Benchwarmer News

5/7/12

• Have you been hanging on to guys on IR but don't really intend to keep them for 2013? Or waiting to see if some guys start performing in 2012?  Week 5 marks the last where you get 80% of salary rebated.  After Wednesday's submission, rebates start decreasing 4% each week.

5/1/12

• Getting closer to a better warning system for transactions that may put you in violation of roster limits and/or not enough cash to sign players.  As a first step to that, the salary rebates on your transaction submission page and your listing of transactions for all your teams should now correctly reflect multi-season contracts.

4/23/12

• Payment was due on Week 1 deadline - April 11 - BWB delayed implementing restrictions, but if you're not paid by Week 3 deadline (April 25) - this means confirmed...including checks received - you will be locked out from adds/drops/trades (you'll be OK for this week - restrictions will start with Week 4 submissions).  You'll be locked from lineup changes if not received by Week 5.
  • Payment Summary
  • If you're running multiple teams (or want to increase your number), check out our multi-team packages.

4/20/12

• Should have reminded you before transactions this week, but we run 2 weeks behind in applying standings to transactions.  Once we complete Week 1, those week-ending standings will determine the Week 3 transaction order.  And the revenue for games won and division position for Week 1 get applied during the Week 3 transactions.

4/15/12

• Working on some web code to help you out with roster/cash limitations when you try to sign and trade players, but that's a complicated mess, so it will come eventually...in the meantime, make sure you're checking your rosters - and the limits posted beneath your rosters - as you submit transactions or you may miss out on some players you need.

4/7/12

• 2012 Schedule Posted
• Due TONIGHT - at Midnight EASTERN - Extended to 8AM EDT on Sunday morning - Week Zero Transactions - check the schedule page for more details as well as the rules for "inactive owners" (if your roster does not reach minimum levels by the end of this week, you've been inactive this pre-season).  Things to consider:
  • You must have a legal roster after this week's transactions.
  • Salary rebate for cut players goes up to 80%.
  • Cash balances for returning leagues (not newly drafted ones) must be at or below 5000 after this week's transactions (including salary rebates...so be careful if you're cutting guys or trading them away this week).  Balances above 5000 will be reduced to that level.
  • All teams will then get 2000 in Opening Day cash...in a little loophole in the calculation, you can actually count on that 2000 to use for transactions this week if you're short on cash.
  • No new players added yet - see the note below from March 22.
  • Transaction order will be reset to the reverse of 2011 standings (or team total salary for new leagues) for the Week One transactions (due April 11).
  • You don't have to have a lineup set until April 11, but it doesn't hurt to start setting it now.
  • This is a 2009 posting, so ignore the dates and the specific names of new leagues, but here is some additional discussion about Week Zero in the Benchwarmer Blog

4/5/12

• Firemen League Draft Central - Startup Draft - Phase Two Complete. League will start now with free agent transactions with the Week Zero submission (Saturday 4/7).

4/4/12

• Superman League Draft Central - Startup Draft - Phase Two Complete. League will start now with free agent transactions with the Week Zero submission (Saturday 4/7).

4/2/12

• Week -1 Transactions - Results posted.  Week Zero deadline is Saturday night, April 7 at midnight Eastern.
• They Might be Giants Draft Central - Startup Draft - Phase Two Complete. League will start now with free agent transactions with the Week Zero submission (Saturday 4/7).

3/22/12

• Some notes about new players...
  • After the addition of guys on 40-man rosters in December/January, the next time we add players is when they appear in a regular season MLB game.
  • Players are added to the list only at the time we process weekly transactions, so that all teams have an equal opportunity and at least 4-5 days to see that players have been added.
  • Our Week Zero deadline is Sat April 7 and Week One (when BWB Opening Day lineups are due) is Wed. April 11.  Expect that the Week Zero transactions will get posted on Sunday April 8.
  • Any players who appear in MLB games for the first time on or before April 7 will get added to the player list in time for the Week One transactions.  If they do not appear by that time, then they'll likely be available for the Week Two submission (due 4/18).
  • So...if Yu Darvish pitches for Texas in either of their first 2 games, look for him between 4/8-4/11 to add him to your roster...otherwise it won't be until Week 2.
  • Any players who appear for the first time in the Japan games between Oakland and Seattle (Yoenis Cespedes anyone?) will not be available until the Week One transactions.
  • Week 1 & 2 transaction order is in reverse order of 2011 standings - the same as was the case for the Redistribution Draft (new leagues are in reverse order of total team salary after Week Zero).  Starting with Week 3 we look at 2012 win-loss records to set the order.

3/19/12

• Superman League Draft Central - Resolution of contested picks complete...Phase One is done - players are now on your rosters and each team received an extra 10 million in cash - we now move on to Phase 2, with your first set of picks (10 rounds) due THURSDAY night 3/22 at midnight Pacific.
• Welcome to Benchwarmer Baseball - It's a different form of fantasy baseball as we play individual head-to-head games simulated from daily MLB stats - this isn't a Rotisserie game.
  • This is fantasy baseball 365 days a year.  Teams are now making adjustments to their rosters for the 2012 season.
  • Check out the Benchwarmer Baseball Tour for an introduction.
  • Our new 16-team leagues are full for 2012.
  • But, would you like to attempt to turn around a struggling team?, these orphan teams are available...pick up an existing team and rebuild it, rather than start from scratch.
  • Want to sign up for an orphan team in 2012?  If you're new to BWB, you can sign up here.  Existing BWB owners can pick up brand new extra teams.

3/16/12

• This link is always found on the Help Page: As you're putting together your 2012 roster, particularly if you're new to BWB you might want to check out the sample scoring page that allows you to play around with a batting order and see how it can affect your offensive score for a game.

3/14/12

• They Might be Giants Draft Central - Startup draft - Phase One - complete.  The first set of Phase Two picks are due Sunday night at midnight Pacific.

3/8/12

• Multi-Team Tools.  Now has a method to attempt to sign a player as a free agent for every team you own.

3/6/12

• Federal League Draft Central - Startup Draft Complete
  • Weekly picks/drops/trades now begin with Week -4: Deadline Saturday 3/10
  • For new leagues there is a 2-week reprieve in salary rebates - you can cut players by 3/17 and receive a 100% salary rebate rather than the standard preseason 50%
• Did you take over an Orphan Team for 2012?  Some of the details and links in these articles need to be updated, but here's a series of postings from the Benchwarmer Blog to fill you in on some of the things you need to know - it's called Orphan School

3/2/12

• The offseason transaction order for weekly signings is run a little differently.  We do it as a kind of ongoing "waiver" wire.  As you pick a player, you go to the bottom of your league's order.  Because it's set manually, it will generally be updated 1-3 days after the transactions post.

2/29/12

• Contract extensions for 2013 and beyond are now open.  Annual strong advice is don't use them now unless you have to...returning teams can take a maximum of 5000 cash into the season as of Week Zero.  Otherwise, it's best to wait until closer to the July deadline for extensions.

2/23/12

• Weekly Free Agency/Trades: Preseason deadlines are on Saturday nights at midnight Pacific.  Results will generally be posted on Sunday or Monday.  See 2012 Transaction Deadlines
• Payment now due - If you're brand new, you must pay before you join a league.  If you joined BWB in 2011 or earlier, you must pay by Week 1 (April 11) or you will face transaction/lineup restrictions.
  • Payment Summary
  • If you're running multiple teams (or want to increase your number), check out our multi-team packages.

2/21/12

• Redistribution Draft - Full results now posted.

2/20/12

• Redistribution Draft - The draft is complete and players are now on your rosters - however, we're still redesigning how the results are posted, so there are no draft details yet.  In the meantime, check out some stats about the draft submission.
• Weekly transactions are now open: Sign free agents, cut players, make trades.

2/15/12

• Federal League Draft Central - Startup Draft Phase 2, Part 2 - results posted

2/14/12

• Redistribution Draft - The deadline for picking was Saturday night.  It takes a while to go through everything, so we're targeting Monday, Feb. 20 for the completion of posting the results.  That will make Friday, Feb. 24 the first option for submitting cuts, free agent pickups, and trades.

1/31/12

• Multi-Team Tools.  Now contain a display of all your Redistribution Draft lists on one page.

1/29/12

• Multi-Team Tools.  Do you run teams in multiple leagues?  There's a new page with a set of tools and functions with you in mind.  Look for more to be added soon, but off the top there's a page that will show a rundown of all the players on all of your teams plus a method to add a player to the Redistribution Draft list for every one of your teams.

1/20/12

• Federal League Draft Central - Phase One Draft Complete - Phase 2 is open...Picks are due on Wednesday night, Feb 1 at midnight Pacific

1/19/12

• Drops processed for returning leagues.
• Redistribution Draft - picks will be due on Friday Feb. 10.
• See 2012 Transaction Deadlines

1/18/12

• Returning Leagues - Player cuts...getting close - one more night.  Look for cuts to be posted Thursday night.  The schedule for submitting Redistribution Draft choices will be adjusted accordingly.  Look for at least 2 full weeks.

1/8/12

• One more delay -With some late-assigned orphans, and me still needing to work on rosters for the remaining orphan teams, the deadline for carryover choices is pushed back to Friday, Jan 13 (midnight Pacific).

1/2/12

• New Players - 116 new players added to the master player list based on the MLB 40-man rosters.  No more additions until after the season begins.

See the News Archive for older headlines.