Divisions The TBGBL consists of 20 teams, divided into two leagues with two divisions each. Each division consists of five teams.
Schedule
Each team will play a 162 game schedule.
Games will be simulated using Diamond Mind Baseball.
Games will be simmed twice a week, for a total of 14 dates/week for each team.
All games and results will be posted on the website.
Playoff Qualification
Each division winner will qualify for the playoffs and receive a first round bye. The top remaining four teams from each league will also qualify for the playoffs.
Playoff Organization
The 1st round will begin two days after the last day of regular season play.
1st round will consist of a five game series: 11221
The first round will not have an off-day during the round.
All subsequent rounds will begin two days after the scheduled completion of the preceding series and consist of a seven game series: 11X22X121 Scheduling for all series will be based upon the maximum amount of games. I.e., if all series in the 1st round go 3 games, the next round will still begin as if it had gone 5. Divisional winners will automatically receive the top four seeds. All remaining seeding will be based on regular season record. Teams with the better regular season record will have home-field advantage in any given series.
Tiebreakers
In the case of a tie for the divisional title or last playoff spot(s), there will be a 1-game playoff. In the event of a tie for other playoff positions, the higher positive run differential will be assessed and the team with the highest plus/minus will be given the higher playoff spot. Should this fail to resolve the tie, the head to head record will be evaluated. Should this fail to resolve the tie, a coin flip will be performed. The same format for tiebreakers will be used to determine draft position.
Teams will be allowed to carry a 36-man roster. Rosters cannot exceed 36 players at any time or under any circumstances. Each team is required to carry 26 eligible players on its active roster (see below) and a maximum of 10 players in the Minors. Failure to comply will result in roster moves being made by League Commissioners. The Commissioners will attempt to field the most competitive team possible if forced by owner inactivity when making roster decisions. Where possible, players designated as minor leaguers on the Manager Profile will be avoided. The decisions made by the Commissioners in these cases are final, and ramifications including but not limited to the loss of minor leaguer status are the sole responsibility of the franchise owner.
Active Roster
Each team must maintain a 26-man active roster. This roster must contain at least 2 players rated at the catcher position.
If a team has fewer than 26 eligible players on its roster, roster moves will be made on the team's behalf by the Commissioners with the mandate of fielding the most competitive team possible. Teams may receive no notice before this takes place. For further information about the parameters for these decisions, see above under Team Organization.
The active roster may not exceed 26 players at any time. Failure to comply will result in roster moves being made on the team's behalf. Teams may receive no notice before this takes place. For further information about the parameters for these decisions, see above under Team Organization.
Submitting Manager Profiles
All teams must submit Manager Profiles to the League Office at tbgbltrans@hotmail.com. There will be a template sent to all managers that is to be filled out and submitted to the Office before the start of the upcoming season. Otherwise, a computer generated profile will be used.
Changing Manager Profiles
Managers may make changes to their roster via updating their Manager Profile at any time prior to the deadline of the next sim. All updated Manager Profiles must be submitted to the League Office at tbgbltrans@hotmail.com.
In order to make changes to a manager profile, owners must identify their changes by either cutting and pasting, or highlighting the section that is to be changed.
In the case of owners not updating their profile, when a player goes over his PA or IP, the Commissioners will make adjustments to the roster, by replacing the over-limit player first with a player in the Minors on the 36-man roster at the same position. Note that minor leaguers could be promoted and lose their minor league eligibility (See parameters for Commissioner-made roster adjustments above in Team Organization). If no eligible player by position is available in the Minors to replace the over-limit player, then the over-limit player will be released and replaced with a free-agent with the most PA or IP available at that position. The released player would not be eligible for pick up as a free agent by any owner. Refusal to participate in this process constitutes a breach of the code of conduct.
Playoff Rosters
1) A 26 man playoff roster is due at the end of the regular season.
2) Players can be called up or sent down only after the conclusion of a series and before the start of another with the exception of when a player is injured. A player that is injured can be placed on the DL before the start of the next game. A corresponding player can be called up to take the injured player's spot on the 26 man roster for the duration of the playoff series.
3) Players not on a team's 36 man roster on July 31st are ineligible for post-season play.
4) Players released after July 31st lose their post-season eligibility.
5) If a player is injured and placed on DL in one playoff series, and his injury would end before the completion of the following series, he can be included on the next round s 26 man roster if desired. However, the team will play with 24 players until the injury to the player in question is completed.
6) Catchers signed by TBGBL teams after the July 31st Postseason Roster deadline will be granted post-season eligibility. This exception to playoff eligibility can only be used if the TBGBL team suffers an injury to an already rostered Catcher.
Roster Moves
Players may be promoted, demoted, dropped or acquired (through Free Agency or trade) at will, providing transactions are made in accordance with the July 31st playoff and trade deadline eligibility requirements (See Playoff Rosters and Trades sections for complete details)
In the case of injury, iInjured players will be disabled only for the duration of the injury. It is up to the discretion of the owner to place an injured player on the Disabled List, and promote a player from the Minors to replace the injured player, with the understanding that the manager must field an eligible team at all times. There is no minimum amount of days a player must remain on the DL. However, since changes to manager profiles cannot be made during the middle of a simulation, the injured player would be available to the team for the start of the simulation period immediately following the end of his injury period.
Please note that injured players or players on the Disabled List may not be released under any circumstance. It is the responsibility of the owner to manage their roster to ensure they field an eligible team at all times, even while carrying an injured player on the Disabled List.
All roster moves should be made via email at tbgbltrans@hotmail.com
When all teams involved in a trade have worked out the details, they must email the details to tbgbltrans@hotmail.com. When all sides of the trade have sent in the details, confirmation will be sent to all league teams. (Remember to update your manager profile to specify what to do with the new players.) The trade must also be announced and confirmed by all parties on the Trading Forum as part of the TBGBL forum group.
Only draft picks from the upcoming draft may be traded.
If a team has excess picks after the trade deadline, they will forfeit the excess picks starting with their last round and moving up.
No team can trade away more than five picks. No team can receive more than five draft picks.
Trades cannot include "future considerations" and all player movement must be made at the time of the announced trade.
The in-season deadline is July 31.
Trading Windows
There are several windows where teams can make trades.
Trades may begin with release of Protected Lists until the Start of the Draft. At this time, Keepers can be traded. Draft picks may also be traded so long as the team did not meet the limits during that season.
Once the first round of the draft has started, the trading window will be closed until May 1st of the sim season. The trading window will recommence for the May 1st - July 31st period during the sim season.
After the July 31st in-season trade deadline has passed, teams may not trade players or picks until the Protected Lists are sent out for the following season.
Teams are permitted to retain any 4 players from their roster and carry them forward to the next season.
Teams may also retain up to 3 "Minor Leaguers." These are players who:
1. Are part of a team's 36-man roster
2. Were selected with a draft pick in the 21st round or later (includes undrafted free agents)
3. Did not play in a single game in the previous season. Once a player has played a game, they lose their "Minor Leaguer" status.
There are limitations on player usage.
Batters
Batters must have a minimum of 50 MLB plate appearances to be draft eligible.
To be considered a full time player, with unlimited playing time, a player must have 450 Plate Appearances. Batters with 449 PA s or less will be limited by their actual number of PA s.
Pitchers
Pitchers must have a minimum of 15 MLB innings pitched to be draft eligible.
Starting pitchers must have a minimum of 140 Innings Pitched to qualify for unlimited usage. A starting pitcher with 139.2 Innings Pitched or less will be limited to their actual number of innings.
Relievers with 50 Innings Pitched or greater qualify for unlimited usage. Those relief pitchers with 49.2 or fewer IP, will be limited to their actual number of Innings pitched.
Unlimited Designates Each team may designate one limited player as an unlimited appearance player each season. This player is exempt from the usual rules that only hitters with 450+ PA and starting pitchers with 140+ IP can be unlimited.
a) Unlimited Designates may be used without restriction in the playoffs.
b) Unlimited Designates must be selected in the draft. Any Unlimited Designate who is kept from one season to the next loses unlimited status
c) If an Unlimited Designate is traded mid-term, he loses unlimited status for his new team, and all IP or PAs already accumulated count against his total for the regular season. He will also lose unlimited status for the playoffs.
d) A hitter must have at least 250 PAs in real-life to be designated as unlimited, and a pitcher must have at least 70 IP
*Any reliever who has starting eligibility and is used in a starting situation by the human manager forsakes his reliever status, and becomes a starter for limitation considerations. Relievers pushed into an emergency start by the Computer Manager will not be subject to penalty.
If a reliever is used in a starting situation by the Computer due to injury or an incomplete profile, it is the responsibility of the owner to fill the spot by submitting a manager profile at the earliest opportunity. If the manager fails to do so and the same reliever makes a start in the next sim, the reliever will lose unlimited status.
Playoff Limitations
All players unlimited in the regular season will be considered to be unlimited during the playoffs.
All players limited in the regular season will be eligible for 10% of their at-bats or innings pitched per series, ignoring fractions, i.e. If batter has 404 PAs, he will be able to have 40 plate appearances per playoff series.
If a player exceeds his playoff limit, the player will be sent to the minors and remain deactivated for the remainder of the playoff season. The offending team will also lose the roster spot for the remainder of the current series, i.e., playing with 24 men.
Draft order for the first TBGBL draft was determined using a random sequence generator. Subsequent drafts are determined by regular season record, with the team with the worst record selecting first, and the team with the best record choosing 20th.
Draft order will reverse every second round. i.e. the team that chooses first in the first round will select 20th in the second round.
The top two non-playoff teams (the two teams missing the playoffs with the best overall records) will get the top two picks in the draft with the better record getting the #1 pick. The remaining non-playoff teams will go into a weighted lottery for picks 3 through 8 (with the 18th ranked team better weighted to get the #3 pick and so on). This order will only be in effect for the FIRST round. All subsequent rounds will follow the normal order based on winning percentage and tie breakers.
Draft Procedure
The first 2 rounds of the draft will take place live at a date to be determined via Facebook or AIM if Facebook is unavailable for some reason. It is the responsibility of the manager to submit a draft list (sent to tbgbldraft@hotmail.com) if they are unable to attend the live draft.
For owners who do not attend the live draft, and who do not submit a draft list, they forfeit their draft position for the first two rounds. The CPU will pick players at the conclusion of the live draft on behalf of the absent owners, in the order they were initially designated in the draft.
The remaining rounds will be conducted using draft lists, on which owners will list desired players. Teams will receive the highest remaining player on their list when it is their turn to pick.
Draft lists are due by 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and must be mailed to tbgbldraft@hotmail.com After this, 2 rounds will be drafted every other night until the draft is completed.
The draft will consist of 28 rounds.
Be sure to include specific instructions with your draft list. For example, an owner seeking a second baseman and a reliever might submit the following list:
Orlando Hudson
Aaron Hill
Kelly Johnson
Mark DeRosa
Marco Scutaro
Jesse Carlson
Paul Robertson
Ian Kennedy
Erick Aybar
Carlos Villaneuva
If the owner does not include a note to specify "Maximum 1 second baseman," then the owner might get Hudson in one round and Hill in the next.
If all players on a team's draft list have been chosen prior to the team's draft choice, the computer will choose a player for that team.
After the 28-round draft is complete, teams may fill out their 36-man roster by signing free agents. Free agents are comprised of all the players not selected in the draft and may be signed on a first come-first served basis.
Free agents are signed on the League Forum.
Before the start of every Even-Numbered season (26, 28, 30, etc.,), teams will have the chance to participate in the Blue Chipper Draft.
Blue Chipper Eligibility
All teams are allowed to select one player who:
a) is not a keeper for another team;
b) is ineligible for the current TBGBL draft. (less than 15 INN or 50 PAs)
and
c) retains rookie status in Major League Baseball. (This includes players in MiLB, NCAA, Highschool, Cuba, Japan, Korea, etc.,)
A team will retain the rights to the Blue Chipper in perpetuity, with the option of returning him to the pool at the next Blue Chipper draft and selecting a different Blue Chipper or retaining the player for another 2 TBGBL seasons.
Each Franchise is granted one Blue Chipper slot.
The Blue Chipper may not be traded or played until activated to the 36 man roster.
Once a player is activated, he loses his Blue Chipper designation. When activating the Blue Chipper, the team's roster may not exceed 36 players.
The draft will be run under the following format:
The owner who wins the Random Lottery will make the first pick via a Facebook Messenger Conversation.
The owner will also post their selection in the designated forum area.
The next owner has no longer than 24 hours to make their selection before moving on to the next owner.
If a selection is not made in that time, a member of the CABAL will indicate that the time limit has passed and the next owner may proceed to make their selection.
Owners who do not make a selection within their 24 hour window may select their Blue Chipper when they are able, posting their selection both within the Facebook messenger conversation and on the forum.
This will continue until all 20 teams have made their selection.
The TBGBL will use the Designated Hitter Rule.
All games will be played on a centralized computer. It is not required that league owners own the Diamond Mind software.
All owners must have AIM Instant Messenger or a Facebook account if they wish to participate in the live portion of the draft. This is also useful for communicating with other owners regarding trades.
Free agents may be signed throughout the season from the list of available free-agent players. No new players may be added to a team s 36-man roster once the regular season has concluded. Players must be included in the final manager profile of the regular season.
Positional Eligibility For the positions Catcher, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS and Pitcher, players may ONLY be entered in a Manager Profile at a position for which they are rated. RF, LF and CF shall be considered interchangeable; any player rated at an outfield position can be entered in any outfield position. Owners should be aware that DMB penalizes players playing positions for which they are not rated. Regarding pitchers, if a pitcher is ONLY rated as a RP, they may ONLY be designated as a relief pitcher. If a pitcher is ONLY rated as SP, they may ONLY be designated as a starter. Pitchers that have ratings at both RP and SP may be used at the discretion of the owner (See Player Limitations for complete details). Note: because the TBGBL uses the DH rule, any position player can be entered as a Designated Hitter, regardless of their ratings.
Major League Baseball rules will apply unless noted otherwise above.
The TBGBL requires all owners to participate in the League Forum.
Owners should sign up for the forum under their team name.
Team logos are welcome, and should be no larger than 125 x 125 pixels for the purpose of placement on the website.
The League Office reserves the right to modify these rules at any time in order to serve the best interests of the league.
Draft sandwich picks are available, awarded via lottery to teams that participate in voting. Owners receive one ballot for voting players to the All-Star team, and a second ballot if they vote for the End-of-Season awards. The winner of these draws receive a sandwich pick following the 10th round of the draft (10a is awarded to the winner of the All-Star lottery, 10b awarded to the winner of the End-of-Season awards lottery).
The following are violations of our code of conduct:
Failure to adhere to rules and regulations of the TBGBL
Failure to meet required deadlines
Lack of interest/activity
Impeding the enjoyment of other league members
Abusive and threatening language
Inappropriate postings or emails
Failure to follow the code of conduct may result in a franchise ownership review at the discretion of the League Office and/or urging of league members.