Outahere Rules

Index
General
Finances
Free Agency
Trading
Winterball
Rule 5 Draft

admin/league philosophy
There are mogul leagues starting all the time, but very few last past the first season or two. Only a handful last as long as we have. It is frustrating to join a mogul league, rebuild your team for the future, then have the league die just as all your hard work is about to pay off. Here we are focused on the long term. Outahere mogul has several teams who have completely retooled their rosters, and we hope to have many more in the future. So our goal is to have owners committed to building strong franchises. In addition I would consider us "liberal" in terms of trade approvals. We are not looking to make every trade so it has to be exactly equal. We will give you the opportunity to run things your way. However if you can't control your rosters, or if your plan of trading away prospects to "win now" doesn't seem to be paying off you will see your trades more heavily scrutinized. If it continues to get worse don't be surprised if you find yourself without out a team.

participation expectations
The success of the league is dependant on participation from owners. This includes responding to trade inquiries, posting of depth charts, posting of end of season resignings, etc. If we receive several complaints about a lack of response regarding trade inquiries, or notice nothing being done regarding injuries, DL players, or just a general lack of involvment we will put an owner on notice. GM's on notice can be viewed in either the current GM list, or the Owner's on notice post. If no improvement is seen in the following week or so the team will be made available.

password protected
Yes! The game file is password protected. However we will try and post commissioner mode ratings for players at key times such as the end of the season and the trade deadline.

relocating or building new stadium
Yes, you can relocate a team or build a new stadium, although we treat this as a process. You can not just load up the Mayflower trucks and move overnight. You must put together a plan including new stadium specs and costs as well as any changes to the division alignments. In addition league approval must be given, which will take into consideration the affect on any teams in the nearby markets. This must be completed 1 1/2 seasons prior to the start of the season you're looking to move/build in. In addition at least 75% of the stadium cost required by the team must be provided a season ahead of time. Exception is a relocation or stadium upgrade organized by the commissioners office.

who gets a team when it opens up?
Relatively new thing, so we'll see how it goes. When a team opens up, it will first be made available to current owners. If an owner chooses to move to the open team they must agree to give the team they are leaving compensation in the form of cash and picks from their new team. If multiple qualified owners are interested in a team there will be a minimum compensation package, and they will submit a 1 time bid of what they will add to that. The best offer will receive the team. The total bid will not necessarily go to the old team. In the case of large cash bids there will be a maximum amount passed on. The remainder will be removed from the game. If a GM leaves a team for a new team the process will start again for the team he left. If there is no interest in an open team from current owners the next option is GM's on our waiting list, based on when they signed up. After that it is open to the next new member.

off Season Discussion/voting
Discussions start after the trade deadline. All ideas are welcome, and if there is enough interest in an idea it is put up for vote at the start of the offseason.

revenue sharing
This has been in place for several seasons now, and has really added a lot of competition. It is currently estimated at a total of 175 million will be redistributed this coming offseason. Just as an example the Yankees (estimated team revenue of 290 million) will pay the bulk of this with around 100 million this year, and KC (estimated team revenue of 48 million) will receive the biggest chunk at 28 million or so. In addition this plan potentially will increase in the next few years. It will be up for vote if needed.

market determines prices for free agents
Basically what a free agent wants in Baseball Mogul is irrelevant. It is truely determined by the market. As soon as a player becomes a free agent he is available to the highest bidder. So in the offseason do you go for the All Star 1B, that's going to be in a long drawn out bidding war, or do you try and scoop up a great value early on? A few seasons ago a couple of solid 1b could be had for 2 or 3 million a year, and Prince Fielder ended up signing with the Mets for 10 years 24 million per year!

international free Agents and prospects
Yes. Prospects are put up for bid. These are signed to a set contract (600k until arb eligible), and the bid is for their signing bonus. Free agents can vary, depending on where they have played previously. Japanese players use a blind bid process for the rights to negotiate with them. The amount bid goes to their Japanese teams, and there is usually an estimate of the contract they are looking for. Free agents from other countries are available to the highest bidder.

minimum contracts for free agents
Free agents can be signed for league minimum salary, but we limit these to 1 year deals. In addition, any free agent contract worth up to 4M per year has a length limit, based on the amount. Details on this will change every few years due to inflation.

draft pick compensation
Losing an "A" free agent (92+ overall), or "B" (89-91), or "C" (88 and lower, varies based on the year) free agent results in a compensation pick.

trade deadline
July 31st, with a break from our normal simming schedule to allow for those deadline deals everyone likes to make.

trade moderation
Trade moderation is an integral part of Outahere, both to help keep balance and make sure teams are not colluding or being taken advantage of. Two moderator approvals are required before a trade can be processed. If a moderator feels a trade is unbalanced, he will post that the trade is "UNDER REVIEW" while the moderators discuss the trade. Teams may be contacted and asked rework the trade if the majority of moderators feel it cannot be approved as is. In case of irreconcilable differences between the moderators, there will be a vote and over 50% moderator approval will be required for the trade to be considered approved. Factors that the trade moderators may consider include, but are not limited to: Player ratings, Salary, payroll, and budget issues, Age of players, Teams' standings (playoff race, rebuilding, etc), Current trade market (recent trades of similar value). In addition, trades involving Rookie GMs (GMs without a full season of Outahere experience) will have their trades scrutinized more closely and require three trade approvals in order to be processed. Trades under review for Rookie GMs require a 2/3 approval.

draft pick trading
You may only trade draft picks for the upcoming draft. This means, in April/May before the draft, you may trade the current year's picks, and after the June draft, you may only trade the following year's picks. You are allowed to trade picks you have acquired in previous trades, or from free agency compensation. You are allowed to accumulate no more than 3 first round picks via trade, and no more than a total of 5 first or second round picks. Make sure you post any traded picks in the traded picks thread in the forum.

trading cash

You are allowed to trade any amount of cash in a trade, and you may trade nothing but cash for a player (in effect buying that player). You may also make annual payments for a player as long as the payments do not exceed a player's salary or the length of his contract.

posting a trade
Please list the following when posting a trade: Teams involved in the trade in the subject. Example - MIN/BAL. Players involved in the trade, including current commish ratings and positions. Note that while failure to post commish ratings does not mean an automatic disapproval of your trade, it may delay its approval if the trade moderators request commish ratings. You are encouraged to post a sentence or two about the logic behind the trade, especially if it's borderline from a trade moderation standpoint.

waiver system
Outahere uses a simplified waiver system. In order to make a trade past the trade deadline (July 31st), a player must be posted in the waivers forum for 24 hours before he can be traded. This includes minor league players. A player must be on waivers for 24 hours before you can release and buy the player out, or if multiple teams put in a claim the team with the worst record has the first priority.

All teams may send 2 players to winterball, at a cost of 2 Million per player. Each player may attend winterball a maximum of 2 times. Players going to winterball must be rookies according to their scouting profile, and be no more than 26 years old. Players going to winterball cannot have a peak above 92.

eligible players
To be eligible all of the following must be true:
A1: Player was age 18 or younger when drafted with 4 seasons of professional (minor or major league) service OR player was age 19 and older when drafted with 3 seasons of professional (minor or major league) service.
A2: Player must not be on the 40 man roster.
A3: An eligible player list will be posted after each year's amateur draft and in the off season to assist teams in determining who is available in the Rule 5.

40 man roster
B1: Teams will list their protected players in the Rule 5 forum. A thread will be started for each team listing their eligible/required players.
B2: All players with an ML contract (421k and above) must be on the 40 Man roster.

drafting
C1: The draft will be held on March 1st, after free agency and before spring training.
C2: Draft is held in reverse order of previous season's standings, as determined by the game's amateur draft order.
C3: In order to draft a player a team must have a spot open their 40 man roster.
C4: No more than four (4) players may be drafted from a single team.

restrictions
D1: Any player drafted must spend one full season at the ML level or be returned to the team he was drafted from.
D2: A drafted player is not required to be carried into the post season.
D3: A team may move a drafted player to the minors if they work out a trade with the player's original team beforehand.
D4: Drafted players may be traded, but the team a player is traded to is still under the D1 restriction. D4: A player may be sent to the Disabled List if he is injured for seven (7) days or longer. He must be immediately returned to the ML roster on the first sim he is no longer injured.

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