2016 Rule Changes / Suggestions

[Former Texas Rangers GM]

As we close in on the end of our first season in MLBD, I'd like to thank all of the owners who have helped make it a successful opening campaign. Our league has been fun, competitive and run relatively smooth so far compared to others I've been a part of. Maintaining a 30 team league is always a challenge, but I'm confident we have the right pieces in place to make this a sustainable league for many years to come. Having a good group of knowledgeable and active owners is every bit as a important to this goal as a good commissioner is. I've gotten a lot of feedback from owners as to how the feel about the league and I'm happy to report that the majority of it has been positive. That doesn't mean our league is perfect or that we should take the, "if it's not broke, don't fix it" approach. There is always room to improve and I will always be looking for new ways to make our league better and willing to listen to ideas on how to do that. So with that said, I wanted to make note of some rule changes I plan to implement in 2016 that I don't anticipate needing a vote or anyone strongly disagreeing with, while also opening up the board to others who have ideas on other rules they would like to see added or changed and general discussion about them. I'd like to try and get some things to vote on before the end of the season while most owners are still active.

Rule Changes For 2016

• Waiver system will be changed to fit the real life MLB waiver system. This will include DFA's, Outright Waivers and Revocable Waivers as opposed to only the revocable waivers we have currently.
• Players who clear waivers and are sent to the minor leagues will not be eligible to be recalled for 10 days.

Rule Ideas For Discussion

• Large / Small Market Idea: The premise here is to change the entry fee from $50 for everyone to a varying amount (between $40-$60) depending on the cap room the owner wishes to have. This change was proposed mid-season and was voted down. However, a lot of the feedback I got was that people weren't necessarily against the idea, just against the mid-season timing of it, so we will vote on it again in the off-season if there is support for this change. A specific plan can be laid out if support for the idea is established.
• Free agent eligiblity: As our rule stands now, only players with no MLB experience are eligible to be signed to a minor league contract. I've gotten a few comments that people would like to see players under the 130 / 50 threshold also eligible.
• Second-Tier Playoff Bracket: Not sure what the exact setup would be, but something along the line of the top 8-12 teams who did not make the playoffs, would compete in a separate playoff bracket for a smaller amount of winnings. This would help keep interest of more teams than just the playoff contenders and could also help discourage tanking.
• Buyout Rules: This has been the one complained about the most. I don't like the idea of giving out bad contracts and getting bailed out of them at 50% of the price, but maybe there's some middle ground we can find here. Possibly 80% buyouts.
• Any suggestions for other rule changes are always welcome.
  

Voting Requirements For Changes

• Any rule change being voted on that impacts the point system, entry fee or payout structure will require a 75% vote in favor
• All other rule changes will need 60% support.

[Former Colorado Rockies GM]

It is really cool how you stay on top of the owners concerns, keep us informed, and keep it interesting while trying to improve the league. I am very excited to see how the voting goes and hope we get a lot of participation concerning these change suggestions.

[Former Colorado Rockies GM]

I support the waiver changes, but am wondering if there is going to be changes to the post deadline waiver trades as previously mentioned. I also support most of the changes up for discussion but not so much for the entry fee change. I understand it would be more like the real thing with more money to spend gets you more cap in turn, a better chance at better players, however I think it also is enforcing bad cap management skills. Just sayin.

[Former Texas Rangers GM]

Yes Rox, I would like to address that as well. Haven't thought of a better system yet, but I'm certainly open to suggestions.

[Former Baltimore Orioles GM]

I would make 2 additions to the 10-day waiting period to recall waived players, both to mimic MLB rules...
- also applies to optioned players
- exception is granted to replace a DL'd player on the active roster

[Deleted]

Don't like the 'Entry Fee' rule change.. Think we all should play under the same rules.

[Former Texas Rangers GM]

Two more things I wanted to throw out there are competitive balance picks and extensions (or some type of hometown discount in free agency). I like the idea of incorporating both, however I've had problems finding a good way to do either. Establishing fair market value is the barrier for extensions. I've seen the "x" percentage increase system and that doesn't work, teams end up getting breakout players for multiple years extremely cheap. How to determine the teams who receive competitive balance picks is also difficult since our payrolls do not vary the way they do in real life. If anyone has outside the box ideas on either of those, I'd like to hear them.

[Former Texas Rangers GM]

MLB minimum salary will be changed to match real life MLB minimum ($507,500)
Rookie contract structures will be changed to match also. ($507,500 / $517,760 / $535,500 / $550,000)