Real Fans Baseball Association
OFFICIAL RULES
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 |
Cleveland Indians |
Anaheim Angels |
|
Boston Red Sox |
Kansas City Royals |
Oakland Athletics |
|
New York Yankees |
Minnesota Twins |
Seattle Mariners |
|
Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
Toronto Blue Jays |
Texas Rangers |
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|
|
|
A. The regular season will be split up into six blocks of 27 games each.
B. Active playing rosters consist of a maximum of 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.
C. Each team will submit computer manager profiles at the beginning of each 27-game block. These computer managers will be used as the default for subsequent 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 by 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.
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.
E. The following are the regular season player limitations:
A. All batters will be limited to 110% of their actual major league at bats.
B. All pitchers will be limited to 110% of their actual major league innings pitched.
C. Players who have played in both leagues may be used. We will use the player’s combined Strat card.
D. 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.
E. 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.
F. 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 25 players for the playoffs. Playoff teams will set their rosters AFTER the end of the regular season. Proposed: New 25-man rosters can be set for each round of the playoffs.
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. Proposed: replace this with the following: c. For seven-game series: Batters who had 405 MLB PA's (360 for catchers) are unlimited for playoff usage. Batters with 360-404 PA's (315-359 for catchers) are allowed to start 5 games per series. He may pinch hit once in the other games or enter any game for good, from the 7th inning on. Batters with 315-359 PA's (270-314 for catchers) are allowed to start 4 games per series. He may pinch hit once in the other games or enter any game for good, from the 7th inning on. Batters with 270-314 PA's (225-269 for catchers) are allowed to start 3 games per series. He may pinch hit once in the other games or enter any game for good, from the 7th inning on. Batters with 225-269 PA's (180-224 for catchers) are allowed to start 2 games per series. He may pinch hit once in the other games or enter any game for good, from the 7th inning on. Batters with 180-224 PA's (135-179 for catchers) are allowed to start 1 game per series. He may pinch hit once in the other games or enter any game for good, from the 7th inning on. Batters with fewer than 180 PA’s (134 for catchers) would only be available to pinch hit once each game or enter any game for good, from the 7th inning on. For five-game series: Batters who had 405 MLB PA's (360 for catchers) are unlimited for playoff usage. Batters with 360-404 PA's (315-359 for catchers) are allowed to start 4 games per series. He may pinch hit once in the other games or enter any game for good, from the 7th inning on. Batters with 315-359 PA's (270-314 for catchers) are allowed to start 3 games per series. He may pinch hit once in the other games or enter any game for good, from the 7th inning on. Batters with 225-314 PA's (180-269 for catchers) are allowed to start 3 games per series. He may pinch hit once in the other games or enter any game for good, from the 7th inning on. Batters with 180-224 PA's (135-179 for catchers) are allowed to start 1 game per series. He may pinch hit once in the other games or enter any game for good, from the 7th inning on. Batters with fewer than 180 PA’s (135 for catchers) would only be available to pinch hit once each game or enter any game for good, from the 7th inning on.
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. Proposed: replace this with the following:
A. Starting pitchers who made 20 or more MLB starts can start 2 games in a playoff series. (If he is an asterisk starter, then he may pitch 3 games as long as he has 3 days off between starts.) Starting pitchers who made 15 to 19 MLB starts may start 1 playoff game per series. Starting Pitchers with fewer then 15 MLB starts cannot start a game in the playoffs.
B. Relievers with 45 or more MLB innings may relieve regularly using regular SOM relief rules. Relievers with 40-44 MLB innings are only allowed to pitch 1 inning max per game except for 1 game where they are not limited to the 1 inning. Relievers with less than 40 MLB innings are only allowed to pitch 1 inning max per game.
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. Any trade that is made during the regular season will take effect at the beginning of the next 27-game block.
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. Around the end of each RFBA season, the following season’s RFBA players’ salaries will be set equal to their opening day MLB salaries from the most recent season if they were on a MLB roster at the beginning of that MLB season. If a player was not on a MLB roster at the beginning of the most recent MLB season, that player’s RFBA salary will be set at the current MLB minimum salary. Teams must pay this minimum salary even to retired players on 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 110% 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 was $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 regular 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 either (1) had 1 at-bat or pitched 1/3rd of an inning in the major leagues and not be on another team’s roster or (2) been left unprotected by another team. Rookies, unprotected and released players’ salaries will be determined as any other player’s salary is determined. Teams may draft players that put them over the salary cap, but these players will not be added to the roster as signed players until 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 |
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 web site. All teams (other than the one who released the player) will have 5 days to submit a claim for the released player. As soon as practical, but no earlier than 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 regular season, he will be eligible to begin playing for that team at the beginning of the next block of games.
B. When a team is awarded a player from waivers, that team will move to the end of the waiver priority list.
C. Players who are on waivers are processed in the order in which they were released. Teams who are slightly interested in a player who was released on Tuesday morning but more interested in a player who was released on Wednesday evening should take this into account when determining whether to place a claim on the first player.
D. 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 regular season, he will be eligible to begin playing for that team in at the beginning of the next block of games.
Ken’s proposal:
This is what I would like to propose. Below is our current rule for protected players.
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
I would like to propose adding (3) players to the above AND adding the following to the rule; Each 1st round you have at Lockdown counts as (2) protects. Each 2nd rounder you have counts as (1) protect. In theory, it works out exactly the same if you don't trade away or acquire any 1st or 2nd rounders.
It also makes it more fair to guys who either are unable to draft, or choose not to draft, because now when they trade away a top pick they will be able to protect the player(s) they acquire without having to lose another player due to the limits shown above.
Rolf’s proposal:
Players that are not chosen in the annual draft
that were unprotected by their teams are returned to their teams. Newly carded
players who were not chosen are added to the eligible list of free agents.
Teams may bid on these players according to the free agent system as currently
constituted.
The following stipulations apply:
1. Each team has a maximum of five free agent transactions per year, counting
from day after the annual draft.
2. For each player that is picked up, a player with protected status off the
team's roster must be cut at the time the player is added to the roster.