I) Object

To assemble a lineup of Major League players whose cumulative statistics during the regular season, compiled and measured by the methods in these rules, exceeds those of other teams in the League.

II) Teams

There are 15 teams in the League, composed of MLB players or players who qualify as prospects.

III) Roster

1. Active roster: 2 catchers, 1 first baseman, 1 second baseman, 1 third baseman, 1 short stop, 1 middle infielder, 1 corner infielder, 5 outfielders, 9 pitchers, and 2 utility players. [Amended by order of CO, Winter 98] The utility positions may be filled by any player; American League designated hitters may only be played at the utility position.
2. Bench: A team's 5 bench spots may be filled by any player who qualifies under the conditions of the VBFBL bench rules.
3. Disabled List: A team may place as many players as necessary on the DL.

IV) Draft Day Player Acquisition

1. Retention: Teams must retain 3-14 players from their rosters of the previous season. Retained players cost a team a number of auction bid points determined by their retention salary (Sec VII:B). Each team must submit a list of the players it intends to retain to the Commissioner on a date determined each season by the Commissioner; the deadline for the team that came in sixth place in the previous season shall be 24 hours after the deadline for all other teams. During this period, the owner of that team shall be permitted to review the retention lists of the other teams in the league (effective in 1998).
2. Return of Retention Players: For the period between the submission date of retention lists and either the first pitch of the season or the first bid of the auction draft (whichever comes first), teams may return players to the Auction pool and receive the following in exchange:
   1. If the player is known to be severely injured or otherwise impaired (owner must document) SINCE the retention date, the team may receive 1/2 (rounded down) of the number of points charged for retaining that player.
   2. If the player is not known to be injured or otherwise impaired, the owner may receive 1/6 (rounded down) of the number of points charged for retaining that player.
3. Active Roster: Each team must fill its 24 man active roster during the draft. Each team has 265 [Amended by order of CO, Winter 98.] auction points for this purpose. Because teams must retain players from the previous season, the actual number of roster spots that need to be filled and the number of points that may be used may be lower than these figures. During the auction, teams submit players for bid; opening bids must be at least 1 point and cannot be such that they would leave the team with fewer points than roster spots. The order for submitting players for bid shall be the inverse order of the previous season's standings. During the auction teams may trade both players and auction points, with the only stipulation being that at the end of the auction each team has filled all 24 of its active roster spots.
4. Bench Draft: Following the auction, teams shall draft three five players to comprise their benches. This is done by strict draft. The order for the first, third, and fifth rounds of this draft shall be the inverse order of the previous season's standings determined by lottery (Sec IV:D); the second and fourth rounds shall be in the inverse order of the previous season's standings odd numbered rounds [amend. by C.R., Winter 96-97]. During the bench draft, teams may trade players or picks, with the only stipulation being that at the end of the draft each team has filled all 29 roster spots.
5. Bench Draft Lottery: (effective 1998) The order for the Bench Draft shall be determined by lottery. The lottery shall be held directly prior to the auction draft. All teams that did not finish in the money the previous season shall participate in the lottery. Each team shall have the following percentage chance of receiving the first pick in the Bench Draft:

   6th: 17%
   7th: 15%
   8th: 13%
   9th, 10th: 11%

   The remaining 33% shall be divided evenly amongst 11th thru last place; should any remainder exist, it shall be distributed equally between 11th place and those consecutive places that the remainder permits. This means that should there be 15 teams, the math would work out as follows:

   33/5 = 6 remainder 3 (11th, 12th, and 13th would get an extra percentage point)

   11th, 12th, 13th: 7%
   14th, 15th: 6%

   The lottery shall continue until all participating teams have been assigned a draft position. The five teams that finished in the money will be assigned bench draft positions in inverse order of their place in the standings, such that the first place team shall have the last pick in the first round. [amend. by C.R., Winter 96-97]

6. Eligibility: A player may be offered for bid in the auction draft if that player starts the season on a MLB roster; if the draft is held prior to Opening Day, all questions of eligibility are decided by the Commissioner under advisement of any and all owners. A player is eligible for the bench draft if he shall be playing in either MLB or the minor leagues on Opening Day.
7. Opening Day Rosters: After the auction and bench drafts, a team must submit an Opening Day roster; an Opening Day roster may be comprised of any combination of the 29 players acquired on Draft Day such that all 24 active roster spots are filled by eligible players. If the MLB season has begun, teams must submit an Opening Day roster prior to departing the draft; if a team does not indicate an Opening Day roster to the Commissioner, the 24 players acquired in the auction draft shall serve as the Opening Day roster. If the MLB season has not begun, Opening Day rosters must be submitted to the Commissioner prior to the first pitch of the Opening Game; if a team does not indicate an Opening Day roster to the Commissioner, the 24 players acquired in the auction draft shall serve as the Opening Day roster.

V) Position Eligiblity

A Player may be assigned to any position at which he appeared in 20 games or more in the previous season. If the player did not appear in 20 games at a single position, he is eligible to play at the position at which he appeared most frequently. If the player did not play in MLB the previous season, his position eligibility shall be determined by the Commissioner under advisement of any and all owners. If the previous season was not a full 162 game schedule, then the minimum games requirement shall be determined by the number of games played divided by 162 times 20. During the season, a player establishes eligiblity at any positon he plays for at least one inning. During the season, a player establishes eligibility at any position at which he appears in two consecutive games for at least one inning in both games, or in at least one inning in five games. [amend Fall '96]

VI) Fees

Fees shall consist of two parts: expenses and prize money. All fees are determined each season by the Commissioner under advisement of any and all owners.

VII) Player Salaries

1. Current Salaries
   1. Players obtained in the auction draft or through retention have a salary equivalent to the number of bid points used to obtain that player.
   2. Players obtained in the bench draft have a salary of 1 point.
   3. Players claimed off waivers have the salary established by the team that waived that player.
   4. Players obtained by free agency have a salary equivalent to the number of free agent bid points (Sec XI:B) used to obtain that player or 5 points, whichever is higher. This rule shall only partially be in force for the last transaction period of the season, as players obtained by non-injury bid through free agency shall have a salary equivalent to the number of free agent bid points used to obtain that player. [amend. C.R., Winter 96-97]

2. Retention Salaries
   1. Players acquired in the draft of either the previous two seasons may be retained with a salary of 5 points plus the salary of the previous season.
   2. Players acquired in the draft of either the season three years previous or four years previous and retained in subsequent seasons may be retained with a salary of 10 points plus the salary of the previous season.
   3. Any player retained for four or more previous seasons may be retained for a salary of 15 points plus the salary of the previous season.

VIII) Prize Money

The number of teams receiving prize money and the amount of prize money allocated to each winning team shall be determined by vote of the league owners prior to Draft Day.

IX) Standings

1. The following categories are used to determine the Vida Blue standings:
   • Composite Batting Average (BA)
   • Total Home Runs (HR)
   • Total Runs Batted In (RBI)
   • Stolen Bases (SB)
   • Composite Earned Run Average (ERA)
   • Total Wins (W)
   • Total Saves (S)
   • Composite Ratio (WHIP) [(Walks+Hits)/Innings Pitched]

   Teams are ranked in each of the eight categories and given points for their ranking in each of the categories. A team that ranks first in a category receives a number of points equal to the number of teams in the league; a team that is last in a category receives one point. The overall standings are determined by the sum of each team's score in each category.

2. Minimum At-Bats and Innings Pitched: Prior to each season, the Commissioner shall set a minimum requirement for both At Bats and Innings Pitched. Any team that fails to meet the At-Bats requirement may not finish above those teams that did meet the requirement in the BA category. Any team that fails to meet the Innings Pitched requirement may not finish above teams that did meet the requirement in the ERA or WHIP categories.
3. Ties
   1. Categories: When teams are tied in a particular category, they shall share equally the points for the rankings at issue. For example, if two teams are tied for last in a category, they split the points for last (1 pt) and second to last (2 pts); each team gets 1.5 pts. Teams can only be tied in BA, ERA, or WHIP in cases where all teams concerned have the same numerator and denominator in their calculation.
   2. Overall Standings: Should two or more teams finish tied in the overall standings, the teams involved in the tie shall be ranked against one another in each of the eight categories. If teams are still tied, the team with the higher summation of Total At-Bats and three times the Innings Pitched shall be declared the winner. If teams are still tied, then the teams shall be declared officially tied and shall share the prize money for one or both contested places.

X) Stats

1. Source: It is the responsibility of the Commissioner's Office to secure a reliable source for MLB statistics.
2. Transaction Period: Stats shall be provided on a weekly basis; the Commissioner's Office will announce the days that define the period for which statistics will be calculated. This period shall be known as the Transaction Period. The deadline for submitting transactions shall be the last day of the Transaction Period; the time for the deadline is left to the discretion of the League Secretary, but must be announced in a timely manner to the owners.

XI) Transactions

Teams may submit transactions at the end of each Transaction Period. Teams may submit as many legal transactions as they desire in one Transaction Period, provided that upon the completion of all transactions, the team has its active roster and bench filled with eligible players. A player may only be involved in one transaction per period, with one exception noted below.

1. Moves and Promotions: Teams may move a player to any position at which he is eligible. Teams may promote a player from the bench to any position on the active roster at which he is eligible.
2. Free Agency: All free agent bids are competitive with one another, and the player in question always goes to the team with the highest bid; in the case of a tie, the bid is awarded to the team that submitted its bid first. For all types of free agent signings, the following rule applies: for signings to replace player(s) on the active roster, the acquired player(s) must be placed on the active roster; for signings to replace player(s) on the bench, the acquired player(s) must be placed on the bench.
   1. Free Agent Acquisition Points: Each team has a budget for the purpose of acquiring free agents; the budget for each team is 100 points plus any Auction Bid points that the team did not use in the Auction. If a team expends its free agent acquisition budget, it cannot submit any further free agent bids.
   2. Injury Replacement Bids: Should a player become eligible for the DL (Sec XI:D), his Vida Blue team becomes eligible to replace him with a free agent. Teams submit sealed bids in a manner announced by the Commissioner's Office. In the case of an injury replacement bid, should a bid fail, a team is entitled to submit a second bid; the team may continue to submit bids until it obtains a player. The free agent does not have to directly replace the injured player as long as the team can submit the necessary transactions to fill all 24 active roster positions and the 5 bench spots.
   3. Non-Injury Replacement Bids: A team is entitled to one non-injury free agent replacement bid each transaction period. Teams must submit a sealed bid to the Commissioner's Office which is identified as a non-injury free agent bid. The bid must identify an active roster player to be waived if the bid is successful. The free agent does not have to directly replace the active player as long as the team can submit the necessary transactions to fill all 24 active roster positions and the 5 bench spots. A player signed to the active roster as a non-injury free agent may not be moved to the bench for three transaction periods.

3. Trades
   1. Restrictions: Teams may trade any combination of active players, bench players, players on the disabled list, and free agent bid points, provided that the after the trade, all teams involved have all 24 active positions and the 3 bench spots filled by eligible players.
   2. DL Activation: Should Team A desire to send a player on its disabled list to the active roster or bench of Team B, one of the two teams must submit a DL activation transaction (Sec XI:B) for the player concerned. This is the only instance where a player may be involved in more than one transaction in a week.
   3. Deadline: During the season, teams may make trades until the end of the last first Transaction Period that ends in August. [amend. Fall 95]
   4. Off-Season Trades: From the final day of the season until the date (established by the Commissioner's Office) on which retention rosters are due, teams may make trades with no roster eligibility restrictions; teams may include Auction Bid points in off-season trades.
   5. Cancellation: Should any owner object to a trade on the grounds that it violates the competitive spirit of the game, he may submit a request for cancellation of the trade; if this motion receives a second, the Commissioner's Office must put the matter before all owners not involved in the trade. A unanimous vote of all uninvolved teams is required to cancel the trade. Should such a vote be reached, the involved teams may accept the cancellation of their trade, or they may take 24 hours to renogotiate the deal. This new deal must then be voted upon by the remaining owners. If there is unanimous objection to this new deal, all deals are cancelled and the involved teams must wait until the end of the current period to submit another deal (if they so desire).
   Amended by Constitutional Revision, Winter 1996-7
   1. Restrictions: Teams may trade any combination of active players, bench players, players on the disabled list, and free agent bid points, provided that after the trade and all subsequent transactions for that period, all teams involved have all 24 active positions and the 5 bench spots filled by eligible players.
   2. DL Activation: Should Team A desire to send a player on its disabled list to the active roster or bench of Team B, one of the two teams must submit a DL activation transaction (Sec XI:D) for the player concerned. This is the only instance where a player may be involved in more than one transaction in a week.
   3. Trade Deadline: During the season, teams may make trades until the end of the first Transaction Period that ends in August.
   4. Procedure:
      1. Owners must submit trades to the Commissioner's Office for review by the Commissioner and then consideration by the league. The deadline for trade submissions shall be established by the Commissioner's Office, but should be approximately 3 days prior to the end of the transaction period.
      2. The two days following the trade deadline shall consitute a review period. During that period, owners not involved with the trade may submit a protest to CO calling for the trade to be overturned. If the review period passes without protest, the trade becomes official, and the teams involved may submit whatever other transactions they wish, including those necessary to correct any imbalances caused by the trade.
      3. If a protest is filed, the protesting owner(s) must file a Statement of Protest. The Statement will be distributed via e-mail to all on-line owners, along with a call for a vote on the protest; a posting will also be made to the league WEB page. For the remainder of the review period, owners may debate the protest; owners involved with the trade may participate in this debate. The period of debate is determined by when the protest is filed.
      4. By the end of the review period, all owners not involved with the trade should submit a vote on the protest. A protest vote will only count if votes are cast by 50%+1 of the owners IN THE LEAGUE. Should this quorum be achieved, a vote to overturn by 75% or more of the voting owners constitutes a successful vote.
      5. If a vote to overturn a proposed trade is successful, the teams and players involved are subject to the following penalty: all players involved in the proposed trade must be benched for 2 full transaction periods. In addition, all Free Agent Acquisition Points in the trade are forfeited. Teams must make necessary roster moves to accomodate this penalty. If a team cannot, or does not wish to, bench a player, it may designate that player for a two-week suspension, during which the player will be on the active roster, but not accumulating stats for the team.
      6. This trade system will be in effect in the off-season. CO will determine deadlines for the system. If the players involved in an off-season, overturned trade are retained, they are subject to benching or suspension at the beginning of the season. All Auction Bid points in such trades are forfeited. If the players are not retained, the team(s) that did not keep the player(s) must forfeit 3 Auction Bid Points per player not retained.
      7. A second restriction shall exist for off-season trades in which one owner only wishes to trade a player(s) for auction bid points. In order to make a trade in which teams are essentially "selling" players, the team with the player must publicize its intent. The owner must send out an e-mail to all on-line owners stating that he intends to "sell" a player; this announcement must come at least 48 hours prior to the submission of a trade proposal to CO. The owner is not required to take the highest offer he receives; he may, for competitive reasons prefer to take a 3 pt offer over a 6 pt offer. The subsequent protest process on this trade of player(s) for bid points will afford both sides a chance to state their case.
      8. Auction Draft trading: because of the nature of the auction draft, the restriction presented in Sec XI:C:4:h shall not exist during the auction. However, owners can protest trades made during the auction. Such protests must be submitted immediately upon announcement of the trade by the Auctioneer.

4. Disabled List
   1. Active Roster
      
      1. Placement: A player on a team's active roster becomes eligible for the disabled list if one of the following occurs:
         • the player is placed on the MLB disabled list
         • the player is released by his MLB club
         • the player is sent to the minor leagues
         • the player retires
         • the player is suspended for a non-baseball related problem, such as drug abuse or criminal activity

         Once a player becomes eligible for the disabled list, a team may, if it so chooses, place him there and submit an injury free agent bid to replace him.
      2. Activation: A player on the disabled list may be activated to the active roster at any time. However, should the player not be active in MLB when such a transaction is submitted, the player concerned must remain on either the active roster or bench for a period of 60-days 30-days [amend Fall '96] before he may be returned to the disabled list; this stipulation is negated when the player becomes active in MLB. In order to activate a player from the DL, a team must do one of the following:
         • waive a player on either the active roster or the bench
         • place a DL-eligible player on the disabled list without signing a free agent replacement

   2. Bench
      1. Placement: A player on a team's bench becomes eligible for the disabled list if one of the following occurs:
         • the player is placed on the MLB disabled list
         • the player is suspended for a non-baseball related problem, such as drug abuse or criminal activity

         Once a benched player becomes eligible for the disabled list, a team must wait one full transaction period (7-13 days) to, if it so chooses, place him there and submit an injury free agent bid to replace him. If the player should become ineligible for the DL before the team can place him there, the team loses its right to do so.

      2. Activation: A player on the disabled list may be activated to the bench only if he becomes active in MLB. The requirements for activation remain the same as for the active roster.

   3. Time Limit: When a player on a team's DL becomes active in MLB, that team has one full transaction period (7-13 days) to either activate or waive the player; if the player becomes inactive in MLB before the player is activated in the VBFBL, the player may remain on the DL. If a team fails to activate a player by the required transaction date, the Commissioner's Office shall seize the player and place him on waivers.

5. Waiver Wire: In cases where teams are required to release or waive a player, that player is placed on the waiver wire. At the end of the transaction period for which the player is on the waiver wire, teams other than the one that waived the player, may submit a claim on that player. If two or more teams submit a claim on the same player, the player is awarded to the team that was ranked lowest in the most recent standings; teams that fail in their claim may, if they so desire, submit a claim for any other player on the waiver wire. In order to claim a player off waivers, a team must pay from its Free Agent Bid Points, the player's salary, pro-rated to reflect the remaining number of periods in the season. This will not change a player's keeper value. In the case where no team (other than the team that waived the player) has enough Free Agent Bid Points to pay the required amount as set by the waiver claim formula, then the price to claim that player shall be set to the amount of Free Agent Bid Points of a team (other than the team that waived the player) that has the most FABP remaining.[amend. C.R., Winter 96-97] In order to complete a waiver claim, a team must release a player on the active roster. A player claimed off the waiver wire must be placed on a team's active roster; in order to accomodate the claim, the team must release a player from the active or bench roster and make whatever other roster moves are necessary. Players who are on the waiver wire who are on the MLB DL at that time shall be eligible to be claimed directly to a team's VBFBL DL. Such players shall then be subject to the normal activation system for players on the VBFBL DL. [amend. Fall 97] A team may make only one waiver claim per transaction period, with one exception. Teams may submit special claims on any and all players that they placed on the waiver wire that week. If these players clear waivers -- that is that all other teams pass on the opportunity to claim the players in question -- teams may place these players back on their rosters, provided they now waive someone else. A player claimed off waivers to the active roster may not be moved to the bench for two transaction periods. [amend. Fall 95; Comm. Note: Player must spend the week following the claim on the active roster.]

6. Nullification: Any transaction is subject to nullification. The Commissioner may, under his power to protect the interest of the game, nullify a transaction. Any owner may call for the nullification of a transaction to be overturned; such a motion requires the unanimous support of all two- thirds of the owners not involved with the transaction. [amend Fall 95]

XII) Commissioner

1. Term of Office: Once appointed, the Commissioner serves until he:
   1. Resigns
   2. Is voted out of office by one of two methods:
      1. Recall: Should any owner desire to recall the Commissioner, he must submit a motion to do so to each of the owners in the league. If 2/3 vote to remove the Commissioner, then he is recalled.
      2. Vote of Confidence: The Commissioner may ask for a vote of confidence from the owners in the league. If 2/3 of the owners vote no confidence, then the Commissioner must step down.

      If the Commissioner is removed or resigns, the owners must nominate candidates for the job and hold an election. If no candidate receives 50%+1 of the votes for the office, the candidate with the lowest vote total is removed and a second round of voting is held. This process continues until a candidate is chosen. That candidate is then appointed Commissioner.

2. Powers: It is the responsibility of the Commissioner to see that the dictates of this constituion are followed. Furthermore, the Commissioner may take any action he deems necessary to preserve the best interests of the league. Any owner may call for a vote to override an action or ruling of the Commissioner; should 2/3 of the owners vote to override an action of the Commissioner, that action is null and void.

3. Officers: The Commissioner may appoint any officers he deems necessary to the operation of the league, and empower these officers as he sees fit. Commissioner Schwarz has two officers working under him at this time:
   • League Secretary: Created in 1991, this officer is responsible for issuing weekly stats and compiling transactions. Alex Schwarz was appointed League Secretary on 10/5/96.
   • Legal Counsel: Created in 1995, this officer is responsible for reviewing all activity in the league and reporting on any actions deemed in violation of the rules. This officer acts as primary advisor to the Commissioner and shall serve as interim Commissioner in the absence of the appointed Commissioner. Ben Bishin was appointed League Counsel on 10/5/96.

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