League Rules Questions

[Nationals GM (Preston - Old)]

Here's what it will be:

50 games for a hitter
10 games by a starting pitcher
30 innings for a reliever (or started and relieved)

[lincy]

Sorry I have a few questions, and need clarifying... I tried to seek out the answers but couldn't figure it out exactly.

1- What day does our 50 man roster need to be set by?

2- If we trade/sign a player that puts us over the 50 player mark, do we have a grace period? Say 12 hours to release a player? Or shed salary? Or does the drop have to happen first?

3- When can we start bidding on free agents? And is there only one free agent acquisition going on each week?

Sorry, for all the questions...

Posted this in a general board too...

[Nationals GM (Preston - Old)]

Here is a question that Mike had that I answered and I hope everyone understands this concept. If you don't or need clarification, please read this conversation:

[22:52] basebrawlers: i just want to make sure i get this straight...billy butler had player 3 years. each year he had 92 games, 134 games and 145 games. does that mean he is a FA in 2 years no matter whether he is going to be in arbitration or not. just want to make sure.
[22:53] prestonb1291: as long as he plays 50+ games the next two yrs yes
[22:53] prestonb1291: we use 5 yrs rather than the MLB 6
[22:53] basebrawlers: ok thats my answer
[22:55] basebrawlers: so if you just drafted a team that had a player who played in 6 year+ of 50 games or more, that person is a FA at the end of the year or does that player get taken off the 50 man roster
[22:55] basebrawlers: and become a FA this year
[22:56] basebrawlers: ex vlad guerrero
[22:56] prestonb1291: if they are on the real life roster, then they are a member of your team regardless of how many yrs theyve played (as long as they were on the team before the saturday/sunday deadline)
[22:57] prestonb1291: if they are not on the team, ie. guerrero, then they would not be on your team

[bianchiveloce]

In Vlad Guerrero's case, he is not currently on the real Angels 40-man roster as he is a real life Free Agent. So, for our league, Vlad is a Free Agent?

[Reds GM (Pat H.)]

Are we required to fill all of our 50 original spots or can we start with less players?

[Nationals GM (Preston - Old)]

You must start with exactly 50 players.

[josh4bs]

Not sure about that, PB. If we have to post our initial roster with 50 players on it, we are going to be "penalized" for signing any FA's. If I sign a FA and do not have a spot for him on my roster, I will have to release someone and take the 50% salary hit for the rest of their contract. And I cannot drop a MiLB because I have to start with 10 of them on my roster.

Would it be better to say that by Spring TRaining or start of the Regular season, you have to have 50 players on your roster? If you do not, you take a $1m hit for each spot not filled.

Just a thought.

[Nationals GM (Preston - Old)]

Most (really all) will not have only 10 minor leaguers, some minor leaguers will have to be put on your 40 man roster. If you sign someone, then you cut a minor leaguer, if that's your choice, and then you can move a minor leaguer from your 40 man to the 10 man.

Of course everyone will have minor leaguers on their 40 man because real life baseball teams only have 25 activated! I expect most teams will start with at least 20 minor leaguers.

[Nationals GM (Preston - Old)]

And no Josh, your suggestion, though appreciated, will not be implemented. I think you guys are really worried about a non-issue, at least from my experience.

[Nationals GM (Preston - Old)]

Dec 16, 2009 6:38:49 GMT -8 @bianchiveloce said:

In Vlad Guerrero's case, he is not currently on the real Angels 40-man roster as he is a real life Free Agent. So, for our league, Vlad is a Free Agent?

Yeah this is pretty straight forward. If a player is a FA in real life, they are a FA here, and transversely, any player on the team (by last Saturday/Sunday deadline) is on the team, and eligible to be kept.

For example, even though P Jason Frasor has exhausted five protection years, the Blue Jays can still keep them, but he will just have a one year deal since he's arbitration eligible. Protection years are used to judge how long you can keep players, but they don't refrain you from keeping players at the beginning of the league.

[Deleted]

Obviously we can't exceed the 50 man roster limits but we don't have to make room for a FA signing until we actually have confirmation from the LO that we have the highest bid right?

[Nationals GM (Preston - Old)]

Jan 4, 2010 12:57:40 GMT -8 @pfavole said:

Obviously we can't exceed the 50 man roster limits but we don't have to make room for a FA signing until we actually have confirmation from the LO that we have the highest bid right?

Correct, you have 48 hours from the time it's announced you won said player(s) to get back to 50 players.

[Deleted]

I'm just finalizing my bids and had a couple questions/clarifications.

it says that minor leaguers will be signed with flat AAS and protected til the lose minor league status. it also says that MiLs "CAN" be signed to ML contracts. When would they be signed to ML contracts? I don't see why a GM would prefer a ML contract for a MiL player so is the $1M AAS when a MiL is forced to sign ML contract?

Second, the rules don't mention players still within the 5 year protection timeframe. Example, Casey Janssen still has protection years. Do these players get signed with AAS for duration of protection? Or are we giving them ML contracts when signing via FA?

[kevin]

Jan 8, 2010 13:45:00 GMT -8 @pfavole said:

I'm just finalizing my bids and had a couple questions/clarifications.

it says that minor leaguers will be signed with flat AAS and protected til the lose minor league status. it also says that MiLs "CAN" be signed to ML contracts. When would they be signed to ML contracts? I don't see why a GM would prefer a ML contract for a MiL player so is the $1M AAS when a MiL is forced to sign ML contract?

Second, the rules don't mention players still within the 5 year protection timeframe. Example, Casey Janssen still has protection years. Do these players get signed with AAS for duration of protection? Or are we giving them ML contracts when signing via FA?

players who have at least 1 mlb season as definied by ours rules must be signed to normal contracts, not AAS deals

why would a gm want to sign a prospect to a regular contract instead of AAS? lincecum will get around 10m in arbitration this year, if someone had signed him to a 7-year $7m contract when he was drafted he would be making 1m instead of 10m

for AAS contracts after they reach 1 mlb season it goes by real-life salary, which when they reach arbitration, may be substantial

[Rob Manfred (Trade Review)]

Jan 8, 2010 13:45:00 GMT -8 @pfavole said:

I'm just finalizing my bids and had a couple questions/clarifications.

it says that minor leaguers will be signed with flat AAS and protected til the lose minor league status. it also says that MiLs "CAN" be signed to ML contracts. When would they be signed to ML contracts? I don't see why a GM would prefer a ML contract for a MiL player so is the $1M AAS when a MiL is forced to sign ML contract?

Second, the rules don't mention players still within the 5 year protection timeframe. Example, Casey Janssen still has protection years. Do these players get signed with AAS for duration of protection? Or are we giving them ML contracts when signing via FA?

Like Kevin said, there are advantages to signing minor leaguers to long term deals, but there are also downsides. Most prospects don't pan out and if you wanted to release them, then you would owe them money for as long as you sign them, rather than just owing for one year.

And second, any free agents no longer have protection, even if they ordinarily would have protection years. Whatever there contract is, is their protection.

[Reds GM (Pat H.)]

The rules state: If you drop a defined minor leaguer or a defined prospect from your 40-Man Roster you are to pay half of that contract for 1 year and 1 year only. Please keep in mind, a minor leaguer with an AAS of greater than $1,000,000 is not eligible to be placed on your 10-Man Minor League Roster, however, if dropped you would still only owe half of that players salary for 1 year and 1 year only.

If I sign a defined minor leaguer to a long term deal, can I drop that player and only pay half for 1 year?

I have a prospect player that left for Japan (Wladimir Balentien). When I drop him, do I have to pay half his salary for 2011? What would the salary be to cut in half?

What if I tag a player a RFA and no one bids for him?

[Deleted]

If you sign a minor leaguer to a defined contract then you pay half for the entire contract. Read the posts above yours it's directly about signing MiL to long term deals as opposed to year to year aas contract. A player under the5 year protection system can be released in the off-season with no cap hit. If balentien is signed to a defined contrAct you would owe half for the duration

Edit: you would owe half for wilmer font's contract for the duration but if your team page is acurate than wlad wouldnt have a cap hit if dropped before the season.not sure about the rfa question in this league. In another league I'm in you get him for 1 year at his RL salary. In another you can submit your own bid so that if no one else bids yours is the highest

[Reds GM (Pat H.)]

Thanks. I saw the previous posts and was just making sure. The way the rules are worded had me confused.

As far as dropping prospects in the off-season I couldn't find that rule anywhere.

I need to find out the rules about the RFA. I may change who I have protected depending on the rule. There may be no bids on some RFA especially if draft pick compensation is involved.

[Nationals GM (Preston - Old)]

Dec 22, 2010 12:01:46 GMT -8 Reds GM (Pat H.) said:

Thanks. I saw the previous posts and was just making sure. The way the rules are worded had me confused.

As far as dropping prospects in the off-season I couldn't find that rule anywhere.

I need to find out the rules about the RFA. I may change who I have protected depending on the rule. There may be no bids on some RFA especially if draft pick compensation is involved.

The A's were correct about releasing protected players. Players who go year to year can be dropped for free in the offseason, but players signed to longterm deals (essentially MLB deals) would be owed half for the duration.

For RFA, if a player is NOT offered a contract, you will have the option of accepting his MLB figure or allowing him to become a standard free agent. You would obviously not receive a draft pick. If you wish to bid on your own RFA, you must remain within the RFA parameters (AAS and years). You cannot offer an RFA a 1-year, $30M deal, for example.

I hope that clears a few things up.