ANPSL CONSTITUtION

1.1  LEAGUE STRUCTURE

Welcome to the ANPSL, where we’re all about having a blast while enjoying some competitive NetPlay baseball! Our league features a dynasty format with today’s players and ballparks, and we’re here to keep the fun alive. We're all for lively baseball chatter and trading, but we want to steer clear of cut-throat competition and any unsportsmanlike behavior. We’re looking for team owners who are eager to connect with their opponents, play their games on time with minimal fuss, show good sportsmanship, and commit to being part of the league for the long haul.

Our league is split into three divisions, each with six teams: the Red, White, and Blue Divisions. All the games happen online through SOM net play software. For the 2021 season, we’ve got a full schedule of 120 games—60 within each division and 60 against teams from other divisions, all using the current season card set. The SOM net play software keeps track of league standings, a wealth of team and player stats, and usage data, ensuring that all league managers have access to the information they need to stay engaged and informed. Let’s play some ball!

1.2  RULE CHANGES

Rule changes in the ANPSL are handled by the Governing Committee. If you have any ideas for amending this Constitution, you can propose them to the Committee during the offseason. To pass a new rule or any changes, we need a two-thirds majority—so that’s 12 votes in favor! Once a rule gets approved, it goes into effect for the next season. 

Once the season kicks off—from the first draft pick to the last out of the World Series—no new rules or changes can be made unless everyone agrees unanimously. Only the ANPSL Governing Committee can call for a vote on any proposed rule during the season. To keep everything above board, all votes will be made public, and if you abstain, that counts as a NO vote.

1.3  ANPSL GOVERNING COMMITTEE

The ANPSL Governing Committee is made up of one Commissioner and three Division Presidents. 

The Commissioner is the acting head of the league, responsible for organizing and managing all league operations. They may appoint additional committees as needed to help with these tasks and will also serve as one of the three Division Presidents.

The Division Presidents assist the Commissioner with league duties, have the authority to resolve in-game matters, and collaborate with the Commissioner and other Division Presidents to resolve any league matters.

The ANPSL Governing Committee members are:

• Bryan Eichenbaum, ANPSL Commissioner
• Peter Volkert, Red Division President 
• Kris Dufour, White Division President 
• Jacob Knabb, Blue Division President

1.4  CALENDAR

Shortly after the end of the league season, the Commissioner will establish the calendar for the following season. The calendar shall include but not limited to dates for: 

1. Division Draft
2. Ballpark Draft
3. Rule Change Proposals
4. Roster Freeze
5. League Play
6. Post-Season Play

1.5  SCHEDULE

Each team will play a total of 120 games during the season. Here’s how it breaks down:

• 60 games against teams in your division (3 series)
• 60 games against teams out of your division (1 series)

Games will be scheduled in six BLOCKS throughout the season, and here’s how they’ll roll out:

• BLOCK 1: Games 1-18 - Completed by April 30
• BLOCK 2: Games 19-36 - Completed by May 31
• BLOCK 3: Games 37-54 - Completed by June 30
• BLOCK 4: Games 55-77 - Completed by July 31
• BLOCK 5: Games 78-100 - Completed by August 31
• BLOCK 6: Games 101-120 - Completed by September 30

The official season schedule will be determined by the Commissioner. 

Each BLOCK must be completed by the specified date, with all games played as four-game series within a division or five-game series out of division. While it’s best to follow the schedule in order, teams can play games out of order within a BLOCK if needed. However, you can’t jump ahead to games in the next BLOCK.

If any team hasn’t completed their games by the end of a BLOCK, league officials will auto-play those games, and penalties will apply as follows:

• First Violation: A formal warning from the Governing Body
• Second Violation: Loss of a 3rd round pick or equivalent
• Third Violation: Loss of Franchise Ownership

If circumstances arise that prevent a manager from completing their series on time, penalties will be waived, provided they communicate with a Governing Committee member in advance.

​2.1  TEAM NAMES

Every team will be required to have a team location and nickname unique to that team. Team nicknames cannot be offensive or changed during the season but can be at any time during the off-season.

​2.2  STADIUMS

Upon entering the league, each team will be required to have a major league team stadium. A selection process shall be determined by the Commissioner. Once selected, the stadium cannot be changed during the season. Opportunities to change stadiums may be made available during the offseason.​

2.3  FRANCHISE TRANSFER

If a team owner cannot finish a season, a new owner can gain ownership of that franchise as-is for the remainder of that season. If a new owner cannot be found during the season, the remaining scheduled games may be completed in a manner determined by the Commissioner​.

2.4  EXPANSION & CONTRACTION

If the league decides to expand after the season is completed and prior to the next season’s draft, new owners will be able to draft players off the existing team's rosters. All existing franchises can protect 25 players. The expansion franchise(s) will then select 25 players from the pool of unprotected players. No existing team can lose more than 3 players. During the subsequent regular draft, the expansion team drafts last in every round. If the league decides to contract teams, all players on the contracted team(s) are available to be selected in the next season’s draft.

3.1  PLAYER ELIGIBILITY

All SOM carded and computer players are eligible. For those MLB players who spent time in both leagues, their combined SOM ratings card will be used, disregarding entirely their individual league cards.​

3.2  PLAYER USAGE LIMITS

During the regular season, any positional player is limited to 81% calculated as (120/162 x 1.1) of their major league at-bats (AB) for league usage. Any pitcher is limited to 81% calculated as (120/162 x 1.1) of their actual innings pitched (IP) for league usage. All calculations for usage are rounded up. Once a player has reached his AB or IP limit for league usage, the player becomes inactive for the balance of the regular season. For the playoffs, all positional players and pitchers can be used for 10% calculated as (162 x .1) of their carded AB or IP, respectively, per playoff series. 

3.3  PLAYER USAGE VIOLATIONS

Using a player who has exceeded their league usage in a regular season game results in a forfeit for the violating team. In addition, if the usage violation was more than 1 IP for pitchers or more than 2 AB for hitters, that player is banned from the first round of the post-season usage. Using a player who has exceeded their playoff series usage in playoff game results in a forfeit for the violating team. A player used in excess of 10% of their usage would be lost for the following season.

3.4  PITCHER USAGE & ENDURANCE

Proper Starting Pitchers and Relief Pitchers usage and endurance are defined in the SOM Super Advanced Rules section 27.5 and 27.6. Complete details of sections 27.5 and 27.6 and The Super Advanced Starting Pitcher Rest Chart in the SOM Baseball Rulebook located in the League Files.

3.5  TEAM ROSTERS

Each team will draft a 50-man roster. During the season, each team will identify 28 players on the "active" roster, with the rest making up their "Minor League" roster. Please note that as a result of trades, it is permissible for teams to have more than 50 players; however, rosters are always reset to 50 during the subsequent draft.

The initial 50-man roster must include the following minimums for beginning of season only:

• 1200 pitcher innings based on league usage calculations
• 500 at bats per position based on league usage calculations

Throughout the season, the “active” roster must include the following: 

• At least two players that play each field position. One player may satisfy this requirement for more than one position
• The designated starting pitchers provided at the beginning of each BLOCK

​If the last eligible positional player is substituted for, any other non-pitcher available may assume that position for the remainder of that game. If no additional position players are available, then an available pitcher may be used. In any case, his defensive range rating would be “5” and he is given the worst possible E-rating for that position. An outfielder or catcher would be given a +5-throwing rating and a catcher would be given a T-rating and passed ball rating of 1-20.The only exception to this rule is as follows: Any player rated for one outfield position may play another outfield position for which he is not rated subject to the SOM outfield range adjustments. There is no change to E-rating or throwing rating. See Outfield Range Adjustment Chart below​In the 8th inning or later a player can pinch hit for a player even if that player is the last available at a certain position. ​

3.6  INJURIES

ANPSL use the injury feature and are limited to current game only.

​4.1  STRAT-O-MATIC SUPER ADVANCED RULES

All games are played adhering to the Strat-O-Matic Super Advanced Rule Set. ​ANPSL subscribe to traditional baseball gameplay and does not utilize the following options in gameplay - 1) blocking the plate, 2) homerun robbing, 3) defensive shifting, 4) 3-batter relief rule and 5) new extra inning rule. 

4.2  ANPSL PRE-2020 MLB RULES

The ANPSL uses the Pre-2020 MLB Rules. The pre-2020 Rules excludes the 1) Ohtani, 2) 3-Batter Minimum, 3) Extra Inning Base Runner (regular season only), and 4) Eligible Pitcher rules.

4.3  ANPSL MAXIMUM RULES

The ANPSL uses the following Maximum Rules:

1. Bunt for Base Hit
2. Improve Base Running Realism
3. More Base Running Decisions
4. Robbing HR Rule
5. Allow Errors on Bunts
6. Allow Errors on Pickoffs
7. Limit All Injuries to Current Game Only 

4.4  ANPSL UNIVERSAL DH

The ANPSL uses the Universal DH. ANPSL pitchers may not DH unless having a hitter card (i.e. Ohtani). Since we do use the Ohtani rule, any eligible pitcher must be remove at DH once removed from the game as a pitcher.

​4.5  EXTRA INNING GAMES

All regular season extra inning games will played under the traditional format. Bases empty to begin extra innings and the game played under those circumstances until completion.

​4.6  REPORTING RULES

At the end of each league series, the home team will upload game files via the SOM NetPlay cloud software. Statistics identifying player and team performance and for monitoring usage will be displayed in the SOM NetPlay software. Hosting manager must notify the series results immediately upon completion by updating ANPSL Discord #general channel.

​5.1  TRADES

Trades can be made at any time in the off-season. In-season trades must be completed prior to the end of BLOCK 5, which is the in-season “trade deadline”. Trades may be made for players and/or draft picks. During the league off-season, draft picks may be traded or acquired from the next draft or the succeeding one. During the league season, draft picks may be traded or acquired from the next draft only. No draft picks may ever be traded or acquired beyond round 10. Trades for goods or services are expressly forbidden. Trades for "players to be named later" are expressly forbidden. All trades that are made which include a draft pick must have a draft year and round associated with it (i.e., 2020 draft, round 3) ​Any trade must be agreed upon in writing by both owners and submitted via email to all league managers. The details of the trade must be submitted by updating ANPSL Discord #trading-post channel and confirmed by all teams included in the transaction.

In rare circumstances, the Commissioner has the authority to unwind any past trades if deemed in the best interest of the ANPSL.

5.2  TRADE OFFICIAL DATE

Any trade made during a BLOCK will be updated on the rosters during the current block. Upon the trade becoming official, all players involved must be moved and remain in the minor league system of the acquiring teams involved where he will remain until the end of the BLOCK. Acquired players may only start playing on their new team upon the commencement of the following BLOCK.

​5.3  ROSTER MOVES

A manager may deactivate a player on the 28-man active roster and replace him with a player from the minor league squad only between scheduled series. Once a series begins, the active roster is frozen for the duration of the series. ​

5.4  STARTING ROTATIONS

Prior to the beginning of each BLOCK, teams will identify their starting rotations for each game in the Strat-o-Matic Computer Manager. The Computer Manager is then uploaded to the league and locked in for each BLOCK. Starters may not be changed during the BLOCK with the exception of if a starter is traded during the BLOCK or if the Starter inning usage is depleted. In these instances, the starter may be replaced and team must resubmit there CM within 24 hours of either instance.

5.5  ROSTER EXPANSION

For all games scheduled in BLOCK 6, the “active” roster of each team will be expanded to a maximum of 40 players, no more than 15 of which can be pitchers.

6.1  PLAYOFF QUALIFIERS

The team with the best record in each division is defined as the Division Champion and qualifies for the playoffs. The 5 teams with the next best records in all Divisions combined qualify as Wild Card teams and make the playoffs. In the case of ties for the Division Champion, Tie break rules will go into effect as detailed below:

1. Head to head record
2. Record within their respective divisions
3. Run differential 
4. Highest 20-sided Die Roll

In the event of a tie for the last playoff spot(s), playoff game(s) will be required. The playoff game(s) are played during the day off before the Playoff Series and therefore, affords no days of rest. All stats for the one game playoff count towards regular season stats and all-season AB and IP limitations are enforced. 

​6.2  PLAYOFF SEEDING

After the 8 playoff teams are determined, they are seeded 1-8.  The 3 division winners are seeded 1-3 based on their comparative overall record and the five wild card teams are seeded 4-8 also based on their overall record.  Tiebreakers as noted above used as necessary to determine seeding of teams that have the same overall record.

6.3  PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

Round 1: Wild Card

• Seed #8 @ Seed #1
• Seed #7 @ Seed #2
• Seed #6 @ Seed #3
• Seed #5 @ Seed #4 

​Round 2: Division Championship

The winning teams from round 1 advance to round 2, DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP.  Teams are re-seeded 1-4 based on their original seeding spot.  

• Seed#4 @ Seed #1
• Seed#3 @ Seed #2

All playoff series will be best-of-7. The home teams plays at home in games 1, 2, 6 and 7; the other team is home for games 3, 4 and 5. For each series, there is a day of rest before games 1, 3 and 6. There is also one extra day of rest afforded to the Winner of Round 1 for every game less that it takes to win that series. 

6.4  WORLD SERIES

The winning teams from round 2 play in the World Series.  The highest seeded team is the home team.  The World Series is best of 7. The home teams plays at home in games 1, 2, 6 and 7; the other team is home for games 3, 4 and 5. For each series, there is a day of rest before games 1, 3 and 6. There is also one extra day of rest afforded to the Winner of Round 2 for every game less that it takes to win that series.

​6.5  PLAYOFF ROSTER

Before the start of each playoff series each team must name a 28-man playoff roster. The roster must include at least 2 players rated for every position and at least 4 pitchers rated to start (3 if they are all * pitchers). 

​6.5  PLAYOFF EXTRA INNING GAMES

All playoff extra inning games will played under the traditional format. Bases empty to begin extra innings and the game played under those circumstances until completion.

7.1  DRAFT ORDER

The draft order for the teams that make the playoffs the previous season is determined by the reverse order of finish including playoff results, i.e., the winner of the World Series drafts last, the loser of the World Series drafts next to last etc. The Tie Breaker Rules will be used to break ties for draft positioning among the playoff teams. ​The draft order for the teams that do not make the playoffs is determined by a lottery consisting of a 20-sided dice roll.  First the teams are seeded, 9th thru 18th based on overall season record.  The Tie break Rules are used to break any ties.  Then each team rolls a 20-sided die.  Each team then gets an additional number added to their dice roll number based on thier regular season finish.  See Lottery Additions Chart below.   Highest total wins the first pick, next highest roll wins the second pick etc. Ties may require additional rolls.

7.2  LOTTERY ADDITIONS CHART

The lottery dice role will determine draft order for the upcoming draft. Below is the adjusted dice roll based on the prior season record:

• 18th place  +12
• 17th place  +10
• 16th place    +9
• 15th place    +8
• 14th place    +7
• 13th place    +6
• 12th place    +5
• 11th place    +4
• 10th place    +3  
• 9th place      +2

7.3  TRADED PICKS TO/FROM DEFUNCT FRANCHISES

In the event a team in the league has traded picks to or acquired picks from a franchise which becomes defunct, these rules dictate what happens to those picks. If a team has traded picks to a defunct franchise, then those draft picks are forfeited by the trading team. If a team has acquired picks from a defunct franchise, the team that acquired the picks still gets to use them in the round in which they were designated and in the draft spot in which the defunct franchise would have made the selection. 

7.4  DRAFT SELECTION

The ANPSL has a snake draft. Instead of keeping the same draft slot each round, the franchise draft slot will reverse in order for every subsequent round. The draft “snakes” through the draft order. All odd-numbered rounds match the draft order (1-18) and all even-numbered rounds match the reverse of the draft order (18-1). 

7.5  AVAILABLE PLAYERS

ANPSL franchise may draft carded or uncarded players. When drafting an uncarded player, the Franchise must state the player as uncarded along with their current position and their major league, college, high school or foreign team.

7.6  DIVISION DRAFT

ANPSL will realign its divisions each year, allowing managers to draft based on their final standings from the previous season, as follows:

• Top 3 division winners will remain in their respective divisions
• Remaining playoff teams will draft according to their playoff seeding, filling positions 4 through 8.
• Remaining non-playoff teams will be ranked based on their total number of wins, filling positions 9 through 18. If needed, the tie breaker rules outlined in Section 6.1 will be used to resolve any ties.