League Rules

PURPOSE/BONUS MONEY
This league is comprised of the AAA affiliates of every team in the Franchise Builders League. Technically, it is the same league; however—unlike other custom leagues—the minor leagues are actual teams that play games.

The results of the AAA regular season and the subsequent postseason will determine monetary bonuses for 11 out of 12 teams. This money will be added to the MLB budget.

Champion—$15 mil
Runner-Up—$12 mil
3rd Place—$10 mil
4th Place—$9 mil
5th Place—$8 mil
6th Place—$7 mil
7th Place—$6 mil
8th Place—$4 mil
9th Place—$3 mil
10th Place—$2 mil
11th Place—$1 mil

YEARLY SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT
Each year, there will be an off-season draft to replace 29-year-old players who moved to MLB.

The order will be based on the results of the recently-completed major league season. The team with the fewest wins will pick first, etc. It will be a snake draft.

ROOKIE DRAFT
The 1971 Players Rookie Draft will take place after the 120-game AAA season has completed. The draft order for the rookie draft will be determined based on four criteria: reverse order of MLB winning percentage at the 120-day mark, reverse order of the MLB CPU estimated team strength at that time, the reverse order of the final AAA regular-season winning percentage, and the reverse order of the AAA CPU estimated team strength at that time.

PLAYER POOL
After the initial minor league draft, players will be added to the minor league pool of players in two ways:

• Every year, at least 25 players from the 70s, then 80s, etc will be available in the rookie draft. These players will be age-25 and under and will be comprised of some of the top prospects from that real-life MLB season—first 1970, then 1971, 1972, etc. There will be a minimum 2-round draft. The undrafted players will remain in the minor league free agent pool and can be drafted the next season. These undrafted players—along with all other minor-league free agents will receive an extra progression after the AAA season. This will increase the likelihood that they will be able to contribute in future seasons.

• As needed, additional fictitious players ages 25-and-under will be added to replace the 29 year olds who are promoted to the major leagues. No player over 28 years old is allowed to remain in the minor leagues.

IMPORTANT: remember, the Rookie Draft will be made up of 70s-era players each of the first 10 drafts. These are the ONLY players who can change seasons (see the rule for the MLB that addresses this issue). When evaluating the 1970s rookies in the draft, an owner should use some website—such as BASEBALL REFERENCE—to look at future seasons to accurately and adequately assess the potential long-term impact of each draftee.

ROSTER
Each AAA team may carry up to 26 players—all on the active roster. Many of these players will be “Non-Contract” (NC) players. A NC may be called up to the majors at any time during the MLB regular season. However, two facts should be considered:

•The NC is not eligible for the MLB postseason.
•A NC who is on the MLB roster at any time becomes a “Decision Required” (DR) player. A DR player must be signed to a contract before the beginning of the next season, or he will be lost to free agency.
•A DR player who is subsequently placed under contract by the 120-game mark of the MLB season is eligible to be placed on the expanded roster and take part in the MLB playoffs.

Minors players who are under contract may move freely up or down between the majors and the minors. They are also eligible to be part of the expanded playoff roster. Provided the team funds are available, a player may be signed to a contract at any time prior to the 120-day mark, making them eligible for postseason play with their major league team.

SCHEDULE
There will be a 120-game schedule. It will begin the same time as the MLB season with SIMS taking place at the AAA level every time a major-league game is SIMMED. There will be no fatigue or injuries at the minors level. As such, managing the AAA team will not take much time. When the big leagues reaches 120 games played, the minors will have also played 120 games . . . completing their regular season.

At that point, the majors will pause a few days for the Rookie Draft which will take place right after the minors has its championship series.

PLAYOFFS
The winner of each division will meet in the championship series with the team with the best overall record having home field advantage in the 2-3-2 format playoff series. There will be one day off before the series begins AND after games 2 and 5.

At the same time, the second place teams in each division will likewise meet in a 7-game series.
In the same manner, the other 6 teams will match up against their counterpart from the other division with bonus money at stake.

The first tiebreaker for seeding is head-to-head. The second tiebreaker is overall run differential.

The results of the AAA postseason will determine monetary bonuses for 11 of 12 teams. This money will be added to the MLB budget on the major league site.

DRAFTS
There will be 2 yearly drafts that take place in the minors. All drafts will follow the “snake” format. The Rookie Draft will be 2 rounds long and will have at least 25 players ages 25-and-under available to be drafted. The Rookie Draft will be made up of 70s-era players each of the first 10 drafts. These are the ONLY players who can change seasons (see the rule for the MLB that addresses this issue). Depending on the number of new players needed, fictional players ages 25-and-under may also be added.

When evaluating the 1970s rookies in the 2-round draft, an owner should use some website to look at future seasons to accurately and adequately assess the potential long-term impact of each draftee.

The draft order for the rookie draft will be determined based on four factors previously mentioned.

The undrafted players will be placed in the minor league Free Agents pool and can be drafted during the next season’s rookie draft. Just like with players on a minor team roster who reach age 29, minors free agents who turn 29 will not be allowed to remain in the minors. They will be moved to the major league Free Agent pool of players.

The other type of draft will take place as needed. This draft will be used to replace 29 year olds who are automatically promoted to the major leagues. The order will be based on the results of the recently-completed major league season. The team with the fewest wins will pick first, etc. It will be a snake draft.

INJURIES
In order to help make the minors’ 120-game season less time consuming, there will be no injuries.

FATIGUE
In order to help make the minors’ 120-game season less time consuming, there will be no fatigue.

TOP PROSPECT (TP)
Each owner must name his TP prior to opening day of the first minor league season. Each owner may rename his TP by messaging the commissioner. Keep it clean! You can even use your own name so that you can personally play in the league.

Even if you choose not to rename the player, one player must be designated as the Top Prospect. This player may play any position.

Chose wisely which player you choose because the TP will progress much faster than the other minor leaguers. Unlike the Face-of-the-Franchise (FOF) players, there are no team salary bonuses attached to the performance of the TP.

The Top Prospect will remain the same until he is promoted to the parent club—even if he does not actually play in a game. Once he has been on the major league roster for any duration of time, another Top Prospect must be named; however, this must be done in the off-season.

When a new owner takes over the helm of a team, he may change the Top Player designee during the next off-season.

TOP PROSPECT YEARLY BOOSTS
Each Top Prospect player may receive ONE of the following boosts each year before progressions have run. The same boost can only be used one time until they all have been used once; then, the process repeats.

•Positional Players:
*Plate Discipline Boost—Add 5 BB; Subract 5 SO
*Defense Boost—Add .2 DWar; Subtract 1 Error
*Power Boost—Add 2 Doubles and 2 HRs
*Speed Boost—Add 1 Triple and +1 Speed Increase
*OBP Boost—Add 2 hits, 2 BB, and 1 HBP
*Switcheroo Boost—Make player a switch hitter

•Starting Pitchers:
*SO-to-BB Ratio Boost—Add 5 SO; Subtract 5 BB
*Stamina Boost—Add 10 pitches to stamina
*Peak Performance Boost—Add 1 Fire point; Subtract 3 hits allowed
*Power Reduction Boost—Decrease HR allowed by 25% (round down)

Relief Pitchers:
*SO-to-BB Ratio Boost—Add 3 SO; Subtract 3 BB
*Stamina Boost—Add 5 pitches to stamina
*Peak Performance Boost—Add 1 Fire point; Subtract 2 hits allowed
*Power Reduction Boost—Decrease HR allowed by 25% (round down)

The following guidelines will be used with TP boosts. Other players in the league—and FOF players by progression—might naturally exceed these limits . . . which is permissible (except in the case of Fire Points).

Max DWar=4.00
Min Errors=1
Max Speed=10 (no limit)
Max SP Stamina=150
Max RP Stamina=50
Max On Fire for pitchers=30

MOVEMENT BETWEEN LEAGUES
Any player who is with the MLB team for any duration loses the ability to be the Top Prospect player for that team. For example, some of the best minor league talent will come from the Rookie Draft. The Rookie Draft takes place just before the majors rosters are expanded from 26 players to 28 players.

If a newly-selected rookie is immediately placed on the major league roster—which is perfectly within the rules—he will never be able to be named the Top Prospect.

If an owner wishes to “call up” a player, he should notify the commissioner ASAP. The commissioner checks the league every hour or two; therefore, in most cases, the promoted player will be available to play the next game.

Players are promoted using the “share players” tool. Promoted players go directly to the active roster of the MLB team. The “minor league” slots at the majors level serve a dual purpose:

• Injured Reserve
•. Spot for players who have returned to the minors after being called up to replace an injured player (or for any other reason).*

*NOTE: once a former minor leaguer appears in a MLB contest, a copy of the player will remain in the minors of the major leagues until he reaches 29 years of age. In other words, there can be a copy of the same player at both levels at the same time; but, he can only play at one level at a time.

There are two reasons for having two copies of the same player. One reason is for statistics accuracy. If a promoted player is sent back down using the share feature and is deleted from the majors, it is assumed that the stats amassed at the MLB level would be lost forever.

Secondly, it is to ensure that contract information is accurate.

PLAYER RANKINGS
A player’s rank will be different in the majors versus the minors. This is because a player’s ranking is relative to the other players in that league. Since the minors players are overall considerably weaker, a 50-ranked player in the majors might be ranked 90-100 in the minors,

For that reason, when comparing talent across leagues, look at the key stat categories and not the ranking.

CONTRACT INFORMATION
If an owner desires to place a minor-leaguer under contract, the owner should ask the commissioner to promote him to the majors to sign the contract. This is because the asking salary will be lower at the major-league level where the talent pool is deeper.

A copy of the contracted player will remain in the minors section of the MLB roster. The player’s status will be changed from NC to “Under Contract.” So long as the player does not actually play in a game in the majors, he remains eligible to be named the Top Prospect.

CONTINUED MINORS STATUS
Once a player has 15 IP for RP, 50 IP for SP, or 150 AB at the MLB level during a single regular season, he loses his minors eligibility. This is so an owner cannot temporarily send down one or more stud sub 29-year/olds to influence the minors season.

POTENTIAL INCREASES
A minors player can receive the same potential increases as an MLB player for $20 mil. This money would be subtracted from the MLB budget. NOTE: if an owner wants to really take advantage of this, he can pay the the potential increase of one of his 1970 players before the additional progression!

League Settings

Year Range of Stats	1986 - 1986
Roster Size (Majors)	25
Roster Size (Minors)	5
Keepers
Change Stats Allowed
Free Agency
Drops
No-Drop List
Player Fatigue
Batter Injuries
Pitcher Injuries
Use Pitcher's HR Allowed Stats
Allows Max Surprise Bunts
Min Batters Pitcher Must Face	0
Slump Buster
On Fire	Classic
User Sims