Comprehensive
League Rules
Greater
(Last Updated December 14, 2011)
CONTENTS
Overview and Introduction for New Managers
Regular Season Schedule and Roster
Regular Season Monthly Procedure
Playoff Schedule and Special Playoff Rules
League Dues, Fines, and Prize Money
New items and changes to the rules from
the 2011 rule voting appear in bold. These changes include:
·
Allow the “vote with majority” option when
voting for rule proposals (takes effect in 2012).
·
The draft order for rounds 2-15 and the taxi
draft will be in reverse order of finish (takes effect in 2013).
·
If card changes are issued by
strat-o-matic, new rules concerning their inclusion were defined (takes effect
in 2012).
New items and changes to the rules due to
the League Reorganization appear in orange bold italics. These changes include:
·
Updated minimum number of at bats and IP.
·
Some of the monthly submission dates have
changed.
·
Four new league officer positions have
been defined to replace the work previously performed by the League Secretary.
·
The executive committee has changed to be
an elected 3 member panel.
·
Monthly submissions are now required to be
submitted using Strat-O-Matic computer manager files.
OVERVIEW AND INTRODUCTION FOR NEW MANAGERS
The Greater Chicago Strat-O-Matic League
is a 20-team baseball league that uses the latest version of the Strat-O-Matic
computer baseball game from www.strat-o-matic.com
to replay seasons based on the previous year’s MLB stats. Probably the most
important thing for a new manager to know is that we have both a “regular
roster” and a “taxi squad”, with unique rules for each.
Our draft officially starts at 7PM CT on
the Friday of the weekend before President’s Day weekend and takes place
on-line over a two week period such that the 3-day holiday weekend always falls
in the middle, with whatever portion remains to be completed live and in person
and/or via conference call or chat on the Sunday following President’s Day. Our
2011 draft will begin on Friday, February 11 and be held online until Saturday,
February 26, with the final live session to finish the draft on Sunday,
February 27.
During the draft, the regular roster is
filled up to 35 men. Anyone can be drafted, included players who did not appear
in the majors the previous year, but only batters with 50 or more MLB AB or
pitchers with 20 or more IP (as shown on the Strat usage reports and ratings,
which means 19.2 MLB IP since Strat currently rounds this value) will actually
be eligible to play and appear on your 25-man major league squad during our
season.
You must draft sufficient players to
maintain a 25-man major league roster over the course of the entire season, and
to help ensure this, you are required to have a minimum of 625
at bats plus walks (AB+BB) at each
fielding position, a minimum total of 6250 total AB+BB for
the entire team and 1475
total innings of pitching on your regular roster by the start of our season.
For more details see Draft Regulations and Roster
Restrictions.
After the regular roster draft, there is a
taxi draft, where the taxi squad for each team is filled to 5 players. Anyone
can be drafted for the taxi squad. Taxi draft picks cannot be traded, but taxi
players can be traded. Any player on a taxi squad or drafted onto a taxi squad,
however, retains their taxi status for the entire season and cannot be used on
the regular roster during that season. You will not have access to them until
the 20-man protect lists for the following season are announced after the end
of the current season. For more details see Taxi Squad Restrictions.
We then play a 162 game schedule over the
7 months from March to September. Managers submit their roster and rotations to the Game Manager early in the month (typically
due on the 9th), after which the pitching match-ups are published. Managers
then submit the lineups that they are going to use to face those pitchers,
along with a manager profile and other player settings to
the Game Manager (typically due on the 21st each month). The
games are then played near the end of the month by the Game
Manager and the results posted. See Regular Season
Monthly Procedure for more details. Of course following the regular season
we have a playoff and World Series. Four division winners plus two wildcards
advance to the playoffs.
October to early December is typically set
aside as an “off-season” during with the playoffs can be completed and managers
can review their stats from the just completed MLB season and make plans and
deals for the subsequent season. Then towards the end of December, in
preparation for the January draft, we announce our protect lists and taxi
transactions. Each team can protect up to 20 men on their regular roster,
including promoting from the taxi squad to the regular roster. Each team can
also keep up to 5 men on their taxi roster, which includes the ability to send
1 man from the regular roster to the taxi squad as an “injured reserve”. See Draft
Regulations for more information.
While there may be some variation year to year, this should serve as a good guide.
January 9 |
Pre-draft trade deadline (any trades made after this are considered to take place after the draft). Excess draft picks above 35 total players and picks are forfeited (this ensures that each team will be at 35 players at the end of the draft). It is the responsibility of the Roster and Picks Manager to perform this check. |
by January 15 |
Newsletter updated by League Secretary and website updated by Web Manager. |
January 24 |
Ballpark changes due to League Secretary. |
Friday10 days prior toPresident’s Day |
Draft begins at 7PM Central Time on the Friday of the weekendbefore President’s Day weekend (10 days before the Monday holiday)DUES AND FEE BALANCES MUST BE PAID PRIOR TO SELECTING. |
Two weeks surrounding President’s Day weekend |
Draft takes place on-line for the 2 weeks surrounding President’s Dayweekend. Website updated during 2-week draft as time permits. |
Sunday afterPresident’s Day |
Completion of the draft in-person and via online chat or conference call. |
After End of Draft |
All trades that were announced after the January 9 deadline and during the draft take place now; Roster and Pick Manager publishes updated roster and pick lists. Trading officially resumes, reported to Roster and Picks Manager. Newsletter updated by League Secretary and website updated by Web Manager. |
March - September 2nd of each month |
Trade deadline for that month's games, processed by Roster and Picks Manager. Game Manager will distribute an updated zip file. |
March - September 9th of each month |
Computer Manager (.MGR) files containing 25-man rosters(initial Major/Minor setup) and pitching rotations(Starter Schedule) due to Game Manager. |
March - September 13th of each month |
Game Manager will distribute an updated zip file. Pitching match-ups published, newsletter and website updated by League Secretary and Web Manager. |
March - September 21st of each month |
Computer Manager (.MGR) files containing final player settings and manager tendencies, along a separately attached default lineup number specifications document/spreadsheet for each game due to Game Manager. |
March - September by 30th/31st of each month |
Monthly results published by Game Manager along with an updated zip file, newsletter and website updated by League Secretary and Web Manager. Games results for July will be published no later than the 26th. |
by June 13 |
Call for rule change proposals to be nominated and seconded. Call for Executive Committee nominations. |
by June 30 |
Last call for rule change proposals to be nominated and seconded. Last call for Executive Committee nominations. |
July 9 |
Deadline for rule change proposals to be nominated and seconded. Deadline for Executive Committee nominations. |
July 13 |
Rule change and Executive Committee election ballot published for inspection. |
July 24 |
Final rule change and Executive Committee election ballot published. |
August 2 |
Season trade deadline; Voting on rule change proposals and executive committee election due.Draft picks for next season become available for trade after deadline. |
September 9 |
Rosters expand; unlimited major league roster of eligible players for final month’s games.Playoff rosters for potential playoff teams must be submitted. |
by October 15 |
Playoff leagues created by Game Manager and playoff information published by League Secretary and Web Manager. |
October/November |
New manager initiation, if necessary by Executive Committee, Game Manager, Roster and Picks Manager. |
October 31 through November 30 |
Newsletter and website updated as time permits by League Secretary, Roster and Picks Manager and Web Manager. |
December 9 |
Team name and code changes due to Game Manager, League Secretary, and Web Manager; deadline for division changes to Game Manager, League Secretary, and Web Manager. |
by December 15 |
Schedules for upcoming season published newsletter and website updated by League Secretary and Web Manager. |
December 24 |
20-man protect lists and taxi squad transactions due to Roster and |
December 25-26 |
Maximum 2-day grace period for resolution of invalid protect lists. |
by December 31 |
Protect lists and taxi transactions published by Roster and Picks Manager; website updated by Web Manager. |
LEAGUE STRUCTURE
1. We have a 20-team league that consists of four divisions as follows:
|
Division 1 (Capitol) |
Division 2 ( |
Div. 3 (South Central) |
Division 4 (Coastal) |
|
Craig Ahrndt (SSB) |
Jim Aldrich (DYE) |
Adam Arnett (NDF) |
Wes Davies (BUR) |
|
Doug Salzwedel (HUC) |
Mike Wilson (DET) |
Brian Anderson (YDR) |
Greg Edens ( |
|
Frank Lopeman ( |
? (ACC) |
Mark Salzwedel (NIM) |
Alan Dyche & Glenn Panner (CRC) |
|
Ralph Madara (SRD) |
Bill Nichols (EGH) |
Mike Aldrich (TAM) |
Adam Smith (DUB) |
|
? (CIA) |
Rich Domovic (CHI) |
Steve Seydell (JEF) |
John Stryker (VRN) |
2.
Divisional changes can only occur if:
a)
All managers involved agree to the move.
b)
A majority of non-involved managers
approve of the move.
c)
In case of a managerial vacancy, a veteran
manager may switch divisions with a team getting a new manager with only
majority approval of the non-involved managers (i.e. approval of the new
manager is not needed). Should more than one veteran manager wish to change
divisions with that team, then selection will go in draft order.
d)
Changes can only take place between the
end of the season and prior to the December 9 deadline.
3. Rule change proposals and executive
committee nominations will be called for and submitted prior to
our mid-season meetings, after which the rule changes and
the executive committee election will be voted on. Any manager
may suggest a proposal, but in order to appear on the official ballot and be
voted on, proposals must be nominated by a member of the Executive Committee
and then seconded by a member of the Executive Committee (other than the person
who nominated it). Proposals must be nominated and seconded prior to the July 9
deadline.
4. The rule change and executive
committee election ballot will be published by July 15 with a
7-10 day inspection period to follow during which questions can be asked and
the final language of the proposal worked out by the submitter, nominator, and the seconding person. The final ballot will be
published around
July 24 with votes cast by the season trade deadline in early August.
5. Rule changes only need approval by a simple majority of the
managers in order to pass, unless other specific requirements have been set
forth elsewhere in the rules (such as the 3/4 majority to change the designated
hitter rule). Rule changes that are passed will take effect for the next
season, unless earlier enactment was specifically set forth and approved as
part of the change. For those rule changes that may be voted as For/Against, a third option
of “With the Majority” shall be allowed. The new option, With the Majority,
allows a manager that has no strong feeling about which way to vote on a
proposal to cast his vote with how the majority of the league votes (either for
or against). If there is a tie in the
voting for a proposal, then the With the Majority votes shall not be counted.
6. The mid-season meetings take place at the time of our season trade
deadline, which comes at the end of month 5 (July) and prior to month 6
(August) games. Typically this is around the first full weekend in August.
REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE AND ROSTER
1. Each team plays a total of 162 games, 18 games against each divisional opponent (9 home and 9 away in 4 and 5
game series) and 6 each against each non-divisional opponent (3 home and 3 away
in 3 game series).
2. A manually created fixed schedule will be published before the
beginning of each season based on the results from the previous season. There
will be 7 months of games with 21-24 games per month and a total of 19 off
days: 2 off days during each month except for month 3 which has 3 off days
(i.e. 6 months with 2 off days and one with 3), then 3 days off between months
4 and 5 for an All-Star break, and 1 off day at the season trade deadline
between months 5 and 6. This 7-month schedule is played from March to
September.
3. Our league is a DH league and it would require a 3/4-majority vote
to change the DH rule.
4. Injuries will not be used during the regular season or playoffs.
Each manager must control player usage through roster, pitching rotation,
lineup and strategy maintenance.
5. All regular season games will be played on the computer using the
latest Strat software in “Autoplay” mode with manual pitching and line-up
selections. This means that only the initial lineup and starting pitchers can
be selected; the actual game play will be run by the computer based on your
other manager and player settings.
6. As of Version 15,
all Strat-O-Matic Super-Advanced and Max rules are in effect except for “Force
daily injuries” (because we do not use injuries),
“Pro-rate injuries to length of season” (because we do not use injuries)
and “Allow extra pre-1900 errors” (because this is not pre-1900).
7. Any new features added to the Strat
game will automatically be utilized by our league unless there is a 3/4 majority
vote to turn the feature off. Upon receiving the new version of the Strat game
the Game Manager shall review the game and
notify the league of available new features. The league then has until the
March 2 trade deadline for March games to call for such a vote. Any manager may
request a vote on a feature, and it only takes one such request for the vote to
be taken. Votes will be due by March 9. If no call for a vote is posted by
March 2 then a consensus is assumed and the feature will be used for the entire
year and any subsequent vote could not take effect until the following season.
8.
During the first
six months each team is limited to a 25-man major league roster. The roster is
set by the 9th of each month and sent to the Game Manager via Computer Manager (.MGR)
file and cannot be changed after that. Those players not on your
25-man roster at the roster deadline will be in the minors for that entire
month.
9.
During the
seventh and final month (September) rosters expand. You may call up any
remaining eligible players to your major league roster for that month. There is
no limit to the number of call-ups, as long as those players do not fall under
other restrictions (such as <20 IP or <50
10. If Strat-O-Matic issues player card corrections, the Game Manager
shall be responsible for incorporating them into the game. This shall include all corrections issued by Strat-O-Matic
and may occur anytime during our replay season.
REGULAR SEASON MONTHLY PROCEDURE
1. For the first month (March): each manager must establish a
computer manager strategy profile and a 25-man major league roster.
2. Manual
computer manager submissions will no longer be allowed. All monthly
submissions must be submitted using a Computer Manager file (.MGR) generated by
the game. All managers will be required to buy the game or work out an
agreement with someone to input their changes and provide a Computer Manager
file for their submission. The lineup assignment (1-5 assigned to
each game) will continue to be a separate manual submission.
3. By the 2nd of each month: all trades that are to be in effect for
the upcoming month must be reported on the official
league website on or before midnight CT on the trade deadline
for that month (usually the 2nd). All trades must be confirmed by all other
managers involved. See rule #1 under the Trading
Restrictions section for complete details on the trade
reporting and confirmation process. This
applies for the first five months of the season. There is a season trade
deadline prior to month 6 (August) games, such that all trades made after that
deadline are for the following season.
4. By the 9th of each month: each manager must submit his pitching
rotation to the Game Manager for
the upcoming month's games, along with any roster changes for the month. He may
also submit strategy and manager profile changes if he wishes, although those
are not due until the 24th. If the manager fails to submit a pitching rotation to the Game Manager for a given month, then he
shall be subject to a fine and his rotation will be the last five starters used
the previous month, or the last four if only four starters were used, subject
to usage limitations, of course, and at the discretion of the Game Manager. All changes
submitted must be in the form of a Strat-O-Matic computer manager file (.MGR).
5. By the 13th of each month: The Web Manager will publish the pitching
match-ups for the month and publish updated reports from the game, including
computer manager reports.
6. By the 21st of each month: Each
manager must submit at least 2 and up to 5 lineups to the Game Manager. The
manager must declare which lineup is to be used for each of the upcoming games
that month based on the starting pitchers published on the website. Final
strategy and manager profile changes must also be submitted. If a manager fails
to submit lineups for a given month, then he shall be subject to a fine and his
lineups will be the default 1 vs LH and 2 vs RH lineups from the previous
month, with eligible substitutes used for any players who were sent down to the
minors, at the discretion of the Game Manager.
All strategy, manager and lineup changes submitted must be in the form of a
Strat-O-Matic computer manager file (.MGR).
7. By the last day of each month: The Game
Manager shall have played the games on the computer and will forward the
results including complete stats, standings, league leaders, next month's
schedule, trades, rosters, draft listings, and current computer manager
profiles to the Web
Manager to be published.
8. The dates above represent the earliest that a deadline may come in
a month. For example, lineups will usually be due by the 21st,
and never earlier than the 21st.
The Game Manager may, however,
occasionally push back a deadline by one or a few
days depending upon the circumstances. The season trade deadline, for example,
will almost always be pushed back if August 2 falls on or near a weekend, and
the subsequent roster/rotation deadline for August will often be pushed back
from the 9th to give managers more time to assess the impact of last minute
trades that were made and to plan their usage for the last two months.
9. All deadlines are midnight
Central Time (CT) as observed in
PLAYOFF SCHEDULE AND SPECIAL PLAYOFF RULES
1.
Six teams
qualify for the playoffs, 4 division winners plus two wildcards with the next
best records. The two division winners with the best records get byes. The
other two division winners host 7 games series against the wild card teams,
with the division winner with the best record facing the wild card with the worst
record. The winners of those series then visit the division winners with byes.
In short, if the playoff teams are labeled D1, D2, D3, D4 and W1 and W2, then
first round is W1 at D4 and W2 at D3. The second round has the W2/D3 winner at
D2 and the W1/D4 winner at D1. Those winners then play the Word Series with the
team having the better regular season record getting home field advantage.
2. The Wildcard (first) round begins following one off day after game
162 of the regular season and is a 2/3/2 format with the division winner having
home field advantage. There is one day off after games 2 and 5.
3. The Championship (second) round begins following a minimum of one
day off after the previous playoff (wildcard) series ends. The actual start
date depends upon how long the preceding wildcard series went. If the preceding
wildcard series goes 6 or 7 games, then there is one day off, but if that
series only goes 4 or 5 games, then there are two days off before the
championship series. Again it is a 2/3/2 format with the divisional winner who
had the bye having home field advantage. There is one day off after games 2 and
5.
4. Championship series winners play a best of seven World Series to
determine the league champion for that year. The World Series begins following
a minimum of one off day after the last championship series ends. The actual
start date again depends on when each of the previous series started and how
long they went. If a team wins their championship series in 4 or 5 games, then
they are guaranteed at least 2 off days before the start of the World Series.
If their championship series goes 6 or 7 games, then they are only guaranteed
one off day. The actual number of off days may be greater, however, depending
on how long the other championship series and the wildcard series before it
went. The World Series is a 2/3/2 format with the team with the best regular
season record having home field advantage. There is one day off after games 2
and 5.
5. In case of a tie between two teams for the final wildcard spot or a tie for a division title when the
final wildcard has a better record than those division leaders, then there will
be a 1-game tiebreaker playoff. The team with the better head-to-head record
will host the one game playoff. This one game comes immediately after the end
of the regular season; there is no off day. If head-to-head record is even,
then the team with the better division record will host the playoff game. This
tiebreaker is played on the computer in autoplay mode and the statistics count
towards the regular season as game 163. The winner of the one game playoff
advances to a best of seven playoff series as described above, without an off
day between the one game tiebreaker playoff and that playoff series (their
series start the day after game 163).
6. There is no tiebreaker playoff game for any spots other than a tie
for the final wildcard or a tie for a
division title when the final wildcard has a better record than those
two teams. Ties other than for those
two combinations will use the following tiebreakers:
a.
Head to head record
b.
Divisional games record
c.
Combined record versus all playoff teams
in division
d.
Combined record versus all playoff teams
e.
Dice roll
If
there is a tie for a division title but both teams are still eligible for a
wildcard, then the above tie breakers would be applied to determine the
division winner and the loser of those tiebreakers would then fall into the
wildcard (where they still might end up in a 1-game playoff if tied with
another team for the final wildcard).
These
same tiebreakers are applied first in the case of any 3 or more way ties. For
example, if there is a 3 way tie for the
first wildcard spot, then the team with the best head to head record
(combined vs. the other two teams) would be awarded the first wildcard and the two teams with the worst head to head
records (combined vs. the other two teams) would be considered tied for the final wildcard spot. They would
play a 1-game playoff with the winner of that advancing. If there is a 3-way
tie for the final wildcard spot,
then the two teams with the best-combined head to head records would play a
1-game playoff and the team that had the worst combined head to head record
would be out of the playoffs completely.
7. For a 1-game tiebreaker, any player not used up before the last
full series can appear. Currently the last full series is 4 games, so a player
used up by game 158 may not appear, but any player that was still available as
of game 159 can be used. This also applies to starting pitchers, so the
starting pitcher used in the tie-breaker must have a start remaining as per the
limits set in the Pitching Restrictions
section of the rules. Except for AB/PA/IP being used up as just described, the
entire expanded roster used in the final month of the regular season would be
available to play in a 1-game tiebreaker game 163.
8. If a manager is going to be away or not available around the time
that the Game Manager will be playing
the October games and there is a chance they might end up in a tie, then it is
recommended that they leave instructions with the Game
Manager on the pitcher and lineups to use in their
1-game tiebreaker so as to not hold up the finishing of the season, but this is
not strictly required.
9. At the end of the regular season, the Game
Manager will create a league in the computer game for each
playoff series, and into each playoff league will copy all of the possible
playoff teams for that series but only include the 25 players on the playoff
roster for each team. The usage for these leagues will be multiplied by 0.1
(10%) and these playoff leagues must then be used to play each playoff series.
10. All post-season games will be played on the computer utilizing the
human manager option. This means that the managers do have complete control
during the playing of the game, but the computer determines the dice rolls and
their outcome.
11. Managers must declare their post season roster to the Game Manager before the final month of the
regular season. Once declared, your post-season roster becomes fixed for all
playoff series.
12. All carded players with 50 or more
a.
Starting pitchers must have 50 or more innings to start any one game in a 7 game
series, 100 or more innings to start any two games in a 7 game series, and a
(*) rating to start games 1, 4, and 7 in any seven game series. Again these
inning limits are based on the Strat reports, which Strat currently rounds. So
for example, a player with 49.2 IP in the major will be able to start a playoff
game, because that will round up to 50 IP on the Strat reports. As in the
regular season, only the * rated starters can go on 3-days rest; all other
starters require 4 days rest between starts.
b.
All players are restricted to 10% of
regular season IP or AB's/PA's in each series.
c.
Pitchers having both a starter and
reliever rating can be used in either or both capacities as limited by the
rules above and subject to the fatigue factor shown on the Strat fielding
report. A starter/reliever may both start and relieve.
d.
A pitcher with
just a starter rating may relieve, provided he is not fatigued from his
previous appearance. He cannot start again after relieving until rested enough
to not be fatigued in that start, and in accordance with the other restrictions
above.
e.
A position player must have 100 or more
13. A player who reaches the 10% limit for AB/PA/IP must be pulled from
the game in progress before they come to bat again or before they pitch to
another batter. They may only appear later in the series as a pinch runner or
defensive replacement and cannot bat or pitch.
14. Injuries will not be used during the playoffs.
15. Managers must manually check the STATUS column of the Strat
fielding report for fatigue. A reliever who is T-2 (2/x under STATUS) after the
last game of a series or at the end of the regular season is ineligible to
pitch in game 1 of the next series if there is only one off day before it
starts. If there was a 1-game playoff due to a tie, then any reliever who was
T-1 (1/x under STATUS) after that game is ineligible to pitch in game 1 of the
first playoff series, and any reliever who was T-2 (2/x) is not eligible to
appear until game 3 of the first playoff series. If a reliever ever gets to T-3
(3/x), then this rule is extended accordingly, meaning he could not appear in
games 1 or 2 of the next series if there was only one off day between or he
could not appear in game 1 if there were 2 off days. This fatigue factor also
applies to starter/relievers and starters used in relief for any start
following a relief appearance.
16. The World Series winner shall be shipped the traveling trophy. The League Secretary will have a
plate with the new winner engraved for attachment to the trophy. The previous
winner is responsible for saving the box and packing material and properly
repackaging and shipping the trophy to the new winner. The trophy must be
shipped such that it can be tracked (i.e. no USPS parcel post; UPS is
preferred) and must be insured for $200. The previous winner will be credited
the shipping costs up to a maximum of $25 (or $30 to CA). They will not,
however, be reimbursed for any replacement packaging should they have not kept
the box and packing material, and failure to properly repackage the trophy will
result in a $5 fine in addition. The new winner can display the trophy for one
year, until the next World Series champion is crowned.
LEAGUE DUES, FINES, AND PRIZE MONEY
1. Dues are $40 per year for all managers, although the League Secretary
traditionally only charges $20 for the first year of a new manager (to cover
the $20 prize money portion specified in item 4 below). The dues for the
Game Manager shall be waived. The
Website Manager, League Secretary and Roster and Pick Manager are only required
to pay 50% of the dues charged to regular managers.
2. During the regular season, there is a $1 per month
fee for each team for submitting their manager information (pitching rotations,
lineups, and settings). This $1 fee is waived if the manager submits all of
their information for that month via exported .MGR files from the Strat
computer game.
3. The dues and other fees will cover all operating expenses and supplies
required for the computer game. The Game Manager
will be paid any balance left over from dues and fees after prize money and
expenses are paid as compensation for the time involved in running the league. Any manager that
incurs expenses due to the execution of his league duties shall submit an
invoice and documentation that supports his expenses to the League secretary
for re-imbursement.
4. $20 per team will be set aside for prize money and distributed as
follows:
a.
World Series Champion 30% ($120)
b.
World Series Runner-Up 20% ($80)
c.
Championship Series Runners-Up 15% each
($60 each)
d.
First-Round (Wildcard) Series Losers 10%
each ($40 each)
5. Fines will be assessed at $5 each for any manager and paid to the League Secretary who
fails to submit game materials to the Game Manager
on time. The fine is $10 each for managers who do not submit a complete voting
ballot for all rule proposals by the season trade deadline. Attendance at a
mid-season meeting is optional, but voting is mandatory. As soon as possible
following the close of voting, the Web Manager
will publish a complete voting record indicating the votes for each manager.
There is a $10 fine for failing to submit protect lists on time, and a $5 fine
if a manager needs to use the up to 2-day grace period to make corrections to
their protect list. If a manager has not submitted any protect list to the Roster and Pick Manager by
the end of the grace period, then the Game Manager
shall consult the Executive Committee to come up with a protect list for that
team and together they shall consider revoking that managers franchise and
beginning the search for a replacement manager.
6. Dues for future seasons are required and
paid to the League Secretary once a manager trades any draft pick in the
first three rounds or a total of 5 or more later picks (unless higher picks
were received to offset the ones traded). If you trade all your picks in the
first three rounds you must pay the total $40 in dues, otherwise you will be
required to pay the $20 prize money portion of your dues.
7. Dues for the upcoming season and all trade fees must be paid to the League Secretary prior
to a team making their first selection in the draft. If the draft starts and a
pick comes up for a manager who has not paid their outstanding dues and trade
fees (so that their balance is under $10) then that pick is waived and moved to
the end of the regular draft.
8. The Game Manager shall be reimbursed for the cost to
purchase the game software.
1. Each manager may design his own ballpark or chose an existing
major league stadium.
2. Upon selection of your ballpark, a manager signs an ironclad three
year lease which prohibits relocation or redesign during that time. If you
select an existing major league stadium, your factors will vary year-to-year
with that park, as per the factors provided in the Strat game, but you are
still obligated to stay in that park for three years.
3. Ballpark effect factors may not vary from right to left by more
than (4) either way if you design your own stadium. The range on effects is
1-20 for LH HR, LH 1B, RH HR, and RH 1B and 40-160 for Doubles and Triples.
There are only separate RH and LH effects for homers and singles in the game;
doubles and triples do not have separate RH and LH effects.
4. Teams that have fulfilled their park lease obligations may
redesign their park or relocate prior to the draft. Once any changes are made
to your stadium a new three-year lease is in effect. Ballpark changes must be submitted by midnight
CT, January 24, each year to the League Secretary. If a lease is up
and changes are not made on or before January 24, then the lease is
automatically renewed for one more year.
5. You may not trade your ballpark under any circumstances.
1. After the end of each season, each manager shall designate 20
players from their roster as protected for the next season and thus excluded
from the upcoming draft. Any players promoted from their taxi squad to the
regular roster must be accounted for on their 20-man protect list. The 20-man
protect lists and taxi squad transactions must be submitted on or before
December 24 each year to the Roster
and Pick Manager. There is a maximum 2-day grace period up until
December 26 to allow for late and/or incomplete or invalid submissions to be
corrected, subject to fines as outlined in rule 5 under League Dues,
Fines, and Prize Money.
2. One player from the regular roster can be moved to the taxi squad
as an “Injured Reserve”. Any player can be designated as the injured reserve,
there is no restriction, but once designated all Taxi Squad Restrictions
apply to that player.
3. Once the protect lists are published by
the Web Manager, managers may trade to increase or decrease
their regular roster prior to the draft. January 9th, however, is the official
pre-draft trade deadline. Any trade not announced to the
Roster and Pick Manager on or before January 9 shall be considered to
take place after the draft.
4. Immediately after the taxi transactions are published by the Web Manager following the December 24 due
date, the upcoming taxi draft will be set such that each team will draft until
they have 5 players on their taxi squad. This setup takes place prior to any
post-protect trades are applied. Should a team trade so as to have a different
number of taxi squad players prior to the actual taxi draft, the number and
order of their taxi draft picks shall not be affected.
5. Immediately after the January 9 pre-draft trade deadline, regular
rosters and draft picks will be counted by the Roster
and Pick Manager and anyone having more than 35 total players
and picks will have their lowest picks forfeited until the total is 35. For
example, if you have 21 players on your regular roster and 16 picks in the
upcoming draft, you will forfeit the two lowest picks. This will prevent the
hoarding of picks going into the draft and the confusion that results when
those extra picks start getting traded or are accidentally used by the manager
as was the case in previous drafts. You must trade your excess picks prior to
the trade deadline of January 9 each year or you lose them. Any team having
less than 35 total players and picks will have picks added for them at the end
of the regular draft (prior to the start of the taxi draft). This ensures that
we all start each year balanced and with a 35-man regular roster.
6. Draft order for the first
round of the draft is determined as follows:
a)
Order of finish of non-playoff teams (best
to worst), followed by reverse order of finish of playoff teams (worst to
best).
b)
The above sequence is repeated in all
successive rounds.
c)
Head-to-head record and then division
record are used as tie breakers should teams finish with the same overall
record.
The draft order for the 2nd-15th
rounds of the draft and for the taxi draft will be as follows:
a)
Reverse order of finish.
b)
Head-to-head record and then division record are used as tie
breakers should teams finish with the same overall record.
7. Our draft officially starts at
7PM CT on the Friday of the weekend before President’s Day weekend and takes
place on-line over a two week period such that the 3-day holiday weekend always
falls in the middle, with whatever portion remains to be completed live and in
person and/or via conference call or chat on the Sunday following President’s
Day. Posting of picks prior to the official start is prohibited. The start and
end time of the final Sunday session will be determined by consensus so as to
allow 2 minutes per pick. Our 2011
draft will begin on Friday, February 11th
and be held online until Saturday, February 26th,
with the final live session to finish the draft on Sunday, February 27th.
8. When drafting on-line there is a maximum of 12 hours for each
draft pick selection to be made. Once that time limit expires, that pick is
skipped and the next pick in the sequence is up. When the person whose pick was
skipped is ready to make their selection they must first make a post informing
the league that they are ready and then they must wait for the current pick
that is up to be made.
9. When completing the draft in person, each manager will be allowed
up to 2 minutes for each draft selection. If the time limit is exceeded, the
pick is forfeited and the manager obtains a pick at the end of the draft.
Unused time does not carry over to later rounds.
10. Anyone who is not protected on a regular roster or retained on a
taxi squad is available to be drafted. This includes all major and minor league
baseball players as well as college and high school players and players in
other countries. Players who did not appear in a major league game such that
their name is not listed in the Strat computer game shall simply be referred to
as “Uncarded”. Players who do not meet our minimum of 50 AB or 20 IP in the
majors will be referred to as “Ineligible”. While there is no official limit on
the number of uncarded and ineligible players that a manager may select in the
draft, each manager must maintain a minimum of 25 eligible carded players at
all times during our season in order to field a major league team. It is an
automatic fine to start a month with less than 25 eligible carded players with
usage remaining on your roster.
11. If a manager makes an invalid draft selection, that is, if they
select a player already on another team, then the draft just keeps going. The
manager that made the invalid selection can jump in and post a correction at
any time, but the draft does not stop while waiting for that correction. The
draft is allowed to continue with whoever is next in line, and of course any of
the players taken following the invalid selection and prior to the posting or
announcement of the correction would be off-limits to the team that had made
the error.
12. Managers are required to have a minimum of 625
at bats plus walks (AB+BB) at each
fielding position (rated for that position), a team total
of 6250 AB+BB and 1475
total innings of pitching by the March 2 trade deadline that comes before the
March games at the start of our season. Any manager who does not make draft
picks sufficient to meet these minimums has until that March 2 deadline to make
trades to bring them up to the minimums. Please note that the 625
AB+BB minimum should only apply to 1 or 2 positions on your team at most (that
you plan to bat 8 or 9th). With a total of 6250 AB+BB for your team
the average is 694 per position
13. A 5-man Taxi Squad is drafted after the end of the regular draft.
Teams will draft until they have 5 players on their Taxi Squad. The allotment
of taxi draft picks is set by rule 4 above.
1. Each team drafts to fill a 35-man roster. The 35-man total is
technically established on the January 9 trade deadline as outlined by item 3
under Draft
Regulations. All trades announced after January 9 and during the draft are
officially considered to take place after the draft as shown on the Yearly
Timeline.
2. After the draft, managers may increase or decrease their regular
rosters through trading.
3. Each team must maintain a 25-man major league roster during our
entire regular season. The remaining players on the regular roster are
designated as minor leaguers.
4. A minor league player may only be brought up at the start of the
month. Roster moves are due to the Game
Manager at the same time as pitching rotations on or
before the 9th of each month. Roster changes are not allowed after the 9th of
each month; i.e. roster changes cannot be made after pitching match-ups have
been published.
5. Only batters with 50 or more MLB AB or pitchers with 20 or more IP
(as shown on the Strat usage reports and ratings, which means 19.2 MLB IP since
Strat currently rounds this value) will actually be eligible to play and appear
on your 25-man major league roster.
6. Following the season trade
deadline after month 5, each team must meet the following minimums: 185 AB+BB
at each position, 1850 total AB+BB, and 440
total IP. A team that does not make these minimums must immediately cut a
player from their roster and select a player from the undrafted pool. They
would continue with this procedure until they meet the minimums. Both the
players that they cut and the replacements that are selected cannot be
protected and will go into the draft for the next season.
1.
1. All trades must be reported by posting to the Discussion Board on
the website or via email or phone message to the Roster
and Picks Manager on or before the midnight CT trade deadline
for that month (typically the 2nd) to become official for that month's games.
When reporting trades please indicate the players and picks that are going TO a
team, not where they are coming from. Trades must be confirmed by all other
managers involved. Trades can be confirmed up to
7 hours after the midnight deadline (up to 7AM CT the next morning) but they
must have been reported before midnight and must be confirmed unmodified. Any
trade reported after the midnight trade deadline, or any trade not confirmed
within 7 hours after the midnight deadline, or any trade modified or requiring
modification after the midnight deadline will not take effect until the
following month. If the following month is September, then the trade takes
effect at the end of the season.
2. A $1.00 per trade transaction fee will be assessed to each manager
involved.
3. Trades may be posted ahead of time and declared to not take effect
until a later date. The following three time related conditions are the only
ones allowed to be placed on trades:
a)
post-season
b)
post-protect
c)
post-draft
A
post-season trade can be announced prior to the season trade deadline for the
current season, but it would not take effect until after the season trade
deadline (and thus after the season is over) but prior to protect lists being
submitted. Any players involved in such a trade would thus finish the current
season with their original team.
A
post-protect trade can be announced prior to protect lists being submitted, but
does not take effect until after protect lists are published. Any players
involved in such a trade are required to be protected by the originating team,
not the destination team.
Post-draft
trades may be announced before or during the draft, but do not take
place until after the draft. Players and picks involved in post-draft trades
are not counted in the 35 (player + pick) limit of the destination team as
determined prior to the draft on the January 9 deadline, and any players taken
with the picks involved in a post-draft trade are not restricted from being
traded back to the original team or any other team.
These
conditions must be applied to the entire trade, and cannot be applied to just a
portion of it. Once announced and confirmed by all parties involved, trades
with these conditions on them are as iron-clad as a non-conditional trades and
cannot be revoked.
4. Except for the three conditions stated above, all other exchanges
as the result of a trade must take place immediately at the time of the trade.
You may only trade players and picks that appear on your current roster and
draft pick listing. The following trades are prohibited:
a)
Any player to be named or delivered later
stipulations
b)
Any future consideration clauses
c)
Any conditional stipulations other than
the three allowed time-related conditions
d)
Any compensation for negotiating a deal
e)
Any park trades or options on parks.
5. “Loaning” of players is prohibited. If a player is traded, that
player may not be traded back to the team of origin during the same season
through any combinations of trades. For the purpose of this rule, “same season”
means the time from one draft until the next draft. I.E. You cannot reacquire a
player that you have traded since the most recent draft. The only exception is
for players who were drafted and then traded between the draft and the March 2
trade deadline at the start of the season. If you owned a player prior to draft
(before the January 9th pre-draft trade deadline) or owned them anytime after
March 2, then you cannot acquire that player again until the next draft (after
the January 9 deadline the following year). Remember all trades must stand on
their own merit and are subject to league veto and fines as per rule 9 below.
6. The trading deadline for the current season is the mid-season
meeting that will be held at the end of month 5 and before the start of month 6
(typically the first full weekend in August).
7. Prior to the season trading deadline, the only draft picks a
manager can trade are for the upcoming season. After the current season trading
deadline has passed, managers may trade draft picks for the upcoming two
seasons, but must pay all league dues required for the seasons in which picks
are traded as specified under League Dues,
Fines, and Prize Money.
8. Off-season trading (trading for the next season) starts after the
season trading deadline following the mid-season meetings and concludes at the
January 9 pre-draft trade deadline.
9. A manager may veto any trade deemed not in the best interest of
the league. Any questionable trade may be
overturned if 3/4 of the non-involved managers feel that the trade is
detrimental or appears to be a “loan” transaction.
10. Managers found to be in violation of any trading rule are subject
to league fines.
11. Trades that have more than one part are strictly forbidden.
1. Pitcher usage is limited to actual innings pitched. The Strat
Usage report is checked at the end of each series (but only at the end of 5
game series when they overlap with 3-game series). A pitcher will be removed
from the roster after he has run out of IP, unless he is scheduled
to make a start as allowed by the chart in rule 4 below.
2. Starters require 4 days rest between starts unless they have the
(*) designation on the supplemental listing from Strat in which case they may
start on 3 days rest. The fatigue factor shown on the fielding report is NOT to
be used. I.E. no one can ever start on one or two days rest even if the
fielding report says they could. And even if the fielding report shows them to
have 3 days rest fatigue, they can only start on 3 days rest if they have a (*)
rating. The * rating is shown on both the Strat roster report and in their
official ratings guides.
3. Starter/relievers that are making at least one start during a
month can have their relief status designated as “Never”, “Sometimes”, or “As
Needed”. If not specified, then “Never” is assumed.
4. If a pitcher has 47 or fewer IP remaining on his usage, then the
maximum number of games he can start during a month will be limited based on
the following chart:
|
In
order to Start this
many games: |
At
least this many IP must
remain: (No
maximum set) |
At
least this many IP must
remain: (With 7
IP Max) |
At
least this many IP must
remain: (With 6
IP Max) |
|
1 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
2 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
|
3 |
17 |
15 |
13 |
|
4 |
25 |
22 |
19 |
|
5 |
33 |
29 |
25 |
|
6 |
40 |
36 |
31 |
|
7 |
47 |
43 |
37 |
NOTE:
Even if a pitcher runs out of innings before a start, if that pitcher was allowed
to start based on this chart, then he will start the game as normal without any
penalty.
5. If a starter/reliever has 47 or fewer IP remaining and they are
being used as a starter such that the number of starts they can make is limited
by the chart above, then if they are making the maximum number of starts
allowed, they must be set to relief “Never”. In order to have relief set to
“Sometimes” they must make at least one less than the maximum number of starts.
In order to relieve “As Needed” they must make at least two less than the
maximum number of starts.
1. Position players are limited to actual AB's or PA's. Strat usage
is checked at the end of series (but only at the end of 5 game series when they
overlap with 3-game series). A batter will only be removed from a roster after
he runs out of both AB and PA. If a batter has at least one PA or one AB
remaining on the Strat usage report, then they can continue in the next
series. This
is determined by viewing the Strat-O-Matic usage report after each series. Note that currently PA=AB+BB within this
report.
2. Players may not start a game out of position with the exception of
an outfielder playing another outfield position with the defensive rating
subject to Strat rules: someone who is rated in CF can start RF or LF without
penalty. Someone who is rated in RF can start LF with no penalty but is -1 for
CF. Someone who is rated LF only is -1 for RF and -2 range for CF. Note that for a
player that has 2 conflicting OF ratings, (e.g. LF-1, CF-3) we use the strat
rule to determine the rating for the third position: When assigning a player
who is rated at two outfield positions to play the third (for which he is not
rated), base the new rating on the first outfield position listed on his card.
For example, a player is LF-1, CF-3. If you needed to move him to RF, use LF as
the basis, which would make him a RF-2.
3. There have been a couple of occasions where HAL would not allow
certain outfield positioning even though it was within the rules as per 2
above. To correct this, the appropriate outfield ratings can be added to that
player's cards at the manager’s request. Please limit requests to only those
outfielders that you intend to use at that position, though.
4. If a position player is approaching his AB and PA limit, a
substitute should be declared in the event that he runs out of at-bats during
the month. A position player will be eligible to bat as long as he has at-bats
or plate appearances remaining at the start of a series. The replacement will
bat in the same spot in the order as the player he is replacing in all lineups.
Other reasonable defensive changes can be specified in the event of
substitution, but manager profile settings cannot be changed. Whatever manager
profile is set up at the start of a month will remain in effect for the entire
month regardless of usage.
5. To encourage people to maintain adequate usage at the trade
deadline, if they run out of players such that then run out of any infield
position, or run completely out of outfielders, so that someone must play out
of position, they will be fined $10. This is a one time only $10 fine no matter
how many positions they run out of.
1. Players on a taxi squad are not eligible to play during the season
and cannot be called up to the major league roster.
2. Taxi players
can be traded anytime, but they retain their taxi squad status for the current
season, and thus are not eligible to play. A team may increase their taxi squad
to more than 5 players during the season. If so, then that team must cut or
promote players sufficiently to have 5 or less taxi squad players at the time
that 20-man protect lists are announced.
3. At the end of the season, when 20-man protect lists are announced,
one of three things can be done with Taxi Squad players:
a)
A maximum of up to 3 players may be
released to free agency and into the draft.
b)
Any number of taxi players can be promoted
and protected on the 20-man protect list for next year's regular roster.
c)
Up to 5 players can be retained on the
taxi squad.
Even
if you have traded to increase your taxi squad, the limit for cuts is still 3
and the limit for retaining players is still 5. So for example, if via trade
your taxi squad had increased to 9 players, then you would be forced to promote
at least 1 of them to your 20-man protect list, since cutting 3 of them and
retaining 5 only accounts for 8 of those players.
4. At the same time that 20-man protect lists and taxi squad
transactions are announced, one player from the regular roster can be moved to
the taxi squad as an “Injured Reserve”. Any player can be designated as the
injured reserve, there is no restriction, but once designated all of the above
limitations apply to that player. In order to make this move, there must be
room on the taxi squad. I.E. another taxi squad player must be promoted,
released, or traded. You cannot retain 5 taxi players and then add an injured
reserve to end up with a 6-man taxi squad.
5. There is no obligation to make an “IR Move”, a team can decide not
to utilize it. But no more than one IR move can be made, no matter how many
open taxi slots a team might have.
LEAGUE OFFICERS
In combination with the
Executive Committee, four league officers (Game Manager, Website Manager,
League Secretary and Roster & Draft Pick Manager) shall be responsible for
administration and management of the league. These officers shall
serve terms of unlimited duration and a single person can hold more than one
role if desired. Any dues discount for League Officers shall be cumulative
for a manager holding more than one role, but shall not exceed 100%.
League officers shall be appointed by the Executive Committee and may be
replaced at any time at the discretion of the Executive Committee. The
Game Manager shall appoint a backup manager to perform his tasks if he should
be unable to perform them for a given period of time. The other
league officer positions may assign a backup manager position at their
discretion. It is the responsibility of the league officers to ensure their
backup is sufficiently trained to perform their tasks.
Game Manager
The Game Manager sets up the league on the SOM gaming system, manages monthly
.mgr file updates and roster movements, executes the monthly game schedule
utilizing instructions received from league participants, submits result files
to the Website Manager for publication and sets up the post-season on the SOM
gaming system. The dues for the Game Manager shall be waived and
the league shall reimburse the Game Manager the purchase price of the game
software.
Website Manager
The Website manager manages the website relationship with a league approved 3rd
party vendor, establishes and manages participant access, publishes (posts)
updates received from the Game Manager, Secretary, Roster & Draft Pick
Manager and Executive Committee, manages website expense/usage, archives
relevant historical information and purges other data as appropriate. The
Website Manager shall receive a 50% discount off his league dues.
League Secretary
The League Secretary maintains rules, prepares league schedule, maintains
ballpark info, prepares newsletter, oversees compliance with minimum AB/IP
requirements, collects league dues, fines and trade fees from participants,
pays appropriate league expenses (website, gaming system, ratings file, etc)
and prize money, and publish a yearly report of league revenues and
expenses. The League Secretary shall receive a 50% discount off his
league dues.
Roster & Draft Pick Manager
The Roster & Draft Pick Manager shall maintain roster and draft pick
information (including in draft updates). The Roster & Draft Pick
Manager shall receive a 50% discount off his league dues.
Current assignments:
Game Manager: Steven Seydell
Game Manager Backup: ?
Website Manager: Steven Seydell
League Secretary: Rich Domovic
Roster & Draft Pick Manager: Ralph Madara
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
1.
The Executive
Committee is in charge of:
·
Recruiting,
interviewing, and selecting replacement managers for any manager vacancies that
occur.
·
Nominating and
seconding rule change proposals.
·
Preparing the rule change ballot and
tabulating results.
·
Rule interpretation/enforcement.
·
Issuing fines.
·
Appointing/replacing league officers.
·
Conferring with
the League Officers
to determine if another manager is a detriment to the league and should
face expulsion as in the Manager Removal section below.
2.
Appointment to the Executive Committee
shall be an elected position with a 3 year term. There shall be 3 members
in the Executive Committee with staggered term expiration.
3.
Any manager may nominate themselves
for election to the Executive Committee provided they have been a member of the
league for at least 5 full seasons. In order to ensure that a nominated member agrees to take on the
Executive Committee role, they must either nominate themselves or specifically
state that they agree to their nomination. All nominations must be
submitted to the Executive Committee or on the League message board by July
15th.
4.
Executive Committee nominees shall be
published as part of the Rule Change Ballot. Each manager shall
vote for up to 3 nominees, assigning 3 points to their favorite, 2 points for
their second favorite and 1 point for their third favorite. Voting shall be done by secret ballot and no
manager may vote for themselves. The winner shall be the nominee
receiving the most aggregate points.
5.
The Executive Committee term
expires at the conclusion of the regular season. Committee members are
not allowed to serve consecutive terms. As their current term expires they
cannot be nominated and voted to immediately serve another term. They must take at least 1 year off before
being nominated and voted on again. This
is intended to promote broader participation. Example: If a member's term
expires at the end of 2011, they are not eligible to begin serving another term
starting in 2012 (which will be voted on in the summer of 2011). Their next opportunity to begin serving would
be 2013 (which will be voted on in the summer of 2012).
6.
If an executive committee member
resigns in the middle of his term, the remaining 2 members of the executive
committee along with the League Secretary shall assign someone to serve the
remainder of the term.
7.
Executive Committee member removal
a.
If the other 2 members of the
Executive Committee agree that an Executive Committee member needs to be
replaced, they must notify the manager to be removed that they are seeking to
do so. That manager has 10 days to respond.
b.
If the other 2 members of the EC and
the majority of the League Officers are not satisfied with the response, then
they can call for a league vote to replace the manager on the EC. They
will present their charges to the league, and the manager in question can
present his response. There will be 10 days allowed for debate before a
vote is taken.
c.
At the end of the debate period votes
will be called for and all managers are required to submit their vote within 72
hours.
d.
The manager being voted on does not
get to vote. If a majority of the remaining managers vote in favor
of replacement, the manager is removed from office. The manager that
received the next most votes in the previous EC election but did not win a seat
will join the EC for the remainder of the current season. If that
manager refuses the position the manager next on the election ballot will be
selected. If the election ballot is exhausted with no manager
accepting the position, the remaining EC members and League Officers may assign
someone to the role for the remainder of the current season. In the
subsequent EC election, a special vote shall be made to fill the vacated seat
for the remainder of the term, if necessary.
e.
If there is not a sufficient majority
in favor of replacement, then there cannot be another vote taken on that
manager until after the next EC election.
Current
Executive Committee (Year term expires):
Doug Salzwedel (2014)
Steven Seydell (2013)
Greg Edens (2012)
1. For any game situation
that arises that is not explicitly covered in the rest of the rules, the Game Manager has discretion to use his
best judgment and make a decision. The Game Manager
may consult with other managers and/or the Executive Committee as time permits,
but is not obligated to do so.
2. When the Game Manager
makes such a decision, he shall immediately announce the decision with an
optional explanation. If any manager in league disagrees with the decision,
then that manager has 15 days in which to call for a vote among the other
managers in the league. If a total of 11 or more managers vote to veto, then
the decision is overturned and it goes back to the Game
Manager to render a new solution.