OWNER RESPONSIBILITIES

General:
- All teams are responsible for their own income and must stay active.
- The goal of the league is to field a competitive team while making a profitable organization.
- The purpose of the league is to have fun, so any owner who threatens, is abusive, attacks other owners, or, in any way, tries to undermine the league, will be subject to immediate grounds of dismissal.
- The commissioner reserves the right to dimiss an owner for acts detramental to the league (i.e. verbal abuse, fire sales, etc.).
- If an owner is going to be away for an extended period of time, the owner can give the right to another owner to update his roster while he is gone. No trades/signings can be made, however.
- Owners are encouraged to write articles about the league or about their team to make the league lively.

100-Loss Rule
- ***New GMs are exempt during their first year and Commissioner discretion would be in place during the entirety of this rule.
- Any team losing 100 games or more for 2 consecutive years will be put on notice.
- A 3rd 100-loss season will result in the automatic loss of their top draft status. The team will instead receive the 15th pick in the draft, with other teams moving up one pick accordingly.
- If there are multiple teams with 100-losses for 3 consecutive seasons, the team with the worst overall record in the 3rd year will be given the 15th pick, with the next worst given pick 16 (and so on).
- Any GM having a 4th consecutive 100-loss season will be fired immediately and replaced by another GM.

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ROSTER MANAGEMENT

General Roster Info:
- Teams must have 25 men on their active roster. Rosters will expand to 40 in September.

Refusing Assignment:
- Some veteran players will 'Refuse to take assignment' in the minors, so the owner will either need to keep him in the majors or release him.

Releasing Players:
- When releasing a player, the team is responsible for the full terms of the released player's contract until the player is picked up via waivers.
- If a player has multiple years left on their contracts, the team is still responsible for the full terms of the contract.
- Releasing players can be done through the game.

In-Season Free Agency:
- In-Season Free Agency involves the acquisiton of free agents during the season.
- This will be handled in-game.

Disabled List:
- Injured players can be placed on the DL for at least 15 days.

Waivers:
- Click Here for an extended explanation of waivers.

Designated for Assignment:
- If a player is on DFA during a sim, the commissionner will first attempt to place the player in the minors and then will release if player refuses.

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CONTRACT EXTENSIONS

General:
- Can be offered from May 1 to end of season.
- This will all be handled in-game.

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TRADING

General:
- Both teams must agree on a trade, one team will begin a thread with "Team-Team Trade" and the other must reply with "accepted" and with a brief explanation of the deal. The deal must be accepted within a 48 Hr period, or it will not count.
- Trades coming 48 hours prior to an owner's quitting or firing will be voided so as to forbid a fire sale.

What you can/can't do:
- You can trade injured players if both teams acknowledge the duration of the injury.
- You can't trade draft picks.
- You can trade cash.
- You can't trade after the July 31 deadline unless passing players through waivers.
- The commissioner and assistants can come together to void trades if suspicious within 48 Hrs of the trade.

No-Trade Clauses:
- ALL contracts/extensions for 3-4 years for under 8M/year must be kept for the first full season. (Contracts of just 1-2 years must be kept until July 1st of the first season on the contract.)
- ANY contract for 5 years or more must be kept until the final year of the contract.
- ANY contract for 8M/year or more (for any number of years) must be kept until the final year of the deal.
- Players with an “arbitration” contract are NOT bound by NTC rules.
- No Trade Clauses will not go into effect until the offseason following the extension. EXAMPLE – a player signs an extension in 2001. However, his new contract (which falls under NTC rules) doesn’t actually begin until 2002. So the player can still be traded for the remainder of the 2001 season with no penalty.
- New GMs will be able to freely trade any player regardless of NTC; however, the team who receives a player with an NTC must follow the NTC rules after acquiring the player.
- Players with an NTC can still be traded in 1 of 2 possible scenarios. 1) Player can be placed on waivers. If the player clears waivers he is free to be traded with no restrictions. However, this does NOT erase the NTC. The new team must be bound by the NTC rule in the future. 2) A player’s NTC can be ‘bought out’ in order to trade the player.

NTC Buyouts:
- Teams can spend cash in order to waive a player’s NTC. In order to trade the player, a fee must be paid equal to (years left on contract-1) x (player’s salary). EXAMPLE: Player has a 5 year deal for 10M per season. He is in the 3rd year of the contract. His buyout would be (Years left – 1) x salary = (3-1) x 10M, or 20M.
- Starting in the 2002 offseason, NTC buyouts will be pro-rated for the current year of the salary. Based on the current date of the sim, the player’s buyout amount for the current season will be determined by a percentage of his salary, as follows:

Before May 15 - 100%
Before July 1 - 75%
Before July 31 - 50%
After July 31st – All players must clear waivers before they can be traded. Players who clear waivers can be traded regardless of NTC’s.

- When an NTC has been ‘bought out’ the player is free to be traded in the future with no restriction. However, it is the burden of GM’s to show that the player has previously been ‘bought out’ of the NTC.

This must be done by providing the link to the trade in which the player was previously ‘bought out.’ IF no link is provided, the trade will be processed but the Buyout Fee will be divided equally between the two teams involved in the player trade.

IF either of the teams do not have enough cash to cover their half of the buyout, the trade will not be processed and will be held until 1) the link is provided, or 2) the teams split up the buyout in a suitable manner between them, or 3) the team without the cash raises enough cash through other means.

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AMATEUR DRAFT

General:
- There will be 6 rounds beginning Offseason.
- Type-A and -B compensatory picks will be reflected on the utility site.
- As of now, draft picks are NOT tradeable. This is subject to change should the league deem it necessary.
Selection Process:
- 100 rookies in all will declare each season. - A database will be created with all rookies over a 10-year period and their ages will be adjusted according to the league date.
- Players aged 23 will automatically declare for the draft.
- The remaining spots left for the draft will be chosen using a random number generator that will select only those players aged 18-22.
- This way, the drafts will reflect RL drafts and may (or may not) allow players to enter the minors earlier than with the Debut Year selection process. - You can trade picks for the current year AND the following year.
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STADIUM RENOVATIONS

Renovation:
- Must have at least $1 million in cash.
- Renovation includes changing Ball Park factors--Avg, 2b, 3b, Hr, Avg RH, Hr RH, Avg LH, HR LH.
- 80 is the minimum, 120 is the max.

New Stadium:
- Must have $5 million in cash.
- Changes include: Stadium name, Dome/Open/Retractable roof, Ball Park factors, Seating Capacity, Wall heights/distances, Avg. Wind speed/direction.

Moving:
- Must have $20 million in cash.
- Changes include: Team name and location (must have pre-approval with commissioner) as well as the changes included on the New Stadium above.

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OFFSEASON SCHEDULE

Free Agency:
- After the world series, teams will have one last chance to resign their own players.
- Game will then be progressed to the Winter Meetings for the free agency bidding process.
- Free Agency will be handled in-game and will be simmed 7 days at a time.

Awards:
- Each team should complete an awards ballot to decide the players and managerial awards. We will use this vote rather than the game's selections.

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EXPANSION

OVERVIEW:
- The league will vote on possible expansion in 1961, 1962 and/or 1964.

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AMENDMENTS

ARBITRATION COMPENSATION

Free Agent Compensation:
- Prior to the off-season, free agents will be classified as being Type A, Type B, Type C, or no classification.
- Teams will then decide on offering a secondary phase of arbitration to each Type A or Type B player.
- The Arbitration offer will be current salary times 1.25 for 1 season.
- If a team does not offer arbitration, the player can be signed without loss of pick.
- If a team offers arbitration, said team cannot bid on player during free agency.
- After players have been offered arbitration, the following conditions apply:

- If a team signs a Type A player, it will lose:
(a) 1st Rd Pick, if pick falls in bottom half of draft (9-16).
(b) 2nd Rd Pick, if pick falls in top half of draft (1-8).

- If a team signs a Type B player, it will lose:
(a) 2nd Rd Pick, if pick falls in bottom half of draft (9-16)
(b) 3rd Rd Pick, if pick falls in top half of draft (1-8)

- If a team signs a Type C player, it will lose:
(a) 3rd Rd Pick, if pick falls in bottom half of draft (9-16)
(b) 4th Rd Pick, if pick falls in top half of draft (1-8)

Teams losing Arbitration FA's will receive the following reward as compensation:

Type A: 1st round pick, AND a Sandwich Pick b/w the 1st and 2nd Rd. OR a sandwich pick b/w the 1st and 2nd Rd and 2nd round pick (if signing team was protected).

Type B: Sandwich pick b/w 1st and 2nd Rd.

Type C: Sandwich pick b/w 2nd and 3rd Rd.

- If a team signs more than one Type A/B, following the above rules, it will lose:
(a) The original “compensation pick” as stated above, along with it’s next highest draft pick (along with a corresponding financial fee, as outlined below), which will be awarded to the original FA’s team as a sandwich pick, between rounds.
(b) Sandwich order will be determined from highest to lowest by Arbitration Point totals (see formula).

****In order to sign a type A or B FA, a team must make an offer of which the total value must exceed the arbitration offer in order to be acceptable. If no offers are made which exceed the arbitration offer, then the player will stay with the original team. EXAMPLE -- Player X is a Type A FA. His arbitration contract is 8.5M for 1 year from his original Team, Team A. Team B makes an offer of 2.5M for 3 years. Since the total value of Team B's offer is only 7.5M (less than the arbitration offer), Player X would go back to his original team. However, if Team C makes an offer of 3M for 3 years (total value of 9M) then Player X would go to Team C, since the total value of the contract exceeds the arbitration offer.

Additional Rules Regarding the Signing of Arbitration Eligible FA’s
- Each team can sign UP TO TWO Arbitration Eligible FA’s.****
- All teams can sign AT LEAST ONE arbitration eligible FA, even if the team has already traded the corresponding “compensation pick.”
- Teams which have traded the corresponding “compensation pick” are limited to ONE Arbitration Eligible FA signing.
- Any team which has already traded the corresponding ‘compensation pick’ for an arbitration eligible FA, and which then goes on to sign an arbitration eligible FA will forfeit their next-highest draft pick and in addition pay a financial fee. The fee will be deducted from the signing team’s in-game cash level and be deposited into the FA’s original team’s bank.
- The fee will be equal to 10% of the Arbitration Eligible FA’s total contract amount.
- The fee can be NO LESS than $2 million.

****Teams may offer contracts to more than two arbitration eligible FA’s, as it is sometimes necessary to make more offers in order to ensure you get at least one of the players wanted. IF a team has the winning bid on MORE than two arbitration eligible FA’s, the team will be awarded the players to whom were offered the largest contracts, with the other FA’s being re-inserted into the FA pool.

SURGERY FOR CAREER-ENDING INJURIES

OPTION 1: Cost is $50K. The player is placed on the team's 60-day DL, and injury status is changed to INJURED for a period of 60 Weeks. The player's durability is changed to "PRONE" and consistency is changed to "inconsistent."

Pros -- The price is cheap, and the player comes back relatively quickly.

Cons -- Player becomes injury prone, and inconsistent.

OPTION 2: Cost is $100K. The player is placed on the team's 60-day DL, and injury status is changed to INJURED for a period of 67 weeks.

Pros -- Player doesn't suffer any drops in consistency or injury rating.

Cons -- Costs more money, and an extra 7 weeks of rehabilitation.

OPTION 3: Cost is $200K. Player is placed on the team's 60-day DL. The injury status is changed to INJURED for a period of 75 weeks. Player’s current ratings are listed in the surgery posting, and ratings are “insured” to a maximum of 3 talent point drops for the duration of the recovery.

Pros -- Player is protected against massive drops in ratings.

Cons -- EXPENSIVE!! It takes a long time to recover.

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