2010 Expansion Plan

A. Existing Franchises

1.At the end of the 2009 Season, the Mid-West Baseball League (hence forth referred to as MWBL), will expand from 24 teams to 28 teams.

2.After the 2009 season, all players declared Off-Season Free Agents, based on usage requirements, are considered no longer owned by their Existing Franchises and will be Free Agents on the Expansion Draft Eligible List.

3.An Un-Carded player whose contract expires is NOT available and will NOT be included on the Expansion Draft Eligible List.

4.The Commissioner’s Office will send each Existing Franchise their 2009 Off-Season Final Roster.

5.Typically in the off-season, franchises cut down to 45 man rosters; however at the end of 2009 there will be no cuts prior to the Expansion Draft.

6.Minus anyone lost via “A-2” or “A-3”, each MWBL Existing Franchise will have approximately 47 Carded/Un-Carded/No-Carded players on their rosters.

7.Each Existing Franchise will be allowed to protect 17 Players, which includes a minimum of 3 Un-Carded Players, from their 2009 Off-Season Final Roster (17*24=408).

8.Each Existing Franchise will then rank their remaining unprotected players from 1-35 (1 = most important; 35 = least important).

a.The rankings are to insure that Existing Franchises most coveted players are pulled back once a player from their team is taken from the Expansion Draft Eligible List.

b.Roster sizes vary, so your rankings may be 1-26 or 1-27, 1-31, etc….

9.The Unprotected Existing Franchises players would be added to the Expansion Draft Eligible List (approximately 30X24 = 720 players).

10.Existing Franchise owners should respect the Expansion Franchise owners and NOT “pre-strike” any deals. We should allow all Expansion Franchises to form their teams without interference.

B. Expansion Franchises

1.Each new MWBL Expansion Franchise will start with zero (0) players.

2.A random Expansion Draft Order, as explained in “B-3”, will be used for the 2010 MWBL Expansion Draft.

3.The drafting order will be determined at a later date with a random drawing done by the Commissioners Office.

4.Instead of serpentine, the draft order will rotate as such, to prevent an advantage to the ‘end’ teams. The draft order allows each team to pick first every 4 rounds, with the longest wait between picks being 5.

a.Rd 1: A, B, C, D

b.Rd 2: D, A, B, C

c.Rd 3: C, D, A, B

d.Rd 4: B, C, D, A

C. Expansion Draft

1.The Expansion Draft Eligible List will consist of the Existing Franchise Unprotected Players plus the Off-Season Free Agents mentioned in “A-2”.

2.The Off-Season Free Agents mentioned in “A-2” are eligible to be drafted.

3.Each time a player from an Existing Franchise has been chosen from the Expansion Draft Eligible List, their “Top 2” remaining players, from their provided list in “A-8”, will be returned to them and removed from the Expansion Draft Eligible List.

4.Once an Existing Franchise has reached a roster size of 38, there will be no more “Pull Backs” unless undrafted at the end of round 42 (see “C-4”).

5. 1.If at the end of the 42 round Expansion Draft, there are any players left that do not fall under “A-2” guidelines, they will be returned to their Existing Franchise.

6. At the conclusion of the Expansion Draft, Expansion Franchises will have a roster size of 42 & Existing Franchises 38.

D. Post-Expansion Draft

1.Expansion Franchises should cut any unwanted Non-Carded player they drafted as a result of the Expansion Draft.

2.Each of the 4 Expansion Franchises would be allowed to CUT up to 2 Un-Carded Minor League Players they have on their roster as a result of the Expansion Draft.

a.This is a one-time only option.

b.Owners must cut the designated slot during the specified period (To Be Determined) or the player will remain their franchises until they make their debut or their contract runs out.

3.Each of the 24 Existing Franchises would be allowed to CUT up to 1 Un-Carded Minor League Player they have on their roster.

a.This is a one-time only option.

b.Owners must cut the designated slot during the specified period (To Be Determined) or the player will remain their franchises until they make their debut or their contract runs out.

4.The MWBL would then follow rules for the number of keepers, going into 2010, as described in the MWBL League Guide, Section IV; Roster Rules.

E. 2010 Annual Draft

1.For the 2010 Annual Draft, the Expansion Franchises will select at picks 7-10 and will rotate each round similar to how the Expansion Draft order was determined in “B-3”.

a.The drafting order will be determined at a later date with a random drawing done by the Commissioners Office.

2.At the completion of the 2010 Annual Draft, any team not at 50 (38 Carded/No-Carded & 12 Un-Carded) will continue to draft until they reach 50.

3.Expansion Franchises will be allowed to draft as many rounds past Round 12 if they choose.

4.Expansion Franchises cut down to 50 (38 Carded/No-Carded & 12 Un-Carded).

5.No Waiver Draft in 2010

F. Glossary

1.Un-Carded Player: A player who has not played in a previous MLB season, and has been given an MWBL minor league contract. These players are typically players in the minor leagues of professional baseball, amateur players, foreign players, or Non-Carded Players who have been given a minor league contract.

2.No-Carded or Non-Carded Player: A player who has not played in the previous MLB season but has played in past MLB seasons. A Non-Carded Player can be given a minor league contract.

3.Pull Back(s): Player(s) returned to their Existing Franchise after one of their players is chosen in the Expansion Draft.

G. Divisional Alignment

1.There will be two divisions in each the American League & National league that will increase to 5 teams.

2.This will be determined by the combined records of the divisions over the last 5 years.

3.The least 2 competitive divisions in each league will increase to 5 teams in hopes of making them more competitive and hopefully allowing the Expansion teams to compete at a faster pace.

a.The results are as follows:

b.Based on the table in 11d, the Expansion Franchises will be added to the AL East & West and the NL East & West

H. Commissioner’s Office Discretion

1.While we tried to account for everything, there is always a possibility that something ends up being unclear or unaccounted for. In the even that there was a contingency that was unclear or unaccounted for, the Commissioner’s Office will make the final decision.