League Structure
The inaugural season began with 1920 (Ruth, Speaker, Sisler, Hornsby), 1950 (Williams, Musial, Dimaggio, Robinson), and 1980 (Brett, Schmidt, Henderson, Carlton). Each era has its own draft involving 8 teams, with those teams being randomly split into two divisions (one in the NL, one in the PL). The net result is that the NL and the PL each have one 20’s division, one 50’s division, and one 80’s division.
Early Era Expanded Player Pool
This expansion of the available player seasons is intended to offset the larger player pool from which the later areas can pull from. For example, any 1937 team will be allowed to use either the 1936 or 1937 season for any player on their roster.
Early era teams (any team aligned to any season prior to 1961) will be allowed to use the current season or previous season of any early era player on their roster, even if that prior season was an IR season (see "Rosters" section below for definition of qualifying IR seasons).
Players drafted must be on the team's active roster in the season following the draft. In other words, a player may not be drafted and stashed on IR for the upcoming season.
Example of player eligibility and rostering:
- Player A is drafted in his first WIS eligible season in 1940, goes off to war from 1941-1943, then returns with three more WIS eligible seasons in 1944-1946 before retiring. Player A's eligibility and rostering options would be as follows:
- ?1940 league season: Must be on roster (just drafted)
- 1941 league season: May be rostered using 1940 season, or put on IR because he does not have a WIS 1941 season
- 1942 league season: Does not have a WIS season for 1941 or 1942, so player may be kept on IR
- 1943 league season: Does not have a WIS season for 1942 or 1943, so player may be kept on IR
- 1944 league season: May be kept on IR based on IR-eligible 1943 season, or placed on roster using 1944 season
- 1945 league season: May be rostered using 1944 or 1945 seasons
- 1946 league season: May be rostered using 1945 or 1946 seasons
- 1947 league season: May use the 1946 season
This rule applies only to early era players on early era teams. Any early era player traded to a later era team may only use the current season. Likewise, any later era player traded to an early era team may only use the current season.
’41-’46 Stimulus
To maintain relative balance of the eras across the league, during the ’41-’44 seasons each early era team may carry two players from the season 40 years prior (i.e. 1901-1904), and during the '45 & '46 seasons each early team may carry one player from the season 40 years prior. These teams can keep their stimulus players from year to year until 1946 (1906), or cut them and draft a new player from the corresponding 190x season. At no time can there be more than two stimulus players on a team’s roster.
The initial set of stimulus players will be drafted during the ’41 draft. To allow for the best balance, the first two rounds of this draft will be serpentine. All subsequent rounds will be conducted under the standard league rules.
1. The 1901 players will fill your normal open roster positions. There is no taxi squad. For example, if you have two openings, you may fill both spots with 1901 players, or you can pass on one or both of the 1901 rounds and make your picks amongst the 1940/1941 available player pool. Either way, your roster is complete once you hit 25 players.
2. While the 1901 draft rounds are serpentine, the 1941 draft follows the normal draft rules.
3. The supplementary player rule allows for 2 players on your roster for each season during 1941-1946. This means that if you draft 2 players this year, you can keep them going into next year or cut one or both and replace the cut player(s) with a different 1902 player. You may have no more than 2 players from the supplementary pool on your roster at any time (see item #4 below).
4. Supplementary players may only be traded to other 1940's teams, and the resulting rosters must comply with #3 above. In other words, only the following scenarios will make for a valid trade:
- Trade a supplementary player for another supplementary player
- Trade a supplementary player to a 1940's team that had fewer than 2 supplementary players on their roster
- Trade a supplementary player in the offseason where both teams have ALREADY posted their keeper lists, and the receiving team's list shows that they have fewer than 2 supplementary players on their pre-draft roster. (Note: this means an owner cannot trade for a supplementary player then cut another)
- Additional note: Draft picks may be included in a trade involving a supplementary player provided all other rules are met.
5. Draft schedules prior to seasons 1942-1946 will follow the normal rules. In other words, this coming draft is the only time there will be a serpentine draft ahead of the normal draft. The opportunity to pick players from 1902-1906 will happen as a part of the normal draft for 1942-1946.
6. After 1946, all supplementary players are to be cut and replacements drafted using normal rules beginning with the 1947 draft.
End of League/Wrap Around (revised)
- After the last viable season is reached (i.e. catch up with real time), all players from the late era teams will be dropped (including players from earlier eras).
- These teams will revert to the 1910 season, and will conduct a draft to completely re-stock their teams.
- The draft order will be determined by random drawing.
- The draft order will be 1-8, 8-1, 8-1, 1-8, 8-1 and snake style for the remainder of the draft
- As a pre-1961 era, these teams will use the Early Era Expanded Player Pool rules, including the use of the 1909 season for any given player.
The Draft
Three sets of 8 teams draft within their chosen era. Teams draft within their chosen era each season, even if they traded for and later dropped a player from another era (see Trades).
Drafts after Season 1 are NOT serpentine. Subsequent seasons will have a draft using cut players and all other players in the database from the current season that aren't keepers on someone's roster. You'll have as many picks (see Rosters below) in the draft as needed to complete your 25 man roster. The draft order is set at the 120-game mark with no minimum wins required at the 120-game mark to retain your spot in the draft.
The draft order is set based on a two-part system starting with worst record to best record within era, then a lottery for teams that are close to each other. Specifically, if 2 or more teams are relatively close to each other, there would be a lottery to set the 1st round picks amongst them. Any teams in a lottery for position would then alternate the picks in the remaining rounds according to the schedule listed at the bottom of this section. However, if there is an individual team that is not near any other teams, that team will not be involved in any lottery, it will simply stay in line where it is.
Using the recent '35 standings as an example, the number of wins per team were: 38, 38, 46, 51, 52, 56, 63, 63. In this case, the two 38 win teams would be in a lottery for the 1st and 2nd picks, the 46 win team would have the 3rd pick, the 51 and 52 win teams would be in a lottery for the 4th and 5th picks, the 56 win team would have the 6th pick, and the two 63 win teams would be in a lottery for the 7th and 8th picks.
The groupings would be generally based on a set number of games (like 3 or 4), but the final decision on the groupings would be the commissioner's decision based on what seems fair. This will allow the commissioner to group any team that appeared to be tanking with the team or teams that it should have been with. In other words, if a team is in a virtual tie going into the last 10-15 games, but tanks its way to a larger deficit, the commissioner will place it back in the group it should have been in and conduct a fair lottery.
The draft lottery was revised prior to Season 75 to be as follows:
- Part 1 - The bottom two teams by W/L record at the 120-game mark will automatically be included in a lottery. In other words, no team will ever “win” the #1 pick outright.
Part 2 - Any team that would have been included in a lottery with one of the bottom two teams (according to the current rules) will also be included in the lottery for the #1 pick.
Example #1:
Team A is 25-95 after 120-games
Team B is 50-70
Team C is 52-68
*All 3 teams will be included in a lottery for the #1 pick
Part 3 - Any team with 35 or fewer wins will automatically be included in the lottery for the #1 pick
Example #2:
Team A is 15-105 after 120-games
Team B is 20-100
Team C is 35-85
*All 3 teams will be included in a lottery for the #1 pick
When lotteries are required to decide a draft position, the winner of the lottery will get the better draft position in rounds 1,4,5, 8, etc., and the loser will get the better draft position in rounds 2,3,6,7, etc.
The following scheme will be used to determine the positions for the subsequent rounds for all 3-way ties:
1-2-3
3-2-1
2-3-1
1-3-2
3-1-2
2-1-3
Repeat as necessary.
Drafts generally are not timed (i.e. no timeslots), so the drafts will be more relaxed.
Rosters
An IR list will be maintained for players that miss a season due to injuries, military service, or whatever, in between the first and last WIS eligible season of their career.
Owners may cut as many players as they want at the end of each season. It is not mandatory that owners cut anyone.
Triple A players may not play in any game under any circumstances. These players are included for the sole purpose of facilitating trades. No exceptions.
Trades
Player trades may be made with any team regardless of era, and you may retain the player you obtained for as many progressive seasons as you like. Once you drop the player, he becomes available to the teams associated with that era for their next draft.
Offseason trades are to be sitemailed to the commissioner. Upon receipt, such trades will be reviewed by the commissioner to ensure that all draft implications are fully identified. Once all implications are fully understood, trades will be approved/disapproved immediately, and communicated back to the owners involved as well as the rest of the league owners. The commissioner's decisions are to be made with the intent of maintaining the best interests of the league in terms of competitive integrity.
Trades made during the season (i.e. when the league is active in SIM) will be made using the SIM trade function.
Draft picks may be traded during or between seasons, including during the draft itself. Future draft picks may also be traded, but only for the next season. However, no in-season trades of any kind will be allowed after the transaction deadline (120-game mark), and no trading of picks across eras are allowed. During the season, if 8 or more owners reject a trade, then it is officially vetoed. During the offseason, the commissioner will make the decision regarding the validity of a trade.
Cross-era trading of players selected in the current draft will not be allowed during the offseason. Once the season starts, players can be traded cross-eras as they always have been (through the WIS trade function). This rule will not in any way affect trades within eras (e.g. early to early, mid to mid, late to late). This approach also ensures that all owners have a chance to see who is drafted and to make trade offers as they desire without having lost out because a pre-draft selection deal had been brokered.
Owners who traded away a draft pick must cut at least as many players from their keeper list as the number of draft picks traded. In other words, if a team trades away two draft picks for the next season, that team must drop at least two players when it comes time for the affected draft.
Trades between teams owned by the same person will not be allowed.
A reminder for keeper lists will be sent out by the commissioner at the 120-game mark (which is the transaction deadline). Keeper lists are to be posted by each owner before the end of the current season.
The following clarifications regarding offseason trades are provided to help explain when draft picks can be traded, what draft picks or players can be traded in comparison to keeper lists, when compensatory picks are awarded, etc.
Additional Trade Rule Clarifications:
Point #1 - Fundamentally, an owner can only include in a trade those assets he owns at the time the trade is proposed.
Critical Points related to In-Season Trading:
- Once a season has begun, the previous offseason is considered over
- In-season trading may occur at any time from the beginning of the season to the 120-game point using the trading feature within the game
- The assets that a team may trade in-season include any player on their current roster, any player listed on their current IR list, and any draft pick in the upcoming draft (see next item)
- Any draft pick traded in-season or in the previous offseason must be “justified” by the keeper list for the upcoming season; in other words, if you traded a 4th Rd pick, you must cut or put on IR enough players so that you actually would have a 4th Rd pick to trade (i.e. you can’t trade an asset that you don’t or won’t have)
Critical Points related to Off-Season Trading:
- Off-season trading is any trading that occurs after the 120-game mark of one season and before the beginning of the next season
- The assets that a team may include in off-season trades are any player on their keeper list at the time of the trade, any draft pick in the upcoming draft that has been “justified” by their keeper list at the time of the trade, and any draft pick for the next season’s draft (remember, these picks will have to be justified by the next season’s keeper list)
- Note that the above bullet refers to assets available “at the time of the trade”; this allows an owner to trade for a player or a pick, then turn around and trade that player/pick to someone else subject to any other league rules
Point #2 – Draft picks can only be traded for the current season and one season in advance.
Critical Points:
- For trading purposes, a new season starts when a new off season starts; in other words, we begin our off season trading, drafting, etc., after the 120-game mark.
- As far as what seasons’ draft picks can be traded, probably the easiest way to think of it is that the draft picks that can be traded bumps up by one season each time the 120-game mark is reached.
- For example
o As of the 120-game mark of the ‘33/’63/’93 season, the draft picks that can be traded are those for ‘34/’64/’94 and ‘35/’65/’95.
o As of the 120-game mark of the ‘34/’64/’94 season, the draft picks that can be traded bumps up to ‘35/’65/’95 and ‘36/’66/’96.
o As of the 120-game mark of the ‘35/’65/’95 season, the draft picks that can be traded bumps up to ‘36/’66/’96 and ‘37/67/’97.
o And so on.
Point #3 - Since off-season trades can only involve assets that are available to be traded based on keeper lists and corresponding draft picks, off-season trades cannot be consummated/announced until after the participating owners’ keeper lists have been posted.
Critical Points:
- Conditionally keeping a player pending a possible trade is not allowed; you either have the player on your list as an asset that can be traded or you don’t
- Owners are welcome to negotiate trades ahead of time as much as they wish
- Owners are welcome to post their keeper lists as early as they like, even before the 120-game mark, just don’t announce a trade for approval until after keepers are posted and the 120-game mark has been reached
Point #4 – Unbalanced trades will be compensated for to ensure rosters include but do not exceed 25 players.
Critical Points related to unbalanced In-Season trades:
- An unbalanced in-season trade is any trade where the number of current roster players exchanged is uneven; for example, 2-for-1 trades or the trading of a player for a draft pick
- To balance such trades, AAA players may be included in the trade or may be brought up from the minors (WIS does this automatically in some cases)
- Although trades that result in AAA players on active rosters are allowed, those AAA players are not allowed to appear in any games – such players must be set to “Rest”, and should be removed from all player hierarchies (e.g. Player Rest, Defensive Replacements, Pinch Hitting)
Critical Points related to unbalanced Off-Season trades:
- An unbalanced off-season trade is any trade where the number of non-IR keeper list players and current draft picks exchanged is uneven; for example, 2-for-1 non-IR player trades, trades of a non-IR player for an IR player, 2-for-1 current draft pick trades, trades of a current draft pick for a future draft pick, etc.
- To balance such trades, after the trade is approved, owners giving up more players/picks will be awarded compensatory or supplemental draft picks at the end of the draft schedule and owners receiving more players/picks will have their last scheduled draft pick(s) removed to ensure all rosters will have 25 players by the end of the draft
- REVISION (4/28/24): Owners giving up more player/picks will automatically be awarded the draft pick forfeited by the team receiving more players/picks.
- Compensatory/Supplemental rounds at the end of the draft will be conducted in the same drafting order as the regular rounds regardless of when the original trades occurred
Incentives
Admin will provide $50 in gift certificates for each five years that a league is in operation. The only catch is that half of the original members of the league must be in the league after five years. For the next bonus after ten seasons, half of the members from season 6 must still be in the league.
Prizes will be awarded as follows:
$30 - Most team regular season wins over 5-season period (even if team had multiple owners)
$10 each – Most regular season wins over 5-season period (even if team had multiple owners) within the other two brackets (example: 20’s team has most wins overall wins $30, highest 50’s team and highest 80’s team both win $10).
Additional Rules
NO WW
NO AAA
YES DH
TRADES YES
Full or partial player seasons may be used
A League with Class
This league is intended to be fun and entertaining to all who participate. As commissioner, I will ask that all communications associated with the league as well as all team names used within the league be “G” rated. Let’s make this a classy league that maintains a focus on the game.