League News

ENYTB RFA RULES
i.e., Adding Players From Other ENYTB Teams

Prior to 2013, ENYTB used a PLAYER RELEASE SYSTEM to regulate player movement inside the league. This system proved to be unfair, inefficient and generally inadequate. Parents were offended by the process and the league was spending an inordinate amount of time advising parties on both sides of such transactions.

In recognition of these problems and shortcomings, ENYTB designed and implemented an entirely new system for regulating intra-league player movement called the RFA Cap & Credit System. That system, along with all modifications thereto since, shall be presented below.

**NOTE: This system applies to Summer Season rosters only, for players aged 16U or younger. In 2020, all players of baseball age 17 or older were exempted from this policy.**

For purposes of regulating intra-league player movement, ENYTB separates players into two groups: Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA) and Restricted Free Agents (RFA).

UFA

A - Prior to ever participating in ENYTB, players are classified as UFA and thus are free to begin participating in the league by playing for any ENYTB team the player has a mutual agreement with, regardless of place of residence.

B - Players who have participated in ENYTB but have been inactive for two years or more, are also classified as UFA.

C - Lastly, any player that has been cut by a team or whose team has ceased being active in the league is also classified an UFA.

ENYTB regulations allow teams to add UFA to their ENYTB roster w/o restriction.


RFA

Once a player begins league participation by agreeing to play for an active ENYTB team, that team places the player on its official ENYTB roster with a designation of “primary” (more on primary/secondary below) and his league status instantly changes from UFA to RFA.

Restrictions on RFA Player Adds....

(A) YEAR 1 .... Once a player joins an ENYTB team on a primary basis he can NOT change primary teams again in the current season except for special circumstance e.g., the player appeared in fewer than three games and the player's club agrees to cancel the player transaction.

(B) Year 2 or Later .... All players are free to change teams. However, ENYTB restricts its member teams by imposing various limits on how many RFA it may add to its roster in total in a given year as well as by various head-to-head (H2H) limits between teams over the lifetime of the two teams.

Each team is given a fixed number of RFA credits at the start of each new league year depending on its club status e.g., teams owned by franchise members get more RFA credits than teams owned by non-franchise members. Teams also can earn BONUS credits depending on the number of UFA they add to their roster in the same year. H2H limits are the same for all teams.

Thus, ENYTB members are allowed to “take” a limited number of players from the rosters of other ENYTB teams (the ENYTB player pool) w/o permission from the league or the player's current primary team, provided two conditions are met:

1 – First, the player and/or his family has agreed with the acquiring team as to the player transaction (change of teams); and,

2 – Second, the acquiring team has the necessary RFA credits and cap space to process the transaction according to the league's rules.

To acquire an RFA, the acquiring team must possess at least one unused RFA credit and it must NOT have exhausted its head-to-head limit vis a vis the player’s existing primary team. Each team's RFA CAP INFO can be viewed at:

? LEAGUE PLAY ? RFA Cap Info ? RFA Cap Space - By Team


COMPENSATION FOR TEAMS THAT LOSE PLAYERS TO OTHER ENYTB TEAMS

When a team loses an RFA to another ENYTB team it is awarded a "compensatory" RFA credit. When a player goes directly from active status for team A to active status for team B, w/o delay, the process is sufficient.

Many players, however, don't go directly from one team to another. Instead, they go from (1) active status for team A to (2) INACTIVE status for team A to (3) active status for team B.

In such cases, to ensure that Team A gets compensated for its loss, such players are placed on a team's "DNR" (Did Not Report) list. DNR is an inactive category. Players remain on a team's DNR list until they sign with another ENYTB team or two years have expired, whichever happens first. Thus, a team's DNR list preserves its right to compensation for two years. After that time, the player is returned to the UFA player pool.

NOTE re: Primary/Secondary Player Status

Thus far, we have described the process whereby players move between teams on a primary basis. ENYTB also allows players to play for multiple ENYTB teams provided the teams are in different age divisions. The first ENYTB team the player joins is labeled his primary team and all others are referred to as his secondary teams. In the event of conflicts between the primary team and any of the player’s secondary teams, the player is obligated to meet the requirements of his primary team first. In such situations, upon request from the player, the player’s primary team is free to agree to let the player play for his secondary team on specific occasions when conflicts exist if it so wishes.


ADDITIONAL WRINKLES TO RFA CAP & CREDIT SYSTEM

Before listing the specific numerical rules that comprise ENYTB’s RFA CAP & CREDIT SYSTEM for allowing player movement, a few wrinkles and/or exceptions to the system should be noted:

1 – By definition, all players participating in the Showcase level = UFA. Such players are free to move between Showcase teams w/o use of RFA credits or limit. These players are also treated as UFA for purposes of moving to non-Showcase teams.

2 – By definition, all players on ENYTB teams from prior years that are discontinued in the league (dead teams) = UFA.

3 – ENYTB has adopted a so-called Franchise Player Exemption (FPE). The FPE gives favorable treatment to franchise members in regards to players residing in their primary franchise area i.e., the FPE allows players to move to a team owned by a club from their home school district w/o counting against the acquiring team’s RFA credits or regular H2H limits. The FPE, however, has its own H2H Limits = one per year with every other ENYTB team and three lifetime.

4 – DNR DESIGNATION .... Except for their first season with a new team, ENYTB allows all ACTIVE players (RFA) to move from one club to another up until the league deadline for such movement, usually MAR1/APR1, depending on team age. However, if a player ceases to be active, regardless of reason, it is the responsibility of the player’s existing club to immediately place the player on its DNR list via its roster. This action will accomplish three important things:

i - it will prevent the player from being eligible to join another ENYTB team on a secondary basis (and thereby bypassing the league’s player movement restrictions and preventing the player's primary team from receiving compensation for its player loss;

ii - it will allow the player to change teams provided he has not already done so in the same season; and,

iii - it will preserve the primary team’s right to compensation should the player subsequently join another ENYTB team on a primary basis at a later date.

NOTE: Once placed on a team’s DNR list, the player shall remain an RFA of that team for a period of two years or until they sign with another ENYTB team. At the end of this two year period, if the player has not moved on to another ENYTB team, the player is automatically dropped from the team’s DNR list and reclassified as an UFA.

5 – Bonus RFA credits – For any given year, every UFA you add to your roster in excess of the original amount of RFA base credits your team started the year with, your team is automatically awarded one bonus RFA credit. Example: Teams owned by franchise clubs currently receive two base RFA credits at the start of the new league year (AUG 1). Assume your team adds four UFA in the current season. Your team would earn a bonus of two RFA credits (4-2=2) i.e., # of UFA added less base credits received = team's RFA credit bonus.

6 – You receive a compensatory RFA credit for every RFA you lose to another ENYTB team (Active or DNR). These credits, if not used in the current year, perpetually carry over from one year to the next until used. When a team uses an RFA credit, the system takes the credit from this category if and only if a team has used up all of its non-compensatory credits.

7 – After MAR 1/APR 1, depending on team age, RFA credits cannot be used on ACTIVE players. So teams should exercise their RFA credits before these dates whenever possible. After these dates, RFA credits can be used on DNR (INACTIVE) players only. Teams can voluntarily switch a player to DNR status after APR 1 to accommodate a player’s desire to play for another club if they wish to do so, but they don’t have to unless they were informed by the player or his family prior to these dates that the player would not be coming back.

8 - Sibling Exemption - When two or more sibling players play for the same team, they shall count as one for purposes of player movement. Example: Team A has three RFA credits and an H2H = 0 with Team B. There are three sibling pairs playing for team B and they all want to leave Team B to play for team A. They would count as 3 RFA total in terms of both the overall credits required as well as for the H2H limit between any two teams. Thus, all six players in this example, could move from team B to team A under ENYTB's player movement rules. Were siblings not involved, the H2H limit = 3 regardless of how many overall RFA credits any team has.

LEAGUE PHILOSOPHY re: COMPETITION FOR PLAYERS

ENYTB recognizes that its members are in competition with each other for players as well as with baseball teams from outside our league and with other sports and activities. It also embraces the reality that if a team is losing all its players to other teams in the league, or elsewhere, it probably isn't doing a good job running its team. Were the league to block player movement altogether, we would, in many cases, only be enabling those who run their club badly. That would not be in anyone's interest except those doing a poor job of running their club. In the end, it would drive players from baseball and from our league. That is not something any of us want to see happen.

Instead, ENYTB has developed and adopted a very flexible system of regulating player movement via team specific limits. This system allows players to change teams every year if they wish, w/o permission from this league or their current team. Except for the requirement that a player can NOT change primary teams more than once per year, the system does not restrict player movement per se. The system imposes restrictions only on teams. Players can move to any team they wish as long as that team has not used up all its RFA credits and other limits. This system is fair because it treats everyone the same. It also gives ENYTB members a strong incentive to upgrade their programs as much as possible in order to be successful in attracting and retaining players. What it doesn’t allow, is for unlimited numbers of players to coordinate in the process of leaving one team to join another team as a group. That would be predatory and destructive to our members and to the league and is outlawed by the rules below.

ENYTB Rules re: RFA & CAP CREDIT SYSTEM

I Franchise Members

A. Annual Base Credits

i. Existing Teams = 2 per year
ii. New Teams
............................Existing Club = 5 per year
............................1st year Club = 3 per year

B. Annual Compensatory Credits

1 for 1 based on # of RFA players (Active or Inactive) lost to other ENYTB teams.

C. Earned Bonus Credits

Sum of all UFA added by team in current year less the team’s annual base credit (A above).

D. Hardship Credit

Any team that loses its viability because of an abnormally high level of player movement under these rules or other factors may request additional RFA credits from the league. Where deemed reasonable and appropriate, such credits shall be granted.

E. Head-to-head limits vis a vis other individual ENYTB teams

i. Annual Limit = 3
ii. Lifetime Limit = 3

F. Franchise Player Exemptions Allowances (FPE)

These apply to players residing in a club’s primary franchise area but playing for another ENYTB member club.

i. Lifetime Limit = 3
ii. H2H Limit = 1 per year. (NEW in 2017)


II Non-Franchise Members

A. Annual Base Credits

i. Existing Teams = 1 per year
ii. New Teams
............................Existing Club = 5 per year
............................1st year Club = 3 per year

B. Annual Compensatory Credits

1 for 1 based on # of RFA players (Active or Inactive) lost to other ENYTB teams.

C. Earned Bonus Credits

Sum of all UFA added by team in current year less the team’s annual base credit (A above).

D. Hardship Credit

Any team that loses its viability because of player movement under these rules of other factors may request additional RFA credits from the league. Where deemed reasonable and appropriate by the league, such credits shall be granted.

E. Head to head limits vis a vis any individual ENYTB team
i. Annual Limit = 3
ii. Lifetime Limit = 3

F. Franchise Player Exemptions Allowances

NOT applicable to non-franchise members.