Figment League Baseball Rules

Figment League Baseball's main mission is to be fun. A lot of that depends on the GMs and commissioner working together The rules below are designed to support that mission by providing a framework within which we can have fun without being overly restrictive.

The league uses Out of the Park Baseball as the simulation engine and to participate in the league all GMs must own the current version of OOTP. The league does upgrade from version to version typically at the conclusion of the season being played when a new version is released as opposed to switching in mid-season.

GENERAL RULES

      • GM PARTICIPATION: The commissioner would prefer not to be the “participation police” but reasonable expectations will need to be met. These are simply to submit exports on a fairly regular basis, paying attention to Slack and the forum, and replying to other GMs in trade discussions. The commissioner may replace any GM who becomes absentee or fails to treat others fairly.
      • SIM SCHEDULE: Games are simmed Monday thru Friday, with exports due by 6 am Eastern time.
      • SIM PERIOD: Each sim period covers one week during spring training and the regular season. Postseason sims will be split to cover games 1 & 2, 3 & 4, 5 & 6 and then game 7 (of 7-game series and 1 & 2, 3 & 4 and 5 in a 5-game series if/when we add division play). Offseason sims will vary in length and the commissioner will provide a schedule on the league’s Slack channel for reference during the October to February offseason.
      • COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: There will be no work stoppages in Figment. The Reserve Clause will be in effect until a similar time frame in which free agency arose in MLB (sometime in the 1970s).
      • FINANCES: Finances matter for things such as signing draftees and free agents and purchasing players from independent minor league teams as well as staff, development budget and player payroll (important mainly in trade negotiations).
      • TRADING: Trades are typically run at the end of a sim period. The only exception to this is the trade deadline sim. 
      • INDEPENDENT LEAGUE PLAYER ACQUISITION: Major league teams can attempt to trade with an independent team once per calendar year to acquire a player. The offer must be made via DM to the commissioner who will enter it and if the independent club accepts, the trade will be processed. GMs are limited to an initial attempt and a second offer - if neither is accepted the team may not make another offer until the following year. GMs may offer players or cash (not picks) and can acquire at most one player from the independent team. The independent team may not be asked for cash - all trades must be for one player and one player only.

FREE AGENCY

  • Free Agency will begin at a to-be-determined date, likely in the 1970s.
  • Specifics on how the first years of free agency will work will be posted as the league nears the TBD date of free agency. 

GM FIRING SYSTEM

It is possible for a human GM to be fired. This will be based solely on team performance and the attitude of the club's AI owner. The following list shows the conditions that trigger a GM being fired:

  • Any GM whose team finishes 7th or 8th for three consecutive seasons will be fired
  • Any GM whose team finishes 6th or worse for five consecutive seasons will be fired
  • Any GM whose team fails to finish 5th or better twice in a ten season span will be fired
  • Any GM whose owner's mood is 'Angry' at the end of a season will be fired.

There will be a one year "grandfather clause" at the start. Anyone who triggers this at the end of 1930 will keep their job, but will need to improve enough by the end of 1931 to avoid firing.

Teams who win a championship reset their firing clock and get a two-season grace period before the firing clock begins. Teams who win the pennant but not the WCS  reset their clock and get a one-year grace period. So a team winning the championship in year 1 would be ineligible for firing in years 2 and 3 and only seasons 4 and beyond will count towards the firing thresholds.

Any GM fired from a FABL team can take a Japanese team if they wish to remain in the league/return to FABL. The replacement GM will come from the Japanese league. In the event that none of the Japanese league GMs wish to go to FABL, a new GM from outside the league will be sought. The fired GM, in this case, would still get a Japanese team, getting the team of one of the GMs who are doing double-duty in Japan (GMs with both a FABL team and a Japanese team). The specific team will be determined by either a volunteer, or failing that, the GM with the worst record in Japanese play.

AMATEUR DRAFT

There are three phases to the amateur draft, two of them occurring in January and the third in June:

  • The first and second rounds of the draft will take place in January. This occurs before the mock draft is populated and before the stats for the final season of the draftees has been determined. Essentially the clubs are drafting based on "old" information
  • The third round is a regional draft. This means that each team will have an available player pool based on their geographic location. The teams will have priority access to players in their own state and secondary access to players in adjacent states as listed below:

    Gothams, Kings, Stars: New York (priority), New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania
    Minutemen: Massachusetts (priority), Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
    Keystones, Miners, Sailors: Pennsylvania (priority), New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio
    Foresters & Cannons: Ohio (priority), Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana
    Eagles: DC & Virginia (priority), Maryland
    Dynamos: Michigan (priority), Ontario, Ohio, Indiana
    Chiefs & Cougars: Illinois (priority), Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kentucky, Iowa
    Pioneers: Missouri (priority), Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky
    Saints: Canada (priority), Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York
    Wolves: Canada (priority), New York, Michigan, Minnesota

    Eligibility is based on birthplace, not school. Within any region with multiple teams, priority is based on draft position. Regional draft picks are NOT tradeable until after the players join their teams. You must have the player selected under contract before you can deal him. You may still trade round 1 & 2 (January phase) picks or rounds 4-25 picks (June phase) but not the regional picks. Once all the picks have been determined, the players will be entered into StatsLab as the round 3 picks.

  • Rounds 4 through 25 will take place in June. The player pool's statistics and the mock draft will appear in May, five weeks before the date of the draft. This will include the regional and January phase players so GMs will be able to see how their earlier picks fared in their final amateur season.

  • Draft order is based on the previous season’s results with the picks alternating by league and the leagues alternating the first overall pick. Federal Association clubs hold the odd-numbered picks in even numbered years and the Continental Association holds the odd-numbered picks in odd-numbered years.

  • The draft itself will be done outside the game via StatsLab; the draft will begin one day after the commissioner releases the draft pool (it usually works out to be toward midweek and runs through the weekend). Pick times are slotted with shorter intervals in the later rounds. Any portion not finished “live” will be run by the game on the in-game draft day.

  • Drafted players must be signed. If you do not sign your player he goes back into the draft pool the next season. As was the case in baseball until the 21st century, teams do NOT receive a compensatory pick for not signing their draftees. So try to make sure you sign them.

INDEPENDENT TEAM PLAYER ACQUISITION

Teams may acquire players from independent teams based on eligibility criteria listed below.

  • This process will take place following the Rule V Draft.
  • Teams wishing to acquire a player send the player's name to the commissioner via direct message on Slack. GMs may submit *only* one player.
  • In the event two or more teams want the same player, the most recent amateur draft order is used to break the tie (worse team gets higher priority)
  • The commissioner will select a compensation player to be returned (essentially traded) to the minor league team. This player will be someone not on the 40-man roster who is Rule V eligible (at least four years as a pro). Player will be selected based on the minor league club's needs and/or the player's potential. The GM has no input in this (aside from putting guys he wants to keep on his 40-man roster).
  • Each GM gets one shot per year - if the player is requested by multiple teams, the GMs who did not get the player do not get a second chance.
  • Eligibility: A player must fit one of these requirements: be at least 23 years old as of September 1st of the just-completed season or have at least 1 full season of play (time on the reserve roster does *not* count) - for hitters this is 450 or more plate appearances, for pitchers either 30 games or 150 innings pitched.

 

TRADING

Trading is permitted anytime between the end of the World Series and July 31st of the following season. Trades may be for any or all (in combination) of the following: players, cash and/or draft picks with the following restrictions:

  • Both GMs must post on Slack in the Figment Trade Talk channel confirming the deal. Details on the players must be listed and must include the players full name, position and level. For example 2B John Doe (AA) is good. J.Doe is not.
  • Salaries must fit within each team's budget. If the trade would result in someone going over budget, the deal must be reworked with the other team providing cash or retaining some of the player's salary to fit both teams within their budgets.
  • Players who have been placed on waivers can not be traded.
  • Players can be traded as long as they're under contract. So if you draft and sign a player, you can then trade him. Drafted but not signed players can not be traded.
  • Draft picks can only be traded for the current or upcoming draft. Future year's picks are not able to be traded.
  • Teams are also prohibited from trading consecutive first round picks. If you trade your first round pick in Season 1, you can not trade your Season 2 first round pick. You can however trade the player drafted with that pick as soon as Season 2's draft is completed.