New owners needed

Thanks for your potential interest in operating a team in the OBFLB, which stands for Original Bitnet Fantasy League Baseball. I've had a team in the league since 1992 and know some other current owners in the league were around closer to the beginning in 1989. You can find some old results and history here. We think this is the oldest fantasy baseball league on the internet.

Because the league started using the CBS stats service in 2007 (and TQ Stats prior to that), I have not posted at this blog in many years. However, the league currently has 2 (and potentially 3) openings for owner-general managers. Current league members like me are posting brief notes to social media, including Twitter. I'm posting here so that potential new participants can find a more complete description of the league. Additionally, I also posted the current rules here. 

In brief, the OBFLB is a 24 team head-to-head dynasty league that operates completely over the internet. We play two seasons per year, divided by the All-Star break. The A season draft occurs in March, over a period of several weeks. Basically, every team takes 2 or 3 players per day during the workweek. We skip Fridays to create a day to resolve technical difficulties that may have occurred during the week. The B season draft occurs in July before and after the All-Star game.

The league uses 10 categories and awards 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie in each category. For hitting, we use batting average, home runs, stolen bases, plate appearances and "runs produced" (RBI plus runs, minus home runs, divided by at bats).

For pitching, we use ERA, WHIP, wins, saves, and innings pitched.

GMs submit lineups by noon each Monday and the week extends Monday through Sunday. Every team needs to have qualifying players at 8 fielding positions, plus DH/utility. We do not require teams to have LF, RF, CF -- just 3 OFers. Teams can use 4 or 5 different starting pitchers per week and up to 4 relief pitchers. The rules explain position eligibility and lineup construction. GMs can draft or acquire as a free agent anyone not on another roster for their team, including major league players, college players, minor league players, Japanese players, etc. However, only the statistics from major league baseball count during the season. The OBFLB roster allows for up to 28 players and the only additional inactive players must be on the major league baseball disabled list.

There are "trading point" (TP) penalties for failing to field a sufficient active lineup each week. TPs are the league imaginary currency, awarded based on prior season performance, carried over from season-to-season, but spent when retaining current players each season (7 to 15 players) or buying free agent players each week. They can also be traded, as their name suggests.

Frankly, it is relatively simple to retain players from season-to-season as we do not use contracts and we allow owners to cut players at any time. The relatively unlimited free agent rules developed as a means to infuse teams with new talent. The league members put a premium on star players and outstanding prospects. To get a feel for the implications of these particular dynasty league rules, I recently blogged about my late 1990s and early 2000s team. 

The league GMs play for competition, bragging rights, and fun, so there is no cash prize. The only cost is the fee for using CBS. One league member has long paid the full price each year and counts on everyone else to pay him $7 to use the website for the year.

Anyone who is interested should contact me via Twitter (@rapayn01) or email (rapayn01 at yahoo dot com). We need new owners quickly as the draft begins soon and we have some proposed rules changes to consider. There is some talk of allowing daily transactions within a roster. I would personally favor moving to OBA rather than batting average, etc.