisions relating thereto. STATS’ decisions in regards to these Official Rules and all matters pertaining to the National Fantasy Baseball Championship are final and binding.

18. Refunds
Once a participant submits valid payment, no money will be refunded unless the NFBC event for which such participant has registered has been canceled. A team spot is considered filled when the entire entry fee is paid. STATS reserves the right to cancel any entries which are not part of a full league. In addition, STATS retains the right to deny, at its sole discretion, eligibility of any individual to register for any NFBC game or event and/or participate in any NFBC game or event, even after the registration fee has been paid, but in such case, the entry fee will be refunded. Under no condition shall STATS be held responsible for any loss or liability related to any expenses incurred by a denied entrant or any person affiliated with that denied entrant. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, in the event that any participant or co-manager is banned from the NFBC as the result of any violation of the Official Rules, then no refund will be given.

19. Cancellation
At its sole discretion, STATS reserves the right to terminate any NFBC game, event or league at any time prior to the completion of the season due to any acts of God, natural disasters, terrorism, change in applicable law, interruption of the season (including strikes, lockouts and/or use of replacement players), or any other situation beyond the control of STATS. In the event of any such termination by STATS, all entry fees will be refunded, with the exception of any live event fees (if such live event has already occurred).

At its sole discretion, STATS reserves the right to terminate any NFBC game, event or league (including the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Main Event) if there are an insufficient number of teams prior to the scheduled start of the league. In this unlikely event, STATS will refund all entry fees within 48 hours of cancellation notice and/or provide a new application form with the newly stated prize figures. In this situation, all pre-registered applicants have the right to a full refund or to agree to play for the newly announced prize structure. STATS is not responsible for any loss or liability incurred by any participant or co-managers due to cancellation of any NFBC game, event or league, including but not limited to travel or hotel expenses, time taken off from employment, etc.

20. Code of Conduct
All participants and co-managers are expected to behave in lawful, respectful and sportsman-like fashion at all live draft events, throughout the NFBC season, and during use of any NFBC website, including, but not limited to comments posted on any NFBC message board. Additionally the NFBC events, games and/or leagues may not be used for any form of gambling. Any conduct or message board post by a participant, co-manager or other person which is deemed by STATS, in its sole discretion, to be unlawful, or to have the effect of intimidating, harassing, offending or otherwise harming any other participant, co-manager, guest, or NFBC/STATS representative, is strictly prohibited. STATS reserves the right, in its sole discretion to ban any person from current and/or future participation in the NFBC and/or from use of the message boards if such person engages in any such prohibited conduct or is otherwise in violation of any of these Rules. In addition, any person engaging in such conduct forfeits any rights to a refund, as well as any potential rights to a prize award. STATS shall not be responsible or held liable to any person for damage to property or personal injury or death arising from the acts or omissions of any third parties. Any participants or co-managers who collude, or attempt to collude, or who attempts to blackmail, bribe or otherwise influence any representative of STATS/NFBC, or who otherwise attempts to sabotage the league, in an effort to alter the results or outcome of any NFBC game will be disqualified and will be prohibited from winning any prize award. If a participant is banned from participation in a current NFBC game, then STATS reserves the right, to take those actions which it sees fit, in its sole discretion with respect to such banned participant’s team. Any criminal behavior may be referred to the appropriate authorities.

21. Errors
The deadline for submitting any dispute or claim regarding the operation of any league draft is one hour after the conclusion of the draft itself; further, leaving any live draft event without submitting any dispute or claim regarding the draft constitutes your waiver of any right to challenge any aspect of the draft. You are strongly urged to double-check your lineups, trades, and free agent moves throughout the season, as STATS/NFBC will not be held liable for any errors in entering lineups, trades or free agent moves, and STATS/NFBC will not intervene or alter a transaction after lineups, trades or free agent moves are due.

22. Prize Splitting
Prize splitting amongst the principal registrant and co-managers is available, provided that the principal registrant has authorized payment to his co-managers in writing and in advance of the completion of the season. In order to authorize prize-splitting, the principal registrant must completely fill out and sign the authorization form designated by STATS (including the name and address of the co-manager(s) and the applicable prize percentage to be paid to each co-manager(s)). Both the principal registrant and each co-manager designated on a prize-splitting form will be required to fill out a W-9. No prize money will be distributed until all necessary forms have been received by STATS. Both the principal registrant and the co-manager(s) will receive IRS Form 1099 reflecting the prize money paid to each. If STATS deems, in its sole discretion, that the appropriate documentation and/or authorization has not been received, or has not been received in a timely fashion, then STATS will pay prize payments only to the principal registrant.

23. Communication and Access
All NFBC team owners must have internet access and a valid e-mail address for communication. STATS is not responsible for any issues which impede or interfere with the transmission or receipt of any transaction, including but not limited to, draft selections, trades, free agent moves and lineups. STATS is also not responsible for the failure of any telephone networks/lines, internet connections, software/hardware, or internet congestion/transmission rates.

24. Hold Harmless
Each participant and co-owner hereby releases and holds harmless STATS and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries, and their respective directors, officers, employees, agents and representatives from and against any and all liability for any injuries, losses or damages of any kind to person (including death) and property, arising in whole or in part, directly or indirectly from participation in any NFBC event, game or league, as well as acceptance or use of any prize award.

25. Disputes; Limitation of Liability; Disclaimer
Each participant and co-owner agrees that (i) all issues and questions regarding the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or your rights and obligations in connection with the NFBC shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the state of Illinois, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules; and (ii) any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of or connected with the NFBC or any prize awarded will be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, or the appropriate state court located in Cook County, Illinois; and (iii) in no event shall STATS liability to you for any and all damages, losses or causes of action exceed $250; and (iv) in no event shall STATS, its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries, and their respective directors, officers, employees, agents and representatives, be liable for any punitive, incidental and consequential damages. If your jurisdiction does not allow limitations or exclusions of liability for incidental or consequential damages, the above may not apply to you. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, EACH NFBC GAME, EVENT, LEAGUE,WEBSITE, AND BULLETIN BOARD/FORUM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. IF YOUR JURISDICTION DOES NOT ALLOW FOR THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

26. STATS PASS
In the event that you have purchased a STATSPASS® subscription, then the following additional Terms and Conditions shall apply throughout your subscription period:
1. Your username/password are personal to you, and shall not be shared with, or used by, any third party.
2. During your subscription period, STATS hereby grants to you a non-exclusive license to utilize STATSPASS® and the data contained therein, solely for your personal use. This grant of license is expressly limited to the use described herein, and no additional rights or licenses are included. Any other use, including any commercial or non-personal use of STATSPASS® or use by any person other than you, is strictly prohibited, and shall be considered an Unauthorized Use.
3. In the event of any Unauthorized Use, in addition to any other remedies to which STATS shall be entitled, STATS shall have the right to immediately terminate your STATSPASS® subscription, without notice.
4. Subscription fees are non-refundable.
5. STATSPASS® IS LICENSED TO YOU "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OR GUARANTEE OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT WILL STATS BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS, LEGAL PENALTIES, OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE STATSPASS® AND/OR THE DATA ACCESSED THROUGH STATSPASS®. STATS’ LIABILITY HEREUNDER SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE SUMS RECEIVED BY STATS IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR STATSPASS® SUBSCRIPTION.
6. You shall not copy, database, archive, save, or otherwise store any data accessed through STATSPASS®.

[Atlas]

I'm sorry...I don't understand the "At-bat= -1" ?

[Brock]

That should be plate appearance.

[the icon]

Love it!!!! Now for all the impulse buyer's is there like a 3 pack or 6 pack special?

[ToddZ]

I'm sorry...I don't understand the "At-bat= -1" ?

That should be plate appearance.

No, it's at bat. You lose a point for every AB. Go 1-for-4 with no runs or RBI and your score that game is zero.

The scoring system is designed so if you compute fantasy points and rank the players, the order is as close as we could reasonably get to a conventional 5x5 ranking.

[KJ Duke]

I'm sorry...I don't understand the "At-bat= -1" ?

If a batter goes 1-4, he gets (+4) for the hit and (-1) for each AB, which = (0) for a game. Thus, his point contribution is neutral.

This is in place to reward high BA players and penalize low BA players, as happens in 5x5 roto scoring.

[Brock]

Ok I understand. I don't play points but makes sense. I thought there were formats where a BB or HBP was awarded a point. My bad for not understanding. It's an interesting game that I think would be very popular with a low price point and only a few FAAB's. The FAAB's are very interesting with your roster expanding, something I've never heard of before. Good luck to NFBC with this new game and I'm sure I'd enter some teams.

[jaked2782]

man this is exactly what ive been waiting for! love the best ball format and the fact the playoffs start after the all star break, i think that is genius..would like to see points awarded for quality starts more so than wins, due to the extreme luck factor in getting a win..but overall i think it looks very fun.. Great work putting this together guys, youre effort im sure will pay off BIG!

[Navel Lint]

CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF
The top two teams in each league will advance to the Championship Playoff and the next three teams advance to the Wild Card Round.

I probably missed it somewhere, but what is the Wild Card Round?

[Deadheadz]

For Hitters
Home Run: 6 points
Stolen Base: 5 points
Hit: 4 points
Run: 2 points
RBI: 2 points
At-bat: -1 point

So if I understand correctly, a homerun is worth a total of 13+ points?
6+4+2+2-1=13 (or more if it's not a solo HR)

Six for the HR, which is a Hit so add 4, it scores a run so add 2, and drives in a run so add two more, then subtract 1 for the At Bat.


Is that right?

[KJ Duke]

your math is correct

[Atlas]

Got it. Thank you.

[Baseball Furies]

Why is a stolen base worth just one less point than a HR? Just curious not that I'm playing this format, but I would like to hear the rationale. Thanks.

[Rainiers]

Round 1 (July 11 through Aug. 3) – Each advancing team from the regular season will begin this round with their weekly average point total from the season, which will be combined with their 3-week playoff total, for a Round 1 Total Score.

Usually, following the All-Star break, Friday, July 11- Sunday, July 13 would be one week, July 14-20 would be a second week, July 21-27 a third week, and July 28- August 3 week a fourth. Are you combining weeks one and two of the first playoff round to make a single ten-day week? Or is this a typo and is this really a 4-week playoff, not a 3-week playoff?

Rosters expand to 35 players after Week 1

Another typo. Should read before week 1.

[Midfield Thinkers]

Humbly, I would enter....

[Deadheadz]

would like to see points awarded for quality starts more so than wins, due to the extreme luck factor in getting a win

Quality Starts as a category for points is like giving points for just trying. Wins are hard to get. They're a team stat really.

IMO using QS instead of wins shifts too much importance to starting pitchers who already get the most Ks and have so many innings pitched that one bad game affects their ratios very little.


Cheers!

[Deadheadz]

Why is a stolen base worth just one less point than a HR? Just curious not that I'm playing this format, but I would like to hear the rationale. Thanks.

It's actually worth 8 points less than a HR. Home runs total 13 points when you include the hit, the run, the RBI, etc.

I don't like it but I'm in the minority.

[Greg Ambrosius]

CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF
The top two teams in each league will advance to the Championship Playoff and the next three teams advance to the Wild Card Round.

I probably missed it somewhere, but what is the Wild Card Round?

Sorry Russell, I took that out now. In the NFFC Cutline Championship, we have 3 teams from each league move onto a Consolation Round after the regular season and you can still fight your way back up to the Championship Round. I had visions of doing that here to keep more teams involved longer and I still might do that in the future, but for now we'll go with this format and plan accordingly.

I like the Wild Card Round because what we found in football is that teams who didn't initially make the Championship Round can still be among the best overall and worthy of the top prize. The third through fifth place teams in each league go into the NFFC Wild Card Round and a small number of teams move back up to the Championship Round each week and others continue to fight for Consolation prizes. I believe KJ's team is now 4th overall in the NFFC Cutline Championship after dominating the Wild Card Round in Weeks 10-12. Plus it keeps more teams in line longer for that possible $50,000 grand prize. Half of the teams always have hope of winning the grand prize.

Again, I want to think that part through before adding it here and at this point it's not part of the rules. Thanks for catching it as I started to write it in before posting the rules and forgot to take that part out. Maybe if demand exceeds expectations in future years we'll add that part to the equation.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Love it!!!! Now for all the impulse buyer's is there like a 3 pack or 6 pack special?

Yes, of course. We'll offer 3-packs for $350, 5-packs for $575 and 9-packs for $1,000. Look for those under the Special Packages if we go forward with this contest this year.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Why is a stolen base worth just one less point than a HR? Just curious not that I'm playing this format, but I would like to hear the rationale. Thanks.

All of the categories are set up point-wise to simulate NFBC Roto scoring/rankings. I think it's important to show each players' score under this system to show you how similar their rankings here are to our Roto rankings. As someone else said, a stolen base isn't equal to a home run when you consider the points for a Run and an RBI that go along with it. But I'll post last year's point totals to show how this scoring system relates to Roto rankings and hopefully that will help here.

[Greg Ambrosius]

If we used the following scoring system, here is how the point totals from 2013 would have turned out. We've placed them in order with their 2013 NFBC Cutline Championship points and their 2013 Roto Dollar Values. Is this a fair representation of our NFBC values, or does the scoring system still need more tweaking? See below and give us your feedback. Thanks all.

NFBC Cutline Championship Tentative Scoring System:
For Hitters
Home Run: 6 points
Stolen Base: 5 points
Hit: 4 points
Run: 2 points
RBI: 2 points
At-bat: -1 point

For Pitchers
Win: 6 points
Save: 6 points
Inning Pitched: 3 points
Strikeout: 1 point
Hit or Walk Allowed: -1 point
Earned Run Allowed: -2 points

2013 NFBC Cutline Championship Scoring Totals Compared To 2013 Roto Dollar Values

1. Miguel Cabrera 976 ($47)
2. Mike Trout 910 ($42)
3. Chris Davis 904 ($43)
4. Paul Goldschmidt 873 ($39)
5. Andrew McCutchen 780 ($30)
6. Adam Jones 775 ($31)
7. Hunter Pence 735 ($27)
8. Robinson Cano 728 ($25)
9. Clayton Kershaw 724 ($35)
10. Carlos Gomez 722 ($27)
11. Jacoby Ellsbury 715 ($26)
12. Alex Rios 714 ($26)
13. Adrian Beltre 710 ($22)
14. David Ortiz 696 ($23)
15. Freddie Freeman 692 ($21)
16. Edwin Encarnacion 685 ($24)
17. Alfonso Soriano 675 ($24)
18. Jason Kipnis 668 ($22)
19. Max Scherzer 662.9 ($31)
20. Matt Holliday 660 ($20)
21. Matt Carpenter 659 ($18)
22. Jayson Werth 658 ($19)
23. Josh Donaldson 650 ($18)
24. Joey Votto 649 ($18)
25. Michael Cuddyer 645 ($17)
26. Adam Wainwright 642.1 ($27)
27. Jean Segura 642 ($19)
28. Jay Bruce 641 ($19)
29. Yu Darvish 627.1 ($26)
30. Daniel Murphy 627 ($17)
31. Shin-Soo Choo 627 ($17)
32. Carlos Gonzalez 626 ($18)
33. Dustin Pedroia 620 ($15)
34. Eric Hosmer 616 ($15)
35. Ian Desmond 611 ($16)
36. Cliff Lee 607.1 ($25)
37. Prince Fielder 603 ($15)
38. Elvis Andrus 602 ($16)
39. Evan Longoria 601 ($15)
40. Torii Hunter 595 ($13)
41. Carlos Beltran 582 ($12)
42. Coco Crisp 578 ($14)
43. Hisashi Iwakuma 577.1 ($24)
44. Adrian Gonzalez 576 ($12)
45. Starling Marte 575 ($14)
46. Troy Tulowitzki 573 ($11)
47. Ryan Zimmerman 568 ($12)
48. Marlon Byrd 568 ($11)
49. Shane Victorino 564 ($12)
50. Justin Upton 560 ($12)
51. Mark Trumbo 559 ($13)
52. Chris Sale 558.9 ($21)
53. Alex Gordon 556 ($11)
54. Allen Craig 556 ($9)
55. Madison Bumgarner 548.9 ($22)
56. Craig Kimbrel 546 ($18)
57. Domonic Brown 542 ($10)
58. David Wright 533 ($8)
59. Felix Hernandez 531.9 ($19)
60. Brandon Moss 530 ($10)
61. Jose Bautista 529 ($10)
62. Jordan Zimmermann 528.9 ($20)
63. Pedro Alvarez 528 ($10)
64. Alejandro De Aza 527 ($9)
65. Ian Kinsler 526 ($9)
66. Brandon Phillips 525 ($9)
67. Jose Fernandez 524.1 ($21)
68. Hanley Ramirez 524 ($7)
69. Matt Harvey 523.9 ($21)
70. Greg Holland 522 ($16)
71. Yadier Molina 522 ($15)
72. Manny Machado 521 ($7)
73. Jose Altuve 519 ($7)
74. Anibal Sanchez 518 ($19)
75. James Shields 517.1 ($17)
76. Will Venable 511 ($8)
77. Victor Martinez 509 ($5)
78. Wilin Rosario 505 ($15)
79. Alexei Ramirez 505 ($6)
80. Mike Minor 504.1 ($18)
81. Mike Napoli 503 ($7)
82. Jed Lowrie 502 ($5)
83. Mat Latos 500.1 ($17)
84. Michael Brantley 499 ($6)
85. Jonathan Lucroy 498 ($15)
86. Kyle Seager 498 ($6)
87. Chase Utley 496 ($5)
88. Homer Bailey 495 ($16)
89. Justin Verlander 494.9 ($15)
90. Brandon Belt 492 ($5)
91. Kendrys Morales 492 ($4)
92. Yasiel Puig 491 ($4)
93. Patrick Corbin 485.9 ($16)
94. Joe Nathan 483.1 ($15)
95. Brett Gardner 483 ($5)
96. Ben Zobrist 483 ($4)
97. Adam Lind 482 ($4)
98. Martin Prado 482 ($3)
99. C.J. Wilson 481.9 ($14)
100. Cole Hamels 479 ($14)
101. Justin Masterson 478 ($16)
102. Yoenis Cespedes 478 ($6)
103. Leonys Martin 477 ($6)
104. J.J. Hardy 475 ($4)
105. Stephen Strasburg 474 ($16)
106. Bryce Harper 473 ($4)
107. Carlos Santana 472 ($12)
108. Chris Tillman 471.9 ($15)
109. A.J. Burnett 470 ($15)
110. Zack Greinke 469.1 ($17)
111. Norichika Aoki 469 ($2)
112. Billy Butler 468 ($2)
113. Nelson Cruz 464 ($3)
114. Nate McLouth 463 ($4)
115. Chris Johnson 462 ($0)
116. Bartolo Colon 461.9 ($16)
117. Julio Teheran 461.1 ($15)
118. Kris Medlen 461 ($14)
119. Desmond Jennings 461 ($4)
120. A.J. Griffin 460 ($14)
121. Buster Posey 458 ($10)
122. James Loney 458 ($0)
123. Austin Jackson 456 ($2)
124. Daniel Nava 456 ($1)
125. Hyun-Jin Ryu 455 ($14)
126. Ervin Santana 455 ($13)
127. Gio Gonzalez 454.1 ($13)
128. Aroldis Chapman 453.1 ($12)
129. Jon Lester 452.9 ($12)
130. Derek Holland 452 ($12)
131. Shelby Miller 451.9 ($15)
132. Lance Lynn 450.1 ($12)
133. Josh Hamilton 450 ($2)
134. Jim Johnson 448.9 ($10)
135. R.A. Dickey 447.1 ($12)
136. Ubaldo Jimenez 443.1 ($13)
137. Eric Young 443 ($3)
138. Brian Dozier 440 ($2)
139. Denard Span 438 ($0)
140. Hiroki Kuroda 437.9 ($13)
141. Francisco Liriano 437 ($14)
142. Adam Dunn 436 ($2)
143. Ricky Nolasco 435.9 ($12)
144. Kenley Jansen 435.1 ($13)
145. Jon Jay 432 ($0)
146. Travis Wood 431 ($12)
147. Everth Cabrera 430 ($1)
148. David Price 428.1 ($13)
149. Anthony Rizzo 428 ($1)
150. Michael Bourn 428 ($0)
151. Doug Fister 426.1 ($10)
152. Chris Carter 422 ($1)
153. John Lackey 421.9 ($12)
154. Colby Rasmus 421 ($-1)
155. Rajai Davis 420 ($1)
156. Jose Quintana 418 ($10)
157. Omar Infante 418 ($-3)
158. Addison Reed 416.9 ($9)
159. Salvador Perez 416 ($6)
160. Howie Kendrick 416 ($-3)
161. Joe Mauer 415 ($5)
162. Nick Markakis 415 ($-3)
163. Dexter Fowler 414 ($-1)
164. Koji Uehara 413.9 ($13)
165. Bronson Arroyo 411 ($11)
166. Jeff Samardzija 409.1 ($8)
167. Jarrod Saltalamacchia 409 ($7)
168. Kyle Lohse 407.1 ($10)
169. Gerardo Parra 407 ($-3)
170. Nate Schierholtz 406 ($-2)
171. Pablo Sandoval 405 ($-3)
172. Glen Perkins 403.1 ($9)
173. Nick Swisher 402 ($-2)
174. Jason Castro 401 ($6)
175. Jhoulys Chacin 400.9 ($10)
176. Steve Cishek 400.1 ($9)
177. Justin Morneau 400 ($-3)
178. Rafael Soriano 399.1 ($7)
179. Raul Ibanez 398 ($-2)
180. Chris Denorfia 398 ($-3)
181. Mike Leake 397.9 ($10)
182. Sergio Romo 397.9 ($9)
183. Dillon Gee 396 ($9)
184. Andrelton Simmons 396 ($-3)
185. Giancarlo Stanton 396 ($-3)
186. Fernando Rodney 395.1 ($8)
187. Ernesto Frieri 395.1 ($7)
188. Andrew Cashner 395 ($11)
189. Jose Reyes 395 ($-4)
190. Tim Lincecum 394.1 ($8)
191. Jedd Gyorko 391 ($-3)
192. Matt Moore 390.9 ($11)
193. Wade Miley 388.1 ($8)
194. A.J. Pierzynski 388 ($4)
195. Matt Wieters 387 ($6)
196. Erick Aybar 386 ($-5)
197. Grant Balfour 383.1 ($7)
198. Jarrod Parker 382 ($8)
199. Matt Cain 381.9 ($9)
200. Todd Frazier 381 ($-3)
201. CC Sabathia 379 ($6)
202. Scott Feldman 378.1 ($9)
203. Jhonny Peralta 378 ($-6)
204. Adam LaRoche 377 ($-4)
205. Alex Cobb 376.9 ($10)
206. Asdrubal Cabrera 373 ($-4)
207. Matt Dominguez 373 ($-5)
208. Eric Stults 371.1 ($7)
209. Edward Mujica 369.1 ($7)
210. Wil Myers 366 ($-6)
211. Stephen Drew 362 ($-6)
212. Mark Buehrle 360.1 ($5)
213. Jimmy Rollins 358 ($-6)
214. Jered Weaver 357.9 ($9)
215. Zack Cozart 355 ($-7)
216. Casey Janssen 354.1 ($7)
217. Rick Porcello 354 ($6)
218. Carl Crawford 354 ($-7)
219. Jeremy Guthrie 351.1 ($4)
220. Ichiro Suzuki 350 ($-7)
221. La De 349.1 ($7)
222. Jim Henderson 349 ($7)
223. Albert Pujols 346 ($-7)
224. Andre Ethier 346 ($-8)
225. Miguel Gonzalez 345.9 ($7)
226. Scott Kazmir 345 ($6)
227. A.J. Pollock 345 ($-8)
228. Yovani Gallardo 344.1 ($5)
229. Mitch Moreland 344 ($-7)
230. Joaquin Benoit 343 ($7)
231. Dan Haren 340.1 ($5)
232. Clay Buchholz 339.9 ($10)
233. Jason Grilli 339 ($5)
234. Matt Garza 337.9 ($6)
235. Jonathan Papelbon 336.1 ($6)
236. Chase Headley 336 ($-8)
237. Juan Uribe 335 ($-9)
238. Huston Street 334.1 ($5)
239. Matt Joyce 334 ($-8)
240. Evan Gattis 334 ($-8)
241. Justin Ruggiano 333 ($-7)
242. Neil Walker 333 ($-9)
243. Mark Reynolds 332 ($-7)
244. Corey Kluber 331.9 ($6)
245. Brian McCann 328 ($0)
246. Jake Peavy 327.1 ($7)
247. Michael Saunders 325 ($-8)
248. J.B. Shuck 325 ($-11)
249. Tommy Milone 323.9 ($5)
250. Jeff Locke 323.9 ($4)
251. Drew Stubbs 323 ($-8)
252. Yunel Escobar 320 ($-10)
253. Kevin Gregg 319 ($3)
254. Dan Straily 317.9 ($5)
255. Emilio Bonifacio 316 ($-9)
256. Alcides Escobar 313 ($-9)
257. Ivan Nova 312.9 ($5)
258. Bud Norris 310.1 ($2)
259. Jason Heyward 310 ($-11)
260. Michael Young 310 ($-12)
261. Dayan Viciedo 309 ($-11)
262. Mark Melancon 307 ($5)
263. David Freese 307 ($-11)
264. Wily Peralta 306.9 ($2)
265. Nolan Arenado 306 ($-12)
266. Russell Martin 305 ($-1)
267. Chris Archer 304.1 ($6)
268. Justin Smoak 304 ($-11)
269. Felix Doubront 303.9 ($2)
270. Josh Reddick 300 ($-10)
271. Gregor Blanco 298 ($-12)
272. Ian Kennedy 297.9 ($1)
273. Mike Aviles 297 ($-11)
274. Starlin Castro 297 ($-12)
275. Marco Estrada 296 ($5)
276. Aramis Ramirez 296 ($-12)
277. Aaron Hill 296 ($-13)
278. Ryan Dempster 295.9 ($1)
279. Lorenzo Cain 295 ($-11)
280. Kelly Johnson 295 ($-11)
281. Alberto Callaspo 295 ($-12)
282. Jeremy Hellickson 294 ($2)
283. Tony Cingrani 293.1 ($5)
284. Andy Dirks 293 ($-12)
285. Trevor Plouffe 293 ($-13)
286. Ryan Doumit 292 ($-3)
287. Brett Lawrie 292 ($-12)
288. Gerrit Cole 290.9 ($5)
289. Rex Brothers 290.9 ($3)
290. Marco Scutaro 290 ($-15)
291. Ben Revere 287 ($-13)
292. DJ LeMahieu 284 ($-14)
293. Bobby Parnell 282 ($3)
294. Hector Santiago 281 ($1)
295. Lyle Overbay 281 ($-13)
296. Jonny Gomes 281 ($-13)
297. Tyson Ross 280 ($3)
298. Mark Ellis 279 ($-14)
299. Jason Vargas 271 ($1)
300. Brad Ziegler 270 ($3)
301. Joe Kelly 269 ($3)
302. Chris Perez 267 ($1)
303. Yonder Alonso 266 ($-15)
304. Jose Veras 265.1 ($1)
305. Will Middlebrooks 265 ($-14)
306. Tim Hudson 264.9 ($2)
307. Bruce Chen 264 ($3)
308. Vernon Wells 263 ($-14)
309. Zach McAllister 262.9 ($1)
310. Brandon Barnes 261 ($-14)
311. Carlos Villanueva 258.1 ($1)
312. John Buck 258 ($-5)
313. Pedro Florimon 258 ($-14)
314. Garrett Jones 257 ($-15)
315. David DeJesus 254 ($-16)
316. Jose Iglesias 253 ($-17)
317. Paul Konerko 251 ($-16)
318. Martin Perez 250.9 ($1)
319. Tommy Hunter 247.9 ($3)
320. Luke Hochevar 246.9 ($4)
321. Eric Sogard 246 ($-17)
322. Brandon Crawford 246 ($-17)
323. Brad Miller 245 ($-17)
324. Dan Uggla 244 ($-14)
325. Juan Francisco 244 ($-16)
326. Oswaldo Arcia 244 ($-17)
327. Charlie Morton 242 ($1)
328. Conor Gillaspie 242 ($-17)
329. Welington Castillo 240 ($-9)
330. Cody Ross 240 ($-18)
331. Heath Bell 239.1 ($0)
332. Drew Smyly 238 ($2)
333. Trevor Rosenthal 236.9 ($1)
334. LaTroy Hawkins 236.1 ($0)
335. David Lough 236 ($-18)
336. A.J. Ellis 232 ($-8)
337. Nick Franklin 231 ($-17)
338. John Mayberry 230 ($-17)
339. Seth Smith 230 ($-18)
340. Jordy Mercer 230 ($-19)
341. Chris Young 227 ($-16)
342. Jose Tabata 227 ($-19)
343. David Robertson 224.9 ($2)
344. Tyler Clippard 223 ($2)
345. David Murphy 223 ($-18)
346. Neal Cotts 222 ($3)
347. Cody Allen 220.9 ($1)
348. J.P. Arencibia 220 ($-8)
349. Gordon Beckham 220 ($-19)
350. Alfredo Simon 218.1 ($1)

[Greg Ambrosius]

man this is exactly what ive been waiting for! love the best ball format and the fact the playoffs start after the all star break, i think that is genius..would like to see points awarded for quality starts more so than wins, due to the extreme luck factor in getting a win..but overall i think it looks very fun.. Great work putting this together guys, youre effort im sure will pay off BIG!

Thanks for the feedback. I love the enthusiasm.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Round 1 (July 11 through Aug. 3) – Each advancing team from the regular season will begin this round with their weekly average point total from the season, which will be combined with their 3-week playoff total, for a Round 1 Total Score.

Usually, following the All-Star break, Friday, July 11- Sunday, July 13 would be one week, July 14-20 would be a second week, July 21-27 a third week, and July 28- August 3 week a fourth. Are you combining weeks one and two of the first playoff round to make a single ten-day week? Or is this a typo and is this really a 4-week playoff, not a 3-week playoff?

Rosters expand to 35 players after Week 1

Another typo. Should read before week 1.

So we needed to decide how to handle the Friday to Sunday games after the All-Star Break. We could ignore those three games and just start Week 1 of the playoffs on Monday or we could include those three games in the Week 1 of the playoffs, essentially making that part of the playoffs three days longer than the next two phases. I hate to eliminate any games if possible and chose to make the all-important Round 1 of the playoffs three days longer than Round 2 or Round 3. I'm open for debate on this, but I thought more was better in this situation.

Thoughts?

Correct, it should read BEFORE Week 1.

[Gekko]

Greg, I hate to say it, but I'm warming up to this

[Greg Ambrosius]

Greg, I hate to say it, but I'm warming up to this

You are the "Best Ball" King. Why wouldn't you like this format?

Honestly, we learned a lot about our industry with the introduction of the NFFC Cutline Championship this year. What we learned -- and what we all should have learned from watching the FFOC -- was that people LOVE to draft and they LOVE to play for a big grand prize. We also learned from the FFOC that it doesn't have to be $1 million. Creating our football Cutline Championship and seeing 1-3 leagues filling up every single night of the week was exciting. Many times they filled up 30 minutes before draft time, but people were looking for a nightly draft and they quickly learned that we were there every single night of the week.

That's what the Cutline Championship does. It's there for you to draft 30 rounds in 2+ hours and then have minimal input the rest of the season. You still have to make four FAAB pickups per year, but other than that the computer picks your best starting lineup every week. And this year we will start with a $50,000 grand prize and it will grow if the demand is there. I feel confident that in football we will expand to $75,000 or maybe even $100,000 in 2014. We've proven that model is a winner. Now let's see if we can do it in baseball.

The points scoring difference is the hurdle, but when you look at the list from 2013 you'll see that the scoring is set up to reward players almost exactly as we reward them in 5x5 Roto now. I think it's pretty cool and I credit KJ and Todd for that, and Quahogs for convincing us to go 30 rounds with 5 player expansions three times via FAAB. I think the setup is unique and pretty cool.

$50,000 for $125 is pretty cool. Two hour drafts each night is pretty cool. A new set of ADPs is pretty cool.

Nightly drafts. 7 pm ET and 9 pm ET every night from Jan. 2-March 30. How cool is that?