Basic framework for rules right now so we can set a draft date and get going. State any objections to these major rules now. All minor transactional rules will need to be drafted and approved by the league as we approach each situation. There is no fairer way to do it IMO. We'll leave the payout structure flat for the first year, then we can sharpen it up in the years following. (Or we can just bite the bullet and keep it sharp, thoughts?)
NONE OF THESE RULES ARE CURRENTLY SET IN STONE. They are subject to ratification by the league in the next 7 days. So if you read something truly ridiculous don't freak out and go OMGOSH THAT IS SO SO DUMB KARAK IS SO STUPID I QUIT. Offer an alternative suggestion or a tweak and we'll fix it.
Basic administrative issues:
1. Commissioner has the final decision on all major league rule changes. He can be overruled by an absolute majority of the league.
2. All major league rule changes must be initially approved by a vote of a simple majority of the league and then signed off by the commissioner.
3. Anyone can propose a rule change for a league vote.
4. Commissioner retains the ability to unilaterally make minor rule changes, although he will, obviously, discuss them with the league first and they can be overruled by a simple majority of the league.
I don't expect that we'll ever need to use the above rules, but I put them in there for sanity's sake should something crazy ever arise.
40 man rosters. 25 man active roster and a 15 man minor league roster.
A minor league-eligible player will be defined as someone who either:
a) Pitcher: Has fewer than ML 25 appearances or 50 ML IP, whichever is higher.
b) Hitter: Has fewer than 100 ML AB
And must not be on an active (25 man) major league roster at the time he is drafted or acquired. If a player is called up during the regular season, you may option him up to your major league roster, but you may only option him back down if his real life team options him back down and both A and B above are met. If he is called up during the season, you retain the option to keep him on your minor league roster for the rest of the year, but he must be bumped up to the major league roster at the start of the next year if he is on a major league roster to start the season or doesn't meet the minor league eligibility requirements.
If he is traded for (in our league) and is on a major league roster (in real life), you must put him on your active roster even if A and B are met. If he is subsequently optioned down, you man place him back on your minor league roster assuming and A and B remain met.
Salary cap:
Each team will operate with a salary cap of 100 million dollars. The minimum salary on each player will be 0.350 million (just like real life, that’s the league minimum).
There will be two initial drafts, a free agent draft and a rookie draft. Any player who meets the eligibility requirements for a rookie (detailed above) will be in the rookie draft. Any other player will be in the free agent draft.
Each team will need to submit a list of 20 players it wants to “nominate” for the free agent bidding process. There’s really no game theory necessary here. Just take your top 20 players and slap them on a list in the order of priority. No worries, there will be time to nominate additional players later. I’ll go through the list and take everyone’s top choice, if possible, and then slide down to other choices if the top choice isn’t available. These 12 player names will then be listed publicly on a thread, and each team will have 24 hours to prepare a bid for each player. You may rank your bid with priorities and qualifiers.
Example:
Team A and B submit their priority nomination lists:
A
A-Rod
Pujols
Mauer
B
A-Rod
Hanley
Victorino
These players will be put up for auction with a 100 dollar salary cap: A-Rod, Pujols, Hanley, Victorino, Mauer.
A bids: 40 dollars on A-Rod, 30 dollars on Pujols, 20 dollars on Hanley, 15 dollars on Victorino, 10 dollars on Mauer. (If I win A-rod, then I do not want Mauer).
B bids: 39 dollars on A-rod, 25 dollars on Pujols, 15 dollars on Hanley, 12 dollars on Victorino, 8 dollars on Mauer.
A wins: A-Rod, Pujols, Hanley, Victorino.
B wins: Mauer
Follow?
Each bid price is a one-year contract for the player. At the end of the season, each player may be retained for a 20% increase in salary. So if you pay A-Rod 10 million for year one, you can keep him for 12 million for year two. After year two, you can keep him for 14.4 million and so on.
You can keep a player DRAFTED IN THE INITIAL FREE AGENT DRAFT for a maximum of 5 years. After 5 years, he re-enters the FA pool.
Cutting a player during the year incurs a cap penalty of 15 %. So if you cut a player making 10 million, you still have 1.5 million against your cap. Players cut will be placed on waivers. The waiver process will follow the same silent auction process. If you are interested in a waiver player, place a bid on him at a minimum of 0.350 million. Highest bid wins. The amount will be prorated.
In the case of a tie in the initial free agent bidding process, a random number generator will determine the winner. If a bidder wins multiple bids that will push him over the salary cap, he will get the bids in the priority order he listed them until he runs out of cap room.
In the case of a tie in the waiver bidding process, the team with the lowest current standing in the league wins.
Rookie draft: rookie draft will take place every off-season and will include recently MLB drafted players as well as international signings. If any of the international signees or drafted players are called up to the majors AFTER the year’s rookie draft, they will still be ineligible to be added onto a roster until the next year’s rookie draft. The rookie draft will go in reverse order of the previous year’s standings, with the order of the spots finishing out of the money determined by a lottery like the NBA. For the first year, it will be random. It will operate as a snake draft.
A rookie is defined as someone with:
A) Pitcher: less than 15 ML IP.
B) Hitter: less than 35 ML AB.
The minimum salary of a rookie is 0.350 for the first year and every year thereafter until he loses his rookie eligibility (see requirements above) or after 4 years have passed, whichever is sooner. After that time, this salary schedule will kick in: second year will be 0.500. Third will be 1. Fourth will be 3. Fifth will be 5. Six will be 7. After six he will be a free agent and bid on in an off-season process similar to the inaugural free agent draft. Obviously this won’t be for a while.
If you acquire a player via trade, you acquire that player’s remaining salary and must pay it. The same rules apply to renewing the contracts as they did to the original team. It is acceptable for teams to “take on” salary when trading a player, just like real life, with no one taking an extra cap hit.
Rookie draft picks may be traded for players.
All trades must be approved by the commissioner. There are two reasons a trade will be vetoed:
1. High suspicion of collusion.
2. An owner clearly doesn’t care and while he may not be colluding, he’s clearly dumping his team off.
Any trades involving the commissioner are subject to approval by the assistant commissioner. Any commissioner veto or non-veto can be overruled by a majority vote from the league. The reason the commissioner retains the power is that most people either a) forget to vote or b) vote for stupid reasons because it’s anonymous. The voting will not be anonymous should you choose to override, and you must post publicly your reason for vetoing any trade. I will publicly ask for opinions on any trade before I approve or veto it, so this really should never be a problem.
All trades must be posted PUBLICLY for 48 hours before they are official. During this 48 hour period, ANY team may make an offer to either team involved in the trade, and either team can feel free to take it. This counter-offer must be posted for a subsequent 48 hour period if it is accepted. If neither team accepts a counter-offer, after 48 hours the trade becomes official, pending commissioner and/or league approval.
Scoring will be as follows:
5x5 Roto scoring:
OBP, SLG, HR, SB, R x W, SV, K, WHIP, ERA
12-teams… 1200 dollar total prize pool.
Proposed payout:
1st – 600
2nd – 300
3rd – 150
4th – 100
5th – 50
Alternate proposed payout (for year 1):
1st – 300
2nd – 250
3rd – 175
4th – 150
5th – 125
6th- 100
7th – 100
Other basic rules:
-You must have 40 people on your roster at all time, so during the FA bidding process, you must have enough $$ available to fill out your roster with minimum salary players. IE: if you have 10 spots left to fill, you need 3.5 mil left.
-You must have 25 active major league players on your roster at all times. Thus, you cannot hide a rookie or minor leaguer on your 25-man roster unless they are called up IRL. Once they are called up IRL (even briefly), they can stay there for the rest of the
season, but if they are starting the next season in the minor leagues AND meet our minor league eligibility requirements, they have to revert back to your minor league roster.
-DL. Each team will have 2 DL spots. You may keep a player on the DL as long as he is on the IRL DL. As soon as he comes off the IRL DL, he must be either cut or placed on your active roster. You must continue to pay his salary while on the DL. If you cut him while on the DL, you still take the cap hit. DL players may be traded.
-It doesn’t matter what site we do this on, but I think CBS has decent dynasty league functionality. Only issue is it costs money. We can do this on Yahoo, but it’s going to put a pretty big burden on me to make personnel moves for people (we’ll have to maintain minor league lists outside of the league), and you can’t expect them to be made instantly. They’ll be made at regular intervals (once a week or twice a month).
