League Rules

LEAGUE DESCRIPTION

General Manager?s Paradise is for owners who love to barter, bid, and trade their way to a championship roster. Find the bargains, cut the deals, trade shrewdly, and work your way to the top of the league.


CONTRACTS, ROSTERS, AND BUDGET

There are no true free agents in the usual PC sense, and there are no drops. Every player must be signed to a contract through a bidding process. (Exceptions and details below.)

The PC maximum for contract players is 50. You may have up to 25 players on the Major League roster and the remainder (if any) in the Minors. The budget is $300 for each team.

Since this league is not trying to ?re-create? actual, historical leagues, it will not use actual, historical players. All players will be fictional.


TEAMS, DIVISIONS, AND PLAYOFFS

There are 12 teams divided into 2 divisions. The top four teams in each division make the playoffs in a simple 4@1, 3@2 format. The first round is a best-of-5 with the home team hosting four of five games (2-1-2 format). The second round determines the divisional champ, with a traditional 2-3-2 format. The World Series host is determined by better regular season record and is played with a 2-3-2 format.

Seedings are based solely on Regular Season performance. Seedings are based on winning percentage. For two tied teams, the tie-breakers are first head-to-head record and then run differential. If still tied, a one-game playoff will be played, with the site determined by coin flip. For more than two tied teams, the tie breaker is run differential.


REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE

All teams play a 162-game schedule.

5 divisional opponents x 18 games (9H, 9A) = 90 games
6 non-divisional opponents x 12 games (6H, 6A) = 72 games

* Games 1-10
* Free Agency opened
* Games 11-40
* Mid-Season Auction Team announced
* Games 41-81
* All-Star Break (3 days off)
* Mid-Season Auction
* Games 82-120
* Free Agency and Trading deadline
* Games 121-161
* Hometown Discount requests due
* Game 162


OFF-SEASON SCHEDULE
* Regular Season finale
* Playoffs
* Trading turned on
* Rookie Draft (2 rounds, worst-to-first)
* Rosters cleared of all expiring contracts
* Drop requests due
* Free Agent Auction
* Opening Day

As the schedule progresses, the Commish will keep everyone aware of real-time dates for each item. As the regular season hits the dog days, the sims will accelerate. As crucial deadlines arise, the sims will slow/stop to allow everyone adequate time to participate at each step.


ROOKIE DRAFT

Before the auction, the Rookie Draft will be run for two rounds. It will be run in top-to-bottom (worst-to-first) fashion. The draft order is set before the playoffs and is based on order of finish in the Regular Season. The tie-breakers are head-to-head record and then run differential.

Owners who do not pre-rank players will not receive a player. Rookie draftees do NOT need to be signed to play. Essentially, by being drafted in the manner PC works, they are signed to a 1-year contract, for the upcoming year. However, they will need to be signed to an extension before the end of the season to continue with the team for the following year, so owners will need to ensure they have funds available.


DROPS / CONTRACT CUTTING

Each year after the playoffs, owners have the option to drop a contract from their books. This will revert the player into a free agent. The owner must notify the commish before the Free Agent Auction (after the Rookie Draft).

The owners must pay 50% of the remaining contract?s worth in the form of a one-year reduction in their budget. E.G. If I drop/cut a player with a contract worth $12/year for 4 more years, that is total of $48 in contract value. $48 * 50% = $24. My budget is reduced from $300 to $276.

This is optional and can only be done to one player per year. The new budget must not exceed the new payroll. (In the above scenario, if I had a payroll of $300, dropping the one contract would put me at $288, which is more than my new budget.)


FREE AGENT AUCTION

Every offseason, an auction process is conducted through the Chat Box to place free agents onto teams.

Each calendar day (based on PC time, which is based on Seattle time), top players will be available for auction. The commish will post the auction schedule in advance. During the given day that a player is available for auction, owners may bid using the Chat Box. Any bids for players not up for auction on that day will be voided. Once midnight strikes, the owner with the highest bid based on overall contract value wins the player. Any player who did not receive any bid returns to Free Agency.

An ?active? bid is any bid that is the current highest for a given player. Owners may not have active bids that?if won?would exceed their budget. Owners who violate this rule may be penalized (budget cut, draft pick, etc.).

In the event that an owner bid beyond their budget, then the second-highest bid wins the player, and so forth. In the event that an owner won multiple players and cannot afford them all, the most expensive contract will be voided first, and then more until they are below budget.

Bids should follow this format: [Position] [First name] [Last name], #y x $## = $##.
For example: SP John Smith, 4y x $11 = $44

Bids must be a minimum of $2/year.
Bids may not have annual increases.
Bids must be between 1-7 years. (Note that with PC, a 1-year contract means that you will control the players for two seasons?the current/upcoming season, plus one more year.)

The number of players to be auctioned will be determined season-by-season, based on a combination of the number of free agents and the amount of spending money league-wide. An effort will be made to keep positions grouped together by day.

For example: The 12 SPs to be auctioned will all occur the same day. The next day, RPs. The following day, 1Bs and 2Bs will both be auctioned. The Auction period will likely last 4-7 days.

Hometown Discount
Owners may choose one player whose contract is expiring that year and notify the Commish before the end of the playoffs to Tag player with the Hometown Discount. A player tagged with the Hometown Discount will not be available in the Free Agent draft, but the player will be up for auction. During the Auction, the Hometown Discount tag increases the effective bid by 10% without the owner actually having to front that money. Also, a tied bid would go to the bid with the Hometown Discount tag. During the bid process, the owner must include ?(HD)? at the end of the bid to signal the HD is being used.

For example, if the previous owner who tagged the player offers 4y x $5 = $20 (HD), the effective bid is $22 ($20 x 10%). This would then beat a bid of 3y x $7 = $21. The winning owner would sign the player for $5 per year.

For another example, 6y x $7 = $42 (HD) beats 5y x $9 = $45. [$42 x 10% = $46.2]

For another example, 5y x $6 = $30 (HD) beats 3y x $10 = $30 because the tie goes to the HD.

The Hometown Discount is intended to make it easier for owners to keep valued players. It can only be offered to one expiring contract each year, and the Commish must be notified before the end of the regular season.

[Since all of this Auction process is a unique feature in PC, it will be evaluated and modified as needed as the league progresses.]

Overspending
Owners must be careful to ration their budget since they cannot pick up free agents for free like in most leagues. If you spend $290 on 20 players, you only have $10 remaining to round out your roster, likely leaving you short-staffed.

Should an owner find him/herself lacking enough players to adequately fill the roster, they can always devise trades that will increase their total roster count. If the Commish needs to fill a roster in order for the sim to work properly on Opening Day, he will use the lowest-ranked players first. The owner may be fined or otherwise punished.

In summary
After the playoffs conclude, the Commish will post a schedule of which players will be on the auction block on which days. During the appropriate day, via Chat Box, owners bid on those players. Each day, players will be awarded, and new players put up for auction.


REGULAR SEASON FREE AGENCY

Between Games 10-120, free agents may be claimed by the Chat Box. (See bid formatting guidelines above.) Once a player has a valid bid, his auction window is 72 hours (3 days) during which all other owners may bid. Once 72 hours has expired from the time of the first bid, the auction on that player is closed. Bear in mind the PC system?contracts made for 1 year mean the remainder of the current season plus one additional year. In essence, free agents cannot be picked up for only the remainder of the current season.


MID-SEASON AUCTION

At the All-Star Break, another mini-auction is conducted for twelve new players who just joined the League?2 SPs, 2 RPs, 3 OFs, 1 1B, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 SS, 1 C. The same general rules apply, though all twelve players will be available simultaneously for three calendar days (midnight-midnight). The players will be announced after Game 40. They will be generated randomly and therefore their value may vary widely.

FIRST SEASON AUCTION AND DRAFT

Before the first season, a 72-player ?First Year Auction? will be held. This initial auction will be 6 days of 12 players each: 12 SPs, 12RPs, 12 OFs, 6 3Bs + 6 SSs, 6 2Bs + 6 1Bs, and 6 Cs + 6 best remaining. The highest-ranked of each category will be auctioned. That gives each team an average of 6 players.

Then we will have a six-round Free Agent draft, in random order and snake fashion. This is in lieu of the normal Rookie Draft. These players will not have to be signed, as they essentially have PC-style expiring contracts. Obviously, owners will likely want to sign them immediately so that they know their budget moving forward.

Then we will proceed with the regular Free Agent Auction, which will mimic the First Year Auction?72 players over 6 days. Combined with the Free Agent Draft, this will give teams an average of 18 players.

Lastly, we will have a short break (1-2 days?) before a Supplemental Auction. This auction will occur during a three calendar-day stretch. Owners may bid on any available free agent at this time, similar to the Regular Season Free Agency (described above).

AWARDS

Awards are given to:
* World Series winner
* MVP
* Cy Young
* Other awards just for fun at the Commish's discretion


NEW PLAYERS, AGING, PROGRESSION, AND REGRESSION

New players will be added each year and will be made available in the Free Agent Auction.

Players will progress until age 28, and regress at age 32. Players will retire at age 40, unless under contract.


OTHER SETTINGS

Endurance is turned on.
Injuries are turned on (max of 20 days).
Slump Buster is turned off.


EXPECTATION OF BEHAVIOR

This is meant to be fun! Keep the Chat Room encouraging and light-hearted and clean. Treat each other with respect and charity. Email the Commish with any problems, questions, or suggestions.

Stay active by logging in every week and by signing players.

Owners will be booted for violating any of these expectations for behavior or inactivity.

League Settings

Year Range of Stats	1900 - 2018
Roster Size (Majors)	25
Roster Size (Minors)	25
Keepers	(50 keepers)
Change Stats Allowed
Free Agency
Drops
No-Drop List
Player Fatigue
Batter Injuries
Pitcher Injuries
Use Pitcher's HR Allowed Stats
Allows Max Surprise Bunts
Min Batters Pitcher Must Face	0
Slump Buster
On Fire	Classic
User Sims