Beer League Baseball (BLB) will be a 20 member, 2 Conference, 4 division, 162 game salary cap league.
Beer League Baseball league management will consist of the Commissioner, Co-Commissioner, and League Treasurer. Every two seasons, the league management positions will be open for the league to vote upon.
The BLB will use the Dynasty rulebook for all rules not adjusted by the following:
- Beer League Baseball will use a DH for all games
- Starting in 2021 (2020 MLB season), BLB shall use the 3 batter minimum rule for relief pitchers.
- Beer League Baseball will use a 30 team player pool from which to draw players. Starting with the 2020 auction, the BLB will use 26 MLB teams to define the auction and prospect player pools. The four removed teams are Baltimore, Kansas City, San Francisco and Detroit. The four removed teams must remain in effect until after the 2024 BLB season (ie five years); after that time, any BLB owner can move to re-vote on the removed teams (which must remain in place for another five years minimum).
- Beer League Baseball will use Feb. 1 to cutoff the player pool. Approximately one week later (exact date TBD by the Commissioner) will be the deadline for BLB teams to set their rosters via trades, contract extensions, and buyouts.
- Beer League Baseball will open the regular season immediately following the auction draft and the end date for the regular season will be the first Sunday in October.
- Beer League Baseball will have a postseason consisting of all 4 division winners, and the top 2 non division winning records in each Conference.
- Beer League Baseball will have a code of conduct policy. Members will be responsible for not engaging in belligerent, harassing or demeaning behavior, and no form of cheating is acceptable. Any violation would be grounds for removal by a 2/3 majority of the league ownership (13/20 owners). The Commissioner has the authority to levy fines against a franchise’s salary cap for rules violations.
- Each team will have a 25 man roster for each series and will follow DLB online roster rules. 25 man roster may include either salaried players or players from minor league roster
- An existing owner may switch home stadiums at any time in the off season, provided that he has played in his current stadium for a minimum of TWO seasons. This rule does not apply to incoming new owners who can select their new stadium without restriction.
- New owners taking over abandoned teams shall have the option to release up to FIVE players at a fixed one time penalty of $5/player. The players must be released within 72 hours of officially taking over the team, and the roster shall be frozen until a final decision regarding the release of any players has been communicated to the league and/or the Commissioner.
- All rules adjustments must be approved by 2/3 of the league ownership
Rules Pertaining to the 3 Phases of the Draft and Roster Management
Beer League Baseball will follow the Dynasty rules pertaining to the 3 phases of drafting players which include the auction draft to acquire an active 25 man roster, a minor league phase to acquire a 10 man minor league, and a prospect phase in which a team may draft up to a maximum of 2 previously uncarded players.
The rules of the draft are listed below;
- DRAFT
The draft is a bidding style draft with a continuous ownership system. Each owner receives $300 of fictional money to spend on his team. A total of 25 players are drafted by each team in the auction, with an additional 10 players chosen in the minor league phase. The draft consists of the following three phases:
REGULAR PHASE
Salary Cap: $300
Type of draft: Bidding style
Number of players selected in this phase: 25
The Regular phase consists of open bidding for the first 25 active players on each teams roster with each teams salary cap at $300. Owners take turns announcing the player up for bid until all teams have 25 players on their active roster. Players eligible for this portion of the draft will consist of all carded and uncarded players who have previously been carded and were on an MLB team’s 40 man roster as of the February 1st cutoff. Starting with the 2020 auction, players eligible for the auction phase of the draft are defined by the carded list of players released by Dynasty League Baseball at the end of the preceding season. Note that any players currently on BLB rosters from one of the removed teams may remain on BLB rosters and are not automatically dropped by virtue of being on one of the removed teams (ie owners can still buy them out, extend them, etc).
Players are announced by owners in a clockwise manner starting with the franchise owner with the worst won-lost percentage from the previous year, or by choosing numbers. Each owner must have at least $1 allocated to bid on each of the 25 players for his active roster.
Franchises are allowed to exceed the $300 salary limit after the draft and during the season when new players are acquired via trades, but must stay below the in-season salary cap (described below in Roster Management) and must get below the $300 salary cap with at least $1 available to bid per player needed to fill out their 25 man roster before the regular phase of next years draft. Each of these drafted players are signed to three year contracts, with the fourth year being an option year for the franchise at the same salary.
MINOR LEAGUE PHASE
Type of draft: Non-snake
Number of players selected in this phase: 10
The Minor League draft is a non-snake draft with the order for each round described below. These are players who were not selected in the Regular phase of the draft, either carded players or uncarded players who have been carded previously. These players have a different type of contract and salary then the players selected in the Regular phase of the draft. A player selected in the Minor League draft has a salary of $0 his first year. The franchise owner has the option of inviting the player back to the team the second year for a salary of $10 or releasing him back into the draft. The third year, the player must re-enter the Regular phase of the draft.
Starting in 2018, the order of every round of the minor league draft is determined as follows:
- Picks 1-12 are determined by winning percentage of the NON-PLAYOFF teams, starting with the best winning percentage (pick 1) and going in decreasing order (ie the worst team in the league picks 12th);
- Picks 19 and 20 are the world series runner up and the world series champion, regardless of winning percentage;
- Picks 13-18 are the remaining playoff teams, seeded by winning percentage from highest to lowest;
- Any ties are broken per the rules outlined in the Prospect Phase section below.
PROSPECT PHASE
Type of draft: Pick in reverse order of won-lost pct* for each round.
* For teams with the same won-lost pct, the first tie-breaker is head to head record (team(s) with the better head to head record draft first). If head to head is tied, the order of the teams will be determined by a coin flip, with the winner of the coin flip drafting first.
Starting in 2024, the order of every round of the prospect draft is determined as follows:
- Picks 1-12 are determined by winning percentage of the NON-PLAYOFF teams, starting with the best winning percentage (pick 1) and going in decreasing order (ie the worst team in the league picks 12th);
- Picks 19 and 20 are the world series runner up and the world series champion, regardless of winning percentage;
- Picks 13-18 are the remaining playoff teams, seeded by winning percentage from highest to lowest;
- Any ties are broken per the rules outlined above.
Number of rounds in this phase: 2 (starting with the 2020 draft, the draft will be 1 round only)
At the end of the Minor League draft, a Prospect draft consisting of two rounds (one round, starting in 2020) is conducted. Drafting order is in reverse order of won-lost pct. All prospect picks that would put a team over the maximum of 3 prospects (starting in 2020, each team may have a maximum of 2 prospects) are immediately dropped once the first pick of the prospect draft is made. All prospect player cuts must be done prior to the first team being put on the clock.
Players drafted in the prospect draft are those who are on 40 man rosters in the player pool (which consists of 26 MLB teams starting in 2020; see above) and have not been issued player cards in the past. Prospects become active players the first year they receive player cards. Once this happens, the franchise owner has the choice of signing the prospect to a standard Regular phase contract for $10, or releasing him into the Regular phase draft.
Starting with the 2020 BLB season, when a prospect is first carded, they can be signed to a 1-year $5 contract ($5 1/1P). The following year the player can be released back into the pool or given a one-time extension at $5 for each year of the contract (similar to our current extension rules but without the extra option year.)
Example:
After carded, the player would be listed as “$5 P1-OPT” and assigned a contract of “$5 1/1P” if the option is picked up.
In the second year, the player will be listed on the site as “$10, P2-OPT” (signifying the difference between their first option year and their second option year) can be released or signed to one-time extension at for:
- 1 years @ “$10 2/2P”
- 2 years @ “$15 2/3P”
- 3 years @ “$20 2/4P”
- etc etc
Franchises can have no more than three prospects (starting in 2020, each team may have a maximum of 2 prospects) on their roster at anytime. For the period of time between the BLB World Series and the release of the cards, a prospect is considered carded for the purposes of the limit of 3 prospects (starting in 2020, each team may have a maximum of 2 prospects) on the roster if that player has 25 IP or 40 AB. The final determination of the status of the prospect will still be based on the cards; if a player who was thought to be a P-OPT is not carded, and that change results in an owner now having 4 prospects (starting in 2020, each team may have a maximum of 2 prospects), that owner will still be required to drop a prospect immediately to stay at the limit.
Beer League Baseball roster management will follow the Dynasty Baseball rulebook. Those rules are listed below;
II. PLAYER CONTRACTS
Once a player has been drafted in the Regular phase, he must be kept on your DYNASTY League Baseball team for a minimum of 3 years unless one of the following occurs, which automatically releases the player from your team prior to the draft:
A PLAYER IS AUTOMATICALLY RELEASED FROM HIS CONTRACT: NOTE – STARTING IN 2020, THERE ARE NO “FREE/AUTOMATIC DROPS” AS LISTED BELOW.
1) He is traded to a real life team outside the DYNASTY League player pool.
2) He becomes a real life free agent and signs with a real life team outside of the DYNASTY League player pool.
3) He retires from Baseball.
4) He is released and is not picked up by a real life team in the DYNASTY League player pool
5) For any reason other than injury, suspension/restricted list or hold out he is not on one of the 40 man rosters of one of the teams in the player pool prior to draft day.
When any one of the above occurs, the player leaves the team and the salary paid to him goes back to the franchise owner, who now can use that money for next year’s draft to acquire new players.
NOTE: The five conditions for automatically releasing a player listed above also apply to players signed to guaranteed contracts.
NOTE – STARTING IN 2020, THERE ARE NO “FREE/AUTOMATIC DROPS” AS LISTED ABOVE
OPTIONS TO RELEASE PLAYERS UNDER CONTRACT:
Buying Out Contracts:
Franchise owners may choose to buy out a player’s contract for an amount equal to half the player’s salary (rounded up to the nearest dollar) for each year remaining on the contract.
Salary caps can never be increased above $300. Released players then re-enter the Regular phase draft.
Prior to the 2nd year draft, each franchise must submit their current roster to the commissioner and provide a list of players who they choose to release (if any). This is done in order to provide a listing of players available for the draft. Once releases and buyouts are submitted to the Commissioner, no further releases or buyouts can take place prior to the draft.
COVID RULE (IN EFFECT FOR 2021 BLB SEASON)
Due to COVID’s impact on the 2020 MLB season, BLB owners are entitled (but not required) to release for free (ie no buyout cost) players meeting at least one of the following criteria:
· They opted out of enough of the MLB season that they did not receive a card;
· They spent enough time on the IL due to COVID that they did not receive a card.
· They spent enough time on the IL due to COVID that they received a card with an at bat limit (against either or both sides), a spot start limit, or an innings pitched limit of equal to or less than 30 innings (once the 150% allowance is factored in).
Each BLB owner must submit to the Commissioner evidence that the player(s) they wish to free drop meets one of the above criteria. For the opt outs, a simple news URL of the announcement will suffice. For the COVID IL evidence, the Fangraphs website has an injury tracker (https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/injury-report) that tracks IL stays including the reason (ie COVID) that is a good resource for evidence of a COVID IL stay.
REGULAR PHASE CONTRACT OPTION YEAR:
A player’s contract lasts three years with the fourth year being an option year for the franchise. This means that upon entering the fourth year of a player’s contract:
1) The franchise owner has the choice of picking up the option on the contract for a fourth year at the same salary, after which the player will automatically re-enter the Regular phase of the draft.
2) The franchise owner has the choice of not picking up the option for a fourth year of the contract making that player a free agent. The player will then reenter the Regular phase of the draft.
3) The franchise owner has the option of guaranteeing the contract for additional years. Once the guaranteed contract expires the player automatically re-enters the Regular phase of the draft. The player’s salary is increased by $5 for each year the length of the contract is extended starting with the option year.
4) Starting with the 2020 BLB season, contracts for players chosen in the prospect draft are handled differently from the regular phase contract option year; see above.
Trading can occur at anytime except for the following exceptions:
1) Between the trade deadline and the end of the BLB playoffs. The Commissioner shall have the power to set the trade deadline date at the start of the BLB season. The date shall be set such that the date will be roughly in line with the time on the Dynasty schedule when most teams will be at or near 111 games played. The trade deadline shall be based on the real life calendar date set. The games played by each team making a trade is irrelevant, as long as a trade is announced and approved before the deadline.
Remember to report all trades to the Commissioner.
2) Starting one week prior to the auction draft and continuing through the end of the auction draft.
III. Roster Management
1. Beer League Baseball will use a 26 (as of 2021 BLB season) man active roster for all teams for each series. The 26 man active roster will be comprised using 26 players from either the 25 man salaried roster or the 10 man minor league roster.
2. Beer League Baseball teams will be responsible for having enough backup players to cover off injuries and use limitations in order to finish a 162 game season.
3. Roster moves are subject to DLB online rules. ONCE during the season a team may add a free agent from the BLB player pool (i.e. any player not drafted during the auction/minors phases) ONLY to cover off an injury or series of injuries. This player will cost $10 against NEXT year’s auction, and may not be kept after the season. This player is ineligible for post season play.
i) This player may be added without dropping a player on the 35 man roster
4. Between the auction and the end of the BLB World Series, each BLB team’s total salary must remain at or below $350. For the purposes of the in-season salary cap, players selected in the current season’s minor league and prospect drafts are considered to have a salary of $0. Any in-season trade that would result in one team exceeding the in-season salary cap will be not be permitted.
IV. Beer League Baseball Postseason Play
Beer League Baseball Postseason will consist of 8 teams, 4 Division winners, and 2 top non division winning records in each Conference, ie Wild Cards.
Tie-breakers: Any ties will follow current MLB tie-breaking procedures, described as follows. Generally speaking, 1 game tie-breaking games will not be required unless the loser of the tie would miss the playoffs. Any ties that just determine division vs wildcard or seeding during playoffs will follow the following tie-breakers:
- The team with the better head-to-head winning percentage during the regular season.
- The team with the best overall record in intradivision games.
- The team with the best overall record in intraleague games.
- The team with the best record in the final 81 games of the season, ignoring interleague play.
- The team with the best record in the final 82 games of the season (provided the game added is not between the tied teams), extending backward until the tie is broken (Interleague games are skipped and ignored in this process.)
Playoff series will be a 2-3-2 format, with 2 days off after the end of the regular season and 1 day off for travel days and between (theoretical) game 7 of each series and game 1 of the following series. For the purposes of limitations, the “season length” for each 7 game series will follow the Dynasty default of 20 games.
Each division winner will play a wild card team, with best record playing worst record format.
The Beer League Baseball Championship Series will be played with the home field advantage going to the team with the best record.
V. GUIDELINES FOR ETIQUETTE FOR DLB ONLINE PLAY
The following guidelines shall be followed for scheduling series:
1) Opponents should try to play their games face to face whenever possible. Contact should be made prior to the default time to confirm if the default time works and if not, provide alternative play times
2) If an agreeable play date/time cannot be found, one team should volunteer to go on auto. Generally speaking, the team that has provided the fewer options for times to play should be expected to go on auto. For example, if Team A can only play on one night during the week but Team B can play on 3 other nights, Team A should reasonably be expected to volunteer to go on auto. Any disputes can be raised to the commissioner for ruling.
3) If a team is placed on autopilot, opponents are NOT required to check with the owner prior to playing the games. The ONLY exception to this rule is if an owner explicitly states that he will be back in time to play the series live; in that case, the opponent in question should not play the games versus the computer manager.
4) Last minute reschedule requests (defined as being submitted within 4 hours of the scheduled gametime) may be rejected at the discretion of the opponent.
5) If two teams have a scheduled time to play and one team does not show up, the second team may proceed with playing the games at his discretion without the obligation to wait for or try to contact the owner in question.
Use of the autopilot feature of the DLB website is encouraged for the following scenarios:
a) You’re too busy with work, life, etc to play your next series or two;
b) You will be gone on an extended absence (such as vacation);
c) You want a short term “mental” break from playing games.
Abuse of the autopilot, such as playing extended stretches (ie more than 1 month) or an entire season without playing face to face will not be tolerated. Owners who abuse the use of autopilot may be subject to sanction up to and including a vote for removal at the discretion of the commissioner. As a general rule of thumb, owners should strive to play approximately half their games (81) live.
BEER LEAGUE BASEBALL 