Phantom Fantasy Baseball League Rules

Phantom Fantasy Baseball League

Rules Page

Last edited: April 29, 2006

The League

The league will use the 1999 opening day arc file to determine players for the initial draft and FPS BBPro98 to run the games. The league will consist of 14 teams separated into 3 divisions. 5 teams in two divisions and 4 in the other. This is determined by FPS BBPro98, the commish has no control over this in any way.
It will be a career league where the players improve, and older players decline in skills and retire at certain (random) ages.
Your team must play out of one of the cities loaded into the memory of BBPro98. (Meaning real MLB teams only) This will be released by the commissioner by request.
Rosters will be determined by an initial draft of all current MLB baseball players from one common pool. There can be computer picks if an owner wishes, although this is advised against.
We will use the version 9811 patch for the game along with the spring training and injury patches.

Sims

There will be 2 sims per week. Tuesday and Friday.
This can change at anytime without extended notice.
If for some reason the commish cannot sim for an extended period the league will be notified of a temporary hiatus.
Sims will be 8 game days long. This is for 15 day DL purposes.

Lineups

Line-ups are due at 5:00pm PST the day of the sim. You may send them in later, but there is no guarantee that they will be processed prior to the sim.
Have line-ups in the following manor or at least a similar organized fashion:

                        To AAA: name of player(s)
                        To ACT: name of player(s)
                        To DL: name if player(s)

                                vLHP:                                vRHP:
                            1. name (pos)                   1. name (pos)
                            2. name (pos)                   2. name (pos)
                            3. name (pos)                   3. name (pos)
                            4. name (pos)                   4. name (pos)
                            5. name (pos)                   5. name (pos)
                            6. name (pos)                   6. name (pos)
                            7. name (pos)                   7. name (pos)
                            8. name (pos)                   8. name (pos)
                            9. name (pos)                   9. name (pos)

*If you have the exact same lineup vs LHP and vs RHP just use one and have a header vBOTH*

                         Starting Rotation:
                            1. name                                LR1: name        MR1: name        SU1: name        CL1: name
                            2. name                                LR2: name        MR2: name        SU2: name        CL2: name
                            3. name
                            4. name
                            5. name

*You DO NOT need to have all these pitching slots filled. You MUST have at least 4 starters at all times.*

We will use a DH.
If you only have a few minor changes to make to your line-up, list them rather than send your entire line-up as above. It's much easier and faster for the commish this way.
If you need changes made to you rosters to complete a sim the Commish will make the changes and place the next best qualified player into the lineup. The Commish WILL NOT put players on the DL.
A players primary position can be changed in the off season only and must be reasonable as judged by the commish. He must have a rating at another position to qualify. No ratings will be changed.

League Participation

All owners are expected to submit line-up changes, roster moves, etc. by the time above (see Line-ups).
At anytime time during the season the Commish reserves the right to ask for an 'owner check in', whereby each owner is required to reply within a certain time frame or be removed from the league.
If an owner is inactive without a valid excuse or without prior notice, the Commish will issue a warning in which the owner has 24 hours to respond. Upon the passing of the 24 hours the owner will be completely removed from the league and all it's activities. This is to assure full participation and enjoyment for all.
If you are offered a deal, no matter how ridiculous the offer, respond to it. All responses are to be governed by league conduct (see League Conduct). Not responding is very annoying to an owner who is trying to have fun, participate and build their team. This will also result in complete removal from all league activities.
Any lack of participation from either of the drafts (amateur or annual free agent) will result in removal from the league.

League Conduct

Under no circumstances will any owner (not limited to) discriminate, intimidate, insult, threat, etc. another owner in this league about them or their team. Any such behavior will be treated with swift and harsh action as seen fit by the executive of the league.
If you are the victim of this, report it to all executive members and we will deal with it in a manner we see fit. Do NOT retaliate.
Sufficient proof must be present, however, for action to be taken. Proof consists of forwards of email, ICQ messages, AOL IM messages, etc.
Decisions made by the commish can be appealed, within 48 hours of the decision, and will be heard by an appeal board which will consist of the remaining owners that are not involved in the situation, and excluding the exec.
If a person is found guilty they will be removed from the league and will not be allowed to return. Unless the persons involved accept a mass e-mail apology.
Only once will a mass e-mail apology work, the next conviction will result in a lifetime ban from the league.

Trades

All trades must be submitted by 5pm pst the day of the sim by BOTH owners to the commish, Eric Radcliffe.
The commish has the right to reject trades for whatever reason, but the rejection will be accompanied by a good explanation and sent to both owners.
Rejections can be appealed, within 48 hours of the rejection, and will be heard by all parties involved including the exec.
Outstanding trades that are not confirmed by BOTH owners within one week will be disregarded and deleted by the trade manager.
An owner has the right to withdraw a trade offer at anytime before it is sent to the commish. If BOTH owners have confirmed a deal and the commish has received it then it CANNOT be withdrawn by an owner involved in a trade.
Submit trade in the following fashion:

To Team X: name(s) and/or picks
To Team Y: name(s) and/or picks

*If you deal picks you must specify which draft they are for (amateur or free agent) and what year*

Picks can only be dealt two years in advance for either draft.
There will be a picks traded page posted on the web page. Check with it before you deal picks. If you deal a pick more than once you will be forced to give up the next season's pick instead. The team that traded for the pick first will get the earlier pick.

Trade Deadline

The deadline for trades without "Blocking" is July 31st game time. After this date there can be trading up to August 31st, but it is subject to "Blocking" rules that are added such to make this league more like MLB.
"Blocking" allows a team that is in a race (or any team really) for the players to block a deal with a better offer. This is similiar to the MLB Waiver Wire deals. For example say Texas trails Seattle by 2 games in the west. Texas deals for a good closer to help him in the stretch drive. Seattle can "block" this deal but making a better offer to the exec. effectively stopping Texas from getting better and overtaking the division.
Essentially, after the July 31st deadline, all trades that are submitted go under review by the Exec. Council. At this time the players going from the lower place team become temporary "league property" or "exec. council property" (if you prefer). At this point in time the exec council fields all offers for this (these) player(s). The exec council will vote before the next sim on which of all the proposals should be accepted. The one the exec council votes for is sent to the owner involved and the owner decides if he wants to take the offer the Exec choose to be best The original offer at this point is nulled. The owner cannot go back to the ordinal one even if he don't like the "better one". This is up until August 31st, and at this time there will be no FA claims as well.
The player(s) involved in the deal from either team will still get to use the players in the line-up until after the trade is made via the rules above.

Rosters

Rosters are governed by FPS BBPro98. Your roster is limited to 25 active players, 15 AAA/DL players, and 10 low minor players.
A player cannot be put on the DL if they are not injured.
A player cannot be put in LOW from any other roster slot. Only way you can place a player in LOW is from a trade, free agent signing, or draft (amateur or annual free agent).
Players must be 26 or less to be placed in LOW under any circumstances.
If your roster moves bring you over the cap in ACT, AAA, or LOW, via trade, free agent signing, etc. the Commish will keep players unassigned, not claim a free agent or release the worse player (by judgment of the Commish) to the free agent pool. Which ever is more feasible for the Commish If you have too many in LOW the Commish will not assign the player you wanted put there
The Commish will tell owners if there is unassigned players on their rosters, as they will not show up on the rosters on the web page.
If you make a claim, draft a player, or trade, assign a new spot in the e-mail where to put the players. Otherwise you take the risk of incorrect player placement.
Any rookie hitters at the end of the season with less than 100 at bats, and rookie pitcher's with less than 50 innings pitched can have their experience reset. The owner of the team is responsible for this. If the player has greater than 100 career ABs or 50 career Innings Pitched, they are no longer eligible for the experience reset.

Amateur Drafts

The time of the amateur draft is usually mid June (game time), determined by FPS BBPro98.
It will consist of 3 rounds.
Picks can be made via email draft and list, or computer picks but I suggest against it as the computer makes terrible decisions. But you must tell me either way or you will fall under regulations of League Participation.
***Ammy Draft Pool. Effective for the 2023 ammy draft there will be a change in the talent level available. Instead of 1.5 rounds of studs there will only be a handful of top notch guys in the league. (Realistically 5-6 studs every draft) This was suggested and I feel it is needed in an effort to increase trading levels. This way the best team in the league will not end up with a stud in the draft. Having such a stocked pool defeats the purpose of the Ammy draft because teams are able to almost immediately fill holes from the Ammy draft.

Free Agents

This is not annual free agency where guys like Kevin Brown gets ridiculous amounts of money. That's a different type of free agency which will be used here, the rules are below.
This is however players that are not on the teams rosters, basically left overs from the initial draft and past amateur drafts, or players released by other teams.
Any team can claim players from this list which is posted on the web page.
Claims must be in by the same deadline as the lineups.
Room must be made on the team’s roster for these players or they will be re-released to the free agent pool again.
A team can claim a maximum of 3 players per sim from the free agent pool.
If more than one team claims a player FPS BBPro98 determines who get the player based on lowest winning percentage.

Annual Free Agency

After the 'start new season' button is pushed (and all players experience is +1) all players with 6+ years experience are eligible for free agency.
From this group of players each team may protect 6 player PLUS your namesake, for a total of 7.
All other players would then be dumped to the free agent pool. A 2 round draft would then occur where the order is in reverse of the previous seasons standings.
Once a team has had 2 of it's players selected all other players in the free agent pool from that team would be ineligible to be picked by other teams.
After the draft is completed, any players that were released to the pool left in the free agent pool will be returned to the team they were released from.

The Season

The season will be a balanced 162 game schedule determined by FPS BBPro98.
Balanced being that there is dominance of playing divisional rivals. This is to assure everyone has the same schedule and fair playing field.

The Playoffs

The playoffs are determined by FPS BBPro98.
For our 14 team league there will be 3 division winners and a wild card.
The top record of the three division winners will play the wild card winner in the first round and the two others will play off.
The playoffs will be simmed in the following manner:
- Round 1:
  - Sim #1 - Games 1, 2 3 and 4
  - Sim #2 - Games 5, 6 and 7
- PFBL Series:
  - Sim #1 - Games 1, 2 and 3
  - Sim #2 - Games 4, 5 and 6
  - Sim #3 - Game 7

NameSakes

For the Hitters:

385 total points will be allocated to the following ratings: CH, PH, SP, AS, FA
There is a cap of 90 on any one rating.
Players will be qualified to play similar positions (C to 1B, SS to 2B to 3B, RF to CF to LF) but at a 20% decrease in the prime fielding ability.
If your a RHB you get 54 vL
If your a LHB you get 50 vL
If your a switch hitter you get 52 vL

For the Pitchers:

255 total points in ratings will be allocated (AS, EN, CO)
290 total points for a 4 pitch pitcher (4th pitch has to be at least 55)
235 total points for a 3 pitch pitcher (3rd pitch has to be at least 55)
If your a LHP you will be 54 vL
If your a RHP you will be 50 vL

Under no circumstances is this player to be traded or released to the free agent pool (either regular or annual). If a team owner changes, the new owner can rename him and re-rate him as he or she wishes under the above guidelines. These players are to be modeled after a player randomly selected from the FA pool. (with certain edits to modifiers to place them in a reasonable range)
Once a namesake retires, the owner can replace him with a junior namesake as per the rules above. He can be any position, and is to be at the maximum potential at the time of creation. This player will be 20 years of age.

Closer Editing

EACH season, teams will be given 5 points of CL and 5 points of SC to give to a relief pitcher (EN has to be 55 or under), this can be done during the time between the Free Agent draft and Spring Training. If no pitcher has less than 55 EN than no points shall be allocated. Also, the top Closer from each team (strictly by # of saves) will be given 5 points to his ACTUAL EN rating (to a max of 55). If the top closer already has 55 EN than no points shall be allocated.

Low Minor Players

Any players over the age of 26 as of April 1st (game time) must be moved out of LOW into ACT or AAA by the deadline for the 1st set of games. If they are not i will move them up. If there is no room i will release the worst player on your team in my opinion. Any player that turns 27 during the season can remain in LOW until the following off season.

Training Allocations

GMs of teams may allocate spring training percentages for up to 7 of their hitters and up to 7 of their pitchers.
Teams will not be allowed to substitute hitters for pitchers and visa versa. So if you only have 3 hitters you want to train and 10 pitchers, that's too bad.
FPS set minimums for certain ratings that must be followed. They are separated into 3 different categories: Hitters, 3-Pitch Pitchers, & 4-Pitch Pitchers. I have outlined the percentages below:

Hitter Minimums: 3-Pitch Pitchers: 4-Pitch Pitchers:

            FA: 15%                                                    FA:   10%*                                                FA:   10%*
            CH: 20%                                                   AS: 10%                                                  AS: 10%
            PH: 20%                                                    HR: 10%                                                 HR: 10%
            SP: 20%                                                    CO: 15%                                                 CO: 15%
            AS: 10%                                                    EN: 10%                                                EN: 10%
                                                                           Pitches: 30% (10% per pitch)                  Pitches: 40% (10% per pitch)

Remaining to Allocate: 15% Remaining to Allocate: 15% Remaining to Allocate: 5%

*You have the option to use the FA points elsewhere, if you do this the rating will decrease!

This means that you can tell me 7 hitters to add the 15% to and 7 pitchers to add the 15% (for 3-Pitcher Pitchers) or 5% (for 4-Pitch Pitchers).
Percentages have to be in intervals of 5% and can be added to anyone you wish but I would suggest that you view the potentials page to see if it is worth training a certain player incase he is maxed out it would be a waist of one of your players you can edit.

RULES FOR SUBMITTING ALLOCATIONS:
-You may not go below the mininum for ANY rating, with the only exception being FA (as mentioned above)
-When submitting allocations, the MUST be in the same order as they are listed on your Potentials page.
-Please make your allocations look like this:

HITTER: 1B, Ian Stewart: +10 CH, +5 PH
PITCHER: P, Gracie Locker: +5AS, +10FB

If your allocations are not submitted as shown, they will be thrown out!

Amendments

Amendments must be proposed to the commish, with a letter of reason. If the commish sees just reasoning in this amendment it will then be presented to the league for a vote. For an amendment to be passed, a vote of 2/3 majority must be in favor.

*Any comments, suggestions, or proposed amendments send them to Eric Radcliffe

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