Gridiron Glory College Football

Purpose & Function

  • The purpose of this league is to provide entertainment and competition for all owners. This league should be high energy and extremely competitive. Above all, we expect every team owner to have fun.
  • Electronic Major League Baseball was founded on July 19, 2000. eMLB is a creation made by John Comey & James ‘LB’ LeBlond, as well as the great owners who have continued to be with us throughout our growth.
  • Beginning with the 2013 offseason (2014 Regular Season), the league will use the Out of the Park 2007 baseball game, from Sports Interactive. For more information about this game, please visit http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/ootp. The league office will notify you of any additional updates done that we recommend you upgrade to.
  • We also want to note to newer owners that the first 6 seasons of this game was done using 3DO’s High Heat 2001 & 2002. Due to the lack of commitment from a customer service standpoint, and the turmoil 3DO was going through, we made a decision in late 2002 to go to the OOTP 5 system. It required a massive manual process that may not be perfect, but has given us as close a representation of our league’s history. We converted to OOTP 6 before the 2008 season began, and used OOTP 6.5 since the 2010 season.

Offices of the eMLB

  • The Commissioner will be responsible for the simming of games, Free Agent bids, financial work such as compensation, fine levy and smooth flow of the league. He will oversee everything.
  • The American and National League Presidents will handle grievances and day to day issues. They will also be the trade committee where trades must be submitted. All trades are submitted to The Commissioner's Office, but the Commissioner does not approve trades! They are completed by the League Presidents. Trades submitted will be processed in a timely manner, and teams will be notified of the decision to allow or not allow the deal. They will not arbitrate trade requests, but decide on trades agreed to by 2 or more owners. Trade approvals will take no longer than 2 days and usually be handled the same day. Once a trade is announced as approved, the Commissioner will place the players/cash on the appropriate location, and it will be the owner’s responsibility to make the changes he desires from there. Teams who have trades rejected will be able to appeal the decision with the Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner.
  • The American and National League Vice-Presidents will handle all matters pertaining to accuracy of the salary reports, will have voting authority on E-Board matters, and will act on behalf of their respective President when that individual is unavailable. Other duties are assigned as necessary. They are also the first individuals to speak to if complaints are noteworthy. The Vice-Presidents will also be responsible for reviewing the other leagues in our OOTP 2006 World (Japan, Cuba, Dominican) and make sure that transactions are done properly, and make sure that no trades are done illegally.

Simulation Rules

  • Sims will take place two times a week with a schedule currently running on Wednesdays (7 days) and Sundays (7 days). The pace should allow all managers to gain an understanding of the game. If it’s desired, we will shorten the number of games during pennant races and enhance the feelings of being in a pennant race. Playoff schedule are to be determined at the time playoffs occur. Possible ideas are doing one game a night during the playoffs, or to hold them live and allow playoff contenders the chance to make changes during the sims.
  • League shutdown for a defined period of time is possible. This will allow the Commissioner a break in the routine and allow for league maintenance. It will also allow owners a chance to fly home and visit their families. The shutdown will be discussed further but a two day to one week window is always possible. A few of these per year will avoid burnout by those who have to devote hours to running the league.

E-Mail Addresses & Transactions

  • Roster and lineup moves are due at 7 PM EST on the day of a scheduled sim. The Commissioner can and will exercise his right to change this deadline if necessary.
  • All transactions involving lineup changes, rotations, changing of Depth Charts, or moving players between certain levels of your roster must be completed by going into the game (with the latest copy of the file downloaded), making such changes, then going to the Team Setup screen and selecting ‘Export to FTP’. The following transactions must be completed in writing:

    •  

    • Trade Proposals submitted for approval – Sent to commissioner@emlb-baseball.com (When you submit a trade proposal, your e-mail must either show the confirmation by the parties involved, or those individuals must confirm the trade in a separate e-mail with the same deal shown) - Please note the Commissioner does not review the trades. The Commissioner only forwards to the Board once the deal appears to be in order. The Commissioner will only be involved if an appeal is made to a declined trade.
    • FA Claims, Instructions for Players your Place on Designated for Assignment (DFA), Waivers for the Purpose of Releasing, or Releasing of Players – Sent to commissioner@emlb-baseball.com

Position Playing - Familiarities

  • You are permitted to move players into other positions based upon their range. You may play someone at a position they have no range at, but the results could be scary for you. The results are all based upon a player's ability to adapt to that position based upon the ratings they have in OOTP 2007.
  • There are three ways to make a player familiar enough with a position to earn a rating:
    1. Having the player play out of position in the minors.
    2. Having the player play out of position in the majors.
    3. Attempting to train a player to play a new position during Spring Training. There is no guarantee of success in this option.
  • You are NOT permitted to turn a hitter into a pitcher, and vice versa. The league will remain static on this policy.

Trades (including Draft Picks), Free Agency, Waivers, and Financial Aspects

  • Free Agents acquisitions will be handled in the following manner: You are permitted to sign 2 Free Agents per sim! These offers are done in game, and are monitored by the Commissioner. You may not make offers to more than 2 FA, or will be subject to a fine for violation of league rule to at least an infraction of $100,000 as well as losing the player you attempted to sign.  eMLB Staff are not responsible for interpreting your requests if they are not clear.
  • You are permitted to bid on players with a salaried contract or a minor league contract in the Free Agency Bidding. Salaried contracts will take priority at all times. Keep in mind that OOTP permits the players to dictate what they’ll listen to. In the end, you need to appeal to a player’s wishes to have a chance at signing them. You must also have the room to fit a player. Signing a player to a salaried deal may require they be placed on the 40-Man roster, so plan ahead.
  • Please consult the eMLB Financial Rules System (Listed Below) to understand how the financial aspect of eMLB will operate. It is VITAL to understand this information as it enhances on the built in OOTP system and overall experience of the game. There are manual features we use that the game does not.
  • Trading Draft Picks: Draft picks after the initial minor league system draft will be tradable but can not extend beyond the next 3 drafts. The next 3 drafts is identified as the next 3 drafts coming. Once an Amateur draft has taken place, the next year’s picks are available to be traded. (In the event a draft contains more than 5 rounds of players to draft, teams are only eligible to trade their first five (5) rounds, as those are the player picked rounds.)
  • There will be one draft per season. The First Year Player (Ammy) draft will take place in the middle of June each season. There will be a stop of league play during this time. Players should be available to be viewed within 60 days of the draft date (Generally June 15th). The Commissioner will inform the league when the draft pool is officially set, and may only be completed no later than 30 days before the draft date, meaning the pool is subject to change during the first 30 days of the viewing period.
  • Draft Pick Retention Rules (AKA- “The Joe Tiffin Rule”): A team will not be permitted to trade both a 1st and 2nd round Amateur Pick in the same season. However, if they make a deal that allows them to acquire someone else’s 1st or 2nd rounder (or both), this is permissible (trading up or down theory). The rule is as simple as this: 30 teams, 2 rounds: 60 picks. Each team is required to make ONE Amateur Draft selection in the first 60 picks. A team is permitted to freely trade all picks in Rounds 3, 4, and 5 if they wish. But all teams must have at least one Amateur Draft Pick each year. (At this time, eMLB has 10 rounds. Rounds 6-10 are non-tradeable picks, and picks selected by the computer)
  • Trading deadline will be July 31 of the sim year. This is built into the OOTP game, and is not flexible for change.
  • eMLB uses a Waiver System created inside of OOTP 2007. The Waiver period lasts for 8 sim days. Since sims last 7 days, owners are given an opportunity to see who’s on the waiver wire, as well as who might have made a claim on a player that has a revocable claim. If a player is irrevocably claimed off waivers, the player becomes property of the team claiming.
  • In order to remove a player from waivers, you must go to your team transactions screen and remove the player from waivers yourself. The game engine permits this to be done. You are able to request claiming a player on revocable waivers back if claimed by another team, so please be sure to use this. eMLB Staff is not responsible for oversights or mistakes on your part.
  • Free Agent Compensation: Please refer to the Free Agency Compensation System and table in the OOTP 2007 Game Manual. Players are assigned 2 potential ratings (Type A, Type B). Instead of how we manually did in the past, the game will create sandwich picks.

Roster Limits & Regulations (40-Man Rules)

  • Roster size will be limited to 25 men until September 1st. At this time, you may then have as many as 40 players on your Major League roster for the remainder for the regular season.
  • We will no longer be enforcing a 5-man rotation rule. You are permitted to have as little as a 4-man rotation at any time, but may not have a 3-man rotation at anytime (except for the playoffs). Keep in mind that the more you work a pitcher than what statistics have shown they are used to, you increase his chances of injury. (Learn about Pitcher Abuse Points, or PAP on Baseball Prospectus) And you still pay injured players!
  • You are still permitted to call up players, but if they are non-salaried, they will have a salary going forward, and this is irreversible.
  • If a player is salaried, they must be on the 40-Man Roster. The 40-Man roster provides a deeper challenge for teams to manage their rosters and think more carefully about decisions they make on their team.
  • Ghosts players are being used as years of experience has proven there are always 'x' number of GMs that just don't focus on the minor leagues as much, and during the brief time we did not use ghost players, we found some prospects becoming permanently ruined. So teams can operate with minimal minor league rosters, but are still highly encouraged to give their minor leagues attention. Failure to do otherwise can be grounds for removal!!

Minor League Age Limitations

  • We have decided that the Lower Minors should be used as a development tool, and not a breeding ground for abnormal results. Therefore, we are establishing an age restriction for Single-A and Double-AA only:

    Single-A: Once a player is 25 years old, they may no longer be eligible to play in A Ball.

    Double-A: Once a player is 27 years old, they may no longer be eligible to play in AA Ball.

    Triple-A: There is no age restriction.

    Age Determinant: The date of Opening Day every season will be used to determine roster eligibility. So if a player turns 25 prior to Opening Day, they must be in AA ball or above, regardless if they are capable of playing there competitively.
     

Minor League Roster Limit Restrictions

  • A team will not be permitted to have more than thirty (30) players at any one level of the Minors. This does not reflect on the 40-Man rosters Major League teams can have in September.

Option Years

  • Players have a certain number of years where they are eligible to be moved around with greater flexibility to the owner. A player generally beginning their career should have three (3) option years. Option years are used anytime a player spends part of a season in both the Majors and Minors, being sent down from the Majors.
  • Once a player has run out of option years, they will then have to clear waivers in order to be sent down. The player could then be at the risk of being picked up by another team at this time via the waiver claim system.

Managers & Strategies

  • Team Managerial Profiles can be changed at anytime by the owners. You also can change the strategy for one particular player. This also includes the individual players being given more liberty to steal, or pitch counts on pitchers, etc. You can be as complex with your strategy (Setup certain strategies per inning, per situation, etc), or as simple as you want to be.
  • Managers, Coaches, Scouts, Doctors, and Minor League Managers will be able to be hired and fired beginning in the 2013 offseason. These members are considered part of the payroll system, so take this into consideration since we do have a salary cap. Be careful about your expenses regarding this!

All-Star & End of Season Balloting

  • The All Star starters will be selected by team owners. Each owner will vote for the position players. The All Star team manager will select bench players and pitchers. The managers will be the owners who competed in the previous years World Series.
  • At season end, Owners will vote on the post season awards. Namely, American and National League: MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and Executive of the Year.
  • Please consult later in the Rules regarding cash compensation to teams with award winners.

Injuries

  • Any players who incur injuries will be subject to decisions made by the team owner. When injuries happen during the sim, the most suitable player will be used to replace that individual until the end of the sim as determined by the game. The batting lineups will not be changed during the sim. If the sim is live, the owner does have the ability, if they choose, to name a temporary replacement for the rest of the sim. Then, when the sim is done, it will be management’s decision how to fix the team.
  • For more severe injuries (Season ending, career ending), eMLB uses an Injured Reserve clause that can allow you to free up salary cap room for the season you are in. Please consult the Injured Reserve Clause section of the rules farther down.

Player Development & Aging Modifiers

  • After thorough research, it's been decided that eMLB cannot sustain some level of historical accuracy, and consistency in expected performance of players' longevity and ability to enter the majors, while remaining on the default modifiers used by OOTP. Since it is very difficult to have a player under 24 yrs old be extremely effective or useful to the Major League squad, and a player's career is basically over at 35 under the default program, the following modifiers have been added:

Hitter Development Speed: .900

Hitter Aging Speed: .900

Pitcher Development Speed: 1.000

Pitcher Aging Speed: 1.000

Talent Change Randomness: 100 (On a scale of 1-200, 100 being Average)

Translation: Our hitters are going to develop a little slower, meaning you are more likely to use them earlier than 25 yrs old (We estimate teams can expect players to be ready as early as 21 now), when 25 is realistically a "last chance" age for players making the Majors.

On the other end, to prevent the rapid decay of a player's talent as soon as they hit 35, and to make some older players much more attractive to chase after, we have slowed down the process of age. This will increase the potential to have some 40 year olds in the Majors that are still effective. More importantly, you might actually want to sign a 34 yr old to a high value contract, knowing the player has more potential to earn his keep. 

Disputes or Complaints

  • All disputes or complaints about league procedure or policy should be sent directly to commissioner@emlb-baseball.com. Our league forums are public, so in the interests of not airing out negative comments about anything (owners, procedure, commissioner), all issues regarding displeasure shall be submitted to the eMLB Commissioner’s Office. Failure to adhere to this policy will result in a warning, then grounds for removal.

Removal from eMLB

  • It is not something we wish to discuss, however, in the interests that an individual is being counterproductive to the progress of the eMLB, this individual will be removed from the league, and subject to banishment from the mailing list. Examples this can happen:

§         Promoting a negative outlook towards any member of eMLB

§         Inactivity, causing your team to suffer

§         Disregard for financial policies (hurting your team w/transactions)

§         Unnecessary mail spam


Poor Performance Clause

  • IMPORTANT! eMLB Staff do reserve the right to remove owners who have four (4) straight seasons of below .500 performance. However, this is not automatic that this will occur. A discussion will be made to determine whether or not the owner should remain with the league at that current time and place, or whether or not a more suitable replacement may be available. Removal for this purpose does not ban the owner for life. They are welcome to be placed on the waiting list once again. If this is enforced, it will be because there are prospects we have an interest of giving a chance to play to see if they have more success. However, this is not an automatic.

Remember, this is intended to be fun! Have fun and show us your stuff!

 

eMLB Financial System

Salary Cap

All teams in eMLB will have a salary cap to adhere to. The salary cap will be made up of the contracts on players or coaches/scouts you hire, minor leaguers you call up to play the majors, and fines/penalties you incur.

At the current time, the salary cap is set at $95 million dollars per team for 2015, as set by the Collective Bargaining Agreement of 2014 for 3 seasons. In 2016, the salary cap is set at $97.5 million, and in 2017 will be set at the current intended maximum of $100 million.

Cash Maximum

Up until the 2012 season, teams were not allowed to have over $20 million in cash on hand. As of the 2015 season, due to substantial profits and large amounts of funds available to revenue sharing, the Cash Max on Hand has been raised to $40 million. All funds over this are placed into a general pool and given to cash poor teams in Revenue Sharing (see below for explanation)

Free Agency / Drafting

Free Agency is determined when either a player’s contract has completed its term, or a minor leaguer called up has completed his 6th year of service in the Majors, and either has 3 years of . Upon either of these conditions, the individual will enter into the free agency draft, which will be done by auction. Bids will be placed for number of years, and the amount of the contract. (Ex: OF Ken Griffey, Jr. 5 years, $8 million – The amount of money being amount per season paid)

Definition of Service Time

Service time is defined by the number of days a player spends on a certain roster. For eMLB, the league uses the default 172 days to determine 1 year of service time. A player with 2 years, 171 days of Major League experience spending 1 more day on a Major League roster would then have 3 years, 0 days experience, and at this time would then be eligible for arbitration.

A player who completes 6 years of Major League service time will become eligible for Free Agency in the following season.

Contract Requirements for Making Offers

1.      Contracts must be a minimum of 325,000 per year. Contract length is all based on what the player is willing to listen to you on.

2.      Contracts can only be set in increments of 1K. (300K, 301K, 302K, etc etc.) NO $1,000,001 bids!

3.      Any contract offer of 5 million or more MUST be for at least 2 years. The E-Board has the right to review and approve a one-year deal.

4.   A player may not have more than a 5 year deal offered to them unless they are asking for it in game! Whatever number of years they ask for in game is considered the max # of years you can offer (IE: 6 means 6 max, 7 means 7 max).

    - SPECIAL NOTE: In order to have a deal for more than 5 years be allowed, you must e-mail the Commissioner at commissioner@emlb-baseball.com to inform him of the players request for more than 5 years. The Commissioner must visually verify on his computer that this is indeed true. Failure to do this will result in losing those extra years, and a mandatory fine of up to 50% of the average salary of the player! (The fine is instituted to protect owners from someone abusing the system and offering more years just to lure a player. A stiff fine will prevent any abuse potential.)

Staff Contract Requirements (Added 2014): Teams can e-mail the Commissioner for contract offers to managers, coaches, scouts and doctors. You are permitted to sign a player for up to 75% of their asking price! Final price is considered what the player asks for in the Commissioner's file, in case there is any discrepancy.

Contract Incentive Clauses

Teams are permitted to offer contract incentive clauses in their extensions, as well as their Free Agency offers. Incentives that can be offered include At Bats, MVP, Innings Pitched, and Cy Young. However, due to how OOTP looks at incentives, and through thorough research of seeing how other leagues have operated, eMLB has instituted a set of rules to adhere by:

Contracts from $325,000 to $5 million: If you are to make an offer to a player and include incentives in this price range, you are only permitted to make no more than match the guaranteed amount of the incentive. The amount is determined by establishing what the average annual contract's salary is. In other words, if you offer a player a $3 million (Assume player was asking for $5 million in game, and you offer a smaller guaranteed contract), you could offer an additional $3 million in total performance bonuses to sweeten the offer. You can offer less than $3 million in bonuses, but not more. So you couldn't offer $4 million or $5 million, in this situation.

Contracts from $5 million and up: If you make an offer to a player in this price range, your total incentives are capped at a maximum of $5 million. This means you can never offer more than $5 million in incentives at any point.

Important! Any violation of this policy, especially the $5 million and up clause, will create a fine equal to 40% of the average annual salary in guaranteed dollars! For the $325,000 to $5 million range, you could be forced to raise the guaranteed salary to equal the incentives. OOTP does not permit incentives to be editted! So please be very careful before submitting an offer!

Contract Incentive Clauses - Other

Option Years: Keep in mind that you can now decide to include option years in contracts. You can sign that older vet to a 3 year deal, but guarantee only 2 years right now, and set an option on the final year. Your Option Choices are: 1) Team Option (team decides), 2) Player Option (player decides), and 3) Mutually Agree (Both decide)

No-Trade Clause: It is very important to understand that a No-Trade Clause is just that. This player can NEVER be traded. OOTP is this basic in this rule, and eMLB has chosen (at this time) not to adopt any set of complex rules permitting a player with a No-Trade Clause to be moved. This is an incentive you should be very careful in using. A player officially becomes untouchable in this situation.

Players Called Up to the Majors for the 1st Time

Once you call a player up to the Majors, OOTP will automatically give him a contract. He’ll play at $325K for 3 seasons of Service Time, automatically resigning each season you keep him. After his 3rd year of MLB Service Time, he will enter arbitration, where he will win an award for a potentially higher amount over each of the next 3 seasons of service he spends in the Majors. At any time, the owner has the right to refuse the arbitration amount, which will make the player an unrestricted Free Agent.

Retired Players

Retired players will be removed from your salary pages. They do not cost you anything against the cap.

Penalty's Against Cap (Not considered Fines)

Two penalties can occur against your cap.

  • When you cut a player you pay the remainder of his entire contract! (Ex: You cut Randy Johnson’s $5 million contract that has 2 years left in the beginning of the season. You immediately have $10 million in player expenses that season! Randy still has to get paid!) Be careful on this one. Adds up quick! This goes for ALL players, including guys you call up.

  • If you are OVER the cap amount for more than 24 hours you will suffer the severest penalty assessed. Your highest priced players will be sent down automatically until you are under the cap. But you don't get off that easy. You could also be fined by the league offices for frequent disregard of cap policy.

Advantage of releasing a player: Frees up salary cap payroll to use elsewhere.

Disadvantage of releasing a player: Still pay whatever the player is owed, but all at once. If a player has multiple seasons left, you pay that all that season, increasing your player expenses by that much. If expenses are greater than revenues, you won’t have cash to use to sign players to extensions or sign free agents.

Contract Extensions (Added into eMLB By-Laws in 2013 Season)

IMPORTANT! Contract extensions are only permitted to be done after June 1st, and before Salary Arbitration in November (Just before Free Agents file).

eMLB looks to provide constant potential for teams to look forward to the next season. Therefore, it has set a limitation on how many players can be signed during each season. A team can not sign more than four (4) players to a contract extension each season. This means if you have more than 4 players eligible for Free Agency, there will be some turnover on your roster. Players will be considered part of your count once they officially agree to the deal. This includes sign and trade situations! If you attempt to sign a player to an extension for the purpose of trading them to another team, that will count against the team making the extension, not the trade!

Contract Extensions - Coaches/Scouts/Doctors (Added in 2014 Season)

Extensions for Major League Staff: You are permitted to sign extensions on no more than four (4) members of your Major League roster. This includes your managers, coaches, scouts, and doctor. There are 11 positions in your Major Leagues (1 Manager, 1 Bench Coach, 1 Hitting Coach, 1 Pitching Coach, 1 Doctor, 1 Head Scout, and 5 Scout Personnel. It is important to note that eMLB does not force you to have all 5 scout personnel spots filled, but it is in your interests to have enough scouts to look around the leagues for new talent.)

Extensions for Minor League Coaches: You are permitted to sign extensions on no more than three (3) members of your entire minor league system. This includes all levels (AAA, AA, A), and involves all positions (Coaches, Manager, Scout).

Note: Extensions will have the same policy as Players - Can only be done once we have gotten to June 1.

Method to Sign Extensions: I've decided the most efficient way for me to do the checks and balances in this system is to request all extensions be sent via e-mail to me at commissioner@emlb-baseball.com - There is no negotiation for staff extensions. You sign 'em to their offer, same # of years.

Compensation of Draft Picks for Free Agents Lost

After determining a terrible dissatisfaction at the in-game compensation rules, which are not in any way close to reality, we have decided to take the created system we made for the draft picks' compensation this year to be used once again. Therefore, as long as the player heading to Free Agency shows 'Type A' or 'Type B' compensation, there is potential FA Compensation based upon the table. However, it has been deemed by the E-Board that only "top tier players" should be eligible for Free Agent compensation.

Therefore, the table is:

$15 million - Up = 1st Round Pick
$12,250,000 - $14,999,000 = 2nd Round Pick
$9,500,000 - $12,249,000 = 3rd Round Pick
League Minimum - $9,499,000 = No compensation

Note: This policy will be in effect at least through the 2015 offseason (This offseason and next), and will then be revisited. The E-Board has considered an outright removal of FA Compensation, but have deemed this is something we should slowly phase out. So please start managing your teams like FA Compensation is on the way out, and any extension of the rule beyond the current plan is a bonus to the Owners in CBA talks.

Compensation System for Articles Written (Added into By-Laws in 2006 Season, Amended in 2014 Season)

All teams are now rewarded when they provide "adequate" media coverage of their baseball teams. Adequate is defined as an article about your team, a player, or rumors you wish to start about your team. Adequate is further defined as something you would see provided by the Associated Press or local newspapers on your team. Adequate is NOT DEFINED as a list of players on a trade block.

The following awards will be given to teams who write creative pieces for the teams:

Write an article for your team or vote for All-Stars or End of Season Awards: $100,000 per article (Cannot be copied from OOTP created files, and minimally must be something you might see from an Associated Press article)

            - Article can be about anything related to your team.

            Write your game recap, now available in OOTP 2007: $50,000 per game recap written (Home teams given first right to write the  recap - These are put into the game by e-mailing the recap to the Commissioner and commissioner@emlb-baseball.com)

Write articles regarding eMLB's Game of the Week: $150,000 per article

Write a Season Preview, Season Review, or Mid Way Review of your team: $250,000 per article

Write an article that is eMLB Related (Not just particular to your team) and a contribution for eMLB SportsNet (IE- View from the Cage): $400,000 per article

            - All Star articles will fall into this category of compensation

Write an entire league season preview, review, ammy draft preview/review: $750,000 per article

            - This can even include such types of articles as 'Where are they now?' looks at previous draft picks of other seasons.

            Create the All-Star Ballots: $1,000,000 (You can still make money for voting, which is considered writing an article for your team)

            Create the End of Season Awards Ballot: $1,500,000 (Same situation as All-Star Ballots...can get paid to vote too)

The Commissioner's Office can, at any time, reject payment for an article if the article is found to be plagiarism (copying what OOTP basically makes), or abuse of the compensation system (Articles about absolutely nothing in particular...have substance!) 

Compensation for Awards (Amended 2013 Season)

All teams with players earning particular awards will also receive cash towards their expenses and operations. The following awards will be given to teams for the following Awards:

MVP or Cy Young: $750,000

Rookie of the Year: $250,000

Manager of the Year: $500,000 

Gold Glove & Silver Slugger: $100,000 (for each position)

Injured Reserve Clause

A player being injured for a long period of time may be placed on this list. Upon doing so, this player is hereby inactive to play for the team at any point during the remainder of that season, including the playoffs. The main benefit to the team for using this clause is that a "disability insurance" benefit comes into play.

If you have Joe Schmoe go down in April to a season ending injury, and he makes $8 million a year, you can place him on the Injured Reserve, and while he's on this list, you get to free up some of your salary cap until he returns. As of right now, this will be 50%. In this example, Joe's "cap salary" will be $4 million, and you can use the other 4 million for other matters, such as a short-term solution, or go in a different direction.

Special Notes: In the offseason, an owner must inform the Commissioner's Office if a player still injured will remain on Injured Reserve, or made active. If made active, cap salary of player returns to normal. If left on injured reserve, player remains unavailable for the ENTIRE season, including postseason.

This clause will NOT allow a player to be paid less than the league minimum!

Requirements: Decisions about players placed on Injured Reserve must be decided on by July 31st (trading deadline) of that season. You may make the decision at any time, but before July 31st of the current season. And, as noted, a decision for injured players during the offseason must be made before opening day.

NEW!! Japanese Posting System (adopted after 2013 season)

To bring in new talent to eMLB, there are other "feeder" leagues from Japan, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba. At this point, there will only be a posting system for Japan, defection from Cuba, and the Dominican Winter Leagues can have players signed as normal Free Agents when they are available during the offseason.

How to Post a Bid on announced available Japanese Players:

1- E-mail me with your bid at commissioner@emlb-baseball.com - You may bid on both players if you wish, but you must have available Cash on Hand, and your Budget/Salary Cap must be able to afford the bid.
2- Your limit on a bid is your Cash on Hand & Budget (IE- You have $10,000,000 to make signings, etc.) So there will be no Dice-K $51.1 million bids here, since you have a $35 million cash max. Your bid must also comply with standard rules...specifically the bids must be in $1,000 increments.
3- If your bid is the top bid, you will give that Cash and your 10th Round Ammy Draft to the team offering the player. Chances are you won't miss the 10th Rounder much.
4- You now have 30 days from the sim day you are announced the winner to make an offer that the player will accept. I will remove his current contract, and you will have exclusive rights to signing the player.
5- If you do not sign the player within the 30 Days, he will return to his team, and you will get your bid $$ and 10th round pick back. Then, the second best bid offer will get a chance to sign the player in the same exclusive arrangement. If the player still does not sign, he will return to his team, and that team will get your bid $$ and 10th round pick back.

Renovations to Stadiums (Amended 2014 Season)

·         Owners who have new ballparks will have the option of choosing between the old or new ballpark. This selection must be made prior to seasons start by notifying the commissioner. Should future parks be built, team owners will have the option of moving into the new ballpark but the move must be done at seasons start or end depending on completion date.

·         At this time, because eMLB has a cash system in OOTP, if an owner wants to move, they will have to pay $8 million in cash over one of three ways:

o        $8 million the same season they do it

o        $4 million the season they do it, $4 million the next season

o        $2 million the season they do it, and $3 million each season over the next 2 seasons

Once the owner makes their decision on the payment schedule, it's static.

·        Adding Seats – An owner will be able to add seats to his stadium in the offseason, but at a cost. All stadiums began with an equal amount of seats at 42,000. In order for a seat order to be accepted, the owner must minimally place an order for 500 seats (Max order of 3,000 seats). Each seat installed will cost $2,000 per seat. So a minimum order will cost you $1 million to do. Maximum largest stadium allowed is 70,000 seats!

·        Changing the Structure of your Ballpark Dimensions – An owner will be permitted in the offseason to make slight adjustments to his stadium’s design, but most of this will involve whether or not to move the fences in or out, or whether or not to change the height of walls in the outfield. There will be no permission to change wind setup, temperatures, etc. It will cost an owner $500,000 per change, and the changes are subject to approval from the League Commissioner and Asst. Commissioner.

All announced changes must be announced to the league via the 'League Articles' Message Boards!!        

          Revenue Sharing

When teams end up having more cash then they are allowed to keep at season’s end, the difference of those funds will be transferred to the teams who are not as financially stable. The numbers will vary from season to season, but the Commissioner has set the Maximum Revenue Sharing amount per team at $10 million. The Commissioner has the right to adapt the revenue sharing dollars based upon each individual season and the amount of funds set aside. The Commissioner also reserves the right to choose to carry over any excess from season to season if he has decided that attempting to utilize those funds that off season will result in “over accommodation”.

Revenue Sharing - Fiscal Responsibility (aka: Budget Balance Clause)

Teams that could be eligible for Revenue Sharing in the offseason could find their funds limited if their expenses in the offseason exceed their total budget (As shown on the Financial Report). I am considering permitting a team to spend up to, but no more than $5 million over budget without consequence. However, if a team is higher than that, the difference over $5 million becomes a penalty against their eligible revenue sharing dollars.

Ex: The Red Sox budget is $80 million, but they spend $91 million in expenses that season and become eligible for Revenue Sharing. In the past, the max payout to any one team is $10 million, so let's assume they are eligible for the full payout:

$91 - $80 = $11 million over budget ---> $11 - $5 (Allowance over) = $6 million penalty

Therefore, of the $10 million the Red Sox were eligible for, they only get $4 million, with the rest being removed from the league completely (No other team can have the $6 million).

Comments and Thoughts: This is going to force owners to be a lot more responsible about their teams from a financial perspective. We are eliminating the glutton style some owners do. Those who've been here awhile know that I have bailed you out to a limit of $10 million if you are eligible for it...but there will now be pain, preventing some levels of apathy from further occuring.

The game doesn't completely police you on Budgetary matters yet, so we're going to implement this until that changes. If your budget on the financial page is less than the salary cap, its in your best interest to determine how much you want to spend over the budget, especially if you are cash poor and now at risk of losing revenue sharing money.

Anyone who's way under budget just hurts themselves if their extra cash plus cash on hand is over $35 million. So this might also force owners to spend a bit in a short-term "insurance policy" manner for players, while waiting for prospects to be ready.

            Revenue Spending Programs (Marketing Campaigns)

  • Offseason Marketing Campaign: If a team wishes to increase it's fan interest "artificially", it can spend $1 million to promote  it's team and increase their current fan interest by 1. You may only spend up to $5 million an offseason (Max 5 Pts), and can only do this in the offseason!

  • Extended Marketing Campaign:  A team can spend $3 million which will increase their Market Size by one (1). Restrictions are that you can only increase your market size by 1 per offseason, and you can NOT use this option if your team is already at a rating of BIG or higher. (The ratings making you ineligible are Big, Very Big, HUGE) You must grow naturally to go beyond Big.

  • Community Program Campaign: A team can undergo this type of campaign to improve their image to their community and area. By spending $3 million on this, their Fan Loyalty will increase by one (1). Restrictions are that you can only increase your fan loyalty by 1 per offseason, and you can NOT use this option if your team is already at a rating of Very Good Loyalty or higher. (The ratings making you ineligible are Very Good Loyalty, Great Loyalty, and EXTREME Loyalty) You must grow naturally to go beyond Very Good.

Commissioner's Note:  In OOTP 2007, there's a 1-20 level. If you don't have one of the above listings in each campaign, your team has a rating of 15 or below in that attribute.

Rule V Entry Draft (Adapted to the OOTP 2007 Engine)

To promote turnover potential, as well as to create increased interest in teams who feel their rosters cannot compete, eMLB will impose a Rule V Entry Draft. This draft provides opportunity to individuals currently in the minors that are waiting for a shot at making the majors, yet have not received it due to other talents at their position.

How it will work:

The Rule V Entry Draft will be the last draft taking place during the offseason. The General Order of Drafts is the Amateur Draft, the Free Agent Signing Period, then the Rule V Draft.

The Draft will consist of 1 round where all teams may select to pick a player that is currently on another team's roster. The order will be selected based upon the previous season's standings that are taken into consideration for Amateur Draft Pick Order.

In order for a player to be eligible for the Rule V Entry Draft, they must:

            - Have 3 years of Pro Service, but less than 6 years (Not necessarily Major League experience)

         - Not be on a Team 40-Man Roster

If a player is selected from a team, he becomes the property of the team and MUST REMAIN on the Major League Roster for the entire season (Being sent to the DL is not considered removal from the Major League Roster, but the player must return to the Majors once healthy).

A Rule V player MAY NOT be traded during the season he was drafted a Rule V player!

As noted, a Rule V player must remain on the Major League roster for the team he is chosen for during the entire season. Two things can happen:

-- The player plays the entire season with the Major League team. He now becomes official property of the team he's on. Based upon his length of service time will determine if whether or not a player is eligible for arbitration or free agency.

-- If the team decides to release or send down a Rule V player they drafted, the player will return to the team he was originally with before the Rule V Draft he was picked in. (Ex: BAL decides to cut P John Comey. He will immediately become property of PHI once again, and PHI may decide where to assign the player.) The team who removes the Rule V player from their roster will continue to pay the contract for the remainder of that season, taking a hit on their cap room until that season is over.

FINES LEVIED

These are the things you can and WILL be fined for if you do.

Auction Overbidding

Overbidding during auctions will not be tolerated. Any team bidding more than their cap limits will be fined $500,000 for the next 2 seasons. No exceptions.

Competitive Lacking (Also known as TANKING!)

This has been attempted in the league before. An attempt at putting what can be deemed your weakest lineups for the sheer attempt at improving your draft pick will be constituted as "tanking your season" in a deliberate fashion, and will be handled on a case by case basis. Minimum fine currently placed on an owner causing this infraction is 3 years @ $1,500,000 each season. This is NOT taken lightly!

NOTE: The reason I have these fines is because I cannot police everything, and I don’t want anyone abusing the system. This will force you to watch what you are doing. If you get caught, you can rest assured your competitors will appreciate the fact you have less money to use.

Commissioner Trade-Protection Window for New Owners

New owners to eMLB are not just permitted to trade right out of the gate. They are in need of getting to know their team before they are allowed to trade with the league. This is in place not to penalize the new owners, but to protect them from being immediately solicited by an existing (and aggressive) owner attempting to use the other owner's newness and unawareness to league history and player backgrounds to their own advantage.

To be able to trade, the new owner (once announced) must email the league at eMLB@yahoogroups.com and indicate that they are removing themselves from their protection window, and able to trade. Trades are still subject to the approval of the E-Board Trade Committee.

Commissioner's Note: The league has been burned in the past, and any examples of a violation of this by an existing owner, will be subjected to a violation of $2 million. It is the responsibility of the new owner to know who is new and who isn't, and it is the responsibility of the existing owner to confirm if the newer owner has announced to the league their approval to trade!

Fines for Trading Violations

If an owner makes the effort of making a trade, they must make lineup changes as appropriate, especially if their changes affect their major league rosters. The most common way you get fined for this is the fine gets approved and done in game, and the owner does not submit a new file assigning his players, whose time runs out in DFA, delaying the sim. Failure to do this will result in the following:

1st Offense: $500,000 fine for the remainder of the season

2nd Offense: $1,000,000 fine for 2 seasons

3rd Offense: $2,000,000 fine for 3 seasons

4th Offense: Either suspension of trading priviledges or removal from eMLB.

Reason for Policy: I have enough to do as it is. To have someone give me grief about their team for not doing what they need to do will not be tolerated. If you make a trade, you make a move even if the trade doesn't go through. If you don't submit a move, you will pay a fine.

Fines for DFA

If an owner places a player on their Designated for Assignment list (often to get through Waivers), they must send an e-mail to commissioner@emlb-baseball.com with instructions on what to do with the player. Since a player is on DFA for up to 8 days, and a sim takes 7 days, this causes delays in sims if there are no instructions. The current cash fine for doing this is $50,000 per infraction. If there are 3 players out of DFA time that the Commissioner must move around, you are fined $150,000 ($50K X 3).

Fines for Healthy Players on the DL

When a player becomes completely eligible to be off the DL, and is deemed healthy by the Team Doctor, they must be taken off the DL. If they are not, the owner is fined by the eMLB Players' Association, as a grievance is filed against the team. The player will not be removed by the Commissioner! It is YOUR responsibility! The fines are as follows (per player):

1st Offense: $100,000

2nd Offense (Defined as Second Sim still on DL): $250,000

3rd Offense: $500,000

4th Offense: $1,000,000 and a review of the owner's activity. Can be seen as inactivity and removal.

Fines for Inactivity WITHOUT announcing to the league you will be Away

For too long in our 7 year history, we have not defined a policy on how to handle an individual that simply does not communicate with the league, and vanishes. Sometimes we find out they simply went on vacation, and didn't extend the courtesy of letting others know this. Thankfully, we have an older more mature core of owners that are much better about this, but we are going to emphasize policy.

If the Commissioner is notified by a member of eMLB, or the Commissioner initiates an inquiry as to your status, and an owner fails to respond to any form of e-mail from any members on eMLB matters within the next 2 game sims (Normally 7 regular days), and that owner is still considered an active eMLB owner, the owner will be fined $750,000 from their cash reserves.

Note: This fine will be forgiven if an owner has announced to the League publicly that they are Away/On Vacation. The Owner should announce the dates that they are unavailable, and either assign a proxy to cover for them, or use the On Vacation feature in the game.

Bottom Line on this Fine: If you even remotely believe you're going to be unable to respond to an e-mail, even if you're not going on vacation, then post in the 'I'm Away!' part of the bulletin board.

Other Incentive Programs Added

Minor League Coach Rewards: For any coach who's team wins their division, all coaches on that team will be awarded with an increase of 5 points to their base ratings. This does not mean a coach with a 50 rating becomes a 55, since the scale is 1-200. A coach with a 50 rating either becomes a 52 or 53 rating.

This rule applies to all minor league levels, and will improve personnel potential to make the Major Leagues one day.

The "Future Hope" Reward: For any team that wins their league, they will give the Major League ballclub a free increase of 1 pt to their base fan interest (1-100 scale). With 3 levels, this means no more than 3 pts could be won by any one team per offseason.

Commissioner Over-Ride Rules
 If we get an owner that didn't quite know what he was doing and bid 10 million a year on 3 players and has no room to sign anybody else, leaving his team with only 21 players or something we may invoke the commissioner over-ride rule. Thus, the team becomes property of the league until it can be straightened out. The league may choose to release players despite their contract and put them into the free-agent market. Any owner that forces the league into this decision may be removed.

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