League Rules
FEDERAL SIM LEAGUE OFFICIAL RULE BOOK
Version 1.5 | 9/15/2024
1. League Overview
a. Roles and Responsibilities
b. Game and Sim Schedule
2. League Structure and Rules
a. Roster Rules
b. Pitching Rotations
c. Post Season Rules and Structure
d. Arizona Fall League
e. Draft Pick Compensation
3. League Transactions
a. Player Trading Overview
b. What can be Traded?
c. Free Agency
d. Amateur Draft
e. International Free Agents
4. League Financials
a. Overview
b. Contract Rules
c. Salary Settings & Team Expenses
5. GM & League Customizations
a. Stadium Modifications
b. HR Derby with MLB the Show
6. Owner Prizes and Participation
a. League Prizes
b. GM of the Year Prize
1) LEAGUE OVERVIEW
The Federal Sim League (FSL) is an online modern league that will begin with an inaugural draft that plays 162 games a season. We typically sim six days a week with one off day, 7 days each sim. Discord serves as the main form of communication and information hub for the league, including trade submission. We also use StatsPlus for enhanced statistics and the full draft utility.
Basic settings include:
• Scouting is Enabled
• Accuracy is High
• Ratings 20-80
• Stars Are Disabled
• Coaches are Disabled
• Draft pick trading is ON
• Advanced draftee signing is now OFF
• Injuries are set to LOW with delayed diagnosis off
• Suspensions are on and Normal
• All personality and chemistry settings are on.
Aging Modifiers
• Batter Aging Speed= .850
• Batter Development Speed= 1.000
• Pitcher Aging Speed= .850
• Pitcher Development Speed= 1.000
• Talent Randomness= 100
Currently, the only position within the league is the League Commissioner who is responsible for maintaining
league integrity, rule enforcement, and simulating games.
The league will sim Sunday through Thursday with off days on Friday and Saturday. Off season schedules will vary.
The Board of Governors was established to separate the powers of the commissioner in relation to important league decisions such as fines/suspensions, trade review, and ownership removal. The purpose of this setup is to remove one person (in this case the commissioner) from ruling as a singular figure. The BOG will be comprised of 4-8 owners with the commissioner having limited voting powers.
Amendment 1 – Fines/Suspensions
In the case that a rule or conduct violation is broken, the BOG can debate on proper punishment if not outlined by the rules. Past precedent will be considered in all rulings. Voting members include all BOG members. Complaints other owners have should be brought up directly to the commissioner and the commissioner will proceed to convene a BOG discussion/investigation.
VOTING – Fines and Suspensions need 3/4 approval
Amendment 2 – Ownership Removal
In this very rare case, articles can be brought forth by the league commissioner for permanent owner removal from the league. In rare circumstances, the commissioner does reserve the right for immediate removal in situations deemed harmful to the league.
VOTING – Removal requires unanimous support by the BOG and commissioner
Amendment 3 – Trade Review
This is the most common case and purpose of the BOG. The spirit of trade review is to be fair and unbiased in all situations. This process if fully removed from the commissioner’s ability and shall not have voting power in such reviews to remain impartial. Please note that not every trade is reviewed by the BOG. Trade review is automatically triggered by the following situations:
1) New owner provision – New owners will have all trades reviewed and voted on by the BOG until the new owner reaches 10 exports.
2) Disputed trade – A disputed trade constitutes one owner outside of the BOG to raise concern over a posted trade. Should there be one complaint, that will trigger the following review process:
a) Disputed trades are made privately to the commissioner directly.
b) The commissioner will then ask the disputing party to justify their complaint.
c) The commissioner will then bring forth the complaint to the BOG for review.
d) The BOG will discuss and ultimately rule on all trades. Part of that discussion will include:
d1) Seeking the justification of the party deemed to be the “loser” of the trade.
d2) Discussion of the view of both team’s scouts (not required)
e) Final vote is taken on the trade.
NOTE – In the situation where a BOG member or two BOG members are involved in a trade, they will be recused from this process and the commissioner steps in still requiring unanimous support.
VOTING – Trade rejection requires unanimous BOG support to be overturned. The commissioner does not have voting rights.
2) LEAGUE STRUCTURE & RULES
The Federal Baseball League will maintain current MLB structure with a revised Minor League Setup. The minor league structure consists of AAA, AA, A, and Rookie Leagues with no age restrictions currently.
The FSL will use a designated hitter (DH) in both leagues. There are currently no foreign player restrictions (other than international complex max of 20) in the league. The length of waivers is currently set at 14 days, designated for assignments (DFAs) 21 days, and DL lengths are 7/60. All players that are DFA and expire during a sim will be released if they refuse minor league assignment.
Other Settings Include:
• Option Years Are Enabled
• Right to refuse assignment is ENABLED
• Ghost Players Disabled – It is expected that each minor league team will have the appropriate number of players
• Rule 5 Draft is Enabled
• Manipulating the DL/Injured List/DFA status to stash/hide a player is not allowed
• Active roster size is now 26
• You may NOT edit a player’s position with the intent to sneak a player through waivers or to create an extension discount
Update- Repeatedly designating a player for assignment in an attempt to skirt roster rules is prohibited. In the case of a player being suspected of this, I will issue a warning to a team indicating if the player returns to the DFA list, he will be release in a given season.
Regular Season May Use a minimum of 4 Man Rotation
Playoffs minimum of 3 Man Rotation
Following the end of the regular season, 12 total teams will compete for the World Series Championship. Teams will be seeded 1-6 with the division winners capturing seeds 1-3 and the three wild cards 4, 5, and 6. The 1 and 2 seeds will earn a bye into the Divisional Series. Each series is best of 7 games in length. The playoff schedule will be aligned and each round will not begin until the previous round is complete. Home field for the World Series will be based on record. The seeding tiebreaker will be head to head record with the second tiebreaker being run differential. There will be no specific playoff roster rules aside from standard roster rules.
* Players can only receive one QO per their career. We are using the later round setting.
Competitive Balance Picks
Moving forward, we will install a competitive balance formula to assist teams that are financially disadvantaged. This will be modeled after the real MLB rule (http://m.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/competitive-balance-draft-picks).
The 7 lowest-revenue clubs are eligible to receive a Competitive Balance pick. Revenue will be calculated once the World Series ends using the OOTP financial report.
There will be two competitive balance rounds (Round A and Round B). Round A takes place before compensatory round 1 and before round 2 while Round B takes place after compensatory round 2 and before round 3. There will be 4 picks awarded in round A and all remaining picks will be assigned in round B. Picks will be assigned by order of finish.
In the result of a tie for market size, the tiebreaker will be total revenue (smallest gets awarded the pick). When assigning the order of the competitive balance picks, if two teams tie in record I will resort to teams that are the furthest back from first place and then as a second tiebreaker, I will use revenue.
3) LEAGUE TRANSACTIONS
League transactions are methods to obtain players. There are three main ways players can be obtained: trades, free agency (which includes international players), and the amateur draft.
a. Player Trading Overview
Trades make online leagues enjoyable and offer an experience that is different from the solo method of gameplay. Discord is the main form of communication within the league and will be used for advertising players along with trade submission. You can utilize the trade block method within the game but you should also post that player (or the fact you updated your block) on the #trade-block room within the Discord group.
The main ground rule with trading is to be respectful to other owners, not every owner will view players the same way.
All completed trades should be posted in the #completed-trades room within the Discord Group. All trades must also be submitted within the game for processing.
b. What Can Be Traded?
Trades typically involve players but this league allows a few other assets to be dealt (with the exception of front office personnel-IE scouts). The following are permitted to be dealt:
* Players (including recently drafted players)
* 1st-5th round draft picks can now be traded.
Salary Retention – Players on their final year can be retained up to 100%. Players with multiple years remaining can be retained up to 50%. Players that have arbitration years or a team option in the next season fall under the 100% parameter.
New owners must export for 3 straight sims before their first trade can be made. New owners will also have all trades reviewed and voted on by the BOG until the new owner reaches 10 exports.
* Players signed in the off season cannot be traded until July 1st of the season.
c. Free Agency
Free Agency is granted to a player once they accrue 6 years of minimum service years. A year consists of over 200 days so players will accrue a year at 172 days in the majors. Players will then also be eligible for arbitration after 3 years, so essentially a player can be cost controlled for the first 3 years while years 4-6 will be an arbitration year before they officially hit free agency. Minor league players reach free agency after 6 years of service years. To prevent a minor league from becoming a free agent, they must be placed on the 40 man roster.
d. Amateur Draft
The draft will begin each season in early June and will be conducted in S+. The draft will consist of 30 rounds. The draft pool releases during spring training and the draft utility will be live by opening day. The draft order for season 1 is the reverse of the initial draft order and will snake. Each year after the order will be determined by order of finish from the previous season.
A draft lottery will be introduced using a weighted system formula for the 10 worst records of the regular season. In the result of ties, the percentages will be split. If there are teams tied for 10th and 11th place, the percentages will again be split among those teams. Odds for the top overall pick are the following (we will use this site – https://www.fantasydraftlottery.com/):
Seed 1st
1 18.00
2 16.00%
3 14.00%
4 12.50%
5 10.50%
6 9.00%
7 7.50%
8 6.00%
9 4.00%
10 2.50%
e. International Free Agents
IFA’s are revealed in mid October and teams can invite IFA’s for training, which increases your relationship with the prospect. The IFA bidding itself opens in mid January. Each team has a $5 million budget to spend on IFA’s. THIS IS A SOFT CAP. Teams can bid as much as they would like so long as they do not go over their overall budget. Every dollar after the initial $5 million is taxed at a 100% rate, and teams that bid over the cap receive bidding penalties for the following season, which are listed in game.
f. New Owner Provision
New owners may void 1 contract when they first join. That contract may only be voided in the off season and cannot be a player that they picked up during the season. That player will then be added to the Free Agency Pool and the voiding team CANNOT bid on that player.
g. Lump Sum Release
This rule will give the team releasing a player the option to spread the contract out over the duration or pay in one lump sum. Some highlights of the rule:
* Releases a player and pays the remainder of the contract in one lump sum.
* Teams must have the budget room to pay out the player in one year.
* Buyouts can only be in a one-year segment. If you choose to release in the game, it will spread the contract out over the duration of the contract.
* Buyouts will include player option years.
* Buyouts will not include team option years but buyout amounts will be calculated in.
* Buyouts will be assigned to ‘Misc Player Expenses’ on the game and teams must have the budget space to take on the buyout.
4) LEAGUE FINANCIALS
League financials are tricky to understand. Over time, these numbers will evolve however we will begin with standard financials based on real team market sizes. The entire revenue will be available for teams and initial draft budgets will mirror team budges. Knowledge of the financial system is important.
Please note the following rules:
• All FA Bidding Will Be Done inside the game
• Players must have 3 years or more of MLB service time to negotiate a multi-year extension
• Players cannot be signed for more than 8 years
• Incentive clauses are as follows:
o PA Max 300
o IP Max 150 for SP and 50 for RP
• Vesting options are NOT allowed
• Player options after team options are NOT allowed
• 10/5 Rule is disabled
• A buyout must = 25% of that year’s contract. So if the final year is set for $20,000,000 then the buyout must = $5,000,000
• Contracts must not see more than a 25% difference from the highest end to the lowest end.
• IE: If you sign a player to a 4 year deal and you want to back end load him, this would be legal:
Year 1: $5,250,000
Year 2: $6,000,000
Year 3: $6,500,000
Year 4: $7,000,000 (7,000,000 x .25=$1,750,000 subtract that by $7,000,000 to get $5,250,000
An example of an illegal contract:
Year 1: $5,250,000
Year 2: $6,000,000
Year 3: $6,500,000
Year 4: $10,000,000 (10,000,000 x .25=$2,500,000 subtract that by $10,000,000= the lowest the contract can be
which is $7,500,000
• Any contract that is a multi-year extension signed before a player is listed with 3 years of MLB service is illegal. One year contracts are ALLOWED.
For example, if X = 3, the player must show at least 3 years and 0 days or more of MLB service.
Note: X is number in input box.
• If an owner is found violating this rule, the player will be released immediately, and will only be refunded
50% of the total contract value that was charged to their player expenses.
Arbitration Eligible Extensions – This rule allows arbitration-eligible players to be extended long-term without the first year adhering to the 25% AAV rule (essentially an arbitration buyout). Year 1 would not count against the 25% AAV but years 2 and beyond would. No other year can go below year 1’s AAV.
Average Development Budget= $12 million
Average Scouting Budget= $8 Million
Min. Salary=720K
Attendance Settings:
• Average Ticket Price= $25.00
• Average Attendance is 31,000
• Visiting Team Gate Share is 20%
Team Revenue Settings:
• Full budget available
• Cash Max=35 Million
5) GM & LEAGUE CUSTOMIZATION
https://statsplus.net/fsl/home/?page_id=598
6) CHAMPIONSHIP PRIZES
1st Championship – The top rated prospect, as rated by OSA, will be named by the league champion whatever name they wish (within reason-keep it appropriate).
2nd Championship – Free AP Stadium modification for that offseason (adjusting wall heights and distances only) (any adjustment will result in stat modifier changes to the stadium – we will use a calculator)
3rd Championship and beyond – Free trait upgrade to your scout
7) RELOCATION
Rule Amendments by Season
§ 2018 Season
§ Cash Max set to $35 million
§ Max contract length set to 8 years
§ New owners must export for 3 straight sims before first trade
§ New owners will also have all trades reviewed and voted on by the BOG until the new owner reaches 10 exports
§ 2019 Season
§ Addition of the Arizona Fall League (to begin play in the off season of 2020)
§ 2021 Season
§ Owners must maintain a 50% export rate to make a trade
§ Recently drafted players must be SIGNED before trading
§ New owner provision for voiding a contract.
§ Salary Retention – Players on their final year can be retained up to 100%. Players with multiple years remaining can be retained up to 50%. Players that have arbitration years or a team option in the next season fall under the 100% parameter. (2021 addition)
§ 2022 Season
§ New FA compensation rules
§ New competitive balance rules for revenue and compensation picks
§ Players must have 3 years or more of MLB service time to negotiate an extension
§ Active roster size is now 26
§ 2023 Season
§ Players signed in the off season cannot be traded until July 1st of the season
§ Players must have 3 years of MLB service to sign a long term extension
§ 2024 Season
§ Elimination of the AFL
§ Establishment of a full-season Rookie or A- League
§ 2025 Season
§ 2017 CBA Rules were voted in for FA compensation starting at the end of the 2026 Season
§ 2026 Season
§ Added that all compensation picks for picks not signed to be at the end of each round. These picks are only good for 1 season (meaning no stacking). This will be done in rounds 1-3.
§ 2027 Season
§ Approved two expansion teams
§ Adopted a new version of revenue sharing
§ 2028 Season
§ Elaborated rules on editing player positions
§ 2029 Season
§ Amateur draft lottery added for 2031 season
§ Going back to game-generated schedules for 2030 season
§ DL time lowered from 14 to 7 days
§ Arbitration-eligible extensions modified
§ 2030 Season
§ Colorado was granted relocation rights
§ Amateurs will be automatically resigned starting the 2032 draft
§ 2031 Season
§ All playoff series will be best of 7 games
§ 2032 Season
§ Draft pick trading has been enabled for 1st round picks during the draft only
§ Drafted BOG guidelines
§ 2037 Season
§ Re-seeding playoffs in the second round based on record
§ Expanded draft pick trading window to open at the start of the off season
§ The use of NTCs, with OOTP 22, will be used beginning with the free agency period of the 2037 season
§ Addition of two new amateur feeder leagues (Japan and Latin America) as well as the Cuban, Italian, Korean, Mexican, and Japanese international leagues