Solonor's Groovy Computer Baseball League
Avoiding the strike zone... one pitch at a time...
Official Rules
Last Updated: September 22, 2008
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SECTION 2: Rosters and Team Management |
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SECTION 8: Player Modification 8.03 Other Player Modifications
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Solonor's Groovy Computer Baseball League (SGCBL) is meant to be a fun simulation of running a professional baseball team. The twist is that the setting for the teams and the names of the players are loosely based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. (I know. Too geeky for words.) However, the number one rule is that we have fun. All other rules are subordinate to that.
Out of the Park will be used as the game simulation engine. Owning the game is not required, but it is recommended. The game will be updated with any patches as soon as they are tested by the Commissioner. Any major change in version will not be instituted during any season and will only be updated once thoroughly tested during the offseason.
All game setup defaults will be used with the exception of the following::
Global Setup
Use Complete Scouting System: OFF
Create and Maintain Hidden Players: OFF
Delete those who never reached Majors: ON
AI Lineup Selection: SABERMETRIC (Splits Favored)
Player Ratings Scale: 1-100
Player Potential Ratings Scale: 1-100
Coach/Scout Ratings Scale: 1-100
League Setup
Sub League 1 Designated Hitter Rule: ENABLED (see 2.02 Designated Hitter Rule)
Waiver Period Length: 8 DAYS (see 2.07 Waivers)
DFA Period Length: 14 DAYS (see 2.04.02 Designated for Assignment)
Draft Pick Compensation for lost Free Agents: OFF
Salary Cap: $100 MILLION (see 6.01 Salary and Cash Cap)
Team Owner Controls Budget?: NO
Revenue Sharing: NO
Cash Maximum: $999,999,999
Foreigner Percentage: 75
Normally, a team owner can only manage one team at a time in the league. Special permission may be granted by the Commissioner for a person to manage more than one team due to the temporary lack of a team owner. However, if this situation arises, the two teams must be in opposite Conferences.
Each owner is responsible to submit lineups or a notice of "no changes" at a minimum of every two weeks. It is the owner's responsibility to assure his team is under the salary cap for every simulation date. Any owner who expects to be away or loses computer and/or Internet access is expected to contact the Commissioner to apprise him of their current situation, if possible. Each owner is responsible to maintain their team and keep in touch with the Commissioner.
An owner may employ a General Manager (GM) to perform any or all of the functions required to run their team. Typically, the GM will make all decisions for a team and will be the primary source of communications within the league and to the Commissioner. However, the team Owner is the final authority for any and all transactions regarding their team..
Each team owner will be required to submit a valid e-mail address to the Commissioner for the purpose of receiving league communications. E-mail will be used by the Commissioner to broadcast important messages, such as schedule changes or upcoming deadlines. This address will be available to other team owners and may be made public (intentionally or not). Owners may wish to use a separate address from their normal e-mail account to avoid spam. Owners should make sure that any spam filters do not exclude the receipt of league e-mail messages. The current league e-mail address is solonor@gmail.com
There will be an official league web site to broadcast news, scores, game highlights, current standings, etc. The current site is located at http://solonor.com/baseball/
There will be several e-mail forms available on the league web site for the purpose of making lineup and roster changes, creating players and conducting other league business. Owners are encouraged (but are not required) to use these forms when communicating with the Commissioner whenever possible.
Some of these forms may require the use of Open Office, a free office productivity suite that can be downloaded from http://www.openoffice.org/.
There will be a message forum available on the league web site for the purpose of general communications, announcements and other transactions. Each owner will have a unique ID and password. Only registered users will be allowed to post in any topic that involves official league business. The forum will be the required method of communication for certain transactions. The current site is located at http://solonor.com/baseball/forum/
There will be two conferences in the league with as many divisions as will allow all teams to have a competitive shot at the playoffs. No division will have less than four teams in it at any time.
There will be a Commissioner to act as the game master and coordinator for all league activities. The Commissioner must at all times act in the best interest of the league and not any particular team, owner and/or group of owners. The Commissioner has the following duties:
Simulate all games or appoint a suitable replacement to simulate games.
Maintain rosters, transactions and the league web site.
Ensure that all information posted on the web site is as current and correct as possible.
Keep all owners informed of general league business by means of e-mail and/or a message forum.
Assure that all teams are owned and have active owners.
Watch all trades for signs of collusion or for seriously imbalanced trades.
Uphold the rules and regulations of the league, removing any team owner who violates the rules.
There are no fees related to the league.
Games will be simulated each Monday and Thursday night. Seven game days will be processed each session. All roster changes and lineups must be submitted to the Commissioner no later than 6pm Eastern time on the night of the sim.
At the end of the regular season, several playoff series will be held to determine the league Champion. The following assumes a two-conference league with three divisions per conference. This format may be amended at the start of any season in which the league structure differs.
Each conference will have two 7-game series to determine the divisional champions. The participants will be the three teams with the best won-lost record in their Division, plus the team with the best won-lost record that did not win their division (the wild card). The games will be played in a 2-3-2 format, where the site of the games is moved after the first two games to the home field of the opposite team, then back again for the final two games. The team with the better record overall will have the home field advantage. If both teams have the same record, head-to-head records will be used.
If there is a tie at the top of a division, there will be a 1-game playoff to determine the division winner. This game does count in final won-lost totals for the season and will be used in subsequently determining the wild card team.
If there is a tie for a conference wild card spot, there will be a 1-game playoff to determine the wild card team. If more than two teams are tied for the wild card spot, the teams will be viewed as a “mini-conference” when comparing head-to-head results. The team or teams with the best combined record versus the other teams in the mini-conference gains the advantage. Further ties will be referred to the Commissioner for arbitration..
Each Conference will have a 7-game series between the two divisional playoff winners in the conference. These series will follow the same format as for the divisional playoffs.
The two conference champions will meet in a 7-game series, following the same format as in the divisional playoffs to determine the league champion. The team representing the conference which won the All-Star Game will have home field advantage in the League Championships.
The two conferences will meet in an exhibition game at the mid-point of the season. The computer will choose a list of 25 All-Stars to participate in the game. That list will be amended by the Commissioner to include at least one representative from every team.
The home field advantage for the game will alternate from one conference to the other each season. The site for the game will go to the team that had the best record in the conference in the prior season that has not yet hosted the game. After every team has had a chance to host a game, it will rotate back around again.
The two managers for the game will be from the teams that were in the prior season's Return of the King Series.
The team that belongs to the winning conference from the All-Star Game will have the home field advantage at the next Return of the King Series.
Each team’s active roster is limited to 25 players, expanding to 40 players on September 1.
In the post-season, the active roster is again limited to 25 players. To be eligible for the playoff roster, a player must be on the active roster or disabled list on August 31.
During Spring Training, the active roster is expanded to 40 players and remains so until Opening Day of the regular season. Normal roster movement rules apply during this period, including waivers.
Minor league rosters are limited to 30 players in AAA, 30 players in AA and 50 players in A level.
We will have one conference use the Designated Hitter (DH) rule, and the other will not. If at least 2/3 of the active team owners petition the league for a change, there will be a vote among the members of each conference during the offseason. The majority of the team owners in each conference will decide the use of the DH in their conference for the upcoming season.
Owners need to fill out all the lineup options in the game. Options are: vs. left-handed pitcher, vs. left-handed pitcher with DH, vs. right-handed pitcher, and vs. right-handed pitcher with DH.
Pitching rotations may be with 4, 5 or 6 starters. Owners will identify the starting pitchers in the order in which they will appear. Pitchers may be assigned to more than one relief role, but a starter cannot be assigned to the starting rotation and the bullpen at the same time. A team may designate a “spot starter” to start in a specified percentage of games in the place of the last starter in the regular rotation. Three-man pitching rotations will only be allowed in the playoffs.
A team may move its players between the active roster, minor league levels (AAA, AA, A) and the disabled list between simulated weeks, according to the rules. In order to make a roster move, the team owner must notify the Commissioner by 6:00 pm Eastern time on the day of the simulation.
After three years as a pro, a player must be protected on a team's 40-man roster, or he is eligible for the Rule 5 draft (see 5.02 Rule 5 Draft). Once he has served those three years, and assuming he is added to the 40-man roster, his club then has what are called "options" on him. When a player is on the 40-man roster but not on the 25-man Major League roster, he is on "optional assignment." (One common misconception about the rules is that a player may only be "optioned out" three times. Actually, each player has three option years, and he can be sent up and down as many times as the club chooses within those three seasons.)
When you hear that a player is "out of options," that means he has been on the 40-man roster during three different seasons. Beginning with his fourth as a pro, and to be sent down again, he'll have to clear waivers (see 2.07 Waivers).
Players more than 5 years of major league service get the right to refuse assignment to the minors.
Players with 5 or more years of pro service get the right to refuse assignment off of the 40-man roster. In this case, the only alternative is to keep the player on the active roster or release him and pay the remainder of his contract (see 2.06 Releasing Players).
A team’s players may be reassigned between minor league levels at any time without penalty.
A team may only promote a player from the Disabled List or from the minor leagues to the active roster between series during the post-season. Any player so promoted must be eligible for the post season roster (see 2.01 Roster Limits).
Any player with a Major League contract must be on the team's 40-man roster unless he has cleared waivers.
When a player is put on waivers or is acquired from another team in a trade, his status will be "designated for assignment." This means that the team will have 14 sim days (or 2 sims) to place the player on a roster. If the team does not make a decision about the player's status, the sim cannot proceed. In this case, the Commissioner will immediately place the player as needed. A player who is designated for assignment does not occupy a spot on the 40-man roster. Thus, a team does not have to wait for the player to clear waivers before they may proceed.
For example, if a player is acquired in a trade, he will go on to his new team as "designated for assignment." He does not automatically take up a roster spot on the new team. The team owner has 2 sims to decide what to do with the player.
There are two Disabled Lists, the 15-day and 60-day. The only real difference between them is that players on the 60-day DL -- sometimes called the Emergency DL -- don't count against a team's 40-man roster. A player on the 15-day Disabled List may be shifted to the 60-day DL at any time, but a player may not be moved from the 60-day DL to the 15-day DL.
If a player gets injured, it is the responsibility of the team owner to put them on the DL. If an injury causes a team to be short at a position, the Commissioner will try to fill the gap with players on the team’s roster as best as possible. The injured player will, however, remain on the active roster and will not be moved to the DL until the owner says to do so.
A player must remain on the DL for a minimum of 15 or 60 days, but may remain there as long as desired.
NOTE: Though the game minimum is 15 or 60 days, since the game is run for 7 simulated days at a time, the actual minimum is 21 or 63 days.
A player that is healthy and who has served his minimum time on the DL may be recalled to the major league roster in the middle of a sim, provided the team owner gives the Commissioner specific instructions on the appropriate roster moves. The Commissioner will attempt to carry out those instructions, but if they cannot be implemented for one reason or another, the Commissioner has the right to override those instructions to complete the sim.
An owner may release a player from their team by sending notification to the Commissioner. The team is still liable for the remainder of the player’s contract. This is true even if the player is later signed as a free agent by another team.
An owner places a player on waivers when he wants to remove him from a roster. It can be when he is just removing him from the 40-man roster, the active roster or the entire roster (by trade). When a player is placed on waivers, he will show up on the Waiver Wire for all to see and claim. He will remain there for 15 game days.
Two things can happen during this time. Either the player will go unclaimed and will clear waivers, or the player will be claimed by some team. When a player clears waivers, the intended transaction goes forward. However, if the player is claimed, one of two things can happen. Assuming the waivers were revocable, the original team owner can pull the player off waivers, if the waiver period hasn't expired. If they don't or can't, the player will be signed by the team with the worst record, favoring teams in the original team's own conference. During the first month of the season, the prior year's records are used to determine this.
When a player is placed on waivers, he will remain on the waiver wire for 15 game days. If he is not claimed in time, then he will be considered cleared, and the original team can proceed.
If he is claimed and the waiver condition is revocable (see 2.07.02 Types of Waivers), then the original team will have until the end of the waiver period to pull him off waivers, or he will go to the claiming team.
No new claims can be made on a player that has only 1 day remaining in his waiver period.
There are two types of waivers in the game. The type of waiver
that is used is determined by the situation that required the waiver
in the first place.
Revocable Waivers: If a player is
placed on revocable waivers, the original team can pull him off of
waivers before the waiver period ends, even if it is after another
team has claimed him.
Irrevocable Waivers: A player
placed on irrevocable waivers cannot be removed if another team
claims him. If that happens, the original team will lose the player.
Please note that you can always remove a player from waivers if the
waiver deadline hasn't passed and no team has yet claimed the player.
There are four cases in the game in which waivers are wanted or necessary:
1) Removing a player from the 40-man roster
2) Sending a player
out of options to the minor leagues
3) After-deadline trading
4)
Salary dumping/decoy/ etc.
In each case, there is a certain
result depending on whether the player clears waivers or
not.
Removing a player from the 40-man roster
If
an owner wishes to move a player off his 40-man roster without
releasing him outright, the player must go through revocable
waivers. If the player is claimed, the original team can take him off
waivers, but he'll remain on the 40-man roster. Otherwise, the owner
can also let him go to the other team, which will clear the roster
spot.
Sending a player out of options to the minor
leagues
A player starts his career with three option years
(see 2.04.01 Demoting Players to the Minors).
When the player's options are all used, he must clear irrevocable
waivers before being allowed to be moved from the active roster. Once
another team claims the player, he will be leaving the original team
when the waiver period is up. If, however, the player clears waivers,
he may be moved down to the minors and will stay on the 40-man
roster.
After-deadline trading
After July 31, there is only one way to trade players. All of the players that are to be traded must clear waivers. Once the sides agree on the players involved, the players must clear waivers. Regardless of roster or contract status, every player involved on either side of the trade has to clear waivers. If any of the players is claimed by any team, the trade will be canceled, and the players will stay on their respective teams. If the waiver period passes and all players clear, the trade will be processed as planned.
Salary dumping/decoys/etc.
Sometimes, a team does not have to put a player on waivers, but may want to put a player on waivers for some other purpose. Waivers can be a good way to get rid of the salary of a high-priced player if you don't want to pay to release him, since the claiming team picks up the tab. This is called "salary dumping." After the trading deadline, you can increase the odds that your players will clear by sending several players (decoys) through waivers in addition to those being traded. Sometimes you just want to see if there is any interest in a player. By putting the player on waivers, you can see if any team would like him. You can take the player off waivers (don't forget to do it before the waiver period runs out!) and then use the information to possibly negotiate a deal with the interested team.
We will use the Spring Training feature of the game. This process is how a player develops his talent and/or learns a new position. For the duration of Spring Training until Opening Day, the Active Roster is expanded to 40 players. Owners manage their teams during this period as with the regular season.
Each Major League team will have a coaching staff that includes a Manager, Bench Coach, Hitting Coach, Pitching Coach and Team Doctor. Each Minor League team will have a Manager, Hitting Coach and Pitching Coach. Each of these staff positions will be filled from available personnel in the game.
Team personnel can be hired in the
game by a GM. Offers will be made to an available staff member in a
similar fashion as when making offers to free agent players. A team
may not offer a job to a coach for a position that is currently
filled.
When a player retires, the team he is
retiring from has until the following January 1 to offer the retiree
a job by notifying the Commissioner of their intention via e-mail. If
the team does not make a job offer, the remaining teams may claim the
player. If more than one team wishes to hire the player, he will go
to the team for which he played the most number of games. If one or
more teams have an equal claim, the player will be made available in
the personnel pool and treated as per general rule 2.09.
Upon
successful claim, the Commissioner will create a coach profile for
the player using the method provided by the game, and he will be
assigned to the claiming team in the position offered.
If no
team wishes to offer the retiring player a position by the first
Opening Day after he retires, he will be allowed to retire without
intervention. The game may itself turn him into a coach later, and he
will be treated as per general rule 2.09.
From November 1,
2017, through January 1, 2018, each team may claim retired players
according to the above rules as though they had retired in 2017. From
January 1 through April 1, 2018, any team may make a claim on retired
players not earlier chosen.
Strategies may be set by each owner, if desired. These can be changed at any time by e-mailing the Commissioner.
For each category, the owner may select a rating from 1 to 11. 1 means "never" and 11 means "frequently" with the noted exceptions. Each category can have a different setting based upon a combination of Game Time and Game Score. So, you could have "Stealing Bases" set to "Frequently" for Inning 1-3 when leading by 2 runs, and have it set to "Never" for Inning 7 and 8 when losing by 3 runs.
The Game Time options are:
Inning 1 - 3
Inning 4 - 6
Inning 7 - 8
Inning 9 and extra innings
The Game Score options are:
Leading by 4+ Runs
Leading by 3 Runs
Leading by 2 Runs
Leading by 1 Run
Tied Ballgame
Trailing by 1 Run
Trailing by 2 Runs
Trailing by 3 Runs
Trailing by 4+ Runs
All options will be set to neutral initially by the Commissioner.
Categories that affect the entire team are:
Stealing Bases
Base-running (Conservative to Aggressive)
Use Hit and Run
Use Run and Hit
Sacrifice Bunt
Bunt for a Hit
Use Squeeze Bunt Play
Pitch Around
Intentional Walk
Hold Baserunners
Guard Lines
Play Infield In
Play Corners In
Use Infield Shift
Use Pinch Runners
Pinch-hit for Position Players
Pinch-hit for Pitchers
Hook Starting Pitchers (Quick to Slow)
Hook Relievers (Quick to Slow)
Favor L/R Matchup (Don't Care to Prefer)
Additionally, there are some Overall Strategy settings:
Favor Veterans (1) to Favor Prospects (11)
Favor Pitching (1) to Favor Hitting (11)
Favor Defense (1) to Favor Offense (11)
Favor Speed (1) to Favor Power (11)
Favor AVG (1) to Favor OBP (11)
Additionally, the following settings may be adjusted for each individual player:
Stealing Bases
Base-Running (Conservative to Aggressive)
Hit and Run
Sacrifice Bunt
Bunt for Hit
Hook as Starter (Quick to Slow)
Hook as Reliever (Quick to Slow)
For each player, you may also indicate whether to pinch hit for him, if necessary, or to never pinch hit for him. You may also designate that this player never be used as a pinch hitter if tired. For pitchers, you may set a maximum pitch count at which the computer manager should pull the pitcher out of the game.
No trades for major league players will be processed after July 31st of each simulated season unless all players involved have cleared waivers (see 2.07 Waivers). Players with a minor league contract can be traded at any time.
Players, draft picks and cash may be included in any trade. No trade may result in either team having more than the allowed salary cap, cash, or number of players. You may trade draft picks beyond the upcoming draft, but these future picks will be handled outside of the game. Notification of future picks will be made on the forum (see 1.04.04 Message Forum).
Trades that include a “player to be named later” are allowed. Both teams must agree on a specific player before the end of the last game of the regular season. If they do not, the Commissioner will arbitrate the deal and will select the player or players required to complete the trade.
Once a trade is successfully completed, both teams will have until 6:00 pm Eastern time on the day of the simulation to submit modified rosters, lineups and pitching rotations with the new player or players in place. The trade will not be processed in the game until both teams have done so.
The Commissioner will decide whether or not a trade will unfairly affect the competitiveness of the league. The Commissioner may initiate a trade protest. Alternatively, if at least five team owners e-mail the Commissioner with a protest to a specific trade, it will be considered protested.
Notification will be made via e-mail to all team owners. Each owner will be requested to vote on whether to reject the trade via private e-mail to the Commissioner. If 50% or more of the team owners vote to protest the trade, it will be considered for rejection by the Commissioner. Both parties involved in the trade will be allowed to present their case on the league forum (see 1.04.04 Message Forum), and the Commissioner will rule to accept or reject the trade. A protested trade may be considered for as long as necessary, but never beyond the end of the current regular season.
If the Commissioner is acting on behalf of one of the teams involved in the trade, a majority vote of the remaining team owners will be used in place of the Commissioner's power to rule on the protest.
Trades will be processed immediately upon agreement by both parties, and the players may play for their new teams until such time as they are rejected by the Commissioner.
If a trade is subsequently rejected, the Commissioner will return the players involved to their original teams. If cash is involved, the Commissioner will restore to each team’s cash balance the amount traded. If draft picks or other future considerations are involved, they will be considered null and void.
Team owners may make bids for players remaining in the Free Agent Pool. A team may send a bid to the Commissioner via e-mail or through the game. Included in this message must be the player name, position, maximum annual salary, length of contract and any bonuses or incentives.
Each player can be offered a Major League contract or a Minor League contract. A Minor League contract is, in effect, a free contract that does not count against a team's salary cap. However, a player with a Minor League contract cannot be placed on the active roster.
Major League contracts consist of a length (number of years), yearly salary, and optional bonuses and incentives.
The length can be from 1 to 10 years. Each year of the contract can have a different salary amount, but it must be "balanced" or the player will not accept it. (For example, you cannot have a 3-year contract where the player gets $1 million in the first year and nothing for the next two years.)
Additional contract options may include:
"No-Trade Clause" - the player has the right to refuse any trade in which he is involved
Minimum Innings / Plate Appearances bonus
Bonus for winning the league pitching or hitting award
Team owners who offer contracts to players will receive notification from the player as to whether they accept the offer or would like to negotiate a different deal.
A team may never offer more cash than it has available within the salary cap (see 6.01 Salary and Cash Cap). If a team holds the high bid on a player and cannot sign him due to this or roster limitations, the contract will be voided.
Players in the last year of their contract are eligible to be signed to a contract extension before the contract runs out at the end of the season. Contract extensions typically include an increase in annual salary and/or number of years.
Upon request, the Commissioner will provide a team owner with a report of the desired contract changes for each eligible player. To make an offer, a team must notify the Commissioner via e-mail of the player name, annual salary and length of contract offered. If a player does not sign an extension, he will become a Free Agent during the winter before the next season.
If a player gets injured during a sim immediately after accepting a contract extension offer that was made just prior to that sim, the team owner may choose to rescind the offer and allow the player to become a free agent at the end of the season or to have the extension reduced by an amount equal to the lost playing time caused by the injury.
For example, if the extension were for 2 years at $10 million per year, and the player suffered a 6-month injury immediately prior to signing the contract, the owner could void the contract or it would be edited to be 2 years at $7.5 million per year [(($20 million / 24 months) x (24 months - 6 months)) / 2 years].
The minimum annual salary for a major league contract is $300,000. This may be modified by a majority vote of team owners during the off-season.
There will be a draft of new players called the "First-Year Player Draft" or “Amateur Draft” on June 15 of each season. This date may be modified by a majority vote of the owners.
The Amateur Draft will last for a minimum of 5 rounds. This can vary from season-to-season depending on the number of available players in the amateur draft pool desired.
The draft order will be from the team finishing with the worst record in the previous season to the team with the best. Ties will be broken first by head-to-head record, then by the team position in their division standings, then by Pythagorean records. If none of these succeeds in determining the order, the order will be determined by random chance.
A player not on a team's Major League 40-man roster is eligible for the Rule 5 draft if: the player was 18 or younger when he first signed a pro contract and this is the fourth Rule 5 draft since he signed, OR if he was 19 or older when he first signed a pro contract and this is the third Rule 5 draft since he signed.
A player drafted onto a Major League roster in the Rule 5 draft must remain in the majors (on the 25-man active roster or the DL) for all of the subsequent season, or the drafting club must attempt to return him to his original club. However, since a returned Rule 5 player must first be placed on outright waivers (see 2.07 Waivers), a third club could claim the player off waivers. But of course, that club would then also have to keep him in the majors all season, or offer him back to his original club. Occasionally, the drafting club will work out a trade with the player's original team, allowing the drafting club to retain the player but send him to the minors.
The Rule 5 Draft will last until there are no teams who wish to pick or that do not have a free slot on their 40-man roster.
The draft order will be from the team finishing with the worst record in the previous season to the team with the best. Ties will be broken in the same manner as for determining home field advantage in the divisional playoffs (see 1.09 Playoffs and Championships).
The Rule 5 Draft will take place on December 1 of the game year. This date may not be modified.
Expansion will happen whenever there is enough depth on team rosters and a significant waiting list for team owners.
For an expansion draft, each team will be allowed to protect nine players from their entire franchise. The rest are eligible for drafting. A team may only lose two players to each expansion team entering the league.
Expansion will only happen after the end of the playoffs but before the off-season Free Agent period.
The draft order of the new teams in the Expansion Draft will be random.
Expansion teams will be placed at the top of the Amateur Draft (see 5.01 Amateur Draft) for the upcoming season in the reverse order of their position in the Expansion Draft.
There is a salary cap of $100 million for each team. The total annual salaries of all players on a team may not exceed this limit.
There is no cap on the amount of cash a team may accumulate.
The default ticket price is $10, but can range from $4 to $20. The ticket prices are set by the game according to fan loyalty and interest, but an owner may change them at will by informing the Commissioner.
If a team makes it to the playoffs, they will get a some amount of income per game played as determined by the game.
Income from the national and local TV broadcasting rights will be determined by the game.
Income from merchandising is variable per team and is calculated by the game.
When a new owner takes over a team, the team gets $75 million added its cash reserves. This represents a new infusion of cash brought by new ownership to cover any debts.
All teams start with an identical stadium that seats 45,000. A stadium may be modified, or a new stadium built, according to these rules.
A team may make a change to its stadium in the off-season by declaring its intention to do so in an e-mail to the Commissioner. The e-mail must include the details of the remodeling (see 7.03 Features and Prices). The Commissioner will return an estimate of the total construction costs and the amount the local taxpayers are willing to pay (see 7.04 Taxpayer Contribution). The construction will be completed at the end of the off-season period, just before Opening Day.
The total cash, including any overruns (see 7.05 Cost Overruns), will be subtracted from the team’s cash account when construction is complete, though the initial estimate may be paid at any time the team desires.
Optionally, a team may borrow the money for construction and pay it back over no longer than 4 seasons. There will be a 15% surcharge levied on the total of such a loan. Thus, for a $200 million loan an extra $30 million will be added to the total, generating 4 annual payments of $57.5 million.
If a team cannot meet its annual obligation, it will have one season to make up the difference. If at the end of the 2nd year, the team still has not paid the amount due on the loan, it will be forced out of its stadium and must play in the standard league park for no less than 10 years before attempting any further construction.
You may increase the number of seats and make one other modification each off-season. All changes to wall distances and heights are treated as one modification for purposes of this rule.
During the off-season, a team may undertake the construction of an entirely new stadium by declaring its intention to do so in an e-mail to the Commissioner. This must be done one full season prior to the actual construction and must include complete details of the features to be installed (see 7.03 Features and Prices). At a minimum, each stadium must include: seating capacity, playing surface (grass or artificial turf), dimensions (distances to left field line, left, left center, center, right center, right, right field line) and wall heights. The Commissioner will return an estimate of the total construction costs and the amount the local taxpayers are willing to pay (see 7.04 Taxpayer Contribution). General construction costs will be $200 million, in addition to the cost of the features installed.
The construction will be completed at the end of the off-season, one year after the initial notification.
The means of payment for a new stadium are the same as those for renovations (see 7.01 Remodeling).
Available features that can be included in a renovation or new construction include the following:
Seats beyond 45,000 ($1 million, plus $1 million per 1,000 seats)
Permanent roof ($15 million)
Retractable roof ($25 million)
Grass ($1 million)
Artificial turf ($5 million)
For every 1,000 seats over 50,000, there will be a $500,000 surcharge that the taxpayer will not pay.
The ballpark factors (affecting the number of doubles, triples, right-handed batting average, left-handed batting average, right-handed homers and left-handed homers) of a stadium may be altered by moving the walls and changing their height. The cost is $5 million, plus $500,000 per 10-feet change in the distance or height of each wall (left field line, left, left center, center, right center, right, right field line).
Initial distances to walls in the default park are:
Left field line: 330 ft
Left field: 350 ft
Left center: 375 ft
Center: 400 ft
Right center: 375 ft
Right field: 350 ft
Right field line: 330 ft
All initial wall heights are 9 ft.
Distances cannot be made less than the minimums of 325 feet down each line and 400 feet to center without special exemption from the league.
The amount of foul territory and/or the "carry factor" for a park (how well the ball travels to a particular field--Left, Center or Right) can be modified directly for $10 million per BPF.
Example: A new stadium with artificial turf, a retractable roof, a left field wall shortened to 325 (left line), 330 (left), 355 (left center) and raised to 20 feet each, and with 55,000 seats would cost $200 million (new construction) + $5 million (turf) + $25 million (roof) + $8.9 million (walls) + $11 million (seats) + $2.5 million (seat surcharge) = $252.4 million. The resulting Ball Park Factors would be: 100 (Doubles), 95 (Triples), 102 (Right-handed Average), 110 (Right-handed Homers), 100 (Left-handed Average), 104 (Left-handed Homers).
Once the total cost of all features (plus any surcharges or initial construction fees) have been added, the Commissioner will determine the cost to the team based on the following criteria:
40% of the total, if the team won the League Championship the prior season
60% of the total, if the team had a .525 winning percentage or better for the past 3 seasons
80% of the total, if the team had a .500 winning percentage or better for the past 3 seasons
100% of the total, if the team had a sub-.500 winning percentage for the past 3 seasons
Example: A team that had a .500 winning percentage for 3 years prior to the initial notification of construction would expect to pay 80% of $247 million, plus the $2.5 million seat surcharge the taxpayers will not pay, for a total of $126 million.
At the end of construction, the Commissioner will add a random cost overrun of from 0 to 50 percent of the total construction cost to the amount of cash owed by the team.
If a team changes ownership during a season in which new stadium construction is underway, the new owner may cancel construction and will not have to pay the balance of the contract.
Owners can have a “create a player” (CAP) for their own amusement. The following rules outline the procedure for creating the player and its use in the game.
Any name can be used, but Tolkien-based names are strongly encouraged. Created players will have an asterisk in front of their last names in the game for ease of identification.
A player can be any age when created. Owners must submit a birth date for the player.
A player may throw and bat with either hand and may be a switch-hitter.
The birthplace and nationality of the player will be the home city and nation of the team for which he was created unless otherwise indicated.
Created players may only play a single position initially, but up to one more may be purchased at the time of creation for $5 million per additional position.
Two default pitch types for a pitcher must also be indicated. Up to 3 additional pitches may be purchased for $1.67 million per pitch type.
The default rating for each hitting, defense and pitching category is 50, and points may be taken away from one category and allocated to another within the defensive section.
If the created player is a catcher, an owner may allocate up to 1150 points to the player. At least 500 points must be divided between the major offensive categories (Contact, Gap Power, Homerun Power, Eye and Avoid K's). A minimum of 200 points must be allocated to the minor offensive categories (Speed, Stealing Ability, Running Instinct, Sac Bunt, and Bunt for Hit). A minimum of 150 points must go to Catcher Ability, Arm, and Turn DP. And 150 points must go to Infield Range, Arm and Error.
If the created player is an infielder, an owner may allocated up to 1050 points with at least 500 going to the major offensive categories, 250 to the minor offensive categories, and 200 to Infield Range, Error, Arm and TurnDP.
If the player is an outfielder, an owner may allocate up to 1000 points with at least 500 in the major offensive categories, 250 in the minor offensive categories, and 150 in Outfield Range, Error and Arm.
If the created player is a pitcher, an owner may allocate up to 750 points with at least 300 divided between Stuff, Movement and Control for each situation (vs. LHB and vs. RHB). At least 150 must be divided between Velocity, Endurance and Hold Runners. And 200 must go to Infield Range, Error, Arm and TurnDP.
For each player, 100 bonus points may be assigned to any category.
A minimum of 1 point must be put into each category.
All created players will have a permanent major league contract for the minimum major league player salary ($300,000). This contract will be renewed indefinitely for as long as the team keeps the created player.
A team may only have one created player at a time. A CAP must remain with the team for a minimum of 5 seasons unless he suffers a career-ending injury. The created player may reside at any level in a team's organization. Normal rules for moving a player between the majors and minors do not apply.
Created players cannot be traded. They may only play for their original team.
If a team no longer wishes to keep the player, he retires. However, the team may not create a new CAP until the original 5 year term of the first CAP has expired (i.e., if a CAP is created in 2010 and forced to retire in 2013, a new CAP could not be created until 2015).
If an owner leaves the league, his player becomes available to the new team owner (if any). The new owner can either re-name the player or create anew one (forcing the old one to retire). New owners will be able to create their own player no matter how long the previous owner's CAP has been in existence.
At the end of each season, team owners will receive bonus points that they may use to modify (up or down) the ratings of one player on their roster. These points must be spent before the first day of the regular season..The points can be used to affect any rating that can be edited.
The team will receive 20 points if they are used to modify a rating that does not include a L/R split (any Talent rating, for example). The points awarded will be 40 points to be used to improve ratings that include vs. L and vs. R components. These will presumably be used to increase the ratings for each component, but they may be used all in one, if desired. A team may not mix spending points on those with L/R splits and those without.
Fielding Range and Error ratings are modified in groups of similar fielding positions. Changing the value of one position has the same affect on all positions in the group. The grouped positions are: LF/CF/RF, 1B/2B, 1B/3B, 2B/SS, 3B/SS, C
If bonus points are applied to a player and that player acquires an injury of 6 months or more, the team may reassign the points from the injured player to another one. If the injury is for 3 months or more (but less than 6), half of the bonus points may be so reassigned. Such reassignment can only be made once. If the second player becomes injured, no further modifications are allowed.
During the season, an injured player
may have his injury time reduced by sending him to a specialist.
Injury time may be reduced by 1 day for every $350,000 spent. For
example, a 12-month injury could be reduced to 6 months by spending
$63 million.
The maximum time reduction can only be half of
the original injury time. The cost of the reduction will be based on
the original injury time, not the point at which the team decides to
pay for it. So, for example, a 12-month injury will cost $63 million
to reduce by half, even if the player has already healed for several
months.
At a team's option, injuries described by the game as "career ending" (CEI) may be converted into an "ultra long-term injury" (ULTI) of 5-years.
The team may choose to enact this conversion any time between the date of the CEI and April 1 of the year following the injury.
The injured player will remain on the team's roster and will be subject to all of the normal rules regarding roster limits, option years, waivers, etc. However, the player will not be considered eligible for the Rule 5 draft while on the 60-day DL and not on the team's 40-man roster.
The player's salary will remain intact for the duration of his contract until and unless the team negotiates an extension or releases the player. A team may choose to release the player at a cost of half of his remaining salary.
If a team would like to lure a player out of retirement, they can offer him a big bonus and a guaranteed contract. By offering a salary equal to their last major league contract, plus a cash bonus double that amount, to a retired player a team can bring a player out of retirement. There are no guarantees on the player's performance or whether or not he decides to retire again before his contract is finished. If the last contract a player had was a minor league one, then the last major league contract amount will be used. Players who never reached the majors cannot be un-retired.
When players retire, the game will automatically induct certain ones into the Hall of Fame. While this is a good feature, there will be times when the league will wish to enshrine its own members. In this case, a ballot of the top candidates will be distributed to all team owners, and by a 75-percent vote of all participating teams (minimum of 5 votes), the player will be elected to the Hall of Fame.
The reverse may be true, as well. There may be times when the game promotes a player to the Hall of Fame that the team owners do not feel merits inclusion. In this case, if 5 owners petition to have the player removed, a vote will be held among all team owners. By a 75-percent vote of all participating teams (minimum of 5 votes), the player will be removed from the Hall of Fame.
To be included on the Hall of Fame ballot, a player must have retired during on or before January 1 of the year in which he is initially under consideration. The player must have won at least one major award or been named to an All-Star team. Also, the player must have played in at least one Major League game in each of 10 seasons.
This rule will be phased in to allow older players that started with the league a chance to become eligible. Players who started in their first Major League game in 2003 must play in at least 5 seasons to be eligible. The minimum number of seasons will be increased by one each subsequent season until 2008. So, a player who started in 2004 will need 6 seasons; a player who started in 2005 will need 7 seasons; and so on.
If a player fails to receive enough votes to be elected, the player will remain on the ballot for the following season unless he fails to receive at least 25-percent of the votes.
A ballot will be made available between January 1 and June 1 of each sim season. After June 1, ballots will be tabulated, and the results will be announced at time of the next All-Star Game.
During the off-season, the rules may be reviewed for modification. Any owner may present a proposed rule change to the Commissioner. Rule change proposals will be posted on the league forum for a period no less than one week before its implementation in order to give team owners a chance to comment.
In order to prevent a rule from hindering the enjoyment of the league, any rule may be modified at any time by the Commissioner alone or by the vote of a majority of the team owners. These rules will automatically be considered for review at the next off-season.
Some of the information contained in this document came from the great ESPN Transactions Primer. A ton of information came from the OOTP Development Forums. We also owe much thanks to the other OOTP Online Leagues from which were borrowed many of these rules.