2008 Sandlot Winter Meetings

As promised, here is a brief rundown of the 2008 Winter Meetings and all league decisions and changes involved therein:

Agenda #1: MLB & MiLB Keepers

The number of MLB keepers allotted to each team will increase to 12 after the 2009 season (previous total was 10). The number of MiLB keepers allotted to each team will stay the same (eight).

Agenda #2: MiLB Draft; MiLB Eligibility Standards

The 2009 MiLB Draft will not be extended or increased (five rounds).

Any MiLB player not eligible for the previously held MiLB draft -- i.e. any player not signed by a professional team with no recorded stats prior to mid-season -- is ineligible for free-agent selection and/or keeper selection. Instead, the aforementioned player(s) will be held over until the next season's MiLB Draft.

Agenda #3: 2009 Salary Figures & Adjustments

The 2009 salary cap allotted to each owner will increase to $125MM (previous total was $110MM). The 2009 minimum player salary will increase to $390k (previous figure was $300k).

And again, The Sandlot League will continue to utilize Cot's Baseball Contracts for all salary figures via http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com.

Agenda #4: Draft-Pick Trading & 2010 Draft Order

Owners are limited to in-season trades involving draft picks for the following season (e.g., owners can trade or acquire picks for the 2010 draft during the 2009 season). No owner shall engage in trades involving draft picks two or more years into the future.

The 2010 Draft Order will reflect the inverse of the final 2009 League Standings.
(The previous order reflected an inverse among the top eight teams and a randomly selected order among the bottom eight -- a measure taken to prevent tanking).