Post by Ben (Rays GM) on Sept 29, 2011 12:17:17 GMT -5
For 2012:
* There will be a minimum innings pitched requirement, which is tentatively set at 25 IP (when we make the final decision it will be announced. It will not exceed 30 nor will it be less than 20).
For 2013:
* The hometown discount will increase to 10% * The draft will extend to 8 rounds, with 4 post-draft prospects from your own team.
Last Edit: Mar 24, 2012 8:20:25 GMT -5 by Ben (Rays GM)
Post by Ben (Rays GM) on Oct 16, 2011 13:30:42 GMT -5
For 2012:
* If you sign a free agent to a one-year, $400,000 contract, it will be treated as a minor league contract, meaning you can call up, send down, and release the player with no penalty, same as any minor leaguer or 1st year player.
Post by Ben (Rays GM) on Dec 7, 2011 22:47:01 GMT -5
For 2012:
* Any international free agent who signs after the start of the amateur draft but before January 1 is eligible for free agency if he is going to be 24 years of age or older on January 1. If he is going to be 23-years-old or younger on January 1, he will be eligible for the following year's draft. If an international player signs after January 1 but before the amateur draft, he is eligible for free agency if he was 24 or older on January 1, eligible for the draft if he was 23 or younger. This is true for all Japanese free agents and posted players as well. In either case, the player must be signed officially before he can be drafted or signed in our game. This rule applies only to international free agents that have officially signed on with an MLB team.
* Any non-rostered minor league players that will be age 24 or older on January 1 are eligible to be drafted in the Rule 5 Draft if they have been in the minor leagues for at least one year. These players do not have to be added to the MLB roster, drafting them is just like drafting non-rostered minor league players in the amateur draft but with a smaller player pool.
* Previously, if you signed a free agent who then still had fewer than 6 years of service at the end of his contract, you could put him back on a regular salary schedule. Under this new rule, you can do that only if the player was signed to a one-year contract; if signed to a multi-year contract, you can still bring the player back after the end of his contract for as many years as you like until the completion of his 6th year, but must now do so at the same yearly salary of the contract that he was on. This applies to all contracts signed from the 2012 offseason onward. For example, if I sign a would-be 3rd year player that was non-tendered to a one-year, $5 million contract, I can bring him back as a 4th year player for $1.0 million after the contract expires, but if I sign him to a two-year contract at $5 million per year, if I want to bring him back as a 5th year player after the expiration of the contract I must do so at $5 million, or else non-tender him. I can continue to bring him back at $5 million until the completion of his 6th year. This is particularly relevant to international free agents eligible for free agency due to the first rule in this post.
Last Edit: Dec 7, 2011 22:54:27 GMT -5 by Ben (Rays GM)
Post by Ben (Rays GM) on Dec 19, 2011 22:52:31 GMT -5
For 2012:
* If a player on a multi-year veteran contract has a year in which he fails to exceed 130 ABs, 50 IPs, or 25 games pitched for any reason, all subsequent years of that contract will be reduced by 25%. This replaces the current salary relief rule for injury, but the current salary relief rule for retirement will still be in place. To apply for salary relief, post in the salary relief section in Baseball Operations.
Post by Ben (Rays GM) on Jun 10, 2012 9:44:52 GMT -5
Just a reminder that with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Elias Sports Bureau is no longer using rankings to classify free agents and determine whether the team losing the free agent would receive a draft pick:
"Major league free agent compensation will be completely revised in 2013, with a team having to offer its former players who became free agents the average of the top 125 contracts -- currently about $12.4 million -- to receive draft-pick compensation if a player signs with a new team. It eliminates the statistical formula that had been in place since the 1981 strike settlement." espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7269300/major-league-baseball-players-owners-sign-new-labor-agreement
Starting with the free agent class for this offseason, we will have to modify our compensation rules because we use the same Elias Rankings to determine compensation, and these rankings will no longer be available. We will still use compensation, but it will be determined using a different formula.
Some possibilities:
Base compensation on Yahoo rank for the previous one or two seasons.
Base compensation on salary offered, as MLB is doing.
The CBA also states that a team who traded for a player in the last season of his contract cannot earn compensation for that player the following offseason. This will not be the case for this season, as it is too late to put a change like this into effect, but we may consider it for following seasons.
Last Edit: Jun 10, 2012 9:46:31 GMT -5 by Ben (Rays GM)
Post by Ben (Rays GM) on Jun 28, 2012 9:18:46 GMT -5
* International players who have not yet completed a year of service but are old enough for free agency are only eligible for primary free agency. These players cannot be signed during the secondary round.
Last Edit: Jun 28, 2012 9:18:59 GMT -5 by Ben (Rays GM)
Post by Ben (Rays GM) on Oct 22, 2012 1:13:07 GMT -5
Each year, a team may be able to redshirt up to five players. Up to two of your redshirts may be 2nd or 3rd year players; the rest must be minors/1st year players. A redshirted player does not gain a year of service even if he accumulates the necessary playing time, but cannot be used on your active roster for the entirety of the season.
A player can only be redshirted once, unless he doesn't reach the minimum playing time to achieve a year of service for that season, in which case he may be redshirted again at a later time. In other words, if it turns out the tag was unnecessary, the player may be tagged again. Once a player has been redshirted it will be indicated on the Official Rosters throughout his cost-controlled years, and he will remain a year behind the typical cost-control schedule, reaching free agency a year later than he otherwise would have.
It is important to us that teams attempt to remain competitive, and we don't want the opportunity to redshirt players to cause rebuilding and future-oriented teams to field depleted lineups. So, in order to redshirt a player, teams must first apply, stating their reasoning for requesting the redshirt and demonstrating sufficient depth at that position (including at DH for hitters and at P for pitchers) to cover the loss. Commissioners will consider each application individually. Unsuccessful applications may be appealed by PM or resubmitted once cover is found, or may be replaced with a new application to redshirt a different player.
In addition, ensuring that your redshirt requests succeed will be a season-long endeavor. If we notice that you are not fielding a complete lineup on Yahoo of active players (players with "NA" listed by their names do not count as active), you will be notified, and failure to address the issue may result in some or all of your redshirts being lifted and the players gaining service time despite your efforts. We want teams to field full lineups! Consider the ability to keep your players longer an incentive. We may also choose to lift your redshirts if we determine that you are not making an honest effort to field the best team you can with what you have available - for example, if you're using a bench player who gets two or three at bats per week as your second baseman while another more competent and regular 2B is wasted on your bench or in your minor leagues, you will be notified and, unless you can convince us of your intentions, you will be given a deadline to address the issue. Failure to do so may result in redshirts being lifted (it may also still result in the team being dropped in the draft order or in expulsion from the game, as it does now). Players who have had their red shirts lifted by the commissioners may be re-tagged in future seasons provided that all criteria for redshirting are met.
You may choose to lift a redshirt during the season, but only two of your redshirts may be lifted, and must be lifted prior to the trade deadline. If you lift a redshirt you may then use the player, but any benefits of delaying the service clock will be lost. This applies to all service time gained for the full year, even service time accumulated prior to the lifting of the redshirt. So, if you redshirt a player who then proceeds to have a fantastic two months in which he would have gained a year of service, then you lift the redshirt and the next day he suffers a season-ending injury, he still gains a year of service in our game, even though he was redshirted and inactive during the time of his service and only had one day as an active player on your team. If a player's redshirt is lifted, he may not be redshirted again in future seasons, either by the team who lifted the redshirt or by any other team.
You may only trade away redshirted players if you lift the redshirt before trading (this would count towards your limit of two redshirts lifted per season).
The timeframe and method for redshirting players will be announced at a later time, but the process will take place in the weeks leading up to the start of the season. You will be able to treat Spring Training as an opportunity to decide which players to redshirt.
Last Edit: Oct 22, 2012 11:54:36 GMT -5 by Ben (Rays GM)
Post by Ben (Rays GM) on Dec 26, 2012 17:17:24 GMT -5
During primary free agency, you may now bid on any player who is 24 years of age or older on January 1 even if that player hasn't completed a year of service. This includes international free agents who have no service time at all, provided they have an official contract in place with an MLB team before bidding begins. If a player has not completed a year of service, there is no maximum salary for a one or two year contract.
The commissioners reserve the right to veto any player opened in this matter if it seems this rule is being used in an unforeseen way that could have an unintended impact on the game.
Last Edit: Jan 2, 2013 11:46:48 GMT -5 by Ben (Rays GM)
Post by Ben (Rays GM) on May 22, 2013 10:19:16 GMT -5
As discussed during the offseason, there will now be 5% discounts given to any teams that finish with a top four record or tied for a top four record in their league but don't make the playoffs. All playoff teams will still earn 5% discounts, but this way if a top four team misses the playoffs while a team in a weaker division with a worse record makes it, the team that missed out will receive a discount as well. This discount will be referred to as a "contender's discount"
Last Edit: Aug 12, 2013 8:54:40 GMT -5 by Ben (Rays GM)
Post by Ben (Rays GM) on Aug 22, 2013 12:43:04 GMT -5
There continues to be a lot of confusion regarding outright waivers and what happens when a player gets through outright waivers (if you can cut them straight away or if you have to wait) and whether you can give a cost-controlled player a minor league salary, so we're going to clarify and tweak that rule a bit:
Outright waivers has just one purpose: if a player clears outright waivers, you can send him to your minor leagues, clearing a spot on your 40 man roster. The player's salary does not change. The player can't suddenly be cut if he couldn't be cut before. All that happens is he's now on your minor league roster instead of on your major league roster. So unless you have a full or near-full 40-man roster, there's really no reason to use outright waivers (unless you're just hoping the player gets claimed, in which case you might as well send the player through unconditional waivers instead since players stay there for 10 days instead of 3).
At no point does a cost-controlled player's salary change. Once you tender him a contract (by submitting your roster at the start of the offseason), that's his contract for the year, regardless of whether he's on the major league or minor league roster. The contract he earns depends on his years of service - unless he's been redshirted, in which case he'd be a year behind his usual cost-control schedule.
We are now extending the deadline for non-tendering players. You can still non-tender a cost-controlled player by simply leaving him off your roster when you submit it at the start of the offseason, but you can now non-tender cost-controlled players any time during the offseason with no penalty (up until opening day). We will be creating a thread for non-tendering players once the season ends. During the regular season, you cannot non-tender players. If you want to cut a cost-controlled player during the regular season, you have to buy him out, which means you will continue paying his salary for that year.
Last Edit: Aug 22, 2013 12:43:28 GMT -5 by Ben (Rays GM)
Post by Ben (Rays GM) on Jan 3, 2014 20:30:30 GMT -5
If somebody bids $11.1 million (or $11.5 million or $11.6 million or $11.9 million or whatever else) on a one-year contract on a free agent, you may bid the maximum salary for that number of years ($12 million) even though it doesn't match the minimum bid increase. If you want to bid the maximum, bid the maximum. If you bid anything less, somebody can and likely will top your offer.
Post by Ben (Rays GM) on Dec 24, 2015 13:31:54 GMT -5
Rule changes in effect immediately:
1) This is an old rule change, but just a reminder that free agents signed to veteran contracts but who have less than 6 years of service time when the contract ends can be kept at 50% of the annual value of the original contract. Also, just a reminder that you can not cover salary on "option" years beyond the current season when trading these players. A new addendum to this rule, effective retroactively for anyone that it might apply to, is that if the contract was for $5 million annually or less, the player can go on a regular cost controlled schedule instead of the 50% option. Example: if you sign a player for a one year $3 million contract, and at the completion of the contract he only has two years of service complete, you will keep him as a 3rd year player for 0.6 million rather than 1.5 million.
2) Starting in 2016 there will be 6 teams in the playoffs from each league: 3 division winners and 3 wild cards. In the playoffs, seeding will be awarded based on record and will not automatically go to the division winners. The top 2 seeds will get first week byes, and a wild card team could theoretically get the second seed. All playoff teams will get playoff discounts in the following year's free agency. Top 4 record discounts will no longer exist.
3) We are raising the minimum threshold to earn comp picks from $10 million to $12 million, and will raise it again next year, to $15 million (the league voted for a gradual raise rather than doing it all at once).
4) We may or may not keep scalp round for this year. Stay tuned.
Rule changes for 2017:
I'm seriously considering having draft picks only allowed to be traded one year in advance instead of two. This would make trade processing significantly easier and cause fewer errors when it comes to pick trades and draft order. If this happens, then 2018 draft picks won't be able to be traded until the 2017 draft.
Please see the discussion regarding tanking and the draft, as it may lead to changes in the way we determine draft order.
Last Edit: Dec 25, 2015 22:22:30 GMT -5 by Ben (Rays GM)
Post by Ben (Rays GM) on Jan 3, 2016 11:30:11 GMT -5
We've made a change in the way we will determine draft order. We will now be using something called the Gold plan, which is designed to prevent intentional losing while still giving the early picks to the teams that need them most. Here's how it works:
Once you're mathematically eliminated from contention, you start accumulating gold points, and draft order is determined by a ranking of most points earned. You earn points in the following ways:
1) You earn one gold point automatically each week after being eliminated, as long as you make an effort to field the best lineup you can with what you have available to you that week (in other words, don't leave your three OF spots open while three active OF sit on your bench).
2) You earn one point for every category that you win after being eliminated. If you win a week 7-5, you get 7 points. If you lose 10-2, you get 2 points.
The team with the most points drafts first, followed by the team with the second most, etc. Ties are broken by looking at record (lower record picks first). If still tied, we'll look at the previous year's record and keep going back until the tie is broken.
There will be no scalp round in 2017, so no scalps in 2016. Starting with 2018 draft picks, picks will no longer be allowed to be traded two years in advance. Picks for the following year's draft will be allowed to be traded once the previous year's draft begins. So 2018 picks will be allowed to be traded starting in August 2017.
Last Edit: Jan 3, 2016 11:41:38 GMT -5 by Ben (Rays GM)
Post by Ben (Rays GM) on Jan 4, 2017 9:15:08 GMT -5
Starting in 2018, teams will only field 9 pitchers instead of 11. The positions will be 4 SP, 4 RP, 1 P. The minimum innings pitched per week will be lowered to 20. Bench spots will be increased to 7.
Starting in 2018, cap will be raised to $140 million, and cost controlled amounts will be increased to the following: 1st year/ minors - $0.5 million 2nd year - $1.0 million 3rd year - $1.5 million 4th year - $2.0 million 5th year - $2.5 million 6th year - $3.0 million
Starting with the 2018 draft, there will be two comp rounds: comp A (after round 1) and comp B (after round 2). To earn their former team a pick in comp B, a player must sign for over $15 million per year before discounts. This pick will be upgraded to Comp A if the total salary before discounts exceeds $50 million. These thresholds will apply to all free agents in the '17-'18 offseason. You can only earn comp picks for players who were on your roster for the entire season starting opening day. This applies to the 2017 season and opening day 2017, so be aware!
Post by Brian (Blue Jays GM) on Feb 4, 2021 11:01:19 GMT -5
Beginning with the 2021 season, teams will be able to apply for salary relief for suspended players. The amount of salary relief will be prorated based on a percentage calculation of # of games suspended/total MLB games in that season. For example if MLB is playing a 162 game season, and Player X gets suspended for 50 games, that team would be eligible for relief on 30% of Player X's salary.
There is one contingency to this rule, the suspension must have been announced by MLB after the pro-gm team signed that player to a contract. If you pursue signing a free agent who has already been announced as suspended for a portion of the MLB season, you will not be eligible for salary relief so you should build that into how you value that player when bidding on them in free agency.
Post by Brian (Blue Jays GM) on Sept 22, 2021 15:40:10 GMT -5
The current rule for releasing players who've been placed on the restricted list states "If a player is put on the restricted list by his real life team, or if news breaks that a player fabricated his age or identity in a way that might significantly alter the value of the player (at the discretion of the commissioners, to be handled on a case-by-case basis), you may apply to opt out of the contract. You must apply to opt out within two weeks of the breaking of the news. We will not consider any such news more than two-weeks-old as grounds for opting out of a contract."
The commissioners have discussed and determined that 2 weeks is too short of a window for such scenarios. This rule will be updated to read "If a player is put on the restricted list by his real life team, or if news breaks that a player fabricated his age or identity in a way that might significantly alter the value of the player (at the discretion of the commissioners, to be handled on a case-by-case basis), you may apply to opt out of the contract. You must apply to opt out by the end of the season in which the offense was publicized and consequences were executed by the player's real life team or by Major League Baseball. We will not consider any requests for opting out of a contract in subsequent seasons."
For clarification, the end of the season (and thus the beginning of the next Pro-GM season) is defined as the conclusion of the Pro-GM World Series. The Monday following the Pro-GM World Series is considered the first day of the new season.
1) This is an old rule change, but just a reminder that free agents signed to veteran contracts but who have less than 6 years of service time when the contract ends can be kept at 50% of the annual value of the original contract. Also, just a reminder that you can not cover salary on "option" years beyond the current season when trading these players. A new addendum to this rule, effective retroactively for anyone that it might apply to, is that if the contract was for $5 million annually or less, the player can go on a regular cost controlled schedule instead of the 50% option. Example: if you sign a player for a one year $3 million contract, and at the completion of the contract he only has two years of service complete, you will keep him as a 3rd year player for 0.6 million rather than 1.5 million.
Clarification on the option years. You can non-tender players who have rolling 50% options through their 6th years (international free agents, for example) ONLY up until the roster posting deadline. Once your roster has been posted and that deadline has passed, you can no longer choose to decline that option this year. Once that option is picked up it is guaranteed for the season.
Post by Brian (Blue Jays GM) on Dec 22, 2022 15:27:13 GMT -5
Any player voluntarily released to free agency by a team via buyout or non-tender, including expired veteran contracts who have less than 6 years of service time when the contract ends and thus have annual club options that can be declined, will NOT be eligible for a compensation pick if signed in free agency to a contract meeting the comp pick thresholds.
This was never explicitly stated in the rules previously, and thus the commissioners feel it should not be enforced on players who were released this offseason. Therefore, this rule will take effect at the start of the 2023 season MLB season. Any player released to free agency during the 2022-23 off-season is not subject to this rule.
Post by Brian (Blue Jays GM) on Jul 31, 2023 12:33:32 GMT -5
Beginning with contracts signed in the 2023-24 off-season, teams will only be allowed to frontload up to $10 million of salary coverage per season on an individual contract, and each individual player contract can only be frontloaded once. Contracts signed during the 2023-24 offseason will follow this new rule immediately, and contracts signed prior to the 2023-24 offseason will be grandfathered under the previous rules for 1 year until the start of the 2025 league year. Beginning in 2025, all contracts will follow the new rule.
For example, let's look at a hypothetical scenario of a player signed to a 4 year $30 million contract with Team A. Team A decides to trade the player to Team B in year 1 of the contract, covering $20 million per year for the remaining 3 years of the contract (there are no limits on coverage, only frontloading). Team A can frontload up to $10 million per year for each future year of the contract to a previous year, meaning up to $30 million of cap hits can be frontloaded. If team A frontloads the max $30 million to year 1, they are therefore still responsible for $10 million per year of coverage in years 2-4 of the contract, and team B is responsible for the remaining $10 million per year. Team B is welcome to trade the player to Team C at any point for the duration of the contract, but can not frontload any additional salary coverage since each individual player contract can only be frontloaded once.
