League of Champions Rules

Plate Appearances are At-Bats + Walks + Hit By Pitch + Sacrifice Flies The MLB season is the just completed Major League Baseball season. The Commissioner has the ability to take immediate action based on what is deemed in the best interests of the league. Hitters Hitters must have 300 plate appearances (PA) to start. Starting catchers are an exception, and require 200 PA. Backup catchers must have 100 PA, and may start up to 20% of a team's games against righties and up to 20% against lefties. These are optional - starting catchers will become fatigued with a heavy workload. Pinch hitters or defensive replacements must have 75 PA. Hitters with less than 75 PA will automatically be farmed out to the minors, and will not appear in any games. To be draftable, a hitter must have 1 PA during the MLB season To play a position in the field (start or reserve), the player must have played 10 or more games at that position during the MLB season. The exceptions to this are Designated Hitters (any eligible starters with 300 PA may play) and outfielders, who may play any of the three outfield spots if they have played in the outfield for 10 games. The simulator may play players out of position if game conditions dictate, but this cannot be specified by the manager. Pitchers Starting pitchers must have started a minimum of fifteen games during the MLB season (no minimum innings pitched). Starters are eligible to start for the full League of Champions season Any pitchers with 40 IP qualify as relief pitchers, regardless of whether they appeared as a reliever during the MLB season. To be draftable, a pitcher must have faced one batter during the MLB season. Teams may employ a four or five man rotation at their discretion. Keepers, the Draft, Trading and Free Agents All teams will designate 8 players as keepers from their pre-draft rosters with no restrictions.  All teams may designate up to two additional inactive keepers, which have no MLB service time restrictions. Inactive keepers will not be eligible to play for the full LoC season, even if traded. Teams may opt to receive compensation picks in lieu of declaring less than ten total keepers,regardless of how many are active and how many are inactive. Teams declaring ten keepers will receive no extra picks. Teams that declare nine total keepers will receive a pick between the second and third rounds of the draft. Teams that declare eight total keepers will receive an additional pick between the first and second round of the draft. Compensation picks cannot be traded, and no team can earn more than two picks in one year. Order of the compensation picks will be determined in the same order as the just completed round of the draft. If a player is already on your roster, you may designate him as a keeper regardless of whether he played during the just completed MLB season. Teams may not sign free agents until after the draft is complete, and only then if they are short the required 30 players (no exchanges). Trading is allowed after keepers are declared until Game 120 of the LoC season. Please do not post trades to the message board outside of trading season. Conditional trades of any type are not permitted. ALL TRADES SUBJECT TO COMMISSIONER APPROVAL. You may trade draft picks up to one year in advance. The free agent draft is a straight draft. The order of every round is the same (in 2011 it will be a snake draft) The top four slots in the draft order are determined by a lottery from among the teams with the four worst records in the league. The lowest four draft slots will go to the four playoff teams based on regular season record. Any ties in the draft order will be resolved by coin flips. Roster Requirements Rosters are fixed at 30 players with a maximum of 25 active players. The remainder (and all ineligible players) will be marked inactive. Players that are inactive cannot be moved to the active list at any time during the season under any circumstances, but active players can be marked inactive if a team exceeds 25 active players on their roster after a trade. Draft picks that would push a team above the 30 player limit are forfeit. These picks are not available for trade after the offending team drafts their 30th player. Trades that push teams above 30 players will require an immediate cut from the offending team. Teams that are short of 30 players after a trade will have 24 hours to choose a free agent, otherwise one will be assigned to the team by the Commissioner. Teams are required to have a minimum of nine active and eligible pitchers. No less than four must be eligible starters and in the starting rotation. Teams are required to start their best players, as determined by the Commissioner. Tanking is not permitted. Platoons are permitted, but benching or farming your best players will not be allowed. Miscellaneous Injuries are not used. Split stats are used. Clutch ratings are not used. The regular season will have off days, a minimum of one for every ten game days.