Player Selection AAA Minors to Seniors
(Manager Selection)
This will explain the process used by Cascade Little League (CLL) to choose the
teams at each level of play at AAA and above. The process is the same for
softball and baseball. These processes are described in a general way in the
Cascade Little League Constitution and Bylaws on our website at
http://eteamz.active.com/cascadelittleleague/index.cfm? Just click on the
League Constitution & Bylaws' link in the left hand column. You might find a lot
of answers to your questions by reading that document.
In 2005, CLL registered just over 700 players and placed them on 56 teams. The
players who are League Age (LA) 9 and above are placed on teams by the draft
method. Please note that the method of determining league age in 2006 is
changing. In the past, a player's league age for a season was determined by
their age before the cut-off date - July 31, of that year. Starting in 2006, the cutoff date for baseball will be April 31, of that year and softball will be Dec 31, of
the previous year.
Once a player is drafted on a team, they becomes the `property' of that team and
are not subject to the draft until they move up to a higher level of play. The
exception to this is the LA 9 and 10 year olds on AAA Minor teams who must tryout each year because their teams are dissolved at the end of the season and
redrafted each year. This is a Little League International (LLI) rule.
Players may be traded. Trades usually take place immediately after the Draft
and are only done with the approval of the Player Agent and must be for players
of equal talent. Occasionally a manager will trade away a player of greater value
when they are seeking to obtain a `favorite' player. By favorite I mean someone
they have coached before or maybe their son's or another player's best friend.
The league does not encourage trading for `favorites', because it can lead to an
imbalance of teams. However, because playing baseball is about having fun,
and sometimes there are ride-sharing issues, the `favorite' trades are allowed but
every effort is made to keep them equitable.
Players who are subject to the draft and not already on a team must attend a
tryout - usually in February. CLL has only two tryout dates because LLI All-star
rules require that a player must attend at least 50% of the tryouts or have league
board approval for having missed a tryout. By having only two tryouts, the
players and their families are only inconvenienced for one day instead of two or
more.
At the tryouts the players are scored on their fielding, throwing, hitting, and
running. The managers are also looking at the player’s enthusiasm and attention
to directions. Because of our fine Northwest weather in February we have found
that the only sure way of having two set tryout dates is by having the tryouts
indoors (usually at the Wy'East gym). The players are scored by their
prospective managers for their division and by at least one board member. Note
that players who are LA 8 may tryout for AAA Minors and players who are LA 10
may tryout for Majors, BUT there is no guarantee that the players will be draftedup. Exceptional LA 9 players may also tryout for the Majors but they must first
have CLL board approval.
A few words about managers. Little League Rules prohibit the use of paid
managers, coaches, or umpires. In fact the only paid persons in our league are
the people who contract to maintain the facility and the Cascade Grill. A
volunteer fills every other position. A scant few of those volunteers have ever
been professional baseball players and we are grateful to have had them working
with our players. The rest of us are only qualified because, just like you, we love
our kids and baseball and that is why we are here. All of our managers and
coaches are parent volunteers. Many of the managers recognize or believe that
their child has a gift for baseball and they are willing to sacrifice their time to
nurture their special player and other people's special players. Some of the
managers just love baseball. Some managers are pressed into service because
we are short on managers and they step up to fill the vacancy. They manage for
a lot of reasons and they sacrifice a lot of time. CLL sincerely appreciates all
their work. Each fall we contact the managers and coaches from the previous
season to ask if they are planning to manage or coach during the next year.
During registration in January we also ask if parents are interested in managing
or coaching.
Those who indicate they are interested in managing are discussed in the
Manager Selection Committee meetings and some are called in for interviews.
Here is where your documented (written) responses to the Manager Evaluation
form are so critical in bettering the level of managing and coaching in CLL. Your
responses enable the committee to make good recommendations to the League
president who must in turn submit the managers and coaches to the league
board for approval.
Only those managers who have been approved by the board are allowed to sit
and score players at the tryouts. Not all of the managers who attend the tryouts
may actually be assigned to a team. The player count in any one division
changes from year to year and we have to just guess at how many teams we will
have and how many managers we will need. Based on that best guess, we try to
have enough managers at the tryouts. Some years we will have fewer teams
than the year before and sometimes we will have more teams. Each situation
creates its own set of complications. Each year we create teams based on the
number of players signed-up by the time of the draft with the understanding that
there will be late sign-ups. About 2 out of 7 of our players sign up after the
drafts.
We will use the Major baseball division as an example of how the draft operates.
The managers meet together for the Majors draft and have either been assigned
the team they will be managing or draw a team name from the hat. The
managers are then advised of the returning players who have signed-up.
Beginning in 2006, any returning player who has not signed up by the time of the
draft may not be allowed to return to their team and will only be assigned to a
team if there is space available. Any team needing to draft eight or more players
is given an additional round of choosing after the fifth round and each round
there after until they are on par (with respect to their number of players) with the
other teams.
The order for the draft is determined by the last season record of wins and loses
for each team. The team with the most losses has first pick in the draft. The
team with the most wins has the last pick. The managers base their choices on
their interpretation of how the players scored in the tryouts. The draft proceeds
in the order 1,2,3,4,5... and then 1,2,3,4,5... until all the players who tried out
have been placed on a team. Prior to the start of the draft managers must
indicate which players they are `protecting' as options in the draft. Only four
options exist:
1) Manager's option - can only be the manager's child and must be chosen in-orbefore the 3rd round if the player is LA 12, or in-or-before the 4th round if LA 11.
2) Sibling Option - If a player in the draft already has a sibling on a team the team
manager may submit an option for the player but the sibling must be chosen
within the first three rounds of the draft.
3) Coach's Option - can only be the coach's child and must be completed in-orbefore the same rounds as for the manager' option. The coach must be a
returning coach to the same team AND must have coached or managed in the
league for the past two years.
4) Siblings in the Draft - If two (or more - we had triplets last year) siblings are in
the draft and a manager chooses one of them, the manager may exercise the
option of choosing the other sibling in the next round. We will usually ask
parents if they want their children to be on the same team - "Parent Request,"
and then advise the managers of the parent's wishes.
Players who did not tryout or signed-up late are not chosen in the draft. After all
the players who tried out have been placed on teams, the remaining players are
chosen in a blind pick by each manager in their draft order. Players who sign up
after the draft are placed on teams, that have room for more players, in the their
draft order.
This draft procedure is the same for each division except for the AAA Minors. In
AAA the teams are redrafted each year so the draft order is determined by a hat
pick. Using 5 teams as an example the draft proceeds as 1,2,3,4,5, and then
5,4,3,2,1, and again 1,2,3,4,5, and so forth until all the players who tried out have
been placed on teams. Next a blind pick in draft order is used to place the
players who did not tryout or signed up late.
This has been rather lengthy but we think it is important for everyone to
understand how we try to balance the teams through the draft process. Keep in
mind that teams are not MADE in the draft. They are made by good managing
and coaching and by lots of involvement by the parents.
If you have suggestions on how we might improve this process, please send your
suggestions to the Player Agent for Baseball at the email address listed on the
Board member roster.
Remember, if you want to see changes - get involved, fill out an evaluation, or
better yet - volunteer to be on the board.