GSBL 2006 Official Rules
Last Updated: July 2006
Gentlemens Simulated Baseball League (GSBL) is supposed to be a fun simulation of running a professional baseball team. The number one rule is that we have fun. All other rules are subordinate to that.
Out of the Park will be used as the game simulation engine. Owning the game is not required. The game will be updated with any patches as soon as they are tested by the Commissioner.
Each owner is responsible to submit lineups or a notice of "no changes" at a minimum of every once a week. It is the owner's responsibility to assure his team is up to full roster. Any owner who expects to be away or loses computer and/or Internet access is expected to contact the Commissioner to apprise him of their current situation, if possible. Each owner is responsible to maintain their team and keep in touch with the Commissioner.
Each team owner will be required to submit a valid e-mail address to the Commissioner for the purpose of receiving league communications. E-mail will be used by the Commissioner to broadcast important messages, such as schedule changes or upcoming deadlines.
There will be an official league web site to broadcast news, scores, current standings, etc. The current site is located at http://www.geocities.com/k_faux_46/index.htm
There will be a Commissioner to act as the game master and coordinator for all league activities. The Commissioner must at all times act in the best interest of the league. The Commissioner has the following duties:
Simulate all games
Maintain rosters, transactions and the league web site.
Ensure that all information posted on the web site is as current and correct as possible.
Keep all owners informed of general league business by means of e-mail
Assure that all teams are owned and have active owners.
Watch all trades for signs of collusion or for seriously imbalanced trades.
Uphold the rules and regulations of the league, removing any team owner who violates the rules.
There are no fees related to the league.
Games will be simulated each Sunday. Seven game days will be processed each session. All roster changes and lineups must be submitted to the Commissioner no later than 6pm Eastern time Saturday.
At the end of the regular season, playoff series will be held to determine the league Champion.
The two conferences will meet in an exhibition game at the mid-point of the season. The computer will choose a list of 25 All-Stars to participate in the game. That list will be amended by the Commissioner to include at least one representative from every team.
The home field advantage for the game will alternate from one conference to the other each season.
Each team’s active roster is limited to 25 players, expanding to 40 players on September 1. In the post-season, the active roster is again limited to 25 players. The minor league levels have a limit of 50 players each.
Owners need to e-mail the Commissioner with any lineup changes.
Pitching rotations may be with 4 or 5 starters. Owners will identify the starting pitchers in the order in which they will appear. Three-man pitching rotations will only be allowed in the playoffs.
A team may move its players between the active roster, minor league levels (AAA) and the disabled list. In order to make a roster move, the team owner must notify the Commissioner by 6:00 pm Eastern time on Saturday.
After three years as a pro, a player must be protected on a team's 40-man roster, or he is eligible for the Rule 5 draft (see Rule 5 Draft). Once he's served those three years, and assuming he is added to the 40-man roster, his club then has what are called "options" on him. When a player is on the 40-man roster but not on the 25-man Major League roster, he is on "optional assignment." One common misconception about the rules is that a player may only be "optioned out" three times. Actually, each player has three option years, and he can be sent up and down as many times as the club chooses within those three seasons.
When you hear that a player is "out of options," that means he's been on the 40-man roster during three different seasons, beginning with his fourth as a pro, and to be sent down again he'll have to clear waivers (see Waivers).
Players more than 5 years of major league service get the right to refuse assignment to the minors. Players with 5 or more years of pro service get the right to refuse assignment off of the 40-man roster. In this case, the only alternative is to keep the player on the active roster or release him and pay the remainder of his contract (see Releasing Players).
A team’s players may be reassigned between minor league levels at any time without penalty.
Any player with a Major League contract must be on the team's 40-man roster.
When a player is put on waivers or is acquired from another team in a trade, his status will be "designated for assignment." This means that the team will have 14 sim days (or 2 sims) to place the player on a roster. If the team does not make a decision about the player's status, the sim cannot proceed. In this case, the Commissioner will immediately place the player as needed. A player who is designated for assignment does not occupy a spot on the 40-man roster. Thus, a team does not have to wait for the player to clear waivers before they may proceed.
For example, if a player is acquired in a trade, he will go on to his new team as "designated for assignment." He does not automatically take up a roster spot on the new team. The team owner has 2 sims to decide what to do with the player.
There are two Disabled Lists, the 15-day and 60-day. The only real difference between them is that players on the 60-day DL -- sometimes called the Emergency DL -- don't count against a team's 40-man roster. A player on the 15-day Disabled List may be shifted to the 60-day DL at any time.
Players on a Disabled List may be assigned to a minor league team for the purpose of injury rehabilitation.
If a player gets injured, it is the responsibility of the team owner to put them on the DL. If an injury causes a team to be short at a position, the Commissioner will try to fill the gap with players on the team’s roster as best as possible. The injured player will, however, remain on the active roster and will not be moved to the DL until the owner says to do so.
A player must remain on the DL for a minimum of 15 or 60 days, but may remain there as long as desired.
Though the game minimum is 15 or 60 days, since the game is run for 7 simulated days at a time, the actual minimum is 21 or 63 days. A player that is healthy and who has served his minimum time on the DL may be recalled to the major league roster in the middle of a sim, provided the team owner gives the Commissioner specific instructions on the appropriate roster moves. The Commissioner will attempt to carry out those instructions, but if they cannot be implemented for one reason or another, the Commissioner has the right to override those instructions to complete the sim.
An owner may release a player from their team by sending notification to the Commissioner. The team is still liable for the remainder of the player’s contract. This is true even if the player is later signed as a free agent by another team.
An owner places a player on waivers when he wants to remove him from a roster. It can be when he is just removing him from the 40-man roster, the active roster or the entire roster (by trade). When a player is placed on waivers, he will show up on the Waiver Wire for all to see and claim. He will remain there for 8 game days. Two things can happen during this time. Either the player will go unclaimed and will clear waivers, or the player will be claimed by some team. When a player clears waivers, the intended transaction goes forward. However, if the player is claimed, one of two things can happen. Assuming the waivers were revocable, the original team owner can pull the player off waivers, if the waiver period hasn't expired. If they don't or can't, the player will be signed by the team with the worst record, favoring teams in the original team's own conference. During the first month of the season, the prior year's records are used to determine this.
Other teams will have until 6pm the night before the 2nd sim after a player is placed on waivers to claim him. For example, if the player is placed on waivers before Monday's sim, other owners would have until Wednesday at 6pm (the night before Thursday's sim) to claim him.
If he is not claimed in time, then he will be considered cleared, and the
original team can proceed.
If he is claimed, then the original team will
have until 6pm the next night to pull him off waivers, or he will go to the
claiming team. For example, if the player is claimed on Wednesday night, the
original team will have until 6pm on Thursday to rescind the transaction and
reclaim the player.
A team may have no more than 7 players in the act of clearing waivers at any one time.
Waivers are not in effect during the off-season until after the Rule 5 draft; no waiver claims can be made during this period.
There are two types of waivers in the game. The type of waiver that is used
is determined by the situation that required the waiver in the first
place.
Revocable Waivers: If a player is placed on revocable
waivers, the original team can pull him off of waivers before the waiver period
ends, even if it is after another team has claimed him.
Irrevocable
Waivers: A player placed on irrevocable waivers cannot be removed if another
team claims him. If that happens, the original team will lose the player. Please
note that you can always remove a player from waivers if the waiver deadline
hasn't passed and no team has yet claimed the player.
There are four cases in the game in which waivers are wanted or necessary:
1) Removing a player from the 40-man roster
2) Sending a player out of
options to the minor leagues
3) After-deadline trading
4) Salary
dumping/decoy/ etc.
In each case, there is a certain result depending on
whether the player clears waivers or not.
Removing a player from the
40-man roster
If an owner wishes to
move a player off his 40-man roster without releasing him outright, the
player must go through revocable waivers. If the player is claimed, the original
team can take him off waivers, but he'll remain on the 40-man roster. Otherwise,
the owner can also let him go to the other team, which will clear the roster
spot.
Sending a player out of options to the minor leagues
A
player starts his career with three option years (see Demoting Players to the
Minors). When the player's options are all used
though, he must clear irrevocable waivers before being allowed to be moved from
the active roster. Once another team claims the player, he will be leaving the
original team when the waiver period is up. If, however, the player clears
waivers, he may be moved down to the minors and will stay on the 40-man
roster.
After-deadline trading
After July 31st, there is only
one way to trade players. All of the players that are to be traded must clear
waivers. Once the sides agree on the players involved, the players must clear
waivers. Regardless of roster or contract status, every player involved
on either side of the trade has to clear waivers. If any of the players is
claimed by any team, the trade will be cancelled and players will stay on their
respective teams. If the waiver period passes and all players clear, the trade
will be processed as planned.
Salary dumping/decoys/etc.
Sometimes, a team does not have
to put a player on waivers, but may want to put a player on waivers
for some purpose. Waivers can be a good way to get rid of the salary of a
high-priced player if you don't want to pay to release him, since a claiming
team picks up the tab. This is called "salary dumping." After the trading
deadline, you can increase the odds that your players will clear by sending
several players (decoys) through waivers in addition to those being traded.
Sometimes you just want to see if there is any interest in a player. By putting
the player on waivers, you can see if any team would like him. You can take the
player off waivers (don't forget to do it before the waiver period runs out!)
and then use the information to possibly negotiate a deal with the interested
team.
No trades for major league players will be processed after July 31st of each simulated season unless all players involved have cleared waivers (see Waivers). Players with a minor league contract can be traded at any time.
Players, draft picks and cash may be included in any trade. No trade may result in either team having more than the allowed salary cap, cash or number of players.
Since traded draft picks are handled externally to the game and thus the original team has to make the pick then trade the player to the receiving team, the Commissioner will re-imburse the original team any signing bonus paid and charge it to the receiving team.
Trades that include a “player to be named later” are allowed. Both teams must agree on a specific player before the end of the last game of the regular season. If they do not, the Commissioner will arbitrate the deal and will select the player or players required to complete the trade.
In order to accomplish a trade, the game requires that each team swap at least one player. In the case of one team selling a player to another or gives up a player for other consideration (such as draft picks), there will be a designated minor leaguer with minimal ratings that will be used to complete such deals. These players will have the last name "Grue". They may not be used by the team owners for any other purpose. The Commissioner may use the Grue players at any time and may at times reset the Grue player ratings to zero.
Once a trade is successfully completed, both teams will have until 6:00 pm Eastern time on the day of the simulation to submit modified rosters, lineups and pitching rotations with the new player or players in place. The trade will not be processed in the game until both teams have done so.
The Commissioner will decide whether or not a trade will unfairly affect the competitiveness of the league. The Commissioner may initiate a trade protest. Alternatively, if at least five team owners e-mail the Commissioner with a protest to a specific trade, it will be considered protested.
Notification will be made via e-mail to all team owners. Each owner will be requested to vote on whether to reject the trade via private e-mail to the Commissioner. If 50% or more of the team owners vote to protest the trade, it will be considered for rejection by the Commissioner. The Commissioner will rule to accept or reject the trade. A protested trade may be considered for as long as necessary, but never beyond the end of the current regular season.
Trades will be processed immediately upon agreement by both parties, and the players may play for their new teams until such time as they are rejected by the Commissioner.
If a trade is subsequently rejected, the Commissioner will return the players involved to their original teams. If cash is involved, the Commissioner will restore to each team’s cash balance the amount traded. If draft picks or other future considerations are involved, they will be considered null and void.
The Free Agent simulation in the game consists of 30 simulated days in which each team may submit contract bids for players in the Free Agent Pool. The league will start its simulation on Day 26, and process the last 5 days of the sim. For each of these days, team owners will e-mail the Commissioner the names of players for which an offer is being submitted. The offer must include the proposed salary amount and length of contract.
The Commissioner will enter all offers received into the game and process one simulated day. The results will be posted on the league web site.
The Commissioner will continue the process in this manner every day until the remaining days of the simulation have been completed. (For example, bids are due for Day 26 on Friday at 6pm. The Commissioner enters all the bids into the sim on Friday night and runs it for that sim day, returning the results to the teams. Bids are due for Day 27 on Saturday at 6pm, and the Commissioner will continue in that manner for subsequent sim days.)
While the season is underway, team owners may make bids for players remaining in the Free Agent Pool. Up to 24-hours prior to each sim, a team may send a bid to the Commissioner via e-mail for up to 2 players. Included in this message must be the player name, position, maximum annual salary and length of contract. The number of players on which a team may bid increases to 3 after the July 31 trading deadline.
The Commissioner will report the results of the bids as follows:
If no other team has bid on the same player, the team will get the player for the minimum contract that he will sign (up to the submitted bid).
If more than one team has bid on the same player, he will go to the team that has offered the largest total contract (salary multiplied by length of contract).
If more than one team has bid the same total contract amount, all teams will be listed from the worst to the best winning percentage from the previous season, and ties will be broken according to the rules for determining home field advantage in the divisional playoffs (see Playoffs and Championships). 24-hours prior to the next simulation, the claiming team with the worst record according to the list will be able to claim the player. Once a team has successfully claimed a player, it will move to the bottom of the original list for subsequent claims.
Once the Off-Season Free Agent Period is complete, teams will have one chance to sign up to 2 players from the Free Agent pool before the season starts. Using the above procedure, teams will have until 24-hours prior to the start of Spring Training to submit bids.
No Free Agent claims or signings from the Free Agent pool are allowed during the playoffs.
A team may never offer more cash than it has available. If a team holds the high bid on a player and cannot sign him due to this or roster limitations, the team with the next highest bid will gain the right to sign the player.
Players in the last year of their contract are eligible to be signed to a contract extension before the contract runs out at the end of the season. Contract extensions typically include an increase in annual salary and/or number of years.
Upon request, the Commissioner will provide a team owner with a report of the desired contract changes for each eligible player. To make an offer, a team must notify the Commissioner via e-mail of the player name, annual salary and length of contract offered. If a player does not sign an extension by the end of the playoffs, he will become a Free Agent for the next season.
When the Free Agent Period is finished (see 4.01 Off-Season Free Agency), there will be a draft of new players called the "First-Year Player Draft" or “Amateur Draft”.
The Amateur Draft will last for a minimum of 5 rounds. This can vary from season-to-season depending on the number of available players in the amateur draft pool desired.
The draft order will be from the team finishing with the worst record in the previous season to the team with the best. Ties will be broken in the same manner as for determining home field advantage in the divisional playoffs.
A player not on a team's Major League 40-man roster is eligible for the Rule 5 draft if: the player was 18 or younger when he first signed a pro contract and this is the fourth Rule 5 draft since he signed, OR if he was 19 or older when he first signed a pro contract and this is the third Rule 5 draft since he signed.
A player drafted onto a Major League roster in the Rule 5 draft must remain in the majors (on the 25-man active roster or the DL) for all of the subsequent season, or the drafting club must attempt to return him to his original club. However, since a returned Rule 5 player must first be placed on outright waivers, a third club could claim the player off waivers. But of course, that club would then also have to keep him in the majors all season, or offer him back to his original club.
Occasionally, the drafting club will work out a trade with the player's original team, allowing the drafting club to retain the player but send him to the minors. To prevent teams from colluding to circumvent the rules on keeping a player in the majors, players taken in the Rule 5 Draft may not be traded prior to the All-Star Break of the year in which they are selected.
The Rule 5 Draft will last until there are no teams who wish to pick or that do not have a free slot on their 40-man roster.
The draft order will be from the team finishing with the worst record in the previous season to the team with the best. Ties will be broken in the same manner as for determining home field advantage in the divisional playoffs.
The default ticket price is $10, but can range from $4 to $20. Normally, ticket prices may only be changed during the offseason and at the All-Star Break. If a team makes it to the playoffs, they may raise or lower their ticket prices once prior to the start of the post-season. The new ticket price will remain in effect at the start of the next season, unless it is changed by the owner during the offseason. To change prices, an owner must send an e-mail to the Commissioner.
If a team makes it to the playoffs, they will get a some amount of income per game played.
Income from the National TV broadcasting rights will be spread evenly across the teams. The initial deal was signed for $588 million through the 2007 season. It will be re-evaluated before the 2008 season. The amount and length of the deal will be based on average fan interest and average attendance for the league.
Income from Local TV broadcasting contracts is calculated on a per-team basis every 3 seasons. The contract is based on the Team Market at the time of contract renewal plus a bonus for each point of Fan Interest.
The base contract is for $12 million for a team in an Average Market. For each market level above or below that, the team will get an adjustment of +/- $1 million to the contract. The current Team Market levels are: Almost Nonexistent, Tiny, Small, Below Average, Average, Slightly Above Average, Good, Big, Really Big, and HUGE. A team in a Good market would get a base contract of $14 million. A team in a Tiny market would get $9 million.
For each point of Fan Interest $60,000 will be added to the contract. So, a team with a 50 (out of 100) would get an extra $3 million ($15 million). A team with 100 would get $18 million.
Income from merchandising is variable per team and is calculated by the game. Initially, each team received $10 million from merchandising.
All teams start with an identical stadium that seats 45,000. A stadium may be modified, or a new stadium built, according to these rules.
A team may make a change to its stadium in the off-season by declaring its intention to do so in an e-mail to the Commissioner. The e-mail must include the details of the remodeling. The Commissioner will return an estimate of the total construction costs and the amount the local taxpayers are willing to pay. The construction will be completed at the end of the off-season period, just before Opening Day.
The total cash, including any overruns, will be subtracted from the team’s cash account when construction is complete, though the initial estimate may be paid at any time the team desires. If the team cannot pay for the final construction, there will be a 10% surcharge levied, and the league will deduct the balance from the team’s account in the next off-season. If at that time the team still cannot meet its obligation, the team will be forced out of its stadium and must play in the standard league park for no less than 10 years before attempting any further construction.
You may increase the number of seats and make one other modification each off-season. All changes to wall distances and heights are treated as one modification for purposes of this rule.
Available features that can be included in a renovation or new construction include the following:
Seats beyond 45,000 ($1 million, plus $1 million per 1,000 seats)
Permanent roof ($15 million)
Retractable roof ($25 million)
Grass ($1 million)
Artificial turf ($5 million)
For every 1,000 seats over 50,000, there will be a $500,000 surcharge that the taxpayer will not pay.
The ballpark factors (affecting the number of doubles, triples, right-handed batting average, left-handed batting average, right-handed homers and left-handedhomers) of a stadium may be altered by moving the walls and changing their height. The cost is $5 million, plus $500,000 per 10-feet change in the distance or height of each wall (left field line, left, left center, center, right center, right, right field line).
Initial distances to walls in the default park are:
Left field line: 330 ft
Left field: 350 ft
Left center: 375 ft
Center: 400 ft
Right center: 375 ft
Right field: 350 ft
Right field line: 330 ft
All initial wall heights are 9 ft.
Distances cannot be made less than the minimums of 325 feet down each line and 400 feet to center without special exemption from the league.
The amount of foul territory and/or the "carry factor" for a park (how well the ball travels to a particular field--Left, Center or Right) can be modified directly for $10 million per BPF.
Example: A new stadium with artificial turf, a retractable roof, a left field wall shortened to 325 (left line), 330 (left), 355 (left center) and raised to 20 feet each, and with 55,000 seats would cost $200 million (new construction) + $5 million (turf) + $25 million (roof) + $8.9 million (walls) + $11 million (seats) + $2.5 million (seat surcharge) = $252.4 million. The resulting Ball Park Factors would be: 100 (Doubles), 95 (Triples), 102 (Right-handed Average), 110 (Right-handed Homers), 100 (Left-handed Average), 104 (Left-handed Homers).
Once the total cost of all features (plus any surcharges or initial construction fees) have been added, the Commissioner will determine the cost to the team based on the following criteria:
15% of the total, if the team won the League Championship the prior season
20% of the total, if the team had a .525 winning percentage or better for the past 3 seasons
35% of the total, if the team had a .500 winning percentage or better for the past 3 seasons
50% of the total, if the team had a sub-.500 winning percentage for the past 3 seasons
Example: A team that had a .500 winning percentage for 3 years prior to the initial notification of construction would expect to pay 35% of $247 million, plus the $2.5 million seat surcharge the taxpayers will not pay, for a total of$88,950,000.
At the end of construction, the Commissioner will add a random cost overrun of from 0 to 10 percent of the total construction cost to the amount of cash owed by the team.
If a team changes ownership during a season in which new stadium construction is underway, the new owner may cancel construction and will not have to pay the balance of the contract.
When players retire, the game will automatically induct certain ones into the Hall of Fame. While this is a good feature, there will be times when the league will wish to enshrine its own members. In this case, a ballot of the top candidates will be distributed to all team owners, and by a 75-percent vote of all participating teams (minimum of 5 votes), the player will be elected to the Hall of Fame.
The reverse may be true, as well. There may be times when the game promotes a player to the Hall of Fame that the team owners do not feel merits inclusion. In this case, if 5 owners petition to have the player removed, a vote will be held among all team owners. By a 75-percent vote of all participating teams (minimum of 5 votes), the player will be removed from the Hall of Fame.
To be included on the Hall of Fame ballot, a player must have retired during the off-season of the year in which he is initially under consideration. The player must have won at least one major award or been named to an All-Star team. Also, the player must have played in at least one Major League game in each of 10 seasons.
This rule will be phased in to allow older players that started with the league a chance to become eligible. Players who started in their first Major League game in 2003 must play in at least 5 season to be eligible. The minimum number of seasons will be increased by one each subsequent season until 2008. So, a player who started in 2004 will need 6 seasons; a player who started in 2005 will need 7 seasons; and so on.
If a player fails to receive enough votes to be elected (75-percent), the player will remain on the ballot for the following season unless he fails to receive at least 25-percent of the votes.
During the off-season, the rules may be reviewed for modification. Any owner may present a proposed rule change to the Commissioner. Rule change proposals will be posted on the league forum for a period no less than one week before its implementation in order to give team owners a chance to comment.