ABL RULES:

The Academy Baseball League or ABL consists of 20 teams. Powered by Diamond Mind 12.

There are 4 Divisions of 5 Teams in 2 Leagues.

AL and NL will use DH with interleague play on in the ABL.

Injuries are off all year in the ABL.

*Manager profiles* Are to be submitted to Mike Bladen whenever you want. 

*League Stats* All ABL league stats will be on the ABL disk not on this website. Non disk managers can reach out to Mike Bladen if required.

ROSTERS/MANAGER PROFILES/INJURIES:

Rosters will consist of 40 Players

Each manager will maintain an active roster of 26 Players with a 5 man rotation.

Starting each year on September 1st the 26-man active roster may increase to 37.

The manager may farm any player at any time.

From year-to-year 30 players or less will be kept, with a yearly email draft after. Zero stat players on the disk or NON disk, if kept (1) will NOT count towards the 30, any other NON disk players over (1) will count.

If a manager wants to protect under 30 players they may. Therefore drafting past round 10, anything after round 10 will be a list as per above.

Players must be rated at their positions in DMB to play there. Outfielders can play LF or RF however CF can only play CF not the corners. If a player is rated DH, he can only play at DH.

The AL and NL will both have DH.

Each team owner is responsible for the maintenance of their teams Manager Profile (MP). In the event that a team is unowned, the ABL Commissioner shall maintain that teams MP.

At a minimum the following sections of the MP shall be maintained. Active/Farmed players Starting Rotation Batting Order with DH against LHP Batting Order with DH against RHP

Injuries will be turned off in the ABL.

USAGES:

Please watch them no player should be used over 120%. Any player over 120% will not be eligable for playoff use.

SCHEDULE:

The schedule will be defined by the commissioner.

It will have interleague play on as well with the AL and NL both using DH.

FREE AGENT DRAFT: 9am to 9pm Eastern Time. First pick starts 9am to 10am, last pick is 9pm to 9am, the last team in the round can pick anytime in the night as long as it's before 10am the next day. If you pick during the night, great we will be ahead a bit if not that is fine. We don't pick while guys are sleeping and we don't skip ahead.

The free agent draft will consist of players that are in the current years season which are not protected on a current roster. Each team can draft whatever player they want in the draft and 120% usage rule will apply.

If there is a tie at the end of the season for worst team. The team with the worst head to head record will win the better pick overall in the draft.

As soon as a team is done drafting and their roster is full. They cannot deal away their remaining un-used picks. This is not allowed in the ABL. There will be zero trades of picks during the email draft. Players can be dealt but not picks.

TRADES:

All trades must be reported to the commissioner by both teams before a trade is considered complete.

The "Trading Season" begins the day after the Championship Series is over and runs till the Trading Deadline.

The Trading Deadline is August 15th. 5.4 There will be no trades during the ABL draft. All trades must be completed before and after draft.

SIGNING AND RELEASING PLAYERS:

If you need to sign a FA, you must cut a player and lose that player as well as the FA at seasons end. Cover all your positions for 162 games. Abs and innings within your 40 man roster. Free agents CANNOT be used in the playoffs.

LIMITATIONS:

All players may not exceed 120% period. The ABL Commissioner will monitor the usage throughout the season.

PLAYOFFS: If there is a tie at the end of the Regular Season between two teams for ONE playoff spot, there will be a one game playoff. The team with the best head-to-head record will be the home team.

The playoffs will all be a best of 7 games with the team with the best overall record in each league receiving the home field advantage throughout the playoffs. In case of ties, the team with the best head-to-head record wins, followed by the best road record, then best home record, and finally a coin flip by the commissioner.

The 4 Division winners are in the playoffs and will have home field advantage in the first round. 

There will be 4 Wild Card teams. They will be the top 2 non-division winners in the AL and the top 2 non-division winners in the NL. 

Division Series matchups will go as follows (ALDS) #1 AL Division Winner vs. #2 AL Wild Card, #2 AL Division Winner vs. #1 AL Wild Card and (NLDS) #1 NL Division Winner vs. #2 NL Wild Card, #2 NL Division Winner and #1 Wild Card. The American League Championship Series' (ALCS) will feature the 2 ALDS winners with the highest seeded division winner having home field advantage. If neither division winner remains in the playoff, the Wild Card team with the best record will have home field advantage. Determining home field advantage for the NLCS will follow the same process as the AL. Home field advantage for the ABL World Series will be determined by best record among the 2 competitors.

Position player that makes the playoff roster must have had 100 ABL plate appearances during the season. 

Pitchers that make the playoffs. Starting pitchers must have pitched 100 ABL innings during the season. Relief pitchers must have pitched 30 ABL innings during the regular season.

You may use a four man rotation in the playoffs but anyone over 120% usage in the season, will not be eligable for playoff use.