<!-- Start of Angelfire Ad Code Insertion --><!-- Start of Angelfire Ad Code Insertion --><script language="JavaScript" src="/sys/common_scripts.js"></script><script language="JavaScript"><!--
if(!displayAd()) document.write("<!" + "--");
//--></script><div id="FooterAd_6096" name="FooterAd_6096" style="position:absolute; visibility:hidden; left:0px; top:0px"></div><script language="JavaScript"><!--
function showAd (adId) {
var adRef = gE(adId); var sHeight=gH(); var sWidth=gW();
if( sWidth > 728 ) sWidth= parseInt(sWidth/2) - 364;
else sWidth= 0;
sX(adRef, sWidth); sY(adRef, sHeight); sE(adRef);
}
window.onload = new Function("showAd('FooterAd_6096');");
if(!displayAd()) document.write("-" + "->");
//--></script><script language="JavaScript" src="/sys/common_scripts.js"></script><script language="JavaScript"><!--
if( !displayTopAd() ) document.write("<!" + "--");
MBL League Constitution
1. League Structure
All rules of the MBL are described within this constitution unless amended by the league as a whole and distributed as an official Constitution/Rules Update. The league will consist of eighteen (18) teams in 2 conferences of 2 divisions each. All teams will play a weighted schedule of 80 games, playing all other league teams during the regular season. All MBL road games will be managed by the SOM computer manager on the home team's computer. Results of these games will be posted to the MBL Yahoo group and the gamefiles and boxscores/pbp's will be sent to the Commissioner.
At no time shall a manager be running more than one team.
The league will have a commissioner who will be selected by members of the league. The Commissioner may be removed at any time by a 2/3 vote of the remainder of the league. (This ballot would require a total of 12 votes from the league to pass, regardless of the number of votes received.)
The Commissioner will be assisted by a three-man Executive Committee, to oversee decisions, hear appeals, and assist in other capacities as defined within the Constitution. The Executive Committee is appointed by the Commissioner.
2. Expansion
The league may expand its number of teams at the sole discretion of the Commissioner. However the following limitations do apply:
· Expansion teams are to be added in pairs, with no more than 2 per year.
· The league may not expand in consecutive years.
In the event of expansion, each existing team is allowed to protect 8 players. The expansion teams will be allowed to select players, in a serpentine fashion, from among the pool of unprotected players. No existing team will lose more than one player via this expansion draft. The team selecting first in the expansion draft will be determined via coin flip. The other expansion team will be granted the higher pick in the teams' first rookie draft.
Expansion teams are excluded from the draft lottery in their first two drafts. The highest draft position of an expansion team during these years will be the 4th pick. Expansion teams may trade draft picks for the current season only. A new GM may NOT trade picks for future drafts until he has been enrolled in the league for one full season.
3. The Teams
Each team will consist of between 11 and 25 players. 12 players will be designated active for each game, with the remaining players inactive and unable to play. No team may drop below 11 players at any time.
4. Eligibility
For a player to be eligible to play in the league this season he must be "carded" by Strat-O-Matic for inclusion in the Computer Basketball game. Once a player has appeared in the SOM Computer Basketball game, he is eligible to be carried on a league roster indefinitely. However, the player is subject to the roster limitations in Section 3.
Players not appearing in the SOM Computer Basketball game (i.e. college players) are not eligible to be drafted or claimed as free agents, and thus cannot be carried on a team's roster.
4a. Players out of position:
Any player may play any defensive position.
If SOM rates a player at a position, he can play there on offense. Additional G/RF/LF eligibility rules follow:
Two SOM-rated guards are required to play at all times.
· SOM rated Right Guards may play only RG/LG on offense.
· SOM rated Left Guards may play only RG/LG/RF on offense.
· SOM rated RF may play only RF/LF on offense.
· SOM rated LF may play only LF/C only on offense.
· SOM rated C may play only LF/C only on offense.
5. Usage
REGULAR SEASON - No player is to exceed the number of minutes played in the previous NBA season by more than 5%. Any player who appears in an MBL league game for more than 105% of his actual NBA minutes is immediately released to Unrestricted Free Agency. This rule shall be interpreted strictly. Going over the limit by 1 minute will make the player ineligible.
This penalty may be appealed and overturned at the discretion of the Executive Committee. The only circumstance where an appeal might be considered would be a documented case of extra usage, late in the season, in an AWAY game due to foul trouble or overtime.
PLAYOFFS - Playoff usage will be limited to 10% of the player's actual NBA minutes per playoff series. This usage will be determined on the basis of regulation minutes only. Any overtime minutes in the series will be added to each player's available usage for the series. Usage guidelines will NOT be prorated for series' that do not last the full seven games.
Claims of possible overusage must be reported to the Commissioner within 48 hours of the end of the series. For these purposes, the end of the series is defined as the point when boxscores have been posted to the Yahoo group.
The Executive Committee has sole discretion to determine the penalty if a team is found to be in violation of playoff overusage. Among possible penalties are forfeiture of playoff series and loss of the use of the player for the remainder of the playoffs. The Executive Committee does not have the authority to order the outright release of the player due to playoff overusage.
All mitigating circumstances are to be considered when ruling on overusage, including the computer override of gameplans due to player foul trouble. The Executive Committee is not obliged to issue a penalty in all cases of playoff overusage if it is determined that the overusage was not a result of blatantly irresponsible roster management.
6. Injuries
Injuries will not be used in the MBL.
7. Rookie Draft
At the end of the season each team will be required to submit a protected list of 12 players. All other players will be unprotected for the draft. Teams may opt to protect fewer than 12 players, in which case they will be assigned a corresponding number of additional draft picks after Round 3.
Guidelines for unprotected players:
· Unprotected players may be claimed by any team, or reclaimed by their original team with a draft pick.
· Unprotected players who are not drafted will be returned to their original team. The original owner may release this player, but is still obligated to pay the original contract in full.
· Unprotected players who are drafted by another team must be paid the full value of their existing contract. The new owner may extend or upgrade the contract if desired. The original owner is relieved of all financial responsibility. The original owner receives no additional compensation for the departure of an unprotected player.
A draft order based upon last season's records will be generated. A lottery will be conducted to determine the top 3 picks. All non-playoff teams are eligible for the lottery, with the exception of recent expansion teams (see Section 2.) This draft will consist of 3 rounds and will NOT be serpentine but will be based on an NBA draft style. In the event of a tie, the earlier first-round pick will be awarded to the lower team on the basis of tiebreakers. Tied teams will alternate picks in subsequent rounds.
No draft picks may be traded from drafts beyond the upcoming one. Once the draft commences, picks from the next draft may be traded. Also, teams may not trade picks after Round 3 until after their pre-draft cut-down list has been submitted, indicating that their roster is being reduced to fewer than 12 players.
Teams who deal away any of their Rookie Draft picks will NOT automatically receive picks in the fourth or later rounds in order to bring their roster total to 15 players.
Example: Team ‘A’ reduces it’s roster to 12 players, thus declaring an intent to participate in rounds 1-3 of the draft. However Team ‘A’ traded its 2nd round pick to Team ‘B’. Team ‘A’ will be permitted to draft in rounds 1 and 3, and will enter the season with 14 players as their own property. Any other acquisitions will be considered free agent transactions, and are subject to release at the end of the season.
If a GM cannot be available on a draft day, he must supply the Commissioner with DETAILED draft instructions and understand that this system is imperfect and that the Commissioner is in no way responsible for draft mishaps.
NOTE: Only CARDED players are eligible to be drafted, however uncarded veterans can be retained by their previous teams. Thus, in the case of a player like Michael Jordan who un-retired in 1995, the player could have been retained by the MBL team he played for as an active, carded player. But, he cannot be drafted as a free agent in a season in which he does not have an SOM card produced.
8. Secondary Free Agent Pick-ups
Any CARDED players remaining undrafted are eligible to be signed as secondary free agents. Following the completion of the draft, owners will have 72 hours to submit a list of prioritized secondary free agent offers. Secondary free agents will be awarded to the highest bidder. In the event of equivalent bids, secondary free agents will be awarded in the order of the draft, with each owner being awarded the highest priority FA on their list until all claims are completed. During the season, claims may be made each month before the trade deadline. Secondary free agents will be awarded by the same mechanism, in inverse order of the current standings.
Any players claimed as secondary free agents are signed to one-year Utility contracts, and immediately waived at the completion of the season in which they are claimed.
9. Seasonal Play
The season will consist of a series of 4 week play periods. Each team will play approximately 16 games every 4 weeks. That is about 8 home and 8 away games. The subset stats from all of your home games must be RECEIVED by the Stat HQ by the end of the 4 week period. Games not received by this deadline may be autoplayed at the discretion of the commissioner.
League Settings
League settings will be incorporated into the monthly files. The following settings are employed, and should not be altered:
Game Options:
· Save Game Files
· Box Score Always
Rules:
· No Injuries
· Static Fatigue
· Neutral Court
· No Auto Rest
· NBA Current Rules
· Other Rules: Emphasize Individual Defense, Fastbreak at Coach’s Option, Putback at Coach’s Option, Emphasize Switch Shot Differences
Monthly Schedule
A single MBL season will consist of 5 play months, plus the playoffs. In order that each month proceed in an orderly fashion, the following schedule will be adhered to with few exceptions:
· 1st Day of Month - League Roster files posted to league web site.
· 6th Day - Gameplans due for road games (must be e-mailed directly to opponent.)
· 26th Day (23rd day for February ONLY) - Subset files due to Commissioner. Also, any completed trades must be reported to the Commissioner by BOTH parties.
· 27th and 28th Days - Pending trades will be posted to the web site. GMs wishing to contest the validity of a trade must do so on these days.
· 29th Day - Executive committee will review any contested trades, and rule on their validity.
Monthly Gameplay Guidelines
(The following information should help walk GMs through the monthly procedures until they become more familiar with it. )
By the first of each month, the updated league backup file will be posted to be web page (barring any unforeseen difficulties.) All owners MUST download the updated file each month and restore it in their SOMBK/LEAGUES directory. It will overwrite the previous months' files, giving you access to the latest stats and standings.
Preparing Game Plans
1. Review your team's roster and prepare gameplans for each of your road opponents during the current month. Gameplans are created by accessing Team > Computer Manager from the main SOM Manager screen.
Since the creation of the Static Fatigue option, which this league utilizes, it is no longer required that owners modify the minutes grid in order to control player fatigue. Players fatigue according to normal positional allocations rather than by predetermined minutes assigned within this grid.
2. From the Computer Manager screen, perform the following steps:
· Eligible Players Tab: Set your 12 eligible players.
· Computer Coach Instructions Tab:
· Edit your lineup for the game. If you wish to let the computer edit your lineup, it will use the minute settings from the Edit Profiles screen as a guide for assigning your players.
· Set your 2 inside players and offensive mode for each lineup.
3. You then need to Export your Game Plan so that you can send it to your opponent. When you select this option, the game will force you to specify the opposing team that it is intended for. Thus, even if you are sending the same settings to your 8 road opponents, you must save the profile 8 separate times.
When naming your gameplans, please use the following convention: [Road team 3-letter abbreviation] AT [Home team 3-letter abbreviation]. A gameplan created by myself (NAT) to be sent to Omaha (OMA) would be called NATATOMA.
4. E-mail the files to your road opponents, using the Yahoo group, no later than the 6th of the month. Post the gameplans to the Yahoo group in the Files section, using the appropriate folder. If your gameplan is not received by the deadline, owners are authorized to allow the computer to select your lineup.
Playing Your Home Games
1. Once you have begun to receive game plans from your opponents, you may begin to play your home games. They do not need to be played in any particular order (there are no fatigue implications similar to pitchers in the SOM Computer Baseball game, for those of you who are familiar with it.)
2. Review the league schedule. You will note that each game on the schedule is currently in a "Hold" status. Page through each day of the current month and change your team's home games to "Manual" status.
3. Once you are ready to play a home game, proceed to the Game > New Scheduled menu. Select the date of the game you wish to play and click on "Play Day." You will then be presented with a series of menus and options. Use the following settings:
UPDATE YOUR PREFERENCES
· VISITING TEAM: Computer Coaches
· HOME TEAM: Human Coaches
· Other preferences may be set as desired.
4. The next menu displays your opponent's current lineup and rotation. In the lower middle of the screen is a button labeled "Import." Use this to import the lineup sent to you by your opponent.
In the event that a visiting team does not submit a gameplan to the home manager by the 6th, the home manager has the option of allowing the computer to select a lineup for the game. Visiting teams' players remain subject to overusage limitations in cases where they do not submit a gameplan in a timely manner.
5. The final menu allows you to make last-minute changes to your lineup. When finished, you will proceed directly to the actual game.
6. After you have completed your game, you will be asked if you wish to view your boxscore. You must indicate that you do wish to view the boxscore, and then have it printed to a file. Home managers are required to post all boxscores to the Yahoo group at the end of the month.
Month End Tasks
For each home game you played during the month, a file was created in your SOMBK/LEAGUES directory. These files have the extension .GFL. These gameplay files should be zipped together and e-mailed to the Commissioner by the monthly deadline. Also, be sure to send boxscores to your road managers.
It is helpful to delete GFL files from your directory after they are zipped.
If GFL files are not submitted to the Commissioner by the deadline, the Commissioner has the option of autoplaying the games in order to remain on schedule. If the Commissioner is forced to autoplay a series of games, special consideration will be given to the visiting teams if overusage should come into play later in the season. It is assumed that the visiting team provided a gameplan which would limit overusage, and that the player only went over the limit due to the lack of a gameplan when autoplaying the games.
10. The Playoffs
The team that finishes with the best record in each division will make the playoffs, along with two wildcard teams (the teams with the next best records) from each conference.
Tie breaks will be decided by:
1. Division winner
2. 2 teams: head to head wins
3. 3+ teams: winning % vs. all teams in tiebreaker
4. If same division, division wins.
5. If opposite division, wins vs. opposite division
6. e. Winning % vs. #1seed (if established)
7. Winning % vs. #2seed (if established)
8. Winning % vs. #3seed (if established)
9. Winning % vs. #4seed (if established)
10. Point differential vs. League
11. Point differential vs. teams in tiebreaker
12. Coin toss.
If multiple teams are involved in a tiebreaker, teams remain in the tiebreaker process until they are "seeded". Some may meet qualifying criteria while others don’t.
i.e. If 4 teams finish with identical records, and 2 were (1.) division winners, these 2 would be seeded higher than non-division winners, and continue on to tie breaker (2.) and beyond to break the tie. The 2 non-division winners would do the same, to determine the 3rd and 4th seed among those tied. This is used to determine both playoff positioning and draft positioning.
The Division champion with the better record will play the wildcard team with the poorer record. The remaining Division winner faces the wildcard team with the better record.
All series are best of seven and follow a 2-2-1-1-1 format with one day off between each change of venue.
In first round of the playoffs, the Division champions receive the homecourt advantage. Of the teams advancing to the Conference Championship, those with the better record (applying the tiebreakers above if necessary) will receive the homecourt advantage. Note that in the playoffs, as in the regular season, "homecourt advantage" refers solely to the manner in which games are played by each manager (e.g. Games 1,2,5 and 7 are played by the Manager with the homecourt advantage.) The "neutral court" settings are still to be used when playing games on the SOM Computer Basketball program.
Whenever possible, GMs should make every attempt to run playoff games with both managers being present. Since the visiting manager still retains the option to simply submit a game plan, he is responsible for any additional charges associated with being present for his team's road games (such as long distance phone charges.)
11. Trades
After a trade both parties must confirm the trade to the Commissioner.
A trade may be contested by any member of the league. Contested trades are reviewed by the Executive Committee. The decision of the Executive Committee is final. A split vote is decided by the Commissioner.
Trades may not include any form of "Future Considerations" between the two parties. All items being exchanged between league teams must be specifically spelled-out at the time of the trade. Also all property (players, draft picks) must change hands immediately upon the completion of the deal, with the sole exception being any performance clauses to which both parties have agreed.
Performance clauses may be included in a deal with several limitations:
(1) The EXACT terms of the performance clause must be spelled-out at the time of the initial deal.
(2) There must be a reasonable element of doubt as to whether the clause will be achieved. Acceptable performance clauses might include "Penny Hardaway plays at least 1000 minutes" or "Dale Davis averages at least 10.0 rebounds per game." Unacceptable performance clauses might include "Michael Jordan averages 10.0 points per game" or "Grant Hill plays 100 minutes."
(3) The performance clauses must be based upon an entire season's play, but may not include any period beyond the current season of play. Unacceptable: "Grant Hill scores 100 points in December" or "Penny Hardaway averages 20 points per game for the next 3 seasons."
12. Trade Deadline
After the 4th month of the season no further trades will be allowed until the completion of the World Championship. Trades may be made at all other times. All trades must be confirmed by both parties to the Commissioner or they are invalid.
13. New Rules
A rule may be changed during the offseason (defined as the end of the Championship until the day of the next draft) with a simple majority vote. New rule requests should be sent to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee must determine the merit of the suggested rule modification. If the Executive Committee feels that the league could benefit from enacting the proposed change, they will notify the Commissioner, who then has the responsibility of conducting and tabulating a vote. In the off-season an attempt will be made to allow at least one week of discussion before finalizing a vote. During the season a rule should not be changed unless required to greatly facilitate further play during that season. A rules change during the season requires that at least 3/4 of the league managers agree. A one week discussion period is mandatory during the season unless waived by unanimous vote of the managers.
During the course of the season it may become necessary to arbitrate or interpret a rule. Should this occur the Commissioner has this responsibility. Any dispute of this decision will be handled by the Executive Committee. The Commissioner should have no conflict of interest in the decision. In the case of an appeal that involves members of the Executive Committee those members affected by the ruling (as determined by the Commissioner) should excuse themselves from the decision.
14. MBL FINANCIAL SYSTEM
Financial Structure
1. Each year, each MBL Team will receive $30 million. This money will be credited to each team’s account on the first day at the end of each regular season. The money may be used for players contracts, buying and selling players and draft choices, and paying fines. Additional money may be awarded for league administrative duties or other tasks which enhance the quality of the league.
2. There is no limit (minimum or maximum) to the amount of money a manager may spend in any given season. Any unspent money will be carried over to the next MBL season. There is no limit to the number of seasons a team may carry over excess money. However, a manager cannot have a negative bank account at any time.
1. A player’s contract status is found in the string of numbers and letters, inside parentheses, after his name on the roster sheet The string will take the form (x,Yz) where:
· X represents the current year of the contract;
· Y represents the contract type; and
· Z represents the total length of the contract.
For example, (1,A5) represents a player in the first year of a 5-year contract.
2. When a player is signed to a contract, the yearly average of the contract is deducted from the signing team’s bankroll.
3. All contracts are considered guaranteed. If a player is released prior to the expiration of his contract, the team who releases him is responsible for the balance of his contract and is not entitled to reimbursement for the remaining value of the deal. This value is considered to be the severance pay for that player, and the contract is considered to be void upon the player’s release.
4. A released player, acquired by another team, must be signed to a new contract, regardless of the length of his previous contract.
5. If a player’s career ends because of a non-basketball-related injury or illness, the team is reimbursed 95% of the remaining value of the contract. This simulates the insurance protection NBA teams have for cases where the player’s careers are ended by off-field activities. The 5% loss is considered to represent the sum of the premiums paid on the insurance policy. This protection does NOT apply to legal or NBA-imposed penalties such as suspension or banishment related to violation of league rules (i.e., drug or gambling activities, etc.)
6. There are three types of contracts available: standard, utility, and developmental.
A. Standard Contract
1. The standard contract is available to most MBL players. A player’s initial standard contract is designated by the letter “A”.
2. The cost of a standard “A” contract depends upon the length of the contract, as follows:
|
Length |
Annual Cost |
Total Cost |
|
1 yr. |
$500,000 |
$500,000 |
|
2 yr. |
$750,000 |
$1,500,000 |
|
3 yr. |
$1,000,000 |
$3,000,000 |
|
4 yr. |
$2,000,000 |
$8,000,000 |
|
5 yr. |
$3,000,000 |
$15,000,000 |
|
6 yr. |
$4,000,000 |
$24,000,000 |
|
7 yr. |
$5,000,000 |
$35,000,000 |
3. The maximum length of an “A” contract is seven years.
4. After completion of an “A” contract, the player becomes a restricted free agent (RFA), and may receive offers from other teams according to restricted free agency rules (see below).
B. Free Agent Contracts
1. When a player signs a contract through free agency, it is designated by the letter “B”.
2. The format of a “B” contract will be designated by the term (x,Bz-M) where:
· “x” refers to the current contract year;
· “z” refers to the total contract length; and
· “M” refers to the total contract value.
Example: (2,B6-30M) refers to a player in the second year of a 6-year free agent contract with a total value of $30 Million.
C. Utility Contract
1. The utility contract may be offered for short-term deals to players for two years or less. The utility contract is designated by the letter “U”.
2. The cost of a “U” contract is $300,000 per year.
3. The maximum length of a “U” contract is two years.
4. Upon completion of a “U” contract, the player will become an unrestricted free agent.
D. Developmental Contract
1. The developmental contract may be offered for players who will NOT play in MBL games for the current season. The developmental contract is designated by the letter “Z”.
2. The cost of a “Z” contract is $100,000 per year. A player may be kept on a “Z” contract for no longer than two seasons. After two seasons, the player must be signed to a standard or utility contract or released to free agency.
3. Players on a “Z” contract are ineligible for participation in MBL games. If the owner wishes to use a player on a “Z” contract, he must be assigned a standard or utility contract at the beginning of the month in which he is to be used.
7. Newly Acquired Players
A. Players acquired in the rookie draft must be signed to a standard “A” contract, a utility “U” contract, or a developmental “Z” contract within seven days of the completion of the draft. Players acquired in the rookie draft may also be released without signing a contract within seven days.
8. Releasing Contracts Prior to Draft (to be implemented with first draft after free agency begins).
A. Prior to the rookie draft, all rosters must be cut down to 12 players. Players with active contracts may be exposed to the draft.
B. If a contracted player is drafted by another team, the new owner assumes full responsibility for the contract.
C. The contracted player may be reclaimed by his original owner with any draft choice. The previous contract will remain in force and the owner will incur no additional charges for the transaction.
D. Teams may draft as many players as they desire up to the league limit of 25 per team. However, all players on the roster must have contracts in place or be released at the beginning of the season.
1. After a player’s standard or utility contract expires, (or the player is not signed after two years of a developmental contract), he may obtain an offer sheet from any league owner.
2. The bid may be for any number of years, to a maximum of seven, and for any amount of money which meets or exceeds the standard contract values in the salary table.
3. Restricted Free Agents (RFA)
A. Players who have had standard “A” or “B” contracts expire are considered restricted free agents.
B. A restricted free agent’s owner does NOT submit a bid on him, but waits until all bids are in and will have the opportunity to retain his player (“matching rights”).
C. To retain the player, the current owner must match the best offer sheet a player is presented. (This is the contract formally offered by another team with the intent to sign the player, not necessarily the top bid itself.) The owner must match the length of the contract offered AND the dollar value. He may top the best offer in any way, if he wishes, and is entitled to know which team signed the player to the offer sheet.
D. Individual owners retain the rights to RFA players not signed in the free agent process. RFA players who receive no offers may be signed to standard, utility, or developmental contracts, or released to the Draft.
E. Compensatory draft selections for loss of free agents: If an owner loses a RFA, he may be entitled to a compensatory draft selection in the next draft. The top 6 free agent contract offers are eligible for compensatory draft picks. Rankings are determined by the average annual value of contract signed. Any owner who loses a top 6 free agent to another team will receive a compensatory draft pick after round 1 of the upcoming draft. Compensatory picks will be award in descending order of the value of the free agent contract. These picks will take place AFTER the bonus picks for perfect mailing records.
4. Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)
A. Players who have had a utility or developmental contract expire are considered Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA). In addition, players released due to overusage are also granted UFA status.
B. Unrestricted free agents sign a contract with the team that presents the best offer sheet. (This is the contract formally offered by a team with the intent to sign the player, not necessarily the top bid itself.)
C. A UFA player’s former owner may submit a bid on his former player with the intent to sign. The former owner does not hold any advantage or matching rights when bidding for his former players.
D. There is no compensation awarded to an owner who loses an unrestricted free agent.
E. Individual owners retain no rights to an unrestricted free agent who receives no offers. These players go back into the Draft.
5. The Bidding Process
A. The Free Agency Conductor will provide a list of available Restricted (RFA) and Unrestricted (UFA) players at the end of the MBL season.
B. All owners will prepare a sealed list of bids to be sent to the Free Agency Conductor before the scheduled deadline. Any bids sent after the deadline will be disregarded. You must clearly label your sealed bids so they are not opened by mistake.
C. The Free Agency Conductor must prepare his own list of sealed bids to be forwarded to the Commissioner (or designee) before any other sealed bids may be opened.
D. The Free Agency Conductor will determine the best offer available for each player using the Bid Superiority Chart. He will present a report on the status of each free agent player to all owners. If two or more offers are identical, the tie-breaker will be: 1) best on-time mailing record; 2) lowest regular season winning pct. And 3) coin flip.
E. Owners must submit bids with complete independence. They may not collaborate to influence the secret bids in any way. They may especially not collaborate on bids designed to artificially set the market value on a given player. This constitutes collusion, and may result in the offending owner(s) being fined heavily or expelled from the league at the discretion of the Commissioner.
6. Bid Superiority Chart
To determine the competitive value of free agent offers, the bids will be compared on the basis of contract value and contract length. Since all contracts are guaranteed, it is assumed that a player will accept a slightly lower average yearly salary for the security of a longer deal. As a result, bids will be evaluated on the following scale:
|
SHORTER OFFER |
LONGER OFFER |
|||||||
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
|
|
1 |
- |
1.5 |
1.75 |
2 |
2.25 |
2.5 |
2.75 |
|
|
2 |
- |
- |
1.25 |
1.5 |
1.75 |
2 |
2.25 |
|
|
3 |
- |
- |
- |
1.125 |
1.25 |
1.375 |
1.5 |
|
|
4 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
1.105 |
1.165 |
1.225 |
|
|
5 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
1.085 |
1.145 |
|
|
6 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
1.063 |
|
Example #1 – Offer A: 4 years, $16 Million
Offer B: 3 years, $12 Million
Same average salary, player will accept the longer contract offer.
Example #2 - Offer A: 2 years, $12 Million
Offer B: 3 years, $15 Million
Refer to table. Offer B is $5M / year. Multiply by 1.25 = 6.25, HIGHER than the $6M / yr. offered by team A. Offer B is superior.
7. Clustering Free Agent Bids
A team may bid on as many free agents as it wishes, by “clustering” the bids according to the following procedure.
If a team wants to bid on just a couple of guys and take their chances on landing them, they may place individual bids. However, if the team decides it wants to sign any of several available Centers, for example, it can “cluster” bids on a group of players, even if the combined total of the bids exceeds the team’s available payroll. Teams may cluster bids grouped by any criteria they choose. Examples might include “point guards”, or “rebounding specialists”, or “promising players under 30”, etc.
The only restriction is that the team MUST make a contract offer to at least one available player from each cluster. This will prevent teams from submitting artificially high bids to inflate the market without actually offering a contract. Sample clusters might include:
Centers
Wilt Chamberlain: 6 years, $42 Million
Shaquille O’Neal: 5 years, $30 Million
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 4 years, $25 Million.
Obviously, the team is unlikely to be able to afford ALL these contracts. But, if they are clustered, the team is only required to make an offer to one of the players. If they sign Wilt, they are no longer obligated to pursue the bids they submitted on Kareem and Shaq.
If a team submits more than one cluster of bids, the total value of the highest bid in each cluster may NOT exceed the team’s available payroll.
8. The Free Agent Signing Process
Once all free agent bids are submitted to the Free Agency Conductor, they will be compared and rated for each available free agent. Each owner will receive a personal report detailing the rating of his bids on each free agent. After the reports are sent, the free agent signing period will begin.
When the free agent signing period begins, owners may place formal contract offers to any player on which they hold the top bid. If the player is an unrestricted free agent (UFA), the manager has the right to sign this player immediately, or pass the signing rights to the team with the next highest bid.
If the player is a restricted free agent (RFA), the owner with the highest bid should contact the player’s current owner if he wishes to offer a contract. The current owner may match the offer and resign the player, or decline the offer. Once the current owner declines to match the contract offer, the new owner may sign the free agent player to a contract.
9. Timing of Free Agent Signings
The free agent period is fast-paced, and requires consistent attention from all owners to keep the process flowing smoothly. Depending upon the number of free agents available, it may take up to 2 weeks to complete all signings. Guidelines for free agent signing deadlines are as follows:
The Free Agency Conductor will notify each owner when a player is eligible to be signed. The players with the highest contract offers must be signed, or passed, by the respective owners within 24 hours. This deadline is only for the highest-ranking free agents as determined by the Free Agency Conductor. For example, if your bid on Greg Ostertag is the highest, and your bid on Shaquille O’Neal rated #3, you will not be forced to sign Ostertag before Shaquille has signed. However, the player with the #1 bid on Shaquille will be ‘on the clock’ to sign or pass on his contract offer.
When a contract offer is made to a restricted free agent (RFA) player, the current owner has 24 hours to match the offer or decline and allow the new team to sign him. However, this time limit will NOT be imposed if there is a decision waiting on a similar player with a higher contract offer pending.
Owners with #1 bids on unrestricted free agents may sign them at any time, or wait until higher valued players have been signed ahead of them. However, once the player in question becomes the highest available offer at his position, the owner with the #1 bid will be notified and the 24-hour time limit will begin.
10. Secondary Free Agency
At the conclusion of the free agency signing period, all unsigned players will be placed in the secondary free agent pool. These players may be signed to one-year utility (“U”) contracts according to the current protocol outlined on the Constitution. All secondary free agents acquired in this manner will be released into the unrestricted free agent pool at the end of the season.
1. At the conclusion of the MBL regular season, each owner is awarded $30 Million .
2. Money remaining from the previous season(s) may be accumulated and retained indefinitely.
3. All contracts are guaranteed. Players will be paid in a lump sum at the beginning of each off-season. Hence, the existing contract commitments for the upcoming season will be paid from the $30 Million allotment before any other financial transactions will be possible.
4. When a player is traded, the full value of his contract becomes the responsibility of the new owner. If a player is traded in mid-season, his contract value will be prorated. The balance of the contract will be paid by the new owner, and the previous owner will be reimbursed the remaining contract value.
5. At no time will an owner be permitted to have a negative cash balance. Any trade or free agent signing which would put an owner’s balance below $0 will be invalidated.
6. Money may be included in trades for players or draft picks.
MBL Incentive System
1. Owners may earn additional money by performing service to the league as follows:
2. All owners who achieve a perfect mailing record over the course of the MBL season will receive a bonus draft pick. Bonus picks will be awarded at the end of round 1 of the ensuing draft, in inverse order of the final standings at the end of the year.