Real
Fans Baseball Association
OFFICIAL RULES (Highlighted changes and
clarifications are from December 2009)
A.
All participants must
use the computer version of Strat-O-Matic Baseball.
B.
The league champion will
receive a set of Strat-O-Matic cards and computer disks for the following
season.
C.
Annual league dues will
be approximately $25. This will cover league expenses such as web site costs
and league champion's prize.
D.
Managers are expected to
adhere to all rules and submit results to the commissioner in accordance with
dates set at the start of the season. Managers who consistently fail to meet league obligations
will be penalized at the commissioner's discretion.
A.
We will be using all
super advanced Strat-O-Matic rules with the exception of certain rules listed
below.
B.
We will not use
Strat-O-Matic injuries.
C.
Ballparks and clutch
hitting will be used. You will use the ballpark of the city you play in. We
will not use the ballpark weather effect.
D.
The Strat-O-Matic home
field advantage rule will not be used.
E.
Super advanced closer
and stealing rules will be used.
F.
Super advanced fatigue
rules will not be used.
G.
AL and NL teams use the
designated hitter rule.
H.
A player may qualify as
a designated hitter regardless of position. He must have played in a minimum of
60 games to start on the road.
A.
The league will use all
American League and National League players.
B.
Three divisions of four
teams provide the format for each league. These are the divisions:
|
NL East |
NL Central |
NL West |
|
Atlanta Braves |
Chicago Cubs |
Arizona Diamonbacks |
|
Cincinnati Reds |
Florida Marlins |
Milwaukee Brewers |
|
New York Mets |
Houston Astros |
San Diego Padres |
|
Pittsburgh Pirates |
St. Louis Cardinals |
San Francisco Giants |
|
|
|
|
|
AL East |
AL Central |
AL West |
|
Baltimore Orioles |
Chicago White Sox |
Anaheim Angels |
|
Boston Red Sox |
Cleveland Indians |
Oakland Athletics |
|
New York Yankees |
Kansas City Royals |
Seattle Mariners |
|
Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
Toronto Blue Jays |
Texas Rangers |
|
|
|
|
A.
The regular season will be
split up into six blocks of 27 games each.
B.
Active
playing rosters consist of a maximum of 29 25 players, including
at least 9 pitchers. The 25-man
active roster may be changed between every 27-game block. No more than 25 players may be
used within a single 27-game block, except for the final block when the active
rosters may contain up to 40 players.
B.C.
Each team
will submit computer manager profiles at the beginning of the yeareach 27-game
block. These profiles computer managers will
be used as the default for the seasonsubsequent blocks if the team
does not submit computer managers for those blocks. If a manager
wishes to adjust his profile during a block, he may do so at the end of
the first half of the seasonby sending the updated computer
manager to his opponents during that block, as long as those games have not
already been played. However,
no changes may be made during a block to the 25-man active roster, except to
deactivate a player and go with fewer than 25 players. See
Programming
Computer Manager.
C.D.
All
managers will use the programmable computer manager to manage their road games.
The lineup setting of "Draft League No Rest" will be used to enable
teams to make up lineups vs. reverse lefties and reverse righties.
D.E.
The
following are the regular season player limitations:
1.
All batters will be
limited to 110% of their actual major league at bats.
2.
All pitchers will be
limited to 110% of their actual major league innings pitched.
3.
Players who have played
in both leagues may be used. We will use the player’s combined Strat card.
4.
In order to start at a
position on the road, a players must have played 35 games at that position.
There are no restrictions for a player to play at home.
5.
Any pitcher with starts
can start and any pitcher with relief games can relieve. However, a pitcher
cannot start and relieve in the same series.
6.
All starters are
required to have a minimum of 4 days rest between starts.
A.
The division winners
will automatically qualify for the playoffs. Each league will also have a wild
card team qualify for the playoffs. The wild card team will be the team with
the best record of the non-division winners.
B.
The division winners
will be seeded one through three based upon winning percentage. The wild card
teams will always be seeded four based on their records. If the number one and
four seeds are not from the same division then, the number one seed will play
four with the number one seed; and two will play three. If the number one and
number four seeds are from the same division, the number one seed will play the
number three seed; and the number two seed will play the number four. The
winners will square off in the league championship. The league champions will
meet in the World Series.
C.
The first series of the
playoffs will be a best of 5 series in a 2-2-1 format.
D.
All other playoff series
will be best of seven and will be in a 2-3-2 format.
E.
Home field advantage is
awarded to the highest seeded team in each series. To determine the seeding for
the World Series: A division winner automatically has the higher seed vs. a
wildcard team. If both teams are division winners or both teams are wildcard
teams, the team with the better regular season record has the higher seed.
F.
No pitcher may start
more than 6 games in post-season play.
G.
Each manager may submit
new lineups and instructions for post-season play. NetPlay is strongly encouraged for playoff games.
H.
Rosters will be set to 26 25 players
for the playoffs. Playoff teams will set their rosters AFTER the end of the
regular season.
I.
Player limitations:
1.
Starting pitchers may be
used as relief pitchers in any series, but may not be used as both in a series.
2.
Position players are
limited to 15% of actual at bats, except that any position player with 500 or
more actual at bats does not need to be rested during the postseason.
3.
Pitchers are limited to
17% of actual innings pitched. However, pitchers who are used exclusively as
relievers in the postseason may pitch up to 22% of their actual innings
pitched, provided that they pitch no more than 20 innings in the postseason.
4.
Starting pitchers must
have at least three days of rest between postseason starts. A day of rest is
accumulated by any of the following events:
o
A game that the starting
pitcher does not pitch;
o
A travel day within a
series;
o
A travel day between one
series and the next;
o
When a series ends in
fewer than the maximum number of games, a day off for each game that is played
less than the maximum.
For example, in the
event that an LCS ends in 6 games, the Game 6 starter would have two days’ rest
before the World Series and would be eligible to start in Game 2 of the World
Series, provided the other usage requirements are met.
1.
In order to start at a
position on the road, a player must have played 35 games at that position.
There are no restrictions for a player to play at home.
A.
Trades are proposed and
processed via the trades section of
the website.
B.
All trades are
permanent.
C.
Future draft picks may
be traded. However, a manager may only trade picks for the next scheduled
draft. For purposes of this rule, trades made during a draft that involve picks
may be for that draft only.
D.
Any off-season player
moves take effect immediately. The following rules govern mid season roster moves:
1) The season will be divided into 2 halves. If a trade is made during the
first half, that trade will take effect at the start of the second half.
Players will switch teams and stats and can be used for the remainder of the
season. Roster adjustments may be made at this time as well, whether you make a
trade or not. But once a player is activated or deactivated, he must remain
that way for the remainder of the season. 2) If a trade takes place during the
second half, the trade will take place at the end of the season. Players will
remain on their respective teams for the remainder of the season.Any trade
that is made during the regular season will take effect at the beginning of the
next 27-game block.
E.
Each new manager is subject to
a 6-month probation period from the day he is announced to the league. During
the probation period, the commissioner may review any trade involving the new
manager.
At the end of the
season, all teams will be evaluated to ensure compliance with the player
limitation rules during the regular season and playoffs. All violations will be
penalized through a reduction in the team’s allowable salary cap for the
following season. The salary cap reductions will be calculated through a
formula that is based on the amount of overusage and the quality of the
player(s) overused, as described below.
A.
Position players who
were used for more than the allowable number of at bats will generate losses of
salary cap room in an amount determined by this formula: [$150,000] * [number
of at bats over allowable at bats] * [player’s actual "OPS" - .600]. This table summarizes some examples of this calculation.
B.
Pitchers who were used
for more than the allowable number of innings will generate losses of salary
cap room in an amount determined by this formula: [$35,000] * [number of
innings pitched over allowable innings pitched] * [5.80 - player’s actual
Component ERA (not actual ERA) as listed as "ERC" in the annual Bill
James Handbook]. This
table summarizes some examples of this
calculation.
A.
Following the mid-season break
of the 2006Around the end of each RFBA season,
the 2007
following season’s RFBA players’
salaries will be set equal to their 2006 opening day MLB salaries from the most
recent season if they were on a MLB roster at the beginning of the 2006that
MLB season. If a player was not on a MLB roster at the beginning of the 2006
MLB season, that player’s RFBA salary will be set at the current MLB minimum
salary. You
Teams must pay this minimum salary
even to retired players on your their roster just
to keep their rights. RFBA players’ salaries change only once per year as this
process is repeated each season. In the event that the commissioner, in
initially setting a player’s salary, makes an error, the player’s salary will
be corrected and the owner is responsible for adhering to the Salary Cap Rules.
If the adjustment puts the team’s salary over the Salary Cap Dollar Amount, the
team will have 24 hours to get the team’s total salary under the Cap.
B.
There is a "signing
bonus" for the first 25 players selected in each rookie draft as outlined
in the rookie draft rules below.
C.
The Salary Cap Dollar
Amount is set at 115110% of the
average RFBA team’s salary after players’ salaries are determined. The salary
cap calculation will be based on only the forty largest salaries on each team’s
roster, rather than the entire roster. For 2006, , for
example, the salary cap will bewas $105,675,000.
Each team’s total salary must be less than or equal to the Salary Cap Dollar
Amount,
minus any penalties and/or plus any awards for league jobs performed.
The Salary Cap Dollar Amount will be in effect beginning the day after the
Roster Lockdown Date (usually New Year’s Eve) and ending on the last day of the
regular season. There is no Salary Cap in effect between the last day of the
regular season and the following Roster Lockdown Date.
D.
All teams will have a
24-hour window if a team’s total salary goes over the Salary Cap. If an owner
fails to get his team’s total salary below the Salary Cap Dollar Amount within
24 hours, players will be released to waivers for him starting with his lowest
salaried player with a high enough salary to put his team’s total salary under
the Cap. THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS 24-HOUR RULE!
E.
At the Roster Lockdown
Date each team may place one player on Injured Reserve for the upcoming
season and this player will not be eligible to play in any games. In order for
a position player to be eligible to be placed on Injured Reserve, he must have
appeared in fewer than 81 games during the Major League Baseball season. For a
starting pitcher to qualify he must have started fewer than 16 games during the
season. For a relief pitcher (a pitcher who appeared in more games as a relief
pitcher than as a starter) to qualify, he must have appeared in fewer than 27
games during the season. The salary for a player on Injured Reserve will not
count against the salary cap, but the player will count against your roster
limit as a protected player. A player on Injured Reserve may be traded after
the Roster Lockdown Date, but his IR status may not be changed until the end of the following
Roster
Lockdown Dateregular season. A player on Injured
Reserve may not be released.
F.
A trade that puts a
team’s total salary above the Salary Cap Dollar Amount will be allowed. If such
a trade is made, the owner will have 24 hours from the time the trade is
processed by the league to get his team’s total salary back under the Salary
Cap Dollar Amount by either making additional trades or by releasing players.
G.
Unlike in MLB
or in real life, releasing a player
immediately relieves a team of the obligation to absorb the player’s salary.
A.
The Roster Lockdown Date
will be December 31 of each year unless a different date is announced. At that
time, each team may place one player on Injured Reserve and must have the
appropriate number of protected players on his roster according to the
following sliding scale:
Winning Pct. of .700 + - Protect 25 players – Can lose up to 6 unprotected
Winning Pct. of .600-.700 - Protect 26 players – Can lose up to 5 unprotected
Winning Pct. of .500-.599 - Protect 27 players – Can lose up to 4 unprotected
Winning Pct. of .400-.499 - Protect 28 players – Can lose up to 3 unprotected
Winning Pct. Below .400 - Protect 29 players – Can lose up to 2 unprotected
B.
For a player to be
eligible for the draft that player must have had either (1) had 1
at-bat or pitched 1/3rd of an inning in the major leagues and either must not
be on another team’s roster or (2) has been left
unprotected by another team. Rookies, unprotected and released players’
salaries will be determined as any other player’s salary is determined. You Teams may
draft players that put you them over the
salary cap, but these players will not be added to your the roster
as (signed players)
until you
the team frees up the salary cap room to
sign them.
C.
There will be 6 rounds
in the draft and 4 supplementary rounds following each of the first 4 rounds.
Picks will be distributed to each team following the prior season’s signing
period (i.e.,
shortly after the prior year’s draft) based on each team's prior
season's winning percentage according to the following schedule. :
|
Winning Pct. |
1 |
1s |
2 |
2s |
3 |
3s |
4 |
4s |
5 |
6 |
|
.000 - .300 |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
.301 - .350 |
X |
|
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
.351 - .400 |
X |
|
X |
|
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
.401 - .450 |
X |
|
X |
|
X |
|
X |
X |
X |
X |
|
.451 - .550 |
X |
|
X |
|
X |
|
X |
|
X |
X |
|
.551 - .600 |
X |
|
X |
|
X |
|
X |
|
X |
X |
|
.601 - .800 |
X |
|
X |
|
X |
|
X |
|
X |
X |
|
.801 - 1.000 |
X |
|
X |
|
X |
|
X |
|
X |
X |
D.This means that a team’s record
in the 2012 regular season determines its position in the draft order in the
January 2013 draft but determines what supplementary picks it has in the Janury
2014 draft. This is a function of the
draft picks having to be handed out a year ahead of time.
D.
For round 1,
a draft lottery will determine the order of picks 1 though 8. The remaining
picks will then proceed in reverse order of the previous season’s winning
percentages. The draft lottery will emulate the NBA's draft lottery. The team
with the worst record from the previous season will have the greatest chance
for the first pick, while the 8th worst team will have the least chance for the
first pick.
E.
There is a "2.8
signing bonus" in effect for the first 25 players selected in each rookie
draft. This signing bonus means that the first year salary for these players
will be determined to be the greater of the players' MLB salary on opening day
OR [(26 - PickNumber) * $100,000] + $300,000... which essentially means the
first pick overall will have a minimum salary of $2.8 million, the second pick
will have a minimum of $2.7 million, etc... These salaries will stay with the
player for one year even if the player is subsequently traded to another team.
After one year, their salaries will be determined as any other player's salary
is determined without a signing bonus.
F.
After the draft,
unselected unprotected players remain with their teams; other unselected
players may qualify for future drafts as free agents provided that they appear
in the league.
G.
Following the draft
there is a ONE week Signing Period to sign your players and assume their
salaries. Any player who remains unsigned after the signing period will be
released from your team and added to waivers. The same salary cap violation
rules are in effect during the signing period. If signing a player puts you
over the cap, you will have 24-hours to get back under the cap.
A.
A team may release any
player at any time via the website. All teams (other than the one who released the
player) will have 5 days to submit a claim for the released player. Five days
after the player is released, the team with the highest waiver priority that
submitted a claim will be awarded the player. If the addition of this player’s
salary puts the team’s total salary above the Cap, the team will have 24 hours
to get back under the Cap. If a player is picked up from waivers prior to the
beginning of the season he will be eligible to begin playing for that team in
game #1. If a player is picked up from waivers during the first half of theregular
season
(first 81 games), he will be eligible to begin playing for that
team in
game #82at the beginning of the next block of games.
If a
player is picked up from waivers in the second half of the season, he will be
eligible to begin playing for that team at the beginning of the following
season.
B.
When a team is awarded a
player from waivers, that team will move to the end of the waiver priority
list.
C.
All released players who
clear waivers (i.e., clear the 5-day waiting period without any teams claiming
the player) will be available as free agents anytime during the season. There
is no waiting period when claiming a free agent as he will be added to your
roster immediately. In addition, claiming a free agent will not affect your
waiver priority order. If
the addition of this player’s salary puts the team’s total salary above the
Cap, the team will have 24 hours to get back under the Cap. If a free agent is
picked up prior to the beginning of the season he will be eligible to begin
playing for that team in game #1. If a free agent is picked up during the regularfirst half of
the season (first 81 games), he will be eligible
to begin playing for that team in at the beginning of the next block of gamesgame #82. If
a free agent is picked up in the second half of the season, he will be eligible
to begin playing for that team at the beginning of the following season.