LDB Rules - User contributions [en]

The Game

2013-03-19T12:39:04Z

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LDB is divided into two subsidiary leagues: the Federal League and the Union Association. During the regular season, each team will play another team for one week at a time (Monday to Sunday)<ref>With the exception of the first week, which may extend beyond seven days.</ref> for a total of 20 weeks, with each statistical category representing one game, meaning 14 games are in play each week. After the regular season, top-performing teams advance to the playoffs.

== Schedule ==
Scheduling will be announced by the commissioner before the [[Keepers and Drafts#Majors Draft|Majors Draft]] each year. Schedules are unbalanced, meaning that teams will play teams within their league more often than teams outside their league. Each team will play their divisional opponents twice each, and each team from the other division once. The only exception to this will be the team’s designated "natural rival." Each team will be paired randomly with one team from the other division, and will play that team twice instead of once.

== Scoring ==
Lucid Dream Baseball scores the ten active batters and up to eleven active pitchers each day on the following statistics:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto" width="500"
|-
! colspan="2" | LDB Scoring
|-
! width="200" | Batters / Fielders
! Pitchers
|-
| On-Base Percentage (OBP)
| Net Quality Wins: <math>NQS = 2QW + W - L - 2GS</math>
|-
| On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage: <math>OPS = OBP + SLG</math>
| Win Percentage Added (WPA) (see Fangraphs for information on WPA)
|-
| Runs Scored (R)
| Run Expectancy over 24 Base/Out States (RE24) (see Fangraphs for information on RE24)
|-
| Adjusted Runs Batted In: <math>aRBI = RBI - GIDP</math>
| Home Runs Allowed (HRA)
|-
| Home Runs (HR)
| Pitcher Strikeouts (K)
|-
| Adjusted Stolen Bases: <math>ASB = SB - \frac{CS}{2}</math>
| Earned Run Average (ERA)
|-
| Defensive RZR Plus-Minus (+/-) [based on Hardball Times Revised Zone Rating (RZR) data; for fielders the formula is -.88 x balls in zone + .96 x balls fielded + .48 balls fielded outside zone + .24 double play turned or started + .24 outfield assist) the formula for catchers is + 1.6 caught stealing - .44 steal allowed - .24 passed ball +.24 double play started or turned. See owner’s supplement in early February 2009 for defensive data. All positions are normalized based on the previous year’s mean per inning performance such that an average inning at any position scores zero. All positions receive a weighting as follows: C - 2.023, 1B - 1.000, 2B - 1.885, SS - 2.026, 3B - 1.628, LF - 1.250, CF - 1.667, RF - 1.250
| Adjusted WHIP: <math>aWHIP = \frac{H + BB + HBP}{INN}</math>
|}

Just as in baseball, there can be no ties. If a statistical category ends in a tie at the conclusion of the week, then the system will award a win to the home team for that week.

'''
'''NEW SCORING FOR 2013 SEASON:'''

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto" width="500"
|-
! colspan="2" | LDB Scoring
|-
! width="200" | Batters / Fielders
! Pitchers
|-
| On-Base Percentage (OBP)
| Net Quality Wins: <math>NQS = 2QW + W - L - 2GS</math>
|-
| On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage: <math>OPS = OBP + SLG</math>
| Adjusted WHIP: <math>aWHIP = \frac{H + BB + HBP}{INN}</math>
|-
| Runs Scored (R)
| STARR = (RIP+3*SV+3*HLD-8*BS-8*RL)
|-
| Adjusted Runs Batted In: <math>aRBI = RBI - GIDP</math>
| Home Runs Allowed (HRA)
|-
| Home Runs (HR)
| Pitcher Strikeouts (K)
|-
| Adjusted Stolen Bases: <math>ASB = SB - \frac{CS}{2}</math>
| Earned Run Average (ERA)
|}

== Roster Requirements ==
Each week, each team must meet the league minimum innings pitched requirement (IP) of 44 innings per week. Additionally, GMs must have an eligible player in each positional roster spot (but not designated hitters) each day. If a GM fails to meet these minimum requirements, the following penalties are applied:

=== Batting and Fielding Penalties<ref>[[Legacy Rules and Rules Board Reporter#In re Multiple AAA Start Penalties 2011 LDB 1 (Mar. 31, 2011)|In re Multiple AAA Start Penalties 2011 LDB 1 (Mar. 31, 2011)]].</ref> ===
For every batter missing from a team's lineup on a game day, that team receives one "AAA start" for each missing player, which is 0H, 5 AB with 2 GIDP. After three separate days of batting roster violations, the team is penalized $0.5 million per player per day. The ﬁnes will be deducted from the following season’s payroll. Fines are deducted after luxury tax calculations are made.

=== Pitching Penalties<ref>[[Legacy Rules and Rules Board Reporter#In re Pitchers' AAA Starts, 2010 LDB 3 (Jun. 6, 2010)|In re Pitchers' AAA Starts, 2010 LDB 3 (Jun. 6, 2010).]]; Vijay, "another issue for rules committee -- missed innings requirement penalty" (4/12/10)</ref> ===
For every three innings (or fraction thereof) under the required 44 innings that a team does not pitch each week, that team receives one "AAA start," which consists of 3 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, 2 HR, -3 NQW, -0.40 WPA, and -4.42 RE24. Any games lost due to a AAA start will be recored in the standings as FUs,<ref>Fuck-ups.</ref> and will count as losses in the standings. But for the purposes of determining the following season’s draft position, they will not be counted as losses.

== All-star Break ==
LDB will not hold regular games during the week of the MLB All-star Game, and will instead hold the LDB All-star game between the Federal League and the Union Association. The Commissioner will announce the logistics for such a game, and each of the divisions will select and announce players for the game. The division that wins the LDB All-star Game will have home field advantage in the Lucid Dream Series.

== Playoffs<ref>As written and compiled by Starr.</ref> ==

=== Advancing to the Playoffs ===
The LDB Playoffs occur after the regular season concludes. Three teams from each division make the playoffs for a total of six total playoff teams. The team with the best record in each division receives a first-round bye while the teams with the 2nd and 3rd best records in each division play each other in the first round. The higher seeded team in each round is the home team. The home team in the championship series (the "Lucid Dream Series") is determined by the winner of the [[#All-star_Break|All-star Game]]. The tiebreakers to determine which teams make the playoffs (and to determine seeding) are as follows:

# Overall Points
# Head-to-head Record
# Wins (excluding tie wins from standings points)
# Intra-division Record
# Overall Roto Performance
# Commissioner’s Coin Flip (with witnesses)

In case three teams are tied in overall points, a three team head-to-head tiebreaker is resolved as it is in the following example:

<blockquote>In the situation where there is a three-way tie, each pairwise comparison would be made independently. For example:

* Consider 3 teams: A, B, and C
* A beat B in Week 1, 9-5
* A beat C in Week 2, 10-4
* B beat A in Week 3, 13-1
* B tied C in Week 4, 7-7
* B beat C in Week 5, 8-6
* C beat A in Week 6, 11-3

Therefore, head-to-head:
A vs. B = (9+1) vs. (5+13) = 10 vs. 18.
So B > A

A vs. C = (10+3) vs. (4+11) = 13 vs. 15.
So C > A

B vs. C = (7+8) vs (7+6) = 15 vs. 13
So B > C

Therefore, B>C>A, and so B and C make the playoffs. Theoretically, if A = C in head-to-head, we would have to go to another tiebreaker, in this case performance vs. the rest of their division.</blockquote>

=== Playoff Rosters ===
Playoff rosters contain 25 players and lock at the start of each round of the playoffs. Once rosters lock on Monday of each playoff week, players cannot be promoted or demoted to/from [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] or [[Organizational Structure#AAA|AAA]] until the following Monday.

Each playoff team must start exactly 5 pitchers in each round of the playoffs. Each team must start 3 starting pitchers, 1 relief pitcher and 1 flex (starter or reliever). Pitchers must remain active the entire week and cannot be benched. Teams may not select pitchers who are on the DL as one of their 5 pitchers unless that pitcher is scheduled to come off the DL during that round of the playoffs. If a team decides to include a pitcher on the DL as one of their 5 pitchers, they must also declare an alternate pitcher in case the pitcher on the DL does not appear in a game during that week.<ref>[[Legacy_Rules_and_Rules_Board_Reporter#In_re_Playoff_Pitching_Staffs.2C_2010_LDB_6_.28Aug._29.2C_2010.29|In re Playoff Pitching Staffs, 2010 LDB 6 (Aug. 29, 2010)]].</ref>

Pitching stats for the playoff week are as follows: ERA, WHIP, NQW/GS, K/IP, HR/IP, RE24/IP and WPA/IP.

<references/>

Internal Transactions

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== Disabled List Transactions ==
The [[Organizational_Structure#Disabled List|Disabled List]] (DL) opens on opening day. Sending a player to the DL counts as being in the [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] for the purposes of calculating service time.<ref>Geoff, "disabled list and service time" (3/29/10)</ref>

== AAA Transactions ==

=== Promote from AAA to the Majors ===
Players in [[Organizational Structure#AAA|AAA]] can be promoted to the [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] at any time, so long as sufficient roster space is available. Note that promoting a AAA player may add to their service time, described below.

=== Option to AAA ===
Players in the Majors who have not accumulated more than four half seasons of service time, described below, are eligible to be optioned to AAA at any time without restriction.

=== Designate for AAA Assignment===
Players who have accumulated more than four half seasons of service time, described below, are considered veterans. Veterans cannot be demoted to AAA without first clearing 3-day waivers. This transaction is irrevocable. Once a player clears waivers, then they move to AAA. But if the player is claimed, he is lost to the claimant.

=== Service Time ===
Each time a player is promoted from to the Majors for the first time in a particular half-season, and at the start of each half season, that player will accumulate one half-season of "service time." Having more than four half-seasons of service time qualifies a player as a veteran, and they cannot be freely optioned to AAA, as described above. Players retain their service time even if they are dropped, waived, or traded.

New In 2013: Starting in 2013 the following players have veteran status and cannot be freely optioned to AAA without first passing through waivers: - All K3s, H3s, S3s, H4s and S4s
- All players who were purchased for more than $5M in the auction

== AA Transactions ==

=== Promoting Players from AA ===
A GM may promote players in [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] to [[Organizational Structure#AAA|AAA]] or the [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] at any time, so long as sufficient roster space is available for the promotion. Note that promoting a AA player will start the clock on their eligibility as [[Keepers_and_Drafts#Homegrown_and_Super-twos|a home-grown or super-two player]] and may add to their [[#Service Time|service time]] if promoted to the Majors.

=== Demoting Players to AA ===
No player may be demoted to AA.

<references/>

Auctions and Keepers

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108.5.108.134: /* Home-grown and Super-twos */

== AA Draft ==

== Majors Draft ==

== AAA Draft==

== Keepers ==

=== Majors and AAA Players ===
In the off-season, GMs will be able to designate a select five players on their Majors and AAA rosters as keepers. layers in the (LDB) Majors and (LDB) AAA who are signed to long-term deals (contract status of K1/2/3) are eligible to be kept. These players are retained for the next year at their current salary: auction price less a 10% signing bonus (but no player can be paid less than the league minimum). A player may be kept twice for a total of three seasons with a team, and then they become a free agent.

==== Restricted Free Agents ====
After players have served three seasons under a contract, they are restricted free agents (RFAs). RFAs are up for auction during the following draft. However, the GM owning RFA rights has the option to match the winning bid, as described above. The team with RFA rights is generally the previous owner, unless the RFA rights were previously traded to another team.

====Hometown Heroes====
Mid-season free agents are automatically free agents after the season ends. However, each team will be allowed to designate one of their mid-season free agents as their "hometown hero" (HTH). The HTH gets a one-year contract extension at six million dollars. The HTH cannot be extended beyond that one year, and must be a player who logged non-September call-up time in the Majors and is no longer rookie-eligible.

=== Home-grown and Super-twos ===

"Home-grown" players do not count against the keeper total. Home-grown players are those players that a GM drafts through the amateur draft into their AA system. After their promotion to AAA or the Majors, they are subject to the following salary schedule:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|-
! colspan="2" | Homegrown Salary Structure
|-
| Year 1
| $0.4 million
|-
| Year 2
| $0.6 million
|-
| Year 3
| $1.2 million
|-
| Year 4
| $3.6 million
|}

If a Home-grown player is traded, they remain on the same salary structure when they join their new team, unless they are released and not claimed on waivers.

A GM can promote a player in the second half of a the LDB season (week 11 or later) without burning a full year of eligibility. These players are "super-twos", and are treated exactly like home-grown players for keeper purposes, but they follow an accelerated salary promotion scale. A GM can decide upon promotion whether they want they player to use up a year of eligibility or to be a super-two at promotion time through an email to the commissioner. Supertwos follow the salary structure below:

"SUPER-TWO" SALARY STRUCTURE
Year 0 (promotion year, only
in final half of season)
.4 million (prorated)
Year 1 .6 million
Year 2 1.8 million
Year 3 3.6 million
Year 4 3.6 million

New Super-Two SALARY STRUCTURE - Starting with super-two promotions in 2014

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|-
! colspan="2" | Super-Two Salary Structure
|-
| Year 0
| $0.4 million
|-
| Year 1
| $0.6 million
|-
| Year 2
| $1.2 million
|-
| Year 3
| $3.6 million
|-
| Year 4
| $7.2 million
|}

Auctions and Keepers

2013-03-19T12:19:57Z

108.5.108.134: /* Home-grown and Super-twos */

== AA Draft ==

== Majors Draft ==

== AAA Draft==

== Keepers ==

=== Majors and AAA Players ===
In the off-season, GMs will be able to designate a select five players on their Majors and AAA rosters as keepers. layers in the (LDB) Majors and (LDB) AAA who are signed to long-term deals (contract status of K1/2/3) are eligible to be kept. These players are retained for the next year at their current salary: auction price less a 10% signing bonus (but no player can be paid less than the league minimum). A player may be kept twice for a total of three seasons with a team, and then they become a free agent.

==== Restricted Free Agents ====
After players have served three seasons under a contract, they are restricted free agents (RFAs). RFAs are up for auction during the following draft. However, the GM owning RFA rights has the option to match the winning bid, as described above. The team with RFA rights is generally the previous owner, unless the RFA rights were previously traded to another team.

====Hometown Heroes====
Mid-season free agents are automatically free agents after the season ends. However, each team will be allowed to designate one of their mid-season free agents as their "hometown hero" (HTH). The HTH gets a one-year contract extension at six million dollars. The HTH cannot be extended beyond that one year, and must be a player who logged non-September call-up time in the Majors and is no longer rookie-eligible.

=== Home-grown and Super-twos ===

"Home-grown" players do not count against the keeper total. Home-grown players are those players that a GM drafts through the amateur draft into their AA system. After their promotion to AAA or the Majors, they are subject to the following salary schedule:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|-
! colspan="2" | Homegrown Salary Structure
|-
| Year 1
| $0.4 million
|-
| Year 2
| $0.6 million
|-
| Year 3
| $1.2 million
|-
| Year 4
| $3.6 million
|}

If a Home-grown player is traded, they remain on the same salary structure when they join their new team, unless they are released and not claimed on waivers.

A GM can promote a player in the second half of a the LDB season (week 11 or later) without burning a full year of eligibility. These players are "super-twos", and are treated exactly like home-grown players for keeper purposes, but they follow an accelerated salary promotion scale. A GM can decide upon promotion whether they want they player to use up a year of eligibility or to be a super-two at promotion time through an email to the commissioner. Supertwos follow the salary structure below:

"SUPER-TWO" SALARY STRUCTURE
Year 0 (promotion year, only
in final half of season)
.4 million (prorated)
Year 1 .6 million
Year 2 1.8 million
Year 3 3.6 million
Year 4 3.6 million

New Super-Two SALARY STRUCTURE - Starting with super-two promotions in 2014

Year 0 (promotion year, only
in final half of season)
.4 million (prorated)
Year 1 .6 million
Year 2 1.2 million
Year 3 3.6 million
Year 4 7.2 million

Keepers and Drafts

2013-03-19T12:11:57Z

108.5.108.134: /* AA Draft */

== Keepers ==

=== Majors and AAA Players ===
In the off-season, GMs will be able to designate five players on their [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] and [[Organizational Structure#AAA|AAA]] rosters as keepers. Only players signed to long-term deals (contract status of K1/2/3) are eligible to be kept. These players are retained for the next year at their current salary: auction price, less a 10% signing bonus (but no player can be paid less than the [[Finances#Payroll|league minimum]]). A player may be kept twice for a total of three seasons with a team, and then they become a [[#Restricted Free Agents|restricted free agent]].

==== Restricted Free Agents ====
After players have served three seasons under a contract, they are restricted free agents (RFAs). RFAs are up for auction during the following [[#Majors Draft|Majors Draft]]. However, the GM owning RFA rights has the option to match the winning bid for that player. The team with RFA rights is generally the previous owner, unless the RFA rights were previously [[External Transactions#Trades|traded]] to another team.

====Hometown Heroes====
Mid-season free agents are automatically free agents after the season ends. However, each team will be allowed to designate one of their mid-season free agents as their "hometown hero" (HTH). The HTH gets a one-year contract extension at six million dollars. The HTH contract cannot be extended beyond that one year, and must be a player who logged non-September call-up time in the Majors and is no longer rookie-eligible. The HTH must also be on an active roster and accrue positive statistics.<ref>Fix for the Brophy-Webb injury loophole; Nat, "hometown hero issue" (8/9/09); Ryan, "LDB Rules Wiki" (2/9/10)</ref>

=== Homegrown and Super-twos ===

Homegrown players are players drafted into [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] (and possibly promoted). Homegrown players do not count against the [[#Majors and AAA Players|Majors/AAA keeper total]]. After AA players' promotion to AAA or the Majors, they are subject to the following salary schedule:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|-
! colspan="2" | Homegrown Salary Structure
|-
| Year 1
| $0.4 million
|-
| Year 2
| $0.6 million
|-
| Year 3
| $1.2 million
|-
| Year 4
| $3.6 million
|}

If a homegrown player is traded, they remain on the same salary structure when they join their new team, unless released and not claimed on waivers.

GMs may promote a homegrown player in the second half of a the LDB season (after week 10) without starting the four-year clock on their homegrown status. These players are "super-twos" and are treated exactly as homegrown players for keeper purposes, but they follow an accelerated salary promotion scale:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|-
! colspan="2" | Super-two Salary Structure
|-
| Year 0 (promotion year)
| $0.4 million
|-
| Year 1
| $0.6 million
|-
| Year 2
| $1.8 million
|-
| Year 3
| $3.6 million
|-
| Year 4
| $3.6 million
|}

GMs may decide upon promotion whether they want they player to use up a year of eligibility or to be a super-two at promotion time through notice to the Commissioner.

== AA Draft ==

The first phase of a season's draft will be the AA Draft, the only means for adding to a team's [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA Roster]] besides trades. Two years prior to the draft, each team will be given three or four AA draft picks, depending on the availability of prospects. These draft picks are tradable. The Commissioner may award new picks at his discretion to teams inherited by a new GM that sold off an abundance of prospects and AA draft picks during the season prior.<ref>Ryan, "LDB Rules Wiki" (2/9/10)</ref>

To draft a player in the AA Draft, the player must be MLB rookie-eligible (i.e., less than 131 AB or 50 IP, not counting September call-up experience).

The AA Draft will be held prior to a new season, as the Commissioner sees fit. The AA draft order will be in ascending order by wins from the previous season. Wins are used rather than the winning percentage to remove any advantage from intentionally forfeiting games by missing the innings requirement. The draft position of a traded draft pick corresponds to the original owner, not the owner at the time of the AA Draft.

AA Draft Pick Timing (New in 2013):

If an owner/GM is on the clock and has not picked for one full day (24 hours), he will be hit with a $2M fine, and the draft may continue on as if he has picked. He may jump back in and pick at any time. An owner/GM may assign another owner/GM to make the pick on his behalf.

If the draft is not complete by 10 PM Eastern Time on the Friday prior to the auction the 3 GMs/owners who have caused the longest delay between picks (counting only the hours between noon and 10 PM eastern time) will each be fined $1M for each pick remaining in the draft. The delay must be at least 3 hours to qualify for this fine. In this situation the AA draft will be completed on the morning of the auction before the auction commences.

== Majors Draft ==

[[File:Place_your_bids.jpg|border|right|250px|]]After the AA Draft, LDB will draft [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors players]]. The draft will be in an auction format. The Majors draft will take place at a time established by the Commissioner.

At the draft, GMs will nominate players in an order established by the Commissioner. A nominating GM will name the player and an opening bid for that player. The bid must be at least the minimum league salary. Other owners may choose to raise the bid on that player. The GM that turns in the highest bid will be awarded the player.

Bidding prices are subject to these increments:
* $0.4 million - $1 million: $0.2 million
* $1 million - $9.5 million: $0.5 million
* More than $9.5 million: $1 million

In the event of a tie, deference is afforded to bidders drafting remotely. In the event the tie is between two remote or two present GMs, the tiebreaker will go to the team that comes first in the nomination order after the GM who nominated the player. If a GM is involved in a tiebreaker, they will win the next tiebreaker he is involved with.

If a player being drafted is an RFA, the team holding RFA rights may match the final bid once it is in and re-sign the player for a fourth year.

GMs may draft until: (1) they have Majors roster space, (2) run out of money, or (3) pass their turn to nominate a player. The Majors draft ends when no GM can make a new nomination.

== AAA Draft ==

The final component of a season's draft is the AAA Draft. Every [[Organizational Structure#AAA|AAA player]] chosen in the AAA draft receives the league minimum salary. Up to three AAA draftees may be given non-guaranteed (NG) contracts, which the drafting team must declare as the player is drafted. See [[External Transactions]] for the benefits and limitations of NG contracts.

== Rule V Draft<ref>As adapted from Starr, "Confirming Rule V Draft Rules" (4/2/12)</ref> ==

In order to dissuade GMs from retaining players in AA that are performing well in MLB, LDB will hold an MLB Rule V-style draft during each year's All-star Break. In that draft, GMs may poach such players from other GMs farm systems. To be eligible for the Rule V Draft, a player must:
* Currently be in LDB AA
* Not be a team's designated protected player
* Be age 23 or above as of draft day (birthday on draft day counts)
* Have accumulated 900 PA, 225 IP, or 50 pitching appearances over his career

The Rule V draft will take place over the All-star Break each season beginning in 2012. During that week, and before the draft begins, teams will be afforded an opportunity to announce one protected player that cannot be drafted and to promote AA players subject to the Rule V draft before the draft. The draft will last until each team passes. Once a GM passes, the GM may still participate further in the draft. There are no restrictions on the number of players one team may take or have taken from them. The draft order will be non-serpentine, with the order being in reverse order of the current standings at the close of the LDB week preceding the all-star game. The commissioner will conduct the Rule V Draft via means he deems most efficient (e.g., email, website, or conference call).

Teams drafting a player by Rule V will be required to keep them on their LDB Majors roster for the following 1.5 seasons. Time on the LDB disabled list will not count toward the 1.5 seasons, although owners may still place them on the disabled list. Owners will not be required to include Rule V draftees on their playoff roster.

Rule V draftees may be traded. Traded Rule V draftees or draftees claimed off of waivers will remain under the same restrictions for teams acquiring them.

If a GM is unable to maintain the player in LDB Majors or the DL and cannot move him by trade, the player must be offered back to his original team for $0.2 million. If the original team declines to take the player, he enters general waivers. When an original owner acquires a player back before they have cleared waivers, the original team is under Rule V restrictions described here.

Teams will not be able to change their protected player without promoting that player or subjecting him to waivers. Teams cannot change their protected player once the draft begins.

<references/>

Keepers and Drafts

2013-03-19T12:11:10Z

108.5.108.134: /* AA Draft */

== Keepers ==

=== Majors and AAA Players ===
In the off-season, GMs will be able to designate five players on their [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] and [[Organizational Structure#AAA|AAA]] rosters as keepers. Only players signed to long-term deals (contract status of K1/2/3) are eligible to be kept. These players are retained for the next year at their current salary: auction price, less a 10% signing bonus (but no player can be paid less than the [[Finances#Payroll|league minimum]]). A player may be kept twice for a total of three seasons with a team, and then they become a [[#Restricted Free Agents|restricted free agent]].

==== Restricted Free Agents ====
After players have served three seasons under a contract, they are restricted free agents (RFAs). RFAs are up for auction during the following [[#Majors Draft|Majors Draft]]. However, the GM owning RFA rights has the option to match the winning bid for that player. The team with RFA rights is generally the previous owner, unless the RFA rights were previously [[External Transactions#Trades|traded]] to another team.

====Hometown Heroes====
Mid-season free agents are automatically free agents after the season ends. However, each team will be allowed to designate one of their mid-season free agents as their "hometown hero" (HTH). The HTH gets a one-year contract extension at six million dollars. The HTH contract cannot be extended beyond that one year, and must be a player who logged non-September call-up time in the Majors and is no longer rookie-eligible. The HTH must also be on an active roster and accrue positive statistics.<ref>Fix for the Brophy-Webb injury loophole; Nat, "hometown hero issue" (8/9/09); Ryan, "LDB Rules Wiki" (2/9/10)</ref>

=== Homegrown and Super-twos ===

Homegrown players are players drafted into [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] (and possibly promoted). Homegrown players do not count against the [[#Majors and AAA Players|Majors/AAA keeper total]]. After AA players' promotion to AAA or the Majors, they are subject to the following salary schedule:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|-
! colspan="2" | Homegrown Salary Structure
|-
| Year 1
| $0.4 million
|-
| Year 2
| $0.6 million
|-
| Year 3
| $1.2 million
|-
| Year 4
| $3.6 million
|}

If a homegrown player is traded, they remain on the same salary structure when they join their new team, unless released and not claimed on waivers.

GMs may promote a homegrown player in the second half of a the LDB season (after week 10) without starting the four-year clock on their homegrown status. These players are "super-twos" and are treated exactly as homegrown players for keeper purposes, but they follow an accelerated salary promotion scale:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|-
! colspan="2" | Super-two Salary Structure
|-
| Year 0 (promotion year)
| $0.4 million
|-
| Year 1
| $0.6 million
|-
| Year 2
| $1.8 million
|-
| Year 3
| $3.6 million
|-
| Year 4
| $3.6 million
|}

GMs may decide upon promotion whether they want they player to use up a year of eligibility or to be a super-two at promotion time through notice to the Commissioner.

== AA Draft ==

The first phase of a season's draft will be the AA Draft, the only means for adding to a team's [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA Roster]] besides trades. Two years prior to the draft, each team will be given three or four AA draft picks, depending on the availability of prospects. These draft picks are tradable. The Commissioner may award new picks at his discretion to teams inherited by a new GM that sold off an abundance of prospects and AA draft picks during the season prior.<ref>Ryan, "LDB Rules Wiki" (2/9/10)</ref>

To draft a player in the AA Draft, the player must be MLB rookie-eligible (i.e., less than 131 AB or 50 IP, not counting September call-up experience).

The AA Draft will be held prior to a new season, as the Commissioner sees fit. The AA draft order will be in ascending order by wins from the previous season. Wins are used rather than the winning percentage to remove any advantage from intentionally forfeiting games by missing the innings requirement. The draft position of a traded draft pick corresponds to the original owner, not the owner at the time of the AA Draft.

AA Draft pick Timing (New in 2013):

If an owner/GM is on the clock and has not picked for one full day (24 hours), he will be hit with a $2M fine, and the draft may continue on as if he has picked. He may jump back in and pick at any time. An owner/GM may assign another owner/GM to make the pick on his behalf.

If the draft is not complete by 10 PM Eastern Time on the Friday prior to the auction the 3 GMs/owners who have caused the longest delay between picks (counting only the hours between noon and 10 PM eastern time) will each be fined $1M for each pick remaining in the draft. The delay must be at least 3 hours to qualify for this fine. In this situation the AA draft will be completed on the morning of the auction before the auction commences.

== Majors Draft ==

[[File:Place_your_bids.jpg|border|right|250px|]]After the AA Draft, LDB will draft [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors players]]. The draft will be in an auction format. The Majors draft will take place at a time established by the Commissioner.

At the draft, GMs will nominate players in an order established by the Commissioner. A nominating GM will name the player and an opening bid for that player. The bid must be at least the minimum league salary. Other owners may choose to raise the bid on that player. The GM that turns in the highest bid will be awarded the player.

Bidding prices are subject to these increments:
* $0.4 million - $1 million: $0.2 million
* $1 million - $9.5 million: $0.5 million
* More than $9.5 million: $1 million

In the event of a tie, deference is afforded to bidders drafting remotely. In the event the tie is between two remote or two present GMs, the tiebreaker will go to the team that comes first in the nomination order after the GM who nominated the player. If a GM is involved in a tiebreaker, they will win the next tiebreaker he is involved with.

If a player being drafted is an RFA, the team holding RFA rights may match the final bid once it is in and re-sign the player for a fourth year.

GMs may draft until: (1) they have Majors roster space, (2) run out of money, or (3) pass their turn to nominate a player. The Majors draft ends when no GM can make a new nomination.

== AAA Draft ==

The final component of a season's draft is the AAA Draft. Every [[Organizational Structure#AAA|AAA player]] chosen in the AAA draft receives the league minimum salary. Up to three AAA draftees may be given non-guaranteed (NG) contracts, which the drafting team must declare as the player is drafted. See [[External Transactions]] for the benefits and limitations of NG contracts.

== Rule V Draft<ref>As adapted from Starr, "Confirming Rule V Draft Rules" (4/2/12)</ref> ==

In order to dissuade GMs from retaining players in AA that are performing well in MLB, LDB will hold an MLB Rule V-style draft during each year's All-star Break. In that draft, GMs may poach such players from other GMs farm systems. To be eligible for the Rule V Draft, a player must:
* Currently be in LDB AA
* Not be a team's designated protected player
* Be age 23 or above as of draft day (birthday on draft day counts)
* Have accumulated 900 PA, 225 IP, or 50 pitching appearances over his career

The Rule V draft will take place over the All-star Break each season beginning in 2012. During that week, and before the draft begins, teams will be afforded an opportunity to announce one protected player that cannot be drafted and to promote AA players subject to the Rule V draft before the draft. The draft will last until each team passes. Once a GM passes, the GM may still participate further in the draft. There are no restrictions on the number of players one team may take or have taken from them. The draft order will be non-serpentine, with the order being in reverse order of the current standings at the close of the LDB week preceding the all-star game. The commissioner will conduct the Rule V Draft via means he deems most efficient (e.g., email, website, or conference call).

Teams drafting a player by Rule V will be required to keep them on their LDB Majors roster for the following 1.5 seasons. Time on the LDB disabled list will not count toward the 1.5 seasons, although owners may still place them on the disabled list. Owners will not be required to include Rule V draftees on their playoff roster.

Rule V draftees may be traded. Traded Rule V draftees or draftees claimed off of waivers will remain under the same restrictions for teams acquiring them.

If a GM is unable to maintain the player in LDB Majors or the DL and cannot move him by trade, the player must be offered back to his original team for $0.2 million. If the original team declines to take the player, he enters general waivers. When an original owner acquires a player back before they have cleared waivers, the original team is under Rule V restrictions described here.

Teams will not be able to change their protected player without promoting that player or subjecting him to waivers. Teams cannot change their protected player once the draft begins.

<references/>