2024 Menomonee Falls Little League Draft Procedures

COACHES MEETING

At the annual league coaches meeting, representatives (manager and/or coaches) from each team in a division will draw lots (can be playing cards or numbers out of a hat, etc.) to determine the selection order for the draft.

Following that, teams will be able to select their team name in reverse order of the draft selection order. For example, the team with the last pick will be allowed to pick their team name first.

PLAYER EVALUATION

Every player in the league from AA to Senior League is required to attend an evaluation session. Managers and/or coaches are strongly encouraged to have at least one representative at the main evaluation session and the makeup session.

The player evaluation will consist of eight players at a time (four pairs) playing catch for three minutes, throwing each other ground balls for one minute, and throwing fly balls to each other for one minute. At the conclusion of that, all eight players will line up on one baseline and run to the other end of the court and back.

Each player will then take five swings off a tee into a net.

Players who do not attend an evaluation session will be assigned to teams by random draw on the night of the draft.

Players who are the children of managers, coaches or sponsors that do not attend the evaluation will be deemed as first-round selections for their teams.

SOFTBALL ONLY - Players who want to advise of being a pitcher or catcher will be given the opportunity to showcase their abilities. Maximum number of pitches will be 8.

DRAFT BOARDS

In addition to coaches and managers evaluating players, every player in a division will be evaluated by the Vice President of Baseball or Softball, player agents and various board members. Board members and player agents who have a vested interest (coaching in a division, child playing a division, etc.) will recuse themselves from discussions on the division in question.

Those neutral evaluations will be used to place the children of managers, coaches and sponsors on the draft board.

Any child (regardless of league age) of a manager, coach or sponsor who is ranked among the x-highest ranked players (where x is the number of teams in a division) will be assigned to their team as a first-round selection. For example, if there are 8 teams in AAA, the 8 highest-ranked players in that division will be considered first-round selections for the purpose of placing the children of managers, coaches and sponsors. That process continues for every round throughout the draft. The next x number of players would be considered second-rounders, etc. That means in, for example, AA, a 7-year-old who is a coach’s child may be rated as a first-round pick.

Players who are “playing up” a division (6-year-olds in AA, 8-year-olds in AAA, 10-year-olds in Majors, 13-year-olds in Softball Seniors or 14-year-old in Baseball Seniors ) will be moved back one round from their assessed ability level. For example, in AAA, if a manager’s child is an 8-year-old and is rated as a fourth-round selection, they will be assigned to that team as a fifth-round selection.

DRAFT PROCESS

Tuesday 

To start the draft, players will be assigned to team by random draw if they did not attend the evaluation. The team with the last overall selection will be assigned the first player in this manner. This process will continue with the second-to-last team, etc., until all of the players who did not attend evaluations have been assigned. Managers and coaches will have one veto for any reason on a player randomly assigned to them. Once a team has used their veto, they will receive the next player randomly selected.

Teams will draft in the order that they selected at the coaches meeting through the first round (and subsequent odd-numbered rounds), skipping over teams who have been assigned a player in a given round if they are the child of a manager, coach or sponsor. In even-numbered rounds, the team that is selecting last will select first. This is commonly referred to as a “snake draft.”

Teams may draft, at any time, any player regardless of age. There is no longer any requirement that the oldest players in a division must be selected before the younger players.

BASEBALL ONLY - NATIONAL/AMERICAN SPLIT (applies just to AAA and Majors)

Because of the size of Menomonee Falls Little League, it is required to have two charters. As a result of this, MFLL is required to enter two teams every year in the all-star tournament for the U10 division and the U12 division.

Before the team names are selected at the coaches meeting, managers and coaches will be informed which teams will make up the National and American divisions.

A player who is drafted by a National team when they enter AAA and through their 12-year-old Majors season will only be allowed to be selected by National teams. The same applies to players selected by American teams.

For instance, an 8-year-old is drafted in AAA by the Tigers (an American team) in 2024, will only be eligible to be selected by American teams for their 9-12 seasons in 2024. 

Players who are moving up to AAA and players who are new to MFLL in 2024 and beyond will be eligible to be selected by either American or National teams (they will be noted as “open”). The draft pools in 2024 and subsequent seasons will be marked American, National and Open. American teams can select from American players and Open players, and National teams can select from National players and Open players