24 February 2005

Vol. X Winter 8

 ISBL HOME    ENCYCLOPEDIA    DISKS    PAST GAZETTES    TheISBLog.com 

  AUCTION SITE      AUCTION RESULTS/FINANCES  

  2005 TRANSACTIONS    2005 CALENDAR  

For all of you who have been looking for a place where you could go on and on about your team ... BEHOLD, TheISBLog.com!!! Now every team has its own blog to post their triumphs and travails. 

Click on the banner, enter your team name in e-mail style (i.e. finns, meatpossums, dirtdogs, etc.) and isbl (it's cap-sensitive, so all lowercase) as the password to enter this brave new world. Once you've logged in, change your password to something you'll remember, and have at it. 

There might be some bugs in the first couple days, and Chris McMains (the blog creator) will probably follow with an e-mail with further instruction, but hopefully this new element to the wonderful world of ISBL will take root for all to enjoy. Thanks to Chris for his efforts.

Oh, and it runs on a different server.

BE MINDFUL OF YOUR CASH AND NEEDS

Click on the 2005 AUCTION RESULTS link above and be sure to keep an eye on how many players you need (batters, pitchers and overall) and what cash you have remaining. Budget management is very important this time of year. Don't get caught short, and for god's sake, don't make a bid larger than your max bid allowed, or you'll get the big fat nasty $1m fine.

NOTE ON TRADES & MONEY

Please remember that you have already paid the salaries of those players that you kept at the deadline, and that any trades you make here on out do not relieve you of their salaries for 2005. In other words, if you trade a $6m player for a $600k player, you don't get money back unless you ask for it in the trade. Buyer beware ... 

2005 GAZETTE TEAM LINKS ARE IN PLAY

Click on the team names to the left and right (or the league logos, for that matter) and you can find current rosters (as of the most recent disk release), even if you don't have access to the disk. Ah, the ISBL, dedicated to finding new ways to lower work productivity ...

NEW LOGOS FOR 2005

If you've surfed the ISBL site of late, you may have noticed that a few teams have a new look for the coming season. That's the registrar with too much time on his hands. If you think you might like something new for 2005, buzz him and -- time willing -- he might cook up something for you. (Hey, at least it's an excuse to hone my Photoshop skills.)

CONTRACT CODING (revised post-deadline)

The coding seems to confuse a lot of owners, so here's a quick index of the codes.

x : Contract Year 

• When this number reaches 4, the player's minimum salary becomes $1m. 

• When it reaches 6, the player's minimum salary jumps to $5m. 

Players showing a single digit are restricted to 110% of their MLB2004 PA (plate appearances) or BF (batters faced) in ISBL2005 play.

999x : High-unlimited player

• Batters with at least 500 PA

• Batters rated defensively at CATCHER ONLY with at least 450 PA

• Pitchers with at least 700 BF or 162 IP (innings pitched)

These players have no restriction on usage in ISBL2005 play.

666x : Low-unlimited player

• Batters with no better than a .650 OPS (on-base-plus-slugging) and no better than a .700 OPS against either LHP or RHP

• Batters rated defensively at CATCHER ONLY with no better than a .700 OPS and no better than a .725 OPS against either LHP or RHP

• Pitchers with an opposing OPS of .900 or greater

These players have no restriction on usage in ISBL2005 play.

777x : Junior Draft-eligible player

• Players with fewer than 30 PA or 10 IP who do not qualify as low-unlimiteds, but who have never amassed those numbers in a single season

These players are ineligible for the ISBL2005 regular season, but can be used in the ISBL2005 Diamond Cup. Their rights are secured in a special draft exclusive to Junior Circuit teams, at a salary of $200k each. They can only be traded to other Junior Circuit teams. Any undrafted 777x player is deleted from the disk. If a drafted player does not qualify for the ISBL2006 regular season, the team that drafted him loses his rights.

555x : Ineligible player

• Players with fewer than 30 PA or 10 IP who do not qualify as low-unlimiteds or as Junior Draft-eligible

These players are ineligible for the ISBL2005 regular season, but can be used in the 2005 Diamond Cup, provided that they accumulated stats in the MLB2004 season. (i.e. Richie Weeks is ineligible for the Cup, but the rest of the 555x players are eligible.) Their rights are retained by their owner (who has already paid their ISBL2005 salary), but are lost if they do not qualify for the ISBL2006 regular season. These players are allowed to be traded to other teams, regardless of circuit affiliation.