Changes for 2004 and Beyond

The 2004 Season

Teams are placed in their respective circuit leagues, and ranked by their winning percentage the previous year. In determining placement for the following year, ties are broken by looking at, in order: Head-to-head record, run differential, runs scored, record last 81 games, record last 82 games, etc. 

They are awarded money as follows for 2004:

  • 1-3 Senior: $56m
  • 4-5 Senior: $55m
  • 6-7 Senior: $54m
  • 1 Junior: $47m
  • 2-5 Junior: $45m
  • 6-7 Junior: $44m

In addition: the four division champs would each get an additional $300k and the four wild cards would each get an additional $200k. The WS teams would get an additional $1m for the champ, $500k for the loser, on top of the previous bonus. (And yes, if you add that up, it comes to an extra $1M that wasn’t in the budget pool before.)

 

Rules for unlimiteds would be the same for both leagues, as well as the 30PA/10IP rule. However, junior circuit owners will take part in a draft after the auction of those players who were carded by DMB for that year but who are ineligible for ISBL play, provided they were not eligible for ISBL play in a previous year. Each team will be able to draft up to two such players, provided they have $200k (the player's set salary) remaining in their budget for each player that they draft (i.e. $200k for one player, $400k for two players). This money is IN ADDITION to the $1m required to be retained by all teams at the start of the season.

 

The draft order will be determined by random lot, and the draft will be conducted in two rounds, with the order reversed for the second round. These drafted players are to remain farmed for the entire season, and they DO count as part of your 40-man roster, but NOT as part of your required 35-man minimum. These players may be traded, but ONLY to other junior circuit teams.  

 

At the conclusion of the season, those players who again did not qualify for ISBL play will be returned to the draft pool. Those that do qualify may be kept, released or traded to any team freely.

 

The trading deadline for intercircuit trades (i.e. between a Senior Circuit team and a Junior Circuit team) will be set at the All-Star Break (end of week 13). The trading deadline for intracircuit trades will be set at the end of week 18.  

 

The schedule will be unbalanced and last 25 weeks. You’ll play 120 games in your circuit league (7, 7 and 6 vs. each) and 42 games against the other league in your circuit (6 vs. each). Senior circuit teams do not play junior circuit teams.

 

At season's end, the last place team in each senior league is automatically relegated to their respective junior league for the following season, and the two junior league champs are automatically promoted.

In the postseason, there are six scheduled seven-game series:

  • the World Series (senior FTF vs. senior MP champ)
  • the Junior World Series (junior FTF vs. junior MP champ)
  • two relegational series (the 5th and 6th place teams in each senior circuit, with loser relegated to junior for following season)
  • two promotional series (the 2nd and 3rd place teams in each junior circuit, with winner promoted to senior for following season).

No wild cards. All ties in determining seasonal ranking would be broken by the method previously spelled out, EXCEPT if there's a tie for first in a senior league. This would be resolved with a three-game playoff, using the tiebreaker method to determine who would have home field advantage. If more than two teams are tied atop a senior league, you would use the tiebreaker method to determine which TWO would play that series (the others would be out of luck).

The ISBL Diamond Cup (beginning in 2004)

At the season’s conclusion, we have a good old-fashioned knockout tournament. This tourney is set up similarly to cup tournaments that take place in European sports (or, if you want an American equivalent, think NCAA tourney, only with a random draw instead of brackets). At stake: a money pool totaling $21m. 

Each round would consist of a maximum three games, with the first to win two moving onto the next round. Each round would take a week in Real Time, but on a much tighter schedule in Game Time. Pairings would be drawn at random, as would home-field advantage, with a 121 (home-away-home) format.

ALL games would be played FTF, due to the money immediately at stake. If one or both teams cannot play FTF, they will be given the opportunity to either resolve gameplay by mutual agreement of terms of play, or, if they cannot come to agreement, the games will be simmed by the commissioner using MPs from both teams.

And here’s how it’d work:

  • Preliminary round: This would take place concurrently with the dates slated for the 3rd, 4th and 5th games of the World Series. The 4-7 teams in both junior circuit leagues battle it out. Opponent draw is random, as is home-field advantage. 121 format. Losers each receive $300k for their trouble.
  • First round: Begins the Sunday following the conclusion of the World Series, and the start of 15 days of consecutive play. The prelim round winners join all the other teams in the league, EXCEPT for the top 4 teams in each senior circuit league, to form a pool of 16. Again, random draw, 121 format. Losers each receive $500k.
  • Second round: Begins Wednesday. The first round winners join the top 4 from each senior circuit league to form a pool of 16. Losers receive $700k.
  • Quarterfinals: Begins Saturday. Yes, the only way you get a day off is to sweep in two games. Losers receive $1m.
  • Semifinals: Begins Tuesday. Losers receive $1.3m.
  • Cup Finals: Begins Friday. Winner receives $2m and the title of ISBL Diamond Cup Champion (which, though it ain’t the WS, is still a nice little feather to stick in your cap). Loser gets $1.6m.

A couple more things about Cup play: You can use your expanded September rosters. And although we frown upon owners using low PA/BF players in the playoffs, usage rules for cup play have been relaxed. You wanna make that 22-yr-old with 12 IP and a .450 ops your ace, or that kid who put up a 2.000 ops in 20 PAs (for a junior circuit example -- yup, you can use those draftees in the cup) your cleanup guy? Go for it. As long as they’re eligible (i.e. you didn’t overuse them during the regular season), you can do it. BUT, at the conclusion of a given round, any players above 100% usage that are not unlimited have to sit for the remainder of the cup tourney.

The 2005 Season & Beyond

For each following season, junior circuit winners from the previous year are ranked 6th in their respective senior circuits and the promotional playoff winners 7th. The promotional playoff losers are ranked 1st in the junior circuit, the relegation playoff losers 2nd, and the automatically relegated teams 3rd.

Money allocation based on previous year's performance would be distributed as such for this and all following seasons:

  • 1 Senior: $55.5m

  • 2-3 Senior: $55m

  • 4-5 Senior: $54m

  • 6 Senior (the automatically promoted team): $53.5m

  • 7 Senior (the promotional playoff winner): $53m

  • 1 Junior (the promotional playoff loser): $46.5m

  • 2-3 Junior (the relegated teams): $44.5m

  • 4-5 Junior: $44.5m

  • 6-7 Junior: $43.5m

In addition, the World Series winner would get an extra $1m, the Junior WS winner an extra $500k, and each team would get their respective Diamond Cup shares.

 

All other rules apply as stated previously.