FAAB Update

With big (in a couple senses of the word) free agents like CC Sabathia and Rich Harden hitting the market this weekend -- and more possible in the next couple weeks -- now is a good time to do a little refresher on some of the rules and elements surrounding FAAB processing.

Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB) Balances
Wondering how much you've got left in your FAAB? The official balances are included on the Excel roster sheet that is available both from a link in the sidebar to the right and in the Download Center.

Your outstanding balance is listed up near the top of your roster where your name, e-mail, and phone are listed. Note that if you hover your cursor over your FAAB amount, a pop-up will display listing the free agents you've acquired so far and their salaries.

If you think there may be a discrepancy in your balance, let me know. All this is updated manually - often late at night - so there's always the chance my math may be off.

Consequences of High Bids
This is just a reminder that if you acquire a free agent with a bid of .25 or higher, he'll receive a guaranteed contract for next year. This means you'll have to keep him at that salary on the following Roster Freeze Day or pay a buyout fee (assuming he is still in the National League). The amount of the buyout fee is half of the player's salary, and this amount is deducted from your Draft Day spending limit. For example, if I had cut Mark Teixeira and his .42 salary prior to this year's draft I would have had only $2.39 (2.60-.21) to spend on Draft Day.

This obligation is entirely transferrable, so if you trade a .25+ free agent, the team acquiring him will have the same obligations/restrictions next Draft Day.

IFAB Day
Interleague Free Agent Bidding Day is coming up in a few weeks. We'll get into more detail on the event as the day approaches, but essentially it is a special non-Sunday free agent bidding day to handle all the free agents who came over from the American League between the usual Free Agent Sunday (July 27) and the Major League interleague trade deadline (Thursday July 31).

IFAB Day will be Friday August 1, with bids due by 3:00 PM Central time. All players listed on the Sportsline free agent listing are available for bidding on IFAB day, including those that were traded to the NL on the previous day.

Constitution
There is additional detail on all this stuff in the Constitution. Speaking of which, now is a good time to remind everyone that the what's in the Constitution and how the Executive Committee interprets it supercedes what I post here in the blog or elsewhere (unless those posts specifically state an exception is being made to the Constitution). Just on the off chance that I accidentally misrepresent a rule while posting on the fly here. It's everyone's responsibility to know what is in the Constitution.