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Amateur Draft

About the Draft

Each league has an amateur draft each season consisting of 80 young prospects eager to make it to the Show. In the amateur draft, teams draft players out of high school and college, placing them into the low minors for development into future big leaguers. Draft eligible players are between 17 and 23 years old, and depending on their age and abilities to develop, may need a good number of years to reach their potential.

Draft Order

Each season, when you get your season's schedule, you'll be able to view the Draft Order for that season's amateur draft. For a league's inaugural season, the draft order is based on the total team payroll at the time the season's schedule becomes available. (lowest payroll picks first, highest payroll picks last). For all subsequent seasons, the draft list is based on the most wins by a team in the prior season, including playoff games. In the case of ties, the total team payroll at the time the season's schedule becomes available is the tiebreaker (lower payrolls getting the higher pick); beyond that, it's a coin-flip.

Draft Schedule

On the May 6th sim of every season, the list of players eligible for the amateur draft becomes available. The draft is processed each season during the July 15 sim.

Draft Lists and Drafting Players

The list of draft eligible players comes pre-ranked based on the player's initial salary demands, with the highest salaried players ranked highest. Team owners can customize their draft list based on their scouting evaluations, development expectations, and their positional needs. To edit your draft list, click the ''Amateur Draft'' link when viewing your team and simply adjust how the 80 players are ranked.

During each round of the draft, each team picks the highest-ranked player in their draft list who is available. Your team will draft up to three players, one in each round of the three-round draft, (provided you have enough room in low minors). All amateur draft players automatically go to low minors. There is a maximum occupancy of 20 players in low minors, so if you already have 18 or more players in low minors, you will draft less than three players. In fact, if you have 20 players in low minors, you will skip the draft altogether! Be sure to pay attention to your roster when it's time for the draft!

"Live" Drafts (aka "Forum" Drafts)

Many of the most active CSFBL league's conduct drafts in real time on the forums. The list of 80 draft eligible players becomes available on May 6th and the draft is processed on July 15th as with all leagues. But when a league has a live draft, a draft board is posted on the forums and on May 6th, the 24 owners begin selecting players. The order of live drafts can be the same as standard drafts or can be altered via draft lotteries or other adjustments. Leagues will often have custom rules on how the draft is conducted, typically you'll find more trading and a higher level of activity and competition in the leagues that have live drafts. You can easily find which league's have a live draft by clicking on Leagues and sorting by Live Draft.