Constitution 2025 (Head to Head)

TOUT WARS 2025 CONSTITUTION

Copyright © 2025, Tout Wars, LLC

2025 changes are red,

PREAMBLE

We the people of the Tout Wars Baseball Experts League, in our efforts to promote the game of fantasy baseball and further the growth of the fantasy baseball industry, do establish this constitution as the foundation for our organization.

OBJECT

To assemble a lineup of baseball players whose cumulative statistics, compiled and measured by the methods described in these rules, exceed those of all other teams in the League.

ROSTERS

A Tout Head to Head team’s active roster consists of the following players:

  • 5 outfielders
  • 2 catchers
  • 1 second baseman
  • 1 shortstop
  • 1 middle infielder (either second baseman or shortstop)
  • 1 first baseman
  • 1 third baseman
  • 1 corner infielder (either first or third baseman)
  • 1 designated Hitter (AL) or utility player (NL), defined as a player who may play any non-pitching position
  • 9 pitchers (who may be either starters, relievers or both).
  • Each H2H Team must carry two active pitchers who qualify as Relievers each week. A reliever is a player with five relief appearances in the current year or the preceding one.

STATISTICS

The following statistical categories will be used to determine team performance and league standings

Performance stats of a player shall be assigned to a Tout Wars team only when the player is on the active roster of that team and on the active roster of a major league team in the appropriate league (or if post-draft he has been traded away from that league to the other major league). Hitting stats only will accrue to qualified hitters, and pitching stats only will accrue to those assigned as pitchers. Players who have ambiguous major league roles will be assigned to a single role (hitter or pitcher) when he joins a Tout Wars team.

For Tout Wars Head To Head, the stats will be turned into points, and the team with the most points in each period will earn a win for the team with the most points against its scheduled opponent. Each week the top six scoring Head to Head teams will also be credit with a Win.

The scoring system will be chosen each year by the returning champion from among the scoring systems used by CBS, ESPN, Yahoo, or Fantrax. If the champion is not returning the returning player with the highest finish will name the scoring system.

In 2025 Tout Head to Head will use CBS Sports H2H Points Scoring, which is:

Hitting

Single: 1
Double: 2
Triple: 3
Home Run: 4
RBI: 1
Run: 1
Base on Balls: 1
Strikeouts: -.5
Stolen base: 2
Caught stealing: -1

Pitching

Win: 7
Loss: -5
Save: 7
Quality Start: 3
Strikeout: .5
Base on balls: -1
Inning pitched: 3
Hits allowed: -1
Earned Runs: -1
Hit batsman: -1

Stats will be compiled at onRoto.com.

STANDINGS

In Head to Head, each team will be paired against one other team twice during the season’s 22 periods (weekly, through the end of August).

In Head to Head, during each period contesting teams will accumulate points based on the points gained based on the scoring system. The team with the most points overall will win that week’s contest. In case of a tie, the win and loss will be split between the two teams. 

Each week during the regular season, each of the top six scoring teams will also receive a win.

After 22 Head-to-head contests, and 22 Top scores contests, the six teams with the overall highest winning percentage will enter a playoff to determine the league champion. Regular season ties will be broken in favor of the teams with the most points scored. If tied teams have scored the same number of points, the team that had the most points scored against will win the tie.

In Playoff Week 1, the sixth-place team will play the third-place team, and the fourth-place team will play the fifth-place team.

In Week 2, the first-place team will play the lower-ranked winner from Week 1, while the second-place team will play the higher-ranked winner.

In Week 3, the winners of the two Week 2 games will face off. All playoff games will be determined simply by total hitting and pitching points combined.

In the case of a tie in the first two weeks of the playoffs, the team that scored the most total points in head-to-head play during the season will be the winner. If there is still a tie, the team whose opponents scored the most points will be the winner. If there is still a tie, a coin flip will determine the winner.

In the championship round, Week 3, if both teams are tied after the championship week, the teams will compete in the final week of the season. The team with the most points after the two final weeks will be the winner.

If there is still a tie at the end of the second week of finals then the tie will stand and the glory of the championship will be shared.

DRAFT DAY

Roster building, in the form of an open auction, is conducted on dates as near as possible to Opening Day as is practical for the auction leagues. These dates will be set by the Tout Wars Board. In 2025 they are March 16 for the H2H.

Each H2H team must roster 23 players at a total cost not to exceed 260 units.

At each year’s draft, all owners will fill their entire roster; there will be no players carried over from one year to the next.

There will be one or more Auctioneers, or Facilitators, who run the proceedings, provided by Tout Wars.

The Auctioneer will award the player to the team that is the high bidder in Auction Leagues. The team rosters the player for that amount and should announce the roster position the player will fill. The process is repeated, with successive team owners introducing players to be bid on, until every team has a completed roster of 23 players, by requisite position.

All decisions of the auctioneer or facilitator are final.

Players eligible at more than one position may be shifted during the course of the draft.

No team may make a bid for a player that it cannot afford or legally roster. No team may bid or select a player who qualifies only at a position (or positions) that the team has already filled. If such an error occurs the facilitator will unwind the draft or auction to the point at which the error occurred and restart the auction or draft.

Most players are eligible to be drafted or purchased at auction, including:

  • – Players on the 40-man roster
  • – Players who have been demoted, cut or designated for assignment
  • – Players who start the season on a major league team’s disabled list.
  • – Players in foreign or independent leagues

Major League free agents may be drafted.

In Head to Head, teams will acquire up to six (6) additional players for their reserve lists. Teams need to make a legal roster out of their 29 players.

Reserve round draft order in Auction Leagues will be based on the previous year’s finish. Last year’s first-place team gets first reserve pick, second gets second, and so on. Players who change leagues will be slotted into the spot they finished in the league they played. Rookies will have the last picks. Ties will be broken by a random tiebreaker. Draft order will be executed in a serpentine fashion, with the top-seeded team having a first selection in round one, last selection in round two, and first again in round three, etc.

POSITION ELIGIBILITY

On Draft Day: A player may be assigned to any position at which he appeared at least 15 times in the major leagues in the preceding season. If a player did not appear in 15 games at any position or did not appear the prior season in the majors at all, he qualifies at the one position he played most frequently the prior season in any league(s) he played in combined. If a player sat out the previous year for any reason, his eligibility will be determined by the last season in which he played professional baseball in the United States. If he’s never played professional baseball in the United States and reliable games played data is not available for the last season he did play somewhere, he will be assigned a position in advance of the auction or draft, based on the one position he is most likely to play in the coming season. Such designation will be made, if requested, by March 1st, and cannot be changed after that date even if the situation changes.

If a player appeared at 15 games or more at DH in the majors and did not play 15 or more games at any other position, he qualifies as a DH/Util only. If a player did not appear in 15 or more games played at any defensive position at all levels, he qualifies at DH/Util only.

In-season major leaguers: In addition to Draft Day eligibility, a player becomes eligible at all other positions at which he appears at least 5 times in the major leagues.

In-season foreign/minor leaguers: A FAABed or promoted player who has not played 5 major league games this season is eligible only at the one position he has played most frequently in the foreign/minor league season to date. Once that player has accumulated major league playing time, he becomes eligible at any other positions at which he appears at least 5 times in the major leagues.

The official source for minor league games played by position will be Baseball-Reference.com.

RESERVE LIST

Each Tout Wars Head to Head team has a maximum six-man reserve list.

A player may be activated from the reserve list if he is on the active roster of a major league team in the appropriate league.

At any time prior to the transaction deadline, a team may release, reserve or IL a player from its active roster, and replace that player with a player from its reserve list, disabled list, free agent pool, or via trade.

If a team attempts to reserve a player, it must release, activate or trade a player from its reserve list to bring it within the six player limit. Failure to do so will result in the nullification of the player move.

If a team acquires a player via trade who will be added to the reserve list, it must release, activate or trade a player from its reserve list to bring it within the six player limit. Failure to do so will result in the release of the player(s) that the team was acquiring in the trade, but does not void the trade.

Players on a team’s reserve list may remain on the reserve list indefinitely, whether or not they are on a ML active roster. Players who are on a team’s reserve list and who are subsequently placed on a major league injured list may be moved from the reserve list to the Tout Wars IL at the owner’s discretion.

DISABLED LIST

A player placed on the major league injured list is eligible to be placed on his Tout Wars team’s injured list. The IL will be considered an extension of the reserve list, and in the Head to Head league there is no limit to the number of qualified players that may be on a team’s disabled list at any time.

The Injured List will include the 7-day concussion, 10-day, 15-day, and 60-day injury lists, plus the official removals from the 26-man roster for Bereavement, Paternity, or any other personal issues. 

When a player on the IL is activated to his team’s major league roster before the start of games on Sunday, that player must be transferred to his Tout Wars team’s active or reserve roster by the first pitch on Monday following his activation. If an activated major league player is not transferred to his Tout Wars team active or reserve roster by this time, he will automatically be released and deemed ineligible for the rest of the season. (Example: If a player is activated by his major league team on Sunday, he must be restored to to his team’s active or reserve roster on Monday. If he is activated by his major league team on Monday, he must be on his Head to Head team’s active or reserve roster on Friday).

These rules apply even if your team has open roster slots. Any player on a reserve list after the start of games on Monday who is listed at onRoto as on the IL who is not actually on the IL will be released. You must square your roster every Monday, or lose players to free agency.

All IL activations are bound by the roster requirements for the active or reserve lists. Players must be released, traded, etc. to make room for the DL-activated player.

FREE AGENCY

Beginning with the second transaction period following the conclusion of the draft, through the end of the regular season, free agents in the free agent pool may be signed, without limit, in the following manner:

Each team shall have, for the purpose of acquiring free agents, a supplementary budget of 1000 units (or a reduced amount, based on its point total the previous season). This amount shall be known as the team’s Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB).

The first waiver claims will take place at 8pm the night before Opening Day.

In 2025 that is on March 27. Ups and downs must be completed by first game, which starts at 1:05pm on March 30.

Total FAAB allocation is subject to adjustment based on a player’s finish the year before. The following year, teams will have deducted 10 FAAB-dollars for each point (rounded down) that they finish below league-specific thresholds. The thresholds are 60 points for 12-team leagues. For instance, a Tout H2H team that finished with 52 points would start the following year with 920 FAAB dollars, rather than 1000. (ie. 60 – 52 = 8 x 10 = 80. 1000 – 80 = 920)

Up until the weekly transaction deadline, a team may submit a bid for one or more free agents. These bids will be submitted to the SWAT along with normal weekly transactions.

The minimum bid for players on the Major League 26 man roster shall be zero (0) units; the maximum bid shall be the amount remaining in a team’s FAAB budget. The minimum bid for all other players, as detailed below, shall be one (1) unit.

A free agent goes to the highest bidder. If more than one team submits the same high bid (even if that high bid is 0 units), the player goes to the team that is lowest in the most recently compiled daily standings.

For multiple high bids of zero units, the winner shall have no units deducted from his FAAB.

In any given week, teams may acquire as many free agents on which it was the high bidder as it wants until it runs out of roster spots to fill, players to bid upon, or available FAAB resources.

There is no restriction on the types of players who may be bid on: Majors, minors, foreign leagues are all okay, with the exception of players on another Tout Wars active or reserve roster. If an eligible player being bid on is not on an active Major League roster, the minimum bid will be one (1) unit.

Players acquired via free-agent bid must immediately be added to a team’s active roster and remain there for a minimum of one week. For each free agent that it acquires, a team must release, trade, disable or reserve a player from its roster. By the weekly roster-freeze deadline teams must release, trade, or disable players in order to make their roster legal under Tout Wars rules. Players acquired via free-agent bid are eligible to be traded immediately, with the player(s) added to the acquiring owner’s active roster, remaining there for a minimum of one week.

If the acquired player is active he must be kept active for one day, and starting on Tuesday is subject to the same daily transactions limitations detailed in the DEADLINES section of the Constitution. Specifically, if he is moved off the major league active roster he can be replaced if you have a replacement during the week.

Players not on a 40-man roster may be acquired by FAAB with a bid of one (1) unit or more.

FAAB and Claims are processed by the stat service’s automatic system and owners are expected to provide the information necessary to make that function properly. In case of emergency or lack of access to a computer or phone, the following information must be submitted to the SWAT when placing backup FAAB bids before the deadline:

  • The name of the player being bid upon
  • The amount of the bid
  • The associated move that will clear a roster spot if that player is acquired.

FAAB bids must be listed in hierarchical order. Each team shall identify the players who are being replaced by their bids, and where more than one player could be replaced by acquired free agents, the order in which their players shall be replaced.

The FAAB deadline is Sunday evening at 8pm.

During the week of the All Star Break, the FAAB deadline will be on the night before games resume after the break. In 2025, that will be 8pm on July 17.

REDEMPTION

If a player who was bought in the auction is placed on a major league disabled list, 7-day, 10-day, 15-day or 60-day, his Tout Wars team may release him and ask his SWAT to add the player’s auction salary back to this year’s FAAB. 

If the redemption occurs prior to 5 pm EDT on July 15, the team may reclaim 100 percent of the player’s salary times 10. If the transaction occurs after 5 pm EDT on July 15, the team may reclaim the player’s salary times five. 

FAAB units acquired in this manner cannot be used for bidding purposes until the following week’s transaction period. This means that the Tout Wars team must release the player before 8 PM ET on Sunday to have the salary added to his FAAB that week (for use in the following week’s FAAB claims). If the player is released after 8 PM ET on Sunday the salary will be added to the team’s FAAB the second Monday following the most recent Sunday.

The request for redemption must be made before the player is activated by his major league team. 

If a ILed player is released in this manner, he will be placed back in the free-agent pool and will be available for FAAB acquisition. 

If a player is deemed out for the year but is not placed on the IL, his team may not reclaim his salary. 

For any team owner to reclaim a player he previously redeemed, he must bid at least as many FAAB units as he reclaimed originally.

No redemptions will be made after August 31 through the end of the season.

Players on a Minor League disabled list may not be redeemed.

The Redemption Process Explained: A Primer 

1. Upon receiving the rebate request via email (or any other acceptable means as designated by the SWAT), the SWAT will post the following on the league message board, giving notice:   a. The name of the owner making the request b. The IL player being released c. The amount rebated d. The date of the FAAB run after which the rebate will be available  

2. After executing the next FAAB run, the SWAT will adjust the FAAB totals then follow up with a confirmation post on the message forum confirming the adjustment was made.  

3. If the SWAT fails to make the initial notification, the owner making the request should call attention to the omission on the league message board, as well as alerting Peter Kreutzer (webmaster@toutwars.com), the SWAT coordinator, who will then make sure the initial notification is made on the league message board. The FAAB will not be redeemed until after the next FAAB run.  

4. If the notification is made but the SWAT fails to redeem the money, the owner should contact the SWAT and Peter Kreutzer, who will make the correction that day, redeeming the money and updating the notification confirming that the amount was redeemed. Unless there is a date confirming email, no FAAB redemptions will be processed retroactively.   

TRADES

Trades may be made at any time from the conclusion of the draft until midnight ET of August 31. Statistics reflecting the trade will take effect at the weekly reporting period on Monday.

Teams are free to make trades of any kind so long as the active rosters of the teams involved in the trade reflect the required position distribution upon the completion of the transaction.

Any player may be traded to another team’s active roster or reserve list. Teams may also trade any number of FAAB units up to a maximum of the amount remaining in their FAAB budget. FAAB units traded must be in full unit increments. Traded FAAB may not be spent on claims until the period following the period of the trade.

Roster moves made by a team that involve its reserve list, its injured list, or the free-agent pool and its active roster may be made simultaneously with a trade in order to meet roster requirements.

Failure to replace a traded player and bring a team’s roster to its legal limit will result in the nullification of the trade.

If one-third of the owners in the league feel that a particular trade is imbalanced, they may submit their concerns to the league adjudicating authority. The trading partners would then have to demonstrate exactly how they arrived at this being a fair deal, in terms of either stats gained or places gained in the standings. If they are unable to adequately show that the deal is in both teams’ interests, then the league adjudicating authority may exercise its rights to revoke the deal.

DEADLINES

Transactions may be made beginning the Monday before the start of the season. This date may be changed if the start of the ML season is moved. Two exceptions: The season’s first week and the All-Star Week the FAAB and weekly transactions deadline will be 8 pm the night before Opening Day (March 26, 2025) and the night before the first post-All-Star regular-season games (July 17, 2025) are played. 

WEEKLY: All free agent bids must be communicated to the BidMeister or SWAT by 8:00 pm ET Sunday. All winning FAAB bids will be available at the stat service (onRoto.com) at 8:01 pm ET Sunday. The league’s SWAT will verify and insert these results into the league by 9:00 am EDT on Monday. All trades and roster moves to accommodate free agent and trade acquisitions and all Weekly ups and downs must be made by the start of the first game on Monday. Once the roster is legal, players may be moved from active to reserve and vice versa until their individual games begin, at which time their status is locked. Trades must be entered into the automated Trade System at onRoto and accepted before the deadline in order to take effect that date. If there are no Monday games scheduled, the deadline will be Monday at 7:00 pm ET. All rosters must be legal by the Weekly deadline. The Monday Roster Freeze Deadline will be changed to Thursday during Opening Week 2021, and Thursday during the All-Star Break.

FRIDAY: In the Head to Head league only, teams will be permitted to make unlimited ups and downs from within their own rosters before the start of the first game on Friday.

DAILY: Active to reserve moves may be made daily, but only for players who are placed on the disabled list, demoted to the minors, suspended, or deceased. Players may not be demoted after their game has started that day. If the player replacing the reserved player is not an active player on a team’s 26-man roster at the time of his promotion, he may only subsequently be demoted via Weekly ups and downs on Monday.

Daily activations from reserve to the active roster can only be made for players returning from the IL, promoted from the minor leagues, or restored following a suspension. If a player on the active roster is actually on the IL or in the minors, he may be replaced and moved to the IL or reserve list (though the latter might require the release of a reserve player). If an active player is to be replaced by a returning player, he must be released. Streaming players daily is strictly prohibited. Creating openings artificially by promoting inactive players in advance of the move, or any similar action, are also prohibited.

All weekly and daily transactions will be based on the Major League roster composition as the onRoto roster updates, which occur at about 6am each morning and a few other times during the day. A player’s official Tout Wars status, IL or I DL, suspended, etc., will be by determined by the player’s status on onRoto. If a player appears on either the MLB.com or ESPN.com transaction list for the preceding day, he may also be moved even if the move hasn’t been reported by onRoto. (A call to the Swat will be necessary to handle this manually.)

The season is completed when all regular season and playoff-qualifying games are completed. All stats accumulated in such games are counted. There will be no FAAB or waivers before any ML playoff-qualifying games at the end of the season.

ILLEGAL MOVES

All illegal player moves made by a league member will be nullified. For an illegal draft pick, the player will be immediately released back into the free-agent pool. For an illegal roster move, the transaction will be nullified and any affected statistics will be recalculated back to the date of the offense.

RESPONSIBILITY & GOVERNANCE

The governing body of the Tout Wars leagues is Tout Wars, LLC, which is composed of a Board of Directors who are team owners in the leagues. The LLC documents detail qualifications for membership, roles, etc.

For the purpose of maintaining the integrity of this league, the following positions of responsibility may not be filled by a participating team owner in that league. They may be filled by a vendor of fantasy support services or any impartial third party, as designated by the Board.

Auctioneer or Facilitator

SWAT – Secretary of Waiver and Trades

Statistician

Transaction Adjudicating Authority

The Tout Wars Board is empowered to interpret the rules. Any changes proposed to these rules shall be brought to the Board.

QUALIFICATION: Participation in Tout Wars is determined by the Board and is by invitation only. Openings will be filled based on a nomination and voting process, as determined by the Board. In general, potential team owners must possess the following qualifications for participation in Tout Wars:

– Must have a minimum of five years of experience playing fantasy baseball.

– Must have a minimum of three years of experience contributing to a baseball or fantasy baseball publication, website, media or information service.

– Must promote the Tout Wars league in their information service via banners, links, or original content, and contribute to the Tout Wars content during the year. The Board will issue participation guidelines each year. Failure to participate could be grounds to disinvite the next year.

– Must be able to travel to come to draft weekend, if the league requires it.

– It is the responsibility of Tout Wars players to keep the Board apprised of any change in eligibility status. Failure to do so could lead to removal. Owners, please let us know about employment changes.

FEE SCHEDULE (2023):

  • Payment by March 1: $100 per team
  • Payment after March 1: $125 per team
  • Final payment deadline is March 10. Payments not received by March 10 will result in the team owner being disqualified from competition for that year unless alternative arrangements are agreed to. Communication is paramount.

DRAFT DAY: All owners who accept the invitation to participate are expected to be present to draft in person during draft weekend. There will be no remote drafting via phone or internet. In the event that an owner does not show up for a draft, the Board will designate a proxy or replacement drafter, depending on the situation, from a predetermined list of alternates. An owner may offer to provide his own proxy, but that person must be approved by the Board no later than seven days prior to the draft.

In some limited circumstances, Tout Wars is now allowing partnerships requiring explicit Board approval and both partners meeting all membership requirements. But there shall be no more than one person per team at the draft table, with the exception of the Colton/Wolf team, which is grandfathered in.

REMOVAL OF OWNERS: An owner may be removed from a league at any time, for any reason, by vote of the Board if they deem the removal to be in the best interest of Tout Wars. All decisions are final.

Any issues not covered by this Constitution will revert to the rules as stated in the Official Constitution in Rotisserie League Baseball. Tout Wars Board will rule on any issues not covered by the RLBA constitution.

This constitution was adopted from the original model described in Rotisserie League Baseball and from the Official Constitution of the Leagues of Alternative Baseball Reality (LABR). Tout Wars honors LABR as the industry’s first official league of experts.