GMs,
Just a few things regarding our FYPD.
1: The 12 hour clock will be utilized for Round 1 only and will officially begin on November 1 @ 9:00 am ET. The Draft Room is currently open and available.
2: An 8 hour clock will begin with Round 2 selections and will continue through subsequent Rounds.
3: At the moment, some teams do not have open roster spots for new draftees. The pandemic has impacted the development of our MiLB players, and it’s a bit problematic to try and decide if they have progressed enough to keep another season. But, with the upcoming draft, all of us have to make those decisions. So now would be a good time to go through our prospects and decide if they are worthy of a roster spot.
4: In 2020, the MLB streamlined the process and cutback to a 5 Round draft. Our league has traditionally held a 10 Round draft, but that seems impractical given our present-day realities. Most of the teams in FGM have MiLB rosters that are full, or have only a few open spots, so I am skeptical that any GM will utilize all of their draft picks.
5: For everyone’s best interest, all 1st Round picks will be rostered, in an available open roster spot (MiLB or MLB). However, beginning with the 2nd Round, a team must have an open MiLB roster spot to draft a player, unless the drafting GM declares that the player should be placed on their MLB roster. As such, if there is no available roster space on your team, your turn will be skipped, and unfortunately, will be lost since there are no make-up picks. Open roster spots must be made available before you make additional picks.
6: You can always send me a list of players you would like drafted. List would be confidential, since I am the Draft Monitor, and would be the only one to see the lists.
7: Given the fact that PMs are not delivered to our email boxes, I will be issuing courtesy emails alerting you who is On the Clock, On Deck, and who is In the Hole. Please understand, e-mails are sent as a courtesy, but you do not have to wait for its arrival if it’s your turn to pick. The “On the Clock” time listed is based on the time the previous pick was made, not when the courtesy e-mail is sent.
8: You are not required to utilize all your draft picks and can opt out of the draft at any time.
9: The Draft Room can be accessed by clicking on the “Draft Room” link at the top of any FGM Board page.
10: As in the past, I have posted Baseball America’s Top 500. However, many were not drafted and therefore did not sign a MLB contract. All of the 160 players who were drafted have signed an MLB contract, and therefore are eligible to be drafted. I went through the list and crossed out the players who did not sign. If you want to draft a player that was not drafted by an MLB team, cross-check their status with Fantrax, because Fantrax will indicate which team they signed with. If you draft someone who is not eligible, that pick will be lost and cannot be replaced.
Auto-pick dilemma:
1: Autopicks are necessary to keep the draft moving. It’s always nice to have active participants, but sometimes it is not logistically possible, so if you want, you can always choose to have your team be on Autopick.
2: If you time out, your team is placed on auto-pick. Please let us know if you want to be removed from the auto-pick list so you can make your own selections.
3: If you request to be removed from the auto-pick list and time out a 2nd time, you will automatically be placed on auto-pick for the duration of the draft.
As always, if you have a question, please send me a PM or an e-mail.
Ernie - Flash
