3.         General Managers

3.1          Ownership Responsibilities

As a general manager in the SBL, you will be asked to perform the following duties

      • Own a computer with internet access

      • Own a current copy of the game used for the league (currently Strat-O-Matic Baseball Windows)

      • Manage your team’s roster and salary to meet league requirements

      • Vote on new and amended league proposals

      • Participate in the off-season drafts

      • Create your team’s monthly manager file within active roster and HAL rules

      • Play your assigned monthly games in a timely manner

      • Manage player usage throughout the season in accordance to the usage rules

      • Most of all: Have Fun!!

To keep the league moving smoothly and ensure the best environment for all, there are various fines and penalties assessed for owners who are derelict in the duties listed above. Those fines and penalties are outlined in Section 6 below.

3.2          Franchise Points

Each team starts every season with 75,000 points. In addition, all remaining points from the previous season and bonus points accumulated during that year will be added to your team total. You will use these points to operate your franchise. Points are used to sign players, pay fines, used as trade bait, and all other fees necessary to run your team.

3.3          In-Season Bonus Points

During the season, teams will accrue bonus points that will be added to their franchise at the start of the next season. Bonus points will be awarded for different statistical categories, calculated at the end of each month. Teams who do not get their played games in by the appointed time will receive no bonus points for that month. 

Bonus points will be awarded in the following 20 team categories:

     Batting Average
     Runs Scored
     Hits
     Doubles
     Triples
     Home Runs
     Runs Batted In 
     Stolen Bases
     Errors
     Walks
     ERA

     Wins

     WHIP

     Complete Games

     Shut Outs

     Saves

     Home Runs Allowed

     Strike Outs

     Base on Balls

     Opponent BA

For each category, 100 points will be awarded for 1st, 96 for 2nd, 92 for 3rd, 88 for 4th, 84 for 5th, 80 for 6th, 76 for 7th, 72 for 8th, 68 for 9th, 64 for 10th, 60 for 11th, 58 for 12th, 56 for 13th, 54 for 14th, 52 for 15th, 50 for 16th place.

3.4          Hard Salary Cap

At no time from the end of the Free Agent Draft to the beginning of the offseason can your team have a negative number of points. You must be able to account for all players on your roster. When you trade a player you will be reimbursed for that player’s salary for the remainder of the year. Likewise, you must pay for the remainder of the year for any players you acquire. For this purpose, 20% of a player’s salary is paid April 1, another 20% on May 1, another 20% on June 1, another 20% on July 1 and the final 20% on August 1. For any future years, you cannot commit to more than 75,000 points plus the number of points remaining in the current year.

3.5          Stadiums and Farm Teams

Each team in the SBL has a selected home park and farm system. If you wish to change your stadium, you must notify the Rules and Gripes Committee. You will get your new stadium at the start of the first season after a one year waiting period. This is to prevent owners from tailoring their stadium to their team each year.

Owners who have had their current farm system for at least 5 years can request to the Rules and Gripes Committee to change their farm system at the beginning of a new season. For that season, the team will continue to receive rookies and prospects from their current system. During the next season, the team will receive the rookies and prospects from the new system.

New owners entering the league may choose a new farm system at the start of their first full season. They will continue to receive rookies from the current farm system. The rookies in the new farm system are still available to everyone in the General Draft. However, the owner gets possession of prospects in the new farm system immediately. The team is not able to protect any prospects from the old farm system and the old farm system is immediately available in the General Draft.

3.6          Rosters

Each team has a maximum roster of 40 players. The 40-player limit is set once the Free Agent Draft ends. During the off-season, a team’s roster can exceed 40 players as new rookies come up to the team. While the roster will consist of veterans, rookies, and prospects, an owner must be able to cover usage for an entire season immediately after the general draft concludes. A roster must have at least 30 eligible players to be able to have prospects on the roster. The maximum number of prospects on the roster is five. Prospects in an owner’s farm system remain there until they become rookies, though they can be traded to other teams.

Before the start of the season, owners will be asked to provide an emergency rotation for the entire season, in the case where the starting pitchers are not provided in the manager file. This emergency rotation is used only when the owner is unreachable and can be changed during the season by sending out another updated file. Typically, during the first month, a team’s entire season rotation will be loaded into their manager file.

During the season, a team’s active roster will consist of 26 players, with no more than 15 pitchers. In September, rosters expand to 28 players.

3.7          Player Types

Prospects are players who have less than 100 career plate appearances for position players and 30 career innings pitched for starters and relievers. Prospects may not play in any games during the season. Prospects can be acquired through several means including your farm system, the General Draft, trades, and the waiver wire. These acquisitions are not restricted except during the General Draft. During the General Draft, teams may only pick a maximum of 2 prospects from the available draft pool up to a maximum of 5 total prospects on your roster. Prospects in a SBL controlled farm systems are considered frozen from October 31st to April 1st of the following year.  Any player signed by a major league team that is a controlled SBL farm system between November 1st and April 1st AND who has not played in a SBL controlled farm system, shall be eligible to be drafted in the SBL General Draft.  Players signed to a major league team that is not a SBL controlled farm system shall be eligible for the General Draft.

Rookies are players who are carded for the first time with over the minimum PA/IP. Rookies are subject to the player usage rules.

Veterans are players who have been over the minimum PA/IP for more than one year. Veterans are also subject to the player usage rules.

3.8          Usage Rules (In-Season)

Minimums: No players may be used in an SBL league game unless they have more than 100 PA or 25 IP in actual stats for the current season.

Position Player Usage: Players may play at any position they are rated at by Strat-O-Matic. He may play these positions in any combination that you should choose. However, a position player may only be used for up to 110% of his plate appearances. The percent usage is based upon plate appearances as it appears in the game. For this purpose the game defines PA as AB + BB. Players may be played out of position, if all available players have been used, except catchers who can only catch. Also, no position player may pitch and no pitcher may play any other position. However, players with both pitcher and hitter cards (i.e. Shohei Ohtani) can stay in games as a DH after they are removed as a pitcher. Players playing out of position should occur only in an emergency.

Pitcher Usage: There are three categories for pitchers:

      • A starter is any player who has started more games than pitched in relief, and has no more than 4 relief appearances. Starting pitchers which Strat-O-Matic has designated with an asterisk (*) must rest 3 days between starts, while all other starters must rest 4 days between starts. Starting pitchers can start 110% of actual games started up to 36 games started. In other words, no pitcher may start more than 36 games per season in the SBL.

      • A reliever is any pitcher who has started fewer games than relieved, and has started less than 5 games. A reliever may pitch up to 120% of innings pitched. No reliever may pitch in more than 3 consecutive days.

      • A starter/reliever is any pitcher who has started at least 5 times and relieved at least five times in the same season. They may only pitch up to 120% of their actual total IP and start up to his actual number of games started. Note that the usage percentage for starter/relievers is lower than the percentage for pure relievers.

Each team may designate up to 2 starters who have not pitched in relief, during an MLB season, as long relievers during the SBL season.  However, you may only carry one on your active 26-man roster.  Long relievers may be used up to 50% of their actual innings pitched.

3.9           Contracts

All players must be signed to a contract at the beginning of each season in order to be included on your roster. Prospects and rookies may only be signed to one-year contracts. When the contract expires, you have the option to resign them without the player going through free agency. Veterans may be signed to a 1, 2 or 3 year contract with or without an option. At the end of a veteran contract, the player becomes a restricted free agent if signed to a contract with an option year or an unrestricted free agent if signed to a contract without an option year.

The salaries are calculated as described in appendix B. Only the final salary is rounded up or down. The league minimum salary for veterans will be 500 points, regardless of his stats. All rookies must be at least 250 points and all prospects will be paid 125 points. Players falling under the Canseco rule (3.11) receive the veteran league minimum salary regardless of their calculated salary.

3.10          Renegotiation

You may extend a player’s contract, if and only if the player is already signed to a 3 year deal with an option year. This can only be done at the end of year two. You must pay that player his actual statistical salary or his current signed salary (WHICHEVER is HIGHER) plus 25% in the first year. He will then receive a 15% raise in year two; followed by a 10% raise in the third year of the new contract. The contract may or may not include an option year. If there is no option year on the contract, you may not extend that contract again in future years. However, if you have included an option year on the new contract, you may extend it again, at the end of the second year of the new pact.

3.11          Canseco Rule

The Canseco Rule covers all non-prospect players not currently under contract who did not meet minimum requirements for a card (100 PA or 25 IP) for this season. Any player who falls into this category can only be signed to a one year contract, with option, at the league minimum. Players who were on contracts can go to the Restricted Free Agent draft and be bid on like other players. If the Canseco player was cut before the draft, the player will go to the Unrestricted Free Agent draft or waiver wire as appropriate. In the Unrestricted draft, players can be bid on as normal. Players coming out of a rookie contract who did not qualify for SBL play per the Canseco rule may only be signed to a second rookie contract at the league minimum (500 points) once.  If the player qualifies for the Canseco rule in the 3rd year, that player is treated as a veteran.

3.12          Insurance

If a player under a veteran contract of 2 or 3 year duration with at least 1 year remaining suffers injury(ies) during the MLB season that limits his playing time, a team can choose to enact an insurance policy rendering him unusable during the SBL season. The player will not count toward a team’s 40 man roster. The cost shall be as follows: Player missing 81-120 MLB games: team pays only 50% of guaranteed salary for the current season; Player missing 120-162 MLB games: team pays only 25% of guaranteed salary for the current season; Players missing less than 81 MLB games are not eligible. A missed game is any game their team plays while they are injured. For pitchers, this includes the games in between scheduled starts.

3.13          Trades

Trades can be made throughout the off-season and regular season. Trading is suspended during the Free Agent Draft, but is possible during the General Draft. Trades made during the season and before the 25th of each month will take effect on the first of the next month. When a trade is made, both teams must notify the league by e-mail within 48 hours. Once all conditions are met the deal is final. The trade will be reported on the official SBL web site. Please do not make a habit of canceling trades. Once a trade is made and is reported it is irreversible under normal circumstances. Any unusual cases will be reviewed by the Rules and Gripes Committee for a final decision. The following rules must be followed when making trades.

      • Only draft picks from the current year and draft picks from the first 5 round of next year’s draft may be traded.

      • Only points from the current year may be traded.

      • There are player to be named later trades. The player to be named later must be announced prior to the start of the next offseason.

3.14          Releasing Players

If you cut a player after the free agent draft but before September 1st, you will only have to pay the current year’s salary, 50% of all remaining years on the contract and 250 points if there is an option. The player goes on the waiver wire. If he is picked up by another team, you will no longer be obligated to pay the remaining years of his salary. You only pay for the current year and 250 points for the option. His new club picks up the balance of the contract at his actual rate, or actual statistical salary (whichever is lower).

For cuts made at any other time, you will have to pay all the remaining years on his contract plus the 250 point option buy out. Any time you release a player under contract, or whose option year is not picked up; he automatically becomes an unrestricted free agent. If this player is not signed in the free agent draft he will then be available in the general draft. You are still obligated to pay this player the balance of his full salary if he is not picked up by another team. This includes the 250 points if signed to an option year. If the player is signed by another team, you pay the difference of his contract with your team, and the contract signed by his new club for the current year only.

If a player retired during the previous MLB season, that player can be dropped from a team’s roster and the remaining parts of the contract will be forgiven.

3.15          Waiver Wire

The waiver wire runs from the end of the free agent draft through the end of September. A list of players on the waiver wire will be released at the beginning of the month. If you wish to claim a player, send your request to the Player Management Officer in order of preference. The team that waived the player may not reclaim him. Be aware that by claiming a player off waivers, you assume the balance of that player’s contract. If not already signed to a contract, the contract will be for 1 year. If the player is a veteran, you may choose to add an options year or not. Even if a player has not been on a team previously, you are responsible for his remaining salary.

      • Player selection is done on a round by round basis. You may only claim one player per round. The order of the selection is the reverse of the standings from the previous month (for the first month, the reserve of last year’s standings will be used).

      • If you claim a player you must pay the team that waived the player 50 points for a prospect, 75 points for a rookie or 100 points for a veteran.

At the end of the year, those players which remain go into the general draft, and can be selected by the team that originally waived him, or any other team as the draft goes on. If the player is a prospect and is not claimed, that prospect goes back into the farm system he is currently with in Major League Baseball.

3.16          In-Season Activities

At the start of every month, the league will provide a file for the month for owners to create their manager file for the upcoming month of games. The Gameplay Officer will provide a due date for those manager files, which is typically within one week of the league file’s distribution. If, during the season, you have no changes needed for the following month, please let the league know there are no changes.

After all manager files have been received, the Gameplay Officer will release the Playball version of the league file with all the imported manager files. Once that is distributed, owners are responsible to complete his or her highlighted games from the schedule by the time determined by the Gameplay Officer, typically by the end of the month. Once you have finished playing your scheduled games, you will upload the exports to the league and provide copies of the exports and box scores to the league via email. If you are going to be unable to make the deadline, you may reach out to the Gameplay Officer to ask that your games be auto-played for the month.

Owners have until the 20th of the following month to report any improper manager file, rotation, or instruction use to the Rules and Gripes committee. If this is done, the affected player will not be subject to overuse penalties for that particular infraction. Teams who do not report improper following of instructions by the 20th will incur the resulting overuse penalties, if any, by the affected player(s) at the end of the season.