League Rules

COMMISSIONERS
1.1. The commissioners of the league are:
1.1.1. Commissioner: krtyler11
1.1.2. Co-Commissioners: djejo and bgrady.
1.2. If you have questions about the rules or any aspect of the league, feel free to send a message to one or more of the commissioners. There are also many veteran owners in the league, so if you're unsure about something, don't hesitate to ask.
1.3. Should a dispute or unanticipated issue arise, the decision of the commissioners is FINAL.

2. TEAMS
2.1. The league is set up to have 16 teams, divided up into two divisions, American and National.
2.2. Team names/logos/stadium names will be picked by users (see rule 15)
2.2.1 All stadia size/effects are set initially at ?None? for both RHB and LHB.
2.2.2 Owners may change only one setting per offseason ? that is, only the RHB or LHB can be changed in a single offseason, not both.
2.2.3 The setting may be moved one ?notch? ? e.g., from ?None? to
Slight Boost?, or from ?Slight Boost? to ?Big Boost,? etc.
2.2.4 Changing a stadium setting costs one International point ? see Rule 12 for more information on International points.

3. OWNERS
3.1. Our preference is that each of the 16 teams is owned/managed by an active pennantchase player. We will consider allowing owners to own multiple franchises in the future if necessary.
3.2. The Commissioners will use the poll function on the league home page to check for the opinions of owners or get feedback- make sure to check the league home page regularly.
3.3. Pennantchase.com also has a message function similar to email; make sure you check this occasionally as well, as the Commissioners or other owners may use it to contact you.
3.4. Please try and be active in this league- trades are encouraged and we?ve set it up so there are very few manual steps. The Commissioners will attempt to avoid interfering with owner actions (trades/etc.) but in order to preserve competitive balance and ensure a fun experience for all owners, the Commissioners may, at their sole option, take any and all actions needed, including:
3.4.1. Temporarily taking over teams with inactive owners;
3.4.2. Vetoing lopsided trades (i.e., where in the opinion of the commissioners, the trade would adversely affect the competitive balance of the league), regardless of whether collusion or ?tanking? is suspected;
3.4.3. Penalizing owners for inappropriate conduct (a little cussing isn?t a big deal but keep it classy); or even
3.4.4. Permanently removing an owner from the league.

4. SEASON AND PLAYOFF STRUCTURE
4.1. We will play 132 game seasons, which breaks down to each team playing 12 divisional games against 7 opponents (84 games), as well as 6 inter-divisional games against 8 opponents (48 games).
4.2 Sims will happen every 4 hours for a maximum of 6 games per day ? user simming will be turned on.
4.3 Free agency, adds/drops, and trades will be disabled after game 108.
4.4 Slump buster will last 5 real-life days, covering ~30 games.
4.5 Six teams will make the playoffs each season- three from each Division. The teams are seeded 1st to 3rd in each Division based on record.
4.5.1 The tiebreaker for playoff seeding (rank 2 and 3) will be run differential. A single game will be played for wildcard tie-breakers or ties for 1st place with the home team having the better run differential.
4.6 The Wild Card Round of the playoffs will feature the 2nd and 3rd seeded teams in each division in a 5-game series (2-2-1 format, with the better seeded team getting the first, second, and potential fifth home game). The #1 seed in each division gets a bye.
4.7 The Divisional Round features the Wild Card winner versus the #1 seed in a 7-game series (2-3-2 format, with the #1 seed getting games 1, 2, 6, and 7 at home).
4.8 The League Championship is a 7-game series, also 2-3-2 format, with seeding based on record and then run differential.
4.9 One off day will be granted at the start of each series and at each change in venue.

5. ROSTERS
5.1 Owners may have a maximum of 25 players on their major league roster at any time.
5.2 Owner may have a maximum of 25 players on their minor league roster at any time.
5.3 Owners MUST have a minimum of 9 pitchers and 11 hitters on their major roster at any time, per Pennantchase rules; if the Commissioners have to add players to get a team up to the minimum, there is no guarantee the owner will like the player(s) that are added. Owners who continually fail to keep their rosters up to date aren?t making it fun or competitive for the other teams and need to read Rule 3.4.
5.3.1 Similarly, all teams must be at or below the 25 player limit before the beginning of each regular season. The Commissioners reserve the right to drop players from teams with more than 25 players in order to meet this maximum, and again, there is no guarantee that the owner will like the player(s) that the Commissioner chose to drop, or that the dropped player(s) won?t be picked up by another team. In other words, ignore the deadline for the 25 man roster at your own risk.
5.3.2 Players can be traded between major league and minor league teams. However, minor league teams only have room for 2 players with signed contracts and if you move minor league players to the major league roster, you risk that player losing their rookie eligibility (see rule 11).
5.4 We will use a five-man starting pitching rotation. Make sure you have five SP in your rotation- the sim penalizes teams significantly if they have less than a full rotation due to the very next rule.
5.5 Endurance will be turned on, so make sure your players are allowed to rest when they get tired.
5.6 Injuries will also be turned on; the maximum length of an injury for a hitter is 10 games and for a pitcher it?s 15 games.
5.7 The Fire rating will not be used. The majority of players will have a Potential rating of "U" (Unpredictable), with a handful of players getting one of the other ratings.
5.8 This league will use the Pennantchase settings for Minimum Rank of Star Pitchers and Hitters of 85. This approximates how the sim will treat players and how the sims will turn out. We typically won't ever adjust this - unless we're seeing consistent crazy scores (.ie 15-12, 22-15, or lots of 1-0 games). In the unusual case that we update the star rankings - we will post the update to the league.
5.9 Owners may not trade draft picks (due to the constraints of the Pennantchase Supplemental Draft system).

6. MAJOR LEAGUE DRAFT
6.1 The league is set up to run about 29 seasons, with each season?s draft class consisting of players drawn from a certain number of actual MLB seasons. We'll play more seasons if there is interest.
6.2 The draft population process is to let pennantchase choose the best players at each position per year.
6.3 The initial draft has enough players to fill a 25 man roster and have 5 players in excess to move to a minor league roster.
6.4 Each subsequent draft will choose 4 players at each infield position and 12 at outfield per year (ie. 4 catchers from 1883, 4 catchers from 1903, etc.)
6.5 The years have been chosen to couple rich hitting seasons with rich pitching seasons (ie. 1920s and 30s hitting seasons with 1900s and 60s pitching).
6.6 Here is the breakdown for hitters of each year used in each draft class
Draft 1__1880-1882,1900-1902,1950-1952,1970-1972,1990-1992
Draft 2__1883,1903,1953,1980,1993
Draft 3__1884,1904,1954,1981,1994
Draft 4 __1885,1905,1955,1982,1995
Draft 5 __1886,1906,1956,1983,1996
Draft 6 __1887,1907,1957,1984,1997
Draft 7 __1888,1908,1958,1985,1998
Draft 8 __1889,1909,1959,1986,1999
Draft 9 __1910,1960,1973,1987,2010
Draft10__1911,1961,1974,1988,2011
Draft11__1912,1962,1975,1989,2012
Draft12__1913,1963,1976,2000,2013
Draft13__1914,1964,1977,2001,1930
Draft14__1915,1965,1978,2002,1931
Draft15__1916,1966,1979,2003,1932
Draft16__1917,1967,1920,2004,1933
Draft17__1918,1968,1921,2005,1934
Draft18__1919,1969,1922,2006,1870,1871
Draft19__1890,1940,1923,2007,1872,1873
Draft20__1891,1941,1924,2008,1874,1875
Draft21__1892,1942,1925,2009,1876,1877
Draft22__1893,1943,1926,1936,1878,1879
Draft23__1894,1944,1927,1937,2014
Draft24__1895,1945,1928,1938,2015
Draft25__1896,1946,1929,1939,2016
Draft26__1897,1947,1899,1949,2017
Draft27__1898,1948,1935,,2018
Draft28¬¬__1870-1900,1901-1920,2000-2018,1970-1990
Draft29__1870-2018

6.7 Pitcher breakdown (20 starters, 16 relievers per year)
Draft 1__1930-1932,1980-1982,1890-1892,1990-1992,1940-1942
Draft 2__1933,1983,1893,1993,1943
Draft 3__1934,1984,1894,1994,1944
Draft 4__1935,1985,1895,1995,1945
Draft 5__1936,1986,1896,1996,1946
Draft 6__1937,1987,1897,1997,1947
Draft 7__1938,1988,1898,1998,1948
Draft 8__1939,1989,1899,1999,1949
Draft 9__1920,1950,2010,1960,1870,1871
Draft10__1921,1951,2011,1961,1872,1873
Draft11__1922,1952,2012,1962,1874,1875
Draft12__1923,1953,2013,1963,1876,1877
Draft13__1924,1954,2014,1964,1878,1879
Draft14__1925,1955,2015,1965,1970
Draft15__1926,1956,2016,1966,1971
Draft16__1927,1957,2017,1967,1972
Draft17__1928,1958,2018,1968,1973
Draft18__1929,1959,1880,1969,1974
Draft19__2000,1900,1881,1910,1975
Draft20__2001,1901,1882,1911,1976
Draft21__2002,1902,1883,1912,1977
Draft22__2003,1903,1884,1913,1978
Draft23__2004,1904,1885,1914,1979
Draft24__2005,1905,1886,1915,2008
Draft25__2006,1906,1887,1916,1908
Draft26__2007,1907,1888,1917,1918
Draft27__2009,1909,1889,1919
Draft28__1870-1900,1901-1920,2000-2018,1970-1990
Draft29__1870-2018


7. MINOR LEAGUE DRAFT
7.1 In addition to the major league draft, there will also be a minor league / prospect draft.
7.2 These players will be fictional, younger, and more developmental
7.3 The minor league / prospect draft will run on day 9 of the major league season.
7.4 Minor league draft order is the reverse order of the previous season?s standings with run differential and then head to head being the tie-breaker. .ie the team with a lower run differential will have a better pick.
7.5 The initial minor league draft is 8 rounds and is reverse order of the initial major league draft.
7.6 Future minor league drafts are 3 round
7.7 The initial minor league draft is snake with future drafts being one-way.

8. INTERNATIONAL DRAFT
8.1 The international draft is a 1 round supplemental draft that happens after game 84.
8.2 Draft order is determined by how many international points a team has (the team with the most gets the top pick).
8.3 A team can rollover international points by not participating in the draft
8.4 If a team picks a player, the international points are reset to zero
8.5 Teams can participate even if they don?t have points
8.6 Tie breaker for international points is all-time record, followed by all-time run differential - the better record / higher run differential will pick above the lower team.
8.7 International points are awarded as follows:
1. Full season record of .500 or better = 2 points
2. Playoff appearance = 1 point
3. Cy Young winner = 1 point
4. MVP winner = 1 point
5. World Series appearance = 1 point
6. World Series winner = 1 point
7. Full draft participation (major league and prospect drafts with at least ranking players for the first round)
= 2 points
8. 10 + game improvement from previous season = 2 points
9. Top minor league in record in each division = 1 point

9. DRAFT LOGISTICS
9.1 The rookie major league draft will take place each off season. The draft classes will be populated as described in Rule 6 above.
9.2 The Initial Draft will consist of 30 rounds, in a snake format (the owner with the last pick in the first round will have the first pick in round 2, etc.).
9.3 In all subsequent seasons, rookie major league drafts will be 5 rounds, run in one-way order.
9.4 All Drafts will be run using the ?Supplemental Draft? feature on pennantchase- each owner will pre-rank the available players, and the commissioners will run a series of five (5) one-round supplemental drafts at regular intervals. Owners can re-rank players in between each round as necessary.
9.4.1 If you haven?t ever used the Supplemental Draft feature, it?s really easy- you don?t have to be online for it to work. Just set your rankings and the sim does the rest.
9.5. Draft order for the inaugural rookie major league draft will be set randomly; subsequent draft order for rookie major league drafts will be set according to reverse order of finish, with reverse run differential used for tiebreaks, for all non-playoff teams.
9.5.1 The Pioneer League Series champion will draft last and the Pioneer League Series runner-up 2nd to last. The other four playoff teams will draft according 1) division winners will be lower than non-division winners, 2) reverse order of standings, 3) reverse run differential.
9.6 The initial minor league / prospect draft will be 8 rounds and future drafts will be 3 rounds.
9.7 The order for the initial minor league / prospect draft will be reverse of the initial major league draft and will be snake. Future minor league / prospect drafts will be reverse order of previous year?s standings and one way.
9.8 The first international draft will occur around game 84 of season 2 ? allowing teams to compile international points.

10. FREE AGENCY
10.1 There is no Free Agent draft; after each season?s draft has concluded, the Commissioners will announce to the league a time for Free Agency to begin. The Free Agent pool will consist of all undrafted or dropped players. Free agency ends after Game 108 (the same day as the Trade Deadline).
10.2 Only players without contracts can be dropped and they can be dropped from a major or minor league roster.

10. CONTRACTS
10.1 Contract are maximum of 4 years. Contracts are actually extensions - so the year that you are in doesn't count towards the contract length.
10.2 Once a contract is over, players go back into the pool of draft eligible major league players
10.3 A team can have a maximum of 18 contracts signed per season (combined major and minor league teams)
10.4 The maximum number of keepers (players on contract) on your minor league team is 2 for moving injured players. There is no way to limit those players through the system so the salary cap for minor league teams has been set to $20 - but please just adhere to only 2 signed players on a minor league roster.
10.5 The salary cap for major league rosters is set to 999 - meaning that the amount of salary doesn't matter. We are just using the signing process as a way to extend a limited number of players.
10.6 The maximum amount of years a player can play before heading back into the major league draft is 6. Refer to Rookie Status in rule 11 to see how players can essentially play 2 seasons before needing to be signed.
Example: you draft player A and play him his first year with a rookie tag for free. He plays year #2 without a rookie tag but then you sign him to a 4-year extension. He plays seasons 3,4, 5, and 6 for a total of 6 seasons. He then goes back into free agency at the end of the year, making him eligible to be drafted in the next major league draft (where you could draft him again). If he gets drafted a second time, he?d have to be signed that year or risk going directly back to free agency because he no longer will have a rookie tag, allowing the free first year.

11. ROOKIE STATUS
11.1 All drafted players are rookie eligible during their first season and until they play in a major league game
11.2 At the end of the season (after progressions -- see rule 14), if a rookie eligible player has played in a game, he will lose his rookie tag.
11.3 Rookie eligible players will carry over from season to season without contracts
Example A: you draft Babe Ruth and immediately play him for the entirety of the season. He does not need to be signed at the end of the season because he has a rookie tag. Once players are progressed, he will lose his rookie tag and can play season #2 but will need to be signed to a contract before season?s end or be lost to free agency / major league draft.
Example B: you draft Sixto Lezcano and stash him in your minor leagues. He stays there for 4 seasons until you bring him up. He plays season 5 while still on a rookie tag, then starts season 6 without that tag. Once again, now you must sign him to a contract by the end of season 6 or lose him.
Example C: you draft John Rocker and play him immediately in season 1. He plays again in season 2 without his rookie tag but you decide not to use a contract spot on him, and at the end of the season he heads back to free agency and is eligible to be drafted in the season 3 major league draft.

12 MINOR LEAGUE
12.1 There will be a minor league season of 90 games played simultaneously with the Major League season
12.2 Minor league games are played between minor league teams and there are no playoffs
12.3 Players with major league experience can play in the minor leagues but are not eligible for awards or extra progressions. Note that demoting quality major league players to your minor league squad to win minor league games could constitute tanking per Rule 3.4
12.4 The top listed players (up to 10 each) in MVP and Cy Young rankings in the Minors in each league who are not ineligible per Rule 12.3 and who are younger than 29 will receive an extra progression at a C level (regardless of their given progression rating).
12.5 The top teams from each division will be awarded a trophy and 1 international point (see Rule 8).
12.6 Minor league teams need to follow the same minimum pitcher and hitter numbers as major league teams (9 pitchers and 11 hitters)
12.7 Initially, all minor league teams will have the same statistically bad fictional players to fill the minimum requirements (5 starting pitchers, 4 relievers, 3 outfielders, 1 1b, 2b, 3b, SS, C and 3 Util). Those players can be dropped as each team fills out their minor league roster.

13 TRANSACTIONS
13.1 Free agency starts after the draft and players are free to be picked up
13.2 To call up players from the minor leagues ? players must be traded between teams (you are an owner of a major league and minor league team)

14. PROGRESSION
14.1 Most players will be assigned a U progression rating - which stands for unpredictable. There will be a few A and very few C ratings
14.2 Progression peak age is 29, then flat to 31 and regression after that. This means that with U ratings, players have a chance to progress each year until their age 29 season. After that they will stay the same for 2 years and then have a chance to regress.

15 TEAM NAMES / PARKS / LOGOS
15.1 Major league team names will be chosen by owners from the following link https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/. Owners can choose any name listed EXCEPT active franchises (who needs another league with the Red Sox, Yankees, etc. in it?)
15.1.1 Owners are free to choose non-current names for active franchises - just not the current names. So the New York Highlanders is fine (just not the Yankees), and the Philadelphia Athletics is fine too (just not the Oakland A's).
15.2 Minor league team names can be any team as long as you can point to the actual existence of that team. Here is an exhaustive list of teams for those looking for obscure team names https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi.
15.3 Please use sportslogos.net or something similar for team logos for both major and minor league teams.
15.4 Only logos will be used (not random pictures)
15.5 We will "draft" team names in reverse order of the initial major league draft. You can send in 3-5 team names to the commissioner and we will assign based on draft order.
15.6 Only one team per city per league. So there can be one major league team from Boston and one minor league team but not two major or minor league teams from the same city.
15.7 New owners in future seasons will be able to change both team names once for free.
15.8 Current owners can change team names but it will cost 1 International point.

This is how I envision a typical season (after our initial draft).
Day 1-2: 5 round major league draft
Day 3: Free agency opens ? major league rosters down to 25, minor league rosters to 25
Day 4: Major League season begins
Day 7: Free agency frozen (prospects loaded)
Day 9: 3 round minor league draft
Day 10: Minor League season begins
Day 18 (game 84) All-Star break (1 day) 1 round international draft
Day 23: adds / drops / callups / trading turned off:
Day 27: regular season ends / new draft class is loaded
Day 28-30: playoffs / must sign contracts before end of playoffs for players without rookie tags
Day 31: Players / contracts progressed ? rookie tags removed for those that played in a game after progressions. Non-rookies without contracts or expired contracts move back into the free agent / major league draft-eligible pool. International points awarded
Day 31 History page is updated

League Settings