League Rules

TEAMS: Each owner will start with their favorite bad team in post expansion era. Team must have a winning percentage of no more then .432 in order to qualify. Teams above a .432 winning percentage will not be permitted, as per league vote prior to Season 5. A new owner would have option of starting with their favorite bad team at end of any current season. Teams will be divided into two 6-team divisions. As of Season 10, you are now able to choose from any team before 2003, as long as the starting team still has no more than a .432 winning percentage. As of Season 11, teams that have already been used (listed on the bottom of the home page) can not be reused. As of Season 17, the winning percentage was raised from .400 to .432 to help balance the league.

EXISTING OWNERS CHANGING THEIR FRANCHISE: A league Owner will be given the option to change their franchise ONLY after they have owned a franchise for 5 (FIVE) years. They must choose a new team that has a .432 winning percentage or less. Also, an existing owner that decides to change his franchise, will not be awarded the #1 Draft Pick in the upcoming Supplemental Draft, as is currently awarded to brand new owners joining the league, but will retain the Draft Pick earned by his previous team.

PLAYERS: You will begin with current roster. Each proceeding season rookie call ups and new acquisitions that clear AB/IP threshold will be added to your roster. No draft no contracts. Duplicate Players from different seasons are permitted. Duplicate Player from same season will be placed on the roster he was on first. Players can only be added to a team once during their career. So if a player has a second or third stint with a team, he doesn’t get added multiple times, just the first time.

PROGRESSION: Classic Progression. Players improve until age 28, stay the same until age 31, and regress from age 32.

ROSTERS: 26 majors, 12 minors.

PLAYOFFS: Each division winner plus 2 wildcard teams will qualify for playoffs. Division winners will receive top 2 seeds regardless of record. Teams seeded 1 to 4. 2 days off after season will be granted. Day off between series and on travel days. Each series best of 7.

TIEBREAKERS: If there is a tie for the division lead, the team with the best run differential will win the division. If they have equal run diff, then head-to-head. If they have equal records against each other, then a one-game playoff will decide the division title). If there is a tie for the final Wild Card spot, there will be a one-game playoff (home team will be team with better run differential).

REALIGNMENT: Every Offseason, starting in Season 10, there will be a random realignment. The commissioner will use a random number generator to determine in which division each team will be placed. Even Numbered Teams will be in one division, while Odd Numbered Teams will head to the other division. This will happen every season until further notice.

ROTATION: 5 man. Changed from 4 man rotation in Season 8.

RETIREMENT: Any Free Agent batter 32+ years of age, with an AVG below .220, will immediately be retired. Any Free Agent pitcher, 32+ years of age, with a WHIP over 1.60, will immediately be retired.

TEAM DETAILS: Owners will be able to make changes to their ballpark settings each off-season

SIMS: On an 8-hour timer. Owners can Sim whenever the CPU says the 8-hour clock has expired.

DOUBLING STATS: Starting in Season 2, doubling will be done right before progression is run. Batters will be doubled to 200+ AB, SP to 100+ IP, and RP to 50+ IP. This helps ensure progression isn't whacky. Starting in Season 7, batters will be doubled to exactly 200 AB, SP to exactly 100 IP, and RP to exactly 50 IP, with all stats adjusted accordingly. Starting in Season 34, the Commish will simply double all Free Agents who need it. If team roster players need to be doubled, they will be mathematically calculated to exactly 200 AB for hitters, 100 IP for SPs, 50 IP for RPs.

FATIGUE: On

INJURIES : 10 batters 15 pitchers

TRADES : 12

TRADE DEADLINE Game 120

VOTING ON TRADES : After a trade is accepted, if the Commish believes the trade to be unfair, there will be a poll all owners can vote on, determining whether or not the trade passes. There will be a 48 hour window once the poll is put up, and in cases where the voting is tied, the trade will pass. Whatever results the poll shows after 48 hours, that is the decision on the trade.

SCHEDULE:162 games. Play-In WC game if necessary

SLUMP BUSTER: 5 Days

AB/IP THRESHOLD : 50/25

COMMISSIONER'S RESERVE LIST: (OLD RULE - NO LONGER VALID, although there are still 2 players on the Reserve List who will remain there until they reach the season in which they were supposed to return to their respective teams)

JUMPING SEASONS RULE - ***NEW RULE - Replaces Commissioner's Reserve List Rule***
- Each team may choose ONE player per season to switch season stats, jumping 1 to 2 usable seasons into the future (except new teams who may choose 3 players their 1st year and 2 players their 2nd year).
- Definition of "usable seasons" - in some cases there may be missing seasons or unusable seasons (based on not enough ABs or IPs - those years don't count, so you could actually jump from, for example, 2000 to 2007 if a player was currently using his 2000 season, but didn't play at all in 2001-2005, had a bad year in 2006, and had a great year in 2007 - that would only count as two usable seasons, going from 2000 to 2006 (one) and landing on 2007 (two). Another example - if a player was using 1995 stats, but only had 15 ABs in 1996 and 10 ABs in 1997, then a bad season in 1998 and a great season in 1999, you could jump him two usable seasons, from 1995 to 1998 (one) and landing on 1999 (two). Hope that makes sense. Ask the Commish for more details if this is still confusing.
- This rule is not limited to rookies - you can use it on any player on your roster, with any number of ABs or IPs, no limits except obviously they have to have enough to qualify for the league in the first place (50 ABs or 25 IPs).
- More good news - the player chosen does not age when jumping seasons, so a 24-year old jumping from 2000 to 2002 stays at 24. This way you don't lose any progression years by jumping seasons.
- You can look up future seasons on player drop down menu under "Other Seasons Available" - just a note - those aren't always completely accurate, so stats will be double-checked using Baseball Reference.
- Players must be chosen before the FA Draft begins.
*** JUMPING SEASONS RULE FOR BRAND NEW TEAMS - Same rule as above, except that instead of being able to choose one player to switch season stats (1 or 2 usable seasons into the future), you can choose THREE players in the team’s first season and TWO players in the team’s second season. This should help brand new teams who won't have the talent level of established teams who have had many seasons of imports and progressions.
(Hopefully these rules offer a bit more flexibility than the Commish's Reserve List rule, as you can now use this on any player on your current roster, doesn't have to be a rookie, and doesn't need to abide by any particular AB or IP totals other than the minimum 50 ABs and 25 IPs to qualify for the league)

SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT: Every offseason, after imports are done, each team need to cut players to reach the 33 player plateau. If you decide to participate in the LIVE supplemental draft, you must cut below 33 players before the deadline. 32 players on your roster gets 1 pick in the draft, 31 gets 2, and 30 or below, will receive 3 picks. 3 picks is the maximum amount you can receive. Also, if you cannot attend the LIVE draft, please PRE-RANK enough players to accommodate your amount of picks. THERE WILL BE NO AUTO-PICK, so if you do not prerank you will receive no picks. (Prior to Season 23, we voted to change from cutting to 35 before the draft to cutting to 34 before the draft; another vote a season later brought it down to the current 33)

ALL STAR BREAK and AWARDS: The All-Star Game will be after Day 81. Each team will be awarded 3 Days Rest. The SIM will auto select all stars. Commissioner (or an alternate owner selected by the commissioner) will select 8 alternates. Players chosen as Alternates will be added to the All-Star list as a backup, and will receive the small asterisk beside their name.

POSITION CHANGES: Intended for cases where you may have 5 SS and 1 3b, etc. If Baseball Reference shows they played position in that season it will be allowed. Position players. SP may convert RP after age 35 if Baseball Reference shows such, stamina will be halved. Limit 2 per off season.

***AWARD POLICY CHANGED 6/9/20***
END OF SEASON AWARDS: Commissioner will send a league message listing logical contenders. This is for convenience only; write-in candidates are accepted. If you think a last place team can't have an MVP, or if you are biased against relief pitchers, that's up to you. Ties will result in home page poll that will be posted for a minimum of 7 days.


MARK EICHHORN AWARD: Middle/long reliever of the year: Pitchers with less than 15 saves, more than 80 IP, and less than 3 game starts.

NEW OWNERS: New Owners will be able to choose between the current franchise, or a franchise with a .432 winning pct or lower of their choosing.

TEAM DELETION PROCEDURE: In the event that a new owner wishes to replace an existing franchise with the team of his choice, the following procedure will take affect with regards to the team being deleted. All original members of that franchise will be retired, with the exception of those players which were traded to other teams. Those players will remain on those teams, and will be unaffected. Likewise, any players on the roster of the team being deleted, that were acquired by trade from other teams, will be placed into the Free Agent pool. As well as roster players, all players from the deleted franchise that are found in the Free Agent pool will also be retired.

***POLICY CHANGE 6/9/20***
CONDUCT: Owners are expected to be respectful in the chat box. By all means have some fun, and a little smack talk if fine, just don't cross the line. ("the line" will be determined by the ever-changing whims of the Commish, so beware!)

Everyone will be messaged whenever rules are changed.

League Settings