In the grand tradition of the many BRASS Strat-O-Matic Baseball Leagues that have dotted the landscape since 1990, the next generation is born. Welcome to the BRASS League of Champions, an enterprise we hope will provide its members with decades of the type of fun, friendship and enjoyable baseball competition that gamers everywhere have come to appreciate from BRASS-style Leagues.

The Bloomington Rotisserie and Strat-O-Matic Society (B.R.A.S.S.) was formed in 1985 on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. The first of its rotisserie leagues began in 1985 and was followed shortly thereafter by the first of its Strat‑O‑Matic leagues in 1987. Current BRASS League of Champions Executive Committee member Vaughn Nuest was among the four original BRASS members and "founding fathers.” The others were Jeff Humphrey, Keith Koszut and Mark Ballee.

For four years, Nuest ran a robust face-to-face Strat league experience in Bloomington where no fewer than 13 league seasons were completed. Early on, the leagues were complete with all the extras and features that make leagues more fun and the simulation more complete. A way of doing things was being developed in these years, the “BRASS way” of doing things.

These face-to-face leagues led to the establishment of the first BRASS Play-By-Mail Strat League in 1990. The constitution was authored by Vaughn Nuest, with valuable input from several other BRASS members of the day, including current BRASS League of Champions member Kevin Kolb. That original BRASS League is still in operation, a fixture on the winter league circuit.

That league’s setup and constitution has been the source of the formation of nearly a dozen spin off leagues to date, each using the BRASS model with personalized innovations and the full permission and best wishes of BRASS’s creator Nuest. The Strat League landscape has not looked the same since the BRASS League hit the scene in 1990.

Some notable BRASS-inspired projects include the following leagues:

The BRASSball League, founded in 1995 by Nuest and Tom Taormina in order to bring the BRASS experience to the summer and also to incorporate minor leaguers into the experience. Kevin Kolb, the BRASSball League Director in it’s crucial early years, was instrumental in seeing the league become an established, flourishing entity that continues to entertain and excite to this day.

In 2003, Mark Lentz and Corey Weisser established the next outstanding BRASS-style league on the scene with their ambitious, outstanding offering: the BRASSWORLD League. Lentz and Weisser brought BRASS-style leagues into the 21^st Century with very good innovations and refinement to the player contract system, a salary arbitration model, a new playoff model and a fresh take on player contract amounts. That league flourishes to this day as well.

And so it came to pass in late 2006 that Daniel Valois and Jonah Keri approached Nuest to see if he would be interested in working with them to form a new, high-caliber league that sought to move BRASS-style leagues squarely into the Electronic Age and into the NetPlay era. And now, on the strength of the set up of each of these earlier, strong BRASS enterprises and in honor of the contributions of so many people to the BRASS experience over the years, these three founding fathers launch the next generation, The BRASS League of Champions.

The BRASS League of Champions will be operate under the mantra of a “Commitment to Excellence.” MLB is the model that was followed for virtually all facets of the construct, but the founders believed it was also important to recognize that one cannot build an exact replica of MLB. The goal of the founders was to establish the BLOC as a delightful pastime that simulates owning an MLB professional baseball franchise, to the degree that it is possible.

Toward that end, the BLOC will offer the participant more than just the drafting, trading, and managing experience. It will also give him the opportunity to act as General Manager, be a one-man Scouting Department, CFO, Ballpark Architect, Free Agent Recruiter and perhaps even the chief team writer. He will get to make the same type of financial decisions that his MLB counterpart makes.

What’s more, since all games in the Bill James NetPlay League of the BLOC are played using the Strat-O-Matic Game Company’s NetPlay facility, half of the league members have the fun and excitement of playing every game live versus a real opponent. Even in the NetPlay optional Branch Rickey League, any league member is welcome to play any series live with a real opponent via NetPlay where he can find a willing partner.

The BLOC is a 24-team league that plays a 162 game season over a 6‑month period from April to September. We use the players from every major league team as our talent pool and also permit the drafting of a limited number of players in the minor league systems of MLB franchises. We use almost all the super advanced rules of Strat’s Baseball game.

The BLOC is divided into two smaller sub leagues, the aforementioned James and Rickey Leagues. BLOC has four divisions in all, two in each league. There are twelve post-season qualifiers each year. All four division winners qualify and receive a bye in the first round of the playoffs. Four wild card teams from both the James League and Rickey League round out the playoff lineup. NetPlay is compulsory in the James league, optional in the Rickey League. If there is a catastrophic reason an James League series cannot be NetPlayed, the games are played by one member of the Executive Committee, with the strong preference being for NetPlay surrogate management whenever possible (see Article II).

The players who make up the franchise rosters in BLOC are: 1) the Major League Baseball players who played in the most recent MLB season and, 2) a handful (three) of minor leaguers to give each franchise a semblance of a minor league system. The minor league players are optional for each team and count against the 40-man roster. We allow teams to protect 30 of their players each year going into the annual Draft.

BLOC employs a realistic contract system that bears a strong resemblance to the system used in Major League Baseball. Young players have a few seasons at minimum salary levels before a team has to decide whether to invest in a longer-term deal or go to salary arbitration with the player. The free agent market typically sets the player’s salary in his 8^th year, similar to MLB.

All BLOC teams will have an opportunity to bid on and sign virtually every player at some point in his career. The contract and free agency system promote the type of annual, MLB-style player movement that offers the opportunity for every team to improve, and for every team to land a superstar.

The BLOC also employs a system of revenue sharing that ensures equal footing and equal competition for all franchises. There is no such thing as a small market or large market franchise in the BLOC. The teams succeed based on the decisions of the owners, along with the usual healthy dose of baseball luck that any good franchise must have.

The League employs a luxury tax for teams that spend beyond certain limits. There is also a financial system that simulates the effect that teams tend to get at the turnstile for competing and nearly missing the playoffs, as well as winning it all. The annual Champion of the BRASS League of Champions earns a $10,000,000 bonus. The runner-up earns $8,000,000, and every post-season team earns a playoff share.

The BLOC also reflects the “BRASS way” of doing business in a Strat-O-Matic based, baseball simulation league. In addition to simulating MLB franchise ownership, is it also founded on a philosophy designed to make the league a pleasant and rewarding pastime for its members. Only friendly correspondence and contact among our league colleagues is tolerated.

We assure that all e-mailings are made on time by employing a schedule of escalating fines for late e-mailings and an incentive/reward program for on-time e-mailings. The BLOC offers several tiebreaker benefits to league members who meet all of their e-mailing responsibilities.

We publish very thorough and timely statistical reports during the season, relying on information provided from the League's membership. In addition to the required information League members provide, we offer the League's membership opportunities to contribute to the League's newsletters by providing monetary incentives for newsletter articles.

The League has all the bells and whistles that one would want from a good league. It has an annual All-Star game, post-season awards, a very low league dues payment, speedy and reliable electronic delivery of league information, a newsletter and an extensive compilation of the league’s history in the BLOC Encyclopedia.

The League maintains and operates a dynamic league web site where virtually all league files, stats, standings, history, trade announcements are found and where league forum discussions take place.

The BLOC does not have a Commissioner, as such. A three-person Executive Committee, comprised of two of the founders of the BLOC and one additional league member, administers the League. They are assisted and supported by members of the League’s Administrative Team. The team handles jobs like Webmaster, League Statistician, Draft Conductor, Roster Agent, Reporter/Historian, Free Agency Conductor, All-Star Game Coordinator, Arbitration Judge, Awards Coordinator, Constitution Author and any others that are necessary from year-to-year.

These individuals have the authority and bear the obligation to keep the league running smoothly. The Executive Committee handles recruiting and special events, organizes and conducts all league operations, and of course rules on all league matters and disputes that may arise.

The Executive Committee further has the responsibility to all for making certain that league activities are conducted in accordance with the information contained in the BLOC Constitution, for enforcing league penalties in accordance with the Constitution when league members do not observe the league’s rules, for wisely spending the collective league dues on essential supplies and expenses.

The founders wanted a stable, top-notch league without ever-shifting rules and programs, so they have made a long-term commitment to the endeavor and have set up the BLOC Executive Committee with the full authority to make unimpeachable rulings on any league matter. But reflecting their desire to have a league where the excellent membership we’ve assembled also impacts league direction, the Committee will formally seek the input and opinion of the wise and experienced gentleman who capably make up the league membership and will be responsive to ideas and discussions that occur in the league about perceived problems or improvements.

The BLOC Constitution provides for monthly, up‑to‑date, in‑season mailings to the league's membership. League members will always have completely current standings, league leaders, trades and other league information before playing their games for the coming month.

The league emphasizes fast turnaround time on all league information and prompt, respectful correspondence practices as basic, high ideals in the league's operations. This constitution does not permit the Executive Committee to have any tolerance for late mailings and obligates them to enforce league penalties in accordance with the Constitution on the first and every offense.

BLOC is set up to be something significantly more than the run-of-the-mill Strat Sim League. Whether it winds up being a special league, in reality, is dependent solely on its administration and its owners. In order to have a successful Strat-O-Matic Baseball league, we must each be a strong link in the league's chain of owners. Everyone must meet his mailing deadlines and fulfill other obligations, treat our league colleagues with respect and keep this wonderful hobby in proper perspective.

As the founders see it, that perspective is to view the league as a fun and friendly pastime, a break from the stresses and day-to-day grind of everyday life, and a league membership that is conducted in such a way as to bring us each the respect of our colleagues. Who knows, we may even make a few friendships along the way!

Article II. League Administrative Team

The BRASS League of Champions is filled with capable, competent managers and administrators. Many (or perhaps even most) of the League’s membership have been or are currently commissioners of other leagues. The League’s annual success will depend heavily on a group of veteran gamers each year who will hold down various league jobs. This team of special contributors is called the League Administrative Team.

In exchange for the significant extra work these folks are contributing for the betterment of the League, they will draw a BRASS League of Champions salary. The salary is awarded in league dollars credited to their team bank accounts at the end of each year served. Unless no other League members are interested in the Administrative Team position, the same person should not hold the same position for more than three consecutive years.

The lone exceptions are the BRASS League of Champions Executive Committee positions, which are appointments for life (see Article XXVIII. League Changes) or as long as the ExCom member wants the job, whichever comes first. The Executive Committee decides who fills the positions on the League's Administrative Team and appoints successors, if necessary.

The members of this team, along with a brief description of their jobs and their salaries follow below.

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The three-person Executive Committee has both the authority and the responsibility to rule on all aspects of league operation. They have the final say on who joins the league, who stays in the league, and they rule on any disputes that may occur. Their rulings are final and a simple majority is required for a decision to be rendered.

The ExCom members have the most critical job in a league whose set up is as ambitious as ours, i.e. trying to simulate owning a MLB franchise so completely. That job is the assessment of how the league is working and deciding whether a given rule or program needs to be changed, and if so, how to change it. With their authority to make changes comes the responsibility to make the best decisions possible. Given this, they should not make significant decisions without giving the League's membership a chance to offer some input on a given issue.

They will be responsible for recruiting new members and maintaining a backup owner list. They will be charged with the important responsibility of keeping the league rolling along such that it is fair and fun for all. They will act quickly to preserve a good league experience for others whenever necessary and will rule on all important issues from owner integrity to any kind of dispute to the review of trades to league member dismissal.

The Executive Committee will be permanently comprised of the following BLOC members: David Dick, Jonah Keri and Daniel Valois. Their labors in creating the league, filling out the roster of managers and setting up the entire process were labors of love. So, too, will be their labors in support of the League’s effective operation and management. They refuse to accept a salary for their efforts.

SALARY: None, it’s an honor to serve.

ROSTER AGENT

The league will entrust one person with the sole authority and responsibility for the league’s Excel workbook roster file. The Roster Agent will be responsible for creating a document that accurately details the team’s roster of players, their contracts and their annual salaries. He will be a clearinghouse for all trades and must track, record and report all league transactions or activities that have an affect on any team’s bank account. The Roster Agent must maintain complete and accurate records of all financial transaction, organized by league year, and archived for future reference. He must also keep track of draft picks. The Roster Agent will supply the league with the updated file on a monthly basis, or more frequently as off-season activities may warrant.

SALARY: $5,000,000 per year

Position currently held by: Dan Noonan

LEAGUE STATISTICIAN

The League Statistician will be entrusted with compiling all league in-season statistics upon receipt of the monthly game files, which contain game results from each team. The Statistician is responsible for creating and updating the game software league setup and schedule, the roster .lzp file used to begin league play, as well as for making all roster changes that occur as a result of in-season trades. Each month the Statistician will produce an updated .lzp file that will have up-to-date stats, rosters, league leaders, and standings. These files will be used by league members to restore the league to the current version, within each person’s game software, prior to the next month’s play. The Statistician also creates and distributes the post-season and All-Star Game .lzp league update.

SALARY: $4,000,000 per year

Position currently held by: David Dick

LEAGUE REPORTER

The BRASS League of Champions will employ a League Reporter who will author a periodic newsletter covering league in-season activities, articles, league history or whatever the Reporter wishes to write about. The newsletters will be distributed to the entire league and/or published on the website. The newsletters will have varying topics that may include, but are not limited to, trade examinations, analysis of each teams’ off-season/free agency signings and drafts, hot-stove type summaries, season previews and reviews by team, in-season monthly recaps by team and previews and recaps of playoff series. This person will also incorporate any articles from the League’s membership into the newsletter.

SALARY: $750,000 per article (earnings capped at $4,000,000)

Position currently held by: Jonah Keri

LEAGUE HISTORIAN

The Reporter/Historian will also be the creator, keeper and compiler of league historical documents and league history.

SALARY: $3,000,000 per year

Position currently held by: Mike Huddleston

WEBMASTER

This individual will be responsible for designing, updating, and maintaining a dynamic, interactive league web site. The webmaster will ensure that the site provides the league with features such as fully accessible in-season stats, leaders and standings, real-time trades and results, discussion forums, historical records, league information and contacts for recruitment, team pages, must fully register the site and make it accessible with search engines and any other features intended to enhance the enjoyment of the BRASS League of Champions for everyone.

SALARY: $5,000,000 per year

Position currently held by: Mike Swanson

DRAFT CONDUCTOR

The league will entrust the responsibility for managing the annual Draft to one of its members as well. ExCom may declare a draft to be either an e-mail draft, chat room draft, combination of both or perhaps develop or identify a new model. If an e-mail draft is being employed then the Draft Conductor is responsible for providing a draft list, setting a schedule, keeping the draft moving, recording selections into the historical file and for making the decision when a manager’s pick should be skipped. The Draft Conductor is responsible for sending out the final draft report and updating the Roster Agent as to who was selected by whom and which selections involved a financial component. The Draft Conductor is the person to whom written instructions should be sent for those who cannot participate in person on draft day or during portions of an e-mail draft.

SALARY: $2,000,000 per year

Position currently held by: Michael Murphy

FREE AGENCY CONDUCTOR

The league free agency process will be served by a person who entrusted with the responsibility for handling every aspect of the process. The Free Agency Conductor sends out the list of free agents, collects the sealed bids, determines Type A, B and C free agents, does all the calculations necessary to determine the winning bids for given players and manages the pace of the process as the decisions and signings are announced. He must report signings on a daily basis to the league at the end of each day during which the process is under way. He must also make a full report to the league at the end of the process by recording the signings into the league free agent file and distributing it.

SALARY: $3,000,000 per year

Position currently held by: David Dick

ARBITRATION JUDGE

The salary arbitration process will have one person charged with being responsible for computing all arbitration results. By October 7^th, the Arbitration Judge must notify league members of the Arbitration Group to which the eligible players belong. Because of this early deadline the Arbitration Judge must be ready to get going as soon as the MLB season is finished. He will receive all arbitration offers from managers by the October 31st deadline and announce the results of the salary arbitration process to the league on or before November 5th. To serve the league in this capacity, the Arbitration Judge must have access to a twenty-sided die or a random number generator.

SALARY: $2,000,000 per year

Position currently held by: Daniel Valois

AWARDS COORDINATOR

One person from the league’s membership will handle the post-season awards voting. The respective members of each league are required to vote on Player of the Year, Cy Young Award, Rookie of the Year, GM of the Year and Top Fireman of the Year for the league in which they play. The Awards Coordinator will send out a statistical file that lists the player stats for all the top candidates for each category, as well as a ballot. He tallies the results, reports the winners to the league and enters the voting totals and results into the league’s Awards file before distributing it.

SALARY: $1,500,000 per year

Position currently held by: Don Herklotz

ALL-STAR GAME COORDINATOR

The BRASS League of Champions will have an All-Star Game each year, hosted in odd-numbered years by a league member volunteer from the American League and in even-numbered years by a league member volunteer from the National League. The game will be played after the completion of June’s games.

The All-Star Game Coordinator will send out an All-Star Game ballot to all the league members from both leagues, along with a statistical file that lists the player stats for all the top candidates at each position. The Coordinator will receive and tabulate the voting. The voting totals will identify the 20 players who were voted to each 28-player team and the Coordinator that year selects the final 8 players based on team need from the list of deserving players. Each team must have at least one player representative in the All-Star Game. The Coordinator must write an article about the game and share the box score with the League.

SALARY: $1,500,000 per year

Position currently held by: Jonah Keri

CONSTITUTION AUTHOR

The League puts the responsibility of drafting a clear and comprehensive guide to all aspects of the league in the hands of the Constitution Author, as well as the annual responsibility of updating and revising portions of the document that may need to be revised each year.

The League Constitution governs all League activities without exception in the BRASS League of Champions. The document will be followed to the letter at all times so that league is operated in a manner that is free from surprise or inconsistency and so that the league’s membership can readily expect and predict how and when league business will take place. The document details not only the answers to the typical how, when, where and whom questions that arise in day-to-day league participation, but also a way of doing league business.

Adherence to the Constitution is mandatory for league members and those who are serving the league on the League Administrative Team alike. We all agree to follow it, as written, when we agree to play in the league. These are our rules and the pages here define and detail our contract with each other and our commitment to each other. The document is what makes the league special; the people are what make the league successful.

If no review or revision is required in a given year, this salary is not collected.

SALARY: $1,500,000 per year

Position currently held by: David Dick

Article III. The Draft

The annual Draft is held over the course of a two-week period, via e-mail or another electronic communication medium. The draft’s procedure may vary from year to year, depending on league needs, preferences and the medium used to conduct it. Outlined below are the default procedures.

a. If an e-mail Draft is used, the Draft starts at 7 pm (ET) on the first Friday in February and ends at 7 pm (ET) on the third Friday in February.

b. An e-mail Draft proceeds on a pick-by-pick basis with each league member announcing his selection over e-mail when it is his turn and copying the rest of the league on the message.

c. The Draft Conductor will have full authority to set deadlines for making picks to ensure that The Draft does not get delayed while waiting on one league member who is slow to make a pick.

d. If the Draft Conductor opts for an on-line automated draft site, he will be responsible for setting up the draft grid, entering he players’ names on the site, and monitor the process. The Draft would then start on the second Friday in February.

e. The following players are eligible to be selected in The Draft:

· Unowned, carded players: These are players whom the game company has carded for the current season and who are not on a 30-man protected list for any franchise at the time of The Draft, with the exception of the International Professionals detailed below.

· Unowned, never carded or “minor league” players: These are players who have never been carded and who are not on a 30-man protected list for any franchise at the time of The Draft.

The following players are not eligible to be selected in The Draft:

· Protected players: These are players who are on the 30-man protected lists of a BLOC franchise.

· Uncarded Veterans: These are players who were not given cards for the current season, but who have been carded previously. These players will be unrestricted free agents in the next free agency process.

· International Professionals: These are players who have played at the major league level in another country and have signed a major league contract with a MLB team. These players will also be unrestricted free agents in the next free agency process.

f. The Draft will last for a number of rounds sufficient to satisfy all owners or until each owner has filled the 40 roster spots available for players in his organization, whichever occurs first.

g. Draft order for each round is determined as follows:

· The 24th pick will belong to the BLOC World Series champion. The 23rd pick will go to the World Series runner‑up. The 22nd pick will belong to the League Championship Series runner‑up with the better record. The 21st pick will be awarded to the League Championship Series runner‑up with the worst record.

· Picks 17 through 20 will belong to the teams who were eliminated in the Division Series Round of the Playoffs. The order will be the inverse order of that season's regular season winning percentage for the four teams.

· Picks 13 through 16 will belong to the teams who were eliminated in the 1^st Round of the Playoffs. The order will be the inverse order of that season's regular season winning percentage for the four teams.

· Picks 5 through 12 will belong to the eight teams with the best records who did not make the playoff field. The order will be the inverse order of that season’s regular season winning percentage among these eight teams.

· Picks 1 through 4 will belong to the teams with the four poorest regular season winning percentages. The order will be determined by random lottery.

Tie breakers for all selections will be: 1) best on‑time mailing record picks first, if still tied…2) loser of the regular season series picks first, if still tied…3) worst division record picks first (if in same division), if still tied…4) worst record within the teams league (if in same league) pick first, and if still tied…5) a coin flip with the winner selecting first. The winner of the tiebreaker selects ahead of the loser in each round of The Draft, starting with Round 1.

h. The Draft contains a Bonus Round after Round 3 for teams whose owners maintained perfect on‑time mailing records throughout the previous league year, from October through September. Picks in this round are in the inverse order of that season's regular season winning percentage.

i. Each team may protect 30 players in their organization during The Draft and the list may not change during the draft.

j. Players who have been signed to Fx-1 or Xx-1 deals (where x is the number of years of the free agent or extension contract) and players on no-trade contracts may not be left unprotected during The Draft.

k. Players may not be released or traded during the draft.

l. A list of your 30 protected players is due to the Draft Conductor five days prior to the beginning of The Draft. A fine of $2,000,000 is incurred for being late on the mailing, with $400,000 being added for each additional late day.

m. Unprotected players are no longer property of the team they used to play for. In order to reclaim a player left unprotected during The Draft, any team must use one of its draft selections to do so.

n. If a team drafts an unprotected player from another team during The Draft, it assumes the value and length of the contract and pays a $50,000 transaction fee to the team who lost the player.

o. If a team drafts its own unprotected player, no transaction fee is incurred. Since the team has already paid the player contract, the original contract remains intact and no costs are incurred by a team re-claiming its own unprotected player.

p. Teams retain no rights to the players they left unprotected and did not reclaim. Teams are liable for the remainder of any contract and the players become unrestricted free agents at the conclusion of the draft, if another team did not claim them.

q. The contracts to which your draftees are signed is determined by their years of service, as outlined in Article V. Contracts. The player contract status will be shown for each player on the annual draft list.

Article IV. Bank Accounts & Luxury Tax

a. Each BLOC team receives an equal bank account each year. This practice represents our form of revenue sharing. League franchises equally divide up the equivalent of MLB's gate receipts, merchandising/advertising profits, TV contract money, parking and concession revenues, etc. to allow everyone to compete on equal ground. None of the franchises in our league will be "small market" franchises. The BRASS League of Champions will equally distribute shares of the $2.4 billion league profits annually to its member franchises.

b. When the League began, each team received its $100 million share to spend on their initial player contracts.

c. Any expansion team would receive $130,000,000 in their first season.

d. In every subsequent season, each team receives a $100 million share of operating funds.

e. The money is credited to each team's bank account on October 1 in BLOC, the first day of the new league season.

f. A team can carry over unspent money indefinitely without limit.

g. A team may not spend more money than is available in their bank account at any time. The only time a negative bank account is possible would be in the unlikely case where a team's fines have exceeded their available balance.

h. A franchise incurs an immediate and irrefundable penalty if their player payroll exceeds $150,000,000 at any time during the league year. The penalty is called a “luxury tax” and is assessed according to the tax schedule below:

LUXURY TAX SCHEDULE

Range Team Payroll Tax

1 $150,000,001 - $160,000,000 $1 collected for every $1 spent in this range

2 $160,000,001 - $170,000,000 $2 collected for every $1 spent in this range

3 $170,000,001 - $180,000,000 $3 collected for every $1 spent in this range

4 $180,000,001 - $190,000,000 $4 collected for every $1 spent in this range

5 $190,000,001 - $200,000,000 $5 collected for every $1 spent in this range

6 $200,000,001 and higher $6 collected for every $1 spent in this range

i. The payroll penalties collected from league franchises go to BLOC charities and do not get redistributed among the league’s franchises.

Article V. Contracts

a. When a player is selected in The Draft, he must be signed to a contract before joining his team.

b. If a drafted player has never appeared in a major league game, he qualifies for inclusion on a BLOC roster under a minor league contract. The contract designation in the roster file for minor league contracts will be MIN. The cost for a minor league contract is $100,000. A team may not have more than three players on minor league contracts at the completion of The Draft. Minor leaguers count towards the 40-player limit on rosters.

c. Players who have appeared in major league games will make up most of the annual draft pool and the majority of them will be younger players in the early stages of their MLB and BLOC careers. This type of draftee qualifies for inclusion on a BLOC roster under one of the two types of major league contracts described below:

· If the player has yet to accumulate 130 at bats, 30 relief innings pitched or 50 innings pitched in total in a single major league season, he plays under a minor-major contract and is only eligible to be on an active roster during the final month of the season. The contract designation for this type of contract in the roster file will be MM. The annual cost is $200,000.

· If a player has accumulated the above AB or IP amounts in a single major league season prior to being drafted, he has passed the service time threshold that requires him to be placed on the full major league contract that is appropriate for the MLB service time he has accumulated.

d. Players who are under a full major league contract earn a salary that is determined by the salary schedule below, calibrated to coincide with his BLOC major league service time.

BLOC Year Salary Amount Arbitration Status

YEAR 1: $400,000 Player not arbitration eligible

YEAR 2: $600,000 Player not arbitration eligible

YEAR 3: $800,000* Player not arbitration eligible

YEAR 4: Player is eligible for arbitration OR a long term contract

YEAR 5: Player is eligible for arbitration OR a long term contract**

YEAR 6: Player is eligible for arbitration OR a long term contract

YEAR 7: Player is ONLY eligible for arbitration.

* - teams have an additional option on deals after YEAR 2, detailed in

sec. h. below

**- teams retain matching rights for the top free agent offer for a

player only if he is signed to a long-term deal by this time.

By Year 8, the team’s exclusive rights to the player have expired and his contract length and salary are determined by open market, unrestricted free agency bids, unless the player was signed to a long-term contract at least by the end of Year 5.

The Year x contracts will be shown on the league roster file as (Yx) contacts where x represents the current year of the contract.

e. Players in Years 1-7 of their BLOC careers are playing on contracts where the owner holds the unilateral right to retain the player under the salary structure outlined above. If an owner feels a player is no longer in his plans and declines to offer him a contract in Years 4-7 after his current contract has expired, the player becomes an unrestricted free agent.

f. If a MM, MIN, Y1, Y2, or Y3 player is released and re-drafted, his service time counts and he does not start over at the beginning contract when/if drafted again.

g. After the completion of YEAR 3 and until his free agency, a player may be signed to a long-term contract, released or offered salary arbitration each year during the contract signing process. The salary arbitration process is detailed in Article VI. Arbitration. The cost of signing a player to a long-term contract after Year 3 is detailed in the chart below:

Contract amounts for Long-Term Contracts after Y3 (Contract Type L):

CONTRACT LENGTH ANNUAL COST TOTAL COST

After Y3: 4 year $ 5,600,000 $ 22,400,000

After Y4: 3 year $ 8,000,000 $ 24,000,000

After Y5: 2 year $ 12,000,000 $ 24,000,000

No player may receive a contract, which lasts longer than Year 7 in his career, except in the case of a long-term contract signed after YEAR 2 (see sec. h. below). For instance, if a player was offered salary arbitration in Years 4 and 5, he could only receive a two-year contract offer in Year 6 (amount shown on the chart above). No player may stay under the unrestricted control of his drafting team beyond the first seven seasons, excluding the case of a long-term contract signed after YEAR 2 (see sec. h. below).

A team earns the right to match a player’s best free agent offer only if the player is signed to a long-term contract before YEAR 5. Players who are signed to these “L” contracts are considered to be restricted free agents and the team that owns them at the completion of their “L” contract also owns the matching rights.

h. An important part of the BLOC salary structure is the opportunity to sign an exceptional young player to a long-term deal after salary YEAR 2. In this case, the annual cost of the contract is higher than that offered after Y3, and is the one contract that extends to YEAR 8. This contract agreement would give the team ownership of the player for a total of 8 initial years before free agency, instead of 7. The annual cost of such contracts is $6,000,000.

Contract amounts for Long-Term Contract after Y2 for

“exceptional young players’: (Contract Type L):

CONTRACT LENGTH ANNUAL COST TOTAL COST

6 year $ 6,000,000 $ 36,000,000

This is an intriguing possibility, since an owner will have to balance out the risk and possible reward of tying up a player for 6 years, coupled with the reasonable annual cost associated with such a contract, similar to the manner in which some MLB teams reach agreements with young stars on long-term contracts, avoiding all the arbitration processes that occur before a player is eligible for free agency.

All long-term contracts will be shown on the roster file as (Lx-a) where the x shows the length of the long-term deal and the a reflects the current year. For example, a 4-year long-term deal in its second year would be shown as: (L4-2).

i. Some players in each draft and every player available in the Secondary Free Agency process will be players who are not in the first three years of their careers. Veteran players of this kind who are drafted after already having been signed to a Y3 contract or higher earlier in his career, signed as Secondary Free Agents, as well as being one of the players who receive no offers as restricted free agents, may be signed to a new deal by their team using the pay scales and options outlined below.

U Contract Chart

Length Yearly Payment Total Cost

1 yr $800,000 $800,000

2 yr $1,000,000 $2,000,000

A two‑year contract signed under this scenario will bear a contract string like this: (U2-1). Players released during a “U” deal or finishing a “U” deal become unrestricted free agents, eligible for signing in the next League free agency process. No contract reimbursement is ever due to released players. Players on U contracts who have fewer than 50 PA or fewer than 20 IP are eligible to be on active rosters for September’s play only. They are not eligible for post-season play.

j. All contracts are considered to be guaranteed. If a player is released before the terms of his contract have ended, the team who releases him is still obligated to make the annual contract payments and meet the total value of the contract they promised to the player when he was signed to the guaranteed deal. This value is considered to be the terminal pay for that player’s terminated contract. The contract is considered to be void upon the player's release and he may sign a new contract with a new team. Any terminal payments that a franchise owes will be listed in the league roster file on the team’s page.

k. If a player in Years 1-3 regresses or is injured and does not meet the 130 AB and 30/50 IP thresholds necessary to qualify him on a “Y” contract for a given year, he does not accumulate major league service time toward his Year 8 free agency. He may be retained by his current team at his current contract until he again passes the PA and IP threshold that would move him to the next contract level. To be retained he must be paid. Players repeating their Y contract are not eligible for post-season play and may only be active in the final month of the season. Their contracts are noted on the roster sheet with an asterisk.

l. Managers must adhere strictly to the requirement that players on Y1*, Y2*, Y3* and MM contracts are only eligible for use for the final month of the season’s schedule. If one of these players is used prior to the final month, the following penalty scenario will apply without exception:

· a $2,000,000 fine is assessed for using an ineligible player on a roster

· the fine will escalate to $4,000,000 for a second event or occurrence, whether the same or a different ineligible player is involved

· the fine escalates to $6,000,000 for a third occurrence, $8,000,000 for a fourth, $10,000,000 for a fifth

· if an ineligible player is used prior to the final month’s play, he is disqualified from use in the final month

m. If a released player is acquired by another team, he must be signed to a new contract, regardless of the length of his previous contract. The new contract does not take the place of the old; it is compensation that the player earns in addition to his old contract.

n. When a team signs players to contracts, the money for the current year of the contract comes from the team’s current bank account. Obligation to pay for each subsequent season is met on each subsequent October 1 when BLOC franchises receive the $100,000,000 annual operating funds. In other words, each player is paid a lump sum for each season in which he is under contract at the beginning of that league year.

o. Players may be offered free agent contracts when they are eligible for free agency. The chart below shows the minimum contract amounts that are permissible for the various lengths of free agent contract offers:

Minimum contract amounts for Free Agents (Contract Type F):

CONTRACT LENGTH ANNUAL COST TOTAL COST

1 year $ 400,000 $ 400,000

2 year $ 800,000 $ 1,600,000

3 year $ 1,333,333 $ 4,000,000

4 year $ 2,000,000 $ 8,000,000

5 year $ 3,200,000 $ 16,000,000

6 year $ 4,666,667 $ 28,000,000

7 year $ 6,285,714 $ 44,000,000

8 year $ 8,000,000 $ 64,000,000

* for each additional major league year add $2,000,000 per year to the annual cost

When a player’s contract comes from a signing that occurred during the free agency process, the contract is called an “F” contract. Since free agency contract signings can be for any amount above the minimums detailed above, the total value of the contract also appears in his contract string in the roster file.

A player signed in this way will have his contract status expressed in a contract string taking on the following form: (Fy-x) where x is the number representing the current year of the contract, y represents the length of the contract, F is an indicator that the contract was signed through the free agency process.

p. A team may reach an agreement to extend a player’s free agent contract (F contract) for up to five years in length. Use the following cost structure for X (extended) contracts:

1-3 Years: $10,000,000 per year or current player contract times 1.1 annually

4 Years: $12,000,000 per year or current player contract times 1.15 annually

5 Years: $14,000,000 per year or current player contract times 1.2 annually

[Note: For each calculation above use the quantity that is GREATER.]

The free agent contract extension option may be exercised anytime between the original signing of the free agent contract and August 25 during the final season of the contract. In essence, the player refuses to negotiate shortly before free agency begins. Only contracts that were generated from free agency can be extended. L, U and X contracts cannot be extended.

q. If a player's career ends because of a non-baseball injury or illness, or if the player dies, his team is reimbursed 95% of the remaining value of the contract. This simulates the insurance protection MLB teams have for cases where player's careers are ended by off-field activities. The 5% loss is considered to represent the sum of the premiums paid on the policy.

r. When a team reaches an agreement with a player on a contract extension (X) or a free agency (F) contract, which is at least 3 years in length and at least $24 M in total value, it may designate the contract as a no-trade contract if it wishes, in exchange for a 5% reduction in the player’s annual salary. This designation attempts to simulate the MLB model where players may agree to stay with a given team for less money, if given the guarantee that their lives will not be disrupted by a trade.

Here is the framework of BLOC’s no-trade contract program:

· A team may declare any contract extension or any contract signed as result of free agency, a “no-trade” contract, as long as it is at least 3 years in length and at least $24,000,000 in amount. The qualifying contract length and amount is designed to keep the ”nt” contract designation from being used a gimmick to save money on players who aren't good enough to be traded anyway.

· An owner must announce his intention to declare a newly signed contract a “no-trade contract” immediately upon announcing a contract extension or signing a player in free agency. The designation may not be used retrospectively. It may not be used an hour or a day later. It has to be announced at the time of the extension or the free agency signing.

· Upon announcing a no-trade contract, the signing team will receive a 5% discount off the annual salary of the tendered contract. This amount will serve as the player's concession to receive the no-trade provision.

· A new contract string will be created. Examples are: (F4-1-nt) or (X3-1-nt) The “nt” will of course stand for: no-trade. The league will list the original amount of the offered contract in the contract information on the roster file so as to be able to easily recall what the original contract offer was and to easily determine what the discount was. The 5% adjustment will be taken off the total during the accounting process.

· If a team decides it wants to trade a player with a “no-trade” contract it must reimburse the player the sum total of the 5% discounts it has received to date, and also a penalty equal to the aforementioned reimbursement.

· When a player with a “no-trade” contract is indeed traded, the league will assume that the no-trade provision was waived only to go to the new team, and no other, and the no-trade contract will remain in effect. The new team will receive the original 5% discount. If the new team or any other team wishes to trade the player it must make the same contract reimbursement and pay the same penalty as the player’s original team.

While the intention of this rule is to simulate the condition by which a player and franchise agree to cast their lots together for a few years while the player pursues his profession in that city, we know that in MLB, on occasion, no-trade contracts are waived or bought out. Sometimes a player with a no-trade contract is traded, though generally not without the team compensating the player in some way. This is possible in BLOC as well. The points above are designed to simulate that "traded for a price" concept.

s. Contracts of the various types available in the BLOC are renewed or determined for the coming season on different dates. Players on multi-year contracts see their contracts take effect for the next season on October 1 (the first day of the new accounting year). Players staying on or returning to MM status or players into years 1-3 of their career have their contracts take effect on October 20^th, the date when decisions are due on whether you want to cut any of these type of players. Arbitration eligible player contracts take effect as soon as the report from the arbitration judge is received. Free agent contracts take affect soon as they are signed.

Article VI. Salary Arbitration

Players play for the established major league minimum salaries in their first three seasons and can have their contracts renewed unilaterally by teams in those first three seasons. Between YEARS 4-7 of their careers, players enjoy a little more freedom. The service time they have earned entitles them to seek a salary raise from their team, if the team wishes to retain their services.

By YEAR 4, they can either reach agreement with their teams for a long-term contract we see above or can have their salary for the coming season set by a salary arbitration process. If no long-term contract is signed, then the player’s salary for the coming season will be set according the process outlined below. (“Exceptional young players” can be offered long term contracts a year earlier, i.e. after YEAR 2. The details of such contracts are outlined in Article V., sec. h.).

a. The process begins with the Arbitration Judge measuring an arbitration-eligible player’s performance for the MLB season upon which his card will be based, relative to the performances of other MLB players. All player performance is measured by the player’s Win Shares rating for the given season. The basic idea behind the Win Shares measure is to credit individual players with the number of wins they contributed to the team, based on virtually everything they did while on the field: batting, pitching and fielding, even a little base running. The Arbitration Judge measures these players’ performances by using the League’s Performance Evaluation Chart for a given season.

b. The Performance Evaluation Chart places the player’s performance in one of six Performance Groups. The players whose performances land them in Performance Group 1 are in the top group and are therefore seeking the largest percentage increase to the previous season’s salary. Those in Performance Group 6 have the least impressive numbers, relative to others, and are therefore seeking the smallest raise from their teams.

c. After determining the Performance Group to which each player belongs, the Arbitration Judge determines the specific percentage salary increase each player is seeking to last year’s salary by using the Player Salary Raise Chart.

d. The Arbitration Judge uses the Owner Salary Raise Chart to determine the specific percentage salary increase the owner is offering to last year’s salary.

e. The Arbitration Judge “rules” in favor of the owner’s proposed salary increase or the player’s proposed salary increase by means of the Arbitration Decision Chart. In this process, he will open an AOL arbitration chat room and hold the process live for any interested parties to witness by using the random number generator available with AOL’s chat software. To generate random numbers, one types “//roll-diceXsidesY” into the chat room where X equals the number of dice you want and Y equals the number of sides your die has. The random numbers are generated and shown on the screen.

f. The Arbitration Judge’s decision is final and the Judge will report the results to the league when the process is complete.

The charts and process are detailed below.

THE ARBITRATION PROCESS
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION CHART – Position Players
			Group
WIN SHARES	20+		G1				Determine the Performance Group to which a position player belongs by indexing his Win Shares rating row for the season in question.
	15-19		G2
	11-14		G3
	8-10		G4
	4- 7		G5
	0- 3		G6

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION CHART – Pitchers
			Group
WIN SHARES	12+		G1				Determine the Performance Group to which a pitcher belongs by indexing his Win Shares rating row for the season in question.
	8-11		G2
	6- 7		G3
	4- 5		G4
	2- 3		G5
	0- 1		G6

PLAYER SALARY RAISE CHART
CONTRACT YEAR
			Y4	Y5	Y6	Y7
PERF. GROUP		1	170%	125%	100%	100%	Determine the percentage increase in salary the player is seeking in the Salary Arbitration process by indexing the his contract for the coming season column with the Performance Group row in which his stats have placed him.
		2	150%	100%	90%	80%
		3	110%	80%	75%	65%
		4	90%	60%	55%	50%
		5	75%	50%	45%	40%
		6	60%	40%	35%	30%

OWNER SALARY RAISE CHART Owner's Raise Offered (also Minimum raise)
ALL PER. GROUPS			CONTRACT YEAR
			4	5	6	7
			50%	30%	25%	25%


ARBITRATION DECISION CHART The judge's verdict
GROUP		1	1-18 the judge sides with the player; 19-20 sides with owner.
		2	1-16 player, 17-20 owner.
		3	1-14 player, 15-20 owner.
		4	1-10 player, 11-20 owner.
		5	1-6 player, 7-20 owner.
		6	1-2 player, 3-20 owner.

[Note: Any player who is in his arbitration year and has not reached the proscribed limits in the charts above (currently 130 ABs, 50 combined IP or 30 IP for relievers) is not subject to arbitration. That player’s contract can be renewed at the previous year’s salary if the team wishes to retain the player.]

Article VII. Free Agency

a. After a player’s “Dr3”, “Dr4”, or “L” contract expires, he becomes a restricted free agent and may obtain an offer sheet (or bid) from any league owner during the free agency process. The offer sheets are obtained in the form of sealed bids made to the Free Agency Coordinator.

b. After a player’s “F”, “Y3 through Y7”, “U” or “X” contract expires, or if he is released during the season on any of the above contracts (excluding Y3*), he becomes an unrestricted free agent. He may also obtain an offer sheet from any league owner during the annual free agency process.

c. Players who sign a major league contract with an MLB team, coming directly from an international professional baseball league, and receive their first Strat card in BLOC may also obtain offer sheets as unrestricted free agents.

d. Carded veteran players who were not on a BLOC roster in the previous season and who have passed into the free agency contract eligibility period of their careers (ie. past the Y3 contract stage) may also obtain offer sheets as unrestricted free agents. If a player has at least one Y-contract qualifying season and has accumulated at least 300 AB or 100 IP in multiple seasons in addition to the Y-qualifying season, he is assumed to have passed into the unrestricted free agency stage of his career.

e. A free agency bid can be for any number of years for any amount of money. A legitimate bid must be at least equal to the minimums shown below for the given number of years:

Minimum contract amounts for Free Agents (Contract Type F):

CONTRACT LENGTH ANNUAL COST TOTAL COST

1 year $ 400,000 $ 400,000

2 year $ 800,000 $ 1,600,000

3 year $ 1,333,333 $ 4,000,000

4 year $ 2,000,000 $ 8,000,000

5 year $ 3,200,000 $ 16,000,000

6 year $ 4,666,667 $ 28,000,000

7 year $ 6,285,714 $ 44,000,000

8 year $ 8,000,000 $ 64,000,000

* for each additional major league year add $2,000,000 per year to the annual cost

f. A restricted free agent's owner does not submit a bid on him. He waits until all the bids are in and will have the opportunity to retain his player.

g. To retain a player, the team who owns his matching rights need only match the best offer sheet a player obtained. The team must match the length of the contract offered and the dollar value. He may match or top the best offer in any way (using the Value Quotient process to do so) and is entitled to know which team signed the player to the offer sheet.

h. If an owner loses a restricted free agent, he may receive a compensatory draft selection in the next draft. The awarding of a draft pick depends on the quality of the restricted free agent that was lost to another team.

i. The measure of the quality of a restricted free agent is determined by finding the average of the player’s Win Shares total for the past two MLB seasons and comparing this average against the Group 1, Group 2 and Group 3 Performance Groups as shown on the Performance Evaluation Charts (Article VI. Salary Arbitration) for Pitchers and Position Players.

j. Players in the Top Performance Group (Group 1) are awarded the status of Type A free agents. Group 2 players are Type B free agents. Group 3 players are Type C free agents.

k. If a team loses a Type A free agent, it is awarded a compensatory draft selection after the completion of The Draft's first round. If a team loses a Type B free agent, it is awarded a compensatory draft selection after the completion of The Draft's second round. If a team loses a Type C free agent, it is awarded a compensatory draft selection after the completion of The Draft's third round and before the Bonus Round.

l. The order of the compensatory draft selection is the descending order of the quality of the free agent lost, as determined by the average Win Shares rating for the player over the past two MLB seasons. In case of a tie, 1) on-time mailing record, 2) lowest regular season win percentage, or 3) a coin flip determines who selects first in the compensatory round.

m. Unrestricted free agents may be signed by the team who has the reigning top bid at that point in the process. Teams that lose an unrestricted free agent are not awarded a compensatory draft selection.

n. A list of available restricted and unrestricted free agents will be sent out to league members before the process begins.

o. All sealed bids for these players will be due by November 15. Any bids sent after the deadline will be disregarded. You should clearly note your sealed bids message so the person handling free agency, who will also be a participant, does not open them prematurely.

p. The free agents will be placed with their teams and contract status of each player reported at the completion of free agency and before The Draft.

q. Individual owners retain the rights to their restricted free agents not signed in the free agent process. They may release the player or sign him to a “U” contract.

r. A franchise retains no rights to an unrestricted free agent who receives no offers. These players will be available in The Draft, if carded.

s. To determine which free agent bids are superior to others; use the information in Article VIII. Free Agent Contract Bid Superiority. The processes described there will be used as the sole determinant in finding the top free agent contract offer for a given free agent.

t. If two free agent offers are identical, the tie‑breaker is: 1) best on‑time mailing record, 2) lower regular season winning percentage from the past season, and 3) coin flip.

u. Owners must submit bids with complete independence. They may not collaborate to influence the intended secret, sealed bids in any way. They may especially not collaborate on bids designed to artificially set the market value on a given player or on a given team's crop of free agents in a given year. This constitutes collusion and as in MLB, carries a heavy penalty. Any BLOC member engaging in collusionary practices against another owner can be expelled from the league or be penalized at the sole discretion of the Executive Committee.

v. The BLOC free agency is designed to simulate the MLB process where teams fill needs or desires by signing free agent players to play for them. In some Strat Leagues, it is possible for owners with a lot of resources available in a given year to use a strategy of collecting signed players in the Free Agency process for the purpose of trading them later. Owners are discouraged from trying to acquire players for this purpose in BLOC through a prohibition on trading recent signees through June 1 (beginning with the 2010 league season that begins on October 1, 2009), as exists in MLB, except for one permissible trade that may occur organically through discussions. The fun and realism of the BLOC Free Agency process is found in trying to bid on and acquire players we need. We believe the league’s best interests are not served by owners who engage in “gaming” the system for their team’s private benefit. We encourage everyone to use free agency to simulate the real-life purpose for which it is intended. (See also Article XIV., sec. q.)

Article VIII. Free Agent Contract Bid Superiority

The BRASS League of Champions free agency process will feature, for most players, multiple bids (often as many as 15) being made for his services. These contract offers will be for any number of seasons in length for virtually any amount of money. The process therefore must feature a mechanism that will simulate the decision making of the typical MLB free agent, with a high degree of impartial accuracy.

To accomplish this, the BLOC employs a system of comparing free agency contract offers that boils each team’s offer down to a numerical quantity that is used to compare it with other offers. This quantity is then used to rank the offers for each player. This measure is called the offer’s Value Quotient, or VQ.

We realize that any system we create in our PBM world to judge contract offer superiority is missing the key element in the MLB process of determining bid superiority‑‑the living, breathing, thinking, deciding player. The only way to simulate the player's decision making is to employ a device that places value on the same things a real player does, and will yield a judgment that is similar to a player's judgment. This "judge" is found in our employment of the VQ measure.

In determining the VQ of each offer, the league makes some basic assumptions about what typical free agents will value in a contract offer. We assume that the average free agent will be concerned about three main characteristics of any contract offer: 1) contract length, 2) total value, 3) guarantee status.

When comparing contract offers, a free agent will use the first two characteristics listed above to determine his average salary per season. We assume that the average salary per season is the determining factor in contract offers whose lengths are identical and is extremely important in contract offers whose lengths are similar.

We also assume that to eliminate an extra bookkeeping task and to keep the comparisons relatively simple, we ignore guaranteed, non‑guaranteed, bonus clauses, option years, incentives, buyouts and other MLB contract elements that would serve to make our job more difficult and muddy up the comparison process. So in the BLOC, all deals are said to be guaranteed and will contain no conditional or incentive value. If you make the bid, you pay the price‑‑no escape hatches.

Beginning this process by making the basic, logical assumptions listed above, we simplify it a great deal. We boil the contract offer comparison process down to just one number, the average salary per year. We can then give weight to the length of the contract by using a multiplier to give greater value to longer contracts.

Let’s look at an example of how we would determine the Value Quotient of a sample contract offer. The Value Quotient calculation starts by determining the multiplier to use from the Value Quotient Chart.

VALUE QUOTIENT CHART

Length of Offer Multiplier

1 years 1.00

2 years 1.33

3 years 1.66

4 years 2.00

5 years 2.25

6 years 2.50

7 years 2.75

8 years 3.00

Let’s compare two contract offers using this process.

Offer A: 5 years, $36,243,000 avg. per year: $7,248,600

Offer B: 4 years, $31,867,000 avg. per year: $7,966,750

The VQ for Offer A is: 7.2486 x 2.25 = 16.31

The VQ for Offer B is: 7.96675 x 2.00 = 15.93

Offer A is therefore judged to be superior on the basis of it’s larger VQ.

This process simulates what a free agent is "likely" to do. We cannot account for individual real-life choices or simulate all the forces acting on a MLB free agent who is sifting through contract offers. All we can really employ in the BRASS League of Champions is a fair system which simulates the decision making of the "average" free agent, who is motivated by just about all the same factors as the next guy, or even us, if we were in their shoes.

Article IX. Clustering Free Agent Contract Bids

A team may bid on as many free agents as it wishes, by "clustering" the bids according to the procedure outlined in the following paragraphs.

A team may opt to use the free agency process to bid on just a couple players and take their chances on landing them. They may not be satisfied with less than the top player available at a given position of need and might prefer to draft a young player in the next draft, instead of pursuing the rest of the free agents.

But if a team decides it wants one of a given year's crop of second basemen, or starting pitchers, etc., it can "cluster" its bids to define a group of players with something in common in whom they have interest. A team might construct a free agent cluster by position, by age or by "desirability." In fact, the bidding franchise may use whatever criteria it wishes in which to cluster the players.

The cluster system attempts to simulate the process a MLB team goes through in "pursuing" players to fill a certain need or desire. Perhaps a MLB team wants a "franchise player" and doesn't care what position he plays. They might "pursue" several players in a "franchise player cluster". Or perhaps if they want a #1 left‑handed starter, they might well pursue a group of lefties that they have on their "short list."

In the BRASS League of Champions, this process can be simulated even if, in total, the bids exceed the team's bank account. Here's how.

Let's say, for example, a team decides it has to have one of the current crop of free agent shortstops and one of the current crop of free agent relievers. Let's also say that their current bank account holds $47,000,000. They could cluster their bids in the following way to give them a greater chance at landing one of the players they want.

They list the clusters they have created and also list their bids, in descending order of the values of the average annual contracts. In our example, the team wanted a shortstop or a reliever, so they might rank their shortstop and reliever bids in the following way:

SHORTSTOP CLUSTER RELIEVER CLUSTER

Player A: 3 years, $29 M offer, $9,666,667 avg. Player A: 3 years, $26 M offer, $8,666,667 avg.

Player B: 3 years, $24 M offer, $8,000,000 avg. Player B: 3 years, $19 M offer, $6,333,333 avg.

Player C: 2 years, $12 M offer, $6,000,000 avg. Player C: 3 years, $15 M offer, $5,000,000 avg.

Player D: 2 years, $ 7 M offer, $3,500,000 avg. Player D: 2 years, $ 7 M offer, $3,500,000 avg.

Player E: 1 year, $ 3 M offer, $3,000,000 avg.

They might also choose to bid on a couple backup middle infielders in the following way:

MIDDLE INFIELDER CLUSTER

Player A: 1 year, $1 M offer, $1,000,000 avg.

Player B: 1 year, $800 K offer, $ 800,000 avg.

When clustering bids, a team need only ensure that the combined totals of the annual salaries of the top offers in all their clusters do not exceed their bank account. In the case of our example, the combined total of the annual salaries of their top cluster offers is just over $19.3 M, well under their $47 M bank account.

If a team's offer for any individual player within any cluster is the top offer (using the VQ process), then their offer is considered to be the superior bid. If the player's current team owns matching rights to the player, the superior bid could be matched, and the team in the market for a shortstop or whatever, would still have a crack at another shortstop within that cluster. If a team submitted the superior bid on two players from the same cluster, and the bids were not matched or could not be matched by his current team, the bidding team reserves the right to pick the player they want, rather than getting stuck with two starting shortstops.

Cluster size is limited to 15 players per cluster. A team may also wish to place their own restricted free agent at the top of a cluster. This is done with the understanding that the team prefers to re-sign it's own free agent in this category. If a team does opt to retain this restricted free agent by matching the top contract offer, it is not obligated to pursue any of the bids lower in the cluster. It can drop them all. But if a team does not retain it's own top-of-cluster free agent, the team is protected by being able to pursue the lower bids in the cluster if it wishes.

Clustering is designed to extend offers which, in total, exceed a team’s bank account and simulate the process of pursuing a group of free agents. So, when clustering bids, no matter what else happens, a team must pursue the bid or sign a player when it winds up having a #1 bid active in a cluster. A team cannot have #1 bids in a cluster and drop them without pursuing or signing someone. There is understood to be an intent to sign someone within a cluster and a team is not permitted to decline to do so if they cluster their bids and wind up being a #1 one of the players in the cluster.

Article X. Secondary Free Agency Process

As a way for teams to acquire additional PA's and IP's after The Draft, the league employs the following secondary free agency process.

a. The Free Agency Conductor publishes a list of undrafted, carded players shortly after the completion of The Draft.

b. Any team who wishes to offer a contract to an undrafted, carded player may do so by sending a free agent offer to the Free Agency Conductor by the announced deadline for that year.

c. Bidding teams may only bid major league “U” contract offers of no more than two years. A valid bid must equal and may exceed the major league minimum for “U” contracts, as detailed below.

U Contract Chart

Length Yearly Payment Total Cost

1 yr $800,000 $800,000

2 yr $1,000,000 $2,000,000

d. The winning bid is the one that is superior, as determined by the Value Quotient system.

Article XI. Roster

a. Active rosters are limited to 25 during the first 5 months of the season.

b. Active rosters may expand to 40 during the final month of the season.

c. Teams may make changes in their active rosters prior to a given month's play only.

d. Each roster must have at least 8 pitchers and must have one backup for each infield position and at least one backup outfielder. A player may backup more than one position.

e. A team may not have more than 40 players on their roster at the completion of The Draft, and no more of three of these players can be minor leaguers.

f. After the Draft, and during the season, a team may carry an unlimited number of players on their roster, whether they are carded or minor leaguers.

g. If a team uses more than 25 players in any of the season’s first five months, a $2,000,000 fine is incurred.

Article XII. Rules of Play

The BLOC League uses all SOM game company super advanced rules including/except the following:

a. The in-game injury rule will not be used.

b. Pitchers bat for themselves. There is no designated hitter.

c. Position players with no positions on their card will be rated at either LF (worst range and error rating) and/or 1B (worst range and error rating) if they were outfielders and/or first basemen when they played positions.

d. All pitchers involved in trades are considered rested.

e. The closer rule is not used.

f. The clutch-hitting rule is not used.

g. We use the super‑advanced relief pitcher rest guidelines. Each relief pitcher is considered to be rested at the beginning of each series. Relievers may relieve in three consecutive games. Their fatigue is assessed and governed by the game software.

h. You may only pinch hit for the last player you have at a given position if you are losing in the 9th or later.

i. An outfielder may play another outfield position not listed on his card, according to the game company's guidelines for such play.

j. No position player (except for outfielders as outlined in section g. above) may play a position not listed on their card unless they are the last option as an injury replacement or are replacing a player pinch hit for when losing in the 9th or later.

k. A pitcher who does not have reliever listed on his card may not relieve and a pitcher without a starter rating on his card may not make a start.

l. A position player may not pitch.

m. A pitcher may be used as a pinch hitter for the purposes of bunting if the current run differential is -3 to +3 and the pitcher being used to pinch hit has a higher bunt rating than the batter they will be replacing. A pitcher may be used as a pinch runner at the discretion of his manager. A pitcher cannot play a position in the field for which he is not rated on his card. Using a pitcher as a pinch hitter to save position player PAs in blowouts is a practice that we discourage in BLOC as it is not widely embraced as a fair tactic in BLOC.

n. The pitch count feature is used.

o. Since the league does not use the DH, all players who do not have a position listed on their cards will be rated as 1b: 5e30.

Article XIII. Player Usage

a. The usage limit for any position player in any BLOC season is determined by adding together the total of his at bats and walks in that MLB season. His BLOC season total of at bats + walks may not exceed his MLB total.

b. A pitcher’s usage limit in any BLOC season is limited to exactly the number of innings pitched in that MLB season, rounded to the nearest whole number.

c. A pitcher may not start more than 35 times in a BLOC season unless he started more than that during the MLB season. Pitchers who started more than 35 times during the MLB season are limited to their actual MLB starts number for that year.

d. A pitcher who has both starter and reliever on his card can move from starter to reliever in a given month or months, but may not violate the super‑advanced starter/reliever rest rules.

e. Any pitcher giving up 12 runs in an outing must be relieved. This rule is intended to eliminate the Strat-only phenomenon of a manager just allowing a starting pitcher with plenty of innings remaining in his usage allotment to get pounded to save reliever IP. If a pitcher pitches past 12 runs allowed in a game, there is a $1,500,000 penalty imposed. For every run allowed after 12, an additional $1,000,000 penalty is incurred.

f. Only pitchers who have an asterisk next to their endurance rating (asterisked starters) on the roster file that the game company puts out each year may start a game on three days’ rest without compromising his available pitch count. Pitchers who are not asterisked starters must rest four days between starts by league rule. Be careful from the end of one month to the beginning of the next, and from the end of the regular season to the beginning of the post‑season, the three-day rest rule applies here too.

g. There is assumed to be no rest days between months of the regular season.

h. A starting pitcher may not be removed from a regular season start before the completion of the 5^th inning until he has either become fatigued or allowed 5 runs, or until the potential 5^th run is on base in the 3^rd inning or later. This runner may not be placed on base with an intentional walk.

i. Players who played in both leagues will receive three cards by the game company: a NL card, an AL card, and an interleague card. For such players, the interleague card is the one eligible to be used in BLOC play.

j. Managers must adhere strictly to all players’ usage limits.

k. If a player surpasses the limit for PA or IP for any player in a given season, a penalty is incurred.

l. The penalty incurred is proportional to the amount by which the player was overused and is also indexed to the value of the player’s game card that year. A small over usage of a bit player incurs a different penalty than heavy overuse of the same player or any overuse of an excellent card.

m. The proportional penalty approach reflects the twin goals of ensuring that a) there exists strict adherence to the player usage limits on which we are basing the season, without exception, and, b) promoting fairness of competition. If a player is overused, a penalty is incurred, each time, without exception, as is the case with any league scenario when one of us breaks a rule. League competition will not be fair if usage enforcement is lax and some members are allowed to overuse players while others adhere strictly to the rules.

n. Specific penalties for an over use event are calculated by employing the BLOC Player Overuse Penalty System (POPS). The POPS charts are found in an Excel document by this name, with instructions about how to determine specific penalties for specific player over use amounts contained therein.

o. If the game (or games) in which the overuse occurred affects the standings and/or draft order, the game (or games) is replayed from the point at which the overuse exceeded the buffer if the team who was responsible for the overuse won the game or games. If the team lost, the game stands. A team may not benefit from the overuse of a player or players.

p. Fines for overuse stand even after the games are replayed to remedy the effects of the overuse.

q. If a manager systematically overuses his players, managing several of their PA's and IP's past the allowable limit, he may be penalized at the sole discretion of the Executive Committee.

r. Over usage penalties still apply in cases where you send follow-up player usage instructions to other owners that are not executed for one reason or another. We strongly assert that it is a fundamental league tenet that every league member should execute his colleague’s instructions to the letter, every time. But if a person misses an e-mail message or simply forgets that one was sent a couple weeks earlier or plays a series before receiving a member’s follow-up instructions, the penalties still apply as the responsibility always lies with the team owner to keep his players within usage limits.

Article XIV. Trading

a. Both owners must report trades to the Trade Forum on the league web site. In order to avoid misunderstandings, the best reports are those that are brief and simply report the transaction to which the two teams just agreed.

b. The report must feature the names of the BLOC teams who agreed, the first and last names of the players who were traded, the specific year, owning team and round of any draft selections traded and specific financial agreements (if they differ from the league defaults).

c. In‑season trades must be reported by midnight, Eastern Time, on the final day of the month in order to have the trade take effect by the following month.

d. The in‑season trade deadline, for trading between the two Leagues is midnight, July 31.

e. The in‑season trade deadline for trading within each League is midnight, August 31.

f. Trades made during the month of September take effect for the following league season and only certain trades are allowed in this month. Only players who will be under contract for the following season may be traded. Players whose contracts expire on September 30 are not permitted to be traded, even those player for whom a team owns free agency matching rights.

g. No trading is permitted during the period of time between midnight on September 30 and the receipt of the final free agency signings report from the Free Agency Conductor.

h. A traded player's new team takes on financial responsibility for all remaining months and years of his contract. Use the information below to determine what percentage of the current year's contract for which you would be liable if you acquired a player during given points in the league's accounting year.

· in all off-season deals (October 1 - March 31) teams pay 100% of current year's salary.

· if a trade takes effect for May's games, teams pay 83.33% (5 months out of 6) of the current year's contract

· if a trade takes effect for June's games, teams pay 66.67% (4 months out of 6) of the current year's contract

· if a trade takes effect for July's games, teams pay 50.00% (3 months out of 6) of the current year's contract

· if a trade takes effect for August's games, teams pay 33.33% (2 months out of 6) of the current year's contract

· if a trade takes effect for September's games, teams pay 16.67% (1 month out of 6) of the current year's contract

These are the default contract liabilities. Trading teams may negotiate any different contract payment arrangements they wish as part of a trade.

h. For players who are traded and whose contracts are being paid by another team for the current season, the transaction must be announced as such and sufficient cash must be on hand to be transferred immediately with this player to his new team to defray the amount agreed upon.

i. All trades are transactions that take place entirely in the present. No agreement to trade players, picks or anything of value later is permitted as part of any trade transaction, whether agreed or implied or arranged. All pieces of the trade have to move at the time of the trade’s announcement.

j. You may trade money and draft picks, but cannot enter into an agreement to trade next year's money or pay a contract beyond the current season, whether implied or announced, or arranged as part of a future trade.

k. No conditional trade elements of any type are permitted.

l. You may sell a player’s contract, but you may not loan a player.

m. Minor league players are eligible to be traded.

n. A team may trade draft selections but must retain a total of four draft choices in the first five rounds between the current year's draft and the next year's draft.

o. A team may not trade draft selections for any drafts other than the upcoming draft and the one after it.

p. No team may benefit from trading a draft pick that occurs after their last pick in a given Draft. For example, a team is not entitled to trade a sixth round draft pick if it stopped drafting in the fifth round. A team is not permitted to trade something it does not own, even if it expected to be drafting past the sixth round at the time of the trade. If a team finds itself in this position, it must either: 1) trade places with the team who owns their sixth pick, 2) pass on the fifth round selection and make their final pick in the seventh, or 3) use the fifth round pick but release a player and select another one sometime after the sixth round pick they traded.

q. A team is limited to making one trade involving one recently signed free agent (ie. players on a Fx-1 contract where x is the number of years in length of the deal) prior to June 1 of the year immediately following the past Fall’s free agency signing process. Beginning June 1, trading players on Fx-1 free agent contracts is unrestricted.

r. An appeal may be made to the Executive Committee if any owner thinks a trade should be nullified.

s. The Executive Committee must vote unanimously to overturn a trade and should only vote to overturn a trade that will absolutely not benefit one owner at present or in the future.

t. If a team has a trade need or a player it wishes to advertise, the most common method is to e-mail the league’s membership directly or post an announcement on a forum on the league’s web site.

u. New league members may not trade or negotiate a trade with anyone until they are announced as a new league member.

Article XV. Playoffs

a. The four division winners qualify for the Playoffs, as do four wild card teams from each league. The wild card entries to the Playoffs are awarded to the teams in each league with the best four regular season records among teams that are not division-winners.

b. The Playoffs begin as soon as possible after the regular season ends.

c. In each league, the opening Playoff series are called the Wild Card Series. There are two Wild Card Series in each league. They are best-of-seven series. One Wild Card Series in each league will feature the team with the best record among that league's Wild Card teams versus the team with the worst. The teams with second and third best Wild Card records play in the other series. The team with the better record gets home field advantage. The series are played in a 2-3-2 format with the home field team hosting the 2-game sets.

d. The winners of the Wild Card Series advance to the Division Series Round to play one of the two division-winning teams. The Wild Card team remaining with the poorest record matches up against the division-winning team with the best record in one Division Series. The Wild Card team with the best record matches up against the division-winning team with the worst record in the other. The series is best of seven and the division-winning team always has the home field advantage in a 2-3-2 format.

e. The two Division Series winners in each league meet in the respective League Championship Series. Each series is again best of seven, played in a 2-3-2 format. The team with the home field advantage is the team with the best record in each series.

f. The winners of the two League Championship Series meet in the BLOC World Series. The World Series is also played in a best of seven, 2-3-2 format. Again the team with the best record hosts the series.

g. There is considered to be one rest day between the final day of the regular season and the beginning of the Wild Card series. There is also one rest day between the Wild Card and Division Series, between the Division Series and the League Championship Series and also the and also between the LCS's and the World Series.

h. For pitcher usage purposes, there are two travel days during each post‑season series, one each after Games 2 and 5.

i. The active roster requirements for post-season roster composition are the same as the regular season requirements for the first five months of the regular season.

j. Active rosters may be modified between playoff series, but not during a series.

k. Starting pitchers need to have made 20 MLB starts or more to start 2 games in a BLOC playoff series (if he is an asterisk starter, then he may pitch 3 games as long as he has 3 days off between starts). Starting pitchers making 15 to 19 MLB starts may start 1 BLOC playoff game per series. Starting Pitchers with fewer then 15 MLB starts cannot start a game in the Playoffs. Starting pitchers may be used as relievers in the post-season. Unless indicated otherwise on their cards, they will have a (1) endurance, can pitch no more than three innings per game, and cannot enter a game before the completion of the 5^th inning unless the opposing team puts the potential fifth run on base prior to the completion of the 5^th inning.

l. Relievers with 45 or more MLB innings may relieve regularly using regular SOM relief rules. Relievers with 40-44 MLB innings are only allowed to pitch 1 inning max per game except for 1 game where they are not limited to the 1 inning. Relievers with less than 40 MLB innings are only allowed to pitch 1 inning max per game.

m. Batters who had 405 MLB PA's (360 for catchers) are unlimited for playoff usage.

n. Batters with 360-404 PA's (315-359 for catchers) are allowed to start 5 games per series. He may pinch hit once in the other games or enter any game for good, from the 6th inning on.

o. Batters with 315-359 PA's (270-314 for catchers) are allowed to start 4 games per series. He may pinch hit once in the other games or enter any game for good, from the 6th inning on.

p. Batters with 270-314 PA's (225-269 for catchers) are allowed to start 3 games per series. He may pinch hit once in the other games or enter any game for good, from the 6th inning on.

q. Batters with 225-269 PA's (180-224 for catchers) are allowed to start 2 games per series. He may pinch hit once in the other games or enter any game for good, from the 6th inning on.

r. Batters with 180-224 PA's (135-179 for catchers) are allowed to start 1 game per series. He may pinch hit once in the other games or enter any game for good, from the 6th inning on.

s. Batters with fewer than 180 PA’s (134 for catchers) would only be available to pinch hit once each game or enter any game for good, from the 6th inning on.

t. An exception is made to the usage restrictions detailed above, allowing certain players to appear regularly in the post‑season. The exception is for a player who was the portion of a platoon that played vs. left-handed pitching during the season at a given position and has more than 200 plate appearances (150 for catchers) allotted to him for the BLOC season. A player that meets these conditions would be allowed to start all games vs. left-handed starters in a playoff series, if used in the same role, but would not be allowed to start any games vs. right-handed starters. An owner may choose to forego this exception and instead use the player in accordance with the normal playoff usage rules.

u. Players on MM, Y1*, Y2*, or Y3* contracts are not eligible for post-season play.

v. All playoff series are required to be played via NetPlay

w. A copy of the game boxscores, play-by-play and game files must be sent to the League Historian and Executive Committee to keep as a league record.

Article XVI. Ballparks

a. The BLOC uses the super-advanced weather effects system, which influences singles and home runs for play in each ballpark.

b. Each team may play their home games in one of the game company's MLB ballparks each season, or they may design their own park with full super-advanced weather effects.

c. If an owner designs their own ballpark, the maximum allowable differential between split rolls for left-handed and right-handed hitters is 10.

d. A team may not change ballparks during a given season.

e. New owners can change the ballpark they inherit, for free, upon entry into the league. They may use an existing MLB ballpark or they design their own.

f. An owner may change ballparks for free if his current park is no longer in use by an MLB team.

g. An owner may purchase the right to change his self-designed park or purchase the right to use one of the unused MLB ballparks for $4,000,000.

h. An owner may purchase the right to change a park only once in any three-year period.

i. Ballparks changes for existing owners will be processed during the off-season and are due to be sent to the L.D. by September 30.

Article XVII. Winning Incentive Program

The BRASS League of Champions has several features that should hopefully promote the notion of a large number of teams trying each year to win as many games as possible, as is the case in MLB, even when a playoff run may be unlikely. With these features, we hope to make league play more fun and competitive and bring to this PBM League the notion of an unlikely run to the playoffs and perhaps even an upset champion or two.

One of the ways in which we will encourage this type of annual, maximum individual team effort to try to win as many games as possible is through the Winning Incentive Program. The program simulates the financial payoff that MLB teams get by winning more games, truly trying for the playoffs each year and creating more excitement and paying customers. It also discourages a race for the cellar by only giving the four poorest teams an admission to a lottery for the annual #1 draft selection.

2009 Edition

THE ARBITRATION PROCESS