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Introduction
The Canadian Baseball League (CBL) was formed in April of 2002. Currently, it uses the Out of the Park 6 simulation that is developed by Out of the Park Developments. We started with fictional rosters.
The following constitution provides a general overview of the league’s rules. These rules may change from time to time based on a league vote or discussion on the message board. If you have any questions, contact the commish or ask for help on the league’s message board.
Sim Schedule
Games are simulated three times per week (currently on Sunday night, Tuesday night and Thursday night). Each simulation will consist of one week of the regular season, giving 26 simulations of the regular season.
It is important to note that there is to be no “simming ahead” – running the sim, in advance, to see what the results maybe. This would result in owners having an unfair advantage and the league will follow a zero tolerance policy with regards to it.
Playoffs will follow a slightly modified scheduled. Playoff sims are run as follows:
- 1st round 5-game series – the first 2 games in one sim, the final 3 games in another sim.
- League Championship and Canada Cup Series – the first 2 games in one sim, the next three games in another sim, and the final two games in a final sim.
Playoff sims are generally run as soon as the playoff teams have exported and the commissioner is able to run the sim.
Setup
The setup of the league is as follows:
Eastern League
Southern Division
Central Division
Atlantic Division
Western League
West Division
Prairie Division
Great Lake Division
Each division features four teams. The winner of the division will go onto the playoffs. Also, there will be one wild card team in each league. The winners of the league championships will meet for the Canada Cup.
Ownership
The purpose of the owners of teams in the CBL is to have fun - and of course, win. How is it done? By being active. Being active is the key for anyone in the CBL (and any online league) to have success. This can be done by any of the following ways:
• Become a member of the CBL message board, and take part in discussions. This is your place to let people know who is available on your team, post trades, make free agent offers, and join in the general discussion on the league.
• Make sure that you always have the latest league file.
• Send in up to date rosters, by the "Export to FTP" option, for every sim. If you don't wish to make any changes to your lineup, please still send in an export by FTP – it’s simple, and only takes two seconds of your time to do so, and let the league know that you are still keeping an eye on your team.
• Try to take part in anything the CBL puts on!
With that being said, owners who remain inactive (without reason) for a period of over two weeks maybe removed from the league. If you have a reason from being inactive, such as vacation, please contact the commissioner to let him know so that arrangements can be made.
Submitting Lineups and Roster Rules
In order to submit your lineup, you need to export your team. You can do this by:
• Making sure you are connected to the internet.
• In OOTP6, go to your team “setup” screen.
• Click “Export to FTP”
That's it!
When you are sending in your lineups remember:
• You can set a team password to prevent other owners from accessing your team set up screen. All owners should set a team password during the off season free agent period because it prevents other owners from seeing your contract offers.
• Check to make sure that all of your depth chart and lineup positions are filled. Please ensure that you do not have a player in your lineup twice as this will cause an error within the game.
• You can call up and send down players in the minors and the majors.
• Set your minor lineups.
• Set your managerial tendencies.
• Make sure that you have 25 men on your major league roster. In September, this maybe expanded to a 40 man roster until the playoffs begin.
• Never set your team to computer manager. The game will make roster moves that you may not like, such as calling players up to the big leagues early.
When you send in your rosters, please remember that players can only play in positions they are rated in, with the following exceptions:
• Any position can place 1B
• SS can play 2B or 3B
• CF can play LF or RF
• LF can play RF and vice versa
Rosters will be checked at random to ensure the position rules are followed.
Also remember when submitting lineups that you cannot edit your team name, logo, your field, finances, or sign and release players. Also please refrain from using the waivers of DFA in-game portion – these functions are do be done on the message board.
Minor Leagues
The CBL will *not* be using the "Fill Minor Leagues" option at all.
There are no restrictions on player position learning.
Owners can have the computer manage their minor leagues.
Player Contracts
Players with less than 3 years of experience are automatically resigned to minimal contracts by OOTP.
Players with more than 3 and less than 6 years of major league experience have their salaries set through arbitration. After six years of major league experience, players are eligible for free agency if they are not signed to a contract extension before the end of the season.
Important: Player contracts cannot exceed 5 years (no 6 or 7 year contracts are allowed).
Free Agents & Contract Extensions
In Season: In Season free agents are free agents who are signed during the season (after the start of the first game of the season until the end of the regular).
To sign a player during the season, post the player’s name and your offer in the Free Agents forum on the message board. You must offer at least what the player is asking for. If multiple teams make an offer to the same player during a sim period, a priority system based on the previous season’s record is used to determine who signs the player. The priority list will be based on the draft list, with the worst having the first claim, and the Canada Cup champions having the last claim. As teams sign a free agent, they will move to the bottom of the priority list.
Off Season: Off Season free agency takes place after the Canada Cup, until spring training begins.
Off Season free agency will take place over an eight day period. The first five days will advance free agency two days at a time. The sixth and seventh days will advance free agency 5 days at a time. The final day will complete the off season free agent period.
After making your free agent offers, be sure to click the Export team offers via FTP button. The commish will import everyone’s offers before advancing free agency.
Free agent contract offers cannot exceed 5 years (no 6 or 7 year contracts are allowed).
Players signed during the offseason free agency period cannot be traded until July 1st.
Teams will be prohibited from signing minor league free agents during the free agency period. After the free agency period is completed, teams will be able to sign the free agents to minor league contracts on a first come, first serve basis, with a maximum of 3 players signed per sim period.
Important: Be sure to set your team password during free agency. This prevents other owners from seeing your offers. You set your password on your team setup screen (the place you export your lineups).
Contract Extensions: Contract extensions may be offered after the trade deadline (August 1st). Offers are made in the Contract Extensions forum on the league’s message board.
Contract extension offers cannot exceed 5 years (no 6 or 7 year contracts are allowed).
To make an offer, follow the following steps:
1. Start up a new topic in the Contract Extension forum. The topic should like this: Current Season: Team. So, if you're Halifax you'd put 2011: Halifax.
2. Next, open OOTP6 and go to your team page to check to see how much each player is asking for. Just go to the player you wish to resign and right click on him.
3. In your message, post the position, level (majors, AAA, etc) along with the full first and last name of the free agents that you are interested in trying to sign, followed by your offer.
4. I will then reply letting you know if they have accepted or rejected the deal. If they have rejected it, you can reply to the message to make a counter offer to the player. You can make up to two counter offers.
***Notes***
- Players may get upset with you during contract talks. This means that while you may have the chance to make 3 offers, he maybe upset after 2. However, if you wait sometime, he may accept another offer.
- You are able to make contract offers to players up for arbitration as well. This can give you some cost certainty when planning your budget.
You may only make three offers to the player. If he refuses each of them, he will become a free agent at the end of the season. Also, a player must be listed at a specific position, and NOT at DH, during contract extensions.
Amateur Draft
The CBL has a seven round player draft that is held at the same time as the off season free agent period.
The draft will begin on the league message board once the first preseason league file is available. Owners need to be sure they are able to make their draft picks in a timely manner or send the commissioner a draft list if they know they will be unable to pick.
At the conclusion of the off season free agent period, the remainder of the draft will be completed using draft lists that should be emailed to the commish. If you do not send a draft list, the computer will select the remaining picks for you.
Rule V Draft
The rule V draft is held after the off-season free agency and amateur draft are completed.
Any player with 3-5 years of Pro Service who is not on the 40-man roster is eligible for the rule V draft. Owners must submit a lineup that protects all players from the rule V draft by the date set by the commissioner or risk losing players to another team.
The order of the rule V draft will be the same as the amateur draft, with the team having the worst record the previous year selecting first. The rule V draft will be held using draft lists.
A player selected during the rule V draft must remain on the active roster of the team who selected him for the entire season. The only exception to this is that rule V players can be placed on the disabled list when injured but must be retuned to the active roster once healthy.
Trades
Trades maybe made anytime before the July 31st deadline. They may include up to five players, along with draft picks and/or cash. If draft picks are included, they are only allowed to be included for the current or upcoming draft. Trades involving players must include at least one player from each team. Players signed to a contract during the previous off season may not be traded until July 1st of the current year.
All roster moves are completed immediately AFTER the next sim during the season. If an injury of 3 weeks or more occurs to a player in any particular deal, the effected owner can request the commissioner to retract the trade. The commish can decline to retract the trade if the injury was just to a junk player and not one central to the trade.
Spring Training
The CBL will use spring training - however, all player settings will be kept at 5. Owners may request that a player be taught a new position, but they risk the player taking a talent drop. Owners who wish to teach a player a new position during Spring Training must email the commissioner to tell him how to distribute the points.
Ballparks
There are limits to what your ratings can be. These limits are:
AVG - between 75 and 125
HR - between 75 and 125
2B - between 50 and 150
3B - between 50 and 150
Efforts will also be made to keep average league-wide ratings at 100 for each category.
Stadium Changes
Any requested stadium changes are required to be requested on the message board in the "Stadium Changes" forum. Once requested, the proposed changes will be reviewed. The review will consist of ensuring the stadium meets league rules, and that the overall average rating for the league remains around 100.
The following costs are associated with stadium changes:
ANY AVG RATING: $75,000 per point change between 90 and 110. $100,000 per point for any other change.
ANY HR RATING: $75,000 per point change between 90 and 110. $100,000 per point for any other change.
2B RATING: $50,000 per point change between 80 and 120. $75,000 per point for any other change.
3B RATING: $50,000 per point change between 80 and 120. $75,000 per point for any other change.
There will also be a cost of $500,000 for any other 'major' changes (grass to turf, adding/removing a turf, etc).
Changes can only be made once per five seasons.
Team Finances
• Initial market size and team loyalty were both originally set at "Average", and fan interest was set at "65".
• Fan interest is able to range from 0-100, however the ranges for market size and team loyalty will be kept within reason.
• Market size may range from "Small" to "Good", and fan loyalty may range from "Poor" to "Very Good".
• Merchandise revenue will be fixed at $10,000,000 per season.
• TV revenue will be fixed at $26 million per season, split between local and national.
• The max money cap will be $10 million.
• Ticket prices maybe be set from 5 - 15 dollars.
• Starting with the 2007 season, there is a salary cap of $75 million in payroll. No team may surpass $75 million in payroll due to free agents, trades or any other means. Any team over the salary cap will be required to trade player(s) to get below the cap.
• Starting with the 2015 season, the teams will be allowed to carrying a negative cash balance of $10 million – essentially letting teams vary in cash levels from negative $10 million absolute minimum to a positive cash level of $10 million maximum. The league will also no longer use the in-game revenue sharing.
• Finally, playoff revenue will be awarded as follows:
-$1 million for division series loss.
-$2 million for league championship loss.
-$3 million for Canada Cup loss.
-$4 million for Canada Cup win.
Waivers / Players Refuse Assignment
The CBL will use the "Minor League Option Years" found in OOTP6. If a player refuses assignment to the minors, and the team still wishes to send him to the minors, he must pass through waivers.
To waive a player, the owner must post the players name and position in the message board’s waiver’s forum.
Players placed on waives must remain on them for a minimum period of 24 hours, and must remain on waivers until the next simulation is run. They will be considered to have passed through waivers if no one claims them prior to the next simulation after the 24 hour period. If he is not claimed, the commish will move him to the AAA roster on the next league file.
Multiple teams can make claims on a player during the 24 hour waiver period. The team with the worst win/loss record during the previous year has first priority in waiver claims. However, once a team makes a successful waiver claim, that team is moved to the bottom of the “priority list” for any future waiver claims.
An owner can revoke a player waiver any time before the next simulation is run. A player can only be pulled off waivers once – the next time that player is waived the waiver cannot be revoked.
Awards Voting
After the Canada Cup, award voting will take place. Owners will be encouraged to send in their ballots to the commissioner who will tally up the results, and send out the results.
Hall of Fame
--Player Eligibility--
The Commissioner or a Hall of Fame Committee will put together a Hall of Fame ballot for the owners to vote on. To qualify for Hall of Fame consideration, a player must have at least 8 years of major league experience.
Under extremely special circumstances, the Hall of Fame Committee can bypass these requirements and place a player on the ballot without the minimum number of years of experience. This should only be done in cases where career ending injuries prematurely ended the career of someone who was an extremely dominant player.
There is no waiting period after retirement for HoF consideration. Players are eligible the first year after they retire.
--Owner Voting--
All CBL owners are required to vote on the Hall of Fame ballot. New owners may not know the players as well, but they are expected to examine the stats, listen to the discussion and pick the players they feel are most deserving.
When presented with the ballot, an owner can vote for up to 5 players he believes deserve to be in the CBL Hall of Fame. The voting will be done by secret ballots that are emailed to the commissioner.
--Support Needed to Reach HoF--
To gain entry into the CBL Hall of Fame, a player must receive at least 18 votes from the 24 owners. (75% of the league)
To remain on the ballot for consideration during the next year’s HoF voting a player must receive at least 4 votes (1/6th of votes) or they are removed from the ballot.
--Executive Eligibility for the Hall of Fame--
The Commissioner or Hall of Fame Committee can also select league executives to be considered for the Hall of Fame. Retired executives who managed at least 1,000 games and have been retired for at least 2 full seasons are eligible for the Hall of Fame. Active executives who managed at least 2,000 games are also eligible.
Each owner must vote “yes” or “no” for the league executives on the ballot. These votes are separate from the rest of the ballot and do not count towards the votes an owner is required to make for players. An executive who receives 18 (75%) “yes” votes is entered into the Hall of Fame.
Owners who retire and are elected into the Hall of Fame are allowed to rejoin the league. These owners will not lose their spot in the Hall of Fame by rejoining the league.
Finally...
In the end, this is really a work in process. Things will be added, deleted and changed as the league evolves. If you have any suggestions on this, I would encourage you to contact the commissioner.
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