I - LEAGUE STRUCTURE : The league will follow MLB historical expansion.
1885 - 1891 : 16 team league, 8 team National League and an 8 team American association, with a World Series.
1892 - 1899 : 12 team National League. Best regular season record determins official league champion. To break a tie World Series Game 1 will be considered the official tie breaker game. All other WS games are unofficial exhibitions only.
1900 : One 8 team National League. WIS structure may or may not mandate an eight team unofficial group.
1901 - 1960 : 16 team league, 8 team National League and an 8 team American League, with a World Series
1961 : 18 team league, 8 team National League and a 10 team American league, with a World Series
1962 - 1968 : 20 team league, 10 team National League and a 10 team American League
1969 - 1976 : 24 team league, 12 team National League and a 12 team American League. Leagues split into two divisions, division champs play an LCS to determine World Series matchup.
1977 - 1992 : 26 team league, 12 team National League and a 14 team American League. Leagues split into two divisions, division champs play an LCS to determine World Series matchup.
1993 : 28 team league, 14 team National League and a 14 team American League. Leagues split into two divisions, division champs play an LCS to determine World Series matchup.
1994 - 1997 : 28 team league, 14 team National League and a 14 team American League. Leagues split into three divisions. Three division winners and a wild card play two playoff rounds in each league to determine WS participants.
1998 - TBD : 30 team league, 16 team National League and a 14 team American League. Leagues split into three divisions. Three division winners and a wild card play two playoff rounds in each league to determine WS participants.
*The current 15-15 split with two wild card teams is not an available format at this time. If/when it is available, it will be adopted for the 2013 season.
II - ROSTER MANAGEMENT : All players available on the WIS database for any given season will be rostered. AAA spots will be made available to account for this.
Each owner will be responsible for posting a keepers list of players for the following season which will be due before the current season's World Series.
This keepers list should include all active players the owner wishes to retain for the following season as well as any players who are not sim eligible for the following season, which will be listed on IR.
Any players not listed on an owner's keepers list are not retained by that franchise and will be considered draft eligible free agents.
The Commissioner will endeavor to identify any keepers list discrepancies and omissions, but responsibility for keepers list accuracy falls on the individual owner.
Keepers lists will be limited to 25 active sim eligible players.
III - TRADES : The Commissioner reserves the right to deny any trade. This is of course to be applied only in extreme situations.
In season trades are managed via the in-season trade function of the sim, with 8 vetos required to cancel a trade. Again, the Commissioner reserves the rights of the final decision in these cases.
Offseason trades must be posted and confirmed by both parties in the league forum to be official.
Draft picks may be traded one draft cycle ahead.
IV - DRAFT PROCEDURE : A - Draft order is determined by win-loss record from the previous season. The World Series Winner selects last in the first round.
B - Effective 1902, the following system will go into effect.
Wins Floor : The 1962 Mets are often considered the benchmark for futility, 40 wins in a 162 game schedule. Prorated to a 154 game schedule, that would mean 38 wins would be the mark.
C - Draft Lottery : All teams finishing the previous season with a losing record while also meeting the wins floor requirement qualify for a lottery to determine the top three picks of the forthcoming rookie/free agent draft. The lottery will be conducted by assignment of bingo balls, which would then be drawn from a roller cage. The process will be recorded and made available to all owners. The Number of balls would be assigned as follows...
Best qualifying record - assigned 1 draw
2nd qualifying record - 4 draws
3rd - 9 draws
4th - 16 draws
5th - 21 draws
6th - 26 draws
7th - 31 draws
8th - 36 draws
9th - 41 draws
In the case of a tie, the number of balls will be averaged between the positions.
With the following adjustments....
Team won previous draft lottery = 30% reduction
Team awarded #2 pick in previous lottery = 20% reduction
Team awarded #3 pick in previous lottery = 10 % reduction
Team won lottery before last = 15 % reduction
Team awarded #2 pick lottery before last = 10% reduction
Team awarded #3 pick lottery before last = 5 % reduction
+ a 5% reduction for every consecutive lottery eligible season.
Owner of the ball drawn first from the cage is awarded the #1 pick. Eliminating that owner's draws, the next ball selected pick gets pick #2. Eliminating that owner's draws as well, the owner of the next ball selected gets pick #3.
D - Picks 4-15 would be determined as follows : The twelve teams involved would be ranked on two lists. List A would rank these teams by payroll at the conclusion of the previous season. List B would rank them by their previous season's W-L record. Picks would be distributed based on their draft figure, aka their position in List A relative to their position in List B. In such, teams whose position on the win % list exceeds their position in the payroll list will pick higher than underachievers. In the case of ties by win %, the higher payroll team gets the higher position. In the case of ties by draft figure, the lower payroll team gets the higher draft pick.
E - For rounds 2 and on, all picks are determined by win percentage, as in previous seasons.
F - Tiebreakers for draft position are to be determined by the teams' relative position to one another in round 1.
G - In all cases where a tiebreaker is applied, teams will alternate position round by round.
H - The seasonal rookie / free agent draft may begin after the completion of the regular season,(through 1968) or LCS (1969 and after)
I - The first round of the rookie / free agent draft will always be off the clock.
For the second round, three hour timeslots will be assigned. For the third round, two hours, and for rounds four and on, one hour.
J - As mentioned in (II), all players will be drafted and rostered. There are no exceptions.
This means, if your draft position is up, and there are any players available, you may not decline your pick, and must select and roster a player. The Commissioner may not mandate playing time for any player, but will mandate that all players are rostered.
V - CONTRACTION AND EXPANSION DRAFTS : From the league structure schedule posted in (I), the following supplemental drafts will be held in the manner described. In each case, the supplemental draft precedes the rookie / free agent draft.
1892 Contraction Draft : Four franchises folded. Active players from these four teams will be drafted among the remaining active teams. Players from these four rosters who do not appear in the sim in 1892 will be considered veteran free agents when they return. Twelve remaining teams will be ordered semi-randomly. Draft order will proceed in a serpentine pattern round by round.
1900 Contraction Draft : Four franchises folded. Active players from these four teams will be drafted among the remaining active teams. Players from these four rosters who do not appear in the sim in 1900 will be considered veteran free agents when they return. Eight remaining teams will be ordered semirandomly. Draft order will proceed in a serpentine pattern round by round.
1901 AL Expansion Draft : The American League is founded, and the league expands by eight teams. The format for this draft is posted in a separate doccument in the league forum.
1961 and 1962 Expansion Drafts : The league expands by two teams in the AL in 1961 and the NL in 1962. Draft fromat will be that used in the Hangover League's 1962 expansion. Details will be posted and discussed several seasons in advance.
1969 Expansion Draft : The league expands by two teams in both the AL and the NL. Draft fromat will be that used in the Hangover League's 1969 expansion. Details will be posted and discussed several seasons in advance.
1977 Expansion Draft : The league expands by two teams in the AL. Draft fromat will be that used in the Hangover League's 1977 expansion. Details will be posted and discussed several seasons in advance.
1993 Expansion Draft : The league expands by two teams in the NL. Draft fromat will be that used in the Hangover League's 1993 expansion. Details will be posted and discussed several seasons in advance.
1998 Expansion Draft : The league expands by two teams, one in both the AL and the NL. Draft fromat will be that used in the Hangover League's 1998 expansion. Details will be posted and discussed several seasons in advance.
VI - NAMING CONVENTION : Franchise's city/state name must appear in your team name. There is no specific restriction to team nicknames, though the Commissioner may intervene if a nick is particularly offensive.
VII - FRANCHISE RELOCATION : Relocation availability will be restricted to MLB relocation history. The owner of a franchise that relocates historically may choose whether or not they relocate. In such a case, the Commissioner may chose to offer another franchise the choice to relocate.
VIII - BALLPARK AVAILABILITY : For the 19th century, ballparks will be handled as drafted prior to our inaugural season. Starting with the 1900 season, all ballparks are available in WIS, and will be franchise specific begining then. New ballparks will be made available the season they debuted in MLB and not before. As the classic concrete and steel ballparks are built in the first couple decades of the 20th century, we may make them mandatory by 1920. This will be put to debate once we're in the 20th century.
IX - POSITIONAL USAGE : Players may start a game at any position for which they have a defensive rating.
X - FILLER PLAYERS : There is a specific selection of 21st century scrub players that are available to all teams on an as needed basis to fill out rosters. These players are not to be used in league play for any reason.
XI - DESIGNATED HITTER : The American League will adopt the DH beginning with the 1973 season. The National League will adopt the DH beginning with the Trump Virus Pandemic shortened 2020 season.
XII - ADDITIONS AND CHANGES : Communication and debate are always encouraged. Any ammendment and or addition to the league rules will be determined by the Commissioner, whether it's decided to put it to a vote or make the change automatically.