ESSA Player Draft Rules - 2024

Player Draft Rules

Every spring there is a player draft by the team Captains to select the teams.

Here the rules and principles that are used in that process.

• There are 7 rating categories (A-G), with the A and G categories having 7 players, and all the rest 14 players, except category D which will have the excess players. Currently that means with 98 registered players, there will be 28 players in category D, and each team will pick 4.

  It is intended that the categories have a range of 2 or 3 points if possible.

  The ratings are sorted by the following keys, in order: Total Rating, Hitting Rating, Fielding Rating, Throwing Rating, Running Rating, regular Alphabetical by Name.
  Next year (2025) the same sorting order scheme will be used, with the Alphabetical by Name reversed (which could make a difference when identically rated players fall on a category boundary).

• Captains will pick one player each from categories A and G, two each from categories B, C, E and F, and four from category D for a total of 14.

• Each Captain will select the same number of players from each rating category.

• The Captain is included in the maximum allowed from each rating category.

• Captains, and their partner if applicable, are placed on their team in their rating category before the draft begins.

• Captains who do not have a partner will then choose a female player who is NOT part of a couple so all teams will have 2 players before the draft officially starts.
  These players must be in the same or lower rating category as the highest rated partner.
  Captains can either agree how to allocate these players, or choose the order per the next bullet point.

• New Captains get to pick first (using a random draw if more than one); the other Captains choose their draft order randomly.

• Draft rounds go from team 1 to 7, then from team 7 back to team 1, then team 1 to team 7, then team 7 to team 1, etc., until all players have been drafted. If a team is complete (currently 14 players), that team is skipped.

• Captains may select any player from any rating category in any round until they have reached their quota for that rating category.

• There are no protected players.

• Husbands/wives/partners normally play on the same team; the "other half" is placed on the team automatically and does not use a draft pick for that Captain; the Captain "loses" a draft pick at the end of the draft.

• Female players should be distributed as evenly as possible after the draft to reduce player griping.

• At the end of the draft, there will be an opportunity to trade one player for another in the same rating category if desired provided another Captain also wishes to trade.

• Adjustments / trades may be made after the draft by the Fairness Committee if necessary. Teams will be also be reviewed after the first round-robin has been completed.

• The draft meeting is open only to team Captains and invited members. The invitation comes from the Association Commissioner after consulting with the Board of Directors.

Draft Preparation

• player list by rating category
  • positions played are usually listed in order of preference / ability
  • rover (R) could mean either a very good or pretty weak outfielder
  • RF (right field) generally means a very weak outfielder
• player list by position
• Team Selection Form (Excel format) to track players selected by category
• fielding charts to track players selected by position:
  

• a sticky note for each player, organized by rating category
• large team boards to track selected players by rating category