League Rules:
Inaugural Draft/Season:
Teams will be randomly distributed after the league is full. In a departure from the original J4M, there will be a signup for AL or NL and each league will have its own random assignment.
This will be done differently from the original league as there was no split DH option when the first league was founded and the DH was only adopted later when that function became available. As this league WILL be adding the DH when appropriate, we will give owners the chance to choose to be in a DH or non-DH league before they are given their team.
Each team's roster will be made up of players that STARTED the 1969 season with that team (e.g., Joe Niekro will be on the Cubs, not the Padres, even though he spent 200+ IP with SD and less than 20 with CHC as he started with CHC in 1969).
Future Seasons:
The draft for future seasons will use my draft formula for the first round of each rookie draft and will go worst to first in all subsequent rounds of each draft.*
General Rules:
Team Name: Must be the same as in RL, may include season (e.g., Chicago Cubs, 1969 Chicago Cubs, '69 Chicago Cubs, Chicago Cubs - 1969, Chicago Cubs '69, etc., are all allowed; 1969 Cubs, Just4me's Cubbies, etc., are not allowed.)
AAA: 6/4 below average
DH: Not in NL, AL beginning in 1973.
Trades: No restrictions on trades as trades are highly encouraged to achieve parity and competitiveness. 120 game trade deadline will be enforced, but roster moves will be allowed all season long. Commissioner can overrule any that are too lopsided or are too many seasons out.
WW: No
Stadiums: Must use teams RL stadium for the appropriate season.
Relocation: Teams must relocate and/or change team names as appropriate with current season.
Expansion: As new cities become available in the late 70's teams that are interested in relocating to one of these cities can express interest and will be put into a lottery for the relocation if more than 1 team is interested in relocating.
League Prizes:
Assuming the league goes five seasons and we keep at least half of the inaugural owners the $50 prize from admin will be distributed as five $10 GC as follows:
Best Cumulative Record
This goes to the owner who has the best overall W% with a minimum three season played in the league.
If the owner ran multiple teams and each team qualifies then each team will be counted separately. If one, or no team qualifies, they will be counted together.
Best Cumulative Draft Score
This goes to the owner who has achieved the best draft score with a minimum three season played in the league. The formula is applied to the cumulative salaries/wins over the 5 year period (or 3 or for owners who have not participated in all 5 seasons).
If the owner ran multiple teams and each team qualifies then each team will be counted separately. If one, or no team qualifies, they will be counted together.
Random Prize
This will be randomly distributed to any single current owner in the league, myself excluded. Owners with two teams will have two chances.
Longevity Award
This will be randomly distributed to any single current owner who has been with the league from the inaugural season, myself excluded.
*Wildcard*
This will be changed up every 5 seasons to give some variety and allow for other goals or prizes.
Given that this started as a replay league, I thought it would be interesting to give a prize to the owner/team (current team owner would get the prize) that has had the best success (comparing wins) versus their real life counterpart over the same 5 seasons.
Commissioner:
As many of you know, I don't have time to run this league, I barely have time to keep up in the drafts of the 3 leagues I'm still in (from as many as 18 progressives about 3 years ago), so I will be more or less an absent commissioner only really taking on the draft formula and clarifying any rules/issues. Otherwise, magracefan will be running the league
AMENDMENT:
These are the rules regarding a players availability going forward from THIS POINT ON:
1. Unrostered in the previous season, available to be drafted whether listed as available or not
2. Rostered in the previous season and listed as cut by the owner, available to be drafted whether listed as available or not
3. Rostered in the previous season and not listed as cut by the owner, clarify the intent with the commish or owner before drafting.
*For those unfamiliar with my formula, it is currently used by at least 2 ongoing progressives, was used in 3 of the 4 I started, and at least 2 other now defunct leagues. It is essentially an anti-tanking formula that encourages teams to be competitive even during rebuilding years; while rewarding teams based on how well they exceed their win expectancy using salary to compare each team to its league-mates and schedule. Rewarding those that do better than expected with good draft picks. Typically exceeding the expectation by 20% was good enough for the top pick (or at least a top 5 pick). For example, a rebuilding team might be expected to win 40 games, whereas winning 48 would be a 20% improvement over expectations and would net the team a top pick, where a top team might be expected to win 110 would then need to win 132 to reach that same target of 20%.