Legacy Materials
Legacy Rules
2007 Rules
2008 Rules
2009 Rules
LDB Rules Board Reporter
LDB Rules Board Decision Citation Format
Decisions by the Rules Board should be cited as: <title>, <season year> LDB <decision number of the season> (<month> <day>, <year>).
2010 Decisions
In Re aRBI, 2010 LDB 1 (Apr. 6, 2010)
QUESTION: The Wiki says that aRBI shall be RBI-2GIDP, but the Commissioner stated in an email that aRBI shall be RBI-GIDP. Which formula are we using?
DECISION: The Board unanimously concludes that aRBI should be RBI-2GIDP, as stated in the Wiki. The rule as stated in the Wiki is entirely unambiguous, and therefore carries the day. We recognize that the Commissioner provided a different formula in an email, and that that formula is probably a better one. But the Wiki is the primary source for LDB's Rules, and where it can only be interpreted in one way, that interpretation should usually, and perhaps always, govern.
We should emphasize that, in this case, the rule written into the Wiki is workable and a relatively minor change from the other possible rule. Additionally, to the extent that anybody is harmed by the misunderstanding, that harm falls equally on people who relied on one source and people who relied on the other. Treating the rule stated in the Wiki as definitive thus does not create problems for the functioning of the League, and does not create or exacerbate any avoidable inequities among owners.
Of course, this does not stop the league from changing the rule mid-season, in accordance with the "In-season Rule Changes" provision of the Wiki. Such changes require unanimous consent.
R. Hughes, M. Brophy, and J. Dubner
In Re Cancelled MLB Games, 2010 LDB 2 (Apr. 12, 2010)
QUESTIONS: (1) Do stats from cancelled MLB games count in LDB? (2) If they do not count, what should be the mechanism for getting them tossed?
DECISION: On the first question, the Board unanimously concludes that cancelled MLB games will not count in LDB. On the second question, the Board unanimously concludes that the Commissioner should first look for a way to solve the problem functionally. If a functional fix is not possible, the league will rely on owners reporting cancelled games.
Regarding the first question, the Rules are completely silent on the issue. However, our past practice with CBS was to not count these games. And, as we understand, most if not all fantasy service providers do not count cancelled games. Given our past practice and that the fantasy baseball industry generally does not count these games, we are persuaded that they should not count.
On the second question, we think a technical fix is optimal. If that's not possible, then owners should keep their eye out for canceled games, and email the league when one occurs. Given that most of the league checks scores repeatedly throughout the day, a regular practice of emailing the league when a canceled game is spotted should suffice to catch all canceled games. Note that you should email the league, rather than just Geoff, so that everybody else knows that they don't need to report that game.
We considered proposing a prize for reported games, e.g., a .4M reward to the first team that spotted any given canceled game. Ultimately, we determined that this was unnecessary.
R. Hughes, M. Brophy, and J. Dubner
2011 Decisions
2012 Decisions
In Re Robinson Cano's Contract Status, 2012 LDB 1 (Feb. 16, 2012)
QUESTION: Robinson Cano was erroneously marked as a K2 last year. He was actually a K3. Anton, who purchased him in the auction three years ago, has owned the player for all three years. He said that he had built his team around having Cano this year, but now he should be an RFA instead of a K3 (had he not been erroneously marked). Need a decision about what to do with Cano's status.
DECISION: We find ourselves in the odd situation of having to interpret rules that we no longer have, as they were lost on an old server. However, one of the pieces we have left of the rules is an amendment made during the previous offseason, the "Dubner Amendment," which clarifies the powers and mission of this board:
If the Rules are ambiguous or do not address an issue, the Board should craft a rule designed to best fulfill the goals and intent of the league, but should be mindful of the need to avoid harming or benefiting any individual team or subset of teams that has relied on a valid interpretation of the text of the Rules or would otherwise be affected in a way distinct from the rest of the league. Above all, the Board should be guided by common sense and its understanding of what makes LDB the most functional and the most fun, rather than legalistic or formalistic nuances.
Having no rules to read from, we have to draw on memory to answer this question. We recall no contingency for dealing with the situation where incorrect data entry prejudices a team owner. As such, we need to craft a commonsense decision that fulfills the intent of the league.
We are guided in part by the dispute at the beginning of the 2011 season as to what extent Jay should be penalized after not having set his lineup over multiple days. Part of that discussion focussed on the level of responsibility an owner in this league must have to know his own team. The consensus was that everybody in this league must have a higher responsibility than they would in an average league. We think that is true in this case: an owner should know, without relying on entered data, whether a player has been on his roster for two or three seasons.
We are also guided by situations in the past where the league has had to fashion workarounds in data gaps, especially with regard to fielding data. Given that our league software is far from enterprise-level, owners should expect some reasonable low level of data inaccuracy. That is true in this case as well. One cannot expect every contract status to be correct, especially when it was (likely) entered by hand at some point.
As such, Cano's contract status last season was K3, and he will be an RFA this year. Additionally, Anton must pay the $0.7 million in savings that he received with Cano's more favorable K2 contract designation last season.
We are mindful that we must "avoid harming or benefiting any individual team or subset of teams that has relied on a valid interpretation of the text of the Rules or would otherwise be affected in a way distinct from the rest of the league." We therefore do not opine here on the situation where an incorrect contract status requires an owner to pay back substantially more than $0.7 million in savings.
R. Hughes, I. Marcus Amelkin, and M. Starr