League Constitution for SBDL
In the SN-SOM ATG 9 game format
As of October 28, 2024
Section A: Core Values
1. League Structure
a. ATG 9
b. Salary Cap: $100M to begin with each reboot
i. A $5M up or down change in the cap is permitted (but not required) at the discretion of the team owner with the best regular season record from the previous season (to be announced prior to the steal round). Tie breaker would be based upon 1st) head-to-head, 2nd)most recent SBDL championship
ii. The salary cap for each season can only be $95M, $100M, $105M, or 110M and cannot change by over $5M per season (see 1a)"Salary Cap: There were 11 of us that agreed to allow a range of salary cap variation to be selected by the person whose team had the most regular season wins (1 did not chime in). Therefore, we will modify the rule to allow an up or down change in the salary cap by anywhere from $0 to $5 million season to season (salary can go up or down by $1 million, $2 million, $3 million, $4 million, or $5 million season to season within the overall range of $95 million- $110 million). Additionally, Strat had added a new rule (90% salary floor). (revised 6/16/2022)
c. no-DH
d. Advanced
e. 5% drop penalty
2. Unique ballparks
a. Any ballpark that is eligible in ATG 8 can be used.
3. Player pool
a. ATG 8 player set is divided into groupings by first letter of players’ surnames within hitters and pitchers subsets.
b. Only 12 letter groupings comprise the player pool at any time.
i. These groupings must be readily available and up to date through forum posts, league mail, and/or SBDL Web site.
4. Glossary
a. Manager(s)—the person running a team in SOM-ATG.
b. Player(s)—the baseball player whose name is on SOM card.
c. Season—a SN-SOM 162-game season
d. Keeper(s)—a player that is on a manager’s team roster at the end of a season and selected to remain on the team into the next season, also known as a protected player
e. Player Year—some players have multiple cards representing different years, a “player year” is one specific card for that player.
f. NFL style draft—draft order is worst record to best record for all non-playoff teams, then semifinal losers by regular season record, then runner-up, and finally league champion.
g. League restructure—basically, the league starts from scratch whenever there is a dramatically different/new SN-SOM player set or when the league changes its core League Structure (e.g., salary cap).
5. Future seasons
a. SBDL is a keeper league wherein managers keep some of their players from one season to the next.
b. After each season a letter grouping is removed from the player pool and another letter grouping is added.
Section B: League and Initial Team Creation
1. League creation
a. The ATG 8 player set is divided by letters of players’ surnames as well as by hitter and pitcher. See Appendix 1.
b. Base player pool is 12 letter groupings of which at least four must be hitters and four must be pitchers.
c. The base player pool is created by a single-round draft in which each manager selects one grouping to be added to the pool.
d. Draft order for the league creation is by a randomizer, to be solicited on the main ATG forum.
e. Divisional alignment to be determined by input of all managers.
2. Initial team creation
a. Live draft is 14 rounds, consisting of 13 players and one ballpark.
b. Draft order is overall winning percentage of SBDL career. Worst-to-first, serpentine.
c. Draft to be conducted on
http://www.diamonddope.com or similar automated draft Web site.
Section C: Offseason
1. Keepers
a. The league format is 3-1-3 (three keepers, one player stolen from another manager’s roster, and three more keepers).
b. First set of keepers
i. Each manager announces 3 keepers from the preceding season’s roster.
ii. Managers do not need to specify which player year will be used for players with multiple cards.
c. Stealing players
i. After all managers have announced this first set of keepers, there is one-round NFL style draft in which one non-keeper from each team’s roster of the preceding season gets “stolen” by another manager.
ii. The player is stolen not the player year, and the year need not be announced.
iii. Stolen players are considered keepers from this point forward.
iv. A time limit between picks of 12 hours (including “overnight” and weekends), after which time the next manager in the draft order may make a selection.
d. Second set of keepers
i. Each manager announces (up to) three more keepers.
ii. Maximum players per owner’s roster at this point is 7, minimum is 4.
iii. The 7 keepers (this includes any stolen players) must adhere to a maximum of no more than 4 position players or pitchers, thus a maximum 4:3 ratio.
iv. If keeping less than 7 players, you must have at least 1 of each type (if keeping 6, the acceptable ratios would be 4:2, 3:3; 5 keepers—4:1, 3:2; 4 keepers—3:1, 2:2).
e. Posting announcements
i. Keeper player lists must be posted in a specific forum thread by predetermined time to be compiled by commissioner at end of each season, usually in the SBDL Discussion Thread in the SN-SOM Individual League Chat forum.
f. Restrictions
i. Keepers can be traded during the offseason, however each manager is allowed only one trade involving keepers from the beginning of the offseason to the end of the live draft.
ii. Keepers must remain on a manager’s roster from the end of the live draft through game 6 of the regular season.
iii. Trades involving keepers do not have to maintain 4:3 ratio but must begin with each team having a 4:3 or if one team is keeping less than seven players an acceptable ratios would be 4:2, 3:3; 5 keepers—4:1, 3:2; 4 keepers—3:1, 2:2). (Rule Added 6/2024) by Doc Hackra)
2. Retirement and new draft class
a. Retirement—one letter grouping is removed at random from the player pool (using randomizer.org or the like) never to be used again.
b. New draft class—one previously unused letter grouping is added at random to the player pool (using randomizer.org or the like). This will further stimulate the strategy and live draft portion of the offseason.
c. The retirement and new draft class announcement occurs after Game 84 prior to Game 85 of the regular season.
i. Two randomizers are run to select the retiring letter grouping and another two are run for the new draft class. The first randomizer shuffles the order of the letter groupings; the second then selects the affected letter grouping. Example: Hitter M is third on the list and the first randomizer places #3 in the sixth position, then the second randomizer moves the #6 into the first position, thus Hitter M becomes the affected letter grouping.
ii. The actual removal of players from and addition of players to the pool does not occur until after the season, including playoffs, ends.
iii. Commissioner may request another manager or an outside party to assist in the randomization process.
d. Keepers can be from retired letter groupings, but that is the only way those players remain active. Think of this as giving players guaranteed contracts (e.g., the letters C, U Hitters grouping is retired, but Team X puts Ty Cobb on his keeper list for X additional seasons before he "retires").
e. A keeper from a retired grouping cut during the regular season remains active for that season. For example if Team X cuts Ty Cobb after game 75, anyone can pick him up before game 142 to keep him active in the league.
f. If a keeper from a retired letter grouping is ever cut after Game 142 or is not selected as a keeper, the player retires.
g. A keeper from a retired letter grouping can be traded (within league trading rules); again as long as the player remains active, he has not retired.
3. Draft.
a. Six-round live draft follows the steal round and announcements of all keepers.
b. Draft can be conducted on
http://www.diamonddope.com, a thread in the SN-Individual League Chat forum, or some other accessible tool.
c. NFL style
d. Tie breakers: Head-to-head; if tie remains, then run differential; if tie remains, then lotto draw.
e. Time limits
i. During the first round of the draft, time limit between picks is 12 hours, which includes "overnight" and weekends. The clock is not off.
ii. For rounds 2 through 6, the time limit between picks is 3 hours.
iii. For rounds 2 through 6, the clock is on from 9 a.m. to midnight ET Monday through Friday. The clock is off any other time.
f. Any players from the eligible player pool, which includes the new draft class, that are not keepers may be drafted.
g. A regular SN-SOM autodraft occurs after the conclusion of the six-round live draft.
i. Keepers and live-drafted players get placed at the BOTTOM of the autodraft card. All other players a manager hopes to select via autodraft must be at the top of the card.
4. Schedule
a. Commissioner will post an offseason schedule of dates and deadlines as soon as possible after the completion of the regular season.
Section D. Ballparks
1. Unique ballparks
2. Each manager must use the same ballpark for at least three seasons.
3. Relocating
a. A manager may relocate his team to a different ballpark as long as the three-season commitment for the previous ballpark has been met.
b. The manager must announce the new ballpark during the portion of the offseason in which managers announce keepers.
c. The fee for relocating is the forfeiture of the manager’s sixth round pick in the live draft. If the manager does not have a sixth round pick, then the lowest round pick still available is forfeited. In the unlikely event that a manager has no draft picks to forfeit, then the manager loses one keeper slot (only a maximum of six keepers).
4. Any time the league restructures, no manager can relocate to another ballpark until after the third season of the new league creation.
5. New managers, taking over existing teams, have the option to relocate without forfeiture of a draft pick.
a. This “free” ballpark change happens only for the manager’s first season.
Section E. Transactions
1. Trading
a. In-season trading follows normal SN-SOM rules within the SBDL player pool parameters.
b. Keepers can be traded during the offseason, however each manager is allowed only one trade involving keepers from the beginning of the offseason to the end of the live draft.
c. Keepers from retired letter groupings can be traded within the aforementioned trading rules.
2. Cuts
a. In-season roster cuts follow normal SN-SOM rules within the SBDL player pool parameters.
b. A keeper from a retired grouping cut during the regular season remains active for that season. For example if Team X cuts Ty Cobb after game 75, anyone can pick him up before game 142 to keep him active in the league.
c. If a keeper from a retired letter grouping is ever cut after Game 142 or is not selected as a keeper, the player retires.
d. Keepers cannot be cut during the offseason; they must remain on a manager’s roster from the end of the live draft through game 6 of the regular season.
Section F. Infractions and penalties
1. Infractions
a. Ineligible player(s) on an active roster during the season
i. A penalty will be assessed for each series a manager has ineligible player(s) on the active roster.
ii. An ineligible player is a player not in the current season’s player pool..
b. Failure to meet an offseason scheduled deadline
i. One penalty for each occurrence
c. Making multiple trades involving keepers
i. Penalties will only be assessed if the excess trade(s) is not rescinded.
2. Penalties—See Appendix 2
Section G. Miscellany
1. Divisional realignment
a. Can occur when at least 10 managers vote in favor.
i. It must first be proposed by one owner and seconded by another.
ii. Commissioner will create a forum poll for official voting.
b. Can occur when there is a league restructure.
2. SBDL League Rules can be changed at any time by commissioner.
a. Commissioner must post on SBDL Web site front page and/or SN-SOM SBDL Discussion Thread that there are rules changes/additions.
2. SBDL League Rules can be changed at any time by commissioner.
a. Commissioner must post on SBDL Web site front page and/or SN-SOM SBDL Discussion Thread that there are rules changes/additions.
Thu Oct 03, 2024 9:05 pm