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2.2 Postseason Rules and Structure
3.1 Player Trades
3.2.2 Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI)
3.2.4 The Blue Rule
3.5 Rule 5 Draft
3.6 SPBC (Indy League) Player Purchases
4.1.1 Penalties for Salary Cap Violations
4.2 Face of the Franchise Rule
4.3.1 Staff Rating Customization (Scouts & Trainers)
4.3.2 Stadium Modifications
League Caretaker / Commissioner – Serves as the primary authority for league operations, ensuring smooth gameplay, rule enforcement, and overall management. Responsibilities include maintaining the Slack workspace, website, hosting expenses, league rulebook, recruiting, primary game simulation, and onboarding new GMs. While advisory input is welcomed from league members and the Competition Committee, the Commissioner has the final say in all league matters.
Deputy Commissioner – Serves as the second-in-command and steps in only if the Commissioner is unavailable. The Deputy Commissioner is an active participant in league governance but does not have independent decision-making authority unless acting in the Commissioner’s absence.
Competition Committee – An advisory panel that provides insights and recommendations to the Commissioner. The committee is responsible for understanding the rulebook, assessing how rules impact the league, and anticipating the implications of potential changes. While it does not have direct rule-making authority, it serves as a critical resource for informed decision-making regarding league policies. Members are expected to have a deep understanding of the league’s rules and their practical applications.
Chief Technology Officer (CTO) – Responsible for the league’s technical infrastructure, including maintaining the website, hosting services, and ensuring the functionality of league-related tools. The CTO ensures a seamless experience for league members and maintains a professional presence for recruitment and rule reference.
StatsPlus Admin-Only – Manages administrative tasks within StatsPlus without engaging in broader league governance or rule discussions.
Founder, League Caretaker and Commissioner: Joe Peters
Deputy Commissioner(s): None
Competition Committee: Joe Peters, Barry (MIA), Corey (PHI), Jason (LA), Jesus (DAL), Kevin (HOU), Leo (STL)
Chief Technology Officer: Kevin (HOU)
StatsPlus Admins: Joe Peters, vacant positions available
If GMs don't fulfill their responsibilities, commissioners will intervene. Consequences may include warnings, AI re-organizations, suspension, or expulsion at a last resort.
GM’s are responsible for…
Understanding Game Mechanics – GMs should have a basic understanding of how OOTP functions. While expertise is not required, proactive learning is expected. The OOTP wiki is a great resource. Note: The PBC rulebook is not an OOTP guide. it covers league-specific rules, not universal game mechanics.
OOTP Updating/Upgrading – The league will always upgrade to the latest OOTP version once it is deemed safe. This includes patches and yearly releases. Some league members, including the commissioner, participate in the OOTP beta team, ensuring informed upgrade decisions. If you have concerns about annual upgrades, contact the commissioner immediately.
Regularly Exporting – Exporting in advance of each simulation is required. The export tracker shows a historical export percentage. Even if you don’t have any changes, export so your history shows that you are an active member. It is ok to miss a few sims, but once a few consecutive sims are missed, a formal inquiry will be made. You may also be contacted if your overall export rate is lower than normal. Refer to chapter 1.5 for info on missed exports.
Reading the Announcements – The #commish-announcements channel in Slack is updated daily. It is important to check it regularly for sim notes, sim schedules, and important announcements.
Responding to Slack/email – GMs must respond to messages in a timely manner. Private messages should be answered within 24 hours. Ignoring messages is unacceptable and may result in removal. If you receive an email, it is usually a last attempt to contact you. At that point, the league is likely already considering a replacement.
Voting in Polls – Participating in league polls is required. Polls impact league operations and will be posted in Slack. Voting for season awards and the Hall of Fame is also strongly encouraged. These activities help bring fictional leagues to life. If you are not interested in participating, an online league may not be the right fit.
Be Social – Engage and connect! Online leagues are all about being social. In a league of our size, it's evident when some members stay silent. It's more enjoyable when everyone knows one another, but that's hard when only a few join the general chat. Being active demonstrates your commitment to the league.
Communicating Absences (Vacations) – If you will be absent from Slack or unable to export for over 48 hours, inform the commissioner or update your Slack status with your absence duration. We can't assume you're active if we're unaware of your absence.
Acting Professionally – All GM’s are expected to conduct themselves appropriately and professionally at all times. This includes your attitude toward other players as well as the management of your organization; all GM’s are expected to do their best to put a competitive team together as soon as possible. All players should be respectful towards each other. This includes harassment of any kind. If someone is harassing you, please report it to the commissioner. Harassment and bullying will not be tolerated in this league.
Protect Competitive Integrity – Every GM must protect league integrity by applying honest competitive strategies. Intentionally making your team uncompetitive by agreeing to one-sided trades, releasing good players, or even regularly starting obvious non-major league caliber players is not an honest competitive strategy. Also, devising ways to “game the system” is not keeping true to the spirit of competitive integrity. Some of the most prevalent ways a GM violates this is through bogus contract options and using the sim system against an opponent. If you have a concern about if something you want to do is considered “gaming the system”, please ask a commish. Your strategy will not be revealed if it’s determined to be ok.
Note for GMs: All GMs are expected to have a basic grasp of baseball rules, OOTP mechanics, and PBC regulations. Any issues caused by a lack of knowledge will be the GM’s responsibility. If you have questions, ask any one of us. We understand there is a learning curve, but it is your responsibility to stay informed and engaged with the league.
This league transitions to the latest OOTP version annually, but only after confirming its stability. Members should be prepared for these yearly upgrades and must be committed to participating in the league beyond a single version. If a member is not willing to engage with the league through multiple versions, this league may not be the right fit.
The PBC has a strict policy regarding roster violations and exports. Roster violations halt the sim, and the simmer has to take an action in order to advance the sim. Exporting with violations is inexcusable, as the game will warn you that you have a violation when exporting.
If daily exports aren't feasible for you, aim for every other day. Given that each sim spans 5 days and our season is shorter, missing consecutive exports can significantly impact the season.
Failing to export for 4 consecutive sims may lead to an AI re-organization. While this isn't an automatic action, if your organization suffers due to missing nearly 3 in-game weeks of exports, intervention may be necessary. Note: This only applies during spring training and the regular season.
The action that the commish will take if a sim is halted will depend on the circumstance and it's not feasible to list every instance. We will list some common violations
Over roster limit:
Commish will DFA a player of his choosing to get the roster below the limit. The commish should pick a player with limited value, but shouldn't spend more than a few seconds doing this.
It should be noted that this fix will only be done if there's just a couple players over. If there appears to be neglect, usually by not exporting on opening day, then a full AI re-org will be done.
DFA time expired:
Players will be released if their DFA period expires and the player remains unassigned. However, the commissioner may, at their discretion, assign the player if there is available roster space and the player is either somewhat noteworthy or has a high salary. The commish may make this extra effort to prevent the release of a good player, but the burden is still on the GM.
If you anticipate missing several exports, please communicate in advance. A GM missing three consecutive exports typically receives an email from the commissioner inquiring about their status. A response is expected within 24-48 hours on Slack, our primary communication platform. Failing to respond in that window may lead to the assumption that the GM has disengaged from the league.
While email communication may occur, by the time it's sent, the process to find a replacement might have already been initiated. Hence, immediate responses on Slack are crucial. The commissioner will assess a GM's past activity and the league's overall standing before deciding on a replacement.
It is important to note that even GMs who consistently export or are active on Slack may still be replaced if their behavior negatively impacts the league. This includes contributing to a toxic environment, consistently missing crucial exports, neglecting important polls, disregarding commissioner guidance, or engaging in other disruptive actions. The health of the league remains a priority.
See chapters 4.1.1 for salary cap violations and 3.2.4 for Blue Rule violations.
The Pro Baseball Circuit (PBC) features three divisions with 6 teams in each.
Below the PBC are 6 minor leagues, with various roster and age limitations. The levels are the PBC Reserve League One, Reserve League Two, Advanced Prospect League, Prospect League, Rookie College League, and Rookie Complex League. Each organization also has an International Complex. No games are played at the International Complex, so development is minimal. Other than the international complex, PBC and all its affiliates play an 88-game schedule.
Separate from the PBC league structure are the Semi-Pro and Amateur leagues. These leagues function as independent leagues and players may be acquired by PBC GMs. See the chapter 3.6 for details.
Each GM is responsible for keeping up to date with his/her minor league affiliates. This includes promotions/demotions, lineup and rotation changes, releases and signings, etc. AI assistance with some (or all) of these tasks can be setup in-game by changing the settings in the "Manager Options" screen on the GM Home Page, however it is recommended to handle all of this manually as you will generally find more success. Caution: Commissioners will not "fix" any decisions made by the AI when using those options. Use them at your own risk!
Beginning in 2009, the PBC no longer has an organizational player limit. Since the reserve leagues have roster size limits and the prospect/rookie leagues have an age limit, it is no longer needed to prevent GMs from stashing players.
All teams in an organization are required to carry a minimum of 9 pitchers, 2 catchers, and 8 IF/OF.
The highest level of each PBC organization is their Major League (ML) team. Teams at this level have an limit of 23 players on their active roster.
PBC Reserve Leagues
The reserve leagues comprise Reserve League One (AAA) and Reserve League Two (AA). Each team has an active player limit of 25. There are no age or experience restrictions at this level.
PBC Prospect Leagues
The prospect leagues comprise the Advanced Prospect League (A+) and the Prospect League (A). Players aged 24 and older are ineligible for either league.
PBC Rookie Leagues
he rookie leagues comprise the Rookie College League (R+) and the Rookie Complex League (R). Players aged 21 and older are ineligible for the Rookie College League, while players aged 20 and older are ineligible for the Rookie Complex League.
Age eligibility is verified only on Opening Day, as OOTP will prevent GMs from assigning players to ineligible leagues.
International Complex
Players signed as international amateur free agents (IAFA) or international scouting discoveries will be placed in the International Complex. Your scout will discover up to sixteen (default setting) international amateurs each year. This level doesn't have competitive matches and offers limited player growth.
Players in the complex are not required to be placed on a development roster until they reach one (1) professional year. However, the commish will move players from your complex to a development league if that team does not carry the minimum amount of players during the season.
If a player earns one professional year and has not been promoted, the commish will move them to your Rookie Complex when official preseason begins.
The PBC postseason begins at the end of the regular season, featuring all division winners and wild cards competing for the Professional Circuit Cup. The first round is a best-of-5 series with a HH-AAH format. Subsequent rounds are best-of-7 series using the HH-AAA-HH format.
The PBC Postseason includes the 2 division winners and 4 wildcard teams. Playoff seeding is based on total wins, with no consideration for divisional standings.
The first round, also known as the play-in series, features the four playoff teams with the lowest records. The winners of the two play-in series will advance to face the teams with the two best records in the Cup Qualifier series. The Pro Circuit Cup series concludes with a showdown between the winners of each qualifier series.
No additional tie-breaker games are scheduled. Tiebreaker 1 goes to the division winner. Tiebreaker 2 is the season series record between the tied teams. Tiebreaker 3 is season run differential. Tiebreaker 4, if ever necessary, will be determined by the commish at the time of the tie and will establish the precedent for future 4th breakers.
Normally during the regular season and off-season, there's only one sim per day, at the same time every day and daily exports are required from everyone. The playoffs are conducted very differently. For starters, if you're not a playoff team, you are not required to export. Only teams that are playing games during the sim are required to export. Once the required exports are in, the sim may begin immediately at any time of day. It is entirely possible for the entire postseason to be completed in one day.
Start offering personnel extensions before the regular season ends. The interval between the regular season's end and the offseason's beginning can be surprisingly short, sometimes just one evening if all playoff teams are motivated. Don't get caught off guard; act early.
Note for the commish: Extend waivers so that it spans the entire postseason.
The playoff sim schedule is:
Congratulations on making the playoffs! Now that the sim schedule revolves around you, it's important to be mindful of expectations and your role in keeping things moving efficiently.
Respect Everyone’s Time
The playoffs move quickly, and multiple sims per night are expected. While it’s understandable that not everyone can export multiple times in a night, clear communication is essential. If you can’t export right away, let the league know your availability so others aren’t left waiting and wondering when you will export.
Communicate Your Status Promptly
When a new file is posted, all playoff teams should immediately communicate their status. This helps league leadership and other teams gauge how quickly we can move forward. If you don’t need to make changes, simply confirming that you won’t be exporting is perfectly fine.
Be Responsive
As a playoff team, a higher level of responsiveness is expected. Checking messages infrequently or failing to reply in a timely manner can slow down the league and frustrate others. Make an effort to respond promptly and avoid leaving everyone waiting for extended periods.
By keeping communication clear and timely, you ensure a smoother and more enjoyable playoff experience for everyone.
The Pro Baseball Circuit runs a unique structure for its league operations that promotes competitiveness and parity. Team's budgets are derived from the standard league-wide media contracts. Ticket prices are locked at a fixed price of $1.00, but attendance drives the ability for team budgets to fluctuate upward or downward depending the on the team's success at earning attendance.
Budgets are typically in the range of $14-16 million for player salaries, IAFA signings, coaching salaries, scouting and player development budgets. In the PBC universe players generally can't get contract extensions to ensure all teams have a fair shot at acquiring talent. The exceptions are those designated as the Face of the Franchise. This financial model guarantees that free agency is always buzzing with excitement. With players entering free agency, teams race to secure top talent, making each free agency period a thrilling, can't-miss event.
The PBC does not have player arbitration, therefore causing players on their rookie contracts to maintain the minimum salary of $100,000 through 5 years of service before entering free agency. (See 3.2.2 Prospect Promotion Incentive)
The league will continue to monitor key financial indicators such as fan interest, attendance, and overall team finances. When multiple teams achieve fan interest levels consistently in the 90s, the commissioner will reduce each team's fan interest by 25 points and increase the baseline attendance by 5,000. This approach supports the natural growth of attendance, encouraging GMs to monitor fan interest closely as it can continue to rise. A cap on attendance baseline may be introduced if needed, but this will only be considered after significant growth over several decades.
Additional adjustments to the financial structure, including player salary expectations or budget baselines, may be made when deemed necessary. All changes will be thoroughly tested prior to implementation to ensure financial balance and competitiveness across the league.
Each team will have a minimum budget of $14 million per season to allow $10 million for players, $1 million for development, $1 million for scouting, $1 million for international free agents, and $1 million for staff.
Once all team budgets exceed $14 million, the baseline allocations for development and scouting will increase accordingly. The goal is for these baseline expenses to grow in proportion to the overall team budgets, ensuring balance across key areas of spending.
Attendance Baseline per Game: 25,000
Ticket Price Baseline: $1.0 (Teams cannot change ticket price)
Visiting Team's Gate Share: 0%
Yearly Inflation: No current plans
Minimum Days of Service for One Service Year: 100
Minimum Service Years for Free Agency: 5 Years (500 days)
Minimum Pro Years for Minor League FA: No minor league free agency
Salary Arbitration: Disabled
Draft Pick Compensation for Lost Free Agents: No Compensation
Allow Contract Opt-Outs: Disabled
Minimum Contract Buyout Amount: 75%
Player Dev. Budget Baseline: $1.250M
Scouting Budget Baseline: $1.250M
Coach Salary Baseline: $80k
Player Typical Salaries (multiple levels):
These settings establish the typical salary figure for players of differing caliber. These values are used by the computer in a number of areas of the game, such as computer GMs determining contract offers and players assessing the value of an offer. The eight categories of players are superstar, star, good, above average, average, below average, fair, and poor.
The commissioner may adjust these settings before the start of free agency to maintain a healthy and realistic market environment. Any adjustment will be thoroughly tested prior to implementation. Minor changes will not typically be announced
Tip: If a player earns the minimum salary and isn't on your main roster, they'll only count as $16,500 or 16.5% towards your salary cap.
Contract Years Maximum: 5 years
Contract Extensions: Prohibited
Minor league players will not enter free agency unless they are released or have previously earned 5 ML service years.
National Media Contract Baseline: $14.0M
National Media Contract Fixed?: Yes, same contract for every team
Local Media Contract Baseline: $0
Merchandising Revenue Baseline: $0
Team Owner Controls Budget?: No, entire revenue available
Revenue Sharing: Disabled
Luxury Tax: Disabled
Cash Maximum: None
See chapter 4.1 for complete salary cap rules.
The salary cap setting is disabled in OOTP, but still enforced. See Section 4.1.3 for details.
Scouting Settings
Player Rating Scales
Coaching Settings
During the offseason, coaches may sign with other teams, and there is limited opportunity to counter these offers. To prevent your coaches from leaving, it's important to address this issue before they receive offers. Offering contract extensions before the season ends or promoting them if there’s an opening after the season are effective strategies to keep them satisfied with their current position.
Report Settings: Top Prospect List: Dynamic
Storylines: On
Player Injury, Fatigue, & Suspensions
Player Personality Settings: All turned on
Player Development Settings: Default (Dev lab is included; Lab success magnitude is set at higher)
There are primary settings for the PBC league. If you're curious what the specific league settings are for the SPBC, ask a commish.
Note for Commish:
There should never be a “free waivers” period; this means that if a sim is supposed to be longer than the waiver length, such as during the offseason, the waiver length must be extended such that it is at least one day greater that the sim length. During offseason sims that exceed the max waiver time setting, the commish will have to manually set each each newly waived player's time so it doesn't expire before the sim finishes
Players will be released if their DFA period expires and the player remains unassigned. However, the commissioner may, at their discretion, assign the player if there is available roster space and the player is either somewhat noteworthy or has a high salary.
Note for GMs: Trades are normally processed after the sim, but may be process before the sim if both parties leave detailed instructions. Injured players may be traded, provided they were already injured when agreed. For detailed guidelines, refer to chapter 3.1
At the start of the offseason, PBC GMs have the opportunity to vote for end-of-season awards in OOTP, including all standard player awards. The only exception is the Veteran's Award, which is a custom award managed manually.
The Veteran's Award is given to the best player who meets at least one of the following criteria:
Since OOTP does not support custom voting criteria, this award is tracked manually. However, voting for it still takes place within the OOTP platform.
We will not utilize StatsPlus for awards or hall of fame voting.
Trades are essential in any online OOTP league. To truly succeed, mastering the art of trading is key. In the PBC, you can signal your trading intentions in three effective ways: by using the in-game trade block, posting in the "trades" Slack channels, or directly messaging GMs about potential deals. Sometimes, the best trades involve unexpected players. However, being transparent about your available players can be advantageous for you.
Trades will only be between two organizations and may include up to 10 players from either side and/or cash. All players in a PBC organization are eligible to be traded. Players in the international complex must be promoted prior to the trade and they cannot return to a complex.
Coaches, draft picks, and players on irrevocable waivers are not eligible to be traded. Teams may not retain salary for a traded player.
Foot stomp: DO NOT waive players that you trade. The trade will NOT process if a player is on waivers.
However, in practice, a trade can still go through if the player was waived and traded in the same export, because waivers won’t appear in-game until the commissioner imports all exports and updates the league file after advancing the calendar.
This creates a situation where the receiving GM won’t see the player on waivers, and the trade appears valid. While anyone can re-download the latest league file before the next sim and simply not waive the player, that workaround just to enable a trade is unnecessary.
Cash Interpretation: In OOTP, cash is essentially a budget modifier. If a team has a positive cash balance, their available money will increase by the amount of that positive cash balance. Similarly, if a team has a negative cash balance, their available money will decrease by the amount of that negative cash balance.
During trade negotiations, cash may be used up to when the available money reaches zero. This means that you can trade more cash than you currently possess because the extra cash comes out of your budget, which lowers your available money. This might complicate your trade as you may not be able to submit it in game. Contact a commish to ensure that the trade is able to be processed.
Salary caps violations are only checked pre-sim and only when games will be played. Since trades are processed post-sim, a team may go over the salary cap to complete a trade but must get under prior to the next salary cap check.
In the PBC, trades are built on mutual respect and trust between GMs. Once an agreement is reached, it is considered binding and must follow the league’s trade confirmation process.
Initial Agreement: Trades begin with a private agreement between two GMs. Once both parties confirm the details, the trade is considered final and binding. A change of heart after this point does not invalidate the agreement. If necessary, a GM may provide proof of the agreement to a commissioner to enforce the trade. However, trades may be canceled if both GMs mutually agree.
Trade Submission in StatsPlus (S+): After an agreement is reached, the trade must be posted in StatsPlus (S+). This is the first step in the league-wide review process, allowing other teams the opportunity to protest a trade if necessary. The official veto process is outlined in Section 3.1.3. If it is not possible to submit the trade through S+ for any reason, the GMs must post the full trade details in the #request-commish-action channel on Slack. This serves as an official record and ensures the trade is reviewed properly.
Trade Submission in OOTP: Once the trade has been posted in S+, both GMs must also submit and export the trade within OOTP. This ensures that the commissioner can process the trade efficiently and prevents unnecessary delays in updating the league file. If a GM is unable to export due to technical issues or other challenges, they must notify the commissioner as soon as possible.
Commissioner's Review: While the private agreement between GMs is considered binding, the commissioner will ensure that both GMs have exported their agreed trades in the system. If one GM couldn't export due to a valid reason but the agreement exists, the trade may still be processed after S+ confirmation.
Commitments made in private conversations are binding. A change of heart post-agreement doesn't invalidate the trade. If a GM provides proof of the agreement to a commish, the trade will be marked valid. Of course, trades may be cancelled if both GMs agree.
Trades will normally be processed after the sim (Offseason trades are processed pre-sim). After the trades are processed, the file will be uploaded immediately, and the GM will be able to place the players where they choose.
If both GMs agree and leave detailed instructions on where to place players, the commish will process the trade before the sim. If the trade is on the bigger side, please contact the commish to see if it's too much to do pre-sim.
Should a trade remain unprocessed post-sim, it's typically due to one of two scenarios:
Player Injury: A player involved in the trade suffered an injury during the sim that sidelines them for over 7 days. The involved GMs will need to decide whether to amend the trade or proceed as initially agreed.
Note: The trade can be processed before the file is uploaded if both GMs are online and can provide a prompt response.
Trade Irregularities: The trade might breach specific rules or could be formatted in a way that complicates quick processing by the commissioner.
The league update will not be delayed while two GM's debate an unprocessed trade.
Any unprocessed trades will be highlighted in the sim announcement for awareness only and isn't meant as public criticism.
Trades in this league are generally allowed to proceed without intervention. While some trades may be perceived as unbalanced, we prioritize GM autonomy and do not veto trades except in specific situations. However, if a trade meets one of the following criteria, it may be subject to review by the Competition Committee:
Protesting a Trade
Trade Processing and Timing Considerations
Competition Committee Review
Statute of Limitations on Protests
The PBC deadline for trading players will always be September 2nd of each in-game year. Trades made on the deadline have to be processed before the sim. Instructions must be left.
NOTE: The trade deadline is a hard time of the export deadline posted by the commissioner in the sim announcement post. Trades must be exported, or confirmed if required, before the deadline time or they will not be processed. Invalid trades are not allowed to be renegotiated past the deadline. This hard deadline time was established to simulate the deadline that real GMs face. However, if the simmer is late, then all trades exported before the simmer imports will be processed.
What is it: In OOTP, players may be offered a no-trade clause (NTC) during contract negotiations. But this can pose challenges if you later decide to trade the player. Remember, a player's choice to invoke their NTC or 10/5 right will always be respected and cannot be overridden.
Trading players with an NTC: If two GMs agree to a trade involving a player with an NTC, and the player's destination team is listed as one he would accept a trade to, the trade will proceed as planned even if the player changes his mind after the sim. However, the complete deal must have been finalized prior to the sim.
3-way Trades with NTC: Although OOTP cannot directly process 3-way trades, three GMs can still coordinate one. For example, if Denver’s Jake Sullivan will only accept a trade to Dallas, and Dallas’s Alex Mendoza will only accept a trade to Vegas, the GMs can work out a deal where Vegas sends players to Denver, allowing Sullivan to move to Dallas and Mendoza to Vegas. In cases like this, as long as the NTC conditions are met for each player, the trade will proceed.
NTC Transparency: The list of teams a player with an NTC will accept a trade to is not, and should not be, considered private information. In real life, GMs are fully aware of these details, and it's unrealistic for that information to be hidden in OOTP. I’ve submitted a standing request to the developers to improve transparency around NTCs.
Until then, the commissioner can see these lists and will provide them upon request. If you want to know the teams a player will accept a trade to, simply ask in #request-commish-action, and I’ll share them publicly. Note that the lists are dynamic and may change daily.
It is legal to waive a player with an NTC in an attempt to provoke them into waiving their NTC. It should be noted that GMs may agree to trade for a player on irrevocable waivers, but the trade will not be processed until after the player clears waivers. Other GMs, including the one trading for that player, may, of course, claim the player before the trade can be processed.
GMs are free to make loan agreements in the form of a trade. For instance, if Vegas has two Major League catchers but wants both to gain starting time at the Major League level, they can arrange a loan agreement with another team in need of a catcher. This allows the loaned player to receive the playing time they need while temporarily contributing to the borrowing team.
Loan agreements can vary greatly between GMs, with one side possibly seeking compensation for the loan, such as a player or cash, or the loan could be accepted as a mutually beneficial deal without additional terms. The key condition is that the team receiving the player is responsible for paying that player's salary during the loan, and must ensure they remain under the salary cap with the loaned player on their roster.
Loan Agreement Terms:
Note for all GMs: All players that are on the free agent list are eligible to be signed at any time!
Service Day on Opening Day: A player on the major league roster at the game’s turnover to Opening Day does not receive a service day. Service days are only accrued once Opening Day is simmed forward.
All international free agents (IFAs) will now enter free agency with 5 years of Major League service time. This ensures they are not subject to automatic renewals before reaching free agency, aligning them with traditional free agents.
Any international free agent who appears on the top free agents list at the start of free agency and is 27 or older will be edited to 25 years old.
The reasoning behind this is simple. Most international players signing with MLB teams after playing in foreign leagues are in their early-to-mid 20s, not already past their prime. This adjustment better reflects reality and ensures these players are entering free agency in their prime, rather than aging out too quickly.
Note for Commish: Add one year to the player's existing contract as a team option during the offseason after their 4th full season, once the contract auto-renews for their 5th season. However, this must be done before entering the offseason following their 5th full season.
Note for GM regarding note to Commish: If the player fails to earn a full service year in their 5th season, they wouldn’t be eligible for free agency anyway and would receive another auto-renewal, so there’s no need to wait until after the 5th full season to add the option.
Additional Note for Commish: Players who spend time on a minor league rehab assignment will not have that period counted as "less than a full season in the majors" for Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) eligibility. Since it is not always clear whether a stint in the minors is for rehab or an outright demotion, any player who accrues 500 Major League service days over 5 consecutive seasons will still qualify for the PPI.
GMs may offer a contract to any player at any time for any amount and without any limitations, with the exception of the Blue Rule (see chapter 3.2.3). However, any contract that is viewed by the rules committee as an attempt at "game or rules manipulation" will be edited to become fully guaranteed. In short, do not offer any contracts that you aren't willing to have fully guaranteed. If you have a legitimate concern about how a contract will be viewed, please ask someone in the league leadership.
The Blue Rule (IYKYK) was created to address tactics by GMs aiming to sidestep salary caps. Some GMs might offer a high final year salary intending to release the player that year, benefiting from lower initial years' salary impacts. To counteract this, we have established the following procedures:
Note: An escalating year is defined as a year in which the player's contract is higher than the previous year.
Illegal Contact example:
4-year, $6,000,000 contract signed in 2000
2000: $1,000,000
2001: $1,300,000
2002: $1,600,000
2003: $2,100,000
To use the above contract as an example, 1.0m/1.3m/1.6m/2.1m may be adjusted to 1.0m/1.3m/1.7m/2.0m .
If a restructure proves to be too difficult, the contract may be voided by a commish.
Blue Rule Contract Examples
In hopes of providing clarity on the Blue rule, here are some examples of contracts:
5-year contract signed in 1991
1991: $2,500,000
1992: $2,500,000
1993: $2,650,000 (Not more than 250k of the lowest individual year)
1994: $2,650,000
1995: $2,650,000
4 years contract signed in 1997
1997: $2,800,000
1998: $1,950,000 (Falls below $2.0m but does not rise back above $2.0m)
1999: $1,500,000
2000: $2,000,000
5-year contract signed in 1977
1977: $1,900,000
1978: $1,900,000
1979: $2,100,000
1980: $2,100,000
1981: $2,150,000 (Contract started below $2.0 so no value may be above $2.0m)
5-year contract signed in 1982
1982: $3,000,000
1983: $2,800,000
1984: $2,500,000
1985: $1,900,000
1986: $2,100,000 (Fell below $2.0m so no escalating year may be above $2.0m)
Any further clarification needed on the previous rule may be discussed privately with a commissioner.
Players that are waived by one team may be claimed by another within 8 "in-game" days (thus, players will appear on waivers for one sims). Players claimed from waivers must have their salaries assumed by the claiming team and are placed on that team's 35-man secondary roster if appropriate. Also, players that have been on waivers long enough to be claimed by a team, cannot be traded until they clear waivers.
NOTE: Waivers will always be at least one day greater than the length of one sim. This rule is to eliminate a "free waivers" period. Waiver lengths during the offseason and postseason may vary depending on sim length.
Same-Day Waiver Reversals
If a player is placed on waivers and the league day has not advanced, the waiving team may request to cancel the move and restore the player to the roster. This mirrors what happens when a GM waives a player, changes their mind, redownloads the league file, and re-exports — effectively erasing the move.For regular GMs, no one would ever see this happen because the waiver never officially exists in the league file. However, the commissioner cannot redownload the league file because his version is the source. If you ever see a transaction where a player was waived but is not actually on waivers, this is the reason.
Waiver reversals are only allowed if the league day has not advanced. Once a sim is run and the calendar moves forward, waivers are official and cannot be undone.
The amateur draft consists of 25 rounds and is conducted in two phases:
Phase One (Rounds 1–5): Conducted using the StatsPlus (S+) draft tool, beginning sometime in August. This early start allows ample time for teams to make thoughtful selections and ensures the most important picks receive proper attention.
Phase Two (Rounds 6–25): Completed in OOTP on the first day of the offseason. At that point, the commissioner manually inputs the results of Rounds 1–5 into the game, and teams use the in-game draft list feature to complete the remaining rounds.
This two-phase approach provides more flexibility than trying to complete the entire draft during the short window between preseason and June. It also allows teams the full offseason to manage their rosters following the draft, rather than scrambling to make adjustments in just a few days.
The PBC draft order is determined through two separate draft lotteries; Lottery A includes the 10 teams with the most lottery balls, while Lottery B includes the 8 teams with the fewest lottery balls.:
The allocation of lottery balls is based on two factors: divisional standings and overall league activity. For divisional standings, a weighted aggregate of the last 5 seasons is used, with a ratio of 4:4:3:2:1, giving the most recent season and the current the highest weight. This approach balances team performance over time and rewards consistent participation.
There are no tiebreakers for division standings when calculating draft lottery placement. If two or more teams are tied in the standings, each team will receive the lowest standing among those tied. For example, if Denver and Houston are tied for 5th place but occupy the 5th and 6th positions in the standings, both teams will be credited with a 6th place finish, while the 4th place team will remain unaffected.
Activity chances are a calculation successful exports and various other voting opportunities. The exact number of chances may vary from year to year. Ask a commish if you want a full breakdown for any given season. Typically, there will be 33 chances for exports and additional chances for league polls, awards, and Hall of Fame voting.
The formula for determining draft lottery odds is:
(Weighted Divisional Standing * 25) + ((Total League Activity Chances * Calculated Activity %) * X.XX)
X.XX means this formula may be adjusted slightly from year to year to ensure that, in practice, the maximum possible lottery balls are allocated such that 1/3 are based on activity and 2/3 are based on weighted divisional standings.
Calculated Activity Adjustments: GM's will not be penalized if they joined mid-season/offseason. The lotto formula uses a percentage instead of a total to account for this. If a GM has less than 5 activity chances and a percentage below 80%, the "Calc Act%" will be adjusted to 80%. If a GM had no activity chances, their percentage will reflect their team's previous GM's activity.
The draft lottery results will revealed during a live stream using a draft lottery simulator such as https://draftpicklottery.com/.
The lottery will take place on or around opening day. For full transparency, the commish will set up the draft on the website while streaming and will post a screenshot of the results when the draft concludes.
The lottery results will be applied to all rounds.
Rounds 1-5 will take place in StatsPlus using the draft tool. The time limit for each pick is 10 hours. If a team's draft time expires, they will be put on auto-pick in Stats+ and will remain on auto until the draft completes.
There is no "overnight pause" during the draft. We have league members all across the globe and a 10-hour timer covers a healthy night's rest regardless of where you are in the world.
Do not chastise or berate other GMs for using their allotted 10 hours to make selections; the time is theirs to use as needed. While GMs should still strive to make timely picks, their time is theirs to manage. Additionally, we will not consider shortening the draft timer to allow for more selections, as this would only encourage GMs with less time to opt for auto-picks, which undermines the purpose of this system.
Rounds 6-25 of the draft will be conducted in-game using the OOTP draft function. After simulating to the start of the offseason each year, the commissioner will manually input the draft results from StatsPlus and upload the new league file. GMs should then set their draft lists for rounds 6-25 or delegate this task to their assistant GM.
The following day, as the commissioner simulates to free agency, the draft will be completed using the draft lists that were set up in OOTP.
The purpose for this is that the S+ auto draft logic is abysmal. It does not account for previously drafted players or organizational strength, resulting in instances where teams draft 8 catchers in a row, for example. Using the in-game draft function ensures a much more effective back end of the draft.
Once all 5 rounds are completed in StatsPlus, the commissioner may offer the option to make selections in additional rounds, depending on the remaining time and the level of interest from a large majority of GMs in continuing with manual selections.
The Rule 5 draft occurs every offseason and consists of a maximum of 2 rounds. The commissioner will announce the exact date for each offseason's draft.
The Rule 5 draft will utilize the in-game draft feature. The draft order will follow the sequence provided by the game and will not be altered.
General Managers (GMs) have the option to protect eligible players by adding them to their 35-man roster.
Purpose: To maintain the integrity of the Rule 5 draft pool by preventing teams from adding players to their draft list who might be protected before the draft starts. This rule ensures a consistent and fair draft process, giving all teams an equal opportunity to select available players.
Rule: Rule 5-eligible players may not be added to a team's secondary (35-man) roster on the day of the Rule 5 draft.
Violation Consequence: Any player added to the secondary roster on Rule 5 draft day in violation of this rule will be immediately passed through waivers.
Repeated Violations: If a GM illegally adds players to the secondary roster on Rule 5 draft day for two consecutive seasons, their team will forfeit its Rule 5 draft picks for that season.
Note: Players who are signed from free agency or added to the roster via trade on the day of the Rule 5 draft are exempt from this mechanism.
Please avoid adding Rule 5-ineligible players to your 35-man roster on draft day. While it's not a violation, it can easily be mistaken for one, since it's difficult to confirm eligibility once a player is protected. This could lead to your player being incorrectly passed through waivers as part of a presumed violation.
Before the draft, the commissioner may protect players who should have been conventionally protected. This includes players who signed major league contracts during the current offseason and eligible prospects with a minimum 3.0 star potential rating by OSA. Such protections are contingent upon available space on the 35-man roster.
In extreme circumstances, the commissioner may exercise discretion to waive a lower-rated player to make room for a higher-rated player. For example, waiving a 2-star reliever to protect a 4-star hitter.
Warning for Commissioner: Do not select "Complete Draft". Upon reaching Round 3, skip all subsequent picks to conclude the draft.
In the draft following the 2005 season, 4 expansion teams participated, establishing the precedent that expansion teams may draft up to 10 rounds in the Rule 5 draft.
The Semi-Pro Baseball Circuit (SPBC) operates under the governance of the Professional Baseball Circuit (PBC) but consists of independent and unaffiliated baseball clubs competing at a semi-professional level.
The SPBC exists to give free agents who were passed over a place to play while they wait for a PBC team to show interest. It’s more interesting for these players to stay active in the SPBC than to sit in free agency indefinitely. The league also provides a quicker way for teams to add major or minor league depth in emergency situations.
All players in the SPBC are eligible for purchase, except for those who have not yet made an appearance in a regular season SPBC or PBC game. Spring training and playoff games do not count as appearances, since they don’t generate service time.
Players in the SPBC-affiliated minor leagues are not eligible for purchase.
During the 2005-2006 PBC expansion, the precedent was set that through an expansion team's first regular season, they may purchase any player in an SPBC organization.
SPBC players may be purchased at any time. There is no designated bidding window.
In order a place a bid for a player, use the /bid command anywhere in slack. Go to the PBC Slack Bot Instructions page for complete instructions on how to use it.
If only one bid is received before the next sim, the player will be purchased at the standard price of $10,000, regardless of the max bid submitted.
If multiple bids are received for the same player before the next sim, the highest max bid wins. In the event of a tie, the team with the higher waiver priority gets the player.
Once the fetch bids command is used before the sim, bids are final for that sim and subsequent bids will process the next day.
If the /bid command returns an error, notify the commish and CTO (Kevin Read) ASAP.
Semi-pro players earning $16,500 or more will be automatically included in the PBC team's 35-man roster upon purchase. If a GM does not have sufficient room on their 35-man roster, the bid (or outbid) will be void. Players earning less than $16,500 will be secured under a PBC minor league contract upon acquisition.
GMs may provide instructions to the commissioner on which players to waive in the event they win the bid and cannot immediately accommodate the new player on their 35-man roster.
Note on Service Time Adjustments: Players purchased from the SPBC who have no previous PBC major league service time will have their service clocks reset to zero, making them PBC rookies.
If a player has appeared in any PBC game at any point in their career, their existing service time will remain unchanged.
In rare cases, the commissioner may manually adjust service time for certain players to ensure they do not appear on a Hall of Fame ballot when they shouldn't.
Note for Commish: To process bids more than $10k, simply change the purchase amount in the SPBC financial settings. Be sure to set it back to $10k when you are done. Bids will be processed on the final day of the sim. The normal sequence should be to process trades, then SPBC bids, then upload.
Teams can discover up to 16 players per year and is completely random.
The international showcase will begin on May 13th and international practice will run automatically 4 times; once in May, June, July, August. On August 6th, the IAFA signing period will begin. This is ideal because with 5 day sims during the season, you'll have the ability to rapidly adjust offers as the IAFA period plays out.
The IAFA signing cap is set to a hard cap of $1 million.
The number of IAFA players is set to default (64 per year), which works out to 4 per team.
The SPBC has the ability to sign players from the IAFA pool, however they will never outbid a PBC team for a player due to the financial imbalance. These players may be purchased in the future as an SPBC (Indy League) Player Purchase.
International scouting discoveries or players signed as an IAFA will be placed in your international complex. This level doesn't have competitive matches and offers limited player growth.
If a player earns one professional year and has not been promoted out of the international complex, the commish will move them to your Rookie Complex after at the start of each official reseason.
Players will not be returned to the international complex for any reason once they are promoted out.
Total team player salaries must remain below $10 million. Compliance with the salary cap is confirmed in each simulation by checking the payroll figure in the League Financial Report before games are played.
The salary cap setting is disabled in OOTP, but still enforced. See Section 4.1.3 for details.
Pro-tip: This amount does not reflect any released player contracts; however, the team is still on the hook for any outstanding amounts agreed upon. Released player contract amounts are shifted in the accounting screen to Misc Expenses.
Pro-tip: Minor league players on minimum salary contracts ($100K), including those on the 35-man roster but assigned to AAA, earn only 16.5% of their salary. This means their cap hit is just $16,500. If you need to cut players to stay under the cap, these players should be the last ones you consider.
Salary cap violations are only checked before regular season and post-season games. Trades that would cause a team to exceed the salary cap cannot be processed before the sim. Teams may exceed the salary cap to complete trades processed after the sim, but they must be under the salary cap prior to the next salary cap check.
The League Office has strict sanctions for violations of the cap. Sanctions, unless otherwise specified, are in the form of suspensions to the highest paid healthy player on the roster of the violating team. The sanctions are as followed:
The league commissioners meticulously track all violations. If a GM consistently breaches the rules, they fall under the repeater clause, which escalates the penalties with each subsequent offense.
For instance, the Denver Cutthroats breached the cap on July 1st, 2000, receiving an initial warning. When they violated again on August 4th, 2001, the penalty was a 4-game suspension, bypassing another warning due to their past infringement.
However, GMs can redeem themselves. If a GM with a previous violation remains violation-free for three straight seasons, their repeater status is cleared, essentially resetting their violation record. This is known as the Good Behavior Clause.
The $10 million team salary cap remains fully in effect however, the in-game salary cap setting in OOTP has been disabled to allow for more flexible roster management.
This change reflects the PBC's long-standing philosophy: Teams have full control over roster construction, as long as they are under the salary cap before any game is played.
The cap is still enforced. Every team must be under the $10 million limit prior to each game.
The in-game setting was disabled because OOTP enforces the cap too rigidly, often blocking common-sense moves like multi-offer free agency or temporary overages during roster adjustments.
Teams can now:
It is the GM’s responsibility to ensure their team is under the cap before each game. If a signing or trade puts a team over the limit, corresponding moves must be made prior to the next game.
This change makes free agency more dynamic, trading easier, and roster management smoother, all without compromising the core rule: stay under the cap on game day.
In the PBC, all players enter free agency unless they are designated as a Face of the Franchise (FoF). The purpose of the FoF rule is to celebrate, reward, and facilitate the longevity of players with a single team, while also providing mechanisms to ensure fairness and prevent exploitation of the rule.
Additionally, the Face of the Franchise rule emphasizes the value of scouting, player development, and drafting strategies:
Rewarding Strong Development : The criteria for a player to be tagged as FoF, specifically being 100% homegrown, ensures that the team gets the opportunity to reward its own scouting and development successes. If a team is consistently able to identify and develop high-caliber talent from the draft or as international amateurs, they can benefit from the FoF rule by having more eligible candidates for this designation.
Long-term Strategy : By incentivizing the retention of homegrown players, teams might be more inclined to invest in their scouting departments and player development systems. It could encourage a more holistic approach to building a roster rather than relying solely on free agency or trades.
Building a Core and Legacy: Teams that draft well can establish a strong core group of players who remain with the franchise for the long term. Not only does this core serve as the foundation for sustained success on the field, but it also significantly contributes to the legacy and lore of the franchise. As these players become synonymous with the team's identity and achievements, they leave an enduring mark on its history.
Only 100% homegrown players may be tagged as a Face of the Franchise. A 100% homegrown player is one who was either drafted by the team, signed as an international amateur free agent (IAFA), or discovered as an international amateur by the team, and has never been a member of another organization or entered free agency. Draft day trades do not qualify a player as homegrown.
Players may be tagged at any time before they file as a free agent. To tag a player as a Face of the Franchise, post their name in #request-commish-action, and a commissioner will verify their eligibility and take action.
There are three different Face of the Franchise (FoF) types; FoF Prime, FoF Icon, and FoF Legend. A player can be tagged 3 times as a FoF. The first time he will be an FoF Prime. If he's tagged a second time, it will be as an FoF Icon. The third and final tag is the FoF Legend. This means that a single player could have a 20-year career with the same team.
Once a player is tagged as a Face of the Franchise (FoF), their remaining automatic renewal seasons will become guaranteed, including the 6th season if they are still eligible for the Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI). Additionally, the player will receive a 5-year FoF contract extension with no options and a full no-trade clause (NTC), which will be appended to the end of their current contract. The value of the FoF contract will depend on the type of FoF.
FoF Prime : Equal to the typical salary of a superstar player, currently set at $1,300,000. "Superstar quality player typical salary" is a financial setting in OOTP. Note: If a player earned PPI, they will get an initial 4-year contract rather than 5. See chapter 3.2.2 for info.
FoF Icon : Equal to the typical salary of a star player, currently set at $800,000. "Star quality player typical salary" is a financial setting in OOTP.
FoF Legend : Salary will be set to his market value using common sense, however no greater than the average player salary, currently set at $500,000. "Average quality player typical salary" is a financial setting in OOTP.
It should be understood that FoF players are not making a below-market salary. While their salary is reflected as a cap value, in "reality", they receive substantial compensation in ways that OOTP can't depict.
If a FoF Legend completes all 20 seasons and does not retire, he may be tagged a 4th time. The annual salary will simply be the league minimum. The number of times this exception likely would be used is once in a generation.
Currently, there's no cap on the number of FoF players a team can have. While FoF players can be traded if they waive their NTC, GMs shouldn't label players as FoF solely to boost trade value. Trades deemed to exploit this for added value, using discretion and with agreement from the rules committee, will be declined.
League customization is a very important tool to increase immersion and reduce GM turnover. The ability to modify your stadium and park factors, player details, turn former players into coaches, relocating your team, and changing your logos have all greatly improved our enjoyment of the league and really sets our league apart from the others.
GMs may request custom ratings for their scouting director or team trainer by posting in the #request-commish-action channel. Customized staff ratings are meant to be solid and balance, but not elite. This system allows GMs to tailor a staff member’s strengths without gaining an unfair advantage over others who choose to hire from the open market.
To request customization, a staff member must already be employed in the role. If the position is vacant, the GM must first hire a scout or trainer from the available free agent pool. The only exception is if a scout retires at the start of the offseason, in which case the commissioner will assign a one-year replacement at a $75,000 salary to allow for immediate customization.
Custom staff use a 1-8 rating scale, with GMs distributing a set number of points across the available categories:
Each category rating has the following meaning:
8 = Legendary, 7 = Outstanding, 6 = Excellent, 5 = Good, 4 = Average, 3 = OK, 2 = Fair, 1 = Poor
Scouting categories: Scout Majors, Scout Minors, Scout Internationals, Scout Amateurs
Trainer categories: Heal Arms, Heal Legs, Heal Back, Heal Other, Prevent Arm Injuries, Prevent Leg Injuries, Prevent Back Injuries, Prevent Other Injuries. Heal Rest is automatically set to Good and does not use any of the 44 points.
Scouting directors may also be assigned a scouting preference (Highly Favor Ability, Favor Ability, Neutral, Favor Tools, or Highly Favor Tools). Changes apply only to future scouting reports. Trainer focus will automatically reflect the highest-rated category.
If a GM hires a low-rated scout or trainer on a minimal contract and requests a ratings adjustment, the commissioner may raise the salary to reflect the new value (typically between $100–200K). This prevents teams from gaining an indirect advantage by customizing underpaid staff. The GM will be informed beforehand and can cancel the request if they prefer to keep the original contract.
Custom requests are not intended to be routine. As a general guideline, GMs should limit customization to once every five seasons per role. The commissioner may decline or delay requests made more frequently based on reasonableness and league balance.
Cosmetic changes (e.g., name, age, appearance) may be requested at any time, unless the staff member was formerly a player, in which case personal details will remain unchanged.
Customized staff ratings does not guarantee better results than hiring from free agency. GMs are encouraged to evaluate all available options before submitting a request.
There are a few ways to turn your baseball cathedral into your own. You can name your stadium, change dimensions, increase seating capacity, and adjust your park factors.
At any point during the season or offseason, GMs may submit stadium expansion plans and/or park factor modifications to be completed in the offseason. Stadium names can be completed at any time. To submit a mod request, use the commish-actions channel.
Seating capacity is the maximum amount of tickets you may sell in a single game. The greater your capacity, the more tickets you can sell, which can increase your yearly budget. Even teams that don't sell out their stadium often can benefit from raising their capacity for when they do sell out.
Every stadium will begin with a capacity of 35,000. Stadiums can expand up to 55,000. Each additional seat will cost $500. 1,000 seats = $500k. There's no limit as to how many or few seats may be added.
The total amount of money that may be spent each offseason on stadiums is equal to the "Starting Balance" line in team finances. Additionally, teams must have enough available money to cover any upgrades.
Park factors affect how baseball is played at a particular stadium. A ballpark with HR factors above 1 should have more home runs than the average ballpark. But that assumes that the league average HR factor is 1. For the league's statistical output to remain consistent with the league totals, we must ensure that park factors don't drift too far left or right. A good example of this is if all the MLB teams moved the CF wall in to 350 ft., the league totals would go through the roof.
Changing park factors affects how many seats are available. A GM may change their factors at any time, to be completed in the offseason, for a cost of 1000 seats. There is no obligation to keep your stadium at 35,000 seats when changing factors. You may decide that a 34,000-seat stadium works just as well for you.
The 6 park factors that can be modified are RH AVG, LH AVG, 2B, 3B, RH HR, LH HR. Any single factor cannot be greater than 20% +- of 1.000 with the exception that one factor may be set up to 25% +- of 1.000. What that means is that you may have one factor lower that .800 or higher than 1.200. The rest have to fall between .800 and 1.200.
A team may not modify a factor greater than +- 10% its previous value in a single season.
The average PBC park factor may not be greater than +- 1% of 1.000 (.990 or 1.010). This means that if the average HR LHB factor is .972, then a park may not lower that factor. If the HR LHB is 1.000, The change cannot make the average factor go beyond 1.010 or .990
Message a commissioner for information about the league average factors.
Commish turned coaches (CTC) generally will have better initial coaching ratings than computer generated coaches so it's important to have some guidelines and awareness of the process. Requesting a CTC does not give you the right to the coach. He may be signed by anyone.
A GM may turn a former player into a coach as long as the player fits certain criteria. All CTC's will be created as position coaches with an option for manager preference if qualified.A GM may not request just any player to be a CTC.
Request a CTC in the #commish-request-action channel.
They must have at least a normal in the rating categories of Intelligence and Work Ethic. For a player to have a manager option, his leadership rating must be high. Hitting and pitching focus will relate to the type of player he was. For example, you can't request a contact focus if the player was a slugger that struck out every other at bat. The requester may suggest a focus to be considered with good reason. Also, personality and management style will not be changed unless the requestor has a good reason to why it should be changed.
A GM holds 'CTC request rights' for players based on specific conditions. A GM qualifies for these rights under either of the following conditions:
As a result, multiple GMs can hold CTC rights over a single player.
CTC's will be processed at the start of the PBC offseason and will be announced in #commish-announcements.
GM's may change the cosmetic details of players in order to improve immersion by adding family, friends, and etc.
Changes may include name, HT/WT, face, number, and birthday (within 365 days). College players cannot be edited to a HS age (20-19 or 19-18). The commish has the right to deny a change if there are signs of abuse. Changes are not allowed to reflect a real player unless it is a personal request.
Players may be changed at any time, but once a player has been promoted to the PBC, they are ineligible to be changed.
To request a change, post in the #request-commish-action channel.
In our league, we value preserving our legacy, so team relocations and re-branding are approached with extreme caution. We've carefully designed our team placements and identities to maintain a consistent and plausible history. The graphics, although not all created by us, were meticulously selected to fit the league's aesthetic and provides a professional appearance.
Making changes to team identities can disrupt our established history. However, if there's a strong case, we might consider relocations or re-brandings. Minor league re-brandings have a better chance of approval than major league changes.
Simply put, when you join our league, it's about becoming a part of our existing legacy, not redesigning it from scratch.
Starting in the winter of 2024-25, the PBC will introduce the Professional Baseball Hall of Fame, marking 25 seasons of the super-league. For Hall of Fame eligibility, players must have at least 10 years of PBC service. Stats and service time before 2000 won't count towards this eligibility.
After retirement, players can remain on the ballot for 20 years (this will reduce to 10 years from 2030 onwards). Those who played in the Major League in any of the last three seasons prior won't be included in the Hall of Fame ballot.
Both human and AI votes will determine the inductees. Players need 80% of the votes to be elected, while those receiving less than 20% will be removed from future considerations. Each voter can support up to ten eligible players and as few as none.
In the PBC, rules aren't set in stone. Every GM, regardless of tenure, is encouraged to suggest changes for the betterment of the league. Understand that some suggested changes will not get approved; there might not even be agreement that there's a problem. This chapter will help outline the process once potential changes have been made public.
Initial Proposal: Informal talks can begin in the general Slack channel, but formal proposals move to a dedicated channel, using Slack threads to streamline discussions.
Discussion Guidelines: Respectful and constructive input is encouraged from all members. No single GM should attempt to domineer, monopolize, or hijack the thread. Attempts to do so will result in deleted posts. Everything posted will be considered for the subsequent polling. Once polls begin, new options may no longer be considered. Please get your thoughts posted in a timely manner, as there will usually be a time limit set for discussions.
Voting Process: Changes are usually determined through a series of polls. The first poll captures all options discussed, aiming to narrow choices down. The exact procedure will vary based on circumstances and the commissioner's discretion. The final poll dictates the implementation. However, the commissioner is responsible for adjusting voting methods based on each situation and should clarify the voting process before any polls are initiated.
Voting Thresholds: Major changes require two-thirds approval, while minor changes need a simple majority. General, non-impactful changes may be implemented directly by the commissioner.
Mandatory Voting: All members must vote, or risk being deemed inactive.
Immediate or Delayed Implementation: Most changes are implemented immediately, but some may be delayed to prevent adverse effects on league strategies. The commissioner will make a decision on when to implement based on his best judgement and advice from others.
Revisiting Changes: Changes, or lack of change, may be reassessed in subsequent seasons. Changes might not always pan out, or league dynamics might evolve. However to revisit a rule change, we should aim to wait three full seasons since its implementation. This ensures adequate time to judge the rule's effect.
Note: Not all proposals advance to polling due to various reasons. Reach out to the commissioner for clarifications.
The league values member contributions and ideas. However, it's essential to remember the foundational ideals that led to the league's inception. Proposals such as allowing player extensions or introducing a sub-league might diverge from this foundational vision. As long as the league's founder remains an active member, they reserve the right to decline suggestions that deviate from the initial intent. This isn't a dismissal of innovative ideas but an effort to uphold the league's original principles. Members are urged to propose changes with an understanding of this balance.