General Managers Baseball League Constitution

1.00 League Format

1.01

The General Manager's Baseball League (GMBL) will consist of two leagues, the American and National Leagues.  Each league will consist of 14 teams, broken down into 3 divisions: two with 5 teams, and one with 4 teams.

1.02

The season will be 162 games, from April through September.

1.03

Season play will be pure; the American League teams will only play other American League teams, the National League teams will play only other National League teams.  Teams will play more games against their division opponents than they will against opponents in the other 2 division in their league.

1.04

Joining and playing in the league is free; there are no dues or other charges.

2.00 General Playing Rules

2.01

The GMBL is a 100% APBA Baseball for Windows (BBWin) 5.75 computer league, using League Manager (LM) and AIM.

2.02

The use of the Designated Hitter will mirror MLB rules; all leagues will use the DH.

2.03

MicroManagers are required for all road series where the visiting manager is not personally (in person, via internet, or otherwise) managing his team. Any micromanager may be used and must also be provided by the visiting manager if not commonly available to the league.

2.04

Owners are responsible for naming their team's MicroManager and providing a copy to League Management to be posted on the league website so all can access.  In the event that a team fails to designate a MicroManager, Felipe Hernandez will be used.

2.05

Owners are encouraged to play live via WebEx, LogMeIn, or other such software; however it is not a requirement and both managers must agree.  Otherwise the visiting manager will have their team managed by their designated MicroManager. 

2.06

Ballpark effects will not be used.

3.00 Team Rosters

3.01

Major League rosters will be limited to 40 players during the season.  It is each team's responsibility to keep enough carded players on the 40 man roster to provide full seasonal coverage at all offensive positions as well as pitching.

3.02

A 28-man roster is used for each series and may be changed from series to series. It may not be changed in the middle of a series.

3.03

Active rosters may be expanded to the full 40-man limit after game #132 of the season has been played.

3.04

Players who did not play in the current season (previously carded players) may be retained. These players will be designated with "IR".  They may not be used in games under any circumstances. IR players count against the 40 man majors roster.

3.05

Each team will also have a 20 man Minor League roster.  Any drafted/owned player who has never appeared on an official APBA data disk (college, high school, minors, overseas, etc.) must be placed on the 20 man Minor League roster.

3.06

Once a player appears on an official APBA data disk, they lose all GMBL minors eligibility and must be carried on the 40 man roster or released.

3.07

Teams are allowed to carry fewer than 40 players on the Major League roster, and fewer than 20 players on their Minor League rosters at any time.  During the season teams are not allowed to go over 40 and 20 respectively.  In the off-season teams may exceed the 40/20 limit but will be forced to cut down to 40/20 by March 1st. 

3.08

If a team has severe fatigue or injury issues, the may claim players who are unowned to help with coverage. For each player picked up, a player must be released. At the end of the year, all "in-season waiver claims" must also be released.

3.09

Teams must have at least nine healthy pitchers with innings remaining at the start of every series. If nine are not available, free agent pitchers must be added, following rules for player additions in 3.08 of the constitution.

4.00 Batting Limitations

4.01

AIM will be used to manage all batting limits.

5.00 Stealing Limitations

5.01

BBW will manage all stolen base limitations.

6.00 Player Substitution 

6.01

A player may play at a non-rated position only when the starting and all rated backup players for that position have been injured, ejected, or substituted. Pinch-hitting or pinch running for the last available rated player at a position is allowed only from the 9th inning on.

6.02

The penalty for out of position use except from injury or ejection:

1st - A warning
2nd - Loss of 3rd round pick
3rd - Loss of a 2nd round pick
4 th - Loss of a 1st round pick
5th - Loss of the team

7.00 Pitching Limitations

7.01

AIM will be used to manage all pitching limits; the only exceptions follow.

7.02

Pitchers without a starting grade cannot start unless absolutely required due to injury.  Any pitcher may be used in relief.

8.00 Injuries

8.01

AIM will be used to manage all injuries.

9.00 Rainouts

9.01

All games will be played in Domed stadiums to prevent rainouts.

9.02

Any results submitted with rainouts will be rejected. Owners may replay the rained out games (time permitting) or the rained out games will be simmed. No games will be rescheduled due to rainouts.

10.00 Instructions and Results

10.01

Each manager must provide an f-file at the beginning of the season, designating team pitching rotation, roster, and lineups to be use for road games. This file may be changed after each series.

10.02

The 27-man active roster for each series must include a minimum of 2 rated players for each defensive position and a minimum of 5 rated players for the outfield. Each roster and lineup must have a minimum of 4 pitchers (may be rated relievers or starters with available relief appearances and innings) available for relief, and 4 starting pitchers, 3 of which are ineligible to pitch (resting).

10.03

Managers must upload their f-files to the league YahooGroups Files section or email them to the YahooGroups email account in a timely fashion upon the conclusion of each series. No series is official until the league statistician has validated the f-file.

10.04

It is each manager's responsibility to notify league management in advance if they will not be able to play their current series.

10.05

Due to the depth of the league and high degree of competition desired and expected, it is each owner's responsibility to actively manage their roster and play their games. Teams will accrue progressive penalties for delinquency and/or negligence in turning in their game results. The penalties are as follows:

1st two violations - no penalty
3rd violation - lose 3rd round pick
4th violation - lose 2nd round pick
5th violation - lose 1st round pick
6th violation - dismissal from the league

If a team is dismissed for such a reason, all previously forfeited picks will be reinstated for the incoming owner.  

Owners are able to request a sim in advance w/o penalty. 

10.06

Any manager who becomes thirty (30) days late with results, without having made prior arrangements with the League management, may be immediately terminated at the discretion of the League management. The League management have the authority to auto-play any series outstanding as of the due date.

10.07

Pitching rotations are to be scheduled for a minimum of the upcoming schedule period.

10.08

No team may begin play until their season-opening f-file (with pitching rotation, roster, and lineups) is on file with the league statistician.

11.00 Post-Season Play

11.01

The 3 division champions and the two teams remaining with the next best won-loss records ("Wildcards") will advance to the post-season in each league.

11.02

A 5 Game Wild Card round will be held between the two wildcards. The winner of that series will advance to the Divisional Round. Standard tie-breakers apply.

11.03

The division winner with the best won-loss record will play the playoff team with the worst won-loss record in the first round; the 2 playoff teams with the 2nd and 3rd best records also play. In the event that division champions have identical records, the tie-breakers, in order will be determined by: 1) the better head-to-head record 2) the better record within each team's division 3) the team with the better road record.

11.04

All playoff series will be best-of-seven (7) games, played in a 2-2-1-1-1 format.

11.05

Wildcard and/or divisional ties will be broken by a one-game playoff, at the home of the team with the better record in head-to-head play.

11.06

Division winners have home field advantage over wildcard teams throughout the playoffs.

11.07

The World Series home team will be the team with the best regular season record. In the event of a tie, the following criteria will be used to break the tie: 1) Best road record 2) Most runs scored 3) Fewest sims 4) Coin flip.

11.08

Injuries from the season will not carry over into the playoffs.  Any injuries sustained in the playoffs will carry through the rest of the playoffs.

11.09

Player fatigue from the regular season will carry over into the playoffs.

11.10

Playoff rosters will be 27 players and must be declared before the start of the playoffs.

11.11

Playoff rosters may be changed between series; changes to the roster during an actively played series are not allowed.

11.12

Only starting pitchers with 50 or more innings pitched, and relievers with 25 or more innings pitched are eligible for post-season play.

11.13

Innocuous batters (OPS < .600) and pitchers (Grade 1-4, MBF 1000) are eligible for the post-season regardless of their actual MLB at-bat and innings totals.

11.14

The DH will be used for all post-season games.

12.00 Awards

12.01

"MVP", "CY Young", "Rookie of the Year", and "Fireman of the Year" votes, for each league, will be taken at the end of the season and acknowledged.

12.02

A voluntary Awards Committee will be formed at the end of the season to vote on league All-Stars, Gold Gloves, and Silver Sluggers. Any owner that wishes to participate may join the Awards Committee.

13.00 Player Drafts

13.01

A 20-round annual draft of available players will be conducted each year on a date determined by the League management. The draft will be held via the league Draft Website. Picks in Rounds 16-20 cannot be traded, and can only be used on carded players.

13.02

All unaffiliated players on the new APBA data disk are eligible for the draft, as well as any unaffiliated uncarded prospects. Unaffiliated uncarded players that have exceeded MLB rookie requirements may also be drafted and may only be placed on the 40 man Majors roster.

13.03

The draft order will be set in the inverse order of the final standings. The 21-28 positions of the rookie draft are set based on playoff finish. The World Series winner will be assigned position 28, the World Series loser will be assigned position 27. The LCS losers will be assigned positions 25 and 26, with the team with the worse regular season record getting the 25th position. Positions 21 through 24 will be filled by the four playoff teams that lost in the divisional round, slotted by regular season record, from worst (position 21) to best (position 24). In the event of ties for any position, the previous year's final standings will be used.

13.04

Only draft picks for the current/upcoming draft are eligible to be traded. Picks may be traded during the draft.

13.05

Instructions, draft order, and a list of eligible carded players will be distributed prior to the draft.

13.06

The draft may begin once the official data disk is available and the League management gives the go-ahead.

13.07

Once rosters are cut down to 40 MLB players + 20 minor league players on March 1st , a 2 round "waiver wire draft" (WWD) will take place. All released carded players will be placed in the WWD pool; any unowned carded player is eligible to be drafted. Teams that are at 40 majors players would need to cut a player to draft a player.

14.00 Trades

14.01

Trades can take place at any time during the season, with the exception of short roster freeze periods that will be announced by league management.

14.02

No trades are official until reported by both managers to the League Management for confirmation.  Trades will be reported to the league in a timely manner via the website and mailing list.

14.03

Draft picks for the current Annual Draft are the only draft picks permitted in trades. The only exception is during the Annual Draft - teams may trade picks from that draft, and/or the draft that follows. This allows teams to trade current picks for future picks.

14.04

In the event that collusion or other unfair/unethical is suspected, League Management will form a Trade Committee of 5 owners (picked at random) to review the trade in question.  If a majority of the Trade Committee feels that there is a breach of ethics and fair play the trade will be overturned.  The Trade Committee will be instructed to only consider foul play and an obvious attempt to cheat; the trade being subjectively uneven is not grounds in and of itself to nullify the trade. 

14.05

The in-season trade deadline is at the series that contains Game #133. No trades may take place between Game #133 and the end of the playoffs. The commissioner will announce when trading is reopened at the conclusion of the World Series.

15.00 AIM Adjustments

15.01

Prior to the season, the commissioner (or his delegate) will perform adjustments to various AIM player ratings.

15.02

Innocuous batters (OPS < .600) will have their injury rating changed to J-0.

15.03

Any batters with a Season Factor (SF) less than 100 will have it normalized to 100. This will reduce the player's PR as a result (e.g. a 1000/60 player will become a 600/100 player). With SF=100, the player will no longer be "games-limited" in their usage.

15.04

Pitchers with a grade of 1, 2, 3, or 4 will have their Maximum Batters Faced (MBF) set to 1000.

15.05

Grade 1-4 starting pitchers will have their injury rating set to J-2 and their Durability rating set to 2. This will result in their MRR being calculated to 35 and RF to 9.

15.06

Grade 1-4 relievers will have their injury rating set to J-0 and their Durability rating set to 1. This will result in their MRR being calculated to 18 and RF to 7.

15.07

Split grade pitchers with both grades 4 or under will have their injury rating set to J-1 and their Durability rating set to 2 as a starter and 1 as a reliever.

15.08

IIf a split grade pitcher has either grade greater than 4, they will not receive any AIM adjustments.

16.00 Rule Changes

16.01

All rule changes to the GMBL Constitution must be approved by a majority of the voting managers.

16.02

New additions to the constitution must receive majority approval.

16.03

Any league manager may submit rule proposals.

16.04

Voting on rule proposals/charter modifications for the following season will take place within 30 days after the playoffs are completed.  No in-season modifications to the charter will be permitted.