League Organization
Divisions
The TBGBL consists of 20 teams, divided into four divisions. Each division consists of five teams.
Schedule
Each team will play a 162 game schedule. Games will be simulated using Diamond Mind Baseball version 9. Games will be simmed twice a week, for a total of 14 games/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
Divisional winners will automatically receive the top four seedings. 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 head-to-head record of teams will be assessed. Should this fail to resolve the tie, the total runs scored for and against will be evaluated, and the team with the highest plus/minus will be given the higher playoff spot. Should this fail to resolve the tie, a coin flip will be performed.
Team Organization
Team Rosters
Teams will be allowed to carry a 35-man roster, which cannot exceed that at any time or under any circumstances. Each team is allowed to carry 25 players on its active roster (see below) and a maximum of 10 players in the Minors. Failure to comply will result in alphabetical release of players from the minors. Teams will receive 24 hours notice before this takes place.
Active Roster
Each team must maintain a 25-man active roster. This roster must contain at least 2 players rated at the catcher position.
If a team has fewer than 25 eligible players on its roster, eligible players will be promoted alphabetically from the minors until the roster is full.
The active roster may not exceed 25 players at any time. Failure to comply will result in alphabetical demotion of players. Teams will receive no notice before this takes place.
Submitting Manager Profiles
All teams must submit Manager Profiles to the League Office. There will be a form sent to all managers that must 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
In order to make changes to your manager profile, cut and paste or highlight the section that you want changed.
Playoff Rosters
A 25 man playoff roster is due at the trading deadline.
Roster Moves
Players may be promoted or demoted at will.
Injured players will be disabled only for the duration of the injury.
All roster moves should be made via email at tbgbltrans@hotmail.com
Trades
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.)
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 down.
Teams may only trade or receive a maximum of 5 draft picks
The in-season deadline is July 31.
Trading will reopen with the commencement of the draft – after the protected lists have been submitted to the League Office and circulated to members.
Keepers and Minor Leaguers
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 35-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.
The Draft
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.
Draft Procedure
The first 2 rounds of the draft will take place live at a date to be determined via AOL Instant Messenger and MSN Instant Messenger.
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 per night until the draft is completed.
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 draft is complete, teams may fill out their 35-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.
Player Limitations
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 and At Bats, a player must have 500 Plate Appearances. Players with less than 500 PA’s 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 150 Innings Pitched to qualify for unlimited usage. A starting pitcher with 149.2 Innings Pitched or less will be limited to that 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.
*Any reliever 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.
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
Additional Rules
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 the AOL Instant Messenger software or MSN Instant Messenger 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 players.
Players may not play out of position, unless the computer manager has made the changes. No player may appear in a profile at a position they are not rated for.
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.
Code of Conduct
The following are violations of our code of conduct:
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.
All other TBGBL matters, questions, requests should be sent to tbgblinfo@hotmail.com