Total Mogul Baseball League
The Rules
* Trading
* Roster Submission Deadline
* Backing out of a trade agreement
* Amateur Draft and Pick List
* Player Releases
* Re-signing Players
* Waiver Wire
* Playoff Contest Prizes
* Free Agency
* Stadium Changes
* Catching & Position Changes
* New Owner Information
* Cash Cap
* Player retirement penalties (forcing retirement)
* Bankruptcy
* Tanking
* Emergency Clause
Trading is allowed from the free agent period through August 31st.
In-season trading is suspended on September 1st until the following free agent period.
Players, Draft picks and Cash may be traded.
Only the current season's draft picks may be traded. For example - You may not trade a 2006 draft pick until after the 2005 rookie draft is completed. Also, a draft pick cannot be traded if your team is currently on the clock for the pick in the draft. Finally, if a trade involving a draft pick is later vetoed, and the draft pick has already been made, the drafted player will revert to the team who orginally had the pick.
Trades must be confirmed by both owners to be valid.
The details of all trades are to be posted on the message board.
Trades are not considered completed until the commissioner updates the main file. This means that either owner can back out of any trade until the commissioner flags it as done. "Flagging" is any comment made by the commissioner that isn't a hold or cancelation. This includes comments about trade bonuses being credited or denied, or the draft order being updated where applicable. Please note that a trade must be posted for 24 hours before the commish can process the trade in the file.
A trade will be put on hold if immediate execution would put it out of compliance with the rules stated here; for example a trade posted after August 31st and before FA period will be on hold until the league advances to FA period and the resumption of trading is announced.
Any trade may be deemed illegal if it appears that two owners are working together to build up one team at the expense of the other. A trade is not subject to being rejected just because the talent on both sides of the trade appears to be unequal, but overly lopsided trades can be negated. Collusion may also be called on two teams if it appears that they have been working together to build one team as a instant contender and packing the other team with prospects and draft picks.
Different owners have different value systems and philosophies in team building, so trades need not appear to be equal in order to be a legal trade, but a trade such as a very high first round DP for a bench warmer may be protested.
It is up to the owners in the league to report trades that might be illegal to the commissioner.
All roster changes must be submitted by 9pm eastern the DAY BEFORE the sim is to take place.
That means that if the sim takes place on Thursday, rosters must be submitted by 9pm eastern on Wednesday. A roster submitted at 9:01pm WILL NOT be input into the game until the following sim. No exceptions!
It's generally considered bad form to agree to a trade and then back out, but sometimes there are good reasons to do this. Therefore, No trade is considered official until I execute it.
That means the owner who posts the trade has just as much right to change his mind as the owner who is supposed to confirm the trade. Up until now, the posting owner seemed to be locked into a trade as soon as he started the thread, while all the other owner had to do to kill the trade was decide not to confirm it. If the owner who starts the thread either deletes his own post or posts that he's canceling the trade before I put it through then the trade is dead.
Amateur draft and pick list process (begun in 1972)
On April 1, all amateurs will be sorted by scouting score and placed in a list that will be posted to the website.
All teams will automatically get the highest rated player available on this list, unless the owner chooses to opt out. The draft order will not have email addresses. The section for email addresses in the draft order will read "List pick". A new section called "Action" will be added to the list to avoid confusion.
By default, the Action section for all teams will read "Gets next highest player on the list" (or similar but with fewer words)
An owner can choose to opt out of getting a list pick by:
1 - Posting his intention to make all his draft picks himself or
2 - Posting his intention to make his own picks for specific rounds (i.e. round 1 or rounds 1 & 2)
3- Emailing me or sending me a PM
If an owner opts out, he / she will have 18 hours to make a pick when his / her turn comes up in the draft.
If an owner posts that he wants to opt out, the email address section of the draft order will be changed from "List Pick" to that owner's email address. The action section will be changed to read "Email Owner"
If an owner opts out, but misses his pick due to timing out, he'll get the next available player from the list for the remainder of the draft. The draft order will be modified to read List Pick under email address, and "Gets next highest player on the list" under Action. There will be no appeal.
If an owner opts out and misses his pick he may not specify the desire to get a player in a specific position.
An owner may not hedge his bet by posting that he wants to make his own pick, but if he times out he should get a specific player type. You're either getting the list pick or you're not.
An owner MAY post that he wants to make his own pick, but if he hasn't made it within X number of hours, he'd like get a list player from a specific position (see below). X hours will be no more than 5 hours before the owner would have timed out. With an 18 hour limit, X hours would be equal to or less than 13 hours.
If an owner does not choose to opt out of the automatic list pick, but wants to customize what types of players he gets, he can post selection instructions for the commissioner and league assistants. These instructions can specify the following:
Next hitter
Next pitcher
Next C or 1B or IF or 2B or 3B or SS or OF or LF or CF or RF or SP or RP
In addition to the above, the owner may specify one player attribute consistent with the type of player he wants. Examples:
Next hitter, or specific position (see above), with highest Power rating or highest Contact rating, or Eye, or speed rating.
Next pitcher, or RP or SP, with the highest Movement or highest Power or highest Control, or highest Endurance.
Next player (or specific position) with the earliest real life debut date.
Although other selection categories may be added, an owner may not ask for anything that requires using Edit Player to look at either current or peak predictions (i.e. lowest peak ERA, highest peak BA, longest peak range). Only those things that can be seen from the sorted amateurs list may be added to the player selection instructions.
NOTES:
1 - An owner who chooses to opt out must post his intention to make his own picks before the file is advanced to April 1st. If you read the league emails, you'll have plenty warning.
2 - An owner who chooses to opt out may change his mind and ask to get a list player at any time before his team is up.
3 - An owner who posted specific list instructions may change those instructions at any time before his team is up.
4 - An owner can post different instructions for every round of the draft, as long as he makes it clear what round he's talking about.
5 - The list will include what year a player actually debuted. Just remember that this date is not the start of his peak, it only tells us when the real life team decided it was time to start using him. Few players will be ready for the pros on that date by our standards.
Example of number 4:
For round 1 the Mariners would like the highest power OF. For round 2 give me the best contact IF. Round 3 I want the pitcher with the best endurance.
A player may be released at any time by buying out the contract for the amount the game charges in the most current official league file.
New owners are allowed three free releases when they take over a team. This applies to people new to the league and people changing teams.
BTW: Only players who were already on the team at the time the new owner took over are eligible for a free release.
When negotiating with your players, you can not accept his counter-offer if it includes either team or player options. After your third offer, you need to:
1) Have the player accept that offer you made
OR
2) Have him counter with a demand that does not include player or team options.
If the player requires a no-trade clause, leave it and it'll be removed after the deal is signed. The only thing you need to make sure of is that there are no options included in the player’s counter offer if you wish to accept it.
We don’t we allow options because most players accept less money with them included.
Players Eligible to be Claimed
1. Any player who has reached his peak (age, not rating) and is in a team's minor leagues.
2. Any player who has been posted to the waiver wire by his current team owner.
Exceptions to #1
-The player is currently injured
-The player has just come off of injury within the last sim
-The player just reached peak within the last sim
Claim Priority
If a player is claimed by multiple teams, the priority will be determined on the prior season's winning percentage. (reverse order).
Obviously, there are a lot of ties in TMBL when it comes to this. When a tie in winning percentage exists, the tiebreaker will be the TMBL Draft Order. For example, if the Expos and Braves have the same winning percentage, and the Expos pick before the Braves in the draft, the Expos will be considered to be ahead of the Braves in waiver wire priority as well.
Blocking of Claim
Any owner who has a player on his / her team claimed by another owner may block the claim by simply promoting that player to the major leagues. The player must remain in the major leagues for the rest of that season.
If the player returns to the minor leagues in the same season and this is not because of one of the exceptions mentioned above, the next claim on that player cannot be blocked a second time by the owner.
Waiver Penalities
If a player is claimed on waivers during the same season in which he was signed as a free agent, and the current owner does not block the waiver claim, he / she will be fined 50% of the remaining contract amount.
If an owner wins a player on waivers and then proceeds to lose that player to waivers during the same season, he / she will be fined 50% of the remaining contract amount.
Waiver Claim Timing and Limitations
Each team in TMBL will be limited to 3 waiver "wins" in any given season. Once you have won 3 players on waivers, you are done until the following season.
The waiver period will run from April 30th to August 31st during each season.
Making a Claim
To make a claim, an owner must e-mail the owner of the team the claim is being made from. The commish MUST be copied on this e-mail. The waiver wire "guru" (to be discussed below) MUST also be copied on this e-mail.
In addition to the e-mail, the owner making the claim MUST also post the claim on the "Waiver Wire" board. The claim should look like the following example:
Subject: 3B Bill Madlock
Message: The Reds claim 3B Bill Madlock from the Expos
At this time, a 48 hour clock will start. During that 48 hours, any team in TMBL can also submit a claim (obviously, if you know someone with a lower win % than you in the prior season has made a claim, then you don't need too).
Also, during the 48 hour period, the owner of the player being claimed can come in at any time and say the player will be moved to the majors for the next sim. After the next sim, if that player is still sitting in the minors, he will be sent to the winning claim team without hesitation. No ifs ands or buts about it. (This is how we are going to get around the whole .Team file issue as some are e-mailed and some are on the boards).
Salary Reductions:
Salary Reductions are obviously used to reduce the salary of a player or players on your team. The main restriction in use is they cannot be split between players. For example, if you have a salary reduction of $500K, you cannot use $250K on one player and $250K on another player. However, if you have two $500K reductions, you can use one on a player and one on a second player.
Salary Reductions cannot be traded.
There is NO limit to the number of reductions that can be used on any player, except that the player can't go below the league minimum of 400k.
Contract extensions:
Are also not cash, and can not be traded. This is a prize that every team can and should use.
Free releases:
They cannot be traded.
Free agents may be signed at any time during the regular season.
TMBL's minimum starting bid on any free agent is $400K per season.Bidding on free agents is closed from the end of the regular season until the next announced free agent period; usually soon after file turn over to BBM's FA period.
Free Agent bidding will take place on the Discussion Board. The bidding for a player is over when 24 hours have gone by without another owner posting a higher legal bid. If an owner has the top bid for 24 hours, he gets that player. This goes by the time stamp of the message board post.
Format:
- Thread name is the Player name
- In the text box: Team name, salary, number of years, total salary
- The total salary of each bid must exceed the total salary of the previous bid by no less than $100,000 PER YEAR.
- All bids must exceed the previous bid by no less than $100,000 per season
regardless of the number of years being offered.
The bid must also have a higher
total value than the last bid.
For instance: If a bid is 500k per year
by 4 years for a total of 2 million, the next legal bid can be
600k x 4, 5, 6, or 7 years.
A bid of 500k x 5, 6, or 7 years is not legal even though it increases
total contract value because it would not add
100k to the per season offer.
For example:
Team 1 opens with: $300k x 4 years, total $1.2M
Then Team 2 counters with: $400k x 5 years, total $2M.
That is a legal bid because it adds 100k per season and has a higher total value.
If Team 1 then counters with: $400k x 6 years, total $2.4M, that is not
a legal bid because it does not add the required 100k per season.
Or if Team 1 counters with: $500k x 4 years, total $2M, that is not a legal bid
because it does not exceed the total contract value of the last bid.
But if Team 1 counters with: $800k x 4 years, total $3.2M, that is
a legal bid because it adds the required 100k+ per season and has a
higher total value.
- The rule that every bid must be 100k higher per season (year) is meant to
discourage owners from winning players simply by making contracts longer than is
logical for that player.
It is not in the best interests of teams, or of the
league, for free agents to get contracts that extend beyond
the number of years that player can reasonably be expected to remain effective.
- Contracts may be for 7 years or less and no contract may extend past a player age of 45.
- Any one year contract can not be re-negotiated until September 1st of that year (to avoid massive 1 year bid that the owner immediately re-negotiates with the player for a lower contract when he wins the player).
- Withdrawal of Bids
If an owner withdraws his bid, all offers made by him will be deleted and the high bid will be reset to the last unanswered high bid. An owner withdrawing his bid my not bid on that same player again in the current FA period.
- Collusion: Collusion is defined as two or more owners entering into an agreement where one withdraws his bid to lower the price of the free agent, theoretically allowing the other owner to sign the player for less. There are currently no rules against this since there's no guarantee the other owner involved will be able to sign the player.
NOTE: Free agents are not eligible for contract buy downs in their first season with the signing team.
Because TMBL is an equalized league, all ballparks have the same income effecting settings:
Capacity - 50,000
Comfort - Average
Convenience - Average
Sightlines - Average
These settings can not be changed since the AI won't allow it.
You may change any other characteristics, during the offseason, for the following prices:
Structure:
Open to Domed: 2 millionOpen to Convertible: 3 million
Domed to Convertible: 1 million
Convertible or Domed to Open: 1 million
Surface: Natural grass to artificial turf, or turf back to grass: 1 million
Infield Quality: 500k per step (example: poor to average, good to excellent)
Infield Grass: No Charge
Visibility: 500k per step (example: poor to average, good to excellent)
Foul Grounds: 500k per step (example: tiny to small, average to large)
Outfield Walls: 2 million for all five walls as follows:
Foul Lines between 300 and 400 feet
Power Alleys between 350 and 440 feet
Center Field between 390 and 475 feet
If the historical stadium dimensions of your park in the current season were different than the guidelines above, they will be allowed.
Note: Use common sense on the wall settings. A stadium set at 400 down the foul lines, 350 in the power allys, and 475 in dead center isn't likely to happen.
Stadium name change: 500k advertising fee unless the name is historically accurate.
Fielders will not have their position changed either in the Edit Player screen or by using the change position feature at the player scorecard. The only way a fielder position gets changed in TMBL is by playing him out of position long enough (around two seasons) for the AI to make the change.
Fielders that have been changed from one position to another by the AI because he was played out of position will not be changed back to his original position for any reason.
Catching: No player my be played out of position at catcher unless catcher is one of the positions listed for him at the team defense screen. The reason is that doing this generally has some very ugly results, and is either a bad mistake or an attempt at subtle tanking.
Pitcher Usage: Minor league pitchers are allowed to have their "usage" changed when they are in the minor leagues. Any team is allowed to make changes to the usage of 3 pitchers at three different points of the season (Opening Day, Amateur Draft, and July 31st).
All new owners are expected to have a copy of Baseball Mogul 2010
It is highly desirable that a new owner familiarize himself with the rules of this league as soon as possible.
New owners are encouraged to ask questions about anything they don't understand, whether they're about league rules or BBM in general. They can ask by posting on the discussion board, or emailing one of our current owners.
New owners are allowed three free releases when they take over a team. This applies to people new to the league and people changing teams.
These free releases must be used within 72 hours (three days) of taking over the team
BTW: Only players who were already on the team at the time the new owner took over are eligible for a free release.
Starting in the 1983 season, the league moved away from the points system of $80M in cash and a max of 70 points per team.
Instead, a team can now collect up to a $150M in cash. During each offseason, when the April 1st file is posted,
teams with over $150M in cash will be lowered to $150M. This was done to try and reduce the large cash reserves around the league.
Player retirement penalties (forcing retirement)
To avoid abuse with player retirements:
* If a player is in the rotation, bullpen or starting lineup (either lineup) when he retires, there is no penalty.
* If a veteran hitter on the bench retires, the team has to pay 25% of the remaining total contract value.
* If a veteran player in the minors retires, the team has to pay 50% of the remaining total contract value.
Bankruptcy or intention To Go Bankrupt
No team will be allowed to re-sign players, sign free agents, or make trades that increase their payroll while in debt.
No team may willingly or purposely make trades and/or sign free agents which, in a best case scenario, will cause them to go into debt.
Debt below 5 million:
Even well run teams can have unexpected problems that cause them to go bankrupt.
Therefore:
First season debt below 5 million:
If the team is in debt for one season, and the amount of debt is below 5 million, the only penalty will be exclusion from signing any players or making any trades that add to the team's overall expenses.
If the team falls below the required 14 hitter 11 pitchers level it may fill in it's roster up to a maximum of 14 hitter and 11 pitchers, with players at the league minimum of 300k.
If the team lowers it's expenses to a level where they can be reasonable expected to recoup their loss by the end of the next season, they may sign players for he league minimum of 300k. No players above 300k may be signed while the team still show a negative amount of cash.
Second season debt below 5 million:
If the team reaches it's second year of debt, even if that debt is below the 5 million mark, it will auction off players until it has zero or greater cash in the bank. If the second year debt is below 5 million, owners will be given a chance to select what players are to be auctioned. Since the auctioning will continue until the team is out of debt, it is in the best interests of the owner to select players that will bring the most money from an auction.
Beginning a third money losing season after bankruptcy:
If a team has been in debt for two full seasons, the team will not be allowed to begin the next regular season with expenses that, in a best case scenario, will put that team back into debt.
In the case above, the owner will first be asked to attempt making trades that lower it's expenses. If the owners is unable to do so, the owner will be asked to volunteer players for a league held auction. The league therefrom has the right to alter the player or players contracts amount and length in a manner that will make them more salable.
In no instance can the team entering it's third season of (projected) debt bid on it's own players at the altered contract amount.
If the owner make no attempt to lower it's expenses by trade, or refuses to volunteer players for auction, the league has the right to assume control of the team long enough to conduct get the team's finances under control. Once that has been done, the owner may resume control of his team with the limitation of not being allowed to make trades or sign players which will put it back into a situation when it will lose money for the third consecutive season.
Debt of 5 million of more:
If the debt is 5 million or above, and this is the first consecutive season of debt, the team will auction off players until the debt is below the 5 million mark.
Owners will be given a chance to select what players are to be auctioned.
If the debt carries to the end of a second season, but the second season debt is below the five million mark the team will be treated the same as a team reaching the end of it's second season of debt below five million as outlined above. See section labeled "Second season debt below 5 million:"
If the second season debt is at or above 5 million, the team will trade or auction off players until it is both out of debt and can reasonably be expected to finish the coming season with a positive cash amount.. If this causes the team to go below the 14 hitter 11 pitcher roster, it may add players at league minimum until it reaches the 14 hitter 11 pitcher totals.
After a second season of debt where the team negative total is at or above 5 million, the situation will be handled as for a team about to enter a third negative income season after two consecutive bankrupt seasons. See the section "Beginning a third money losing season after bankruptcy" above.
It is the obligation of both the commissioner and the other team owners to determine that a team is putting itself into a situation that will cause it to go bankrupt.
If another owner sees this, he is to email the commissioner, not post the problem on the boards.
Tanking is not allowed.
Tanking is defined as intentionally losing games in order to get a
better draft pick.
Intentionally includes, but is not limited to, such things such as benching
or farming out good veterans and replacing them with inferior players. Leaving a
good rookie prospect, who has reached peak, in the minors can also be
considered tanking, depending on what players are used to fill the position(s)
those prospects would be expected to play.
I will generally depend upon other owners to initiate tanking charges, but in more
obvious cases I may take action without waiting for a complaint.
Under very limited and extreme circumstances, I reserve the right to warn an owner
to either change his lineup/rotation immediately or forfeit his draft picks. If
the owner agrees to accept the forfeit, there will be no further discussion, no
protests, and no league vote even if the owner changes his mind after the sim is run.
Harassing me or attempting to appeal the decision to the league may result in the
owner being removed from his team.
This type of action is provoked by:
a - A track record of rules abuse
b - Amount of time before the next sim is to be run
c - The number of games remaining in the regular season
d - The level of probability that this will impact one or more pennant races down
the stretch
If an owner refuses to accept the forfeit and refuses to accept the
directive to change his lineup/rotation, I will assume control of his team
pending a league vote with only two options: forfeit of draft picks or removal
from the league.
Complaints must be made to me by PM or email. Posting to
the message boards will not be tolerated and can result in suspension of posting
rights for up to 48 hours.
The Fines for tanking, except as noted above, are:
First offense (if the situation is corrected): An official warning is issued
and filed.
Second offense (or failure to correct the situation): The team can lose it's
place in the draft order and be assigned the last pick. Loss of position in the
draft requires a league vote.
Third offense (or failure to correct the situation): The team can lose all draft picks in the next draft. Loss of draft picks requires a league vote.
As commissioner, I reserve the right to act in fiat, without seeking or
accepting advice or approval, and without polls or league votes, when I judge
that a situation requires immediate and/or decisive action. I'll always poll
as often as I can on topics that effect this league, and emergency decisions
of this type will be very rare, but they will happen.
As members of the TMBL society, you always have the right to complain, protest,
quit, or try to overthrow the Fascist regime (me).