League Rules

****2010’s MLB**** League Rules and Overview of Play

This is a league which was started, developed and nurtured by Foghorn for 54 seasons and is currently managed and run by Commish Spaniels.

Kind words, gentle banter and sportsmanship is encouraged in the chat box. Humourous anecdotes never go amiss.

I. TEAMS, ROSTERS AND LEAGUE STYLE

A. The teams' rosters will consist of real major league players with age to peak at 28 and regress from age 34. All players retire at 41 so free agent offers can't go beyond 40.

B. The league features Major League teams starting from the 1950 season. Beginning with the 1973 season, AL and NL teams were divided into East and West Divisions. In 1997, both leagues were converted back to 8-team leagues with no divisions. Top four teams in each league qualify for the playoffs.

C. League schedules will be based on a real MLB season (154 Games) with no inter-league play.

D. The Roster size is 40 players, with a max of 25 in the majors and 15 in the minors.

E. At game 90, All Stars from each league will be selected by computer rankings. Teams will get a 3-day rest for the All-Star Break.

F. Inactive owners will be booted and banned from the league at the discretion of the Commish.

The Commish will work quickly to fill open teams to maintain competitive league balance.

II. TRADING

A. There will be no limit to the number of trades between teams during the season. Trading will be suspended during the last 30 "days" of a season and will be resumed immediately after the end of the World Series.

B. The Commish will overturn dubious or unfair trades by consultation with league ownership and/or via league poll.

C. Draft picks can be traded for the next draft only.

D. Rookies cab be traded.

III. CONTRACTS

A. Each team may have a maximum of 30 players under contract each season with all teams having a salary cap of $200 million. (The league was initially set up with a base of $150 million per team, and teams could gain or lose cap money based on performance. Cap losses were later eliminated, and all salary caps were set at $200 million in 1984.)

B. Unsigned players and expiring contracts are released to the free agent pool when progressions are run a few days after the World Series. These players are put on the auction block - affectionately known as the Free Agent Frenzy.

C. Rookies (aka formerly known as reserves)

All rookies come equipped with a rookie tag . That tag has the same meaning as a reserve tag .

Activation of rookies is by two ways now :
1. Owner plays the rookie . I will check rosters at end of season and if that player has played a single AB or pitched even a 1/3rd of an inning. That protective tag will be removed and unless owner signs the player, that player will become a free agent when I run progressions.

2. An owner requests a rookie player to have a stat line imported for the player. This year is 2016 and next season is 2017 and so on. Be careful with said requests because natural progression (step 1) can sometimes produce a better player than an imported stat line. It is your job as owner to look at future seasons and decide which process to enact . 1 or 2. If you send me a rookie, reserve activation request that means you are asking me to import a stat line for this season. I cannot be going back and forth if you preferred the natural progression line vs the imported stat line .

Remember, play your rookies, (reserves) and I will remove tag at end of season / in essence you have chosen natural progression.

D. A new owner who joins the league may drop a contract from his roster upon joining the league - or at least a reasonable period of time.

IV. PLAYERS, PLAYER PROGRESSION AND PLAYER CONVERSIONS

A. Players peak at 28 and regress from age 34.

B. Retirement age is 41.

C. One position switch per season - from primary position to secondary position only. No performance penalties are incurred with a position switch.

D. Pitcher Conversions - A team may convert one pitcher per year from starting pitcher to relief pitcher, or from relief pitcher to starting pitcher - at the discretion of the Commissioner - with an eye towards some historical real-life precedence or a convincing argument from team owner. Often, an ageing starter outlives his use as a rotation piece but can live out his team contract in the bullpen.

V. SCHEDULE AND POST-SEASON

A. The schedule will be 154 Games. The schedule will be largely based on a "real" MLB schedule from a year in which there were 16 major league teams. Some modification will occur year to year.

B. During the regular season, games will be auto-simmed on 8 hour intervals.

C. At the conclusion of the season, awards will be presented in each league for MVP and Cy Young Winner chosen according to the end of season rankings in the Awards tab.

D. Playoffs: top four teams in each league qualify. All playoff rounds are best of seven.

- 2 days off granted before start of playoffs (amended 22/08/22 to account for unbalanced end of season schedule)
- 1 day off granted for travel days - after games 2 & 5
- All Series’s are scheduled for 7 games with unplayed games granted as days off
- 2 days off granted after scheduled game 7

Playoff rounds:
- Divisional first round sees 1st play 4th, 2nd plays 3rd
(Tiebreakers for playoff seeding if tied w/L: h2h, differential, pyth, L10)
- LCS pits divisional winners
-World Series: AL Champ vs NL Champ with home field advantage determined by best winning % in regular season with tie-breakers as run differential, runs scored.

*In case of a tie for fourth place there will be a one-game playoff - with no day off - to determine who advances to the playoffs. The one-game playoff will be held at the home park of the team which won the head-to-head matchup during the season, or the team with the best run differential if tied in season head-to-head games.

Playoff games will generally be auto-simmed on 2 hour intervals with each series completing in one day.

VI. OFF-SEASON

A. After the season has concluded teams will need to sign players that are not under contract. Any players not signed or on expiring contract will be released into free agency unless they have Reserve status.

B. A Rookie Draft will take place shortly after the end of each season with the draft order based on regular season record - worst to first draft order except the World Series champs will pick last and WS runners-up will pick next-to-last. Owners are encouraged to pre-rank prior to the draft.

C. Player Auction: free agents will be available in a four-round bidding process. Owners may submit bids on any free agent that is in the free agent pool .

All bids for a player will be posted each day so that everyone can see how everyone else is bidding.

To win a player, you have to have the top bid for a one round period - from one update to the next without being out-bid by another owner.

If you are the leading bidder going into the final round (Round 4) you can submit an improved bid in anticipation of other owners submitting higher final round bids. If you do 'up your bid' but no owner submits an improved final round bid, then your winning bid reverts to your 3rd round leading bid you had submitted.

It is the responsibility of owners to keep within the cap and Budget overages will have to be sorted by offending team via trade prior to Opening Day, otherwise the Commissioner will deduct draft picks and remove quality players without prejudice. Be wary of annual raises as they can result in cap overages in future years and same rules apply.

All bids must be for a minimum of 2 years and maximum 10 years. Contract length cannot take a player past the age of 41.

Contracts can have $1 or $2 annual increases or decreases . Be wary of future budget overages.

Rules adjustment regarding over budget team on Opening Day:

If a team is over budget on Opening Day, I will be faced with a dilemma about which players to remove to get team under budget. Therefore, I will list contracted players whose AAV is equal to or greater than the over budgetness. I will number them anonymously and publish the anonymous list on the home page and then ask an owner to give me a random number . That # will correspond to a player who will then go to a league auction in chat box .
The offending team will lose a 1st rd pick as well.

Finally, this is a game. I hope you enjoy it as much I do. It is a lot of fun. If you have any suggestions please message into chat or via message to the Commissioner. I do really like to see owners offering congratulations to winning teams. Demonstrates true sportsmanship!

Cheers, Spaniels.

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