League Rules

Welcome to Best of the Best 1965-2025!

This league is designed to use the Budget draft Favorite Teams format but with all 30 MLB teams.
The Commissioners will track each regular season's win totals for both users and franchises using a spreadsheet that will be available under Links. This win total sheet will also help us keep track of who has been what franchise already.

Commissioner: Raiderbill33
COs: Sheikyerboudi, Revejb

LEAGUE BEHAVIOR
This league is run by a crew of commissioners, out of the kindness of their hearts. If any owner feels the need to make any suggestions or offer any constructive insight, a message should be sent straight to sheikyerboudi AND revejb. We have often put new ideas to a vote and altered league rules based on owners suggestions. All owners should assume that anything put in league chat will be missed by us, so please send it directly to us.

If any owner is found to be abusive, complaining incessantly, or offering so many suggestions it becomes ridiculous, that owner will be removed and banned from the league, perhaps without notice. If owners are found to be abusing commissioners or other owners in chat, that owner may be removed and banned from the league, perhaps without notice.

PC provides a platform that allows anyone to form a league using their own standards and rules. If anyone feels that this league falls short of their standards, perhaps this would be the best option for you.

FRANCHISE ASSIGNEMNTS:

Every year each owner will need to pick a different franchise and cannot repeat franchises (until they have been used by every owner) This means that if you are the Yankees one year, the next year you will need to be someone else. This continues until you have used all 30 teams in baseball, or until the league reboots. This is designed to give every owner a chance to be the historically strong teams as well as allowing everyone to gain some understanding of each franchise and baseball history.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>NEW FRANCHISE DRAFT PROCEDURE<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Franchise draft will be done each offseason, from inverse order of the previous season's standings, ties for Draft order will be broken by Power Rank, then run diff. The teams who play in the championship will always pick 29th and 30th, and the final 12 picks will always be the teams who made the playoffs. The exception to this will be the New Owner Rule, where abandoned teams will fall to the bottom of the draft.

PRE-RANKING AND DRAFT TIMER
Pre-ranking for the draft will be turned on 1 day prior to the draft room opening to give all owners time to rank. Once the draft goes live, all owners will have 2 hours to draft if they have not ranked or wish to pick live. As always, if an owner is ranked and wants a commish to make the pick, post that it in the draft chat, otherwise owners will have a 2 hour time slot. We will still pause the Draft Clock from 9pm (PT) - 6am (PT) - this doesn't mean that you can't pick during that time period, just that the Clock is paused. In the event that an owner fails to pick within the required time, a team wil be assigned by the following method: If the owner has not previously been the team listed as his favorite team on his User Page, he will be assigned that team. If the owner has previously been his favorite team, a team will be selected using a random number generator and that number (1-30) compared to the alphabetical listing of teams.

INELIGIBLE PICKS
If you draft a team you have already been, that team will be returned to the draft and your pick will be skipped. You can alert the commissioners via message an alternative pick, but the draft will continue on in the meantime.

NEW OWNERS DRAFT SPOTS
In an effort to reward our loyal and returning owners, when an owner leaves the league, those teams will automatically move to the end of the draft and new owners will pick at the end their first year. This is not to punish new owners, but rather to reward those owners who continue play here year after year.

WIN TOTALS SHEET
We will be keeping records of which owner has used which teams, total # of wins for each owner. This will be the primary way that we keep track of who has been what franchise. (See "Win Totals" link)

TEAM BUILDING
Rules will be the same as auto league BUDGET favorite teams leagues. Please read this message regarding how it works.

The franchise you draft will be your team for the following season and you must use that player pool to create your roster. You will then select a roster from the players available, building an initial roster from 26-31 players. You must have a minimum of:
12 batters
5 SP's
5RP's
In the WAR DRAFT system, a player needs 250 ABs or 100 IPs for a SP and 30 IPs for a RP . Starters with less than 100 IP will draft as RP. No duplicate players will be allowed on the same team but Duplicate players can exist on different teams."
*Also, players will be the positions that PC imports them as, therefore there is no changing to secondary positions, or changing roles of say an SP to an RP. Also, there will be no adjustment of SP/RP Stamina - the stamina rating for SPs with less than 100 IP are treated as RPs with Stamina=40, unless they have Stamina's of below 60, in which case their actual Stamina is used.


TEAM WAR BUDGETS - 85 unless otherwise noted

BOS Red Sox
NYY Yankees
TOR Blue Jays - 95
TB Rays - 95
BAL Orioles - 90

CLE Guardians
DET Tigers - 95
MIN Twins - 90
KC Royals - 100
CHI White Sox - 95

OAK Athletics - 95
LA Angels - 90
HOU Astros - 75
TEX Rangers - 95
SEA Mariners - 95

PHI Phillies - 90
WAS Nationals - 90
MIA Marlins - 100
NY Mets - 95
ATL Braves

CHI Cubs
STL Cards
MIL Brewers - 95
PIT Pirates - 90
CIN Reds - 90

LA Dodgers
SF Giants - 90
COL Rockies - 90
SD Padres - 100
ARI Dbacks - 95

--------------PARK EFFECTS---------------------------
Beginning with the season 1 reboot, each franchise has 2 options to choose from for park effects, the current (2022) version and a historical one. The following are the options for park effects:

AL EAST
Baltimore
2022 Camden Yards RHB Mild Boost LHB None
1983 Memorial Stadium RHB None LHB None
Boston
2022 Fenway Park RHB Big Boost LHB None
1986 Fenway Park RHB None LHB Mild Disadvantage
New York
2022 Yankee Stadium RHB Mild Boost LHB Mild Disadvantage
1967 Yankee Stadium RHB Big Disadvantage LHB Mild Boost
Tampa Bay
2022 Tropicana Field RHB Mild Disadvantage LHB Big Disadvantage
1999 Suncoast Dome RHB None LHB None
Toronto
2022 Rogers Centre RHB None LHB Mild Disadvantage
1987 Exhibition Stadium RHB None LHB None

AL CENTRAL
Chicago (AL)
2022 Guaranteed Rate Field RHB None LHB None
1983 Comiskey Park RHB Mild Boost LHB Mild Boost
Cleveland
2022 Progressive Field RHB Mild Disadvantage LHB Big Boost
1968 Cleveland Stadium RHB Mild Disadvantage LHB Mild Disadvantage
Detroit
2022 Comerica Park RHB Big Disadvantage LHB Big Disadvantage
1984 Tiger Stadium RHB Mild Disadvantage LHB Mild Boost
Kansas City
2022 Kaufmann Stadium RHB Mild Disadvantage LHB Mild Disadvantage
1980 Royals Stadium RHB None LHB None
Minnesota
2022 Target Field RHB Mild Disadvantage LHB None
1999 Metrodome RHB Big Disadvantage LHB Mild Boost

AL WEST
Houston
2022 Minute Maid Park RHB Mild Boost LHB None
1986 Astrodome RHB Mild Disadvantage LHB Mild Disadvantage
Los Angeles (AL)
2022 Angel Stadium RHB Mild Boost LHB Big Boost
2000 Edison Field RHB None LHB None
Oakland
2022 Oakland Coliseum RHB Big Disadvantage LHB Mild Disadvantage
1990 Oakland Coliseum RHB None LHB Mild Disadvantage
Seattle
2022 T Mobile Park RHB None LHB Big Disadvantage
1996 Kingdome RHB None LHB None
Texas
2022 Globe Life Field RHB None LHB Mild Boost
1999 Ballpark at Arlington RHB Mild Disadvantage LHB Big Boost

NL EAST
Atlanta
2022 Truist Park RHB No Effect LHB No Effect
1978 Fulton Co. Stadium RHB Mild Boost LHB Mild Boost
Miami
2022 Loan Depot Park RHB Mild Disadvantage LHB Mild Disadvantage
1994 Joe Robbie Stadium RHB Mild Boost LHB Mild Boost
New York
2022 Citi Field RHB No Effect LHB No Effect
1976 Shea Stadium RHB Mild Disadvantage LHB Mild Disadvantage
Philadelphia
2022 Citizens Bank Park RHB Mild Boost LHB Mild Boost
1975 Veterans Stadium RHB No Effect LHB No Effect
Washington
2022 Nationals Park RHB No Effect LHB No Effect
1999 Olympic Stadium RHB No Effect LHB Mild Disadvantage

NL CENTRAL
Chicago (NL)
2022 Wrigley Field RHB No Effect LHB No Effect
1985 Wrigley Field RHB Mild Boost LHB Mild Boost
Cincinnati
2022 Great American Ball Park RHB Big Boost LHB Big Boost
1975 Riverfront Stadium RHB No Effect LHB No Effect
Milwaukee
2022 American Family Field RHB Mild Boost LHB Mild Boost
1980 County Stadium RHB No Effect LHB No Effect
Pittsburgh
2022 PNC Park RHB Mild Disadvantage LHB Mild Disadvantage
1965 Forbes Field RHB No Effect LHB No Effect
St. Louis
2022 Busch Stadium RHB Mild Disadvantage LHB Big Disadvantage
1999 Busch Stadium RHB No Effect. LHB No Effect

NL WEST
Arizona
2022 Chase Field RHB Mild Disadvantage LHB No Effect
2003 Chase Field RHB Mild Boost RHB Mild Boost
Colorado
2022 Coors Field RHB Big Boost LHB Mild Boost
1993 Mile High Stadium RHB Big Boost LHB Big Boost
Los Angeles
2022 Dodger Stadium RHB Big Boost LHB No Effect
1965 Dodger Stadium RHB Mild Disadvantage LHB Mild Disadvantage
San Diego
2022 Petco Park RHB Mild Disadvantage LHB Mild Disadvantage
1984 Jack Murphy Stadium RHB No Effect LHB No Effect
San Francisco
2022 Oracle Park RHB Big Disadvantage LHB Mild Disadvantage
1971 Candlestick Park RHB No Effect LHB No Effect

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PLAYOFFS:
The playoffs will mirror the current MLB setup:
https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-playoff-format-faq

Playoffs will be a total of 6 teams per league, each Division winner plus 3 wildcards will make the playoffs.

Seeding will be as follows:
#1 Best league record
#2 Second best division winner
#3 Third best division winner
#4 Best record among Wild Card teams
#5 Second best record among Wild Card teams
#6 Third best record among Wild Card teams

Tiebreaker Rules:
Here's the link to the MLB tiebreaker Rules, including resolving ties between 2, 3, 4 or more teams (God help us if it comes to that !!)
https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-playoff-tiebreaker-rules
You can also access this through the Links tab.

ROUND 1 will be a best of 3 series, with a 1-1-1 format on home field, and NO days off will be granted in Rd1
Seed #3 vs #6 and seed #4 vs #5
ROUND 2 will be a best of 5 series, with a 2-2-1 format on home field
Seed #1 vs the #4/#5 series winner
Seed #2 vs the #3/#6 series winner

The LCS and World Series will be a best of 7 series, with a 2-3-2 format on home field

PLAYOFF INJURIES:
Per vote injuries are now turned off for the playoffs. However, injuries incurred during the regular season carry over to the playoffs. If any owner notices injuries have not been turned off, PLEASE KINDLY inform the commissioners.

OWNERLESS TEAMS
NO ownerless team, whether that team was abandoned during the season or operating as a ghost team, will be allowed to participate in the playoffs. In the unusual event that an ownerless team qualifies for the playoffs, they will be bumped out and the first team out will now the be the last WC team. Also, if an ownerless team wins a division, the second place team in that division will be the division winner and be seeded 1-3 based on record.


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Other general rules and notes

FREE AGENCY:
Due to the nature of WAR BUDGET leagues, there will be no FA in this league.

TRADING
Due to the nature of these WAR BUDGET leagues, there will be no trading in this league. This is due to the fact that as of yet, the computer cannot monitor budgetary considerations in trades, so it is possible to trade a 10 WAR for a much lower WAR, putting a team well over their budget. This will also help keep teams limited to just their franchise players only, and have a pure franchise team.

TANKING RULE
If it's apparent that a team is not playing a full, competitive lineup, in the interest of the competitive balance of the league, the Commissioners office may step in and make any adjustments necessary. This would include, but not be restricted to, having less than 5 SP's on your ML Roster or playing players out of position in an attempt to "Tank" the season for a better draft position in the off season. If, after a warning, the owner in question does not immediately adjust their lineups, the commissioners may also elect to impose a draft position penalty, and move that team to position #20 in the draft, the last team to not make the playoffs.

OHTANI RULE: He is one player, but 2 roster spots if you import him as both a hitter and pitcher. This creates a few unique rules. 1. If you use both a hitter and pitcher of Ohtani, you MUST use the same season for both. You cannot have the 2021 SP and the 2018 DH. Any questions on Ohtani should be directed to the commissioners during the team building period.

Ghost Teams: If the league is short of an owner(s) a ghost team will be created by the commissioners. They will set the roster, lineups, etc. There will be no trading allowed with a ghost team. A new owner will be found for the ownerless team in the offseason.

Schedule: As per vote, we will change the schedule yearly, so each year the front office will import a different schedule to be used.

There will be 6 sims per day, set it up for user/auto sims every 4 hours during regular season.

Slumpbuster will be set for a max of 5 days
Days off and fatigue will be used.
Pitchers HR allowed will be used.
Allow surprise bunts will be set at balanced.
Awards: All-stars will not be used or selected, but we will have MVP/CY for AL/NL

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**Offseason/Season Order of Events and Deadlines:
1. Ring and trophy awarded to World Series winner
2. All players deleted
3. Franchise draft Teams imported, Draft order announced
4. Teams will be re-assigned and the ability to draft teams will be turned on. Commissioners will post a DEADLINE to build their teams of at least 26 players. Any team not built at the deadline will have their team built for them by a commissioner and be subject to removal from league.
5. Opening Day will be announced same time as the drafting deadline.
6.. At the conclusion of regular season: stats will be archived, including team records, and MVP/CY will be awarded. Playoff teams, seeding and schedule will be announced

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Rules may be revised at times and edited or modified, for the betterment of the league.
Years will be added once they are imported onto PC (2023, 2024, etc)

League Settings

Year Range of Stats	1965 - 2025
Roster Size (Majors)	26
Roster Size (Minors)	5
Keepers
Change Stats Allowed
Free Agency
Drops
No-Drop List
Player Fatigue
Batter Injuries	(5 games max)
Pitcher Injuries	(15 games max)
Use Pitcher's HR Allowed Stats
Allows Max Surprise Bunts
Min Batters Pitcher Must Face	0
Slump Buster	(5 days)
On Fire	Uses WAR
User Sims	(every 4 hours)