Section 18 – Draft Process

Division Drafts

All divisions will draft in the same manner, using the Draft Matrix Table found in the Silver League Procedural Manual.

• Division Reps. should obtain and share as much information as possible on new or unrated players. The last group (equal to the number of teams in that division) in the draft will be entered into a pool.
• A Playing Manager must take himself with his first pick in the round in which he is slotted by his player rating.
• Managers should be advised to make sure Travel players are equally divided among all teams.
• Division Reps. should schedule a pre-draft meeting for at least one week prior to the draft.

Pre-Draft Meeting

• Division Reps. will schedule a Pre-Draft meeting after the close of registration.
• During this meeting, the Division Reps. and Managers will have the opportunity to review and adjust player ratings if the majority of Managers agree to do so. Any additional information that could affect a player’s rating, such as off-season injuries, surgeries or changes to health status, should be discussed.
• Division Reps. prior to this meeting should contact "new players" to evaluate their playing ability, positions played, past teams they played for and leagues they played in. Have player self-rate himself based on our five categories. Attempt to verify the information provided by the player. If player(s) are moving from one division to another, Reps. should contact other Division Reps. for player ratings.
• Playing Ratings should be adjusted based on a player moving from one division to another. These players should be slotted into the draft, based on position and player rating.
• Division Reps. should schedule the Umpire-In-Chief and/or an umpire to attend this meeting to review, discuss and answer questions on the Silver League Rules.
• Managers should receive a copy of the Sub Assignment Guidelines for review. Discuss schedule if Division will play a full season or split halves, round robins to equalize schedule, and to ensure each team plays every other team an equal number of times.
• Teams should also draw for team number, which will determine draft order. Once this is completed, Managers cannot trade that team number with another Manager.
• The Division Rep should schedule the draft meeting and finalize the draft order based on the number of teams x's 2. Players will be separated into three categories: Infield, Outfield, and Pitcher. In the first three (3) rounds, players will be slotted into a round based on their player rating from highest to lowest. If in any of these rounds you have multiple players with the same rating that overlaps into two rounds, the Managers will decide the round in which these players will be slotted. Once this has been decided, it cannot be changed. The Division Rep. will break any ties. Round four (4) will be the 12 lowest rated players, regardless of position. Round 5 will be used to select pitchers. The remaining rounds will be used to select from the remaining player pool.
• Playing Managers will be slotted into the draft order based on their player rating. A Manager MUST select himself with his first pick in the round where he appears.

Draft Day

• At each Division draft, a member of the Silver League Board will be invited by the Division Rep. to attend the Draft Meeting.
• Prior to the Draft, the Division Rep. should review the draft process including round selections and matrix order that changes by each round.
• A Manager MUST select himself with his first pick in the round where he appears.
• In rounds 1-3, each Manager will select one infielder and one outfielder. Round 4 will be the 12 lowest rated players. The remaining rounds will fill out a manager’s team. If the last round does not have enough players based on the number of teams x 2 the following will apply.

In a division with 4 teams, you need 8 players to have an equal round. If you have 4 players, 4 numbers will be put into a hat, and each Manager will pick a number and draft the remaining 4 players by the number that was drawn. If you have 6 players the first four players will be the same, the remaining two players will have their name along with two blanks put into a hat and Managers will draw again.

Example of a draft with 6 teams: Each round will have two selections (1-A 6 picks; 1-B 6 picks; 2-A 6 picks; 2-B 6 picks, etc.)

Round 1 by Rating

Team # 1 will draft first and select an infielder or outfielder with his 1-A pick. His 1-B pick must be the opposite of his first pick. This will continue until all 6 Managers have made two picks (one infielder and one outfielder).

• Rounds 2 and 3 by Rating (Matrix will change) - Same process will apply where each Manager will pick one infielder and one outfielder per round until all Managers have selected two players. After the first three rounds each team will have three of the highest rated infielders and three of the highest rated outfielders.
• Round 4 (Matrix will change) - The 12 lowest rated players regardless of position will be drafted.
• Round 5 (Matrix will change) – Each Manager will select a pitcher and one other player by rating. This will ensure that each Manager has drafted an experienced legitimate pitcher.
• Rounds 6+ (Matrix changes each round) – In these rounds, Managers can select any remaining player to fill out his team. After every 12 players have been selected, the pick sequence will change based on the matrix for the new round. This will continue until all players have been selected.
• After each round, read back to all Managers each team’s selections in that round.
• Managers should be encouraged to draft at least two (2) experienced pitchers.
• At the conclusion of the draft, the Division Rep. should forward each team’s selections on to the Web Administrator so they can be posted on the website.