1. Team statistics will be maintained for the following eight categories: Offense - Home Runs, Runs Batted In, Batting Average, and Stolen Bases; Pitching - Wins, Saves, Earned Run Average and Strike Outs.
-- 2008 Amendment -- beginning in 2009, Runs Scored and WHIP are added as scoring categories.
2. Rosters will be 25 players. Only American League players will be used.
1997 Amendment - No National League player shall appear on any VSL roster.
2001 Amendment - Beginning in the 2002 season, any team roster may maintain up to five active National League players on a roster. If a National League player is moved to a DL roster spot(whether 15 day or 60 day) a National League player may be obtained, but at no time shall a team roster have more than 5 active National League players.
2004 Amendment - The number of National League players active on a roster is dropped from five to two.
2017 Amendment - The number of National League players activate on a roster is raised from two to three.
3. Each team plays eight offensive players (3 outfielders, 3B, 2B, 1B, SS, and C). order for a player to be eligible at a position he must have played a minimum of 20 games at that position in the previous season or play 20 games at a position in the current season. Eligibility of minor league players and designated hitters is determined by the Office of the Commissioner.
1997 Amendment -- Added the Designated Hitter as a position.
4. Standings. Each team is ranked in each category. First place receives one point, second place two points and etc. The low score after totaling all categories is in first place.
5. Statistics as published in the USA TODAY newspaper are the official league statistics. The Office of the Commissioner is responsible for preparing the statistics and distributing them to the owners every two weeks. Owners are responsible for verifying the accuracy of the statistics for their teams and reporting errors to the Office of the Commissioner.
2001 Amendment - Official statistics changed from USA Today newspaper to USA Today online stats manager. The Commissioners' Office is no longer distributing stats every two weeks. Stats are updated daily by the stats service and available anytime on line.
6. Officers of the Varsity Spons League are: Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner.
7. There is a $50 entry fee and a stats service fee for each team. Transaction fees are charged for trades and purchases.
8. The end of year pot includes the $400 of team entry fees and the total transaction fees for the year. The top four teams receive a percentage of the pot: 1st place--40%; 2nd place--20%; 3rd place--10% and 4th place--6%. The team that wins one of the eight categories receives 3% of the pot.
2009 Amendment -- The pot percentages change as follows: 1st place--40%; 2nd place--20%; 3rd place--10% and 4th place--5%. The team that wins one of the ten categories receives 2.5% of the pot.
1. The player draft will be conducted on the Saturday prior to the start of the major league season unless changed by a majority vote of the owners.
2. All owners or a designated representative must be present at the draft.
3. There will be 22 rounds of the draft divided into three sessions ( Rounds 1-8, Rounds 9-15, and Rounds 16-22). There will be 10 minute breaks between sessions.
4. During Rounds 1-8 owners have one minute to make a selection. During Rounds 9-15 one and a half minutes are available for player selection. During Rounds 16-22 owners have two minutes to make a selection. Should an owner fail to make selection in the allotted time they forfeit their turn for one position in the draft.
5. The draft order will be the reverse order of the previous year's finish (8th place drafts 1st and etc.). In Round 2 the team that picked 8th in the first round will pick first and etc. throughout the remainder of the draft.
1997 Amendment - Changed draft for rounds 1-3. Draft order for each of the first three rounds is 5th place, 6th place, 7th place, 8th place, 4th place, 3rd place, 2nd place, and 1st place, based on the final standings for the previous year. Beginning in the 4th round the wrap-around process described above begins with the 1st place team having the 1st pick in the 4th round.
6. Following the draft each owner will submit to the commissioner (by Monday 6PM) the eight offensive players and seven pitchers for the opening day roster.
7. A player protection draft will be conducted at the winter owner's meeting unless otherwise voted upon by a majority of owners. Each team must protect three players from their end of season roster. The first place team will begin the draft and pick first in each of the three rounds. A player may only be protected for two consecutive drafts regardless of whether the player is traded.
1999 Amendment - Any player who is protected in the player protection draft conducted at the winter owner's meeting who is either injured or traded to the National League prior to the commencement of the draft immediately following the protection of the player, the owner of said player may petition the owners of the league, prior to the commencement of said draft, to replace the protected player. If a majority of owners agree to allow the player to be replaced, the owner may select any player off of his teams roster, as that roster existed at the close of the previous season.
2000 Amendment - In the 2001 season owners may carryover only one player. Draft is extended to 24 rounds.
2008 Amendment - Starting in 2009 each owner has the option to carry over one AL player selected between the 20th - 24th Rounds, provided the player is retained on the team's roster for the entire year.
1. Players may be substituted at any time by contacting the Commissioner. However, the substitution will go into effect at the end of the two week period. There will be 12 substitution periods throughout the season.
2001 Amendment - Player substitutions are changed from once every two weeks to once a week by Monday at 6:00 p.m. beginning with the 2002 serason.
2. Substitutions must be made by 6 PM on Monday following the end of a two week period. Beginning with the 1994 season the Office of Commissioner has an answering machine available to expedite the substitution process.
1997 Amendment - Player substitutions increased from 20 to 26 without paying a fee. Player substitutions may be posted on the message board through the link on the VSL Web Page
2001 Amendment - Fee is waived for all player substitutions.
1. Players may be purchased from the undrafted player pool at any time. When a player is purchased and added to the 25 man roster another player must be dropped and returned to the available player pool.
2. If a rostered player is traded to the National League during the season he becomes ineligible for the VSL. The owner of the player traded has the first opportunity to select the player or players who were sent to the American League. The owner must exercise this option prior to the end of the two week period. Other owners may call the commissioner on a first come-first serve basis to establish their option on traded players. In the case of multi-player trades the Office of Commissioner will arbitrate.
1997 Amendment - A team shall not make any roster moves (except for trades with other teams) from the date when the last out is recorded for the end of the regular season of baseball until completion of the player draft the following year.
2000 Amendment - When a minor league player comes into the American League through a transaction that does not involve a trade with an American League player on a VSL roster, all VSL teams have an opportunity to acquire that player. Owners must post on the message board (or call the commissioner) their interest in the player by 6:00 PM on the SATURDAY prior to the Monday substitution deadline. Of the teams posting an interest, the team lowest in the standings will have the first option to purchase the new player.
2004 Amendment - The 2000 Amendment above is rescinded. The acquisition of players from the minors and/or from the NL (not on a roster) shall be on a first come, first served basis.
2000 Amendment - When a team looses a player to the NL during the season, that team has first right to determine whether a player coming to the AL pursuant to the trade is added to the team roster. The team must announce by the end of the following substitution period whether the player coming to the AL will be added to the roster.
2024 Amendment - When a National League player comes to the American League through a transaction that does not involve a trade with an American League player on a VSL roster, all VSL teams have an opportunity to acquire that player. Owners must post on the message board (or contact the Office of the Commissioner) their interest in the player Within 24 hours of the notification of the major league transaction. Of the teams posting an interest, the team lowest in the standings will have the first option to purchase the new player.
3. Players may be traded throughout the entire season. In the case of multi-player trades, owners will pay for the number of players they receive.
2000 Amendment - A trading deadline of Labor Day was established. The Office of Commissioner will set 6:00 PM on Labor Day as the cut-off to coincide with the 6:00 PM substituition deadline.
2008 Amendment - Player to be named later in any trade is no longer allowed.
4. Team rosters will be maintained by the Office of the Commissioner and distributed at the end of each month. Trades, substitutions, and purchases will be made available every two weeks along with league statistics.
5. Fee for player movement is a follows:
a. Five dollars for the pickup of a player from the player pool.
b. Two Dollars and Fifty Cents for a player picked up from the player pool if a player is placed on the DL
c. Two Dollars and Fifty Cents for a player who was picked up pursuant to paragraph (5)(b) and the player is placed on the active roster when the player on the DL is activated.
d. One Dollar per player for any player involved in a trade>
e. One Dollar to acquire an AL player who was recently traded from the NL when that player was involved in a Major League Baseball Trade and a player on the team roster was involved in the trade and traded to the NL.
f. Ten Dollars to acquire an AL player who was recently traded from the NL when that player was not involved in a Major League Baseball Trade and a player on the team roster was involved in the trade and traded to the NL.
1. Each team may maintain a two player disabled list. In order to carry a player on the disabled list that player must be on the official major league baseball disabled list as published in the USA TODAY newspaper.
2000 Amendment - There is added a third DL spot for one 60 day DL player. To be designated to this DL spot on the roster, the player must be officially listed on the 60 day DL by their major league club.
2001 Amendment - A National League player may be obtained for a player moved to a DL roster spot if:
a. The player on the DL is a National League player, or
b. A team has less than five active National League Players on its roster.
2004 Amendment - Must have less than two active National League Players on the roster.
1. In 1990 the league established a Pick 15 contest. Each team submits a 15 player roster at the beginning of the season.
1997 Amendment - Became the Pick-16 contest with the addition of the Designated Hitter position.
2001 Amendment - Discontinued beginning in the 2002 season.
