CONSTITUTION OF THE DBL BASEBALL LEAGUE
We the owners of the DBL Baseball League, in order to form a more perfect union of fantasy geeks and their geek league, establish a smacktalk forum, ensure the denegration of our real-life relationships and budgets, promote provide essential geekdom environment for all baseball freaks, and secure the right to speak all things baseball no matter where you are, do certify and ordain this established Constitution for the DBL Baseball League.
A. The DBL is made up of 16 teams which are divided into two leagues of 8 teams each. Each league is further divided into two divisions of 4 teams each. The names of the leagues and divisions are:
American League
East Division
West Division
National League
East Division
West Division
B. Any changes to the structure of the Leagues or Divisions must be accomplished by Constitutional Amendment.
[ Back to Top ]
A. DBL will be governed by the Commissioner and the League managers.
B. Commissioner
1. General Powers
a. The Commissioner has the ultimate responsibility for (i) setting procedures for roster submissions, (ii) running simulations, (iii) maintaining the League website, (iv) supervising the draft, (v) overseeing free agency, (vi) maintaining the Waiting List of potential owners, and (vii) all other issues of day-to-day governance of DBL.
b. The Commissioner may delegate his responsibilities as necessary.
C. League Managers
1. Composition
a. This group consists of all assigned managers.
2. General Powers
a. The League Managers sole and final authority is to interpret the Constitution.
b. Casts votes on any adding/removing admendments to the constitution.
[ Back to Top ]
A. DBL cannot survive unless its owners participate on a regular basis. To this end, if an owner persists in an extended period of inactivity, the Commissioner may remove that owner. In determining if an owner is inactive, the Comissioner will examine, among other things, submission of lineups, presence and activity on the DBL Forum, participation in league votes, attendance at communication and interaction with other league members. However, no single factor is determinative in evaluating an owner's activity in DBL.
B. If an owner is not going to be able to manage in the DBL for a short period of time, another owner from the opposing league may take over his team, or assigned designee.
1. The absentee owner must inform the Commissioner that he will not be able to participate and when he will be able to resume active ownership.
2. The absentee owner must inform the Commissioner which owner is to take over temporary guardianship of his team.
3. During the period of time that the temporary replacement owner manages the absentee owner’s team, the temporary owner may only manage the absentee owner’s rosters.
C. If an owner is not going to be able to participate in the DBL for an extended period of time, the Commissioner may assign an owner from the opposing league or an officially recognized individual(s) on the waiting list or former owners whose contributions to the league have merited special status with respect to certain DBL matters) to take over the team until the absentee owner is able to resume active membership.
1. If the absentee owner is able to vote, he may do so at the Commissioner’s discretion, either by voting normally on the forum or by informing the Commissioner or any other League Manager of his vote, whereby the Commissioner or other League Manager will record the vote on the forum. The long-term replacement owner may not participate in any vote on behalf of the absentee owner unless the Commissioner decides that allowing the replacement owner to vote is in the best interests of the league. Under no circumstance may the absentee owner and the replacement owner record separate votes on the same issue.
D. If an owner resigns or is removed from the DBL in accordance with Section III.A, a person from the waiting list shall be chosen as the new team owner, except as provided in Section III.E.4, with all the attendant rights and responsibilities of DBL ownership.
1. The waiting list shall be maintained by the Commissioner. Any person who requests placement on the waiting list and who provides information requested by, and follows a procedure created by, the Commissioner, may have their names placed on the waiting list subject to the Commissioner’s discretion.
2. The order on the waiting list is first come, first serve basis. Being on the waiting list confers no rights to a team nor does it guarantee future DBL ownership.
[ Back to Top ]
A. Regular season consists of 100 games.
1. Games will be played in 10 game blocks. Owners may make lineup changes anytime during, before, or after this period. After 10 game, player stats will be updated on the web site.
B. The post season will consist of a Division Series, League Championship Series, and World Championship Series.
1. League Division Series (LDS): This series will be played against the Wild Card team and the Division Winner with the second best record.
2. League Championship Series (LCS): This series will be played against the winner of the LDS team and the Division Winner with the best record.
3. World Championship Series: This series will be played against the winner of the ALCS and NLCS.
C. During the qualification process for the post season, any team which qualifies for the Wild Card and has the same winning record, will only be decided between two teams, with a one game series. (If a third team factors into this tie, it will be disqualified based on the following, in prescedent: home record, away record, head-to-head record, team batting average, and finally team ERA.)
D. If two teams are tied for the division at the end of the season, then a one game series will be played to determine the team true winner of the division.
E. If the division winners (East/West), both have the same record at the end of the season, the best record will be determined on the following items in this order: home record, away record, and head-to-head record
[ Back to Top ]
A. Contracts on players will range from 1 to 12 years in length.
B. Players remaining in the free agent pool will return to the assigned team with the same salary, but new contract.
C. Free Agents
1. The free agent list for the next season will be posted to the web site NLT than Game 20. If not, League Managers have the right to persistently pester the Commissioner.
2. League Managers will submit bids on all, some, or none of the players on the list NLT Game 80 of the season. No bids will be received after Game 80, unless granted a waiver from the Commissioner.
3. The total of all bids cannot exceed the current salary cap of the season in play.
a. Also, a bid on one player will be lower than the sum of 29 minimum salaried players subtracted from the salary cap.
4. The manager with the highest bid on a player, signs the player at the end of the current season.
5. In the event of a tie, the league manager will be contacted to resubmit a new bid.
a. The manager has the concientious choice to participate or decline. In the event of participation, the owner has the choices of sticking with the same bid, bidding higher, or bidding lower at their own risk. The owner with the highest bid will receive the player.
b. If the managers who tied bid lower, than the manager with the third highest original bid will win the player.
D. In-Season Free Agents (Waivers): Players who are available to be signed during the season.
1. Any player may be placed or removed from waivers during the season before Game 70 (Waivers deadline.)
2. When a player is cut from a team, it shall be placed on waivers, and the following actions will occur:
a. The salary will be cut in half and rounded up.
b. The player will be placed on a three day hold, in which, managers will place claims for the player. After the three day period, the team, who has highest priority on the waivers list, will gain the player.
c. If during the three day period, the player clears waivers without a claim and will be a free agent, and will be signed on a first-come, first-served basis.
d. A team that releases a player during the season cannot sign the same player once it clears waivers until the end of the -season
D. Off-Season Free Agents (Waivers): Players who are available to be signed during the off-season.
1. Any player may be placed or removed from waivers during the off-season before Game 1.
2. When a player is cut from a team, it shall be placed on waivers, and the following actions will occur:
a. The salary will be cut in half and rounded up.
b. The player will be placed on a three day hold, in which, managers will place claims for the player. After the three day period, the team, who has highest priority on the waivers list, will gain the player.
c. If during the three day period, the player clears waivers without a claim and will be a free agent, and will be signed on a first-come, first-served basis.
3. When claiming a player from waivers, the following condition must be met:
a. The overal salary can not exceed the established salary cap for the season.
b. A team must get their salary under the cap in order to sign the player(s)
c. If a team places a claim during the three day period for a player, the team cannot sign the playe(s)r until the salary is under the estbalished salary cap.
d. A team that releases a player cannot sign the same player once it clears waivers until the following off-season
[ Back to Top ]
A. The trading deadline is Game 60. All final trades of the season must be completed before the first pitch of Game 61.
B. All trades are final after both owners have confirmed the trade.
[ Back to Top ]
VII. ROSTER, POSITION AND INDIVIDUAL PLAYER SETTING RESTRICTIONS
A. Teams will maintain a 30-player roster, of which 25 players must be on the active roster and 5 players on inactive reserve and the overall salaries do not exceed the set salary cap for the current season. This is defined as a legal roster.
a. Any manager who cannot maintain a legal roster, it will at the league Comissioners discretion to either release/sign players until the roster meets the requirements fora legal roster.
B. Teams must maintain full line-ups and depth charts at all times during the regular season and play-offs.
C. It is recommended that the players play in the position assigned. A player may play in a unassigned position, will play with a .750 Fielding Average.
E. The minimum pitching rotation is 4 pitchers, although a manager may state a desire to have more than 4 pitchers in the rotation.
F. Managers will need to assign at least one closer in the bullpen.
G. DBL is a DH league, so a DH will need to be assigned in the lineup.
H. Inactive Reserve (IR):
a. Players designated as IR, will specifically used for this purpose.
b. A manager is allowed to activate players from IR for replacing injured players as many times as needed.
c. A manager is allowed (5) non-IR moves during the season. This means a player may be activated without having to replace an injured player.
[ Back to Top ]
A. The winner of the World Series will be awarded entire sum of all the current team salaries, at the end of the season.
B. Manager will have until the final game of the season to turn in their portion of the prize money. If a manager does not turn in the prize money, then the team will forfeit games next season until the proze money is submitted.
[ Back to Top ]
A. Moving a team to a new park will cost the manager $1.00, which will be added to the prize money.
[ Back to Top ]
X. TEAM SALARY CAP AND PLAYER SALARY
A. The team salary cap will increase by 2% each season.
B. Minimum salary will increase by one cent every ten seasons and will affect all players receiving minimum salary. The minimum salary for rookies will also increase every ten seasons and will always be two cents higher than the league minimum.
C. Any team over the salary cap will forfeit games until the team is under the salary cap.
[ Back to Top ]
A. A rookie draft will be conducted once a season and will commence after the first pitch of Game 50.
B. A rookie list will be posted NLT than the Game 30 of the season.
C. A manager will have one week to decide on a rookie. If there is no response during the alotted time period, the manager will forfeit his turn on the rookie draft and will not be able to draft a player.
D. Rookie Deferment Admendment
a. A player will automatically be assigned a (3) year contract and follow salary requirements (See Rule X-C)
b. Owners will have the right to place the drafted player in the minors for their first season with their respective team. If the player remains in minor league system during their first season with the team, the season will not count towards their obligated (3) season contract.
c. The drafted player must remain in the minors for the entirety of the regular season and to include the post-season playoffs. If the player is promoted to the active roster, the player’s three year contract is activated and the first season deferment is null and void.
d. The deferment will remain in place if the player is drafted before the start of their first season. The deferment is voided if the player is traded after the first twenty games of the first season.
e. If the Puresim Baseball software or the league Commissioner accidentally promotes the player to the active roster, the team owners have three games to report the issue. Failure to report will cost the team owner the use of the deferment.
f. The deferment can only be used the first season with the team. After the first season, normal contract rules apply.
[ Back to Top ]