I’m still not convinced that it’s actually going to happen. There’s a lot that could go wrong. Logistical hurdles cleared, issues ironed out, concerns rectified. So much so, that official schedules haven’t even be announced yet. And yet, somehow, we’re only about three weeks away from FINALLY having a 2020 baseball season! Albeit an anti-climatic 60 game season that no one really wants. But nonetheless, we will have baseball which means we will have fantasy baseball!
However, if you are in a keeper or dynasty league it’s not going to be as simple as just rolling out of bed and picking up where you left off. With a shortened season there are a lot of potential rule changes to consider. With that in mind here are some changes I’m considering for my leagues.
2020 Rule Changes:
1. Play for just 50% of the pot and having the remainder roll over to cover part of the 2021 season.
2. If you are in a league with salaries and contracts do not increase them at all for 2021.
3. If you are in a league with a farm system enable minor leaguers to maintain their eligibility going into 2021. Basically, with items 2 and 3 you are allowing rosters to be carried over in their entirety for next year since it won’t be fair to escalate them for such a short season.
4. But if you are in an auction league you should still have a mini auction in 2021 to churn rosters, fill holes, replace injured or retired players, etc. If a team makes trades during the 2020 season that puts them over the league’s salary cap then they would still have to drop back down below the cap prior to the 2021 mini auction even if rosters are otherwise carrying over.
5. There won’t be a minor league season in 2020 but you should treat the MLB taxi squad as an extension of the minor leagues and denote players on the Taxi Squad as minor leaguers. Depending on your league rules that may help determine whether or not those players can be added as free agents in your league.
6. Since players in farm systems will be maintaining their eligibility teams won’t really have an opportunity to promote players and clear room for June 2020 draftees. That’s why you should consider temporarily adding new minor league spots for one year only to accommodate additional players being added to already full farm systems. I would recommend adding two more minor league spots per team starting in 2021.
7. Push back your league’s trade deadline. I like the idea of going with Labor Day, September 7th.
8. Since there will likely be a lot of injuries and players out with illness consider adding additional bench and injury list spots. I would recommend having 6-8 bench spots and at least 5 IL spots. Also, any player who opts out of playing all together can go on your league’s IL even if MLB doesn’t officially list them there.
9. Since starting pitchers likely won’t be going long in games you should consider changing the weighting of your stat categories to de-emphasize Wins and Quality Starts.
10. Instead of a maximum number of innings pitched you should have a minimum. I recommend 250.
11. Instead of a max of 162 games played per position lower it to 60.
12. For next season you should consider lowering the minimum number of games required to qualify at a position during the prior season to 5 or 10 since guys will have had less opportunities to rack up games played during 2020.
13. In the event that the season doesn’t take place or go at least 30 games (for at least one MLB team) hold a completely random draft lottery to determine the 2021 draft order and have all payments roll over to 2021. If it does goes at least 30 games whichever teams are in the lead at that point would win the abbreviated pot.
14. For the 2021 season consider adding looser keeper rules and let owners unwind keeper decisions involving players who test positive (assuming that COVID is still going on in 2021).
15. Have all owners find co-owners in the event that an owner gets sick and can’t manager their team.
Well, there you have it. All of the things you should be considering if your league is starting back up for the shortened season. I’m sure there are probably other considerations but those are the ones that I felt were the most pressing. If you can think of anything else please let me know. Until then, good luck to everyone playing!
In the era of COVID-19 there is a lot for a fantasy baseball commissioner to consider.
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