Post by BrewersGM on Dec 3, 2013 5:57:56 GMT
As of December 2013, the following rules will be in place for the Ultimate Dynasty League (UDL). Co-LM´s reserve the right to change and adapt the rules for the betterment of the UDL.
Ultimate Dynasty League is a Salary Contract Dynasty League
General Notes
In the Inaugural season of the Ultimate Dynasty league, everyone will select a team and select 5 keepers from that team. These 5 keepers will have their full 2013 salary. You will also select 5 minors from that same team.
League Settings:
14 Team League
6x6 H2H Scoring-Each Category
28 Man Major League Roster
NOTE: ESPN Roster will expand to allow for more minor leaguers but a roster may never exceed 28 contracted players (“Major Leaguers”).
Scoring:
The scoring for the league is a Head To Head-Each Category format. The scoring categories are as follows:
Offensive:
Runs, HR, RBI, AVG, SB, OPS
Pitching:
W, K, ERA, WHIP, Saves, Holds
The best possible result for a week would be to go 12-0 winning every category with the opposite being 0-12. Ties are permitted so while unlikely, a record of 0-0-12 is theoretically possible.
***NOTE***
A team must have enough starting pitching to start a minimum of 6 games per week. A maximum of 12 games started per week is allowed.
If you do not reach the minimum requirement then:
--All averaged pitching stats (e.g. ERA, WHIP, etc.), are lost for the entire scoring period.
If the Maximum Amount of starts are met:
--All pitchers, depending on the scoring category exceeded, will stop accumulating stats for the rest of the scoring period. However, if the maximum games are reached on the final day of the match-up or even exceeded, stats will continue to accumulate for the remainder of the day.
Team Rosters:
Minimum Roster Requirements
Each team MUST maintain at least 18 players on his roster.
This is to prevent teams from trading all their players for draft picks and being non-competitive during the season.
There are 18 active roster spots for each team. The minimum number of players may consist of players under contract or minor leaguers that have no contract.
The roster make-up is as follows:
1 C
1 1B
1 2B
1 3B
1 SS
3 OF
1 Util
5 SP
4 RP
15 Bench (Will Expand To Hold More Minor Leaguers In The Future)
Max Number of Minor League Roster Spots Is 20
Prior to the season but after all the off-season activity, you will be required to post a thread on ProBoards displaying your entire roster, including rookies, their current salary on your team, and the length of their contract.
In addition please post the following: (Referenced More Later)
Team Salary: $0
2011 Cap Penalties: $0
Team Salary with penalties: $0
2010 Bonuses: $0
Coverage to other teams: $0
Coverage from other teams: $0
Total Cap after Adjustments:
Number of 3,4,5 yr. contracts available:
As of now, we are fortunate enough to keep up with all of the above information through a spreadsheet that we typically have been updating and forwarding to the league about once a month. That said, it still never hurts to keep up with all of your own Cap information.
When posting rosters OR when any player is involved in any sort of personnel transaction (drop, trade, etc.); the player/contract posts should follow the format below. For tracking purposes, it is important to know the contract length and the years of the contract.
Example
1B - Conner Jackson 392,000 (1yr 2008)
2B - Orlando Hudson 3,900,000 (3yrs 2008,2009,2010)
3B - Mark Reynolds 300,000 (1yr 2008)
SS - Stephen Drew 1,500,000 (3yrs 2008,2009,2010)
OF - Chris Young 387,000 (4yrs 2008,2009,2010,2011)
OF - Eric Byrnes 4,575,000 (4yrs 2008,2009,2010,2011)
Contracts and Salary Cap:
Each team will have salary cap of $120,000,000 for the 2012 season. The salary cap may be increased at a rate of 3%-5% ANNUALLY. To be voted on by the league before the beginning of the next season.
Each team will have available to them 28 total contracts.
You can have a maximum of 28 Contracts. If you have a full 28 man roster and trade a minor leaguer for a contract player in a 1 for 1 deal, you must drop another contract player. This is the only situation where you will have to “make room” for your new player.
Of these 28 contracts only 15 can be 3,4, or 5 year deals however you could theoretically have 15 four year deals or 5-5-5 or any other breakdown. Failure to do so will result in Roster Move Restrictions including but not limited to: Not being allowed to pick up FA’s, make trades, etc.
***Also Note that 3,4, and 5 year contracts are NOT required. Your entire team could essentially be signed to 1 or 2 year contracts. There is no maximum for these two lengths.
Sliding Contracts--At the end of the first year, each of your contracts will slide down 1 year to a new slot. Example: your three year contracts will become two year deals.
***If a player has already been signed to a contract when you trade for him, you can NOT re-structure his contract length.
***You may trade for a player that has a 3,4,5 yr contract even if you already have 15, BUT you must have only 15 3,4,5 yr contracts or less before the off-season. You can accomplish this by either dropping or trading away a player with a 3,4,5 yr contract.
***This may also occur due to the sliding contracts. Ex. You may have 17 of the 3,4,5 yr contracts but as long as at least two of them are 3 year contracts, they will slide down to 2 year deals immediately after the season and put you within the 15 contract limit.
***Contracts can only be 1-5 years in length.
Contract Eligible Players:
The eligibility criteria for signing a player to a contract are 400 ABs or 100 IPs for their major league career before the start of the current season. THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS FOR THIS! (Even in the case of someone like Pedro Alvarez who clearly has the starting job for the Pirates, he does not meet the minimum requirements so he must be selected via the MILB Draft) Bidding threads for players that do not meet either of those milestones will be cancelled. These players can however be drafted in the MILBD. Even if a player is not yet ¨available¨ on the ESPN site, you may draft him in the MILBD and put him on your ProBoards roster.
NOTE: If unavailable player suddenly becomes eligible, it is the OWNERS responsibility to let the LM know to put the player on the ESPN roster as well.
If a player passes the eligibility threshold DURING the season, the player may then be bid on as if he were a free agent (See Free Agent Bidding Below).
Minor League Draft Rules
All Minor league draft orders in the future will be in the order of that season’s standing order from lowest overall record to highest overall record drafting last. This draft may be lengthened or shortened accordingly in the following years.
The MILB Draft takes place on the ProBoards forum. A thread is created to hold the draft. A time and date for the MILB Draft will be selected by the Co-LM’s of the league. The team with the first pick will post their pick in this thread. The next team has 24 hours to make their pick and so on...(This is why it is important that you stay active and check in every day)
IF YOU DO NOT SHOW UP FOR THE DRAFT OR MISS YOUR PICK, YOU WILL BE GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO DRAFT AT THE END OF THE ROUND AND ONLY AT THE END OF THE ROUND.
If you miss an entire round, you will get one courtesy round to make both your picks. I.e. If you miss your first round pick and don’t show up until mid-way through the second round, you WILL be permitted to make your regular 2nd round selection and you will be able to select your first round pick at the end of round 2. If you have missed both of your picks (rounds 1 & 2) but still show up before the 2nd round is over, you will be permitted to make both selections at the end of round 2. Lastly, if you miss 2 rounds of picks, i.e. 1 & 2, and don’t show up until the 3rd round, you will only be permitted to select your 2nd and 3rd round picks. You will forfeit your 1st round pick in this scenario. If you miss the whole draft you can pick 5 players from the remaining players available.
You may only draft players that are signed to a major league franchise.
Player Transactions
Dropping a Player:
The penalty for dropping a player is ½ or 50% of the salary they are rostered for, for the length of the contract. Exception: Drops after the trade deadline.
Salary Cutting:
To combat salary cutting, a team dropping players after the trade deadline will incur a salary cap penalty of 100% the player’s for the remainder of his contract. If a 1 year contract, the penalty will carry over to the next year. This rule is in place to prevent teams from dropping salaries to have more cash to bid on FAs for the upcoming year.
Dropping a player without signing a FA is always posted on the Dropped Players board.
To drop a player, create a separate thread in the Dropped Players board with the player’s name in the thread title.
In the thread, you must state the player, the contract amount, the contract length and the salary cap penalty.
Example:
In a thread titled “Livan Hernandez” the following text would be included:
Drop: Livan Hernandez 3,500,000 (1 year 2008)
Cap hit: 1,750,000
Free Agency:
A team may bid on a FA as long as the result of the bid amount plus their current salary minus the salary relief from any dropped players still leaves them under the cap.
Example:
Team A has a salary cap of $120m and a current player salary total of $116m. Team A can submit bids on a FA without dropping a player up to a bid amount of $4m. Any bids after that must include dropping a player. If the bid goes to $4,250,000 Team A must drop a player with a salary of at least $500k to offset the $250k salary cap hit for dropping the player.
The same principal applies when trading players. Both teams must remain under the salary cap after the receiving teams recalculate the player salaries and apply any cap penalties for dropping players if necessary.
FREE AGENTS:
You must post all trades and FA transactions (drops, pickups, etc.) on the UDL ProBoards site under a unique thread. Assuming your transaction is approved, the League Managers make adjustments to your roster including any salary penalties. Then, and only then, will your player or FA be added or dropped off of your ESPN roster.
Free Agent additions are always bid on in the Free Agent board. Once a bid is placed, other owners will have 24 hrs. to submit a new, higher bid. If 24 hrs. elapses and there are no other higher bids then the last highest bid is the winner. Another 24 hr. period is started with each bid.
NOTE: You can only offer the FA a contract length that you currently have available. If you have no contracts available, you may not bid on a FA without first dropping a player. You may however, drop a player with the desired contract length within the same transaction. Ex. If you want to sign Brett Lawrie to a 3 yr. deal but have no 3 yr. deals available, you may still offer a 3 yr. deal by dropping another player with a 3 yr. deal within the same offer.
After winning the bid, the player will be moved to your roster by the LM for the contract salary and length you posted in the bidding.
To bid on a FA, create a separate thread in the Free Agent Signings board with the player’s name in the thread title.
In the thread, you must state your bid amount, the contract length and what player, if any, you are dropping to keep you under your cap or free up a certain contract length.
Example:
In a thread titled “Livan Hernandez” the following text would be included:
Add Livan Hernandez 3,500,000 (1year 2008)
Drop Rocco Baldelli 750,000(1year 2008)
Cap hit: 375,000
Free Agent Eligibility:
The eligibility criteria for signing a free agent are 250 ABs or 75 IPs for their major league career. A free agent that has reached either of those milestones before the start of the current season can be bid upon and signed to contracts. Players who reach the criteria DURING the season may also be bid on as FA´s. Bidding threads for players that do not meet either of those milestones will be cancelled.
At the end of the year, all minor league players will be checked for FA eligibility and owners will be notified of any minor leaguers that need to be signed to a major league contract before the next minor league draft. Owners may sign eligible minor leaguers to a contract (subject to league contract rules and salary cap constraints), release them or trade them without cap penalty provided they are not signed to a contract. If traded, the receiving team has those same choices.
If a team owns a minor leaguer who meets the FA eligibility criteria and that player is not signed to contract before the FA period begins/the Minor League signing date(see schedule) that player is released and available as a FA.
Starting Bid Amounts:
The opening bid on any free agent must at least be equal to ½ his salary from the previous season but no less than 400K according to the salary website we use.
mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/
Ex. For the 2014 season, the opening bid must be at least half the players listed salary from 2013.
Bidding Increments:
We are using a tiered bid increment system as follows:
if the current bid is: the MINIMUM bid increment is:
$400k to under $3M-----$250K
$3M to under $10M------$500K
$10M to under $25M-----$1M
$25M and greater--------$2M
If a bid is not posted with the correct MINIMUM increment that bid will be cancelled. It should be noted that an owner can make any bid above the minimum increment as well.
Bids are Binding:
Your bids are binding and you are expected to honor them. Do not delete a bid or edit a bid. Do not exceed your available cap space at any time while bidding. (See Bidding Penalties below) Think before you post!!!
Bidding Penalties:
Overbidding your cap is when an owner has 1 or more high bids on FAs and the combined total of those high bids puts him over his available cap. The rationale is that if the bidding were to stop at that moment and he were to win all of those bids then the LMs couldn't move those players onto his roster. The LMs shouldn't have to decide which guys to move onto the roster and which guys to leave off.
It's also not fair to the other owners if an owner is allowed to go over his available cap in FA bidding, especially in the pre-season free-for-all FA bidding. It artificially drives up the price of FAs and if going over your cap was allowed during bidding then an owner could try to bust another owner's cap by bidding up the price when he couldn't possibly sign the guy.
Other scenarios where a valid bid is posted with a contract length that's not available are handled by simply cancelling the bid. No other penalty is applied. However, repeated offenses of this type may need to be addressed separately.
IMPORTANT TRANSACTION RULE
A team cannot go over their salary cap by signing a FA, giving a contract to a minor leaguer on their minor league roster, or through a player trade. Any of these transactions will be rejected if any of the participating teams will be over their salary cap as a result of the transaction. The penalties listed below will be enforced if the owner violates the salary cap.
Overbidding the available cap penalties are:
--1st offense - All current bids are cancelled and the owner is given a warning
--2nd offense - All current bids are cancelled without notice and $2.5M cap penalty is assessed
--3rd offense - All current bids are cancelled without notice, an additional $2.5M cap penalty is assessed and the offending owner is not allowed to bid on any FAs for 24 hrs.
--4th offense (and subsequent offenses) - The owner is prohibited from making any player transactions (FA bids, trades and player drops included) for 72 hrs. The commish posts a recommendation of an appropriate penalty based on the circumstances of the offense, and public comment is welcome in the thread. The league is given 72 hours to vote to approve the recommendation. The vote required to approve the recommendation is a simple majority of the votes made during the 72 hour window. The available punishments include (1) certain time periods of not being able to bid on free agents; (2) cap penalties up to 10M per incident; (3) draft pick loss or 4) removal from the league."
Coverage:
Coverage is the amount of money you may trade to a team for a player. This money is subtracted from your team's eligible salary cap and added to the receiving team’s eligible salary cap and extends the dollar amount of the receiving team's salary cap. Unless noted, coverage will only apply through the end of the current off-season.
RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS:
This is one of the more intricate processes of the league but can be very fun. It is still in its developing stage so feedback will be welcomed and any major changes to the concept will be put to a simple majority vote. The RFA process would be administered as follows:
Each owner will be able to choose up to 5 players from his roster with expiring contracts to go into the RFA pool but is not required to.
Once players are chosen, the LM will post the required tender to start the bidding. The opening bid will be based on whether the player is a:
Type A FA (Within top 100 players over last season according to ESPN Player Rater, Top 500),
Type B FA (Top 101-150 over last season according to ESPN Player Rater, Top 500),
Type C FA (Top 151 - 200 over last season according to ESPN Player Rater, Top 500),
Type D FA (Top 201 - 250 over last season according to ESPN Player rater, Top 500),
Type E FA (Top 251 - 300 over last season according to ESPN Player Rater, Top 500)
A Type A FA will be tendered at a 20% salary increase from what he is currently signed to and a 1st round MILB Draft Pick.
A Type B FA will be tendered at a 15% salary increase from what he is currently signed to and a 2nd round MILB Draft Pick.
A Type C FA will be tendered at a 10% salary increase from what he is currently signed to and a 3rd round MILB Draft Pick.
A Type D FA will be tendered at a 5% salary increase from what he is currently signed to and a 4th round MILB Draft Pick.
A Type E FA will be tendered at a 5% salary increase from what he is currently signed to and a 5th round MILB Draft Pick.
Any player ranked outside the top 300 on the ESPN Player Rater will only cost a $150,000 service fee to the former team.
Everyone except for the original owner can make an offer. Bidding works like any other FA bidding except that someone must open the bidding by at least matching the salary posted for the opening bid. The opening bid may be higher than the posted minimum salary. After the initial bid, bidding increments are in effect.
FA bidding penalties for bidding over your cap are in effect.
The high bid at the end of a 24 hour period with no bidding is the declared the ¨tentative¨ winner.
After a ¨tentative¨ winner has been declared, the original owner would have 48 hrs. to either match the bid or decline. The LMs will not send out PMs or emails to the original owner about the 48 hr. deadline.
If an RFA is posted for 72 hrs. with no bids, that player will return to his team for the new tendered amount. The owner may then pick the contract length to sign the player to.
If the original owner decides to match the high bid, the owner is free to choose the contract length to be used.
If acquiring the RFA would put the original owner over the cap then the owner must declare any drops necessary to get him under the cap when he posts his intent to match the bid.
The RFA bidding would be handled separately and before for the normal FA bidding opens.
Examples:
Type A Ex 1: You had Juan Pierre signed to a one year contract for $2,000,000. After the season, you choose to put Pierre as an RFA. Because he also finished in the top 100 on the player rater, his initial tender would be $2,400,000 (20% increase) and a 1st round MILB pick.
Ex. If Daniel Bard is in the same situation, you place him on RFA, and he receives a final bid of $4,000,000 for 3 years and you think he is worth every penny, you match the contract and he is put back on your roster at that price.
Ex. If Juan Pierre receives a bid for $6,000,000 for 1 year and you don’t think he is worth that kind of money, you choose not to match the offer and you are compensated by the winning team with their 1st round MILB pick.
A Type B works the exact same except the initial tender is only 15% higher than their current rostered salary and you are compensated with a 2nd round pick instead of a 1st. ETC.
Extensions:
Extensions may be placed on only one player on your roster at a given time. This is your only alternative to RFA for your players whose contracts are expiring.
One player per season may be extended into an existing 1 yr. contract. The extension salary is calculated by using the greater of either 2x his previous salary or 2X the actual salary according to Cot's from the previous year. A player can be extended repeatedly by the same owner. You may acquire a player who has an extended contract.
Trades:
All trades need to be posted on the Trades board in a separate thread with the title of the thread being the names of the teams involved. The trade deadline will be decided by the LM´s prior to every season and will be visible on the ESPN page.
The first post in the thread indicates the teams, player(s), player salaries and length of contracts involved. The team GM that proposed the trade typically makes the first post. Also, indicate whether any coverage or cash is included in the deal.
The second post is by the accepting team GM. The post can simply say “accepted”. When the accepting team GM posts that he accepts the trade offer, the trade is final and binding pending review by the Commissioner.
The Commissioner can overturn a trade in cases where the value of those players involved favors one team to a large degree and creates an unfair advantage in the league. The Commissioner can also reject a trade if:
1) The trade is not posted correctly,
2) The salaries or contract lengths of the players involved are not correct,
3) The salaries of the players to be received or the cap penalties resulting from the trade puts a team over its salary cap.
The third post is by one of the LMs indicating whether the trade has been approved or not. The participating GMs can then make the adjustments to their rosters, salaries and cap penalties due to drops. Penalties due to drops need to be counted in the salary cap balances.
Example:
In the thread titled “Rays/Mariners Trade”, the first post by the Rays GM would look like:
Rays Send Akinori Iwamure 1,800,000 (3 years 2008, 2009, 2010) to Mariners
Mariners send Shaun Marcum 300,000 (3years 2008 2009, 2010) to Rays
The second post, by the Mariners GM, would say, “Accepted.”
The third post would be from one of the league LMs and would either be approved or not approved.
Trading Contracts:
Through trades, it is possible to acquire more contracts of a specific length than each team was originally allowed. The contract stays with the player through the trade to the new team. That does not mean that the new team keeps that contract length when the player is dropped.
Example:
Suppose team A trades a player with a 2 yr. contract for a player with a 4 yr. contract. Team A then decides to bid on a FA and drop the player with the 4 yr. contract in the process. Team A can only offer the FA a 2 yr. contract.
Draft pick trading IS permitted.
Trading Minor Leaguers:
You can trade minor leaguers just like other players. They become the property of the acquiring team and go on its minor league roster. Acquiring additional minor league players does not impact your future drafts. You still get 5 picks unless you trade them away.
Retiring Players:
There is not penalty if a player retires and an owner drops the retired player from their roster.
Qualifying for the Playoffs:
The schedule will consist of 1 interleague game per week along with 3 games within the same league for both leagues. At the end of the year, each division winner will receive a first round bye. The second and third place teams from both leagues will play a first round match-up to narrow the field to 4 teams. The playoff match-ups are one week each.
New Owner Concessions:
As with any long-term league, there will be teams that become abandoned. In an effort to add new owners willing to take over teams that may have been mismanaged or neglected, the league may grant new owners any or all of the following concessions to jump-start his new team:
1. Rework one contract in terms of salary amount or contract length. For instance, if the previous owner overbid on a player the new owner may rework the salary to match the current salary as taken from the Cot's site for the current year.
2. Drop one player without a cap penalty.
3. May be granted a compensatory pick at the end of the 1st round in the minor league draft.
Post Season Awards:
Post Season Awards will be awarded with the following cash cap bonuses the following year.
MVP's .5 million
Cy Young's .5 million
FAQ
Q - When we drop a player for a FA, what is the penalty?
A - It's half of whatever you have the player signed for. This also applies to FAs where the bidding goes way beyond that player's salary for the previous year. If the FAs real 2010 salary was $400K and he was won in a FA auction for $3.2M then the salary cap hit is $1.6M when you drop him.
Q - If you trade for a player coming up on free agency can you sign them to a new deal?
A – No, but you can give him an extension according to the rules for extending contracts.
Q - What happens if a trade is made for a contract that a team has already used the full number of that length of contract? Say I already have players signed to 15 3,4,5 year contracts and make a trade where I receive a player that has another 4 year contract. Do I need to “rework” a contract?
A - No, you don't need to rework any contract. You traded for the contract and you get to keep it as long as you keep the player.
Q – What kind of contract can I offer a FA player if I have more than 15 or more 3,4,5 yr contracts?
A – You can only offer that player a 1 or 2 year contract as long as you have 15 or more 3,4,5 yr contracts.
Q - If a FA is won in a FA auction and signed to a contract then dropped, and another FA auction begins for that same player is the starting bid the same as the first auction (1/2 previous year's salary according to Cot's to a minimum of $400K) or is the starting bid equal to the final winning bid in the previous FA auction?
A - The starting bid is the same as the first auction, 1/2 previous year's salary according to Cot's to a minimum of $300K.
Feel free to bring up any more issues or question you may have on the general board or send them to me via email or PM. This league is going to take some time and some energy but if you are willing to stay on top of things, it will be a really great league.
Read more: espnfranchisefbb.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=rules&action=display&thread=582#ixzz2mO5TZbUz
Ultimate Dynasty League is a Salary Contract Dynasty League
General Notes
In the Inaugural season of the Ultimate Dynasty league, everyone will select a team and select 5 keepers from that team. These 5 keepers will have their full 2013 salary. You will also select 5 minors from that same team.
League Settings:
14 Team League
6x6 H2H Scoring-Each Category
28 Man Major League Roster
NOTE: ESPN Roster will expand to allow for more minor leaguers but a roster may never exceed 28 contracted players (“Major Leaguers”).
Scoring:
The scoring for the league is a Head To Head-Each Category format. The scoring categories are as follows:
Offensive:
Runs, HR, RBI, AVG, SB, OPS
Pitching:
W, K, ERA, WHIP, Saves, Holds
The best possible result for a week would be to go 12-0 winning every category with the opposite being 0-12. Ties are permitted so while unlikely, a record of 0-0-12 is theoretically possible.
***NOTE***
A team must have enough starting pitching to start a minimum of 6 games per week. A maximum of 12 games started per week is allowed.
If you do not reach the minimum requirement then:
--All averaged pitching stats (e.g. ERA, WHIP, etc.), are lost for the entire scoring period.
If the Maximum Amount of starts are met:
--All pitchers, depending on the scoring category exceeded, will stop accumulating stats for the rest of the scoring period. However, if the maximum games are reached on the final day of the match-up or even exceeded, stats will continue to accumulate for the remainder of the day.
Team Rosters:
Minimum Roster Requirements
Each team MUST maintain at least 18 players on his roster.
This is to prevent teams from trading all their players for draft picks and being non-competitive during the season.
There are 18 active roster spots for each team. The minimum number of players may consist of players under contract or minor leaguers that have no contract.
The roster make-up is as follows:
1 C
1 1B
1 2B
1 3B
1 SS
3 OF
1 Util
5 SP
4 RP
15 Bench (Will Expand To Hold More Minor Leaguers In The Future)
Max Number of Minor League Roster Spots Is 20
Prior to the season but after all the off-season activity, you will be required to post a thread on ProBoards displaying your entire roster, including rookies, their current salary on your team, and the length of their contract.
In addition please post the following: (Referenced More Later)
Team Salary: $0
2011 Cap Penalties: $0
Team Salary with penalties: $0
2010 Bonuses: $0
Coverage to other teams: $0
Coverage from other teams: $0
Total Cap after Adjustments:
Number of 3,4,5 yr. contracts available:
As of now, we are fortunate enough to keep up with all of the above information through a spreadsheet that we typically have been updating and forwarding to the league about once a month. That said, it still never hurts to keep up with all of your own Cap information.
When posting rosters OR when any player is involved in any sort of personnel transaction (drop, trade, etc.); the player/contract posts should follow the format below. For tracking purposes, it is important to know the contract length and the years of the contract.
Example
1B - Conner Jackson 392,000 (1yr 2008)
2B - Orlando Hudson 3,900,000 (3yrs 2008,2009,2010)
3B - Mark Reynolds 300,000 (1yr 2008)
SS - Stephen Drew 1,500,000 (3yrs 2008,2009,2010)
OF - Chris Young 387,000 (4yrs 2008,2009,2010,2011)
OF - Eric Byrnes 4,575,000 (4yrs 2008,2009,2010,2011)
Contracts and Salary Cap:
Each team will have salary cap of $120,000,000 for the 2012 season. The salary cap may be increased at a rate of 3%-5% ANNUALLY. To be voted on by the league before the beginning of the next season.
Each team will have available to them 28 total contracts.
You can have a maximum of 28 Contracts. If you have a full 28 man roster and trade a minor leaguer for a contract player in a 1 for 1 deal, you must drop another contract player. This is the only situation where you will have to “make room” for your new player.
Of these 28 contracts only 15 can be 3,4, or 5 year deals however you could theoretically have 15 four year deals or 5-5-5 or any other breakdown. Failure to do so will result in Roster Move Restrictions including but not limited to: Not being allowed to pick up FA’s, make trades, etc.
***Also Note that 3,4, and 5 year contracts are NOT required. Your entire team could essentially be signed to 1 or 2 year contracts. There is no maximum for these two lengths.
Sliding Contracts--At the end of the first year, each of your contracts will slide down 1 year to a new slot. Example: your three year contracts will become two year deals.
***If a player has already been signed to a contract when you trade for him, you can NOT re-structure his contract length.
***You may trade for a player that has a 3,4,5 yr contract even if you already have 15, BUT you must have only 15 3,4,5 yr contracts or less before the off-season. You can accomplish this by either dropping or trading away a player with a 3,4,5 yr contract.
***This may also occur due to the sliding contracts. Ex. You may have 17 of the 3,4,5 yr contracts but as long as at least two of them are 3 year contracts, they will slide down to 2 year deals immediately after the season and put you within the 15 contract limit.
***Contracts can only be 1-5 years in length.
Contract Eligible Players:
The eligibility criteria for signing a player to a contract are 400 ABs or 100 IPs for their major league career before the start of the current season. THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS FOR THIS! (Even in the case of someone like Pedro Alvarez who clearly has the starting job for the Pirates, he does not meet the minimum requirements so he must be selected via the MILB Draft) Bidding threads for players that do not meet either of those milestones will be cancelled. These players can however be drafted in the MILBD. Even if a player is not yet ¨available¨ on the ESPN site, you may draft him in the MILBD and put him on your ProBoards roster.
NOTE: If unavailable player suddenly becomes eligible, it is the OWNERS responsibility to let the LM know to put the player on the ESPN roster as well.
If a player passes the eligibility threshold DURING the season, the player may then be bid on as if he were a free agent (See Free Agent Bidding Below).
Minor League Draft Rules
All Minor league draft orders in the future will be in the order of that season’s standing order from lowest overall record to highest overall record drafting last. This draft may be lengthened or shortened accordingly in the following years.
The MILB Draft takes place on the ProBoards forum. A thread is created to hold the draft. A time and date for the MILB Draft will be selected by the Co-LM’s of the league. The team with the first pick will post their pick in this thread. The next team has 24 hours to make their pick and so on...(This is why it is important that you stay active and check in every day)
IF YOU DO NOT SHOW UP FOR THE DRAFT OR MISS YOUR PICK, YOU WILL BE GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO DRAFT AT THE END OF THE ROUND AND ONLY AT THE END OF THE ROUND.
If you miss an entire round, you will get one courtesy round to make both your picks. I.e. If you miss your first round pick and don’t show up until mid-way through the second round, you WILL be permitted to make your regular 2nd round selection and you will be able to select your first round pick at the end of round 2. If you have missed both of your picks (rounds 1 & 2) but still show up before the 2nd round is over, you will be permitted to make both selections at the end of round 2. Lastly, if you miss 2 rounds of picks, i.e. 1 & 2, and don’t show up until the 3rd round, you will only be permitted to select your 2nd and 3rd round picks. You will forfeit your 1st round pick in this scenario. If you miss the whole draft you can pick 5 players from the remaining players available.
You may only draft players that are signed to a major league franchise.
Player Transactions
Dropping a Player:
The penalty for dropping a player is ½ or 50% of the salary they are rostered for, for the length of the contract. Exception: Drops after the trade deadline.
Salary Cutting:
To combat salary cutting, a team dropping players after the trade deadline will incur a salary cap penalty of 100% the player’s for the remainder of his contract. If a 1 year contract, the penalty will carry over to the next year. This rule is in place to prevent teams from dropping salaries to have more cash to bid on FAs for the upcoming year.
Dropping a player without signing a FA is always posted on the Dropped Players board.
To drop a player, create a separate thread in the Dropped Players board with the player’s name in the thread title.
In the thread, you must state the player, the contract amount, the contract length and the salary cap penalty.
Example:
In a thread titled “Livan Hernandez” the following text would be included:
Drop: Livan Hernandez 3,500,000 (1 year 2008)
Cap hit: 1,750,000
Free Agency:
A team may bid on a FA as long as the result of the bid amount plus their current salary minus the salary relief from any dropped players still leaves them under the cap.
Example:
Team A has a salary cap of $120m and a current player salary total of $116m. Team A can submit bids on a FA without dropping a player up to a bid amount of $4m. Any bids after that must include dropping a player. If the bid goes to $4,250,000 Team A must drop a player with a salary of at least $500k to offset the $250k salary cap hit for dropping the player.
The same principal applies when trading players. Both teams must remain under the salary cap after the receiving teams recalculate the player salaries and apply any cap penalties for dropping players if necessary.
FREE AGENTS:
You must post all trades and FA transactions (drops, pickups, etc.) on the UDL ProBoards site under a unique thread. Assuming your transaction is approved, the League Managers make adjustments to your roster including any salary penalties. Then, and only then, will your player or FA be added or dropped off of your ESPN roster.
Free Agent additions are always bid on in the Free Agent board. Once a bid is placed, other owners will have 24 hrs. to submit a new, higher bid. If 24 hrs. elapses and there are no other higher bids then the last highest bid is the winner. Another 24 hr. period is started with each bid.
NOTE: You can only offer the FA a contract length that you currently have available. If you have no contracts available, you may not bid on a FA without first dropping a player. You may however, drop a player with the desired contract length within the same transaction. Ex. If you want to sign Brett Lawrie to a 3 yr. deal but have no 3 yr. deals available, you may still offer a 3 yr. deal by dropping another player with a 3 yr. deal within the same offer.
After winning the bid, the player will be moved to your roster by the LM for the contract salary and length you posted in the bidding.
To bid on a FA, create a separate thread in the Free Agent Signings board with the player’s name in the thread title.
In the thread, you must state your bid amount, the contract length and what player, if any, you are dropping to keep you under your cap or free up a certain contract length.
Example:
In a thread titled “Livan Hernandez” the following text would be included:
Add Livan Hernandez 3,500,000 (1year 2008)
Drop Rocco Baldelli 750,000(1year 2008)
Cap hit: 375,000
Free Agent Eligibility:
The eligibility criteria for signing a free agent are 250 ABs or 75 IPs for their major league career. A free agent that has reached either of those milestones before the start of the current season can be bid upon and signed to contracts. Players who reach the criteria DURING the season may also be bid on as FA´s. Bidding threads for players that do not meet either of those milestones will be cancelled.
At the end of the year, all minor league players will be checked for FA eligibility and owners will be notified of any minor leaguers that need to be signed to a major league contract before the next minor league draft. Owners may sign eligible minor leaguers to a contract (subject to league contract rules and salary cap constraints), release them or trade them without cap penalty provided they are not signed to a contract. If traded, the receiving team has those same choices.
If a team owns a minor leaguer who meets the FA eligibility criteria and that player is not signed to contract before the FA period begins/the Minor League signing date(see schedule) that player is released and available as a FA.
Starting Bid Amounts:
The opening bid on any free agent must at least be equal to ½ his salary from the previous season but no less than 400K according to the salary website we use.
mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/
Ex. For the 2014 season, the opening bid must be at least half the players listed salary from 2013.
Bidding Increments:
We are using a tiered bid increment system as follows:
if the current bid is: the MINIMUM bid increment is:
$400k to under $3M-----$250K
$3M to under $10M------$500K
$10M to under $25M-----$1M
$25M and greater--------$2M
If a bid is not posted with the correct MINIMUM increment that bid will be cancelled. It should be noted that an owner can make any bid above the minimum increment as well.
Bids are Binding:
Your bids are binding and you are expected to honor them. Do not delete a bid or edit a bid. Do not exceed your available cap space at any time while bidding. (See Bidding Penalties below) Think before you post!!!
Bidding Penalties:
Overbidding your cap is when an owner has 1 or more high bids on FAs and the combined total of those high bids puts him over his available cap. The rationale is that if the bidding were to stop at that moment and he were to win all of those bids then the LMs couldn't move those players onto his roster. The LMs shouldn't have to decide which guys to move onto the roster and which guys to leave off.
It's also not fair to the other owners if an owner is allowed to go over his available cap in FA bidding, especially in the pre-season free-for-all FA bidding. It artificially drives up the price of FAs and if going over your cap was allowed during bidding then an owner could try to bust another owner's cap by bidding up the price when he couldn't possibly sign the guy.
Other scenarios where a valid bid is posted with a contract length that's not available are handled by simply cancelling the bid. No other penalty is applied. However, repeated offenses of this type may need to be addressed separately.
IMPORTANT TRANSACTION RULE
A team cannot go over their salary cap by signing a FA, giving a contract to a minor leaguer on their minor league roster, or through a player trade. Any of these transactions will be rejected if any of the participating teams will be over their salary cap as a result of the transaction. The penalties listed below will be enforced if the owner violates the salary cap.
Overbidding the available cap penalties are:
--1st offense - All current bids are cancelled and the owner is given a warning
--2nd offense - All current bids are cancelled without notice and $2.5M cap penalty is assessed
--3rd offense - All current bids are cancelled without notice, an additional $2.5M cap penalty is assessed and the offending owner is not allowed to bid on any FAs for 24 hrs.
--4th offense (and subsequent offenses) - The owner is prohibited from making any player transactions (FA bids, trades and player drops included) for 72 hrs. The commish posts a recommendation of an appropriate penalty based on the circumstances of the offense, and public comment is welcome in the thread. The league is given 72 hours to vote to approve the recommendation. The vote required to approve the recommendation is a simple majority of the votes made during the 72 hour window. The available punishments include (1) certain time periods of not being able to bid on free agents; (2) cap penalties up to 10M per incident; (3) draft pick loss or 4) removal from the league."
Coverage:
Coverage is the amount of money you may trade to a team for a player. This money is subtracted from your team's eligible salary cap and added to the receiving team’s eligible salary cap and extends the dollar amount of the receiving team's salary cap. Unless noted, coverage will only apply through the end of the current off-season.
RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS:
This is one of the more intricate processes of the league but can be very fun. It is still in its developing stage so feedback will be welcomed and any major changes to the concept will be put to a simple majority vote. The RFA process would be administered as follows:
Each owner will be able to choose up to 5 players from his roster with expiring contracts to go into the RFA pool but is not required to.
Once players are chosen, the LM will post the required tender to start the bidding. The opening bid will be based on whether the player is a:
Type A FA (Within top 100 players over last season according to ESPN Player Rater, Top 500),
Type B FA (Top 101-150 over last season according to ESPN Player Rater, Top 500),
Type C FA (Top 151 - 200 over last season according to ESPN Player Rater, Top 500),
Type D FA (Top 201 - 250 over last season according to ESPN Player rater, Top 500),
Type E FA (Top 251 - 300 over last season according to ESPN Player Rater, Top 500)
A Type A FA will be tendered at a 20% salary increase from what he is currently signed to and a 1st round MILB Draft Pick.
A Type B FA will be tendered at a 15% salary increase from what he is currently signed to and a 2nd round MILB Draft Pick.
A Type C FA will be tendered at a 10% salary increase from what he is currently signed to and a 3rd round MILB Draft Pick.
A Type D FA will be tendered at a 5% salary increase from what he is currently signed to and a 4th round MILB Draft Pick.
A Type E FA will be tendered at a 5% salary increase from what he is currently signed to and a 5th round MILB Draft Pick.
Any player ranked outside the top 300 on the ESPN Player Rater will only cost a $150,000 service fee to the former team.
Everyone except for the original owner can make an offer. Bidding works like any other FA bidding except that someone must open the bidding by at least matching the salary posted for the opening bid. The opening bid may be higher than the posted minimum salary. After the initial bid, bidding increments are in effect.
FA bidding penalties for bidding over your cap are in effect.
The high bid at the end of a 24 hour period with no bidding is the declared the ¨tentative¨ winner.
After a ¨tentative¨ winner has been declared, the original owner would have 48 hrs. to either match the bid or decline. The LMs will not send out PMs or emails to the original owner about the 48 hr. deadline.
If an RFA is posted for 72 hrs. with no bids, that player will return to his team for the new tendered amount. The owner may then pick the contract length to sign the player to.
If the original owner decides to match the high bid, the owner is free to choose the contract length to be used.
If acquiring the RFA would put the original owner over the cap then the owner must declare any drops necessary to get him under the cap when he posts his intent to match the bid.
The RFA bidding would be handled separately and before for the normal FA bidding opens.
Examples:
Type A Ex 1: You had Juan Pierre signed to a one year contract for $2,000,000. After the season, you choose to put Pierre as an RFA. Because he also finished in the top 100 on the player rater, his initial tender would be $2,400,000 (20% increase) and a 1st round MILB pick.
Ex. If Daniel Bard is in the same situation, you place him on RFA, and he receives a final bid of $4,000,000 for 3 years and you think he is worth every penny, you match the contract and he is put back on your roster at that price.
Ex. If Juan Pierre receives a bid for $6,000,000 for 1 year and you don’t think he is worth that kind of money, you choose not to match the offer and you are compensated by the winning team with their 1st round MILB pick.
A Type B works the exact same except the initial tender is only 15% higher than their current rostered salary and you are compensated with a 2nd round pick instead of a 1st. ETC.
Extensions:
Extensions may be placed on only one player on your roster at a given time. This is your only alternative to RFA for your players whose contracts are expiring.
One player per season may be extended into an existing 1 yr. contract. The extension salary is calculated by using the greater of either 2x his previous salary or 2X the actual salary according to Cot's from the previous year. A player can be extended repeatedly by the same owner. You may acquire a player who has an extended contract.
Trades:
All trades need to be posted on the Trades board in a separate thread with the title of the thread being the names of the teams involved. The trade deadline will be decided by the LM´s prior to every season and will be visible on the ESPN page.
The first post in the thread indicates the teams, player(s), player salaries and length of contracts involved. The team GM that proposed the trade typically makes the first post. Also, indicate whether any coverage or cash is included in the deal.
The second post is by the accepting team GM. The post can simply say “accepted”. When the accepting team GM posts that he accepts the trade offer, the trade is final and binding pending review by the Commissioner.
The Commissioner can overturn a trade in cases where the value of those players involved favors one team to a large degree and creates an unfair advantage in the league. The Commissioner can also reject a trade if:
1) The trade is not posted correctly,
2) The salaries or contract lengths of the players involved are not correct,
3) The salaries of the players to be received or the cap penalties resulting from the trade puts a team over its salary cap.
The third post is by one of the LMs indicating whether the trade has been approved or not. The participating GMs can then make the adjustments to their rosters, salaries and cap penalties due to drops. Penalties due to drops need to be counted in the salary cap balances.
Example:
In the thread titled “Rays/Mariners Trade”, the first post by the Rays GM would look like:
Rays Send Akinori Iwamure 1,800,000 (3 years 2008, 2009, 2010) to Mariners
Mariners send Shaun Marcum 300,000 (3years 2008 2009, 2010) to Rays
The second post, by the Mariners GM, would say, “Accepted.”
The third post would be from one of the league LMs and would either be approved or not approved.
Trading Contracts:
Through trades, it is possible to acquire more contracts of a specific length than each team was originally allowed. The contract stays with the player through the trade to the new team. That does not mean that the new team keeps that contract length when the player is dropped.
Example:
Suppose team A trades a player with a 2 yr. contract for a player with a 4 yr. contract. Team A then decides to bid on a FA and drop the player with the 4 yr. contract in the process. Team A can only offer the FA a 2 yr. contract.
Draft pick trading IS permitted.
Trading Minor Leaguers:
You can trade minor leaguers just like other players. They become the property of the acquiring team and go on its minor league roster. Acquiring additional minor league players does not impact your future drafts. You still get 5 picks unless you trade them away.
Retiring Players:
There is not penalty if a player retires and an owner drops the retired player from their roster.
Qualifying for the Playoffs:
The schedule will consist of 1 interleague game per week along with 3 games within the same league for both leagues. At the end of the year, each division winner will receive a first round bye. The second and third place teams from both leagues will play a first round match-up to narrow the field to 4 teams. The playoff match-ups are one week each.
New Owner Concessions:
As with any long-term league, there will be teams that become abandoned. In an effort to add new owners willing to take over teams that may have been mismanaged or neglected, the league may grant new owners any or all of the following concessions to jump-start his new team:
1. Rework one contract in terms of salary amount or contract length. For instance, if the previous owner overbid on a player the new owner may rework the salary to match the current salary as taken from the Cot's site for the current year.
2. Drop one player without a cap penalty.
3. May be granted a compensatory pick at the end of the 1st round in the minor league draft.
Post Season Awards:
Post Season Awards will be awarded with the following cash cap bonuses the following year.
MVP's .5 million
Cy Young's .5 million
FAQ
Q - When we drop a player for a FA, what is the penalty?
A - It's half of whatever you have the player signed for. This also applies to FAs where the bidding goes way beyond that player's salary for the previous year. If the FAs real 2010 salary was $400K and he was won in a FA auction for $3.2M then the salary cap hit is $1.6M when you drop him.
Q - If you trade for a player coming up on free agency can you sign them to a new deal?
A – No, but you can give him an extension according to the rules for extending contracts.
Q - What happens if a trade is made for a contract that a team has already used the full number of that length of contract? Say I already have players signed to 15 3,4,5 year contracts and make a trade where I receive a player that has another 4 year contract. Do I need to “rework” a contract?
A - No, you don't need to rework any contract. You traded for the contract and you get to keep it as long as you keep the player.
Q – What kind of contract can I offer a FA player if I have more than 15 or more 3,4,5 yr contracts?
A – You can only offer that player a 1 or 2 year contract as long as you have 15 or more 3,4,5 yr contracts.
Q - If a FA is won in a FA auction and signed to a contract then dropped, and another FA auction begins for that same player is the starting bid the same as the first auction (1/2 previous year's salary according to Cot's to a minimum of $400K) or is the starting bid equal to the final winning bid in the previous FA auction?
A - The starting bid is the same as the first auction, 1/2 previous year's salary according to Cot's to a minimum of $300K.
Feel free to bring up any more issues or question you may have on the general board or send them to me via email or PM. This league is going to take some time and some energy but if you are willing to stay on top of things, it will be a really great league.
Read more: espnfranchisefbb.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=rules&action=display&thread=582#ixzz2mO5TZbUz