Don’t despair about the name; it’s only for one season (unless you finish 12th), and remember, the winner of every division – including the BASEMENT DIVISION – also gets promoted to the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE for next season.
DRAFT: It is a slow draft which starts at 10:00am on Saturday 18 March. You get one hour per pick and the clock stops at 11pm until 8:00am (British time zone).
If you fail to make your pick within the hour, the Fantrax system will choose the next highest-ranked player. You can utilise the queue/autodraft system to help you get the players that you want.
Team name: Please ensure that your team name is your full name and the team abbreviation is your first name and the initial of your surname. Eg Fred B
If you join the league, ensure that you familiarise yourself with the rules and settings on Fantrax. The main aspects are detailed below.
Basic principles
We wanted an exciting format to help grow fantasy baseball in the UK, but with minimal in-season management and even less commissioner work.
Every division features at least one complete novice, so we have written a handy guide of “Novice tips”
Divisions: Multiple, interlinked divisions. Each division winner is promoted straight to the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE for the following season.
Scoring: Season-long competition (weekly head-to-head) with a points scoring system.
Hitting points
Single 1 pt
Double 2 pts
Triple 3 pts
Home run 4 pts
Walk 1 pt
Hit by pitch 1 pt
Run 1 pt
RBI 1 pt
Stolen base 3 pts
Strikeout -0.5 pts
Pitching points
Innings pitched 3 pts
Strikeouts 0.5 pts
Earned run -1 pt
Hit -1 pt
Walk -1 pt
Hit batsman -1 pt
Win 5 pts
Quality start 3 pts
Save 5 pts
Hold 3 pts
Weekly lineups lock 10 minutes before first pitch on Saturday.
Teams get a Win, Loss or Tie after each Scoring Period.
El Capitan rule: The player in your UT slot scores 5 points for each run, stolen base, or home run (as well as the usual points for the other contributions).
Transactions: Maximum 2 free agent acquisitions per week. Free agent acquisition by FAAB which runs at midnight on Friday. $100 budget – tiebreak goes to the earliest bid.
Trades: No trades allowed.
Roster size: 23 with an active roster of 20 – C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 4 x OF, DH, 6 x SP, 3 x RP and UT (El Capitan) plus 3 bench
Draft: The CHAMPIONS LEAGUE draft is via an online auction on the final Monday before the start of the season. The BASEMENT DIVISION is a slow draft starting at 10:00am (UK time) on Saturday 18 March
Schedule: The 2023 GBfbs season starts on Saturday 1 April and runs until Friday 29 September.
Note 1: MLB Opening Day on Friday 30 March is a non-scoring period.
Note 2: The league’s final day on Friday 29 September is a couple of days before the end of MLB’s regular season.
Note 3: There is a short, three-day matchup between Saturday 8 July to Friday 14 July, around the All-Star break. Plan accordingly.
The regular season, which finishes on Friday 1 September, consists of 22 weekly matchups, with each team playing every other team twice. Playoffs start on Saturday 2 September.
Playoffs: Top 4 teams from each division proceed to the playoffs. The semi-final and final are both two-week scoring periods; lineup changes are allowed ahead of the second Saturday.
Promotion: Each division winner is promoted straight to the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE for the following season, where they join the top two or three finishers from this year’s CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.
The bottom team in each division is relegated to the BASEMENT DIVISION, where they are joined by the two or three lowest-scoring, non-bottom-finishing teams.
All other teams will be dispersed to allow evenly-matched divisions in 2024.
Trophies: The winner of the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE is the overall champion. There is also a trophy for the team that scores the most points across all divisions.
Coverage: You can follow the action across all of the divisions on the Deep League Roto website and periodically on the Bat Flips & Nerds website.
Ensure we have your Twitter name if you want to be tagged in any in-season promotion
Use the hashtag #GBfbs on social media
Deep League Roto 