Dexter Little League: Draft Procedures
Monday, March 10Dexter Little League
Baseball and Softball Player
Evaluation and Draft Procedures
Player Evaluation
All participants in the Coach Pitch, Minor, Major and Junior leagues must attend the evaluation session for their respective age group. Any individual who is required to attend the evaluation session and does not must arrange an individual evaluation with their respective league commissioner prior to the draft.
No player is eligible for the draft without first being evaluated.
Players will be evaluated in the following areas: fielding ground balls, fielding fly balls, throwing, and hitting. Players also will be timed in a base-to-base sprint.
Once the evaluations are completed, all players will be placed on teams via the draft process.Players are encouraged to play in their appropriate divisions.
Requests for children to “play up” will be considered by the Board of Directors as long as the child is evaluated with the older age group and meets an evaluation standard. To move from Coach Pitch to Minor, Minor to Major or Major to Junior, players must score at least 12 out of 20. Requests to move up that are denied as a result of a sub-standard evaluation score can be appealed to the Board of Directors as long as the appeal comes within 12 hours of notification. Appeals must be made to the DLL player agent.Requests for children to “play down” must be submitted in writing to the DLL player agent prior to the registration deadline.
Managers, recommended by the President (or delegate) and approved by the Board of the Directors, must attend the evaluation sessions as well. The number of teams in each division, as well as the number of managers needed, will be based on the draft pool and determined prior to the evaluation sessions.
Draft Procedures
There will be a complete re-draft each year at all levels. A draft date will be announced well in advance and all managers must be present. In the event of an emergency absence, a potential assistant coach or league director may draft a team.
The following procedures will be used:
· Each manager will randomly pick a draft number out of a hat or some other common means.
· Based on the number of players in the pool, there will be no fewer than 10 rounds and no more than 12.
· Before starting the draft, each manager’s child needs to be rated as an “X-round pick” in his/her age group. The child’s evaluation score will be used as the basis for his/her rating. In the event of a tie, a manager’s child must be taken in the earliest round indicated.
· The same rating process will be used for the youngest of siblings whose parents request that they play together.
· In the event of same-age siblings whose parents request that they play together, all of the siblings will be rated as “X-round picks” and the rating will apply to the remaining siblings once the first sibling has been selected.
· Managers may appeal the ratings of players who are potential “X-round picks.” All appeals must be submitted to a pre-determined Dexter Little League official at least 48 hours before the draft.
· Players will be drafted by age group, with the older players in each league being drafted first. For example, Major managers must draft 12-year-olds before moving into the pool of 11-year-olds. This method will continue until a round begins and there are not enough 12-year-olds remaining for each team. At that point, the remaining 12-year-olds will be pushed into the younger pool and managers can start drafting 11-year-olds. It also should be noted that 10-year-olds playing in the Majors will be drafted as 11-year-olds and 7-year-olds and 8-year-olds playing in the Minors will be drafted as 9-year-olds.
SCENARIO A: The pool of Major players is 96, 51 of whom are 12-year-olds. This would result in an eight-team league. The drafting begins, and after the sixth round there are only three 12-year-olds remaining. This means coaches would be allowed to select 11-year-olds at the beginning of the seventh round.
SCENARIO B: Brothers Bobby Jones, 12, and Tommy Jones, 11, have requested to play on the same team. Tommy is rated as a third-round pick in his age group (No. 19 out of 45). This means that the manager who selects Bobby must also choose Tommy in the ninth round. In the event that Bobby isn’t drafted before the sixth round, he also must be rated as an “X-round pick” based on his evaluation score. Scenario C would then apply.
SCENARIO C: Brothers Billy Smith, 11, and Timmy Smith, 11, have requested to play on the same team. Billy is rated as a fourth-round pick in his age group (No. 25 out of 45). Timmy is rated as a fifth-round pick in his age group (No. 36 out of 45). This means that if a manager selects Billy first, he must then take Timmy in the 11th round – or the next round if the 11th round has already concluded. It also means that if a manager selects Timmy first, he must then take Billy in the 10th round – or the next round if the 10th round has already concluded. In the event that siblings requesting to play together have not been selected with two rounds remaining in the draft, the manager with the highest accumulative team evaluation score must draft both of them with his/her final two picks – as long as he/she has two picks remaining. If there is a tie for the highest accumulative team score, the team involved in the tie with the highest rated individual player must draft the players. The teams will continue moving down their rosters, looking for the next highest ranking, until the tie is broken.
· During odd-number rounds, teams will select in numerical order based on their random draw (1-2-3-4-5-6, etc.). During even-number rounds, teams will select in the opposite order (6-5-4-3-2-1). The evaluation scores will not affect the draft order as they are simply a resource for the coaches.
· If there are not enough players to complete a final round of drafting, each manager will re-draw his/her draft order prior to the final round. The manager with the #1 pick will select first, #2 will select second, and so on. This order only applies for selecting the remaining players on the draft board.
Placing New Players after the Draft
It is the intention of the Dexter Little League to include all children in the league that express a desire to play baseball or softball even if they sign up late, given that space is available. The following procedure will be used to add players to teams after the draft has been completed and teams have been formed:1. If space is available and a new player registers, the names of the teams without full rosters will be placed in a hat. The new player, or Dexter Little League Player Agent, will then draw his/her team assignment.
2. If space is not available, the player will be placed on a waiting list and could be added to a roster in the event of a season-ending injury or a player leaving a team. Teams do not have to add players once the regular season begins.
Assistant Coaches
Managers will select their assistant coaches after teams are drafted. A list of parents interested in assisting will be provided to managers prior to the draft. All assistant coaching assignments are subject to Dexter Little League BOD approval.