2020 only COVID Rules adjustments
Jul 24, 2020 6:31:40 GMT -8
Rays GM (Donavan), White Sox GM (Aidan), and 5 more like this
Post by Former Twins GM (Robin) on Jul 24, 2020 6:31:40 GMT -8
The following adjustments to the rules are in effect for 2020 only.
Free Agency
Starting Monday July 27th there will be 2 weekly FA periods to allow teams to adjust to covid related roster changes.
1: nominate Monday & Tuesday, bids due Wed announce winners Thursday by noon.
2: Nominate Thursday after noon & Friday, bids due Sat announce winners Sunday by noon.
3: FA will run through the playoffs due to the unpredictable nature of player losses. Teams which are eliminated from the playoffs are not allowed to release players from their rosters until after the Championship games. Collusion has never been an issue in this league, but please be aware of the effects of releasing players while this rule is in effect.
4 $10M of one time extra free agent money for each team will made available. This is for 2020 1 year contracts ONLY. You may work with your own cap room OR designate Covid funds for a 1 year FA signing. This MUST be specified in your contract offer when you make it during FA bidding.
Covid IL
1. There will be an unlimited Covid related IL. Players who either opt out or are announced as being out due to a positive test for COVID-19 may be placed on the COVID IL for as long as they are out.
2. Once the players return from the IL, they must be returned to the active roster, placed on waivers, or released.
3. There is no salary cap relief for these players. Players full contract applies while on the IL. The $10M extra money is in place to aid teams up against the salary cap.
Covid Tag
1. Due to players getting COVID-19 OR opting out of the season, GMs will have the option to renew any ONE player in the off-season with an extra COVID Tag. This is in addition to the standard Franchise and RFA tag each team is granted. The extension will be for one year only at the identical salary the player earned in 2020. All contracts are eligible for this benefit, including new contracts signed during the season and including contracts signed with the extra $10M covid cash.
This player must have an existing PB's expiring contract after 2020 and not play for any length of time in 2020 specifically due to COVID-related reasons. The duration of the time on the covid IL is not a factor. Opt out and 2 week quarantines are treated the same.
Expiring contract + opt out or positive covid test = exactly one 2021 1 year contract extension.
2. If a contracted player misses the season because of TJ surgery or other standard injuries, he may not be renewed in the same way.
3. As stated above, this rule doesn't apply to protected players not already in the final year of their protection or contracted players whose contract already continues into 2021 or beyond. An extra year of control is not granted for such players.
Rosters
1. There will be no need this year to adhere to the 40 man roster. All players on your 50 man roster are eligible to play.
2. Players who make their first MLB appearance this year will not be eligible for the 10 man minor league roster next year, so be prepared for this going into the offseason.
Trade deadline
The MLB trade deadline has been pushed back to August 31st this year. This date is during the 1st round of PB's playoffs, so our trade deadline will be the week before, on August 22 at 11:59 PST.
Schedule
1. The schedule this year will be five weeks long and feature multiple matchups per week.
2. Each team will play four matches each the first four weeks and five matchups for week five. In this way, each teams' record will be made up of a comparable number of wins and losses to a normal season in order to attain a larger sample size and competitive test of team rosters.
Playoffs
1. 16 teams will make the playoffs. Per the MLB expanded playoff rules, the top two teams from each division will make the playoffs and the remaining four teams are selected by best record, with two teams coming out of the NL and two from the AL. Tiebreakers will be decided per the existing rule structure.
2. There will be four weeks of the playoffs with no byes for the division winners. Seeding will be as normal with the #1 seed playing the #8 seed and so on. Essentially we get an NCAA Sweet 16 tournament this year.
More to come...
Free Agency
Starting Monday July 27th there will be 2 weekly FA periods to allow teams to adjust to covid related roster changes.
1: nominate Monday & Tuesday, bids due Wed announce winners Thursday by noon.
2: Nominate Thursday after noon & Friday, bids due Sat announce winners Sunday by noon.
3: FA will run through the playoffs due to the unpredictable nature of player losses. Teams which are eliminated from the playoffs are not allowed to release players from their rosters until after the Championship games. Collusion has never been an issue in this league, but please be aware of the effects of releasing players while this rule is in effect.
4 $10M of one time extra free agent money for each team will made available. This is for 2020 1 year contracts ONLY. You may work with your own cap room OR designate Covid funds for a 1 year FA signing. This MUST be specified in your contract offer when you make it during FA bidding.
Covid IL
1. There will be an unlimited Covid related IL. Players who either opt out or are announced as being out due to a positive test for COVID-19 may be placed on the COVID IL for as long as they are out.
2. Once the players return from the IL, they must be returned to the active roster, placed on waivers, or released.
3. There is no salary cap relief for these players. Players full contract applies while on the IL. The $10M extra money is in place to aid teams up against the salary cap.
Covid Tag
1. Due to players getting COVID-19 OR opting out of the season, GMs will have the option to renew any ONE player in the off-season with an extra COVID Tag. This is in addition to the standard Franchise and RFA tag each team is granted. The extension will be for one year only at the identical salary the player earned in 2020. All contracts are eligible for this benefit, including new contracts signed during the season and including contracts signed with the extra $10M covid cash.
This player must have an existing PB's expiring contract after 2020 and not play for any length of time in 2020 specifically due to COVID-related reasons. The duration of the time on the covid IL is not a factor. Opt out and 2 week quarantines are treated the same.
Expiring contract + opt out or positive covid test = exactly one 2021 1 year contract extension.
2. If a contracted player misses the season because of TJ surgery or other standard injuries, he may not be renewed in the same way.
3. As stated above, this rule doesn't apply to protected players not already in the final year of their protection or contracted players whose contract already continues into 2021 or beyond. An extra year of control is not granted for such players.
Rosters
1. There will be no need this year to adhere to the 40 man roster. All players on your 50 man roster are eligible to play.
2. Players who make their first MLB appearance this year will not be eligible for the 10 man minor league roster next year, so be prepared for this going into the offseason.
Trade deadline
The MLB trade deadline has been pushed back to August 31st this year. This date is during the 1st round of PB's playoffs, so our trade deadline will be the week before, on August 22 at 11:59 PST.
Schedule
1. The schedule this year will be five weeks long and feature multiple matchups per week.
2. Each team will play four matches each the first four weeks and five matchups for week five. In this way, each teams' record will be made up of a comparable number of wins and losses to a normal season in order to attain a larger sample size and competitive test of team rosters.
Playoffs
1. 16 teams will make the playoffs. Per the MLB expanded playoff rules, the top two teams from each division will make the playoffs and the remaining four teams are selected by best record, with two teams coming out of the NL and two from the AL. Tiebreakers will be decided per the existing rule structure.
2. There will be four weeks of the playoffs with no byes for the division winners. Seeding will be as normal with the #1 seed playing the #8 seed and so on. Essentially we get an NCAA Sweet 16 tournament this year.
More to come...