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2016 SPIBL Season

2016 SPIBL All-Star Game

2015 SPIBL Postseason

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. 
Introduction
2. 
Ownership Requirements
3. 
League Administration
     3.02 
League Commissioner
4. 
General Policies & Procedures
     4.01 
League Schedule
     4.02 
League Alignment
     4.03 
Ballparks & Franchise Modification
     4.04 
Playoffs
5. 
Rosters
     5.01 
DH Usage
     5.02 
Injuries
     5.03 
Roster Size
     5.04 
Trading Players
6. 
Usage
     6.09 
Playoff Usage
7. 
Policies & Procedures
     7.02 
Computer Manager Files
     7.03 
League Entry Draft
     7.04 
Strat-o-matic In-Game Settings
8. 
Penalty System
9. 
Miscellaneous
     9.01 
SPIBL All-Star Game
     9.02 
Player Awards
     9.03 
Hall Of Fame
10.  Appendix 1:
Free Agency System (no longer in use)
11.  Appendix 2:
Contract Extension Formulae

1.  Article I:  Introduction

Strat Pros Internet Baseball League (SPIBL) began its first season in 2002.  The SPIBL is a daring attempt to merge all aspects of real-life baseball club management with Strat-O-Matic computer baseball.  The league offers participants not only drafting, trading, and managing a team, but also offers the opportunity to simulate the duties of a real-life General Manager, making the same financial decisions as his Major League counterpart.

SPIBL is a 26-team league that plays a 162-game schedule, which mirrors the actual Major League schedule.  Play begins in early April and concludes in November.  SPIBL is composed of two leagues; each league has three divisions of four or five teams.  The league uses all “computer-carded” players from every major league team as its talent pool, and offers General Managers the option to keep five “uncarded” players on its roster at any time.  SPIBL features interleague play, where teams play a limited number of games (currently 24) against counterparts in the other league.  A mid-season All-Star game is played each year in a different SPIBL park.

The contract system and realistic player movement that results from the league free agency program make it challenging to keep a dynasty in place for very long, much as it is in the Major Leagues. The system rewards prudent drafting, trading, and money management.  The league setup makes it possible for many teams to be competing for playoff spots each year.

The primary goal of the league is to unite people from varying backgrounds who enjoy playing Strat-O-Matic baseball as a hobby, and to have fun.

2.  Article II:  Ownership Requirements

Owners are obligated to play league games in the correct manner.  In order to be an owner in this league, you must comply with the following:

(a)   Section 2.01:  Owners must own an IBM compatible computer and have access to the Internet.

(b)  Section 2.02: Owners must own the latest approved version of the Strat-O-Matic CD-ROM computer baseball game.

(c)   Section 2.03:  Owners must have a copy of the current year’s Strat-O-Matic roster disk.

(d)  Section 2.04:  Owners must have an active e-mail address.

(e)   Section 2.05:  Owners must be able to participate in league activities, discussions, and voting referendums as needed.

(f)     Section 2.06:  Failure to comply with any of the above requirements may result in dismissal from the League, which shall be at the discretion of the Commissioner.

3.  Article III:  League Administration

Section 3.01:  The League Board - The executive responsibilities of the League will be managed by a three-man board, which will consist of the league commissioner, American League president, and National League president.  The League Board will be charged with maintaining order, interpreting the constitution when needed, and having the authority to rule on all aspects of league operation, including ownership status and player transactions.  All members of the League Board will be responsible for the enforcement of the league bylaws, as well as the responsibilities of their individual posts.

(a)   Terms of Service:  The league commissioner, American League president, and National League president shall serve for one-year terms concurrently.  Nominations for League Board posts will be accepted during the week following the end of the SPIBL World Series.  All owners will be required to vote for one nominated candidate per position.  The departing League Board will announce results jointly one week later.  A League Board member may hold only one league administrative position at a time, and there is no limit to the number of consecutive terms a member may be elected.

(a)   The League Board is responsible for rules interpretation and resolution of conflicts throughout the course of a season.  All rule/policy queries must be submitted by membership to the three members of the league board directly.  The League Board members will promptly discuss the matter and endeavor to provide a fair and timely verdict within the intent of the rules.  The League Board is responsible for clarification and overseeing the standard revision of League rules and procedures, including, but not limited to, the SPIBL constitution.

(b)   The League Board shall compose referendums for the ownership to vote on.  All proposed rule changes must be submitted through the League Board for general submission to the League.  Once the League Board brings a referendum to the League ownership for a vote, two-thirds of existing League ownership (17 of 26) votes are required to approve a referendum.

(c)   Trade Oversight:  Each owner must report their player trades to all three members of the League Board, the Director of Player/Personnel, the League Statistician, and the League Website Coordinator.  Upon announcement, any team owner may protest a trade within 48 hours of its announced date by sending an e-mail to the League Board.

1)     If six owner protests (25% of League membership) are received for any given trade, the League Board is required to hold a hearing within 48 hours of receipt of the sixth protest to discuss the merits of the trade.

2)     The League Board shall have the authority to request modifications, or to outright veto trades that they feel are not in the best interests of the League.

3)     The League Board must have compelling evidence of impropriety in order to veto a trade.  Popular belief that one team simply got the lesser end in a trade will not be a valid reason for overturning the trade.

4)     If a League Board member is an active participant in a protested trade, the Board member must excuse himself from the voting and the League Statistician will act as a temporary replacement for protest-voting purposes.  If both a League Board member and League Statistician are participants in a protested trade, the League Website Coordinator will act as a temporary replacement for protest hearing voting purposes.

Section 3.02:  League Commissioner - The SPIBL League Commissioner will serve as the ultimate voice of the league on all league matters.

(a)   The League Commissioner will be responsible for determining the duties of the respective league presidents and working in concert with them to form the League Board.

(b)   The League Commissioner will serve as the tie-breaking vote on any League matters as needed.

(c)   The League Commissioner may appoint owners to administer other league duties as needed.  These administrative positions will be important for the day-to-day running of the league, however they will not be League Board members and thus will not have voting privileges on League Board matters.

Section 3.03:  League Presidents - The SPIBL shall have two elected league presidents: one each for the American and National League.

(a)   The job of each league president is to assess the status of the league at any given moment, and to provide guidance and counseling to the Commissioner in terms of suggestions of new rules or procedures, or revision of existing rules or procedures.

(b)   League Presidents are responsible for the day-to-day administering of their respective league, including maintaining current ownership directories, ensuring that computer manager files have been created, and assessing lateness penalties where needed.

Section 3.04:  SPIBL League Statistician - The SPIBL shall have a League Statistician, who is appointed by the League Commissioner.

(a)   The League Statistician is responsible for creating, maintaining, and distributing the official SPIBL Strat-O-Matic roster and stats files.

(b)   The League Statistician will solicit all completed game results files and box scores upon the conclusion of a given schedule block. The League Statistician will be responsible for making all roster changes due to in-season trades.  Prior to the start of each block, the League Statistician will e-mail updated Strat-O-Matic roster and stats files to all owners.  These files will be downloaded directly to each owner’s computer prior to play.

Section 3.05:  League Director of Player/Personnel - The SPIBL will have a League Director of Player/Personnel, who shall be appointed by the League Commissioner and whose responsibilities include keeping an up-to-date listing of all rosters, salaries, and contract statuses.

(a)   The League Director of Player/Personnel will maintain an Excel spreadsheet that lists rosters, salaries, and contract information for all players on each team.  The League Director of Player/Personnel will be responsible for making sure that this spreadsheet is made readily available to all league members on demand.

(b)   The League Director of Player/Personnel will be responsible for recording and keeping an archive of all player transactions, including, but not limited to, trades, free agent signings, player waivers, and contract buyouts.

(c)   The League Director of Player/Personnel will schedule and oversee the Free Agent auction.  Duties include the solicitation, verification, and recording of all bids, and the rewarding of players to the respective winning bidders per the League’s Free Agent auction bylaws (see Appendix 2).

Section 3.06:  SPIBL League Website Coordinator - The SPIBL will have a League Website Coordinator, who shall be appointed by the League Commissioner and whose responsibilities include the design and maintenance of the official league website (www.spibl.com).

(a)   The League Website Coordinator will endeavor to provide the league with features, such as up-to-date standings, trade notifications, historical records, and other features intended to enhance the enjoyment of the league for everybody.

4.  Article IV:  General Policies & Procedures

Section 4.01:  League Schedule - The SPIBL will play an unbalanced schedule of 162 games, with the majority of each team’s games being played within their division.

(a)   SPIBL will feature interleague play between the American and National Leagues.  Interleague play will be done on a rotating basis, whereby division vs. division matchups will be rotated from year to year, giving a team the opportunity to play all teams in the other league every few years.

(b)   The league schedule will mirror the real-life MLB schedule, with games beginning in April and the post-season ending in November.

(c)   Each team will be responsible for playing their 81 home games on their computer, utilizing the visiting computer manager file, or directly against their opponent via Netplay.  Visiting teams shall have the option of requesting Netplay for their away series, and every attempt should be made to accommodate head-to-head play when possible.

Section 4.02:  League Alignment - The SPIBL shall be divided into two separate leagues, a 12-team American League and a 14-team National League.  Each league will consist of three divisions of four teams (East, Central, and West).

Section 4.03:  Ballparks & Franchise Modification

(a)   Team nicknames may be changed at any time during the off-season for the following year, pending the approval of the Commissioner.

(b)   Teams must maintain their city name after the actual location of their ballpark.

(c)   If requesting a vacant stadium, an owner must notify the League Board of such intent and, barring any conflict, will be permitted to move in to the new stadium on the first opening day after a one-year waiting period.  The waiting period is included to prevent teams from catering stadiums to their team’s strengths every year.  A team must use a stadium for one full year before requesting a change of venue.

(d)   If a SPIBL team’s MLB equivalent changes stadiums, the SPIBL team will reserve the right to move into the new stadium without having to wait the one year period.

(e)   Ballparks may not be traded.

Section 4.04:  Playoffs - At the end of every season, the SPIBL will hold a series of playoffs to determine the league champion.

(a)   Qualifying:  The three division winners in each league automatically qualify for the playoffs.  The three teams with the best records that are not division winners will be wildcard entrants into the playoffs in each league.  Should any multi-team ties arise, the first tiebreaker will be head-to-head competition.  If the head-to-head records are even, then intraleague (AL or NL) records will be the second tiebreaker.  If teams are still tied after the first two tiebreakers, a one-game playoff will be played to determine the tiebreaker.  This one game playoff will be held on the day following the last scheduled day of the season, and fatigue will carry over from the regular season.  In the event two teams are tied for the final playoff spot, a one game playoff will be held on the day following the last scheduled day of the season, and fatigue will carry over from the regular season.  The Commissioner will conduct a coin flip to determine the home team.

(b)   Matchups:  The playoff format will mirror the current NFL format. After the season, the six playoff teams in each league (AL and NL) will be seeded in the following order:

1)     Seed #1 = Division winner with the best overall record in its league (AL and NL)

2)     Seed #2 = Division winner with the second best overall record in its league (AL and NL)

3)     Seed #3 = Division winner with the third best overall record in its league (AL and NL)

4)     Seed #4, Wildcard #1 = Non-division winner with the best record in its league (AL and NL)

5)     Seed #5, Wildcard #2 = Non-division winner with the second best record in its league (AL and NL)

6)     Seed #6, Wildcard #3 = Non-division winner with the third best record in its league (AL and NL)

(c)   SPIBL Playoffs, First Round (League Wildcard Series):  Seeds #1 and #2 have byes, Seed #3 will host Seed #6, and Seed #4 will host Seed #5.  First round playoff series will be “best-of five.”

(d)   SPIBL Playoffs, Second Round (League Divisional Series):  Seed #1 will host lowest seed winner from First Round, Seed #2 will host other winner from First Round.  Second round playoff series will be “best-of seven.”

(e)   SPIBL Playoffs, Third Round (League Championship Series):  Winners from Second Round will play for respective league championships.  Third round playoff series will be “best-of seven.”

(f)     SPIBL Playoffs, Fourth Round (SPIBL World Series):  American League champion will play National League champion.  World Series will be “best-of seven.”

(g)   The higher seed will always have home field advantage in the league playoffs.  The SPIBL World Series will alternate home field advantage from year to year.  In 2012, the AL will have home field advantage in the World Series.

(h)  Home field breakdown for a five-game series will be: HHAAH (H = Home, A = Away).  Home field breakdown for a seven-game series will be:  HHAAAHH (H = Home, A = Away).

(i)     All playoff games must be played via Netplay.  If a team’s owner cannot play the game in person, he must designate a replacement owner who is not currently involved in the playoffs to manage his team in his place.

(j)     Playoff Scheduling:  After playoff roster/stats files have been distributed, all five-game series must be completed within seven days, and all seven-game series must be completed within ten days.  Any participating owner may request an extension for their series, which will be granted at the League Commissioner’s sole discretion.  If an extension is not granted, and the seven- or ten-day deadline is not met, any outstanding playoff games will be auto-played by the League Statistician using playoff CM files.

(k)   Prior to the start of each playoff series, teams must exchange CM files with each other and must provide the League Statistician with a copy for each series.

5.  Article V:  Rosters

Section 5.01:  Designated hitter (DH) will be used in American League ballparks and will not be used in National League ballparks.

Section 5.02:  SPIBL will not use injuries.

Section 5.03:  Roster Size - SPIBL rosters will be a maximum of 40 players and a minimum of 30 players.

(a)   Active Rosters:  During the season, only 25 players may be active at any time prior to September 1st.  On September 1st, active rosters will be expanded to 40 players.  Playoff rosters must be set prior to first round play, contain 25 active players, and may not be changed in subsequent rounds.  Players who are not on an active roster prior to September 1st are not eligible for the playoffs.

(b)   Teams must have two catchers, five infielders, four outfielders, and ten pitchers active for any given block of games.  Each defensive position must have at least two eligible players.

(c)   “Uncarded Players:”  Rosters may contain up to five uncarded players during the season.  These are players who do not have a Strat-O-Matic computer card for any given season.  Teams are permitted to exceed the maximum of five uncarded players during the period between seasons, but may not exceed this limit when rosters are frozen prior to the League Entry Draft.

Section 5.04:  Trading Players

(a)   Trading is not permitted from one hour prior to the start of the League Entry Draft until the conclusion of the League Entry Draft.

(b)   Trade Deadline for Playoff Eligibility:  SPIBL will observe a trade deadline for playoff eligibility of July 31st (11:59pm PST) each season.  Players traded before this date will be eligible for the playoffs.

(c)   Waivers:  Players may also be traded from August 1st through August 31st. During this period, all owners intending to trade players must place the player(s) on waivers in order to trade them. The owner must send an e-mail to all members of the league announcing that the player(s) involved in the trade are being waived.  Any team may claim the player off the waiver wire, with the player being awarded to claiming team in inverse order of current SPIBL record.  The claiming team assumes the remaining salary/contract of the player.  If a player is claimed, the team that waived the player may either take back the player, allow the claiming team to acquire the player, or may trade the player to a team with a worse record than the team who claimed the player.  If a player clears waivers with no claims, the player may be traded freely to any team.  Players who are acquired through waivers (either by trade or claim) prior to September 1st are eligible for the playoffs.

(d)   Trades are not permitted between the period of September 1st and the conclusion of the SPIBL World Series.

(e)   Trades for “players to be named later” are not permitted.

(f)   Trades that result in “player loaning” are not permitted. 

(g)  All trades must be reported by both teams to the League Commissioner, both League Presidents, the League Statistician, the League Director of Player/Personnel, and the League Website Coordinator.  In-season trades will not take effect until the release of the next block of rosters/stats files.

6.  Article VI:  Usage

Section 6.01:  All carded players in a given Strat-O-Matic season are eligible for regular season play, subject to the usage restrictions listed below.

Section 6.02:  Position Player Usage - All position players may be used up to 110% of their actual MLB plate appearances.  Plate appearances shall simply be defined as At Bats plus walks.  HBP, sac flies, sac bunts, and other types of plate appearances that a position player makes will not be counted as plate appearances.  Fractions will be rounded down to the nearest whole number.

Section 6.03:  Fielding Usage - Players will be permitted to play only those positions listed on their Strat-O-Matic card.  Outfielders may play any outfield position and will be subject to the Strat-O-Matic in-game rating adjustment.

Section 6.04:  Starting Pitcher Usage - Starting pitchers will be limited to 110% of their actual MLB game starts and 110% of their actual MLB innings pitched.  Fractions of innings pitched will be rounded down to the nearest whole number.  Pitchers may not start more than 36 games in a season, unless their actual MLB games started exceeded 36 games.  In that case, they may make their actual MLB game starts.  Starting pitchers must adhere to the Strat-O-Matic in-game fatigue system that assigns degrees of fatigue based on number of days off between starts.  Starting pitchers may not start on three day’s rest unless they are rated with an asterisk (*) in the Strat-O-Matic game.  Starting pitchers may not pitch on three day's rest more than two consecutive times.

Section 6.05:  Relief Pitcher Usage - Relief pitchers may be used up to 110% of their actual MLB innings pitched.  Fractions of innings pitched will be rounded down to the nearest whole number.

Section 6.06:  Starter/Reliever Usage - Any pitcher that has relieved and started in the same season and meets the requirements for a starting pitcher will be designated as a starter/reliever.  The pitcher may start up to 110% of the games he started in MLB and relieve the rest of his balance of innings pitched.  He may not exceed 110% of his actual MLB innings pitched.  Fractions of innings pitched will be rounded down to the nearest whole number.

Section 6.07:  Teams must be able to field a team that meets the minimum player usage guidelines by the start of play on Opening Day.

Section 6.08:  Players who were traded between leagues in MLB and who receive two separate cards in Strat-O-Matic, will have their combined card used in SPIBL.

Section 6.09:  Playoff Usage - Any player who is currently on a team roster and who appeared for the team in a game prior to September 1st is eligible to play in the playoffs, provided the requirements below are met.  Player fatigue will carry over from the end of the regular season.

(a)   Position Players:  Position players must have a minimum of 50 MLB plate appearances to appear in the playoffs.  Position players may not exceed 7% of their total MLB season plate appearances per 7 game series, or 5% of their total MLB season plate appearances per 5 game series.  Fractions of plate appearances will be rounded down to the nearest whole number.  Position players with more than 50 MLB plate appearances, but less than 100 MLB plate appearances, may not be in the starting lineup of any postseason games.

(b)   Starting Pitchers:  Starters will follow the usage restrictions outlined for regular season play in the playoffs.  Only those pitchers who are rated by the Strat-O-Matic game with an asterisk (*) will be permitted to start on three day’s rest.  Starting pitchers may not pitch on three day's rest more than two consecutive times.  Starting pitchers with less than 24 MLB starts may start only one game per series.  Starting pitchers with less than 15 MLB starts may not start postseason games.  Starting pitchers may not exceed 10% of their total MLB innings pitched per 7 game series, or 7% of their total MLB innings pitched per 5 game series.

(c)   Relief Pitchers:  All relievers who have a minimum of 30 MLB innings pitched are eligible for the playoffs.  Relief pitchers will be restricted to 10% of their MLB regular season innings pitched per 7 game series, or 7% of their total MLB innings pitched per 5 game series.  Any pitcher who is rated as a starter by the Strat-O-Matic game, is not rated as a reliever,  and who also had 30 MLB innings pitched may also pitch in relief.  Those pitchers must be declared as "starters pitching out of the bullpen" at the beginning of postseason play, and are ineligible to start for the remainder of the playoffs.  "Starters pitching out of the bullpen" will be subject to the in-game fatigue and point of weakness ratings as assigned to non-carded relievers by the Strat-O-Matic computer game, and must have two days of rest between each appearance.

7.  Article VII:  Policies & Procedures

Section 7.01:  Recommended File Naming Conventions - After each League game, owners must save the box score and play-by-play files.

(a)   Box scores should be saved with the following format:   vvv@HHH_mmddyy.prt (vvv = visiting team 3-letter abbreviation, HHH = home team 3-letter abbreviation [team in CAPS is the team that played the game] mm = month, dd = date on schedule, yy = year).

(b)   Game result export files will automatically be saved per league settings.  At the conclusion of each series, owners will be responsible for providing game results and box score files to the League Statistician and League Website Coordinator.  Each three- or four-game series should ideally be zipped into one file.

Section 7.02:  Computer Manager Files - Owners will be responsible for providing updated Strat-O-Matic computer manager files for each schedule block.

(a)   Computer manager files should be named according to the following convention:  TeamCity#.zip (TeamCity = team city location, and # = schedule block number).

(b)   Computer manager files should be sent directly to the League Statistician and their respective league president prior to each block’s play, along with the CM unlock code.  If owners fail to provide a CM to the League Statistician or League President within three days of block distribution, the team’s prior block’s CM file shall be used.  Failure to provide a CM in two consecutive blocks will merit an official warning from the League President and failure to provide a CM in three consecutive blocks shall be grounds for dismissal from the league, per discretion of the League Commissioner.

(c)   Owners will be responsible for importing all opponent’s Computer Manager files for a given block.  Any games played by a home team which did not use the proper opponent CM are subject to protest by the visiting owner and are subject to possible replay, per discretion of the League Commissioner.  Any overusage that may occur in such games is null and void.

(d)   Starting rotations must be filled out for the entire block in advance of game play (via “Scheduled Starters” setting in CM).

Section 7.03:  League Entry Draft - Any players who are not on SPIBL rosters and do not fit the criteria of a free agent, will be available for selection in the League Entry Draft.

(a)   The League Entry Draft will be a standard order draft (1-24, 1-24, etc.), where draft order will be determined in inverse order of prior season SPIBL team record.  If two teams have the same record from the previous season, their record in head-to-head competition will be used as the tie-breaker.  After that, if there is still a tie, a coin flip administered by the League Commissioner will determine the tie-breaker.

(b)   Teams shall be permitted to draft players until the 40-man roster limit is reached or the team’s salary cap for that season has been reached.

(c)   The League Entry Draft shall be held in February of each year at a date to be determined by the League Commissioner.

Section 7.04:  Strat-O-Matic In-Game Settings

(a)   All Super-Advanced “max” Strat-O-Matic computer game rules will be used, except the Homerun Robbing Rule.

8.  Article VIII:  Penalty System

Section 8.01:  Having a successful league depends on timeliness from all members and adhering to bylaws established by the league.  As such, the following penalties will be outlined for non-compliance with said bylaws:

(b)   Salary Cap Violation:  SPIBL is a strict salary cap league which has a hard cap, meaning all teams must be under or at the team budget at all times (including when trading, waiving, bidding, or drafting).  Any trade, free agent bid, or entry draft selection which causes a team to be in violation of the salary cap will be immediately voided upon discovery by the League Statistician or League Board, provided said violation is discovered within 48 hours of its occurrence.  The League Commissioner shall have discretionary power in granting extensions that would allow the offending owner time to explore its options to bring its club payroll within the salary cap guidelines.

(c)   Roster Size Violation:  Any team that falls below the 30-player minimum roster size, or above the 40-man roster size, and does not make the necessary player/personnel moves within three days of the date of violation shall be penalized 5.0 in salary for the current SPIBL season.  Therefore their team salary cap will become 83.0 for the remainder of the season for the first offense.

(d)   Uncarded Player Violation:  Any team that has more than five uncarded players on its roster at the conclusion of the League Entry Draft shall be penalized its 1st round pick in the next year’s League Entry Draft.

(e)   Player Overusage:  SPIBL is a realistic usage league.  The League Commissioner will be responsible for notifications of player overusage.  Penalties for exceeding the posted usage limits are as follows:

1)     Position players:  Each plate appearance of overusage will count as 1 point.

2)     Starting pitchers:  Each game start of overusage counts as 20 points.

3)     Relief pitchers:  Each full inning of overusage will count as 4 points.

4)     Overusage Penalty Scale:  Per above, 1-10 points will result in a warning from the League Commissioner.  11-20 points will result in the loss of one game in the team’s final standings and loss of the team’s  5th round pick in the following year’s League Entry Draft.  21-30 points will result in the loss of two games in the team’s final standings and loss of the team’s 4th round pick in the following year’s League Entry Draft.  31-40 points will result in the loss of three games in the team’s final standings, loss of the team’s 3rd round pick in the following year’s League Entry Draft, and will have its maximum roster size limited to 39 players for the next SPIBL season.  41-50 points will result in the loss of four games in the team’s final standings, loss of the team’s 2nd round pick in next year’s League Entry Draft, and will have its maximum roster size limited to 38 players for the next SPIBL season.  61 points or more will result in a team’s automatic disqualification from the SPIBL playoffs, loss of its 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks in next year’s League Entry Draft, and will have its maximum roster size limited to 37 players for the next SPIBL season.

5)     Failure to Use an Opponent’s CM:  In the case where a player is used improperly by another manager due to an owner’s CM not being implemented, the player’s usage will not be taken into account when calculating overusage.  In these instances, the impropriety must be reported to the League Board within a month of the game’s due date.  Failure to use a visiting team’s CM will result in a warning for the first occurrence and future occurrences may result in further penalty per the League Commissioner’s discretion.

6)     Playoff Overusage:  Upon discovery of playoff overusage, all games from the point of discovery onwards are subject to replay.  In the event of a second occurrence of overusage in the playoffs, all games in which the overusage occurred shall be forfeited.

Section 8.02:  League Commissioner shall reserve the right to distribute penalties for any infractions that he believes to be detrimental to the conduct of the league.  These infractions may include, but are not limited to, failure to comply with league referendums and votes and failure to provide advance notice of inability to run one’s team (i.e., vacations).

9.  Article IX:  Miscellaneous

Section 9.01:  SPIBL All-Star Game - A mid-season All-Star game shall be held in early July at a venue to be determined on a yearly rotating basis.  The prior season’s SPIBL World Series owners will manage teams.  Starters by position will be determined by the Strat-O-Matic in-game Newspaper Recap (which lists All-Stars) and the All-Star game managers will determine reserves.  Each SPIBL team must have at least one player represented in the game.  An All-Star game Most Valuable Player shall be awarded per agreement of the All-Star game managers.

Section 9.02:  Player Awards - At the conclusion of the SPIBL postseason, the League Board will be responsible for preparing a list of nominees for the following individual player awards:

(a)   SPIBL Manager Of The Year (5 nominees).

(b)   Most Valuable Player (each league, 10 nominees per league).

(c)   Cy Young (each league, 5 nominees per league).

(d)   Rookie Of The Year (each league, players with rookie eligibility, 5 nominees per league).

(e)   The League Board will set up a poll for each of the respective awards for which all owners are obligated to vote.

(f)     The League Board will also award Gold Glove Awards for the best fielders at each position in each league and Silver Slugger Awards for the best offensive player at each position in the entire SPIBL.

Section 9.03:  SPIBL Hall of Fame - The league reserves the right to hold future discussions regarding the establishment of an SPIBL Hall Of Fame and its eligibility/voting requirements.

 

Appendix 1:  Free Agency System

This document will describe the SPIBL Free Agency system.

1.      Eligibility

2.      League statistician duties

3.      Tier set up

4.      Process

5.      How to bid

6.      Winning Bids

7.      Contingency Bids

8.      Uncarded Auction

9.      Overview

1. ELIGIBILITY

In SPIBL, a player who fits the following criteria can be described as a "free agent":

1.      The player is not currently on an active SPIBL roster, but was previously on an active roster during the current/prior season.

2.    The player's contract is recently expired.

If a player is in the FA pool for one free agent auction period and does not get signed, that player will be remanded to the following Entry Draft.  Players also become free agents when their contract is bought out by a team or when their contract duration expires (they were either signed to a 1-year contract or not offered an extension).

 2. FREE AGENT AUCTIONEER DUTIES   

It is the duty of the league commissioner to assign the responsibilities of Free Agent Auctioneer.  The Free Agent Auctioneer's responsibilities include, and are not limited to, publishing the complete list of free agents, dividing the free agent list into comparable "tiers", and the entry and maintenance of player auctions on the SPIBL Free Agent Auction website.

 3. TIER SET UP

It is the Free Agent Auctioneer's responsibility to set up at least four tiers for the auction, including one tier of uncarded players only.   Each position should be somewhat fairly represented in each tier.  Tier 1 should include the "premier" players, Tier 2 the next best, and so on.  Tier 4 should typically consist of uncarded players.  Each "Tier" should consist of 3 "days"; it is suggested that Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday be used.  Each "tier" should be somewhat evenly divided during each day, and each day should have 3-4 closing times.  This ensures that the auction closings are spread out on each day, and that teams will be able to follow multiple player auctions of interest concurrently.

4. PROCESS

This is the main part of the FA auction.  At this point, the following things should have already happened:

1.      All teams should finalize their contract extension decisions and cuts

2.      The Free Agent Auctioneer should publish the list of free agent tiers, and enter the player auctions on the SPIBL Free Agent Auction website

 

The automated SPIBL Free Agent Auction website software will process each bid, using the following bid valuation formulae to determine the high "bidder".  Bid history will be stored for all accepted bids for transparency, and will be revealed upon conclusion of the auction.

5. HOW TO BID

1.      Teams may offer a contract from 1-4 years in length

2.      A team's offer per year cannot extend past the salary cap of $95.0 (2008)

6. WINNING BIDS

The value of your offer

Players now consider the length of the contract when evaluating your offers.  The longer the contract, the better chance you have of winning the bid.  When I use the term “worth of the bid,” please do not think of it in monetary value.  For example, a 1-year 20 million dollar bid is worth 20. But think of 20 as an interest level number.

To determine the worth of a bid, we use the following multipliers:

·         For a 1 year deal, the worth of the bid is the dollar amount offered (or 1.00)

·         For a 2 year deal, the worth of the bid is the dollar amount offered per year multiplied by 1.33.

·         For a 3 year deal, the worth of the bid is the dollar amount offered per year multiplied by 1.66.

·         For a 4 year deal, the worth of the bid is the dollar amount offered per year multiplied by 2.0.

·         For all of these, you round to the nearest tenth.

 Examples:

·         A 2-year deal offered at 8 million per year is worth 10.6.

·         A 3-year deal offered at 8 million per year is worth 13.3.

·         A 4-year deal offered at 8 million per year is worth 16.0.

 

Appendix 2: Contract Extension Formulae

I. Contract Lengths and Values

According to the SPIBL constitution, a player contract will last from one to four years.  There is no limit as to what the monetary value of that contract will be as long as a team does not go over their salary cap.

 II. Signing rookie draft picks

Every year after rookie picks are signed, each franchise in the SPIBL is responsible for sending the league statistician the length of their players’ contracts. Each rookie will be signed to 1-4 year contracts for the league minimum salary.

 III. Defining ‘Under Contract’

A player is under contract when a player is signed either in the FA auction or the rookie draft.  A player is not under contract if he is signed during any SPIBL season.  Any such player is temporarily signed.

IV. Defining Free Agency

 A player is a free agent when:

1.      Their contract has not been renewed and they have played out the final year of their current contract

2.      A player under contract is cut from their SPIBL team during the current ongoing season

 NOTE: Any player that is signed to contract in-season is signed for the remainder of the current season ONLY, and is eligible for the following year's Entry Draft.

V. Releasing Players

When a player under contract is cut from an SPIBL franchise in-season, it does not free the franchise of the financial obligations for that player.  The SPIBL franchise is responsible for the entire dollar amount  and duration of contract for which the player was signed.

VI. 1-year contracts

 When a player is signed to a 1-year contract in the off-season, whether it is during the FA auction or the rookie draft, that player will automatically go to the FA auction the following off-season.

 VII. 2-year contracts

 When a player is signed to a 2-year contract in the off-season, whether it is during the FA auction or the rookie draft, that player will play his first year under contract, and then will be up for an extension the off-season before his final contract year.

VIII. 3-year contracts

When a player is signed to a 3-year contract in the off-season, whether it is during the FA auction or the rookie draft, that player will play his first and second years under contract, and then will be up for an extension the off-season before his final contract year.

 IX. 4-year contracts

 When a player is signed to a 4-year contract in the off-season, whether it be during the FA auction or the rookie draft, that player will play his first, second, and third years under contract, and then will be up for an extension the off-season before his final contract year.

 X. The extension system

 The SPIBL contract extension system is a simple way of replicating the real-life contract extension process.  Team will have the opportunity to offer contract extensions to players given a predetermined set of criteria, and per a given system of salary increases.

When a player is up for extension, the manager has five options:

1.      Do not sign the player to an extension; the player becomes a free agent upon conclusion of the upcoming SPIBL season

2.      Sign the player to a 1-year extension; the player automatically becomes a free agent after playing two more years for his current franchise

3.      Sign the player to a 2-year extension; the player plays two years and then will be up for extension again

4.      Sign the player to a 3-year extension; the player plays three more years and then will be up for an extension again

5.      Sign the player to a 4-year extension; the player plays three more years and then will be up for an extension again 

The extension system is a risk-reward type system.  If a franchise signs a player to a longer extension, the team will not have to pay as much year-to-year, however if the player gets injured or his performance falls off, the franchise is still financially responsible.  Conversely, if a franchise signs a player to a shorter extension, the team will have to pay more cash up front, but will not have extra years of financial obligation.

When a player is up for extension, the following process will be used to determine the values for which the franchise will have to re-sign their player.

1.      Look at Player A’s SPIBL salary.  If Player A’s SPIBL salary is 30% less than his corresponding MLB salary, move to step 2.  If Player A’s SPIBL salary is either more than his corresponding MLB salary or less than 30% less than his corresponding MLB salary, move to step 3.

2.      Take Player A’s MLB salary from the latest finished MLB season.

a.      If signing to a 1-year extension, take the MLB salary and multiply it by 1.25. This is the contract extension value.

b.      If signing to a 2-year extension, take the MLB salary and multiply it by 1.15. This is the contract extension value.

c.      If signing to a 3-year extension, take the MLB salary and multiply it by 1.05. This is the contract extension value.

d.      If signing to a 4-year extension, take the MLB salary and multiply by 0.95. This is the contract extension value.

3.      Take Player A’s SPIBL salary in his current contract.

a.      If signing to a 1-year extension, take the SPIBL salary and multiply it by 1.55. This is the contract extension value.

b.      If signing to a 2-year extension, take the SPIBL salary and multiply it by 1.45. This is the contract extension value.

c.      If signing to a 3-year extension, take the SPIBL salary and multiply it by 1.35. This is the contract extension value.

d.      If signing to a 4-year extension, take the SPIBL salary and multiply it by 1.25. This is the contract extension value.

 You must notice at this point that there is a .3 difference between the step 3 multipliers and the step 2 multipliers.  This is to compensate for the 30% mentioned in step 1.

Here are the reasons for that 30% mentioned in step 1:

Example:  Joe Smith, and Bobby Smith are up for extensions.  Here are their current SPIBL salaries and MLB salaries:

Player MLB Salary SPIBL Salary
Joe Smith 10.0 0.2
Bobby Smith 10.0 9.9

Joe Smith is obviously a superstar that needs to have his SPIBL salary adjusted so that our league can follow the MLB and not fall apart.  Without this adjustment, Joe Smith’s salary would always be extremely low or unrealistic and one franchise could keep him for his entire career.

Bobby Smith has been in the league for a while and is on the same level as Joe Smith talent-wise.  If we did not have this 30% rule in place, both Bobby and Joe would go to 10.0 and then use the step 2 multipliers and both would be treated the same.  This should not be the case.  For someone like Joe Smith, who is being adjusted for the first time, the league must not use the same multipliers for him as Bobby Smith who has obviously been adjusted before and whose salary must go higher than Joe Smith’s.

The reason for the 30% window is that some players will be very near their MLB salaries in the SPIBL.  Those players should take on the SPIBL salaries and use the multiplier system that we have for the SPIBL.  We as a league really only want to adjust the players who have significantly higher salaries than their SPIBL salaries. 

 XI. Increased salary cap

 To compensate for the increased SPIBL salaries, the commissioner will review and set the salary cap from year-to-year.  The salary cap should keep pace with inflation, and the current MLB salary trend.  Between the years of 2002-2007, this was roughly 2-3% increase per year.  The SPIBL minimum player salary should also be roughly identical to the real-life MLB minimum player salary (for 2012, 0.4 rounded down).  The 2-3% yearly salary cap increase should reflect the overall increase in salaries, as well as the increase in the minimum salary.

XII. Changes to SPIBL contract system

If MLB salary trends change, (i.e. the average salaries stop going up year to year), the SPIBL must adhere to this by discontinuing the 3% increase per year, at either the discretion of the commissioner or by a 2/3 consensus of the league.

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