League Rules

ALL OWNERS IN THIS LEAGUE MUST BE ACTIVE:

We really want ALL owners to be active so that we can have a very fair and fun and realistic league. An inactive owner lowers the quality of the league for everyone else.

Commissioner:
If anyone has any questions or concerns, please feel free to message me. I will do my best to answer any questions you may have or attempt to resolve any problem that a commissioner would need to fix.

Rosters:
All teams will have a 25 man active roster and a maximum of 5 players in the minor league system.

Contracts:
Players CAN be resigned after their contract ends, which means that players can technically stay with one team until they retire. There is no limit on how many times you can resign a player. Each team will be allowed to sign up to 30 players. Players will not demand raises but contracts can last for a maximum duration of 4 years.

Cutting Contracts:
You can cut a player under contract. The player will still count towards contract total, but will cost you 50% of his contract rounding up.
For example, if you cut player "John Smith" who is currently signed @ $4 each year for 3 years, you will have a player under contract named "John Smith's Remaining Contract" and he will be under contract for 3 year for $2 each year. All of his stats will be zero so he can't play.
Another example, if you cut a player "Ed Don" who is signed @ $7 each year for 4 years, you will have a player under contract named "Ed Don's Remaining Contract" and he will be under contract for 4 year for $4 each year. He makes $4 and not $3 because 50% of 7 is 3.5 and thus his salary will round up. All of his stats will be zero so he can't play.

Players Ask for Raises:
Players won't ask for raises so they will be paid the same amount for every year of their contract.

New Ownership:
When a new owner takes over a team, existing contracts will remain, but the new owner can CHANGE or DELETE any existing contract assigned to a player on their team.

Player Progression:
Players will reach their prime at 28 years old. Before they are 28, their stats progress every year and they get worse every year after 28 until they retire.

Retirement:
Players retire between the age of 35-41. When they turn 35, there is a tiny chance that they retire. As they get older, they are more likely to retire. At the end of their 41 year old season, they are guaranteed to retire, no matter how good they are. Players are also less likely to retire if they are better. so if they is a 35 year old 3B who is still great, he will not retire. But if there is a 35 year old 3B who isn't signed by anyone because he isn't good, he will have a high chance to retire.
Also, if a player is 35 or older and has an OPS below .450 or a WHIP above 1.75, he will retire.

Budget Rules:
All teams begin with $81 of budget. At the end of each season, budgets will increase or decreased based upon how a team performs compared to their projected win total at the beginning of the season. The team?s projected win total is the same number as the team?s budget. So when the league starts, all teams will have a projected win total of 81 wins.
16+ Wins less than projection --> -$6 to budget
11-15 Wins less than projection --> -$5 to budget
9-10 Wins less than projection --> -$4 to budget
6-8 Wins less than projection --> -$3 to budget
4-5 Wins less than projection --> -$2 to budget
1-3 Wins less than projection --> -$1 to budget
Same Wins as projection --> No budget change
1-3 Wins more than projection --> +$1 to budget
4-5 Wins more than projection --> +$2 to budget
6-8 Wins more than projection --> +$3 to budget
9-10 Wins more than projection --> +$4 to budget
11-15 Wins more than projection --> +$5 to budget
16+ Wins more than projection --> +$6 to budget
The following will be the increases for playoffs:
Lose in LDS series --> +$1 to budget
Lose in LCS series --> +$3 to budget
Lose in World Series --> +$5 to budget
Win World Series --> +$7 to budget

Budget change example:
If a team has a budget of $81 and they finish the year with a record of 91-71, then their budget would increase by $4 to $85.
Explanation: the team is projected to win 81 games. Since they won 91 games, they won 10 more than what was expected so they get a $4 increase to their budget and $81+$4=$85. Their upcoming season budget will be $85 (and they will be projected to win 85 games)

If a team has a budget of $103 and they finish the year with a record of 94-68, then their budget would decrease by $4 to $99
Explanation: the team is projected to win 103 games. Since they won 94 games, they won 9 less than what was expected so they get a $4 decrease to their budget and $103-$4=$99. Their upcoming season budget will be $99 (and they will be projected to win 99 games)

Opportunities for teams with diminutive budgets/Team Goals:
If a team?s budget falls below $70, they will be sent different goals for the season and if they are achieved, they would get a boost in in their budget. A team with a diminutive budget will be able to choose only one goal for the season. If a goal is completed, the amount of money that the goal was worth would be added to the team?s budget on top of whatever increases or decreases they get as a result of their record from the season. If a goal is chosen but not completed, no bonus money is given to the team but there is not a punishment either. When a team chooses a goal, it will be posted on the home page and website so everyone will know about it. Team goals are meant to make sure that there isn't too big of a gap in team budgets.

Example Team Goals:
Have a rookie get 450 AB --> +$1 to budget
Have a player in the top 3 for MVP --> +$5 to budget
Have a record above .500 at home --> +$6 to budget
Have an All Star --> +$2 to budget
Hit 150+ HR --> +$3 to budget
Have a team ERA under 4.00 --> +$3 to budget

There will be other goals as well but a team with a diminutive budget would only be offered 3 to choose from each year. The goals will be easier and more rewarding the smaller the team's budget is. Once a team has their budget reach $75 or more, they won't be offered any more goals until it fall under $70 again.

Trading Budget:
You cannot trade some of your budget to another team. This is because a team's budget is used to find out their projected wins.

Trading Draft Picks:
You cannot trade draft picks.

Trading Deadline:
The trading deadline will be Day 119. The deadline will be 11:59 PM Pacific Time on the CALENDAR DAY Day 119 occurs. For example, if Day 119 is simmed at 3:00 PM on a Tuesday, the deadline will be 11:59 PM on that Tuesday.

Trades/Vetoing Trades:
If a trade is deemed to be unfair, a league poll will be created asking if the trade is unfair and if 50% or more vote that the trade is unfair, the trade will be vetoed. If a team owners finds a trade was unfair, they can send me a message asking me to put up a poll to see if the trade was unfair and should be vetoed.

Awards:
MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the year (ROY), and Relief Pitcher of the Year (RPY) will be the 4 awards. There will be an award winner in each category for the AL and a winner for each in the NL.
MVP and Cy Young will receive +2 fire points at the end of the season.
ROY will receive +1 fire point at the end of the season.
RPoY will receive +1 fire point at the end of the season.

All-star Break:
There will be an all-star break after Game 96. The all-stars will be chosen by the pennantchase system. We will also take 2 days off from simulating. Players will also be granted 4 days off to emulate the real all-star break.
All stars will receive +1 fire points. This will be given to them at the end of the all-star break and will affect the second half of the season.

Offseason:
1) World Series Ends and Championship Ring is awarded
2) Contracts are advanced and any player unsigned or with an expiring contract is released to Free Agency
3) Player Progression is applied
4) Rookie and Free Agency Draft occurs
5) Set Lineups and Minor League System
6) Start New Season

Rookie and Free Agency Draft:
There will NOT be a traditional Free Agency period where all teams bid on free agents. Instead Free Agency will be part of the rookie draft. The free Agent draft will work like a normal rookie draft where the worst team (record wise) of the previous season gets the first pick and the second worst team gets the second pick (and so on...) The new rookies will be added with the free agents and the combination of the two will make up the player pool for the draft.

Draft Length:
The Draft will go until all teams have filled all their major league roster and their 5 minor league spots (all 30 spots in total). Once all a team's roster spots have been filled (so they have 30 players), the team will be skipped when it is their turn to pick again. The draft will technically be 30 rounds but most teams will likely sign at least 10-15 players before hand and possibly as many as 20-25 players before the draft so the draft shouldn't take more than 20 rounds.
The Draft will be split into 4 sections:
Part 1) Round 1 Live Draft (slow format)
Part 2) Rounds 2-5 approximate (90-minute LIVE draft)
Part 3) Rounds 6-10 approximate (90-minute LIVE draft)
Part 4) All remaining picks (SUPPLEMENTAL)
Note: Between LIVE draft formats, the Draft Room will remain open, and we will progress with a "slow" draft until the next LIVE draft date.

The draft is segmented so that everyone should be able to place their 1st selection (slow draft style). The next 2 dates will be 90-minute LIVE drafts, and we will complete as many rounds as possible. Owners unable to attend the LIVE draft dates should rank players (user list) or message me with selection instructions.
Tie-Breakers for draft positioning if teams have equal record:
1st tie-breaker) The team with the worse Pythagorean Record gets the higher pick
2nd tie-breaker) The team that lost head-to-head matchups gets the higher pick
3rd tie-breaker) The team with the lower budget heading into the next year gets the higher pick
4th tie-breaker) Previous Seasons Standings

Ballpark Edits:
Before the beginning of each year, you can edit either LHB or RHB by one step. Every team will start without any advantage or disadvantage for RHB or LHB. Before we begin our first season you can choose to change either (but not both) the LHB or the RHB effect of your park to either a mid-disadvantage or a mid-advantage.
Example: If an owner changes their stadium to mid-advantage for RHB in their first year, the following year, they could change the RHB ballpark effect to either big-advantage or back to nothing or they could change their LHB ballpark effect to mid-disadvantage or mid-advantage.

Amnesty Clause:
There will NOT be an amnesty clause that allows you to cut a player with no penalty.

Compensation Picks:
There will NOT be compensation picks if another teams signs your player.

Playoffs:
The playoffs will be run the same way it is run in the MLB (before the advent of the second wild card). There will be 4 playoff teams per league.

Playoff Tie-Breakers:
Single Elimination Head-2-Head matchup, same used as in MLB
Note: Tie-Breaker Games will be played to determine Divisional winners, then Wild Card Teams.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

League Settings