Getting Started

Each league will consist of 12 teams. You may not enter more than one team in any one league. League formation is on a first come, first serve basis. Only full leagues of 12 will compete. Enter early to assure yourself a spot.

For Head to Head leagues, matchups will be randomly generated after your league is filled. Your team will face some teams once and some teams multiple times over the course of the regular season.

You may enter as many leagues as you wish, but only one entry is allowed per user per league. Entry fees can be found in the Fantrax Game Lobby. 

Forming Your Initial Team

Live Draft

All draft positions will be randomly assigned as soon as the league fills, and that order will appear along the top inside the Draft Room. To enter the Draft Room, click the green Draft Room link in the top menu on any screen. The draft time for your league will be shown at the top of your league home page. Please try to arrive early, so that you can prepare your draft queue and strategy before the draft begins.

Your league will conduct a 30-round live online draft to determine the rosters for each team. Each manager has 45 seconds to make a pick. Should you not make a pick within the allotted time, a player will be auto-drafted for you, based on your draft queue, and if that is empty, based on the main player ranking/stat view. 

Each team manager will select a squad in real time with the other managers in the league. Each manager will draft one player per round until their team's roster is full. The draft order reverses each round, so the manager that starts the first round ends the second, and the manager that ends the first round starts the second, and so on.

If you can't be present for the draft, you may pre-rank your players via the Rank Players link. If you can't make a selection at any time during the live draft, your pre-ranked players will be used in the order you selected them, as long as they are still available. If you run out of pre-ranked players or choose not to pre-rank, the Fantrax default rankings will be used to fill your roster.

You can also set up a draft queue for yourself inside the Live Draft room. This list of players, which supersedes both your pre-rankings and default rankings, is used to make a selection if you don't draft a player during your allotted time.

To draft a player straight from the main player listing, simply click on the green "+" circle next to the player's name, select the position from the drop-down box that you wish to draft him too, then click PICK. You may also click the queue icon to the right of the player's name to move him to your draft queue. Use the same process to draft from your queue by clicking on the green "+" circle beside the player's name. You have 45 seconds to draft a player once it becomes your turn to pick. If you don't draft a player within the allotted time, the system automatically drafts a player for you that legally fills your roster from your draft queue. If your draft queue is empty, the highest ranked player that legally fills your roster will automatically be drafted from the main player listing, which is based on your pre-rankings (if any) and Fantrax's default rankings, in that order. Once you click OK you cannot "undraft" a player, even if there is time left in your pick.

If you do not want the system to force you to fill your Active slots first (whether drafting live or on auto-pick), be sure to disable the "Fill Active Slot First" icon at the top of your Roster section.

To meet legal requirements for this league/contest, your roster can not solely consist of players who are on the same professional team. 

Managing Your Team

Roster Setup

Lineup Periods & Deadlines

Lineup Periods begin with the first MLB game each Period. Each Lineup Period encapsulates all games up until the next Lineup Period begins.

Lineup Periods (normally) begin every Monday. However, the first Lineup Period will begin with the first game on Opening Day (Thursday). Lineups can be changed weekly, meaning your starting hitters and your starting pitchers can be replaced for each weekly Lineup Period (which normally runs Monday to Sunday). Lineups become locked for any player on your roster 5 minutes prior to that player's team's first scheduled game of the week. Each Lineup Period encapsulates all MLB games up until the next Lineup Period begins

You have up until 5 minutes before the start of each player's team's first scheduled game of each Lineup Period to set your lineup for that Period (this means if a player has a doubleheader, the lock time will be prior to his team's first game of that doubleheader, whether or not that player is probable to play in that game). Once that deadline has passed, you can only execute transactions (i.e. activating and reserving a player) for the following week and any week thereafter. Once you have finished setting your roster each Period, you must click the "Submit" button. If the changes you make result in your team not meeting all of the roster position requirements (see: Managing Your Team --> Roster Setup) you will not be allowed to finalize your changes. If your changes do result in you meeting all of the roster position requirements, you will then have the opportunity to review all of your changes before finalizing them. If you do not set your lineup for a particular Period, your lineup from the previous Period will be used.

• The gametimes and deadlines are not official and subject to change - we will update them as quickly as possible should there be any changes by MLB.
• Should the scheduled first game of any Period for any player be postponed or canceled, the new deadline will be prior to the next scheduled game of the Period for that player. 
• If a player's game's start is delayed by weather or any other reason, the original deadline for that player still applies, until said game is officially canceled/postponed.
• If a game is suspended and then completed in a different Period, all stats/points from that game will count towards the day (Scoring Period) in which the game originally began. This means past scoring and/or standings results for that date/period will change retroactively as additional stats are accrued from players upon game resumption.
• Stats from the All-Star game do not count.
• Period 1 is an extended 11-day Scoring Period. Changes can be made to your roster prior to the each player's team's first scheduled game of this extended Period, and also can be made prior to each player's deadline for the week beginning the Monday after Opening Day. You will still be playing the same opponent during this 11-day Period.
• The two weeks surrounding the All-star game are merged into one extended 11-day Scoring Period. Changes can be made to your roster prior to each player's team's first scheduled game of this extended Period, as well as prior to each player's deadline for the week beginning the Monday after the All-star break. You will still be playing the same opponent during the 11-day Period. NOTE: Should there be no All-star game/break, these Periods will STILL be merged into 1 scoring Period, regardless of number of games scheduled or played.

Note: Any regular season Period that is interrupted (meaning play stops for the Period and does not resume until a future Period) will be considered a completed Period and will not be merged with any previous or subsequent Period, regardless of number of games played. The same applies to resumption of play. This also applies to any Period that sees a reduction in scheduled games/games played for any reason. Aside from the first Period, the All-star break Period and the Championship Period, there will be NO merging of regular season weeks, regardless of the day of the week play resumes or number of games scheduled to be played. 

 

Claiming New Players 

Waiver Wire Claiming System

A Waiver Wire (WW) Claim is when you add a player to your team from the unowned (available) player pool, and you are allowed an unlimited number of WW Claims per period and for the entire season. For each new player claimed, a player must be dropped. Any player who is dropped by a team manager or any new player that enters the league's player pool over the course of the season will immediately be placed on waivers and made available to claim. Any player placed on waivers must remain on waivers for a minimum of 2 days before he can be processed via WW claiming.

You may submit a WW claim for a player anytime after that player becomes available. To submit a claim for a WW player, go to the Players screen and select which WW player you wish to add to your team by clicking the orange circle next to the player's name. Then, click "Next" at the bottom right of your screen. Click the red circle beside the player you wish to drop. Click Submit at bottom right. A confirmation screen will appear, prompting you to select which position and status (Active, Reserve) you want that player to go to on your team. Be sure to select a roster slot you have open or will have open at claim processing time (generally, you should set the player being claimed to go the same roster slot and status as your drop). Once you have that set, click the blue Submit button to finalize your claim. Repeat this process for each WW player you are interested in claiming. After entering your claims, you can go to the Pending Transactions screen to adjust the order you want those claims to be processed in, as well as the maximum number of pending claims to be executed.

At 10:00am ET each day, Fantrax will process all WW Claims for your league. Any players awarded to you will be immediately placed on your roster (effective for the upcoming Lineup Period), and the players you dropped for them will be removed from your roster. If your pending WW Claim(s) would result in you having an illegal roster, your claim will be denied. 

The initial WW Claim system processes claims according to the reverse order of Round 1 of the draft. After this initial processing, the WW claim order will rotate. Once a team makes a successful claim, that team will go to the end of the order, and will rotate back toward the top as others make claims. Each time WW claims are processed, claims are awarded (or denied) until there are no more pending WW claims for that particular date. The current claim order can always be found by going to Transactions --> WW Claim Order.

• Prior to the start of the season and after your draft has been completed, the WW Claim processing system will run every day at 10:00am ET, provided there are one or more claims to be processed that day.
• Any players that were dropped by an manager or any new player that enters the pool must remain on waivers for a full 2 days prior to being available for WW claiming. For example, if a player is dropped by a team at 5pm ET on Wednesday, he will not be available for WW claiming until the 10:00am ET processing on Saturday. The day a player will be available can be found by hovering your mouse over the "WW" text next to his name on the Players screen.
• Waiver Wire Churning is not allowed. That is, if a player is claimed and dropped within the same Lineup Period, that player will immediately become a Free Agent, rather than being placed on waivers. This rule is in place in order to preserve league integrity, so team managers cannot simply claim several free agents and then drop them to the waiver wire, in order to prevent other managers from being able to make immediate claims on those players (see below).
• The WW claim processing system may be slightly delayed once in a while. For example, if the processing time is 10:00am and it runs 10:02am instead, then you have an extra 2 min to make your claims for that processing period (which will be processed along with all other pending WW claims set to process at that time).
• Only managers qualifying for the Playoffs will be allowed to make new player claims once the league's playoffs begin. Additionally, managers eliminated during the playoffs will not be allowed to make new player claims.

First Come First Serve Free Agent Claims

After the draft is completed, all undrafted players will immediately become Free Agents. Any available player who isn't on waivers is a Free Agent (FA). Aside from the WW Churning rule (see above), all players must pass through waivers before they come Free Agents. That is, if a player's WW process date has arrived and that player has not been claimed by any team manager during that processing, then that player immediately becomes a Free Agent. Free Agents may be acquired via First Come First Serve pickup at anytime, unless the claim is a cross-Period claim (see Note below). Any FA claim will be added to your roster (for the upcoming period) immediately, with a corresponding drop of a player.

Note: Cross-Period claims will be denied. That is, if the FA player you are wanting to add can be claimed for the current lineup Period (his team has not yet played this Period), you can not claim that player unless you drop a player who has also not yet played this Period. Else, you must wait until the player you wish to claim becomes locked for the Period to make the claim (which would be effective the following lineup Period).

Dropping Players & Can't Drop List

Players can not be dropped from your team without an associated claim. For directions on how to submit a claim and drop, please see Claiming New Players section above. 

In an effort to prevent collusion amongst managers, many of the game's elite players will appear on the Can't Drop List. This list can be found from within your league by going to Other --> All Options --> Can't Drop List. These are the players considered most valuable in this contest based on the scoring system. Any player on this list is ineligible to be dropped from any team. Should you feel you have a legitimate reason for a player to be removed from the Can't Drop List, please contact Fantrax via the Feedback Form on the website and your request will be reviewed. Fantrax will review the Can't Drop List each Monday evening and make any necessary revisions (additions to or removals from the list). All other players not on the Can't Drop List are eligible to be dropped at any time, with the exception of any described in Note 1 below.

Note 1: Should we become aware of anyone "dumping" their team, meaning dropping some or all of their better players for any reason, those drops will be reviewed for reversal if we are notified in time (prior to processing). Should any drop(s) be reversed by Fantrax, any claims for those players will be negated. Also, user will be blocked from making any further claims/drops or lineup changes for the remainder of the season. User's entry fee WILL NOT be refunded.

Note 2: Please be very careful when making your claims and drops. Review your transactions closely prior to submitting. Unless there is an error on our end, Fantrax will not reverse any transactions for any reason (even if "accidental") unless that transaction falls under the description found in Note 1 above.

Activating & Reserving Players (Start/Bench switches)

Use the Team Roster screen to make lineup changes to your team. A lineup change is considered moving a player from one status (Active or Reserve) to another status, or changing an Active player's position. When you Activate (start) a player, you must in turn Reserve (bench) a player. Once you have finished making your lineup changes, you must click the "Submit" button. If the changes you make result in your team not meeting all of the roster position requirements, you will not be allowed to finalize your changes. If your changes do result in meeting all of the roster position requirements, then you will then have the opportunity to review the changes you have made before finalizing them. We recommend double checking to make sure you have succesfully submitted your lineup changes. Do so by going to Transactions-->Transaction History-->Lineup Change tab.

Note: Though we encourage all managers to "play the season out" and set their "best" lineup possible each Period, managers are free to run their teams and set their lineups as they see fit. Managers can not be forced to make lineup changes, nor can they be forced to set their "best" lineup each Period. Fantrax can not intervene unless granted approval from that manager.

Scoring

Your Fantasy team is comprised of real-life MLB players, and the statistics that those players accumulate are based on their real-life performances throughout the course of this contest. The scoring system that is used in this contest can be viewed in the Other-->League Rules Summary screen, Scoring section. Several statistical categories are tracked, and each one is assigned a specific point value. The Fantasy points from all players on your team are then totaled to give your team its overall point total. 

Scoring Notes

• Players will only earn Fantasy points for official MLB regular season games, starting on Thursday, July 23, 2020 and ending on Sunday, September 27, 2020. Stats from any game played before or after these dates will not count, unless the REGULAR season is extended by MLB. (MLB Playoff games or any play-in or tiebreaker (163rd) games would not be included in this league's scoring). 
• Points by a player on your bench, points by a player before being added to your team, and points by a player after being dropped from your team do not contribute to your team's point total.
• Any player started in a P slot on your roster will only receive the points associated with the Pitching group, and will not accumulate any hitting points when hitting. Any player started in a hitting roster slot will only receive the points associated with a hitting position, and will not accumulate any pitching points should he pitch.
• Should a player have both Pitching and Hitting eligibility, he will only receive the points associated with the roster slot in which you start him. (see above)
• All Active players in any hitting roster slot will accumulate fantasy points for their team regardless of what position they're playing at on their MLB team.
• All stats & scores on every page (Team Roster, Players, League Standings, etc.) are updated in real-time except for the league home screen Standings section, which is updated every few minutes.
• Official Scoring changes made by MLB will be applied to your league if they come in within 2 days (48 hours) after the end of any game. Any Official Scoring changes that come in after this time will not be reflected in your league's stats/scores/standings.

Playoffs

Following the regular season (Scoring Periods 1-6 for this contest), a 3-period playoff will be used to determine the winners of head-to-head leagues. The top 6 teams (based on season record, as ranked by win %) will advance to the playoffs. These 6 teams will be determined by best overall records in the regular season, which involves periods 1 through 6. Should teams be tied in the standings, the following criteria will be used in order until the tie is broken to determine the 6 playoff seeds:

1: Most Fantasy Points For over the entire season
2: Best Head-to-Head record amongst ALL teams tied with in games played against all teams involved in the tie
3: Randomly Selected

Playoff Matchups:

Round #1
Seed #3 vs Seed #6
Seed #4 vs Seed #5
(Seeds #1 and #2 have a BYE)

Round #2
Seed #1 vs Lowest remaining seed
Seed #2 vs Highest remaining seed

Round #3
Championship Period

Important: The Championship Period will be an extended (14-day) scoring period. Lineup changes can be made prior to each player's deadline for each week of this extended Period.


Playoff Tiebreakers:

In the event a playoff matchup ends with the two teams tied, the winner of that matchup will be the higher-seeded team.


Contest Winners:

1st Place: The winner of the Championship matchup will be the League Winner.

2nd Place: The loser of the Championship matchup.

3rd Place: The losing team in the semi-final round with the most points scored in the semi-final matchups. In the event of a tied score between the 2 losing teams in the semis, the higher seeded team would be awarded 3rd place.