League Rules

This is a 20 team league split into 2 10 team divisions. There will initially be 10 owners, each owning 2 teams.
The league will run for 40 seasons.
Season 1 will see separate "pre" and "post" expansion divisions that will compete to each crown a champion in their division.
After season 1, this league changes and becomes a "promotion and relegation" style league.
The 10 teams in season 1 with the best won-loss records will make up the Championship division. The bottom 10 teams will be in the Relegation division. (Should there be a tie between teams won loss record that would impact division placement in season 1, the tie breaker is run differential.)

PRE EXPANSION DIVISION (season 1):
Each owner will choose 1 team from among any of the original 15 franchises not named the New York Yankees. These teams will make up the initial season "preexpansion" division.
You then pick the season you want to start with, between 1934-1942 and 1946-1976. You get that roster, plus the next years roster, EVERY player with 100 AB or 35 IP. There can be duplicates in the league, but not on your own team. Each subsequent season you get the NEXT years roster. After 1976, your next year's imports would be 1934. The WWII years of 1943-45 will be skipped, so after 1942, the next import year is 1946.

POST EXPANSION DIVISION (season 1):
Each owner will choose 1 team from among the remaining 5 original franchises not including the Yankees, plus the 10 expansion franchises that existed in 1977 (so 5 total franchises plus the Yankees will not be used). These teams will make up the initial "post expansion" division.
You pick the season you want to start with between 1977-2016. You get that roster, plus the next roster, EVERY player with 100 AB or 35 IP. There can be duplicates in the league, but not on your own team. Each subsequent season you get the NEXT years roster. After 2016 your next year's imports would be 1977.

We will use unpredictable progression – it is the only way I can guarantee you a unique experience here. Plateau range to be 30 - 33: at 34, players begin to regress.

No trades, no waivers or free agents, and no stat changing. But you get your WHOLE roster each and every import season (as long as the players meet the minimums), and there’s no forced retirement age. You will then most likely have multiple duplicates on your roster that you need to cut. For example, if you are the Mets owner and just used the 1993 season and 1994 has just been imported you will most likely have 2 Mike Piazza's. Choose 1, you must cut the other.

I will give you (at least) 48 hours notice of any deadline. If you need an extension, message me; I am generally fairly reasonable, or so I think. I will not be reasonable about deadlines missed where there was no extension request. Fair is fair, guys.

1) The expectation is a 162 game season. Each series is 3 games (18 total vs each div opponent).
5 man SP rotations.
Injuries: 10 games for position players, 15 games for pitchers max.

2) A player is yours until he is cut. No retirement age.

3) Roster limits: 26 major league, 14 minor league. Rosters must be trimmed after imports and before opening day. 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.)

4) Unpredictable progression will be used. 30 - 33 will be the plateau period. This will make this league different than any other favorite team/favorite season league you have played in: You won’t know what 1983 Dusty Baker will look like in 1978. And, having 4 SP under 25 years of age in 1986 does not guarantee you anything in 1991, except that all 4 should still be under 30.

5) PLAYOFFS:
Season 1 only:
A division winner, plus 4 wildcards in each division. The 4 wild cards play best-of-3 series until 1 wild card team remains. The wild card team and the 1 division winner play a 7-game series to determine the league champion.
Both league champions play 7-game series to determine overall champions.
2 days off granted after reg season and after each series.
Tie breakers: If both teams would make the playoffs, then the tie is resolved by run differential. If one team is in, and the other out, then it will be a single game, winner take all tiebreaker. No team that is tied for a playoff berth will be eliminated without a chance to win their way in (or lose their way out.)

6) PLAYOFFS, PROMOTION & RELEGATION
(SEASONS 2 THRU 40):
After each season's playoffs, 3 teams will be relegated, and 3 teams will be promoted.

Tie breakers: If both teams would make the playoffs, then the tie is resolved by run differential. If one team is in, and the other out, then it will be a single game, winner take all tiebreaker. No team that is tied for a playoff berth will be eliminated without a chance to win their way in (or lose their way out.)

Championship Division playoffs:
-1st place team gets a bye til the World Series
-Teams in 2nd thru 9th place are wild cards.
These teams will play best of 5 series until only 1 team remains to face the 1st place team in 7 game World Series.
If either the 8th or 9th place team reaches the World Series as the wild card champ, they WILL NOT be relegated. Instead, the 7th place team will be. Otherwise, 8th and 9th place relegated.
-10th place team automatically relegated.
2 days off granted after reg season and between each series.

Relegation League playoffs:
-1st and 2nd place team are promoted automatically. They will play a 7 game series for Relegation Division Champ.
-Teams 3 thru 6 will play best of 5 series until 1 team remains, and that team will be promoted.
2 days off granted after reg season and between each series.

This league will clearly allow owners to have teams within the same division that compete against each other.

7) "Change of Ownership"/League Redraft
After every 10 seasons, this league will do a redraft of franchises. Since there are no trades, waivers or stat changing, each team is "self contained" from year to year so there can be very little manipulation of rosters by owners.
This "change of ownership" will allow owners who have struggled for 10 seasons to potentially enjoy some success.
-A running total of each owners total regular season wins will be kept for a 10 year period.
-The "draft order" after each 10 year period will be determined by this total. Owner with the least combined total wins over the 10 years gets the 1st pick of any franchise, 2nd fewest picks next, and so forth. If there is a tie for wins, championships won will be first tiebreaker. Then total years the owners teams spent in Championship division.
-When an owner drafts his team, he will pick up with that team where the last owner "left off". In otherwords, if you decide to grab the Dodgers who just completed their 1957 season, you are starting your 10 year run in 1958. Be aware of where each team is in its 40 year cycle.
-Your 2 selections will be 1 team from the upcoming seasons Championship division, and 1 team from the Relegation division.
-An owner may redraft the franchise he previously owned if available at his draft spot.
-The draft will be "worst to first" in both rounds.
-If an owner leaves the league, the new owner will "inherit" the previous owners win total.
There will be no "switching" of teams by current owners except during the redraft year.

General Rules:

8) A player can have his primary and secondary positions switched if he played half the games in his current season, or 25% of his career games at the position desired. A player can be switched to the position he played most in his career even if it is not his primary or secondary position when he was acquired. A SP can be switched to RP as needed, but only during the offseason, stamina set to 40. An RP can be switched to an SP during the offseason if his stamina is over 50, and his stamina will then be set to 80. If a player is listed as primary DH, he can be switched to his secondary position if he has a fielding percentage.
(Appearances section of Baseball Reference is used to make this determination).

9) Any dispute about whether a player should be on your team, or any position change, must be raised before game 1. I will not make changes after Game 1 of any season, until the next offseason.

Expectation of owners:

10) Owners are expected to read messages on a daily basis. Owners will be given a minimum of 48 hours from the time of posting to complete the act required. After the 48 hours, it is not a defense for the owner to say that he did not see the message.

11) 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.

12) Manager of the Year will be awarded each season for owner with most combined wins.
MVP and Cy Young will be awarded in each division.
All stars will be selected after day 90.
3 days off granted at All Star break.

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!


Offseason duties:

Empty the cut player pool.

Promote/Relegate teams.

Unpredictable progression, plateau period is 30 - 33.

Imports, 100 AB or 35 IP.

Update league schedule.

Every 10 seasons, league redraft.

Teams must be down to roster limits by game 1 (26 ml, 14 minor league). 24 hours after first pitch, and after game 2, Commissioner will fix any roster not in compliance. CHECK EACH ROSTER FOR DUPLICATES.

Elastic Clause: I reserve the right to add any additional rules necessary to make the league run smoothly.

League Settings

Year Range of Stats	1871 - 2024
Roster Size (Majors)	26
Roster Size (Minors)	14
Keepers	(40 keepers)
Change Stats Allowed
Free Agency
Drops
No-Drop List
Player Fatigue
Batter Injuries	(5 games max)
Pitcher Injuries	(10 games max)
Use Pitcher's HR Allowed Stats
Allows Max Surprise Bunts
Min Batters Pitcher Must Face	0
Slump Buster	(5 days)
On Fire	Classic
User Sims	(every 3 hours)