DIAMOND MIND CLASSIC KEEPER LEAGUE RULES
1. LEAGUE STRUCTURE
There will be 16 teams, with two
leagues. Each league shall consist of two divisions, with four teams in each
division. Each team will be run by an active owner.
2. LEAGUE SEASON REPLAYS
A. SALARY CAP
There will be a 100 million dollar
salary cap for the duration of the league. The total of all player salaries
cannot exceed this limit at any time.
B. ROSTERS
After all player raises/nontenders/signings (See # 3 ), each
owner will pick a 25 man active roster. Owners shall submit lineups, depth
charts, pitching rotations, bullpen roles and managerial profiles to the league
commissioner. Players on the team but not on the active roster will be assigned
to the “farm”. Once the season has started, it shall
be permissible for a team to have more than or less than 40 men on their
roster. This situation could result from a 1 for 2 trade; adding an additional
player(s), etc.
C. GAMES
The season will be 168 games long. Most days during the season a full 3 game series will be played. Game results and injuries are reported after each series. Normally these results will be accompanied by either team pitching reports, team batting reports, league batting leaders or league pitching leaders. Owners may change their lineups, rotations, put injured players on the disabled list, change manager profiles or take other such actions by advising the commissioner via a post on the current season’s roster thread. Alternatively, if an owner has the Diamond Mind Game, he may make any adjustments to lineup, rotation, profile, promotions/demotions to the farm in the game and email the appropriate file to the commissioner. AT NO TIME WILL ANYONE USING THE DM GAME RELEASE PLAYERS OR SIGN FREE AGENTS! These actions MUST be done by the commissioner to prevent corrupted data. Owners using the game will inform the commissioner of their intent to release a player or sign a free agent via post on the season thread or email. The commissioner will then make these adjustments in his (commissioner’s) master data base, and the appropriate file will then be sent to the manager.
D. PLAYING TIME LIMITS
1. Maximum playing time limit: During the course of a
simulated season, any batter exceeding 125% of their real life Plate
Appearances or pitcher exceeding 125% of their real life Batters Faced will be
ineligible for further play during that season, including the playoffs.
Further, the violating team will
forfeit a 3rd round pick in the next season’s rookie draft (or the next rookie
draft they still own their pick in) for the violation. If an owner has 2
players go over the limit that will be moved up to a 1st rounder forfeited. Any
additonal violation(s) will result in the owner’s cap being reduced 5 million
dollars (per violation) for the next season. These penalties will not be
enforced (except the ineligibility) if a warning is not given to the owner by
it being posted to the current season thread once a player is between 90-100%
of their real life plate appearances or batters faced.
2. Minimum playing time limit: Players with less than 50 PA or BF in real
life for the particlar season being played will be eligible only as
replacements for a player at their position who goes on the DL. Players with
less than 100 PA or BF will be eligible only as injury replacements and as
September call ups. This will apply to each season going forward.
E. DESIGNATED HITTER
The Designated Hitter Rule will be used for all games.
F. PLAYOFFS
At the end of the regular season, the four division winners and the non-division winner in each league with the best record (wild card position) will compete in the league playoffs. The team with the best record in each league will receive a first round bye. The other division winner and the wild card team will play off, with the winner then playing the team with the first round bye for the league championship.
3. OFF SEASON ACTIVITIES
At the conclusion of each season
there will be a three week dormant period. No player movement will be allowed
during this time. After the three weeks an offseason thread will be started.
Once the offseason thread is put up, trades may be made and posted at any time.
Additionally, the following activities will occur on a schedule posted by the
commissioner:
Any player on a team’s roster who
had at least one PA or BF for the major league team during the just completed
season will receive a mandatory 250K raise. There will be a special exemption
for each team’s first pick, who will receive the same 12 million dollar salary
as long as they remain with their original club. Players who spend the entire
season in the minors (zero PA or BF for the major league club) will not be due
a raise. Additionally, no raise is due any player who is signed to a Free Agent
contract.
Each owner will submit their list
of nontendered players (players who will not be offered a new contract) within
one week of the startup of the offseason thread. Any player not listed as a
nontender will be assumed to be remaining on the roster and will receive the
standard raise, if eligible. Also, any owner not submitting a list in a timely
manner shall be assumed to have tendered the 250K raise to every player still
on that team’s roster and their salary will be adjusted accordingly.
1. The date, time and procedure for the rookie draft shall be set by the commissioner in a post to the offseason thread.
2. Players who debuted in the real major leagues in the
upcoming replay season will be drafted through a Rookie Draft. Only players who
made their first major league appearance in the coming season are eligible for
the Rookie Draft. The draft will be in
inverse order of the previous year’s final league standings, except the first
round (see Rule 3 below), and will be a straight draft.
3. The first round only will be held using a lottery to
determine draft position, with the prior year’s six playoff teams excluded. The
playoff teams will draft in inverse order of the prior year’s finish, in
positions 11 through 16. The other ten teams will be allotted chances based on
their position the prior year, with the worst team getting 10 chances, next
worst nine, on up to one chance for the 10th worst record. A random
draw will then be held to slot first round draft positions for these ten teams.
NOTE: Should one of the playoff teams have a worse record than a none playoff
team, that playoff team shall still be excluded and the none playoff team will
take their spot for purposes of the lottery.
4.Salaries for drafted rookies will be as follows:
a.) First 4 players drafted, 1
million dollars.
b) Next 4 players drafted (5th
through 8th), 750K.
c) Next 4 players drafted (9th
through 12th), 500K.
d) All remaining players drafted,
250K (minimum salary).
5. Players drafted from the rookie pool will get an "arbitration bump" after their third season They will receive a one time doubling of their previous year’s salary.
D. PREMIUM FREE AGENT AUCTION
The premium free agents
will be auctioned off. Premium Free Agents shall be auctioned off individually.
The commissioner will set the date, time and procedure by posting to the
offseason thread.
The Premium Free Agent
pool shall consist of players who:
1. Are offered a
contract of 5 million dollars per year or more by their current team under the
“Hometown Discount” Rule (Section 4.C)
2. Had a contract worth
8 million dollars per year or more the previous year that has expired.
E. SECONDARY FREE AGENT AUCTION
A Secondary Free Agent
auction will be held subsequent to the Premium Free Agent auction. This will be
an open auction in which any manager may post a bid on any available free agent
player. The date, time and procedure will be set by the commissioner by posting
in the offseason thread.
The Secondary Free Agent
pool shall consist of players who:
1. Are nontendered
contracts by their team (Section 3.B)
2. Are offered a
contract for less than 5 million dollars per year by their current team under
the “Hometown Discount” Rule (Section 4.C)
3. Had a contract worth
less than 8 million dollars per year the previous year that has expired.
4. Are ineligible for
the rookie draft but not on any team’s roster the previous season.
F. OVERBID PENALTIES
1. If an owner exceeds
the 100 million salary cap in the course of either free agent auction their
highest bid will be disallowed and the player they bid the most on will be lost
to them (the owner cannot have the player he bid the most for). He will also
have a 5M reduction in salary cap imposed upon his team for the subsequent
season (for example, if the overbid occurred during 61-62 offseason the penalty
would be enforced in 1963). If multiple bids must be rescinded to get under the
cap then the reduction will be 5M for each bid that is in violaton.
2. Any player(s) for whom a bid is disallowed due to cap violations will be
offered to the second highest bidder at their last bid price if they are still
in a position to and want to sign that player. If the second highest bidder
can't take the player or chooses not to sign the player then that player will
be placed in the secondary free agent auction
if the violation occurred during the Premium Free Agent Auction. The
player will be made available to any interested owners via sealed bid if the
violation occurs during the secondary free agent auction phase."
3. If a new manager
takes over a team that is due to have a salary cap penalty imposed due to the
above, the penalty shall not be imposed.
F. ADDITIONAL PLAYER SIGNINGS
After the Rookie Draft,
Premium Free Agent Auction and Secondary Free Agent Auction, any team may sign
any remaining player at the minimum wage (250K). Should two teams put in a
claim for the same player at the same time, he will be awarded to the team with
the worst record at the time of the claim.
G. FULL ROSTER
At the conclusion of this entire process every team must
have 40 players under contract. Any team with less than a full 40 man roster will
have 250K in salary assigned to each vacant roster spot. At no time during
this process may a team exceed the 100 Million dollar salary cap.
H. LINEUPS
Submit lineups, pitching
assignments and managerial profile to the commissioner. Season begins.
4. FREE AGENCY
A. Players will be eligible for free agency following their sixth
season (i.e. the rookie class of 1962 will be free agents for the 1968 season;
class of 1963 will be free agents in 1969, etc).
B. Any player not offered the mandatory 250K raise shall be
considered as non-tendered and will also become a free agent.
C. Free Agent “HOMETOWN DISCOUNT” Rule
1. Any player taken in the Rookie Draft who is still with their original drafting team when they become eligible for free agency
(end of sixth
season) will have a “hometown discount” option applied to them for the free
agency auction.
2. The hometown discount will allow
the original draft team (hometown team) to submit an opening bid prior to the
free agent
auction. Any other team wishing to bid on that player will have to beat this opening bid by at least 20%, rounding up to
stay with 250K intervals. If the hometown team’s inital bid is surpassed by a bid at least 20% higher by any other team
(rounded up to
next 250K), then the auction will proceed as normal with no further advantage
to the “hometown team”.
3. If the “hometown team” resigns the
player, the same option will be available to them when the first free agent
contract
expires, assuming the player is still with the “hometown team”.
4. The “Hometown Discount” will only apply to players taken in the Rookie Draft who remain with their original team.
Players
obtained via trade or signed as free agents will not be eligible for the
hometown discount.
5. If the
hometown team chooses not to bid on a player entering free agency, that player
will be auctioned in the normal
fashion.
D. Players signed as free agents are eligible for multi-year
contracts. Contract length will depend on the salary paid, as follows:
1) Players signed for 8 million or more, contract must be 3 - 5
years.
2) Players signed for 5
million to 7.75 million, contract must be 2 – 4 years.
3) Players signed for less than 5 million, contract shall be 1 – 3
years.
LENGTH
OF THE CONTRACT IS AT THE OWNER’S OPTION AS LONG AS IT IS PROPER UNDER THE ABOVE
GUIDELINES.
E. Players on multi-year contracts may have the remainder of
their deal bought out for one half of the total remaining value of the contract
during the non-tender period. For example, a player on a 3 year/10M per year
deal could have the 2nd and 3rd years bought out for a 10M cap hit
in year 2 or a 5M cap hit in year 3.
5. FRANCHISE PLAYERS
Beginning with the 1970 Rookie
Draft, each team may designate one player as a Franchise Player per decade
(1970 to 1979; 1980 to 1989; 1990 to 1999; 2000 to 2010). Rules concerning
Franchise Players are:
A. The player must be one that was originally drafted as a
rookie and retained by the designating team.
B. The designation of Franchise Player shall be made after the
player’s third season, where the salary doubling would normally occur. Once
the Franchise Player designation is
given a player, he is automatically given a three year contract at 12M per
year. Once this original three year contract expires, the designating team may
continue to sign the Franchise Player to one year contracts, each at 12M per
year.
D. The Franchise Player remains with the designating team for
as long as the team owner desires, at the 12M per year salary. The player does
not become a free agent after his sixth season.
E. A Franchise Player who is traded by his original team loses
the Franchise Player tag and is treated as follows:
1. If the player is traded during his three year contract
period (player years 4 thru 6), the contract remains in effect for it’s
duration, and the player becomes a free agent when the contract expires (end of
player year six).
2. If the player is traded once he is on a one year
contract at 12M (past the sixth player year):
a. If traded during the season, his current contract for 12M will
be valid through the end of the season. The team trading for the player has the
option of signing the player to a contract extension, based on the salary
structure outlined in section b below. If they choose not to resign the player,
he becomes a free agent.
b. If traded during the off season, the acquiring team
must sign the player to a contract. The
amount of the contract will depend on the number of years the player is signed for: one year
contract, 13M per year; two year contract, 14M per year; three year contract,
15M per year; four year contract, 16M per year; and five year contract, 17M per
year. The player may not be signed to a contract for more than five years. When
the contract expires, the player becomes a free agent.
6. EXPANSION
A. The league may expand at any time in the future
upon agreement of a majority of the owners
B. The method and procedure for this expansion will be determined by discussion
and mutual consensus of the current
owners.
7. STADIUM MOVES
An owner gets one free stadium move over the life of their franchise. Moves may also be made with a change of ownership or if your stadium went inactive in real life. Any stadium move requests not covered by this section shall be dealt with on a case by case basis and may result in a salary cap deduction to pay for the move.
8. AMENDMENTS TO RULES
These rules may be amended at any
time by a majority vote of active owners.