League Rules
Leviathan League Rules1. Basic Pitch: The idea of a best franchise league has often been tried by me, but never really nailed. Here’s my next effort.
Each person picks one franchise, and gets that franchise in all three season divisions: 1926, 1966, and 2006. First in gets first pick of franchises. When you join and read the rules and like the idea, type “I’m in!” in the chat box to secure your draft order.
For clarity’s sake, I will call each calendar year (i.e. “1926”) a season, and a cluster of 3 seasons (i.e. 1926, 1966, and 2006) a “cohort”.
You play the other teams in your season during the regular season. There will be playoffs for each division (season). A trophy is awarded in each division (season). After, the records for each franchise will be combined, and the top 4 franchises in the cohort will be able to pick their all stars and compete for the ring in best-of-7 series (1/4, 2/3, and the winners in the Great Series). The Great Series champion gets the ring for that cohort.
The good news is that any team you pick is bound to be good during at least one of the three seasons.
2. How are players acquired?
First seasons USED? 1926, 1966, and 2006 = 1st cohort
Minimum AB/IP? 50/25 in the initial cohort, and 100/30 thereafter.
Are duplicate players allowed? Yes, in the first cohort, but in following import seasons and cohorts, a player goes where he played the most in terms of AB or IP.
ANY ISSUE ABOUT WHICH TEAM A PLAYER BELONGS ON MUST BE RAISED PRIOR TO THE FIRST GAME of the cohort, OR THE RIGHT TO APPEAL IS WAIVED. Once a player “suits up” for a game, he belongs to that team.
Owners will be given a day’s grace (24 hours from first pitch) to fix their rosters; after 24 hours, and after game 2, any team that is over roster limits will be trimmed by me. I can trim them by any process I choose, but I cannot leave you with fewer than 9 pitchers, or 11 position players when I am finished (i.e. I cannot cause a forfeit.)
3. Updating personnel:
Progressions: type: Unpredictable. Plateau range: 28 - 32. 33 begins regression.
Imports and Minimums: 25 IP, 50 AB in the first cohort, then 30 and 100 thereafter.
Stat changing? Yes. You will be given 2 days for each calendar season, but if you miss it, you lose your chance.
Trades? Only within the same calendar year (like 1966 with 1966). No trades between teams of different eras, and no trades after game 140 and before the end of the World Series.
“Anyone can question the fairness of a trade, and forward a review request to the trade review committee. I will select the members of this committee, and majority rules. If for some reason there is a tie (as with an abstention), the Commissioner will break the tie. The Commissioner will oversee the performance of this committee. Requests to have trades reviewed must be made within 1 week or 20 games from the trade, whichever comes first.”
Is there a draft? Yes. After the offseason 24 hour trade window, each season in the cohort has a (up to) 4 round draft. Put your 30 keepers in the majors, and everybody else in the minors. NOTE: everybody in your minors will be eligible for the draft. Once rosters are cleared and the draft starts, you will have to suffer with any mistake you made.
Free agents/waivers? NO.
4. League set up, number of games, rotation size, injury length, and roster size:
3 divisions, each representing a given season. 162 game seasons. 4 man rotations throughout. ⅝ for injuries (hitter/pitcher). 26/36 for rosters.
5. Playoffs: The top 5 teams in each division make the playoffs. The regular season champ has a bye until the league (division) championship. The wild card teams square off in a best-of-3 (all at the higher seed), and the wild card finals are best of 5. The World Series in each division is best-of-7.
Then, the top 4 franchises of the cohort get to combine their rosters (i.e. select all stars) to compete in a Final 4 (best-of-7), where the winner gets the season ring.
Rules about ties for a playoff spot:
A wild card team never hosts a series against a non-wild card team.
If teams tie for a playoff spot:
⇒ If both teams would be “in”, use head to head record as a tiebreaker. Run differential is the 2nd tie-breaker.
⇒ If one is in, the other is out, 1 game playoff (@ head 2 head winner)
In the event of a tie for the last slot for the Final Four, each owner picks 1 team of their 3 to represent the franchise, and they play head to head to decide which franchise advances.
If 3 franchises tie for the last slot, and one of the 3 has a losing record (combined record of all 3 teams) against both other tied franchises, this franchise is out, and the other two follow the rule for 2 teams tied.
If 4 franchises tie for the last slot, follow the rules for 2 teams, but make it a Final Four.
MY BASIC EXPECTATIONS OF EACH OWNER:
⇒ Your commitment is season to season. When you join, you will be expected to actively run your team until the end of the season, which is when the regular season ends for non-playoff teams, or when your playoff team is eliminated. If you quit mid-season without my blessing, I will share this information with other commissioners.
⇒ Actively running your team means that you read messages once per day, meet all deadlines, and communicate any difficulties to the commissioner.
⇒ I will provide a minimum of 48 hours between a posting of a deadline, and the deadline. Ignorance of the deadline will not be an excuse for failing to meet the deadline.
⇒ If you will be away, and unable to get your messages, give the commissioner advance notice. Inactivity for ten (10) days, or repeated failure to meet deadlines, may result in your being booted from the league.
⇒ Every owner is expected to field a team (9 pitchers and 11 fielders) every game. Failure to do so, making the sims not run, results in a forfeit.
⇒ Read and be familiar with the rules immediately upon joining: it may affect your desire to be in the league, or your desire to pick a certain team.
Please keep all conversations clean
Please don't be rude to fellow owners
Please be active, if not active for 14 days you may be removed from the league
We all love baseball and that's why we're here. So Just have fun and enjoy!
General rules:
Each offseason, you can switch a SP to RP, or a RP to a SP, but stamina will remain “as is.”. You can change it back the next offseason if you like, but no changes between first pitch and the last out of the World Series.
You can switch a player’s primary and secondary positions if they played 50% or more games THAT season at their secondary position, or at least 25% of their games for their career at their secondary position.
During an offseason, a player can be switched to the position they played most in their career, regardless of the requirements of General Rule #2.
You can switch a DH to his secondary position, as long as he has a fielding percentage.
Off season duties:
After Cohort 1: double stats
Empty the free agent pool.
Progressions: type: Unpredictable. Plateau range: 28 - 32. 33 begins regression.
Imports: You get all the imports from the next season that are not already in the league (30 IP/100 AB minimum)
Stat changes: unlimited (30 IP/100 AB minimum). Because there will be 3 different seasons playing at once, each season will have two days for stat changing. You miss that window, you lose out on stat changes.
Trade window: Put the 30 players you intend to keep in the majors, and the players you intend to cut in the minors. Now would be a good time to swing trades for depth, as there will be no opportunity to sign free agents nor post waiver claims. 1 day.
At the close of the trade window:
Draft: (up to) 4 rounds, in 3 installments:
1920s draft: 4 rounds
1960s draft: 4 rounds
2000s draft: 4 rounds
Cuts to a certain roster limit. 26/36 (or 26/10)
Opening Day
This league will run a maximum of 40 seasons, or until the modern division meets present day.
Elastic Clause: I reserve the right to create new rules as necessary to deal with problems as they arise.
Some leagues use fictional player progression. To learn more about how players progress, check the Player Potential page.
League Settings
| Year Range of Stats | 1871 - 2025 |
| Roster Size (Majors) | 26 |
| Roster Size (Minors) | 10 |
| Keepers | (30 keepers) |
| Change Stats Allowed | |
| Free Agency | (waivers) |
| Drops | |
| No-Drop List | |
| Player Fatigue | |
| Batter Injuries | (5 games max) |
| Pitcher Injuries | (8 games max) |
| Use Pitcher's HR Allowed Stats | |
| Allows Max Surprise Bunts | |
| Min Batters Pitcher Must Face | 1 |
| Slump Buster | (1unlimited days) |
| On Fire | Uses WAR |
| User Sims | (every 3 hours) |
