League Structure:

The Champions of the Diamond Baseball League (CDBL) will mirror the modern day Major League Baseball structure.  CDBL consists of 30 franchises divided into two leagues (American and National).  The American League will use the Designated Hitter, and the National League will not.  CDBL will allow for strategic relocation of franchises due to poor financial markets and team interest. CDBL franchise general managers are responsible for the day-to-day operations of their Major League franchise in addition to the operations for each minor league team in their system. 

Simulations and Sim Schedules:

CDBL will run regular simulations at 10 PM Eastern Time on Sunday night, Tuesday night, and Thursday night.  Each simulation will be run by the league commissioner and will be 7 calendar days in length.  There will be the following exceptions to the 7 calendar day simulations:

• Trade deadline July 31^st, a simulation will end on this day, to allow for any final trades to be made
• CDBL Playoffs, a separate playoff simulation schedule will be followed, to allow for playoff teams to modify lineups.  CDBL will move to nightly Sunday to Thursday simulations during playoffs, so the non-playoff teams don’t lose interest prior to the off-season beginning
• • Simulation 1 – League Division Series games 1-5
  • Simulation 2 – League Championship Series games 1, 2, 3, and 4
  • Simulation 3 – League Championship Series games 5, 6, and 7
  • Simulation 4 – World Series games 1 and 2
  • Simulation 5 – World Series games 3 and 4
  • Simulation 6 – World Series games 5 and 6
  • Simulation 7 – World Series game 7

Team Export Deadlines:

All team exports are due by 10 PM Eastern Time on simulation days.  If you plan on missing multiple simulations in a row (vacations, etc), it is your responsibility to post in the forums and contact the commissioner.  All transactions involving lineup changes, pitching rotations, depth chart changes, and minor league player movements must be completed by entering the game, with the latest copy of the downloaded league file, making all desired changes, then going to the Team Setup screen and selecting ‘Export to FTP.’ 

First Year Player Drafts:

The CDBL First Year player draft will be held on game calendar date June 15^th.  The draft will contain 30 rounds with only the first 5 rounds being conducted with general manager input.  Prior to the First Year player draft, each team will submit a draft list that will be used to select players for the respective organization.  If no draft list is submitted, the commissioner will pick the best player available based on in-game scouting ratings, regardless of position.  After the 5^th round, the computer will complete the final 25 rounds for each team.   

Rule 5 Player Draft:

The CDBL Rule 5 player draft will be held on a game December calendar date to be determined.  Teams will be notified prior to the Rule 5 draft simulation that they must protect players by a particular simulation date.  If a team wants to protect any Rule 5 draft eligible player, it is the team’s responsibility to place the player on the 40-man roster.  The Rule 5 draft will be conducted similar to the First Year player draft, with a draft list being submitted to the commissioner prior to the draft simulation.  If no draft list is submitted, it is assumed the team will not participate in the Rule 5 draft. NOTE: Any player selected in the Rule 5 draft must remain on the team’s Active 25-man roster and 40-man roster for the entire season.  Otherwise, you must return the player back to the original team. 

Free Agency:

All Free Agency signings are handled by offering players contracts in-game.  Bidding is conducted in-game and all offers are submitted by exporting the team through FTP.  Each player has different demands for each team, based on the appeal to play for each particular team.  The only restrictions on free agent bidding are individual team budgets (you can only offer contracts you have the budget to pay) plus yearly cash maximum of up to $25,000,000 and the contract incentive rules below.  Contract incentive rules prevent teams from improperly using incentives to get a free agent to sign with their team.   Contract Incentive Rules:

• Total value of incentives (Minimum # innings pitched and Cy Young Award bonus for pitchers or Minimum # at-bats and MVP bonus for hitters) must not exceed 25% of the lowest annual salary offered to the player
• If the salary offered is less than $1M, the incentives cannot exceed $400,000
• The minimum # of at-bats must be 500 or less
• The minimum # of innings pitched for pitchers with an Endurance rating greater than or equal to 55 must be 180 innings or less
• The minimum # of innings pitched for pitchers with an Endurance rating less than 55 must be 80 innings or less
• No Cy Young award bonuses allowed for pitchers with an Endurance rating less than 55

Trades:

Teams are allowed to trade with any other human-controlled team.  The “trading season” starts after the Rule 5 draft is complete and will continue until the trade deadline on July 31^st (in-game date).  Currently, CDBL does not follow the MLB waiver trading period, after the trade deadline has expired.  All trades must be posted and confirmed by all teams involved in the trade on the website forums, prior to being processed in-game.  All trades are processed at the end of each simulation period. All trades are subject to approval by the CDBL front office.  If the front office views the trade to be unfair, unbalanced or unethical (knowingly trading an injured player out for an extended period), each team will be allowed to provide reasonable justification for the trade before a final decision is given. CDBL does not allow the trading of First Year player draft picks in the upcoming draft only. 

Waiver Length:

The CDBL waiver period length will be 8 days.  With simulation lengths set at 7 days, each team will have an opportunity to submit a waiver claim by using the in-game waiver claim system.  Additionally, teams with the ability to remove a player from waivers will be given the opportunity to do so during the following simulation.

Players Designated for Assignment:

The CDBL Players Designated for Assignment length will be 15 days.  Any players remaining in a team’s Designated for Assignment area past the expiration date will be released from the team, with the team paying any salary still owed to the player.   

Roster Size:

Each team’s roster size will be limited to 25 players from opening day to September 1^st.  There is no limitations to how many position players and pitchers are allowed on a roster.  On September 1^st, rosters will expand to 40-man rosters.  The roster expansion is optional and teams may choose to add extra players as they see fit. 

Pitching Rotations:

In order to provide a realistic simulation, regular season pitching staffs are recommended to be 5-man rotations, and CDBL will allow teams to use a 4-man pitching rotation if they choose.  During the playoffs, the pitching staff is recommended to be a 4-man rotation, and CDBL will allow teams to use a 3-man pitching rotation if they choose.