Changes for ABL 2006 are in RED
a. A computer baseball league
that promotes competition and enjoyment.
b.
Provide for a system of player control that includes a free agent/salary system
c.
Encourage face-to-face play as much as possible
d.
Encourage realistic player usage.
a. The latest version of Diamond
Mind will be used.
b.
The ABL has 24 teams divided into the Northern and Southern Leagues, each with
two divisions. Each division has six teams.
c. The ABL board of advisors currently includes Mark Hetterich, Jack Stephens, LeRoy Gorham and Bill Jelks.
d.
ABL officers and duties:
i. Commissioner Bill Jelks
insures adequate communication, maintains deadlines, and imposes fines.
ii. Web
Site Manager LeRoy Gorham maintains ABL web site including player rosters and
salaries
iii. Database Manager Mark Hetterich
maintains ABL database.
e. Managers are responsible for
maintaining a competitive team, and meeting all league deadlines.
Managers need to have an active e-mail account that can handle file attachments
and zipped (compressed) files. Managers will also need to have access to
the World Wide Web.
a. Teams will play 14 games
against divisional opponents (7 home and 7 away) and 5 games against
non-divisional opponents (5 home or 5 away.
b.
There will be 6 reporting periods.
c.
The 4 divisional winners plus the two remaining teams in each league with the
best records will make the playoffs. The first tiebreaker will be
head-to-head record, and the second tiebreaker is divisional record. The
divisional winners will be seeded 1 and 2 based on record, and the other 2
teams in each league will be seeded 3 & 4 also based on record. Each
series will be 7 games.
a. The Designated hitter will be
used.
b.
25 players active for each series, except for the last 2 series of the year.
c.
The manager profile will be used for games not played FTF.
d.
Statistical files will be sent to opposing managers and the database manager.
e.
Seasonal Player Limits
i.
Hitters with over 150 actual AB's will be limited to actual AB's + 50.
Those with 150 or less will be limited to actual AB's.
ii.
Starting pitchers will be limited to actual GS.
iii.
Pitchers with over 30 actual IP who pitch in relief will be limited to IP +
10. Those with 30 or less will be limited to actual IP.
iv.
Pitchers who both start and relieve are limited to both provisions above.
v.
Hitters with OPS (OBP + SLG) under .600 will be
limited to 500 AB or actual AB.
vi.
Pitchers with ERA between 5.00 and 6.99 will be limited to 150 IP or
actual. If such a pitcher started at least 1 game in real life, he will
be limited to 30 starts or actual.
f. Playoff series will be a
g.
Playoff Series Limits
i.
Hitters will be limited to actual AB's divided by 10, rounded up.
ii.
Starting pitchers will be limited to actual GS divided by 10, rounded down.
iii.
Other pitchers will be limited to IP divided by 10, rounded up.
iv.
Hitters with OPS (OBP + SLG) under .600 will be
limited to 50 AB.
v.
Pitchers with ERA between 5.50 and 6.99 will be limited to 15 IP.
Diamond Mind rates every player. Players with
less than 30 AB or 20 IP will be disqualified from playing in the ABL.
a. The ABL will work on a salary structure.
b. There will be a salary cap:
i.
The salary cap for the initial season was $5000.
ii. The cap
will increase by 5% each season. Thus, for ABL 2004, the salary cap will
be $6700.
iii.
During the off-season teams must be at or below the salary cap when declaring
salaries and at final cutdown. At other times, teams may exceed the cap. NOTE: A TEAM MUST HAVE SALARY CAP ROOM TO BID
ON FREE AGENTS, MATCH BIDS ON FREE AGENTS AND DRAFT ROOKIE.
c.
During the season, there will be waiver periods between each reporting
period. Each team may claim up to 3 players for each waiver period.
Every claimed player will be assigned a salary of $10. For each
successful claim, a player must be cut unless the team has less than 35
players. The Waiver Claim process will be a 3-round
draft, with the order determined by current standings. Ties will be
broken by head-to-head record (worst picks first) and then home record (worst
picks first).
d. During the off-season, there will be 4 phases:
Salary Phase, Bidding Phases, Matching Phase, and the Rookie Draft, in that
order. They will be explained in section 6.
a. Trading
will begin after the regular season ends. Trading will end one week
before salaries are to be submitted to the league. Trading will begin
again after the free agent matching phase.
b. Salary
Phase. Each manager will submit a proposed salary to the league for each
owned player. Players will then be divided into 3 groups, depending on
salary:
Protected Players - If a
player's salary increases by $50, then the player is then protected. Protected players
cannot be lost during the bidding phase.
Restricted Free Agents
- If a player's salary increases by $5, then the player is a restricted free
agent.
Unrestricted Free
Agents - If a player's salary decreases or stays the same, then the player is
an unrestricted free agent. Note: the minimum salary is $0.
c. After
all teams have submitted their proposed salaries, they
will be posted on the web. Once salaries have been posted, the two,
closed auction bidding phases will begin. The first phase will be on
RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS. A team may bid
on no more than 2 restricted free agents from any one team. Bids
must be in increments of $1. Teams must have salary cap room to bid. Once the league announces the successful
bids, all bids are considered final. The second phase is on UNRESTRICTED FREE
AGENTS. Eligible teams will have one week to submit bids to the
league. There will be no limit to the total number of unrestricted
bids. Salary cap MAY NOT be
exceeded. Contingency bids are
acceptable (….bid on player “B” if player “A” goes to a higher bidder),
HOWEVER, contingency AMOUNTS are NOT ACCEPTABLE (bidding $100 on player “A” in one scenario and something different in another
scenario.”
d. Successful bids on Restricted Free
Agents may be matched by the original team during the Matching Phase.
Teams will have A REASONABLE PERIOD OF TIME to decide whether or not to
match the bid. To match the bid, the salary must increase to the amount
of the new bid + 10% of the difference.
For example, a RFA's
salary is assigned to $100. A successful bid of $150 must be matched with
a salary of $155.
e. The
league will compile all bids, and announce the successful bids. A
successful bid is the highest bid that exceeds the current salary. Ties
will be broken by the rookie draft order.
A successful bid on an unrestricted free agent will
result in the original team losing that player. The new team takes
control immediately, and the bid amount will become the salary. Any free
agent who does not receive any bids will remain with his current team at the
proposed salary.
WHETHER THE BID IS MATCHED OR NOT, THE PLAYER MAY NOT BE CUT UNTIL
THE FIRST WAIVER PERIOD OF THE UPCOMING SEASON.
f. Once
the off-season free agent/bidding phase has ended, trading may begin again.
g. The
rookie draft will be in inverse order of record. Ties will be broken by
head-to-head record. Further ties will be broken by record in divisional
games. Any carded player not on a roster will be available. The
round in which the player is drafted will determine his salary. Draft Salaries
Note: Roster
sizes are unlimited during the off-season. The roster must be trimmed to
35 players for the start of the season.
a. Fines for missing deadlines
will result in a loss of salary cap for the upcoming season.
b. A player who is blatantly
overused will become an unrestricted free agent with a salary of $0.
Pitchers are given a 10 IP cushion, hitters are given a 50 AB cushion, and
there is a 35 man roster, so there should be no excuse for overuse. If an
overused player has little value in the upcoming season, then the league (the
commissioner and board of advisors) may impose a fine of lost salary cap or
lost draft picks.
c. An overused player will be unavailable during the
playoffs. If a playoff team has severe overuse, then the team may be
disqualified from the playoffs at the discretion of the commissioner and the
board of advisors.
d. Minor overuse (this will be
determined by the commissioner on a case-by-case basis) will results in a fine
that will result in lost salary cap space for the upcoming season. The
fine will be $1 for every unit of overuse ($1 for each AB and each 1/3
IP). Note that an overuse of pitcher games started is not considered
minor, and players will be subject to part b above.
a. Each team will have a specific
home ballpark. The ballpark will be the
same for the entire year.
b. If a team wishes to switch ballparks, the manager must so
declare BEFORE the end of the regular season. All teams who decide to
change parks will participate in a ballpark draft, which will occur before the
rookie draft. Drafting order will be random, and any available stadium
may be selected.
c. If an actual major league team moves to a different
stadium, then the ABL team who uses the old stadium may move into the new
stadium if the manager wishes. Otherwise, the ABL team may enter the
ballpark draft in the following season.
d. Ballparks may not be traded.