League Rules

GENERAL STATEMENT
This is a new league run by a new Commish. (RitzCards2, temporarily, with no commitment to keeping it running after World Series and no time to deal with headaches... or most league functions, for that matter.)

All rules are subject to change. Until we see how the salaries and caps interact, consider it a rough guideline. I won't make any serious changes without league-wide input, but then I have to make a decision.

PennantChase is supposed to be fun. If you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong.


LEAGUE GAME PLAY
162 game regular season with intra-league play.
Players will reach their prime at age 28 and begin to decline following his or her age 32 season.

PLAYER ACQUISITION-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Rookie Draft: Two round rookie draft, reverse order of league standings (check out my semicolon); World Series winner drafts last.

2. Free Agent Bidding: 4 rounds during the off-season.

3. Free Agent Pick Up: Anytime after the Free Agency bidding period ends until the end of the regular season.

4. Trades: Unlimited trades from the end of a season until the trade deadline of the next. If there is an outcry over a trade I'll take a look at it and possibly reverse it or insist on reworking the trade.

5. Owners can trade any players and draft picks for for the next 2 drafts.

PLAYOFFS -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. 3 division winners and 3 wild cards from each league make the postseason.
Tiebreakers: Run Diff, then head-to-head, then coin flip.

2. 2 teams with the best record from each league get a bye.

3. All rounds will be 7 game series.

3. FIRST ROUND: The division winner that did not get a bye will face the 3rd wild card. The 1st wild card will play the 2nd wild card.

4. SECOND ROUND: The best record in each league will play the winner of the 1st and 2nd wild card teams. The 2nd record in each league will play the winner of the division winner that did not get a bye and the 3rd wild card.

5. THIRD ROUND: Final 2 teams in each league play for the pennant.

6. WORLD SERIES: The 2 pennant winners play to see who is the master of the universe.

TEAM FINANCES ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. CAP SPACE AND ROSTER SIZES
Teams have 40 keepers, salary cap number 200. Maximum MLB roster size is 27 with maximum 13 minor leaguers.

2. PENALTY FOR GOING OVER BUDGET OR OVER ROSTER LIMIT
Roster numbers: Teams can have 27 Major Leaguers and 13 Minor Leaguers. Any team over the roster limit once the regular season has started will forfeit its 1st round pick in next draft. A player at the Commish's discretion will be cut and that will count against the team's cap in future years. Commish also reserves discretion to alter these penalties if someone is flaunting the rules to the detriment to the league.

3. CAP PENALTIES
A) Cap is $200 (subject to change) and any team over the salary cap once the season has started will have players removed based on their ranks. The highest ranked players on the team will be removed first, followed by the 2nd highest ranked and so on until the team is under the salary cap.

B) Removed players will be allocated as unsigned players to the worst team(s) by draft order from the previous draft with a salary/contract TBD.

C) The offending team will also have their salary cap reduced for the next year by the amount they were over at the beginning of the season.

D) Commish reserves right to alter this penalty if a team is purposefully going over in an effort to gain an unfair advantage or flaunt the rules.

NEW OWNER RULES-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. New owners may cut 3 contracted players by the end of their first off-season with no penalty.

2. New owners may extend 3 contracted players by up to 10 years at the amount of their current contract.

3. Commish has discretion to adjust these rules as necessary in individual cases. (If new owner inherits a top team, these numbers may be reduced. Terrible teams may have increased flexibility.)

ROOKIE DRAFT---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Draft order: World Series Winner picks last, WS loser picks next to last. Remaining teams are ranked in order of record. Worst record picks first.

2. Draft picks may be traded for the next 2 drafts.

3. Both parties please message commish with the details of traded draft picks so they can be recorded on the Home Screen.

CONTRACTS----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. All players must be signed to a PC contract before commish clears rosters and runs progressions after a season. Unsigned players will go into the free agent pool.

2. All draftees will receive a $1/3 contract. Any drafted players can be cut in the year they are drafted and contract is fully waived. These players can be waived up until progressions are run following the World Series. Message Commish to waive these players.

3. Max contract length will be 8 years.

VETERAN EXTENSIONS----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. After each season, owners may sign 1 expiring contract player to an extension. This must be requested before rosters are cleared and progressions run.

2. Every veteran extension is for 3 years at the following amount per year:
UT - $18
SP - $20
RP - $18
3B - $15
SS/2B/IF/C - $14
1B - $13
OF - $15


OFF-SEASON FREE AGENCY--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Free agent will begin following the draft. Bidding details are as follows:

1. 4 rounds of bidding
2. If 2 bids have the same contract value after round 4 the team that offered the shorter term contract will be awarded the player.
3. No annual raises
4. Maximum contract length is 8 years, minimum 2 years
5. All free agents are available
6. Keep track of your cap number and roster limit to avoid any unsightly business.

THE 4 ROUNDS OF FREE AGENCY:

1st Round - All bids will be posted on the home page following round 1. Any bid $50 or more greater than any other bid for a player will win that player. All other bids carry over to the second round.

2nd Round - Owners can bid on any player still in free agency. Any top bid from the 1st round that is unopposed in the 2nd will win that player. Any 2nd round bid $50 or more greater than any other bid for a player will win that player.

3rd Round - Same as round 2.

4th and final round - Owners can bid on any player remaining in free agency. The highest contract offered after round 4 wins the player. If 2 contracts have the same value the contract with fewer years will win the player. If the exact same contract is offered then the high bidders will be asked to submit blind rebids to determine who will be awarded the player.

BIDDING PROCEDURE:

1. All bids should begin with the players position, then first name then last name followed by the dollar amount, slash, years = total.

EXAMPLE: PLAYERS NAME - $$/yrs = $$
EXAMPLE: 3B Dave Milligan - $5/4=$20

2. Maximum contract length is 8 years.

TRADE DEADLINE-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. The trade deadline will be day 120 with three days rest granted.

POSITION CHANGES--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Owners may change any players to their secondary positions during the offseason.

2. 2 position changes per offseason.

3. Only position players can change positions. No SP to RP or RP to SP.

4. Any player can be switched to 1B.

OFF-SEASON PLAYER PROGRESSION-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. All players will be progressed once after each season.

2. Any player who reaches a 100 oRank will have his or her potential changed to "F".

RETIREMENTS----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TBD at Commish's discretion.

Automatic Retirements: I anticipate retiring all unsigned players AFTER they finish their age 38 season. However, signed players can play to older ages. If you sign a 35 year old to an 8 year contract in FA, you will have him for 8 seasons but as soon as he is unsigned, he will retire.

Involuntary Retirement: No position FA pages will be longer than one page and it might be significantly shorter than that. I will look at this around the All Star game of Season 1 and might retire a bunch of players that have no hope of making a team. The retirements will be at Commish's discretion, taking into consideration age, ranks, and progression levels.


ALL-STAR PROCESS---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. After day 100, All Stars will be selected by Skynet.

2. 4 days off granted to all teams.

BIG GAME ACCOMPLISHMENTS-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bonuses will be awarded to players for the following accomplishment reported to the Commish during the regular season:

Hitters:
**** 3 HR Game ?> +1 hit
**** Cycle ?> +2 hits

Pitchers:
***** No hitter ?> -2 hits
***** Perfect game ?> -3 hits

OWNER ABSENTEEISM AND TANKING-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. The Commish reserves the right to boot absent owners. In addition, owners who are frequently absent from drafts (without pre-ranking) and do not complete basic tasks such as setting line-ups may feel my size 10.5.

2. Any owner deemed to be tanking will potentially be subject to loss of draft picks, loss of players or any other draconian measures I can think of. There are no innings limits or reasons to hold back a young player. Your best pitchers should be pitching, your best hitters/fielders should be in the lineup.

SURPRISE BUNTING---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. There is no "often"!

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