LDB Rules - User contributions [en]

External Transactions

2018-07-09T00:07:08Z

45.48.13.12: /* Trades */

== Designation for Assignment ==
Players being cut are designated for assignment. Designation immediately removes the player from the [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] and subjects him to a 3-day waiver process. Such players are available to trade for the next three days. If they are not traded after three days, they are given to the highest waiver claimant. If the player is not claimed on waivers, the player is cut. Designation is not revokable. Refunds are not awarded for players unclaimed on waivers.

== Mid-Season Free Agents ==
Any unsigned player can be acquired mid-season. Players who are acquired mid-year are paid the [[Finances#Payroll|league minimum]].

Players drafted in the [[Keepers and Drafts#Snake Draft|Snake Draft]] with non-guaranteed contracts may be freely swapped for a replacement player who is of the same type (i.e. position player or pitcher) until the end of April. Replacement players cannot subsequently be swapped for other replacement players. Players dropped with NG status do not confer NG contract status when signed by a new team; such player has MS contract status. Players with NG contracts cannot be kept at the conclusion of the season.

== Waiver Claims ==
All dropped players will be placed on waivers for 48 hours. Any team may put in a claim for a player on waivers, and the player will be awarded to the team that is highest in the waiver order at the time the claim is processed. Starting in Week 2 during the season, at the start of each week the waiver order will be reset to the inverse of the LDB standings by record. If a team claims a player, they will temporarily drop to the bottom of the waiver order until the order resets. Tiebreakers on waiver claims for teams with identical records will be determined by whatever method CBS utilizes. At the start of the offseason, the waiver order will mirror the AA Draft order. Teams will still drop to the bottom of the waiver order after a claim, but the order will not reset until the start of Week 2 of the regular season. Awarding a player results in the acquisition of that player, pending roster space being made available for the new player. The claiming team assumes the remaining salary burden of the player, calculated by remaining weeks in the LDB regular season.

Teams may not claim players that they themselves dropped. Teams must wait until a player clears waivers to pick up such players.

== Trades ==
Trades may occur at any point in the off-season and during the season, up to the league trade deadline, which will be the end of week 15. All trades must have timestamp of 11:59 PM EST<ref>The standard time zone for LDB is Eastern Standard Time.</ref> on Sunday of week 15 or earlier, or have been announced to the league in a reasonable manner before that deadline.

Trades will be subject to approval by a vote of the other managers in the league. If greater than one-half of the non-involved managers veto a trade, the trade will be cancelled. The veto window is three days. All trades will be immediate. A veto of a trade will be prospective; if vetoed, the players traded will have their stats count for their teams that temporarily held them.

Trades may involve players, cash, and other assets, such as, but not limited to, future [[Keepers_and_Drafts#AA_Draft|draft picks]], [[Keepers_and_Drafts#Restricted_Free_Agents|RFA rights]], etc. Trades can include a "player to be named later" as long as that player has not accumulated any LDB stats between the trade and the player changing hands. As a general policy, trades are looked upon favorably, regardless of the types of assets involved. The full terms of a trade need not be fully disclosed to the league and may involve gentlemen agreements and other conditions. However, trades are subject to the following restrictions:

* No trade may involve an agreement to temporarily hold or "rent" a player. Any trade that attempts to work around the ban on renting players is also prohibited. For example, a trade involving an agreement to later send back a player of similar value could be considered a workaround. Whether a trade constitutes a rental or an attempted workaround will be determined by a Rules Committee vote, if one is called for.
* Transfer of a player's RFA rights is prohibited once that player is nominated in the [[Keepers_and_Drafts#Majors_Draft|Majors Draft]] or selected in the [[Keepers_and_Drafts#Snake_Draft|Snake Draft]].

In any trade made after the Majors Draft, it is assumed that teams trading away a player eat the salary of such players. However, in any trade made in the offseason or mid-auction, it is assumed that teams receiving players pay the full salary of such players.

==Bets Involving LDB Assets ("Friendly Wagers")==
"Friendly wagers" are the only class of transactions that can include yet-unrealized future assets (money, AA picks past the 2-year allocation window, yet-unborn naming rights to sons/daughters, etc). Friendly wagers cannot adversely impact the competitiveness of the league (if there is question about whether a wager will do so, the wager's status will be determined by that year's Rules Board). All assets involved in friendly wagers will be held in escrow, a spreadsheet that will spell out the parties, terms, timeline, and payouts of the friendly wager. Friendly wagers are bound to the team, rather than the owner, such that a owner's departure does not invalidate the wager (unless specified in the terms of the wager). In the event a team's owner leaves, new prospective owners should be made aware of the team's wagered obligations before agreeing to take control of a team, as the assets are held in escrow and will only be released pursuant to the terms of the wager.

<references/>

The Game

2018-07-09T00:03:00Z

45.48.13.12: /* Playoff Rosters */

LDB is divided into two subsidiary leagues: the Federal League and the Union Association. Each league has two four-team divisions. 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 and eleventh weeks, which may extend beyond seven days.</ref> for a total of 20 weeks, with each statistical category representing one game, meaning 12 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. During the regular season, each team will play the other three teams in their own division twice (6 games), each other team once (12 games), and each team will have two additional non-division intraleague matchups (2 games). Matchups for the extra two intraleague matchups will be determined by the prior season's records. Teams with the two best records in one division in a league will face the teams with the two best records in the other division in that league, and vice versa for the two teams with the worst records their divisions.

The Commissioner will implement "road trips" where teams play out of their divisions multiple weeks in a row.

== 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
! Pitchers
|-
| On-Base Percentage (OBP)
| Modified Game Starts (MGS): 3*IP + 2(IP-4) + K - 2H - 4ER - 2(R-ER) - BB
|-
| On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage (OPS): OBP + SLG
| Adjusted WHIP (aWHIP): (H + BB + HBP)/INN
|-
| Runs Scored (R)
| VIJAY: (RIP+3*SV+3*HLD-8*BS-8*RL)/4
|-
| Adjusted Runs Batted In (aRBI) = RBI - GIDP
| Home Runs Allowed (HRA)
|-
| Home Runs (HR)
| Pitcher Strikeouts (K)
|-
| Adjusted Stolen Bases (ASB): SB - CS/2
| Earned Run Average (ERA)
|}

Just as in baseball, there can be no ties. If a statistical category ends in a tie at the conclusion of the week, the home team will win all such categories.

===Rain Delay Relief===
In the event of a rain delay, if the starting pitcher of such a game has ERA of 4.50 or less in the innings he has pitched in that game, he will receive a 0 in NQW instead of a -2.

The rule will apply in the following situations:

*If a starting pitcher, who has pitched less than 6 innings in a game, is removed from a game immediately following a weather delay; or
*If a starting pitcher does not pitch a full 6 innings because a game is deemed officially completed before the completion of the 6th inning due to a rainout or other weather-related game shortening.

This rule will be self-enforced. Teams will have to identify situations where this has occurred on their teams and notify the Commissioner within seven days of the occurrence. The Commissioner will then make the necessary scoring changes.

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

=== Batting and Fielding Penalties ===
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 ===
If a team fails to reach the required 44 innings pitched in a given week, that team will automatically lose the following categories: NQS, ERA, WHIP, HRA, and STARR. These losses will count as losses in the standings and will be known throughout the league as FUs,<ref>Fuck-ups</ref>. Should a team miss the innings requirement once, there will be an increasing penalty scale as follows:

* First infraction: warning
* Second infraction: $1 million fine
* Third infraction: $3 million fine
* Fourth infraction: $5 million fine
* Fifth infraction: loss of team's next AA draft pick in possession at the time of the infraction

Financial penalties will be levied following completion of the next LDB Championship Series, thereby impacting the subsequent year's budget.

== McQueeney Performance Penalties <ref>Known as "McQueeneys"</ref>==
The McQueeney Performance Penalty deducts LDB cash from a team's subsequent yearly budget when that team finishes the regular season with a sub-.400 winning percentage (including any FU losses) in the second half of the regular season. The "McQueeneys" will be assessed according to the following formula:

:LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-WL%)), rounded to the nearest half million

Additionally:

*The McQueeney Penalties shall be capped at a $20M maximum potential fine.
*The Commissioner may, at his discretion, grant an exemption from the penalties for any team that actively and competently manages its roster throughout the season and does not make a concerted effort to sell players on its active major league roster for future value (i.e., draft picks, cash, or AA players).

For examples, a team with a .380 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-38%)) = LDB$3 million; a team with a .333 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$10 million; and a team with a .200 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$30 million.

McQueeney penalties and fines for missed innings belong to owners, not teams. When an owner leaves LDB, her fines go with her. A new owner is not responsible for paying the fines that his team's previous owner has incurred.

However, a new owner can choose to pay his previous owner’s fines and instead opt to be exempt from McQueeney penalties during his first year of ownership. A team who chooses this option must still actively and competently manage his team, however, or else the Commissioner may override the exemption and impose the fines in full or in part at his discretion.

== All-star Break ==
LDB will not hold regular games during the week of the MLB All-star Game. That week, at the option of the Commissioner, LDB will: (1) hold an LDB All-star Game and, (2) if easily accomplished, fold any official MLB stats accrued that week into the subsequent week.

The All-star Game will be held between the Federal League and the Union Association and use the official MLB statistics accrued during the week of the MLB All-star Break. The Commissioner will announce the logistics for such a game, and each of the divisions will select and announce players for the game. The league that wins the LDB All-Star Game will have home field advantage in the Lucid Dream Series and McQueeney Cup final.

Each league's team will be managed by the owner of the prior season's league champion. The manager will be in charge of conducting the voting for his league's players and tracking their stats. All-Star teams shall consist of a full lineup, three starting pitchers, and two relievers. There will be no alternates or lineup changes; if a player goes on the DL or misses the weekend, their spot remains empty. Every team in the league must have at least one player on the team. The All-Star Game will use regular season categories. The manager must report the final stats on the Monday following the All-star break and should report the daily stats on Saturday and Sunday.<ref>An easy way to track such scores is to use CBS's "Scout Team" page using the "Last 7 Days" viewing option. The manager may need to calculate rate stats separately.</ref>

There is no home field advantage in the All-Star Game; category ties are treated as ties. If the final score is tied, tiebreakers will be as follows: HR, aSB, Ka, R, RBI, OPS, VIJAY, OBP, WHIP, ERA, NQW.

The Commissioner has discretion to adjust these rules unilaterally prior to the LDB All-Star Game if he deems it necessary. Changes after the All-Star Game has begun require a majority vote.

== Playoffs ==

=== Advancing to the Playoffs ===
The LDB Playoffs occur after the regular season concludes. Eight teams make the playoffs: the four division winners and two wild card teams from each league. The wild card teams from each league first play each other in a wild card round. The winners of the wild card round advance to the Lucid Division series, where they will play the division winner in their respective leagues with the second best league record (that division winner therefore gets a one-round bye). The winner of the Lucid Division Series advances to the Lucid Championship Series, where they face the team with the best record in their league (the league winner therefore gets a double bye). The home team in 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, determine seeding, and home field advantage in the event no LDB All-star Game takes place 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 by independent pairwise comparisons. 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.

=== Playoff Rosters ===
Once playoff rosters lock for the first time, player adds and drops are prohibited until the conclusion of playoffs.

Playoff rosters contain 20 players and lock at the start of each round of the playoffs. The 20-man playoff roster consists of: active position players, reserve position players, active pitchers, and players potentially activated from the DL. Once rosters lock on Monday of each playoff week, players cannot be promoted or demoted to/from [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] until the following Monday. However, position players on the DL may be added to the 20-man roster after rosters lock if there is a space reserved for their potential activation.

Positional players within the 20-man roster may be freely subbed in and out of slots during playoffs.

Each playoff team must start exactly five pitchers in each round of the playoffs: three starting pitchers, one relief pitcher and one flex (starter or reliever). Pitchers must remain active the entire week and cannot be benched. Starting pitchers must start at least one game for each week they are selected for a playoff roster. Teams may select pitchers on the DL as one of their five pitchers, but must also declare alternate, healthy pitchers in case such pitchers on the DL do not make a start in a game during that week. Teams may also, at their option, designate alternate pitchers for pitchers that are not on the DL. Alternates may take the place of pitchers injured during a scoring period who have not accumulated any stats in that scoring period. Should a player on a team’s 20-man playoff roster hit the DL during a playoff matchup, the owner may substitute that player with someone from his bench (not necessarily a declared alternate) or pick up one available free agent that plays the same position as the injured player.

A team in a playoff or McQueeney bracket that fails to set a valid, timely roster will field a pitching staff in the order that the team’s pitchers accrue stats that week, regardless of their position on the roster, up to the playoff pitching maximum. This applies to starting pitchers and relief pitchers.

=== Playoff Scoring ===

Pitching stats for the playoff week are as follows: ERA, WHIP, NQW/GS, K/9, HR/9, and STARR.

In the event of a playoff tie in points, such games will be decided by a cumulative measure for each stat category. Specifically: at the start of each season, a volunteer must determine the Categorical League Average Performance (CLAP) for each scoring category from the previous season. The CLAP will be determined by the mean and standard deviation for each category over the course of that season.

:Example
:Let's use aSB as an example. Over the course of the previous season, each team has 20 different aSB scores, for 280 data points total. Let's assume that out of the 280 observations of aSB, the mean is 2.5 and the standard deviation is 0.75.

:Now let's say that Team A has 4 aSB and Team B has 2. Team A would get +2 in tiebreaker scoring (because it's 2 Std Devs over the mean) while Team B would be given -0.67 (because it's 2/3 Std Devs. below the mean).

:We repeat this for all stats and see who has the higher total.

:Weights will be calculated annually at the beginning of the regular season.

=== The McQueeney Cup ===
LDB will award the McQueeney Cup each season to the non-playoff team that wins the McQueeney Cup bracket, which will be played over three rounds parallel to the LDB playoffs, with Union and Federal ladders composed of each divisions' respective four non-playoff teams, seeded in order of regular season finish, with the last round including the Union and Federal finalists. The winner of the McQueeney Cup will receive a sandwich round pick between the first and second round of the amateur draft. In all other respects, McQueeney Cup games are decided as a regular playoff game. The winner of the McQueeney Cup may choose to either take the sandwich round pick or forfeit that pick in exchange for wiping his McQueeney penalties to $0, should he have any.

<references/>

Organizational Structure

2018-07-08T23:57:21Z

45.48.13.12: /* Disabled List and Suspended List */

Each LDB franchise has three tiers: Majors, the DL, and AA.

== Majors ==

The Majors level is a 31-man roster and represents the active players on the team whose performance may affect scoring. It closely resembles an MLB franchise. All 30 players are available for active duty, and are broken down into the following positions:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|-
! Hitters
! Pitchers
|-
| Catcher
| rowspan="4" | Starting Pitchers (Up to 5)
|-
| First Base
|-
| Second Base
|-
| Short Stop
|-
| Third Base
| rowspan="5" | Relief Pitchers (Up to 6)
|-
| Left Field
|-
| Center Field
|-
| Right Field
|-
| Designated Hitters (Up to 2)
|-
| colspan="2" align="center" | Bench
|}

During playoffs, this structure changes. See [[The_Game#Playoff_Rosters|Playoff Rosters]] for more information.

=== Positional Eligibility ===

==== Hitters ====
For hitters, a player is eligible for a position if (1) that player made 17 appearances in that position during the previous season or (2) the player appeared at that position for 50% of games in April of the current season, or, after April, appeared at that position a total of 12 times during the season. Until a hitter meets one of these thresholds, he may bat as a designated hitter only.

==== Pitchers ====
For pitchers, to be eligible as a starting pitcher, a player must have appeared as a starting pitcher in one game during the previous or current season. To be eligible as a relief pitcher, a player must have appeared as a relief pitcher in one game during the previous or current season.

== Disabled List and Suspended List==
In addition to a its 30-man roster, each team may have up to six players on its disabled list. A player in the Majors is eligible to be on the Disabled List (DL) when he is on the MLB DL. See [[Internal Transactions]] for other rules related to the DL.

Players suspended in MLB will not count against the LDB 30-man roster. Suspended players may be placed in the LDB team's minor league without being subject to waivers. They must return to the active 30-man roster immediately upon conclusion of the MLB suspension.

== AA ==

The AA tier is a roster of unlimited rookie players signed in the AA draft. See [[Internal Transactions]] for rules relating to the consequences of promoting a player out of AA.

<references/>

Lucid Dream Baseball League Rules

2018-07-08T23:56:38Z

45.48.13.12: /* Organizational Structure */

{| style="float:right; margin-left: 10px; border:0;"
| valign="middle"|[[File:Draft 2007.jpg|border|150px|2007 Draft]]
| valign="middle"|[[File:Draft 2008.jpg|border|150px|2008 Draft]]
| valign="middle"|[[File:Draft 2010.jpg|border|150px|2010 Draft]]
|-
| valign="middle"|[[File:Draft 2011.jpg|border|150px|2011 Draft]]
| valign="middle"|[[File:Draft 2012.jpg|border|150px|2012 Draft]]
| valign="middle"|
|-
| valign="center" align="center" colspan="3"| A study in technological advances of cell phone cameras.
|}Lucid Dream Baseball (LDB) is a fantasy baseball league designed to mirror owning and managing a Major League Baseball franchise as nearly as possible. LDB principally accomplishes this two ways: (1) providing each league member deep organizational tiers that allow all types of players, from marquee superstars to young prospects and (2) calculating player performance from statistics that better measure player performance than traditional fantasy baseball systems. LDB also offers other features that better simulate team management than traditional fantasy baseball systems, including a yearly budget, trades that involve assets other than players, rules for internal team management that mirror MLB, among others.

Each LDB league member will be the GM of his or her own franchise, in complete control of team payroll, roster composition, game lineups, and management of the farm system.<ref>However, a GM may opt to appoint a co-manager. Co-managed teams have one vote on trade vetoes, rule changes, etc.</ref> Financial constraints have been designed to resemble those of the top-tier of MLB organizations, and GMs will have the ability to engage in realistic transactions and roster moves to put their teams in the best position to win. Given the unique features LDB offers, LDB GMs have a higher responsibility to manage their team than they would in an average fantasy league.<ref>[[Legacy_Rules_and_Rules_Board_Reporter#In_re_Robinson_Cano.27s_Contract_Status.2C_2012_LDB_1_.28Feb._16.2C_2012.29|In re Robinson Cano's Contract Status, 2012 LDB 1 (Feb. 16, 2012)]].</ref>
__NOTOC__
==[[Organizational Structure]]==
* [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]]
* [[Organizational Structure#Disabled List and Suspended List|DL and Suspended List]]
* [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]]

==[[Finances]]==
* [[Finances#Yearly Budget|Yearly Budget]]
* [[Finances#Luxury Tax|Luxury Tax]]
* [[Finances#Payroll|Payroll]]

==[[Keepers and Drafts]]==
* [[Keepers and Drafts#Keepers|Keepers]]
* [[Keepers and Drafts#AA Draft|AA Draft]]
* [[Keepers and Drafts#Majors Draft|Majors Draft]]
* [[Keepers and Drafts#Snake Draft|Snake Draft]]
* [[Keepers and Drafts#Rule V Draft|Rule V Draft]]

==[[The Game]]==
* [[The Game#Schedule|Schedule]]
* [[The Game#Scoring|Scoring]]
* [[The Game#Roster Requirements|Roster Requirements]]
* [[The Game#McQueeney Performance Penalties|McQueeney Performance Penalties]]
* [[The Game#All-star Break|All-star Break]]
* [[The Game#Playoffs|Playoffs]]

==[[Internal Transactions]]==
* [[Internal Transactions#Disabled List Transactions|Disabled List Transactions]]
* [[Internal Transactions#AA Transactions|AA Transactions]]

==[[External Transactions]]==
* [[External Transactions#Designation for Assignment|Designation for Assignment]]
* [[External Transactions#Mid-Season Free Agents|Mid-Season Free Agents]]
* [[External Transactions#Waiver Claims|Waiver Claims]]
* [[External Transactions#Trades|Trades]]
* [[External Transactions#Bets Involving LDB Assets ("Friendly Wagers")|Bets Involving LDB Assets ("Friendly Wagers")]]

==[[Rule Changes, Disputes, and Contingencies]]==
* [[Rule Changes, Disputes, and Contingencies#Rule Changes|Rule Changes]]
* [[Rule Changes, Disputes, and Contingencies#Commissioner Relief|Commissioner Relief]]
* [[Rule Changes, Disputes, and Contingencies#Rules Board|Rules Board]]
* [[Rule Changes, Disputes, and Contingencies#Contingencies|Contingencies]]

==[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Zv1CQUTWkl3Limne9-pJbF_e8yW41Bl1CqWE1ZDktYg/edit?usp=sharing Future Rule Changes]==

==[[Legacy Rules and Rules Board Reporter]]==
* [[Legacy Rules and Rules Board Reporter#Legacy Rules|Legacy Rules]]
* [[Legacy Rules and Rules Board Reporter#LDB Rules Board Reporter|LDB Rules Board Reporter]]

<references/>

Organizational Structure

2018-07-08T23:56:13Z

45.48.13.12: /* Disabled List */

Each LDB franchise has three tiers: Majors, the DL, and AA.

== Majors ==

The Majors level is a 31-man roster and represents the active players on the team whose performance may affect scoring. It closely resembles an MLB franchise. All 30 players are available for active duty, and are broken down into the following positions:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|-
! Hitters
! Pitchers
|-
| Catcher
| rowspan="4" | Starting Pitchers (Up to 5)
|-
| First Base
|-
| Second Base
|-
| Short Stop
|-
| Third Base
| rowspan="5" | Relief Pitchers (Up to 6)
|-
| Left Field
|-
| Center Field
|-
| Right Field
|-
| Designated Hitters (Up to 2)
|-
| colspan="2" align="center" | Bench
|}

During playoffs, this structure changes. See [[The_Game#Playoff_Rosters|Playoff Rosters]] for more information.

=== Positional Eligibility ===

==== Hitters ====
For hitters, a player is eligible for a position if (1) that player made 17 appearances in that position during the previous season or (2) the player appeared at that position for 50% of games in April of the current season, or, after April, appeared at that position a total of 12 times during the season. Until a hitter meets one of these thresholds, he may bat as a designated hitter only.

==== Pitchers ====
For pitchers, to be eligible as a starting pitcher, a player must have appeared as a starting pitcher in one game during the previous or current season. To be eligible as a relief pitcher, a player must have appeared as a relief pitcher in one game during the previous or current season.

== Disabled List and Suspended List==
In addition to a its 30-man roster, each team may have up to five players on its disabled list. A player in the Majors is eligible to be on the Disabled List (DL) when he is on the MLB DL. See [[Internal Transactions]] for other rules related to the DL.

Players suspended in MLB will not count against the LDB 30-man roster. Suspended players may be placed in the LDB team's minor league without being subject to waivers. They must return to the active 30-man roster immediately upon conclusion of the MLB suspension.

== AA ==

The AA tier is a roster of unlimited rookie players signed in the AA draft. See [[Internal Transactions]] for rules relating to the consequences of promoting a player out of AA.

<references/>

Organizational Structure

2018-07-08T23:54:43Z

45.48.13.12: /* Majors */

Each LDB franchise has three tiers: Majors, the DL, and AA.

== Majors ==

The Majors level is a 31-man roster and represents the active players on the team whose performance may affect scoring. It closely resembles an MLB franchise. All 30 players are available for active duty, and are broken down into the following positions:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|-
! Hitters
! Pitchers
|-
| Catcher
| rowspan="4" | Starting Pitchers (Up to 5)
|-
| First Base
|-
| Second Base
|-
| Short Stop
|-
| Third Base
| rowspan="5" | Relief Pitchers (Up to 6)
|-
| Left Field
|-
| Center Field
|-
| Right Field
|-
| Designated Hitters (Up to 2)
|-
| colspan="2" align="center" | Bench
|}

During playoffs, this structure changes. See [[The_Game#Playoff_Rosters|Playoff Rosters]] for more information.

=== Positional Eligibility ===

==== Hitters ====
For hitters, a player is eligible for a position if (1) that player made 17 appearances in that position during the previous season or (2) the player appeared at that position for 50% of games in April of the current season, or, after April, appeared at that position a total of 12 times during the season. Until a hitter meets one of these thresholds, he may bat as a designated hitter only.

==== Pitchers ====
For pitchers, to be eligible as a starting pitcher, a player must have appeared as a starting pitcher in one game during the previous or current season. To be eligible as a relief pitcher, a player must have appeared as a relief pitcher in one game during the previous or current season.

== Disabled List ==
In addition to a its 30-man roster, each team may have up to five players on its disabled list. A player in the Majors is eligible to be on the Disabled List (DL) when he is on the MLB DL. See [[Internal Transactions]] for other rules related to the DL.

== AA ==

The AA tier is a roster of unlimited rookie players signed in the AA draft. See [[Internal Transactions]] for rules relating to the consequences of promoting a player out of AA.

<references/>

Organizational Structure

2018-07-08T23:54:26Z

45.48.13.12: /* Positional Eligibility */

Each LDB franchise has three tiers: Majors, the DL, and AA.

== Majors ==

The Majors level is a 30-man roster and represents the active players on the team whose performance may affect scoring. It closely resembles an MLB franchise. All 30 players are available for active duty, and are broken down into the following positions:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|-
! Hitters
! Pitchers
|-
| Catcher
| rowspan="4" | Starting Pitchers (Up to 5)
|-
| First Base
|-
| Second Base
|-
| Short Stop
|-
| Third Base
| rowspan="5" | Relief Pitchers (Up to 6)
|-
| Left Field
|-
| Center Field
|-
| Right Field
|-
| Designated Hitters (Up to 2)
|-
| colspan="2" align="center" | Bench
|}

During playoffs, this structure changes. See [[The_Game#Playoff_Rosters|Playoff Rosters]] for more information.

=== Positional Eligibility ===

==== Hitters ====
For hitters, a player is eligible for a position if (1) that player made 17 appearances in that position during the previous season or (2) the player appeared at that position for 50% of games in April of the current season, or, after April, appeared at that position a total of 12 times during the season. Until a hitter meets one of these thresholds, he may bat as a designated hitter only.

==== Pitchers ====
For pitchers, to be eligible as a starting pitcher, a player must have appeared as a starting pitcher in one game during the previous or current season. To be eligible as a relief pitcher, a player must have appeared as a relief pitcher in one game during the previous or current season.

== Disabled List ==
In addition to a its 30-man roster, each team may have up to five players on its disabled list. A player in the Majors is eligible to be on the Disabled List (DL) when he is on the MLB DL. See [[Internal Transactions]] for other rules related to the DL.

== AA ==

The AA tier is a roster of unlimited rookie players signed in the AA draft. See [[Internal Transactions]] for rules relating to the consequences of promoting a player out of AA.

<references/>

The Game

2018-07-08T23:49:45Z

45.48.13.12: /* Pitching Penalties */

LDB is divided into two subsidiary leagues: the Federal League and the Union Association. Each league has two four-team divisions. 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 and eleventh weeks, which may extend beyond seven days.</ref> for a total of 20 weeks, with each statistical category representing one game, meaning 12 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. During the regular season, each team will play the other three teams in their own division twice (6 games), each other team once (12 games), and each team will have two additional non-division intraleague matchups (2 games). Matchups for the extra two intraleague matchups will be determined by the prior season's records. Teams with the two best records in one division in a league will face the teams with the two best records in the other division in that league, and vice versa for the two teams with the worst records their divisions.

The Commissioner will implement "road trips" where teams play out of their divisions multiple weeks in a row.

== 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
! Pitchers
|-
| On-Base Percentage (OBP)
| Modified Game Starts (MGS): 3*IP + 2(IP-4) + K - 2H - 4ER - 2(R-ER) - BB
|-
| On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage (OPS): OBP + SLG
| Adjusted WHIP (aWHIP): (H + BB + HBP)/INN
|-
| Runs Scored (R)
| VIJAY: (RIP+3*SV+3*HLD-8*BS-8*RL)/4
|-
| Adjusted Runs Batted In (aRBI) = RBI - GIDP
| Home Runs Allowed (HRA)
|-
| Home Runs (HR)
| Pitcher Strikeouts (K)
|-
| Adjusted Stolen Bases (ASB): SB - CS/2
| Earned Run Average (ERA)
|}

Just as in baseball, there can be no ties. If a statistical category ends in a tie at the conclusion of the week, the home team will win all such categories.

===Rain Delay Relief===
In the event of a rain delay, if the starting pitcher of such a game has ERA of 4.50 or less in the innings he has pitched in that game, he will receive a 0 in NQW instead of a -2.

The rule will apply in the following situations:

*If a starting pitcher, who has pitched less than 6 innings in a game, is removed from a game immediately following a weather delay; or
*If a starting pitcher does not pitch a full 6 innings because a game is deemed officially completed before the completion of the 6th inning due to a rainout or other weather-related game shortening.

This rule will be self-enforced. Teams will have to identify situations where this has occurred on their teams and notify the Commissioner within seven days of the occurrence. The Commissioner will then make the necessary scoring changes.

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

=== Batting and Fielding Penalties ===
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 ===
If a team fails to reach the required 44 innings pitched in a given week, that team will automatically lose the following categories: NQS, ERA, WHIP, HRA, and STARR. These losses will count as losses in the standings and will be known throughout the league as FUs,<ref>Fuck-ups</ref>. Should a team miss the innings requirement once, there will be an increasing penalty scale as follows:

* First infraction: warning
* Second infraction: $1 million fine
* Third infraction: $3 million fine
* Fourth infraction: $5 million fine
* Fifth infraction: loss of team's next AA draft pick in possession at the time of the infraction

Financial penalties will be levied following completion of the next LDB Championship Series, thereby impacting the subsequent year's budget.

== McQueeney Performance Penalties <ref>Known as "McQueeneys"</ref>==
The McQueeney Performance Penalty deducts LDB cash from a team's subsequent yearly budget when that team finishes the regular season with a sub-.400 winning percentage (including any FU losses) in the second half of the regular season. The "McQueeneys" will be assessed according to the following formula:

:LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-WL%)), rounded to the nearest half million

Additionally:

*The McQueeney Penalties shall be capped at a $20M maximum potential fine.
*The Commissioner may, at his discretion, grant an exemption from the penalties for any team that actively and competently manages its roster throughout the season and does not make a concerted effort to sell players on its active major league roster for future value (i.e., draft picks, cash, or AA players).

For examples, a team with a .380 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-38%)) = LDB$3 million; a team with a .333 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$10 million; and a team with a .200 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$30 million.

McQueeney penalties and fines for missed innings belong to owners, not teams. When an owner leaves LDB, her fines go with her. A new owner is not responsible for paying the fines that his team's previous owner has incurred.

However, a new owner can choose to pay his previous owner’s fines and instead opt to be exempt from McQueeney penalties during his first year of ownership. A team who chooses this option must still actively and competently manage his team, however, or else the Commissioner may override the exemption and impose the fines in full or in part at his discretion.

== All-star Break ==
LDB will not hold regular games during the week of the MLB All-star Game. That week, at the option of the Commissioner, LDB will: (1) hold an LDB All-star Game and, (2) if easily accomplished, fold any official MLB stats accrued that week into the subsequent week.

The All-star Game will be held between the Federal League and the Union Association and use the official MLB statistics accrued during the week of the MLB All-star Break. The Commissioner will announce the logistics for such a game, and each of the divisions will select and announce players for the game. The league that wins the LDB All-Star Game will have home field advantage in the Lucid Dream Series and McQueeney Cup final.

Each league's team will be managed by the owner of the prior season's league champion. The manager will be in charge of conducting the voting for his league's players and tracking their stats. All-Star teams shall consist of a full lineup, three starting pitchers, and two relievers. There will be no alternates or lineup changes; if a player goes on the DL or misses the weekend, their spot remains empty. Every team in the league must have at least one player on the team. The All-Star Game will use regular season categories. The manager must report the final stats on the Monday following the All-star break and should report the daily stats on Saturday and Sunday.<ref>An easy way to track such scores is to use CBS's "Scout Team" page using the "Last 7 Days" viewing option. The manager may need to calculate rate stats separately.</ref>

There is no home field advantage in the All-Star Game; category ties are treated as ties. If the final score is tied, tiebreakers will be as follows: HR, aSB, Ka, R, RBI, OPS, VIJAY, OBP, WHIP, ERA, NQW.

The Commissioner has discretion to adjust these rules unilaterally prior to the LDB All-Star Game if he deems it necessary. Changes after the All-Star Game has begun require a majority vote.

== Playoffs ==

=== Advancing to the Playoffs ===
The LDB Playoffs occur after the regular season concludes. Eight teams make the playoffs: the four division winners and two wild card teams from each league. The wild card teams from each league first play each other in a wild card round. The winners of the wild card round advance to the Lucid Division series, where they will play the division winner in their respective leagues with the second best league record (that division winner therefore gets a one-round bye). The winner of the Lucid Division Series advances to the Lucid Championship Series, where they face the team with the best record in their league (the league winner therefore gets a double bye). The home team in 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, determine seeding, and home field advantage in the event no LDB All-star Game takes place 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 by independent pairwise comparisons. 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.

=== Playoff Rosters ===
Once playoff rosters lock for the first time, player adds and drops are prohibited until the conclusion of playoffs.

Playoff rosters contain 20 players and lock at the start of each round of the playoffs. The 20-man playoff roster consists of: active position players, reserve position players, active pitchers, and players potentially activated from the DL. Once rosters lock on Monday of each playoff week, players cannot be promoted or demoted to/from [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] until the following Monday. However, position players on the DL may be added to the 20-man roster after rosters lock if there is a space reserved for their potential activation.

Positional players within the 20-man roster may be freely subbed in and out of slots during playoffs.

Each playoff team must start exactly five pitchers in each round of the playoffs: three starting pitchers, one relief pitcher and one flex (starter or reliever). Pitchers must remain active the entire week and cannot be benched. Starting pitchers must start at least one game for each week they are selected for a playoff roster. Teams may select pitchers on the DL as one of their five pitchers, but must also declare alternate, healthy pitchers in case such pitchers on the DL do not make a start in a game during that week. Teams may also, at their option, designate alternate pitchers for pitchers that are not on the DL. Alternates may take the place of pitchers injured during a scoring period who have not accumulated any stats in that scoring period.

A team in a playoff or McQueeney bracket that fails to set a valid, timely roster will field a pitching staff in the order that the team’s pitchers accrue stats that week, regardless of their position on the roster, up to the playoff pitching maximum. This applies to starting pitchers and relief pitchers.

=== Playoff Scoring ===

Pitching stats for the playoff week are as follows: ERA, WHIP, NQW/GS, K/9, HR/9, and STARR.

In the event of a playoff tie in points, such games will be decided by a cumulative measure for each stat category. Specifically: at the start of each season, a volunteer must determine the Categorical League Average Performance (CLAP) for each scoring category from the previous season. The CLAP will be determined by the mean and standard deviation for each category over the course of that season.

:Example
:Let's use aSB as an example. Over the course of the previous season, each team has 20 different aSB scores, for 280 data points total. Let's assume that out of the 280 observations of aSB, the mean is 2.5 and the standard deviation is 0.75.

:Now let's say that Team A has 4 aSB and Team B has 2. Team A would get +2 in tiebreaker scoring (because it's 2 Std Devs over the mean) while Team B would be given -0.67 (because it's 2/3 Std Devs. below the mean).

:We repeat this for all stats and see who has the higher total.

:Weights will be calculated annually at the beginning of the regular season.

=== The McQueeney Cup ===
LDB will award the McQueeney Cup each season to the non-playoff team that wins the McQueeney Cup bracket, which will be played over three rounds parallel to the LDB playoffs, with Union and Federal ladders composed of each divisions' respective four non-playoff teams, seeded in order of regular season finish, with the last round including the Union and Federal finalists. The winner of the McQueeney Cup will receive a sandwich round pick between the first and second round of the amateur draft. In all other respects, McQueeney Cup games are decided as a regular playoff game. The winner of the McQueeney Cup may choose to either take the sandwich round pick or forfeit that pick in exchange for wiping his McQueeney penalties to $0, should he have any.

<references/>

The Game

2018-07-08T23:42:38Z

45.48.13.12: /* McQueeney Performance Penalties Known as "McQueeneys" */

LDB is divided into two subsidiary leagues: the Federal League and the Union Association. Each league has two four-team divisions. 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 and eleventh weeks, which may extend beyond seven days.</ref> for a total of 20 weeks, with each statistical category representing one game, meaning 12 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. During the regular season, each team will play the other three teams in their own division twice (6 games), each other team once (12 games), and each team will have two additional non-division intraleague matchups (2 games). Matchups for the extra two intraleague matchups will be determined by the prior season's records. Teams with the two best records in one division in a league will face the teams with the two best records in the other division in that league, and vice versa for the two teams with the worst records their divisions.

The Commissioner will implement "road trips" where teams play out of their divisions multiple weeks in a row.

== 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
! Pitchers
|-
| On-Base Percentage (OBP)
| Modified Game Starts (MGS): 3*IP + 2(IP-4) + K - 2H - 4ER - 2(R-ER) - BB
|-
| On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage (OPS): OBP + SLG
| Adjusted WHIP (aWHIP): (H + BB + HBP)/INN
|-
| Runs Scored (R)
| VIJAY: (RIP+3*SV+3*HLD-8*BS-8*RL)/4
|-
| Adjusted Runs Batted In (aRBI) = RBI - GIDP
| Home Runs Allowed (HRA)
|-
| Home Runs (HR)
| Pitcher Strikeouts (K)
|-
| Adjusted Stolen Bases (ASB): SB - CS/2
| Earned Run Average (ERA)
|}

Just as in baseball, there can be no ties. If a statistical category ends in a tie at the conclusion of the week, the home team will win all such categories.

===Rain Delay Relief===
In the event of a rain delay, if the starting pitcher of such a game has ERA of 4.50 or less in the innings he has pitched in that game, he will receive a 0 in NQW instead of a -2.

The rule will apply in the following situations:

*If a starting pitcher, who has pitched less than 6 innings in a game, is removed from a game immediately following a weather delay; or
*If a starting pitcher does not pitch a full 6 innings because a game is deemed officially completed before the completion of the 6th inning due to a rainout or other weather-related game shortening.

This rule will be self-enforced. Teams will have to identify situations where this has occurred on their teams and notify the Commissioner within seven days of the occurrence. The Commissioner will then make the necessary scoring changes.

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

=== Batting and Fielding Penalties ===
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 ===
If a team fails to reach the required 44 innings pitched in a given week, that team will automatically lose the following categories: NQS, ERA, WHIP, HRA, and STARR. These losses will count as losses in the standings and will be known throughout the league as FUs,<ref>Fuck-ups</ref>. Should a team miss the innings requirement once, there will be no financial penalty. After the first instance of missed innings, each additional week a team misses innings will cost that team's owner $1 million, to be levied immediately upon the completion of the LDB Championship Series for that season.

== McQueeney Performance Penalties <ref>Known as "McQueeneys"</ref>==
The McQueeney Performance Penalty deducts LDB cash from a team's subsequent yearly budget when that team finishes the regular season with a sub-.400 winning percentage (including any FU losses) in the second half of the regular season. The "McQueeneys" will be assessed according to the following formula:

:LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-WL%)), rounded to the nearest half million

Additionally:

*The McQueeney Penalties shall be capped at a $20M maximum potential fine.
*The Commissioner may, at his discretion, grant an exemption from the penalties for any team that actively and competently manages its roster throughout the season and does not make a concerted effort to sell players on its active major league roster for future value (i.e., draft picks, cash, or AA players).

For examples, a team with a .380 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-38%)) = LDB$3 million; a team with a .333 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$10 million; and a team with a .200 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$30 million.

McQueeney penalties and fines for missed innings belong to owners, not teams. When an owner leaves LDB, her fines go with her. A new owner is not responsible for paying the fines that his team's previous owner has incurred.

However, a new owner can choose to pay his previous owner’s fines and instead opt to be exempt from McQueeney penalties during his first year of ownership. A team who chooses this option must still actively and competently manage his team, however, or else the Commissioner may override the exemption and impose the fines in full or in part at his discretion.

== All-star Break ==
LDB will not hold regular games during the week of the MLB All-star Game. That week, at the option of the Commissioner, LDB will: (1) hold an LDB All-star Game and, (2) if easily accomplished, fold any official MLB stats accrued that week into the subsequent week.

The All-star Game will be held between the Federal League and the Union Association and use the official MLB statistics accrued during the week of the MLB All-star Break. The Commissioner will announce the logistics for such a game, and each of the divisions will select and announce players for the game. The league that wins the LDB All-Star Game will have home field advantage in the Lucid Dream Series and McQueeney Cup final.

Each league's team will be managed by the owner of the prior season's league champion. The manager will be in charge of conducting the voting for his league's players and tracking their stats. All-Star teams shall consist of a full lineup, three starting pitchers, and two relievers. There will be no alternates or lineup changes; if a player goes on the DL or misses the weekend, their spot remains empty. Every team in the league must have at least one player on the team. The All-Star Game will use regular season categories. The manager must report the final stats on the Monday following the All-star break and should report the daily stats on Saturday and Sunday.<ref>An easy way to track such scores is to use CBS's "Scout Team" page using the "Last 7 Days" viewing option. The manager may need to calculate rate stats separately.</ref>

There is no home field advantage in the All-Star Game; category ties are treated as ties. If the final score is tied, tiebreakers will be as follows: HR, aSB, Ka, R, RBI, OPS, VIJAY, OBP, WHIP, ERA, NQW.

The Commissioner has discretion to adjust these rules unilaterally prior to the LDB All-Star Game if he deems it necessary. Changes after the All-Star Game has begun require a majority vote.

== Playoffs ==

=== Advancing to the Playoffs ===
The LDB Playoffs occur after the regular season concludes. Eight teams make the playoffs: the four division winners and two wild card teams from each league. The wild card teams from each league first play each other in a wild card round. The winners of the wild card round advance to the Lucid Division series, where they will play the division winner in their respective leagues with the second best league record (that division winner therefore gets a one-round bye). The winner of the Lucid Division Series advances to the Lucid Championship Series, where they face the team with the best record in their league (the league winner therefore gets a double bye). The home team in 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, determine seeding, and home field advantage in the event no LDB All-star Game takes place 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 by independent pairwise comparisons. 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.

=== Playoff Rosters ===
Once playoff rosters lock for the first time, player adds and drops are prohibited until the conclusion of playoffs.

Playoff rosters contain 20 players and lock at the start of each round of the playoffs. The 20-man playoff roster consists of: active position players, reserve position players, active pitchers, and players potentially activated from the DL. Once rosters lock on Monday of each playoff week, players cannot be promoted or demoted to/from [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] until the following Monday. However, position players on the DL may be added to the 20-man roster after rosters lock if there is a space reserved for their potential activation.

Positional players within the 20-man roster may be freely subbed in and out of slots during playoffs.

Each playoff team must start exactly five pitchers in each round of the playoffs: three starting pitchers, one relief pitcher and one flex (starter or reliever). Pitchers must remain active the entire week and cannot be benched. Starting pitchers must start at least one game for each week they are selected for a playoff roster. Teams may select pitchers on the DL as one of their five pitchers, but must also declare alternate, healthy pitchers in case such pitchers on the DL do not make a start in a game during that week. Teams may also, at their option, designate alternate pitchers for pitchers that are not on the DL. Alternates may take the place of pitchers injured during a scoring period who have not accumulated any stats in that scoring period.

A team in a playoff or McQueeney bracket that fails to set a valid, timely roster will field a pitching staff in the order that the team’s pitchers accrue stats that week, regardless of their position on the roster, up to the playoff pitching maximum. This applies to starting pitchers and relief pitchers.

=== Playoff Scoring ===

Pitching stats for the playoff week are as follows: ERA, WHIP, NQW/GS, K/9, HR/9, and STARR.

In the event of a playoff tie in points, such games will be decided by a cumulative measure for each stat category. Specifically: at the start of each season, a volunteer must determine the Categorical League Average Performance (CLAP) for each scoring category from the previous season. The CLAP will be determined by the mean and standard deviation for each category over the course of that season.

:Example
:Let's use aSB as an example. Over the course of the previous season, each team has 20 different aSB scores, for 280 data points total. Let's assume that out of the 280 observations of aSB, the mean is 2.5 and the standard deviation is 0.75.

:Now let's say that Team A has 4 aSB and Team B has 2. Team A would get +2 in tiebreaker scoring (because it's 2 Std Devs over the mean) while Team B would be given -0.67 (because it's 2/3 Std Devs. below the mean).

:We repeat this for all stats and see who has the higher total.

:Weights will be calculated annually at the beginning of the regular season.

=== The McQueeney Cup ===
LDB will award the McQueeney Cup each season to the non-playoff team that wins the McQueeney Cup bracket, which will be played over three rounds parallel to the LDB playoffs, with Union and Federal ladders composed of each divisions' respective four non-playoff teams, seeded in order of regular season finish, with the last round including the Union and Federal finalists. The winner of the McQueeney Cup will receive a sandwich round pick between the first and second round of the amateur draft. In all other respects, McQueeney Cup games are decided as a regular playoff game. The winner of the McQueeney Cup may choose to either take the sandwich round pick or forfeit that pick in exchange for wiping his McQueeney penalties to $0, should he have any.

<references/>

The Game

2018-07-08T23:38:47Z

45.48.13.12: /* Scoring */

LDB is divided into two subsidiary leagues: the Federal League and the Union Association. Each league has two four-team divisions. 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 and eleventh weeks, which may extend beyond seven days.</ref> for a total of 20 weeks, with each statistical category representing one game, meaning 12 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. During the regular season, each team will play the other three teams in their own division twice (6 games), each other team once (12 games), and each team will have two additional non-division intraleague matchups (2 games). Matchups for the extra two intraleague matchups will be determined by the prior season's records. Teams with the two best records in one division in a league will face the teams with the two best records in the other division in that league, and vice versa for the two teams with the worst records their divisions.

The Commissioner will implement "road trips" where teams play out of their divisions multiple weeks in a row.

== 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
! Pitchers
|-
| On-Base Percentage (OBP)
| Modified Game Starts (MGS): 3*IP + 2(IP-4) + K - 2H - 4ER - 2(R-ER) - BB
|-
| On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage (OPS): OBP + SLG
| Adjusted WHIP (aWHIP): (H + BB + HBP)/INN
|-
| Runs Scored (R)
| VIJAY: (RIP+3*SV+3*HLD-8*BS-8*RL)/4
|-
| Adjusted Runs Batted In (aRBI) = RBI - GIDP
| Home Runs Allowed (HRA)
|-
| Home Runs (HR)
| Pitcher Strikeouts (K)
|-
| Adjusted Stolen Bases (ASB): SB - CS/2
| Earned Run Average (ERA)
|}

Just as in baseball, there can be no ties. If a statistical category ends in a tie at the conclusion of the week, the home team will win all such categories.

===Rain Delay Relief===
In the event of a rain delay, if the starting pitcher of such a game has ERA of 4.50 or less in the innings he has pitched in that game, he will receive a 0 in NQW instead of a -2.

The rule will apply in the following situations:

*If a starting pitcher, who has pitched less than 6 innings in a game, is removed from a game immediately following a weather delay; or
*If a starting pitcher does not pitch a full 6 innings because a game is deemed officially completed before the completion of the 6th inning due to a rainout or other weather-related game shortening.

This rule will be self-enforced. Teams will have to identify situations where this has occurred on their teams and notify the Commissioner within seven days of the occurrence. The Commissioner will then make the necessary scoring changes.

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

=== Batting and Fielding Penalties ===
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 ===
If a team fails to reach the required 44 innings pitched in a given week, that team will automatically lose the following categories: NQS, ERA, WHIP, HRA, and STARR. These losses will count as losses in the standings and will be known throughout the league as FUs,<ref>Fuck-ups</ref>. Should a team miss the innings requirement once, there will be no financial penalty. After the first instance of missed innings, each additional week a team misses innings will cost that team's owner $1 million, to be levied immediately upon the completion of the LDB Championship Series for that season.

== McQueeney Performance Penalties <ref>Known as "McQueeneys"</ref>==
The McQueeney Performance Penalty deducts LDB cash from a team's subsequent yearly budget when that team finishes the regular season with a sub-.400 winning percentage (including any FU losses) in the second half of the regular season. The "McQueeneys" will be assessed according to the following formula:

:LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-WL%)), rounded to the nearest half million

Additionally:

*The McQueeney Penalties shall be capped at a $20M maximum potential fine.
*The Commissioner may, at his discretion, grant an exemption from the penalties for any team that actively and competently manages its roster throughout the season and does not make a concerted effort to sell players on its active major league roster for future value (i.e., draft picks, cash, or AA players).

For examples, a team with a .380 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-38%)) = LDB$3 million; a team with a .333 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$10 million; and a team with a .200 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$30 million.

During the 2017 and 2018 season, expansion teams will not be subject to McQueeney penalties unless the Commissioner determines they failed to actively manage their rosters.

== All-star Break ==
LDB will not hold regular games during the week of the MLB All-star Game. That week, at the option of the Commissioner, LDB will: (1) hold an LDB All-star Game and, (2) if easily accomplished, fold any official MLB stats accrued that week into the subsequent week.

The All-star Game will be held between the Federal League and the Union Association and use the official MLB statistics accrued during the week of the MLB All-star Break. The Commissioner will announce the logistics for such a game, and each of the divisions will select and announce players for the game. The league that wins the LDB All-Star Game will have home field advantage in the Lucid Dream Series and McQueeney Cup final.

Each league's team will be managed by the owner of the prior season's league champion. The manager will be in charge of conducting the voting for his league's players and tracking their stats. All-Star teams shall consist of a full lineup, three starting pitchers, and two relievers. There will be no alternates or lineup changes; if a player goes on the DL or misses the weekend, their spot remains empty. Every team in the league must have at least one player on the team. The All-Star Game will use regular season categories. The manager must report the final stats on the Monday following the All-star break and should report the daily stats on Saturday and Sunday.<ref>An easy way to track such scores is to use CBS's "Scout Team" page using the "Last 7 Days" viewing option. The manager may need to calculate rate stats separately.</ref>

There is no home field advantage in the All-Star Game; category ties are treated as ties. If the final score is tied, tiebreakers will be as follows: HR, aSB, Ka, R, RBI, OPS, VIJAY, OBP, WHIP, ERA, NQW.

The Commissioner has discretion to adjust these rules unilaterally prior to the LDB All-Star Game if he deems it necessary. Changes after the All-Star Game has begun require a majority vote.

== Playoffs ==

=== Advancing to the Playoffs ===
The LDB Playoffs occur after the regular season concludes. Eight teams make the playoffs: the four division winners and two wild card teams from each league. The wild card teams from each league first play each other in a wild card round. The winners of the wild card round advance to the Lucid Division series, where they will play the division winner in their respective leagues with the second best league record (that division winner therefore gets a one-round bye). The winner of the Lucid Division Series advances to the Lucid Championship Series, where they face the team with the best record in their league (the league winner therefore gets a double bye). The home team in 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, determine seeding, and home field advantage in the event no LDB All-star Game takes place 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 by independent pairwise comparisons. 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.

=== Playoff Rosters ===
Once playoff rosters lock for the first time, player adds and drops are prohibited until the conclusion of playoffs.

Playoff rosters contain 20 players and lock at the start of each round of the playoffs. The 20-man playoff roster consists of: active position players, reserve position players, active pitchers, and players potentially activated from the DL. Once rosters lock on Monday of each playoff week, players cannot be promoted or demoted to/from [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] until the following Monday. However, position players on the DL may be added to the 20-man roster after rosters lock if there is a space reserved for their potential activation.

Positional players within the 20-man roster may be freely subbed in and out of slots during playoffs.

Each playoff team must start exactly five pitchers in each round of the playoffs: three starting pitchers, one relief pitcher and one flex (starter or reliever). Pitchers must remain active the entire week and cannot be benched. Starting pitchers must start at least one game for each week they are selected for a playoff roster. Teams may select pitchers on the DL as one of their five pitchers, but must also declare alternate, healthy pitchers in case such pitchers on the DL do not make a start in a game during that week. Teams may also, at their option, designate alternate pitchers for pitchers that are not on the DL. Alternates may take the place of pitchers injured during a scoring period who have not accumulated any stats in that scoring period.

A team in a playoff or McQueeney bracket that fails to set a valid, timely roster will field a pitching staff in the order that the team’s pitchers accrue stats that week, regardless of their position on the roster, up to the playoff pitching maximum. This applies to starting pitchers and relief pitchers.

=== Playoff Scoring ===

Pitching stats for the playoff week are as follows: ERA, WHIP, NQW/GS, K/9, HR/9, and STARR.

In the event of a playoff tie in points, such games will be decided by a cumulative measure for each stat category. Specifically: at the start of each season, a volunteer must determine the Categorical League Average Performance (CLAP) for each scoring category from the previous season. The CLAP will be determined by the mean and standard deviation for each category over the course of that season.

:Example
:Let's use aSB as an example. Over the course of the previous season, each team has 20 different aSB scores, for 280 data points total. Let's assume that out of the 280 observations of aSB, the mean is 2.5 and the standard deviation is 0.75.

:Now let's say that Team A has 4 aSB and Team B has 2. Team A would get +2 in tiebreaker scoring (because it's 2 Std Devs over the mean) while Team B would be given -0.67 (because it's 2/3 Std Devs. below the mean).

:We repeat this for all stats and see who has the higher total.

:Weights will be calculated annually at the beginning of the regular season.

=== The McQueeney Cup ===
LDB will award the McQueeney Cup each season to the non-playoff team that wins the McQueeney Cup bracket, which will be played over three rounds parallel to the LDB playoffs, with Union and Federal ladders composed of each divisions' respective four non-playoff teams, seeded in order of regular season finish, with the last round including the Union and Federal finalists. The winner of the McQueeney Cup will receive a sandwich round pick between the first and second round of the amateur draft. In all other respects, McQueeney Cup games are decided as a regular playoff game. The winner of the McQueeney Cup may choose to either take the sandwich round pick or forfeit that pick in exchange for wiping his McQueeney penalties to $0, should he have any.

<references/>

External Transactions

2018-07-08T23:35:45Z

45.48.13.12: /* Waiver Claims */

== Designation for Assignment ==
Players being cut are designated for assignment. Designation immediately removes the player from the [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] and subjects him to a 3-day waiver process. Such players are available to trade for the next three days. If they are not traded after three days, they are given to the highest waiver claimant. If the player is not claimed on waivers, the player is cut. Designation is not revokable. Refunds are not awarded for players unclaimed on waivers.

== Mid-Season Free Agents ==
Any unsigned player can be acquired mid-season. Players who are acquired mid-year are paid the [[Finances#Payroll|league minimum]].

Players drafted in the [[Keepers and Drafts#Snake Draft|Snake Draft]] with non-guaranteed contracts may be freely swapped for a replacement player who is of the same type (i.e. position player or pitcher) until the end of April. Replacement players cannot subsequently be swapped for other replacement players. Players dropped with NG status do not confer NG contract status when signed by a new team; such player has MS contract status. Players with NG contracts cannot be kept at the conclusion of the season.

== Waiver Claims ==
All dropped players will be placed on waivers for 48 hours. Any team may put in a claim for a player on waivers, and the player will be awarded to the team that is highest in the waiver order at the time the claim is processed. Starting in Week 2 during the season, at the start of each week the waiver order will be reset to the inverse of the LDB standings by record. If a team claims a player, they will temporarily drop to the bottom of the waiver order until the order resets. Tiebreakers on waiver claims for teams with identical records will be determined by whatever method CBS utilizes. At the start of the offseason, the waiver order will mirror the AA Draft order. Teams will still drop to the bottom of the waiver order after a claim, but the order will not reset until the start of Week 2 of the regular season. Awarding a player results in the acquisition of that player, pending roster space being made available for the new player. The claiming team assumes the remaining salary burden of the player, calculated by remaining weeks in the LDB regular season.

Teams may not claim players that they themselves dropped. Teams must wait until a player clears waivers to pick up such players.

== Trades ==
Trades may occur at any point in the off-season and during the season, up to the league trade deadline, which will be the end of week 15. All trades must have timestamp of 11:59 PM EST<ref>The standard time zone for LDB is Eastern Standard Time.</ref> on Sunday of week 15 or earlier, or have been announced to the league in a reasonable manner before that deadline.

Trades will be subject to approval by a vote of the other managers in the league. If greater than one-half of the non-involved managers veto a trade, the trade will be cancelled. The veto window is three days. All trades will be immediate. A veto of a trade will be prospective; if vetoed, the players traded will have their stats count for their teams that temporarily held them.

Trades may involve players and cash, but just as in MLB, players cannot be dealt only for cash. Trades may also involve other assets, such as, but not limited to, future [[Keepers_and_Drafts#AA_Draft|draft picks]], [[Keepers_and_Drafts#Restricted_Free_Agents|RFA rights]], etc. Trades can include a "player to be named later" as long as that player has not accumulated any LDB stats between the trade and the player changing hands. As a general policy, trades are looked upon favorably, regardless of the types of assets involved. The full terms of a trade need not be fully disclosed to the league and may involve gentlemen's agreements and other conditions. However, trades are subject to the following restrictions:

* No trade may involve an agreement to temporarily hold or "rent" a player. Any trade that attempts to work around the ban on renting players is also prohibited. For example, a trade involving an agreement to later send back a player of similar value could be considered a workaround. Whether a trade constitutes a rental or an attempted workaround will be determined by a Rules Committee vote, if one is called for.
* Transfer of a player's RFA rights is prohibited once that player is nominated in the [[Keepers_and_Drafts#Majors_Draft|Majors Draft]] or selected in the [[Keepers_and_Drafts#Snake_Draft|Snake Draft]].

In any trade made after the Majors Draft, it is assumed that teams trading away a player eat the salary of such players. However, in any trade made in the offseason or mid-auction, it is assumed that teams receiving players pay the full salary of such players.

==Bets Involving LDB Assets ("Friendly Wagers")==
"Friendly wagers" are the only class of transactions that can include yet-unrealized future assets (money, AA picks past the 2-year allocation window, yet-unborn naming rights to sons/daughters, etc). Friendly wagers cannot adversely impact the competitiveness of the league (if there is question about whether a wager will do so, the wager's status will be determined by that year's Rules Board). All assets involved in friendly wagers will be held in escrow, a spreadsheet that will spell out the parties, terms, timeline, and payouts of the friendly wager. Friendly wagers are bound to the team, rather than the owner, such that a owner's departure does not invalidate the wager (unless specified in the terms of the wager). In the event a team's owner leaves, new prospective owners should be made aware of the team's wagered obligations before agreeing to take control of a team, as the assets are held in escrow and will only be released pursuant to the terms of the wager.

<references/>

The Game

2018-07-08T23:30:48Z

45.48.13.12: /* All-star Break */

LDB is divided into two subsidiary leagues: the Federal League and the Union Association. Each league has two four-team divisions. 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 and eleventh weeks, which may extend beyond seven days.</ref> for a total of 20 weeks, with each statistical category representing one game, meaning 12 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. During the regular season, each team will play the other three teams in their own division twice (6 games), each other team once (12 games), and each team will have two additional non-division intraleague matchups (2 games). Matchups for the extra two intraleague matchups will be determined by the prior season's records. Teams with the two best records in one division in a league will face the teams with the two best records in the other division in that league, and vice versa for the two teams with the worst records their divisions.

The Commissioner will implement "road trips" where teams play out of their divisions multiple weeks in a row.

== 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
! Pitchers
|-
| On-Base Percentage (OBP)
| Net Quality Wins: NQW = 4QS + W - L - 2GS
|-
| On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage: OPS = OBP + SLG
| Adjusted WHIP: aWHIP = (H + BB + HBP)/INN
|-
| Runs Scored (R)
| STARR: (RIP+3*SV+3*HLD-8*BS-8*RL)/4
|-
| Adjusted Runs Batted In: aRBI = RBI - GIDP
| Home Runs Allowed (HRA)
|-
| Home Runs (HR)
| Pitcher Strikeouts (K)
|-
| Adjusted Stolen Bases: ASB = SB - CS/2
| Earned Run Average (ERA)
|}

Just as in baseball, there can be no ties. If a statistical category ends in a tie at the conclusion of the week, the home team will win all such categories.

===Rain Delay Relief===
In the event of a rain delay, if the starting pitcher of such a game has ERA of 4.50 or less in the innings he has pitched in that game, he will receive a 0 in NQW instead of a -2.

The rule will apply in the following situations:

*If a starting pitcher, who has pitched less than 6 innings in a game, is removed from a game immediately following a weather delay; or
*If a starting pitcher does not pitch a full 6 innings because a game is deemed officially completed before the completion of the 6th inning due to a rainout or other weather-related game shortening.

This rule will be self-enforced. Teams will have to identify situations where this has occurred on their teams and notify the Commissioner within seven days of the occurrence. The Commissioner will then make the necessary scoring changes.

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

=== Batting and Fielding Penalties ===
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 ===
If a team fails to reach the required 44 innings pitched in a given week, that team will automatically lose the following categories: NQS, ERA, WHIP, HRA, and STARR. These losses will count as losses in the standings and will be known throughout the league as FUs,<ref>Fuck-ups</ref>. Should a team miss the innings requirement once, there will be no financial penalty. After the first instance of missed innings, each additional week a team misses innings will cost that team's owner $1 million, to be levied immediately upon the completion of the LDB Championship Series for that season.

== McQueeney Performance Penalties <ref>Known as "McQueeneys"</ref>==
The McQueeney Performance Penalty deducts LDB cash from a team's subsequent yearly budget when that team finishes the regular season with a sub-.400 winning percentage (including any FU losses) in the second half of the regular season. The "McQueeneys" will be assessed according to the following formula:

:LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-WL%)), rounded to the nearest half million

Additionally:

*The McQueeney Penalties shall be capped at a $20M maximum potential fine.
*The Commissioner may, at his discretion, grant an exemption from the penalties for any team that actively and competently manages its roster throughout the season and does not make a concerted effort to sell players on its active major league roster for future value (i.e., draft picks, cash, or AA players).

For examples, a team with a .380 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-38%)) = LDB$3 million; a team with a .333 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$10 million; and a team with a .200 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$30 million.

During the 2017 and 2018 season, expansion teams will not be subject to McQueeney penalties unless the Commissioner determines they failed to actively manage their rosters.

== All-star Break ==
LDB will not hold regular games during the week of the MLB All-star Game. That week, at the option of the Commissioner, LDB will: (1) hold an LDB All-star Game and, (2) if easily accomplished, fold any official MLB stats accrued that week into the subsequent week.

The All-star Game will be held between the Federal League and the Union Association and use the official MLB statistics accrued during the week of the MLB All-star Break. The Commissioner will announce the logistics for such a game, and each of the divisions will select and announce players for the game. The league that wins the LDB All-Star Game will have home field advantage in the Lucid Dream Series and McQueeney Cup final.

Each league's team will be managed by the owner of the prior season's league champion. The manager will be in charge of conducting the voting for his league's players and tracking their stats. All-Star teams shall consist of a full lineup, three starting pitchers, and two relievers. There will be no alternates or lineup changes; if a player goes on the DL or misses the weekend, their spot remains empty. Every team in the league must have at least one player on the team. The All-Star Game will use regular season categories. The manager must report the final stats on the Monday following the All-star break and should report the daily stats on Saturday and Sunday.<ref>An easy way to track such scores is to use CBS's "Scout Team" page using the "Last 7 Days" viewing option. The manager may need to calculate rate stats separately.</ref>

There is no home field advantage in the All-Star Game; category ties are treated as ties. If the final score is tied, tiebreakers will be as follows: HR, aSB, Ka, R, RBI, OPS, VIJAY, OBP, WHIP, ERA, NQW.

The Commissioner has discretion to adjust these rules unilaterally prior to the LDB All-Star Game if he deems it necessary. Changes after the All-Star Game has begun require a majority vote.

== Playoffs ==

=== Advancing to the Playoffs ===
The LDB Playoffs occur after the regular season concludes. Eight teams make the playoffs: the four division winners and two wild card teams from each league. The wild card teams from each league first play each other in a wild card round. The winners of the wild card round advance to the Lucid Division series, where they will play the division winner in their respective leagues with the second best league record (that division winner therefore gets a one-round bye). The winner of the Lucid Division Series advances to the Lucid Championship Series, where they face the team with the best record in their league (the league winner therefore gets a double bye). The home team in 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, determine seeding, and home field advantage in the event no LDB All-star Game takes place 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 by independent pairwise comparisons. 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.

=== Playoff Rosters ===
Once playoff rosters lock for the first time, player adds and drops are prohibited until the conclusion of playoffs.

Playoff rosters contain 20 players and lock at the start of each round of the playoffs. The 20-man playoff roster consists of: active position players, reserve position players, active pitchers, and players potentially activated from the DL. Once rosters lock on Monday of each playoff week, players cannot be promoted or demoted to/from [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] until the following Monday. However, position players on the DL may be added to the 20-man roster after rosters lock if there is a space reserved for their potential activation.

Positional players within the 20-man roster may be freely subbed in and out of slots during playoffs.

Each playoff team must start exactly five pitchers in each round of the playoffs: three starting pitchers, one relief pitcher and one flex (starter or reliever). Pitchers must remain active the entire week and cannot be benched. Starting pitchers must start at least one game for each week they are selected for a playoff roster. Teams may select pitchers on the DL as one of their five pitchers, but must also declare alternate, healthy pitchers in case such pitchers on the DL do not make a start in a game during that week. Teams may also, at their option, designate alternate pitchers for pitchers that are not on the DL. Alternates may take the place of pitchers injured during a scoring period who have not accumulated any stats in that scoring period.

A team in a playoff or McQueeney bracket that fails to set a valid, timely roster will field a pitching staff in the order that the team’s pitchers accrue stats that week, regardless of their position on the roster, up to the playoff pitching maximum. This applies to starting pitchers and relief pitchers.

=== Playoff Scoring ===

Pitching stats for the playoff week are as follows: ERA, WHIP, NQW/GS, K/9, HR/9, and STARR.

In the event of a playoff tie in points, such games will be decided by a cumulative measure for each stat category. Specifically: at the start of each season, a volunteer must determine the Categorical League Average Performance (CLAP) for each scoring category from the previous season. The CLAP will be determined by the mean and standard deviation for each category over the course of that season.

:Example
:Let's use aSB as an example. Over the course of the previous season, each team has 20 different aSB scores, for 280 data points total. Let's assume that out of the 280 observations of aSB, the mean is 2.5 and the standard deviation is 0.75.

:Now let's say that Team A has 4 aSB and Team B has 2. Team A would get +2 in tiebreaker scoring (because it's 2 Std Devs over the mean) while Team B would be given -0.67 (because it's 2/3 Std Devs. below the mean).

:We repeat this for all stats and see who has the higher total.

:Weights will be calculated annually at the beginning of the regular season.

=== The McQueeney Cup ===
LDB will award the McQueeney Cup each season to the non-playoff team that wins the McQueeney Cup bracket, which will be played over three rounds parallel to the LDB playoffs, with Union and Federal ladders composed of each divisions' respective four non-playoff teams, seeded in order of regular season finish, with the last round including the Union and Federal finalists. The winner of the McQueeney Cup will receive a sandwich round pick between the first and second round of the amateur draft. In all other respects, McQueeney Cup games are decided as a regular playoff game. The winner of the McQueeney Cup may choose to either take the sandwich round pick or forfeit that pick in exchange for wiping his McQueeney penalties to $0, should he have any.

<references/>

The Game

2018-07-08T23:18:28Z

45.48.13.12: /* Playoff Scoring */

LDB is divided into two subsidiary leagues: the Federal League and the Union Association. Each league has two four-team divisions. 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 and eleventh weeks, which may extend beyond seven days.</ref> for a total of 20 weeks, with each statistical category representing one game, meaning 12 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. During the regular season, each team will play the other three teams in their own division twice (6 games), each other team once (12 games), and each team will have two additional non-division intraleague matchups (2 games). Matchups for the extra two intraleague matchups will be determined by the prior season's records. Teams with the two best records in one division in a league will face the teams with the two best records in the other division in that league, and vice versa for the two teams with the worst records their divisions.

The Commissioner will implement "road trips" where teams play out of their divisions multiple weeks in a row.

== 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
! Pitchers
|-
| On-Base Percentage (OBP)
| Net Quality Wins: NQW = 4QS + W - L - 2GS
|-
| On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage: OPS = OBP + SLG
| Adjusted WHIP: aWHIP = (H + BB + HBP)/INN
|-
| Runs Scored (R)
| STARR: (RIP+3*SV+3*HLD-8*BS-8*RL)/4
|-
| Adjusted Runs Batted In: aRBI = RBI - GIDP
| Home Runs Allowed (HRA)
|-
| Home Runs (HR)
| Pitcher Strikeouts (K)
|-
| Adjusted Stolen Bases: ASB = SB - CS/2
| Earned Run Average (ERA)
|}

Just as in baseball, there can be no ties. If a statistical category ends in a tie at the conclusion of the week, the home team will win all such categories.

===Rain Delay Relief===
In the event of a rain delay, if the starting pitcher of such a game has ERA of 4.50 or less in the innings he has pitched in that game, he will receive a 0 in NQW instead of a -2.

The rule will apply in the following situations:

*If a starting pitcher, who has pitched less than 6 innings in a game, is removed from a game immediately following a weather delay; or
*If a starting pitcher does not pitch a full 6 innings because a game is deemed officially completed before the completion of the 6th inning due to a rainout or other weather-related game shortening.

This rule will be self-enforced. Teams will have to identify situations where this has occurred on their teams and notify the Commissioner within seven days of the occurrence. The Commissioner will then make the necessary scoring changes.

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

=== Batting and Fielding Penalties ===
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 ===
If a team fails to reach the required 44 innings pitched in a given week, that team will automatically lose the following categories: NQS, ERA, WHIP, HRA, and STARR. These losses will count as losses in the standings and will be known throughout the league as FUs,<ref>Fuck-ups</ref>. Should a team miss the innings requirement once, there will be no financial penalty. After the first instance of missed innings, each additional week a team misses innings will cost that team's owner $1 million, to be levied immediately upon the completion of the LDB Championship Series for that season.

== McQueeney Performance Penalties <ref>Known as "McQueeneys"</ref>==
The McQueeney Performance Penalty deducts LDB cash from a team's subsequent yearly budget when that team finishes the regular season with a sub-.400 winning percentage (including any FU losses) in the second half of the regular season. The "McQueeneys" will be assessed according to the following formula:

:LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-WL%)), rounded to the nearest half million

Additionally:

*The McQueeney Penalties shall be capped at a $20M maximum potential fine.
*The Commissioner may, at his discretion, grant an exemption from the penalties for any team that actively and competently manages its roster throughout the season and does not make a concerted effort to sell players on its active major league roster for future value (i.e., draft picks, cash, or AA players).

For examples, a team with a .380 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-38%)) = LDB$3 million; a team with a .333 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$10 million; and a team with a .200 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$30 million.

During the 2017 and 2018 season, expansion teams will not be subject to McQueeney penalties unless the Commissioner determines they failed to actively manage their rosters.

== All-star Break ==
LDB will not hold regular games during the week of the MLB All-star Game. That week, at the option of the Commissioner, LDB may either: (1) hold an LDB All-star Game and/or (2) fold any official MLB stats accrued that week into the subsequent week, if feasible.

In the event LDB holds an All-star Game, such game will be held between the Federal League and the Union Association and use the official MLB statistics accrued that week. 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 ==

=== Advancing to the Playoffs ===
The LDB Playoffs occur after the regular season concludes. Eight teams make the playoffs: the four division winners and two wild card teams from each league. The wild card teams from each league first play each other in a wild card round. The winners of the wild card round advance to the Lucid Division series, where they will play the division winner in their respective leagues with the second best league record (that division winner therefore gets a one-round bye). The winner of the Lucid Division Series advances to the Lucid Championship Series, where they face the team with the best record in their league (the league winner therefore gets a double bye). The home team in 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, determine seeding, and home field advantage in the event no LDB All-star Game takes place 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 by independent pairwise comparisons. 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.

=== Playoff Rosters ===
Once playoff rosters lock for the first time, player adds and drops are prohibited until the conclusion of playoffs.

Playoff rosters contain 20 players and lock at the start of each round of the playoffs. The 20-man playoff roster consists of: active position players, reserve position players, active pitchers, and players potentially activated from the DL. Once rosters lock on Monday of each playoff week, players cannot be promoted or demoted to/from [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] until the following Monday. However, position players on the DL may be added to the 20-man roster after rosters lock if there is a space reserved for their potential activation.

Positional players within the 20-man roster may be freely subbed in and out of slots during playoffs.

Each playoff team must start exactly five pitchers in each round of the playoffs: three starting pitchers, one relief pitcher and one flex (starter or reliever). Pitchers must remain active the entire week and cannot be benched. Starting pitchers must start at least one game for each week they are selected for a playoff roster. Teams may select pitchers on the DL as one of their five pitchers, but must also declare alternate, healthy pitchers in case such pitchers on the DL do not make a start in a game during that week. Teams may also, at their option, designate alternate pitchers for pitchers that are not on the DL. Alternates may take the place of pitchers injured during a scoring period who have not accumulated any stats in that scoring period.

A team in a playoff or McQueeney bracket that fails to set a valid, timely roster will field a pitching staff in the order that the team’s pitchers accrue stats that week, regardless of their position on the roster, up to the playoff pitching maximum. This applies to starting pitchers and relief pitchers.

=== Playoff Scoring ===

Pitching stats for the playoff week are as follows: ERA, WHIP, NQW/GS, K/9, HR/9, and STARR.

In the event of a playoff tie in points, such games will be decided by a cumulative measure for each stat category. Specifically: at the start of each season, a volunteer must determine the Categorical League Average Performance (CLAP) for each scoring category from the previous season. The CLAP will be determined by the mean and standard deviation for each category over the course of that season.

:Example
:Let's use aSB as an example. Over the course of the previous season, each team has 20 different aSB scores, for 280 data points total. Let's assume that out of the 280 observations of aSB, the mean is 2.5 and the standard deviation is 0.75.

:Now let's say that Team A has 4 aSB and Team B has 2. Team A would get +2 in tiebreaker scoring (because it's 2 Std Devs over the mean) while Team B would be given -0.67 (because it's 2/3 Std Devs. below the mean).

:We repeat this for all stats and see who has the higher total.

:Weights will be calculated annually at the beginning of the regular season.

=== The McQueeney Cup ===
LDB will award the McQueeney Cup each season to the non-playoff team that wins the McQueeney Cup bracket, which will be played over three rounds parallel to the LDB playoffs, with Union and Federal ladders composed of each divisions' respective four non-playoff teams, seeded in order of regular season finish, with the last round including the Union and Federal finalists. The winner of the McQueeney Cup will receive a sandwich round pick between the first and second round of the amateur draft. In all other respects, McQueeney Cup games are decided as a regular playoff game. The winner of the McQueeney Cup may choose to either take the sandwich round pick or forfeit that pick in exchange for wiping his McQueeney penalties to $0, should he have any.

<references/>

Keepers and Drafts

2018-07-08T23:13:52Z

45.48.13.12: /* Hometown Heroes */

== Keepers ==

=== Majors ===
In the off-season, GMs will be able to designate five players on their [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] rosters as keepers. Only players signed to long-term deals (contract status of K1/2) are eligible to be kept. These players are retained for the next year at their current salary: auction price, less a 10% signing bonus. However, 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 its mid-season free agents or mid-season free agents claimed from waivers as its "hometown hero" (HTH). K-, H-, S-, RFA, and NG waiver pickups are not eligible, nor are players acquired via trades; the player must clear waivers if he was on one of these contracts. The HTH must be a player who logged non-September call-up time in the Majors and is no longer LDB rookie-eligible. The HTH must also have accrued positive fantasy statistics on the active roster of the team wishing to grant HTH status. The HTH gets a one-year contract extension at six million dollars, or two million for RPs. The HTH contract cannot be extended beyond that one year. To qualify as a Relief Pitcher, a player must have pitched the majority of innings in the prior season as a reliever.

Teams have the option to expand the number of HTH contracts granted each year beyond the one provided by substituting for a commensurate number of keeper contracts.

=== Homegrown and Super-twos ===

Homegrown players are players drafted into [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] (and possibly promoted). Homegrown players do not count against the [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors keeper total]]. After AA players' promotion to 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
| $0.5 million
|-
| Year 2
| $1.0 million
|-
| Year 3
| $1.5 million
|-
| Year 4
| $4.0 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.

Teams may promote a homegrown player in the second half of a the LDB season (after week 10's final roster lock) 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="3" | Super-two Salary Structure
|-
| Salary Year
| Pre-2014 Promotion
| Current
|-
| Year 0 (promotion year)
| $0.5 million
| $0.5 million
|-
| Year 1
| $1.0 million
| $1.0 million
|-
| Year 2
| $2.0 million
| $1.5 million
|-
| Year 3
| $4.0 million
| $4.0 million
|-
| Year 4
| $4.0 million
| $7.5 million
|}

Teams 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.

===Injured Keepers===
After the keeper deadline, but prior to the start of the auction, a team may release any keeper, H4, S4 or HTH and receive their salary in full for use at the upcoming auction if a player is injured or an injury (or updated extent of an injury) is reported after the keeper deadline. If a team releases a keeper or HTH under this rule, they may not designate a replacement keeper or HTH.

== 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, as determined by the Commissioner. 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.

To draft a player in the AA Draft, the player must be LDB rookie-eligible, having less than 131 AB or 50 IP.

The AA Draft will be held prior to a new season, as the Commissioner sees fit, subject to the requirements herein. For teams that do not make playoffs, 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 order for teams missing playoffs is then followed by teams making playoff appearances in ascending order of finishing places. The draft position of a traded draft pick corresponds to the original owner, not the owner at the time of the AA Draft.

=== Logistics and Requirements ===

Once a team is on the clock and has not picked for one full day (24 hours), that team will incur a $2 million fine, subject to the provisions below, and the draft may continue on as if he has picked. Such a team may jump back in and pick at any time. A team may assign another GM to make the pick on its behalf.

If the draft is not complete by 10 PM EST on the Friday prior to the auction, two penalties are assessed: (1) the $2 million fines above and (2) the three teams who have caused the longest delay between picks, counting only the hours between noon and 10 PM EST, will each be fined $1 million 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, teams will nominate players in an order established by the Commissioner. A nominating team 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 team that turns in the highest bid will be awarded the player.

Bidding prices are subject to these increments:
* $0.5 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 signed 25 players, (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.

===Blind Auction Option===
The Commissioner may timely announce that any number of rounds will be conducted by blind auction. In a blind auction, teams take turns nominating players as they do above. Nominating a player requires the nominating team to post at least a minimum salary bid. Teams then simultaneously make a single bid. Bids under $10 million must be rounded to the nearest $0.5 million, and bids $10 million or higher must be rounded to the nearest $1 million. The highest bid wins the player. Ties are resolved by: (1) deferral, (2) an open "bidding war" process that resembles our current open auction, or (3) draft nomination order in the event that nobody defers or offers a higher bid.

== Snake Draft ==

The final component of a season's draft is the Snake Draft, during which time each team may draft up to five additional players for their Majors roster. Players with H1, H2, S1, or S2 contract statuses may fill Snake round draft spots, but must be announced before the Majors Draft starts. Players may not move up or down from the Snake Draft slots once the Majors Draft begins.

Every player chosen in the Snake Draft receives the league minimum salary. Up to three Snake 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 ==

In order to dissuade teams 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, teams may poach such players from other teams 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, and
* Currently be on an MLB team's 25 man roster.

The Rule V draft will take place over the All-star Break each season. 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. A player may not be designated as a "protected player" in consecutive years. The draft will last until each team passes. Once a team passes, the team 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 then-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 or she deems most efficient (e.g., email, website, or conference call).

Teams drafting players by Rule V will be required to keep them on their LDB Majors roster for the following one and a half seasons. Teams may place Rule V draftees on the DL. However, spending a half season on the DL (10 weeks, aggregated over all DL stints), does not count toward the one and a half seasons. Owners will not be required to include Rule V draftees on their playoff roster.

A team that drafts a player in the Rule V Draft and drops that player in the off-season is still accountable for the player’s salary if unclaimed.

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 team 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 may not change their protected player once the draft begins without either promoting that player or subjecting him to waivers.

<references/>

External Transactions

2018-07-08T23:11:34Z

45.48.13.12: /* Trades */

== Designation for Assignment ==
Players being cut are designated for assignment. Designation immediately removes the player from the [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] and subjects him to a 3-day waiver process. Such players are available to trade for the next three days. If they are not traded after three days, they are given to the highest waiver claimant. If the player is not claimed on waivers, the player is cut. Designation is not revokable. Refunds are not awarded for players unclaimed on waivers.

== Mid-Season Free Agents ==
Any unsigned player can be acquired mid-season. Players who are acquired mid-year are paid the [[Finances#Payroll|league minimum]].

Players drafted in the [[Keepers and Drafts#Snake Draft|Snake Draft]] with non-guaranteed contracts may be freely swapped for a replacement player who is of the same type (i.e. position player or pitcher) until the end of April. Replacement players cannot subsequently be swapped for other replacement players. Players dropped with NG status do not confer NG contract status when signed by a new team; such player has MS contract status. Players with NG contracts cannot be kept at the conclusion of the season.

== Waiver Claims ==
Any player on waivers can be claimed. At the end of the waiver period, the claim will be awarded to whatever team made the claim that has the lowest overall season-to-date record, measured on the date of expiration of the waiver period. In the case of a tie, the player will first be awarded to the team with the lowest division record. In the case of a further tie, the player will be awarded to the team in a different division. In the case of a further tie, the previous season’s record will be used, with the award to the team that finished in a lower standing. In the case of a further tie, the winning teams will publicly auction on the player for the rights to acquire. Funds paid toward acquisition do not offset any of the assumed salary burden, and are on top of the assumed salary. Awarding a player results in the acquisition of that player, pending roster space being made available for the new player. The claiming team assumes the remaining salary burden of the player, calculated by remaining weeks in the LDB regular season.

== Trades ==
Trades may occur at any point in the off-season and during the season, up to the league trade deadline, which will be the end of week 15. All trades must have timestamp of 11:59 PM EST<ref>The standard time zone for LDB is Eastern Standard Time.</ref> on Sunday of week 15 or earlier, or have been announced to the league in a reasonable manner before that deadline.

Trades will be subject to approval by a vote of the other managers in the league. If greater than one-half of the non-involved managers veto a trade, the trade will be cancelled. The veto window is three days. All trades will be immediate. A veto of a trade will be prospective; if vetoed, the players traded will have their stats count for their teams that temporarily held them.

Trades may involve players and cash, but just as in MLB, players cannot be dealt only for cash. Trades may also involve other assets, such as, but not limited to, future [[Keepers_and_Drafts#AA_Draft|draft picks]], [[Keepers_and_Drafts#Restricted_Free_Agents|RFA rights]], etc. Trades can include a "player to be named later" as long as that player has not accumulated any LDB stats between the trade and the player changing hands. As a general policy, trades are looked upon favorably, regardless of the types of assets involved. The full terms of a trade need not be fully disclosed to the league and may involve gentlemen's agreements and other conditions. However, trades are subject to the following restrictions:

* No trade may involve an agreement to temporarily hold or "rent" a player. Any trade that attempts to work around the ban on renting players is also prohibited. For example, a trade involving an agreement to later send back a player of similar value could be considered a workaround. Whether a trade constitutes a rental or an attempted workaround will be determined by a Rules Committee vote, if one is called for.
* Transfer of a player's RFA rights is prohibited once that player is nominated in the [[Keepers_and_Drafts#Majors_Draft|Majors Draft]] or selected in the [[Keepers_and_Drafts#Snake_Draft|Snake Draft]].

In any trade made after the Majors Draft, it is assumed that teams trading away a player eat the salary of such players. However, in any trade made in the offseason or mid-auction, it is assumed that teams receiving players pay the full salary of such players.

==Bets Involving LDB Assets ("Friendly Wagers")==
"Friendly wagers" are the only class of transactions that can include yet-unrealized future assets (money, AA picks past the 2-year allocation window, yet-unborn naming rights to sons/daughters, etc). Friendly wagers cannot adversely impact the competitiveness of the league (if there is question about whether a wager will do so, the wager's status will be determined by that year's Rules Board). All assets involved in friendly wagers will be held in escrow, a spreadsheet that will spell out the parties, terms, timeline, and payouts of the friendly wager. Friendly wagers are bound to the team, rather than the owner, such that a owner's departure does not invalidate the wager (unless specified in the terms of the wager). In the event a team's owner leaves, new prospective owners should be made aware of the team's wagered obligations before agreeing to take control of a team, as the assets are held in escrow and will only be released pursuant to the terms of the wager.

<references/>

The Game

2018-07-08T23:07:05Z

45.48.13.12: /* Playoff Rosters */

LDB is divided into two subsidiary leagues: the Federal League and the Union Association. Each league has two four-team divisions. 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 and eleventh weeks, which may extend beyond seven days.</ref> for a total of 20 weeks, with each statistical category representing one game, meaning 12 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. During the regular season, each team will play the other three teams in their own division twice (6 games), each other team once (12 games), and each team will have two additional non-division intraleague matchups (2 games). Matchups for the extra two intraleague matchups will be determined by the prior season's records. Teams with the two best records in one division in a league will face the teams with the two best records in the other division in that league, and vice versa for the two teams with the worst records their divisions.

The Commissioner will implement "road trips" where teams play out of their divisions multiple weeks in a row.

== 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
! Pitchers
|-
| On-Base Percentage (OBP)
| Net Quality Wins: NQW = 4QS + W - L - 2GS
|-
| On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage: OPS = OBP + SLG
| Adjusted WHIP: aWHIP = (H + BB + HBP)/INN
|-
| Runs Scored (R)
| STARR: (RIP+3*SV+3*HLD-8*BS-8*RL)/4
|-
| Adjusted Runs Batted In: aRBI = RBI - GIDP
| Home Runs Allowed (HRA)
|-
| Home Runs (HR)
| Pitcher Strikeouts (K)
|-
| Adjusted Stolen Bases: ASB = SB - CS/2
| Earned Run Average (ERA)
|}

Just as in baseball, there can be no ties. If a statistical category ends in a tie at the conclusion of the week, the home team will win all such categories.

===Rain Delay Relief===
In the event of a rain delay, if the starting pitcher of such a game has ERA of 4.50 or less in the innings he has pitched in that game, he will receive a 0 in NQW instead of a -2.

The rule will apply in the following situations:

*If a starting pitcher, who has pitched less than 6 innings in a game, is removed from a game immediately following a weather delay; or
*If a starting pitcher does not pitch a full 6 innings because a game is deemed officially completed before the completion of the 6th inning due to a rainout or other weather-related game shortening.

This rule will be self-enforced. Teams will have to identify situations where this has occurred on their teams and notify the Commissioner within seven days of the occurrence. The Commissioner will then make the necessary scoring changes.

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

=== Batting and Fielding Penalties ===
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 ===
If a team fails to reach the required 44 innings pitched in a given week, that team will automatically lose the following categories: NQS, ERA, WHIP, HRA, and STARR. These losses will count as losses in the standings and will be known throughout the league as FUs,<ref>Fuck-ups</ref>. Should a team miss the innings requirement once, there will be no financial penalty. After the first instance of missed innings, each additional week a team misses innings will cost that team's owner $1 million, to be levied immediately upon the completion of the LDB Championship Series for that season.

== McQueeney Performance Penalties <ref>Known as "McQueeneys"</ref>==
The McQueeney Performance Penalty deducts LDB cash from a team's subsequent yearly budget when that team finishes the regular season with a sub-.400 winning percentage (including any FU losses) in the second half of the regular season. The "McQueeneys" will be assessed according to the following formula:

:LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-WL%)), rounded to the nearest half million

Additionally:

*The McQueeney Penalties shall be capped at a $20M maximum potential fine.
*The Commissioner may, at his discretion, grant an exemption from the penalties for any team that actively and competently manages its roster throughout the season and does not make a concerted effort to sell players on its active major league roster for future value (i.e., draft picks, cash, or AA players).

For examples, a team with a .380 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-38%)) = LDB$3 million; a team with a .333 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$10 million; and a team with a .200 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$30 million.

During the 2017 and 2018 season, expansion teams will not be subject to McQueeney penalties unless the Commissioner determines they failed to actively manage their rosters.

== All-star Break ==
LDB will not hold regular games during the week of the MLB All-star Game. That week, at the option of the Commissioner, LDB may either: (1) hold an LDB All-star Game and/or (2) fold any official MLB stats accrued that week into the subsequent week, if feasible.

In the event LDB holds an All-star Game, such game will be held between the Federal League and the Union Association and use the official MLB statistics accrued that week. 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 ==

=== Advancing to the Playoffs ===
The LDB Playoffs occur after the regular season concludes. Eight teams make the playoffs: the four division winners and two wild card teams from each league. The wild card teams from each league first play each other in a wild card round. The winners of the wild card round advance to the Lucid Division series, where they will play the division winner in their respective leagues with the second best league record (that division winner therefore gets a one-round bye). The winner of the Lucid Division Series advances to the Lucid Championship Series, where they face the team with the best record in their league (the league winner therefore gets a double bye). The home team in 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, determine seeding, and home field advantage in the event no LDB All-star Game takes place 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 by independent pairwise comparisons. 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.

=== Playoff Rosters ===
Once playoff rosters lock for the first time, player adds and drops are prohibited until the conclusion of playoffs.

Playoff rosters contain 20 players and lock at the start of each round of the playoffs. The 20-man playoff roster consists of: active position players, reserve position players, active pitchers, and players potentially activated from the DL. Once rosters lock on Monday of each playoff week, players cannot be promoted or demoted to/from [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] until the following Monday. However, position players on the DL may be added to the 20-man roster after rosters lock if there is a space reserved for their potential activation.

Positional players within the 20-man roster may be freely subbed in and out of slots during playoffs.

Each playoff team must start exactly five pitchers in each round of the playoffs: three starting pitchers, one relief pitcher and one flex (starter or reliever). Pitchers must remain active the entire week and cannot be benched. Starting pitchers must start at least one game for each week they are selected for a playoff roster. Teams may select pitchers on the DL as one of their five pitchers, but must also declare alternate, healthy pitchers in case such pitchers on the DL do not make a start in a game during that week. Teams may also, at their option, designate alternate pitchers for pitchers that are not on the DL. Alternates may take the place of pitchers injured during a scoring period who have not accumulated any stats in that scoring period.

A team in a playoff or McQueeney bracket that fails to set a valid, timely roster will field a pitching staff in the order that the team’s pitchers accrue stats that week, regardless of their position on the roster, up to the playoff pitching maximum. This applies to starting pitchers and relief pitchers.

=== Playoff Scoring ===

Pitching stats for the playoff week are as follows: ERA, WHIP, NQW/GS, K/9, HR/9, and STARR.

In the event of a playoff tie in points, such games will be decided by a cumulative measure for each stat category. Specifically: at the end of each season, a volunteer must determine the Categorical League Average Performance (CLAP) for each category. The CLAP will be determined by the mean and standard deviation for each category over the course of the season.

:Example
:Let's use aSB as an example. Over the course of the season, each team has 20 different aSB scores, for 280 data points total. Let's assume that out of the 280 observations of aSB, the mean is 2.5 and the standard deviation is 0.75.

:Now let's say that Team A has 4 aSB and Team B has 2. Team A would get +2 in tiebreaker scoring (because it's 2 Std Devs over the mean) while Team B would be given -0.67 (because it's 2/3 Std Devs. below the mean).

:We repeat this for all stats and see who has the higher total.

:Weights will be calculated annually at the conclusion of the regular season, prior to the conclusion of the first week's playoff matchups. As a proof of concept, we'll calculate the first-half weights at the all-star break to show what the tiebreakers would be if the season ended then (and to show that this is simpler in practice than it sounds in the abstract). We'll also create a plug-and-play google spreadsheet that lets you input the current score of your matchup and automatically calculate who holds the tiebreaker.

=== The McQueeney Cup ===
LDB will award the McQueeney Cup each season to the non-playoff team that wins the McQueeney Cup bracket, which will be played over three rounds parallel to the LDB playoffs, with Union and Federal ladders composed of each divisions' respective four non-playoff teams, seeded in order of regular season finish, with the last round including the Union and Federal finalists. The winner of the McQueeney Cup will receive a sandwich round pick between the first and second round of the amateur draft. In all other respects, McQueeney Cup games are decided as a regular playoff game. The winner of the McQueeney Cup may choose to either take the sandwich round pick or forfeit that pick in exchange for wiping his McQueeney penalties to $0, should he have any.

<references/>

The Game

2018-07-08T23:06:05Z

45.48.13.12: /* Playoff Rosters */

LDB is divided into two subsidiary leagues: the Federal League and the Union Association. Each league has two four-team divisions. 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 and eleventh weeks, which may extend beyond seven days.</ref> for a total of 20 weeks, with each statistical category representing one game, meaning 12 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. During the regular season, each team will play the other three teams in their own division twice (6 games), each other team once (12 games), and each team will have two additional non-division intraleague matchups (2 games). Matchups for the extra two intraleague matchups will be determined by the prior season's records. Teams with the two best records in one division in a league will face the teams with the two best records in the other division in that league, and vice versa for the two teams with the worst records their divisions.

The Commissioner will implement "road trips" where teams play out of their divisions multiple weeks in a row.

== 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
! Pitchers
|-
| On-Base Percentage (OBP)
| Net Quality Wins: NQW = 4QS + W - L - 2GS
|-
| On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage: OPS = OBP + SLG
| Adjusted WHIP: aWHIP = (H + BB + HBP)/INN
|-
| Runs Scored (R)
| STARR: (RIP+3*SV+3*HLD-8*BS-8*RL)/4
|-
| Adjusted Runs Batted In: aRBI = RBI - GIDP
| Home Runs Allowed (HRA)
|-
| Home Runs (HR)
| Pitcher Strikeouts (K)
|-
| Adjusted Stolen Bases: ASB = SB - CS/2
| Earned Run Average (ERA)
|}

Just as in baseball, there can be no ties. If a statistical category ends in a tie at the conclusion of the week, the home team will win all such categories.

===Rain Delay Relief===
In the event of a rain delay, if the starting pitcher of such a game has ERA of 4.50 or less in the innings he has pitched in that game, he will receive a 0 in NQW instead of a -2.

The rule will apply in the following situations:

*If a starting pitcher, who has pitched less than 6 innings in a game, is removed from a game immediately following a weather delay; or
*If a starting pitcher does not pitch a full 6 innings because a game is deemed officially completed before the completion of the 6th inning due to a rainout or other weather-related game shortening.

This rule will be self-enforced. Teams will have to identify situations where this has occurred on their teams and notify the Commissioner within seven days of the occurrence. The Commissioner will then make the necessary scoring changes.

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

=== Batting and Fielding Penalties ===
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 ===
If a team fails to reach the required 44 innings pitched in a given week, that team will automatically lose the following categories: NQS, ERA, WHIP, HRA, and STARR. These losses will count as losses in the standings and will be known throughout the league as FUs,<ref>Fuck-ups</ref>. Should a team miss the innings requirement once, there will be no financial penalty. After the first instance of missed innings, each additional week a team misses innings will cost that team's owner $1 million, to be levied immediately upon the completion of the LDB Championship Series for that season.

== McQueeney Performance Penalties <ref>Known as "McQueeneys"</ref>==
The McQueeney Performance Penalty deducts LDB cash from a team's subsequent yearly budget when that team finishes the regular season with a sub-.400 winning percentage (including any FU losses) in the second half of the regular season. The "McQueeneys" will be assessed according to the following formula:

:LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-WL%)), rounded to the nearest half million

Additionally:

*The McQueeney Penalties shall be capped at a $20M maximum potential fine.
*The Commissioner may, at his discretion, grant an exemption from the penalties for any team that actively and competently manages its roster throughout the season and does not make a concerted effort to sell players on its active major league roster for future value (i.e., draft picks, cash, or AA players).

For examples, a team with a .380 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-38%)) = LDB$3 million; a team with a .333 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$10 million; and a team with a .200 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$30 million.

During the 2017 and 2018 season, expansion teams will not be subject to McQueeney penalties unless the Commissioner determines they failed to actively manage their rosters.

== All-star Break ==
LDB will not hold regular games during the week of the MLB All-star Game. That week, at the option of the Commissioner, LDB may either: (1) hold an LDB All-star Game and/or (2) fold any official MLB stats accrued that week into the subsequent week, if feasible.

In the event LDB holds an All-star Game, such game will be held between the Federal League and the Union Association and use the official MLB statistics accrued that week. 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 ==

=== Advancing to the Playoffs ===
The LDB Playoffs occur after the regular season concludes. Eight teams make the playoffs: the four division winners and two wild card teams from each league. The wild card teams from each league first play each other in a wild card round. The winners of the wild card round advance to the Lucid Division series, where they will play the division winner in their respective leagues with the second best league record (that division winner therefore gets a one-round bye). The winner of the Lucid Division Series advances to the Lucid Championship Series, where they face the team with the best record in their league (the league winner therefore gets a double bye). The home team in 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, determine seeding, and home field advantage in the event no LDB All-star Game takes place 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 by independent pairwise comparisons. 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.

=== Playoff Rosters ===
Once playoff rosters lock for the first time, player adds and drops are prohibited until the conclusion of playoffs.

Playoff rosters contain 20 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]] until the following Monday. However, position players on the DL may be added to the 20-man roster after rosters lock if there is a space reserved for their potential activation.

Positional players within the 20-man roster may be freely subbed in and out of slots during playoffs.

Each playoff team must start exactly five pitchers in each round of the playoffs: three starting pitchers, one relief pitcher and one flex (starter or reliever). Pitchers must remain active the entire week and cannot be benched. Starting pitchers must start at least one game for each week they are selected for a playoff roster. Teams may select pitchers on the DL as one of their five pitchers, but must also declare alternate, healthy pitchers in case such pitchers on the DL do not make a start in a game during that week. Teams may also, at their option, designate alternate pitchers for pitchers that are not on the DL. Alternates may take the place of pitchers injured during a scoring period who have not accumulated any stats in that scoring period.

A team in a playoff or McQueeney bracket that fails to set a valid, timely roster will field a pitching staff in the order that the team’s pitchers accrue stats that week, regardless of their position on the roster, up to the playoff pitching maximum. This applies to starting pitchers and relief pitchers.

=== Playoff Scoring ===

Pitching stats for the playoff week are as follows: ERA, WHIP, NQW/GS, K/9, HR/9, and STARR.

In the event of a playoff tie in points, such games will be decided by a cumulative measure for each stat category. Specifically: at the end of each season, a volunteer must determine the Categorical League Average Performance (CLAP) for each category. The CLAP will be determined by the mean and standard deviation for each category over the course of the season.

:Example
:Let's use aSB as an example. Over the course of the season, each team has 20 different aSB scores, for 280 data points total. Let's assume that out of the 280 observations of aSB, the mean is 2.5 and the standard deviation is 0.75.

:Now let's say that Team A has 4 aSB and Team B has 2. Team A would get +2 in tiebreaker scoring (because it's 2 Std Devs over the mean) while Team B would be given -0.67 (because it's 2/3 Std Devs. below the mean).

:We repeat this for all stats and see who has the higher total.

:Weights will be calculated annually at the conclusion of the regular season, prior to the conclusion of the first week's playoff matchups. As a proof of concept, we'll calculate the first-half weights at the all-star break to show what the tiebreakers would be if the season ended then (and to show that this is simpler in practice than it sounds in the abstract). We'll also create a plug-and-play google spreadsheet that lets you input the current score of your matchup and automatically calculate who holds the tiebreaker.

=== The McQueeney Cup ===
LDB will award the McQueeney Cup each season to the non-playoff team that wins the McQueeney Cup bracket, which will be played over three rounds parallel to the LDB playoffs, with Union and Federal ladders composed of each divisions' respective four non-playoff teams, seeded in order of regular season finish, with the last round including the Union and Federal finalists. The winner of the McQueeney Cup will receive a sandwich round pick between the first and second round of the amateur draft. In all other respects, McQueeney Cup games are decided as a regular playoff game. The winner of the McQueeney Cup may choose to either take the sandwich round pick or forfeit that pick in exchange for wiping his McQueeney penalties to $0, should he have any.

<references/>

The Game

2018-07-08T23:04:57Z

45.48.13.12: /* Playoff Rosters */

LDB is divided into two subsidiary leagues: the Federal League and the Union Association. Each league has two four-team divisions. 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 and eleventh weeks, which may extend beyond seven days.</ref> for a total of 20 weeks, with each statistical category representing one game, meaning 12 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. During the regular season, each team will play the other three teams in their own division twice (6 games), each other team once (12 games), and each team will have two additional non-division intraleague matchups (2 games). Matchups for the extra two intraleague matchups will be determined by the prior season's records. Teams with the two best records in one division in a league will face the teams with the two best records in the other division in that league, and vice versa for the two teams with the worst records their divisions.

The Commissioner will implement "road trips" where teams play out of their divisions multiple weeks in a row.

== 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
! Pitchers
|-
| On-Base Percentage (OBP)
| Net Quality Wins: NQW = 4QS + W - L - 2GS
|-
| On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage: OPS = OBP + SLG
| Adjusted WHIP: aWHIP = (H + BB + HBP)/INN
|-
| Runs Scored (R)
| STARR: (RIP+3*SV+3*HLD-8*BS-8*RL)/4
|-
| Adjusted Runs Batted In: aRBI = RBI - GIDP
| Home Runs Allowed (HRA)
|-
| Home Runs (HR)
| Pitcher Strikeouts (K)
|-
| Adjusted Stolen Bases: ASB = SB - CS/2
| Earned Run Average (ERA)
|}

Just as in baseball, there can be no ties. If a statistical category ends in a tie at the conclusion of the week, the home team will win all such categories.

===Rain Delay Relief===
In the event of a rain delay, if the starting pitcher of such a game has ERA of 4.50 or less in the innings he has pitched in that game, he will receive a 0 in NQW instead of a -2.

The rule will apply in the following situations:

*If a starting pitcher, who has pitched less than 6 innings in a game, is removed from a game immediately following a weather delay; or
*If a starting pitcher does not pitch a full 6 innings because a game is deemed officially completed before the completion of the 6th inning due to a rainout or other weather-related game shortening.

This rule will be self-enforced. Teams will have to identify situations where this has occurred on their teams and notify the Commissioner within seven days of the occurrence. The Commissioner will then make the necessary scoring changes.

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

=== Batting and Fielding Penalties ===
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 ===
If a team fails to reach the required 44 innings pitched in a given week, that team will automatically lose the following categories: NQS, ERA, WHIP, HRA, and STARR. These losses will count as losses in the standings and will be known throughout the league as FUs,<ref>Fuck-ups</ref>. Should a team miss the innings requirement once, there will be no financial penalty. After the first instance of missed innings, each additional week a team misses innings will cost that team's owner $1 million, to be levied immediately upon the completion of the LDB Championship Series for that season.

== McQueeney Performance Penalties <ref>Known as "McQueeneys"</ref>==
The McQueeney Performance Penalty deducts LDB cash from a team's subsequent yearly budget when that team finishes the regular season with a sub-.400 winning percentage (including any FU losses) in the second half of the regular season. The "McQueeneys" will be assessed according to the following formula:

:LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-WL%)), rounded to the nearest half million

Additionally:

*The McQueeney Penalties shall be capped at a $20M maximum potential fine.
*The Commissioner may, at his discretion, grant an exemption from the penalties for any team that actively and competently manages its roster throughout the season and does not make a concerted effort to sell players on its active major league roster for future value (i.e., draft picks, cash, or AA players).

For examples, a team with a .380 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-38%)) = LDB$3 million; a team with a .333 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$10 million; and a team with a .200 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$30 million.

During the 2017 and 2018 season, expansion teams will not be subject to McQueeney penalties unless the Commissioner determines they failed to actively manage their rosters.

== All-star Break ==
LDB will not hold regular games during the week of the MLB All-star Game. That week, at the option of the Commissioner, LDB may either: (1) hold an LDB All-star Game and/or (2) fold any official MLB stats accrued that week into the subsequent week, if feasible.

In the event LDB holds an All-star Game, such game will be held between the Federal League and the Union Association and use the official MLB statistics accrued that week. 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 ==

=== Advancing to the Playoffs ===
The LDB Playoffs occur after the regular season concludes. Eight teams make the playoffs: the four division winners and two wild card teams from each league. The wild card teams from each league first play each other in a wild card round. The winners of the wild card round advance to the Lucid Division series, where they will play the division winner in their respective leagues with the second best league record (that division winner therefore gets a one-round bye). The winner of the Lucid Division Series advances to the Lucid Championship Series, where they face the team with the best record in their league (the league winner therefore gets a double bye). The home team in 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, determine seeding, and home field advantage in the event no LDB All-star Game takes place 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 by independent pairwise comparisons. 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.

=== Playoff Rosters ===
Once playoff rosters lock for the first time, player adds and drops are prohibited until the conclusion of playoffs.

Playoff rosters contain 20 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]] until the following Monday. However, position players on the DL may be added to the 20-man roster after rosters lock if there is a space reserved for their potential activation.

Positional players within the 20-man roster may be freely subbed in and out of slots during playoffs.

Each playoff team must start exactly five pitchers in each round of the playoffs: three starting pitchers, one relief pitcher and one flex (starter or reliever). Pitchers must remain active the entire week and cannot be benched. Starting pitchers must start at least one game for each week they are selected for a playoff roster. Teams may select pitchers on the DL as one of their five pitchers, but must also declare alternate, healthy pitchers in case such pitchers on the DL do not make a start in a game during that week. Teams may also, at their option, designate alternate pitchers for pitchers that are not on the DL. Alternates may take the place of pitchers injured during a scoring period who have not accumulated any stats in that scoring period.

=== Playoff Scoring ===

Pitching stats for the playoff week are as follows: ERA, WHIP, NQW/GS, K/9, HR/9, and STARR.

In the event of a playoff tie in points, such games will be decided by a cumulative measure for each stat category. Specifically: at the end of each season, a volunteer must determine the Categorical League Average Performance (CLAP) for each category. The CLAP will be determined by the mean and standard deviation for each category over the course of the season.

:Example
:Let's use aSB as an example. Over the course of the season, each team has 20 different aSB scores, for 280 data points total. Let's assume that out of the 280 observations of aSB, the mean is 2.5 and the standard deviation is 0.75.

:Now let's say that Team A has 4 aSB and Team B has 2. Team A would get +2 in tiebreaker scoring (because it's 2 Std Devs over the mean) while Team B would be given -0.67 (because it's 2/3 Std Devs. below the mean).

:We repeat this for all stats and see who has the higher total.

:Weights will be calculated annually at the conclusion of the regular season, prior to the conclusion of the first week's playoff matchups. As a proof of concept, we'll calculate the first-half weights at the all-star break to show what the tiebreakers would be if the season ended then (and to show that this is simpler in practice than it sounds in the abstract). We'll also create a plug-and-play google spreadsheet that lets you input the current score of your matchup and automatically calculate who holds the tiebreaker.

=== The McQueeney Cup ===
LDB will award the McQueeney Cup each season to the non-playoff team that wins the McQueeney Cup bracket, which will be played over three rounds parallel to the LDB playoffs, with Union and Federal ladders composed of each divisions' respective four non-playoff teams, seeded in order of regular season finish, with the last round including the Union and Federal finalists. The winner of the McQueeney Cup will receive a sandwich round pick between the first and second round of the amateur draft. In all other respects, McQueeney Cup games are decided as a regular playoff game. The winner of the McQueeney Cup may choose to either take the sandwich round pick or forfeit that pick in exchange for wiping his McQueeney penalties to $0, should he have any.

<references/>

Rule Changes, Disputes, and Contingencies

2018-07-08T23:02:27Z

45.48.13.12: /* Offseason Rule Changes */

== Rule Changes ==

=== Offseason Rule Changes ===
Offseason rule changes are proposed, debated, and voted on as a package in one streamlined rulemaking process during the offseason. The manner in which such process takes place is prescribed by the Commissioner. Offseason rule changes may be proposed to the league by any GM and are adopted by a majority of teams voting for or against such changes. At the conclusion of the official rulemaking process, the Commissioner may also announce subsequent rulemaking processes, as necessary, in the offseason.

The offseason, for purposes of rule changes, ends at the keeper deadline.

=== In-season Rule Changes ===
In-season rule changes are strongly disfavored, but may be instituted so long as no team objects. However, this requirement does not apply in the case of ambiguity, where the [[#Rules Board|Rules Board will craft a rule]].

=== Decisions Crafted by the Rules Board ===
Decisions crafted by the Rules Board due to ambiguity are automatically incorporated into the Rules, whether they occur during the season or in the offseason.

==Commissioner Relief==
The Commissioner may provide relief to teams in situations where a roster mistake or misunderstanding of the Rules: 1) has no impact on the outcome of any LDB matchups, 2) severely hinders a team's ability to compete in either the short or long-term, and 3) is brought to the Commissioner's attention promptly.

== Rules Board ==
Before the beginning of the season, the Commissioner will appoint three GMs and two alternates to the Rules Board, which is charged with resolving disputes between teams and ambiguities in the LDB Rules. Co-GMs may not both serve on the Board. Board members that are interested parties in a dispute over the rules must recuse themselves from deciding such disputes. Board members with the appearance of being interested parties may recuse themselves at their discretion.

When drafting a decision, the Rules Board should consider the goal of these Rules: to mirror the decisions faced by Major League Baseball teams while recognizing the needs of a fantasy baseball league. Where emails exchanged among the league demonstrate a consensus as to purpose behind a specific Rule or set of Rules, that should be considered in interpreting the Rules. If the explicit text of a Rule can only be read in one way, it should be read accordingly; any mid-season change to an unambiguous Rule should come by league vote. If the Rules are ambiguous or do not address an issue, the Board should craft a rule designed to best fulfill the goals and intent of the league, but should be mindful of the need to avoid harming or benefiting any individual team or subset of teams that has relied on a valid interpretation of the text of the Rules or would otherwise be affected in a way distinct from the rest of the league. Above all, the Board should be guided by common sense and its understanding of what makes LDB the most functional and the most fun, rather than legalistic or formalistic nuances.

=== Actual Disputes ===
When such a dispute arises, a team requesting a ruling should present the question to the League, and the Rules Board will craft a resolution within a reasonable time.

=== Preemptive Rule Interpretations ===
An owner who faces a gray area in the Rules may request an interpretation of that rule in advance. When requesting a rule interpretation may give away a tactic that relies on surprise, requests may be made in secret, but the resulting ruling will be announced within a week of the decision. When relevant, pre-emptive interpretations will be usable as precedent.

== Contingencies ==

=== Data Loss, Unavailability, and Inaccuracy ===
Given the complexity of LDB and the fact that CBS cannot completely accommodate all of the nuances of the game, owners should expect some reasonable low level of data loss, unavailability, and inaccuracy. When such a case arises, the Commissioner will fashion a fix that he feels best furthers the intent of these Rules and the spirit of the league. The Commissioner may allow the Rules Board to decide how to address such a situation. See [[Legacy_Rules_and_Rules_Board_Reporter#In_re_Robinson_Cano.27s_Contract_Status.2C_2012_LDB_1_.28Feb._16.2C_2012.29|In re Robinson Cano's Contract Status, 2012 LDB 1 (Feb. 16, 2012)]].

=== Incapacitated GMs ===
Should a GM become incapacitated, unable, or unwilling to manage his or her team, the team will be taken under receivership by the league. During receivership, the league shall collectively manage the team so as to maintain competitive balance within the league. The Commissioner will announce the means by which such a team will be collectively managed.

In the case of an incapacitated GM or GM unable to manage his or her team, if that GM has any chance of regaining the ability to manage within six months or by the next first of March, whichever is longer, the team shall remain in receivership for that period of time. However, if a GM is definitely unable to return, the Commissioner may turn over the team to a new GM as he sees fit.

In the case of a GM unwilling to manage his or her team, the team remains in receivership for as long as the Commissioner sees fit, until it is turned over to a new GM.<ref>Matt McQueeney was unavailable for comment.</ref>

=== MLB Work Stoppage ===
In the event of a season that starts late or misses some mid-season weeks, the Commissioner has discretion to rework the schedule as necessary to facilitate the continuation of the LDB season.

In the event that games are cancelled through the end of the season or where there are insufficient weeks remaining to conduct a full playoff bracket, non-expense portions of LDB dues will be refunded to GMs. If MLB plays games through the All-Star Game break, a league champion will still be decided on the basis of best overall record, but that champion's accomplishment will be marked with an asterisk, otherwise there will be no LDB champion for the year. A team denied a championship due to a shortened season will be known as "Seliged."

<references/>

Keepers and Drafts

2018-07-08T23:01:30Z

45.48.13.12: /* Hometown Heroes */

== Keepers ==

=== Majors ===
In the off-season, GMs will be able to designate five players on their [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] rosters as keepers. Only players signed to long-term deals (contract status of K1/2) are eligible to be kept. These players are retained for the next year at their current salary: auction price, less a 10% signing bonus. However, 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 its mid-season free agents or mid-season free agents claimed from waivers as its "hometown hero" (HTH). K-, H-, S-, RFA, and NG waiver pickups are not eligible; the player must clear waivers if he was on one of these contracts. The HTH must be a player who logged non-September call-up time in the Majors and is no longer LDB rookie-eligible. The HTH must also have accrued positive fantasy statistics on the active roster of the team wishing to grant HTH status. The HTH gets a one-year contract extension at six million dollars, or two million for RPs. The HTH contract cannot be extended beyond that one year. To qualify as a Relief Pitcher, a player must have pitched the majority of innings in the prior season as a reliever.

Teams have the option to expand the number of HTH contracts granted each year beyond the one provided by substituting for a commensurate number of keeper contracts.

=== Homegrown and Super-twos ===

Homegrown players are players drafted into [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] (and possibly promoted). Homegrown players do not count against the [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors keeper total]]. After AA players' promotion to 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
| $0.5 million
|-
| Year 2
| $1.0 million
|-
| Year 3
| $1.5 million
|-
| Year 4
| $4.0 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.

Teams may promote a homegrown player in the second half of a the LDB season (after week 10's final roster lock) 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="3" | Super-two Salary Structure
|-
| Salary Year
| Pre-2014 Promotion
| Current
|-
| Year 0 (promotion year)
| $0.5 million
| $0.5 million
|-
| Year 1
| $1.0 million
| $1.0 million
|-
| Year 2
| $2.0 million
| $1.5 million
|-
| Year 3
| $4.0 million
| $4.0 million
|-
| Year 4
| $4.0 million
| $7.5 million
|}

Teams 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.

===Injured Keepers===
After the keeper deadline, but prior to the start of the auction, a team may release any keeper, H4, S4 or HTH and receive their salary in full for use at the upcoming auction if a player is injured or an injury (or updated extent of an injury) is reported after the keeper deadline. If a team releases a keeper or HTH under this rule, they may not designate a replacement keeper or HTH.

== 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, as determined by the Commissioner. 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.

To draft a player in the AA Draft, the player must be LDB rookie-eligible, having less than 131 AB or 50 IP.

The AA Draft will be held prior to a new season, as the Commissioner sees fit, subject to the requirements herein. For teams that do not make playoffs, 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 order for teams missing playoffs is then followed by teams making playoff appearances in ascending order of finishing places. The draft position of a traded draft pick corresponds to the original owner, not the owner at the time of the AA Draft.

=== Logistics and Requirements ===

Once a team is on the clock and has not picked for one full day (24 hours), that team will incur a $2 million fine, subject to the provisions below, and the draft may continue on as if he has picked. Such a team may jump back in and pick at any time. A team may assign another GM to make the pick on its behalf.

If the draft is not complete by 10 PM EST on the Friday prior to the auction, two penalties are assessed: (1) the $2 million fines above and (2) the three teams who have caused the longest delay between picks, counting only the hours between noon and 10 PM EST, will each be fined $1 million 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, teams will nominate players in an order established by the Commissioner. A nominating team 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 team that turns in the highest bid will be awarded the player.

Bidding prices are subject to these increments:
* $0.5 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 signed 25 players, (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.

===Blind Auction Option===
The Commissioner may timely announce that any number of rounds will be conducted by blind auction. In a blind auction, teams take turns nominating players as they do above. Nominating a player requires the nominating team to post at least a minimum salary bid. Teams then simultaneously make a single bid. Bids under $10 million must be rounded to the nearest $0.5 million, and bids $10 million or higher must be rounded to the nearest $1 million. The highest bid wins the player. Ties are resolved by: (1) deferral, (2) an open "bidding war" process that resembles our current open auction, or (3) draft nomination order in the event that nobody defers or offers a higher bid.

== Snake Draft ==

The final component of a season's draft is the Snake Draft, during which time each team may draft up to five additional players for their Majors roster. Players with H1, H2, S1, or S2 contract statuses may fill Snake round draft spots, but must be announced before the Majors Draft starts. Players may not move up or down from the Snake Draft slots once the Majors Draft begins.

Every player chosen in the Snake Draft receives the league minimum salary. Up to three Snake 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 ==

In order to dissuade teams 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, teams may poach such players from other teams 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, and
* Currently be on an MLB team's 25 man roster.

The Rule V draft will take place over the All-star Break each season. 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. A player may not be designated as a "protected player" in consecutive years. The draft will last until each team passes. Once a team passes, the team 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 then-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 or she deems most efficient (e.g., email, website, or conference call).

Teams drafting players by Rule V will be required to keep them on their LDB Majors roster for the following one and a half seasons. Teams may place Rule V draftees on the DL. However, spending a half season on the DL (10 weeks, aggregated over all DL stints), does not count toward the one and a half seasons. Owners will not be required to include Rule V draftees on their playoff roster.

A team that drafts a player in the Rule V Draft and drops that player in the off-season is still accountable for the player’s salary if unclaimed.

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 team 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 may not change their protected player once the draft begins without either promoting that player or subjecting him to waivers.

<references/>

Keepers and Drafts

2018-07-08T23:01:07Z

45.48.13.12: /* AA Draft */

== Keepers ==

=== Majors ===
In the off-season, GMs will be able to designate five players on their [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] rosters as keepers. Only players signed to long-term deals (contract status of K1/2) are eligible to be kept. These players are retained for the next year at their current salary: auction price, less a 10% signing bonus. However, 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 its mid-season free agents or mid-season free agents claimed from waivers as its "hometown hero" (HTH). K-, H-, S-, RFA, and NG waiver pickups are not eligible; the player must clear waivers if he was on one of these contracts. The HTH must be a player who logged non-September call-up time in the Majors and is no longer rookie-eligible. The HTH must also have accrued positive fantasy statistics on the active roster of the team wishing to grant HTH status. The HTH gets a one-year contract extension at six million dollars, or two million for RPs. The HTH contract cannot be extended beyond that one year. To qualify as a Relief Pitcher, a player must have pitched the majority of innings in the prior season as a reliever.

Teams have the option to expand the number of HTH contracts granted each year beyond the one provided by substituting for a commensurate number of keeper contracts.

=== Homegrown and Super-twos ===

Homegrown players are players drafted into [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] (and possibly promoted). Homegrown players do not count against the [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors keeper total]]. After AA players' promotion to 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
| $0.5 million
|-
| Year 2
| $1.0 million
|-
| Year 3
| $1.5 million
|-
| Year 4
| $4.0 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.

Teams may promote a homegrown player in the second half of a the LDB season (after week 10's final roster lock) 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="3" | Super-two Salary Structure
|-
| Salary Year
| Pre-2014 Promotion
| Current
|-
| Year 0 (promotion year)
| $0.5 million
| $0.5 million
|-
| Year 1
| $1.0 million
| $1.0 million
|-
| Year 2
| $2.0 million
| $1.5 million
|-
| Year 3
| $4.0 million
| $4.0 million
|-
| Year 4
| $4.0 million
| $7.5 million
|}

Teams 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.

===Injured Keepers===
After the keeper deadline, but prior to the start of the auction, a team may release any keeper, H4, S4 or HTH and receive their salary in full for use at the upcoming auction if a player is injured or an injury (or updated extent of an injury) is reported after the keeper deadline. If a team releases a keeper or HTH under this rule, they may not designate a replacement keeper or HTH.

== 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, as determined by the Commissioner. 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.

To draft a player in the AA Draft, the player must be LDB rookie-eligible, having less than 131 AB or 50 IP.

The AA Draft will be held prior to a new season, as the Commissioner sees fit, subject to the requirements herein. For teams that do not make playoffs, 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 order for teams missing playoffs is then followed by teams making playoff appearances in ascending order of finishing places. The draft position of a traded draft pick corresponds to the original owner, not the owner at the time of the AA Draft.

=== Logistics and Requirements ===

Once a team is on the clock and has not picked for one full day (24 hours), that team will incur a $2 million fine, subject to the provisions below, and the draft may continue on as if he has picked. Such a team may jump back in and pick at any time. A team may assign another GM to make the pick on its behalf.

If the draft is not complete by 10 PM EST on the Friday prior to the auction, two penalties are assessed: (1) the $2 million fines above and (2) the three teams who have caused the longest delay between picks, counting only the hours between noon and 10 PM EST, will each be fined $1 million 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, teams will nominate players in an order established by the Commissioner. A nominating team 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 team that turns in the highest bid will be awarded the player.

Bidding prices are subject to these increments:
* $0.5 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 signed 25 players, (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.

===Blind Auction Option===
The Commissioner may timely announce that any number of rounds will be conducted by blind auction. In a blind auction, teams take turns nominating players as they do above. Nominating a player requires the nominating team to post at least a minimum salary bid. Teams then simultaneously make a single bid. Bids under $10 million must be rounded to the nearest $0.5 million, and bids $10 million or higher must be rounded to the nearest $1 million. The highest bid wins the player. Ties are resolved by: (1) deferral, (2) an open "bidding war" process that resembles our current open auction, or (3) draft nomination order in the event that nobody defers or offers a higher bid.

== Snake Draft ==

The final component of a season's draft is the Snake Draft, during which time each team may draft up to five additional players for their Majors roster. Players with H1, H2, S1, or S2 contract statuses may fill Snake round draft spots, but must be announced before the Majors Draft starts. Players may not move up or down from the Snake Draft slots once the Majors Draft begins.

Every player chosen in the Snake Draft receives the league minimum salary. Up to three Snake 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 ==

In order to dissuade teams 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, teams may poach such players from other teams 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, and
* Currently be on an MLB team's 25 man roster.

The Rule V draft will take place over the All-star Break each season. 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. A player may not be designated as a "protected player" in consecutive years. The draft will last until each team passes. Once a team passes, the team 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 then-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 or she deems most efficient (e.g., email, website, or conference call).

Teams drafting players by Rule V will be required to keep them on their LDB Majors roster for the following one and a half seasons. Teams may place Rule V draftees on the DL. However, spending a half season on the DL (10 weeks, aggregated over all DL stints), does not count toward the one and a half seasons. Owners will not be required to include Rule V draftees on their playoff roster.

A team that drafts a player in the Rule V Draft and drops that player in the off-season is still accountable for the player’s salary if unclaimed.

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 team 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 may not change their protected player once the draft begins without either promoting that player or subjecting him to waivers.

<references/>

External Transactions

2018-07-08T22:53:30Z

45.48.13.12: /* Mid-Season Free Agents */

== Designation for Assignment ==
Players being cut are designated for assignment. Designation immediately removes the player from the [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] and subjects him to a 3-day waiver process. Such players are available to trade for the next three days. If they are not traded after three days, they are given to the highest waiver claimant. If the player is not claimed on waivers, the player is cut. Designation is not revokable. Refunds are not awarded for players unclaimed on waivers.

== Mid-Season Free Agents ==
Any unsigned player can be acquired mid-season. Players who are acquired mid-year are paid the [[Finances#Payroll|league minimum]].

Players drafted in the [[Keepers and Drafts#Snake Draft|Snake Draft]] with non-guaranteed contracts may be freely swapped for a replacement player who is of the same type (i.e. position player or pitcher) until the end of April. Replacement players cannot subsequently be swapped for other replacement players. Players dropped with NG status do not confer NG contract status when signed by a new team; such player has MS contract status. Players with NG contracts cannot be kept at the conclusion of the season.

== Waiver Claims ==
Any player on waivers can be claimed. At the end of the waiver period, the claim will be awarded to whatever team made the claim that has the lowest overall season-to-date record, measured on the date of expiration of the waiver period. In the case of a tie, the player will first be awarded to the team with the lowest division record. In the case of a further tie, the player will be awarded to the team in a different division. In the case of a further tie, the previous season’s record will be used, with the award to the team that finished in a lower standing. In the case of a further tie, the winning teams will publicly auction on the player for the rights to acquire. Funds paid toward acquisition do not offset any of the assumed salary burden, and are on top of the assumed salary. Awarding a player results in the acquisition of that player, pending roster space being made available for the new player. The claiming team assumes the remaining salary burden of the player, calculated by remaining weeks in the LDB regular season.

== Trades ==
Trades may occur at any point in the off-season and during the season, up to the league trade deadline, which will be the end of week 15. All trades must have timestamp of 11:59 PM EST<ref>The standard time zone for LDB is Eastern Standard Time.</ref> on Sunday of week 15 or earlier, or have been announced to the league in a reasonable manner before that deadline.

Trades will be subject to approval by a vote of the other managers in the league. If greater than one-half of the non-involved managers veto a trade, the trade will be cancelled. The veto window is three days. All trades will be immediate. A veto of a trade will be prospective; if vetoed, the players traded will have their stats count for their teams that temporarily held them.

Trades may involve players and cash, but just as in MLB, players cannot be dealt only for cash. Trades may also involve other assets, such as, but not limited to, future [[Keepers_and_Drafts#AA_Draft|draft picks]], [[Keepers_and_Drafts#Restricted_Free_Agents|RFA rights]], etc. Trades can include a "player to be named later" as long as that player has not accumulated any LDB stats between the trade and the player changing hands. As a general policy, trades are looked upon favorably, regardless of the types of assets involved. The full terms of a trade need not be fully disclosed to the league and may involve gentlemen's agreements and other conditions. However, trades are subject to the following restrictions:

* No trade may involve an agreement to temporarily hold or "rent" a player. Any trade that attempts to work around the ban on renting players is also prohibited. For example, a trade involving an agreement to later send back a player of similar value could be considered a workaround. Whether a trade constitutes a rental or an attempted workaround will be determined by a Rules Committee vote, if one is called for.
* Transfer of a player's RFA rights is prohibited once that player is nominated in the [[Keepers_and_Drafts#Majors_Draft|Majors Draft]] or selected in the [[Keepers_and_Drafts#Snake_Draft|Snake Draft]].

==Bets Involving LDB Assets ("Friendly Wagers")==
"Friendly wagers" are the only class of transactions that can include yet-unrealized future assets (money, AA picks past the 2-year allocation window, yet-unborn naming rights to sons/daughters, etc). Friendly wagers cannot adversely impact the competitiveness of the league (if there is question about whether a wager will do so, the wager's status will be determined by that year's Rules Board). All assets involved in friendly wagers will be held in escrow, a spreadsheet that will spell out the parties, terms, timeline, and payouts of the friendly wager. Friendly wagers are bound to the team, rather than the owner, such that a owner's departure does not invalidate the wager (unless specified in the terms of the wager). In the event a team's owner leaves, new prospective owners should be made aware of the team's wagered obligations before agreeing to take control of a team, as the assets are held in escrow and will only be released pursuant to the terms of the wager.

<references/>

Keepers and Drafts

2018-07-08T22:51:16Z

45.48.13.12: /* Majors Draft */

== Keepers ==

=== Majors ===
In the off-season, GMs will be able to designate five players on their [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] rosters as keepers. Only players signed to long-term deals (contract status of K1/2) are eligible to be kept. These players are retained for the next year at their current salary: auction price, less a 10% signing bonus. However, 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 its mid-season free agents or mid-season free agents claimed from waivers as its "hometown hero" (HTH). K-, H-, S-, RFA, and NG waiver pickups are not eligible; the player must clear waivers if he was on one of these contracts. The HTH must be a player who logged non-September call-up time in the Majors and is no longer rookie-eligible. The HTH must also have accrued positive fantasy statistics on the active roster of the team wishing to grant HTH status. The HTH gets a one-year contract extension at six million dollars, or two million for RPs. The HTH contract cannot be extended beyond that one year. To qualify as a Relief Pitcher, a player must have pitched the majority of innings in the prior season as a reliever.

Teams have the option to expand the number of HTH contracts granted each year beyond the one provided by substituting for a commensurate number of keeper contracts.

=== Homegrown and Super-twos ===

Homegrown players are players drafted into [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] (and possibly promoted). Homegrown players do not count against the [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors keeper total]]. After AA players' promotion to 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
| $0.5 million
|-
| Year 2
| $1.0 million
|-
| Year 3
| $1.5 million
|-
| Year 4
| $4.0 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.

Teams may promote a homegrown player in the second half of a the LDB season (after week 10's final roster lock) 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="3" | Super-two Salary Structure
|-
| Salary Year
| Pre-2014 Promotion
| Current
|-
| Year 0 (promotion year)
| $0.5 million
| $0.5 million
|-
| Year 1
| $1.0 million
| $1.0 million
|-
| Year 2
| $2.0 million
| $1.5 million
|-
| Year 3
| $4.0 million
| $4.0 million
|-
| Year 4
| $4.0 million
| $7.5 million
|}

Teams 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.

===Injured Keepers===
After the keeper deadline, but prior to the start of the auction, a team may release any keeper, H4, S4 or HTH and receive their salary in full for use at the upcoming auction if a player is injured or an injury (or updated extent of an injury) is reported after the keeper deadline. If a team releases a keeper or HTH under this rule, they may not designate a replacement keeper or HTH.

== 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, as determined by the Commissioner. 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.

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, subject to the requirements herein. For teams that do not make playoffs, 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 order for teams missing playoffs is then followed by teams making playoff appearances in ascending order of finishing places. The draft position of a traded draft pick corresponds to the original owner, not the owner at the time of the AA Draft.

=== Logistics and Requirements ===

Once a team is on the clock and has not picked for one full day (24 hours), that team will incur a $2 million fine, subject to the provisions below, and the draft may continue on as if he has picked. Such a team may jump back in and pick at any time. A team may assign another GM to make the pick on its behalf.

If the draft is not complete by 10 PM EST on the Friday prior to the auction, two penalties are assessed: (1) the $2 million fines above and (2) the three teams who have caused the longest delay between picks, counting only the hours between noon and 10 PM EST, will each be fined $1 million 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, teams will nominate players in an order established by the Commissioner. A nominating team 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 team that turns in the highest bid will be awarded the player.

Bidding prices are subject to these increments:
* $0.5 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 signed 25 players, (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.

===Blind Auction Option===
The Commissioner may timely announce that any number of rounds will be conducted by blind auction. In a blind auction, teams take turns nominating players as they do above. Nominating a player requires the nominating team to post at least a minimum salary bid. Teams then simultaneously make a single bid. Bids under $10 million must be rounded to the nearest $0.5 million, and bids $10 million or higher must be rounded to the nearest $1 million. The highest bid wins the player. Ties are resolved by: (1) deferral, (2) an open "bidding war" process that resembles our current open auction, or (3) draft nomination order in the event that nobody defers or offers a higher bid.

== Snake Draft ==

The final component of a season's draft is the Snake Draft, during which time each team may draft up to five additional players for their Majors roster. Players with H1, H2, S1, or S2 contract statuses may fill Snake round draft spots, but must be announced before the Majors Draft starts. Players may not move up or down from the Snake Draft slots once the Majors Draft begins.

Every player chosen in the Snake Draft receives the league minimum salary. Up to three Snake 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 ==

In order to dissuade teams 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, teams may poach such players from other teams 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, and
* Currently be on an MLB team's 25 man roster.

The Rule V draft will take place over the All-star Break each season. 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. A player may not be designated as a "protected player" in consecutive years. The draft will last until each team passes. Once a team passes, the team 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 then-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 or she deems most efficient (e.g., email, website, or conference call).

Teams drafting players by Rule V will be required to keep them on their LDB Majors roster for the following one and a half seasons. Teams may place Rule V draftees on the DL. However, spending a half season on the DL (10 weeks, aggregated over all DL stints), does not count toward the one and a half seasons. Owners will not be required to include Rule V draftees on their playoff roster.

A team that drafts a player in the Rule V Draft and drops that player in the off-season is still accountable for the player’s salary if unclaimed.

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 team 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 may not change their protected player once the draft begins without either promoting that player or subjecting him to waivers.

<references/>

Keepers and Drafts

2018-07-08T22:47:58Z

45.48.13.12: /* Rule V Draft */

== Keepers ==

=== Majors ===
In the off-season, GMs will be able to designate five players on their [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] rosters as keepers. Only players signed to long-term deals (contract status of K1/2) are eligible to be kept. These players are retained for the next year at their current salary: auction price, less a 10% signing bonus. However, 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 its mid-season free agents or mid-season free agents claimed from waivers as its "hometown hero" (HTH). K-, H-, S-, RFA, and NG waiver pickups are not eligible; the player must clear waivers if he was on one of these contracts. The HTH must be a player who logged non-September call-up time in the Majors and is no longer rookie-eligible. The HTH must also have accrued positive fantasy statistics on the active roster of the team wishing to grant HTH status. The HTH gets a one-year contract extension at six million dollars, or two million for RPs. The HTH contract cannot be extended beyond that one year. To qualify as a Relief Pitcher, a player must have pitched the majority of innings in the prior season as a reliever.

Teams have the option to expand the number of HTH contracts granted each year beyond the one provided by substituting for a commensurate number of keeper contracts.

=== Homegrown and Super-twos ===

Homegrown players are players drafted into [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] (and possibly promoted). Homegrown players do not count against the [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors keeper total]]. After AA players' promotion to 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
| $0.5 million
|-
| Year 2
| $1.0 million
|-
| Year 3
| $1.5 million
|-
| Year 4
| $4.0 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.

Teams may promote a homegrown player in the second half of a the LDB season (after week 10's final roster lock) 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="3" | Super-two Salary Structure
|-
| Salary Year
| Pre-2014 Promotion
| Current
|-
| Year 0 (promotion year)
| $0.5 million
| $0.5 million
|-
| Year 1
| $1.0 million
| $1.0 million
|-
| Year 2
| $2.0 million
| $1.5 million
|-
| Year 3
| $4.0 million
| $4.0 million
|-
| Year 4
| $4.0 million
| $7.5 million
|}

Teams 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.

===Injured Keepers===
After the keeper deadline, but prior to the start of the auction, a team may release any keeper, H4, S4 or HTH and receive their salary in full for use at the upcoming auction if a player is injured or an injury (or updated extent of an injury) is reported after the keeper deadline. If a team releases a keeper or HTH under this rule, they may not designate a replacement keeper or HTH.

== 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, as determined by the Commissioner. 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.

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, subject to the requirements herein. For teams that do not make playoffs, 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 order for teams missing playoffs is then followed by teams making playoff appearances in ascending order of finishing places. The draft position of a traded draft pick corresponds to the original owner, not the owner at the time of the AA Draft.

=== Logistics and Requirements ===

Once a team is on the clock and has not picked for one full day (24 hours), that team will incur a $2 million fine, subject to the provisions below, and the draft may continue on as if he has picked. Such a team may jump back in and pick at any time. A team may assign another GM to make the pick on its behalf.

If the draft is not complete by 10 PM EST on the Friday prior to the auction, two penalties are assessed: (1) the $2 million fines above and (2) the three teams who have caused the longest delay between picks, counting only the hours between noon and 10 PM EST, will each be fined $1 million 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, teams will nominate players in an order established by the Commissioner. A nominating team 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 team that turns in the highest bid will be awarded the player.

Bidding prices are subject to these increments:
* $0.5 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 signed 25 players, (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.

===Blind Auction Option===
The Commissioner may timely announce that any number of rounds will be conducted by blind auction. In a blind auction, teams take turns nominating players as they do above. Nominating a player requires the nominating team to post at least a minimum salary bid. Teams then simultaneously make a single bid. The highest bid wins the player. Ties are resolved by: (1) deferral, (2) an open "bidding war" process that resembles our current open auction, or (3) draft nomination order in the event that nobody defers or offers a higher bid.

== Snake Draft ==

The final component of a season's draft is the Snake Draft, during which time each team may draft up to five additional players for their Majors roster. Players with H1, H2, S1, or S2 contract statuses may fill Snake round draft spots, but must be announced before the Majors Draft starts. Players may not move up or down from the Snake Draft slots once the Majors Draft begins.

Every player chosen in the Snake Draft receives the league minimum salary. Up to three Snake 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 ==

In order to dissuade teams 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, teams may poach such players from other teams 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, and
* Currently be on an MLB team's 25 man roster.

The Rule V draft will take place over the All-star Break each season. 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. A player may not be designated as a "protected player" in consecutive years. The draft will last until each team passes. Once a team passes, the team 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 then-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 or she deems most efficient (e.g., email, website, or conference call).

Teams drafting players by Rule V will be required to keep them on their LDB Majors roster for the following one and a half seasons. Teams may place Rule V draftees on the DL. However, spending a half season on the DL (10 weeks, aggregated over all DL stints), does not count toward the one and a half seasons. Owners will not be required to include Rule V draftees on their playoff roster.

A team that drafts a player in the Rule V Draft and drops that player in the off-season is still accountable for the player’s salary if unclaimed.

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 team 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 may not change their protected player once the draft begins without either promoting that player or subjecting him to waivers.

<references/>

External Transactions

2017-03-19T00:34:18Z

45.48.13.12: /* Trades */

== Designation for Assignment ==
Players being cut are designated for assignment. Designation immediately removes the player from the [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] and subjects him to a 3-day waiver process. Such players are available to trade for the next three days. If they are not traded after three days, they are given to the highest waiver claimant. If the player is not claimed on waivers, the player is cut. Designation is not revokable. Refunds are not awarded for players unclaimed on waivers.

== Mid-Season Free Agents ==
Any unsigned player can be acquired mid-season. Players who are acquired mid-year are paid the [[Finances#Payroll|league minimum]].

Players drafted in the [[Keepers and Drafts#Snake Draft|Snake Draft]] with non-guaranteed contracts may be freely swapped for a replacement player who is of the same type (i.e. position player or pitcher) until the end of April. Replacement players cannot be swapped for other replacement players. Players with NG contracts cannot be kept at the conclusion of the season.

== Waiver Claims ==
Any player on waivers can be claimed. At the end of the waiver period, the claim will be awarded to whatever team made the claim that has the lowest overall season-to-date record, measured on the date of expiration of the waiver period. In the case of a tie, the player will first be awarded to the team with the lowest division record. In the case of a further tie, the player will be awarded to the team in a different division. In the case of a further tie, the previous season’s record will be used, with the award to the team that finished in a lower standing. In the case of a further tie, the winning teams will publicly auction on the player for the rights to acquire. Funds paid toward acquisition do not offset any of the assumed salary burden, and are on top of the assumed salary. Awarding a player results in the acquisition of that player, pending roster space being made available for the new player. The claiming team assumes the remaining salary burden of the player, calculated by remaining weeks in the LDB regular season.

== Trades ==
Trades may occur at any point in the off-season and during the season, up to the league trade deadline, which will be the end of week 15. All trades must have timestamp of 11:59 PM EST<ref>The standard time zone for LDB is Eastern Standard Time.</ref> on Sunday of week 15 or earlier, or have been announced to the league in a reasonable manner before that deadline.

Trades will be subject to approval by a vote of the other managers in the league. If greater than one-half of the non-involved managers veto a trade, the trade will be cancelled. The veto window is three days. All trades will be immediate. A veto of a trade will be prospective; if vetoed, the players traded will have their stats count for their teams that temporarily held them.

Trades may involve players and cash, but just as in MLB, players cannot be dealt only for cash. Trades may also involve other assets, such as, but not limited to, future [[Keepers_and_Drafts#AA_Draft|draft picks]], [[Keepers_and_Drafts#Restricted_Free_Agents|RFA rights]], etc. Trades can include a "player to be named later" as long as that player has not accumulated any LDB stats between the trade and the player changing hands. As a general policy, trades are looked upon favorably, regardless of the types of assets involved. The full terms of a trade need not be fully disclosed to the league and may involve gentlemen's agreements and other conditions. However, trades are subject to the following restrictions:

* No trade may involve an agreement to temporarily hold or "rent" a player. Any trade that attempts to work around the ban on renting players is also prohibited. For example, a trade involving an agreement to later send back a player of similar value could be considered a workaround. Whether a trade constitutes a rental or an attempted workaround will be determined by a Rules Committee vote, if one is called for.
* Transfer of a player's RFA rights is prohibited once that player is nominated in the [[Keepers_and_Drafts#Majors_Draft|Majors Draft]] or selected in the [[Keepers_and_Drafts#Snake_Draft|Snake Draft]].

==Bets Involving LDB Assets ("Friendly Wagers")==
"Friendly wagers" are the only class of transactions that can include yet-unrealized future assets (money, AA picks past the 2-year allocation window, yet-unborn naming rights to sons/daughters, etc). Friendly wagers cannot adversely impact the competitiveness of the league (if there is question about whether a wager will do so, the wager's status will be determined by that year's Rules Board). All assets involved in friendly wagers will be held in escrow, a spreadsheet that will spell out the parties, terms, timeline, and payouts of the friendly wager. Friendly wagers are bound to the team, rather than the owner, such that a owner's departure does not invalidate the wager (unless specified in the terms of the wager). In the event a team's owner leaves, new prospective owners should be made aware of the team's wagered obligations before agreeing to take control of a team, as the assets are held in escrow and will only be released pursuant to the terms of the wager.

<references/>

External Transactions

2017-03-19T00:29:43Z

45.48.13.12: /* Mid-Season Free Agents */

== Designation for Assignment ==
Players being cut are designated for assignment. Designation immediately removes the player from the [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] and subjects him to a 3-day waiver process. Such players are available to trade for the next three days. If they are not traded after three days, they are given to the highest waiver claimant. If the player is not claimed on waivers, the player is cut. Designation is not revokable. Refunds are not awarded for players unclaimed on waivers.

== Mid-Season Free Agents ==
Any unsigned player can be acquired mid-season. Players who are acquired mid-year are paid the [[Finances#Payroll|league minimum]].

Players drafted in the [[Keepers and Drafts#Snake Draft|Snake Draft]] with non-guaranteed contracts may be freely swapped for a replacement player who is of the same type (i.e. position player or pitcher) until the end of April. Replacement players cannot be swapped for other replacement players. Players with NG contracts cannot be kept at the conclusion of the season.

== Waiver Claims ==
Any player on waivers can be claimed. At the end of the waiver period, the claim will be awarded to whatever team made the claim that has the lowest overall season-to-date record, measured on the date of expiration of the waiver period. In the case of a tie, the player will first be awarded to the team with the lowest division record. In the case of a further tie, the player will be awarded to the team in a different division. In the case of a further tie, the previous season’s record will be used, with the award to the team that finished in a lower standing. In the case of a further tie, the winning teams will publicly auction on the player for the rights to acquire. Funds paid toward acquisition do not offset any of the assumed salary burden, and are on top of the assumed salary. Awarding a player results in the acquisition of that player, pending roster space being made available for the new player. The claiming team assumes the remaining salary burden of the player, calculated by remaining weeks in the LDB regular season.

== Trades ==
Trades may occur at any point in the off-season and during the season, up to the league trade deadline, which will be the end of week 15. All trades must have timestamp of 11:59 PM EST<ref>The standard time zone for LDB is Eastern Standard Time.</ref> on Sunday of week 15 or earlier, or have been announced to the league in a reasonable manner before that deadline.

Trades will be subject to approval by a vote of the other managers in the league. If greater than one-half of the non-involved managers veto a trade, the trade will be cancelled. The veto window is three days. All trades will be immediate. A veto of a trade will be prospective; if vetoed, the players traded will have their stats count for their teams that temporarily held them.

Trades may involve players and cash, but just as in MLB, players cannot be dealt only for cash. Trades may also involve other assets, such as, but not limited to, future [[Keepers_and_Drafts#AA_Draft|draft picks]], [[Keepers_and_Drafts#Restricted_Free_Agents|RFA rights]], etc. Trades can include a "player to be named later" as long as that player has not accumulated any LDB stats between the trade and the player changing hands. As a general policy, trades are looked upon favorably, regardless of the types of assets involved. The full terms of a trade need not be fully disclosed to the league and may involve gentlemen's agreements and other conditions.

However, no trade may involve an agreement to temporarily hold or "rent" a player. Any trade that attempts to work around the ban on renting players is also prohibited. For example, a trade involving an agreement to later send back a player of similar value could be considered a workaround. Whether a trade constitutes a rental or an attempted workaround will be determined by a Rules Committee vote, if one is called for.

==Bets Involving LDB Assets ("Friendly Wagers")==
"Friendly wagers" are the only class of transactions that can include yet-unrealized future assets (money, AA picks past the 2-year allocation window, yet-unborn naming rights to sons/daughters, etc). Friendly wagers cannot adversely impact the competitiveness of the league (if there is question about whether a wager will do so, the wager's status will be determined by that year's Rules Board). All assets involved in friendly wagers will be held in escrow, a spreadsheet that will spell out the parties, terms, timeline, and payouts of the friendly wager. Friendly wagers are bound to the team, rather than the owner, such that a owner's departure does not invalidate the wager (unless specified in the terms of the wager). In the event a team's owner leaves, new prospective owners should be made aware of the team's wagered obligations before agreeing to take control of a team, as the assets are held in escrow and will only be released pursuant to the terms of the wager.

<references/>

Rule Changes, Disputes, and Contingencies

2017-03-19T00:27:46Z

45.48.13.12: /* Contingencies */

== Rule Changes ==

=== Offseason Rule Changes ===
Offseason rule changes are proposed, debated, and voted on as a package in one streamlined rulemaking process during the offseason. The manner in which such process takes place is prescribed by the Commissioner. Offseason rule changes may be proposed to the league by any GM and are adopted by a majority of teams voting for or against such changes. At the conclusion of the official rulemaking process, the Commissioner may also announce subsequent rulemaking processes, as necessary, in the offseason.

=== In-season Rule Changes ===
In-season rule changes are strongly disfavored, but may be instituted so long as no team objects. However, this requirement does not apply in the case of ambiguity, where the [[#Rules Board|Rules Board will craft a rule]].

=== Decisions Crafted by the Rules Board ===
Decisions crafted by the Rules Board due to ambiguity are automatically incorporated into the Rules, whether they occur during the season or in the offseason.

==Commissioner Relief==
The Commissioner may provide relief to teams in situations where a roster mistake or misunderstanding of the Rules: 1) has no impact on the outcome of any LDB matchups, 2) severely hinders a team's ability to compete in either the short or long-term, and 3) is brought to the Commissioner's attention promptly.

== Rules Board ==
Before the beginning of the season, the Commissioner will appoint three GMs and two alternates to the Rules Board, which is charged with resolving disputes between teams and ambiguities in the LDB Rules. Co-GMs may not both serve on the Board. Board members that are interested parties in a dispute over the rules must recuse themselves from deciding such disputes. Board members with the appearance of being interested parties may recuse themselves at their discretion.

When drafting a decision, the Rules Board should consider the goal of these Rules: to mirror the decisions faced by Major League Baseball teams while recognizing the needs of a fantasy baseball league. Where emails exchanged among the league demonstrate a consensus as to purpose behind a specific Rule or set of Rules, that should be considered in interpreting the Rules. If the explicit text of a Rule can only be read in one way, it should be read accordingly; any mid-season change to an unambiguous Rule should come by league vote. If the Rules are ambiguous or do not address an issue, the Board should craft a rule designed to best fulfill the goals and intent of the league, but should be mindful of the need to avoid harming or benefiting any individual team or subset of teams that has relied on a valid interpretation of the text of the Rules or would otherwise be affected in a way distinct from the rest of the league. Above all, the Board should be guided by common sense and its understanding of what makes LDB the most functional and the most fun, rather than legalistic or formalistic nuances.

=== Actual Disputes ===
When such a dispute arises, a team requesting a ruling should present the question to the League, and the Rules Board will craft a resolution within a reasonable time.

=== Preemptive Rule Interpretations ===
An owner who faces a gray area in the Rules may request an interpretation of that rule in advance. When requesting a rule interpretation may give away a tactic that relies on surprise, requests may be made in secret, but the resulting ruling will be announced within a week of the decision. When relevant, pre-emptive interpretations will be usable as precedent.

== Contingencies ==

=== Data Loss, Unavailability, and Inaccuracy ===
Given the complexity of LDB and the fact that CBS cannot completely accommodate all of the nuances of the game, owners should expect some reasonable low level of data loss, unavailability, and inaccuracy. When such a case arises, the Commissioner will fashion a fix that he feels best furthers the intent of these Rules and the spirit of the league. The Commissioner may allow the Rules Board to decide how to address such a situation. See [[Legacy_Rules_and_Rules_Board_Reporter#In_re_Robinson_Cano.27s_Contract_Status.2C_2012_LDB_1_.28Feb._16.2C_2012.29|In re Robinson Cano's Contract Status, 2012 LDB 1 (Feb. 16, 2012)]].

=== Incapacitated GMs ===
Should a GM become incapacitated, unable, or unwilling to manage his or her team, the team will be taken under receivership by the league. During receivership, the league shall collectively manage the team so as to maintain competitive balance within the league. The Commissioner will announce the means by which such a team will be collectively managed.

In the case of an incapacitated GM or GM unable to manage his or her team, if that GM has any chance of regaining the ability to manage within six months or by the next first of March, whichever is longer, the team shall remain in receivership for that period of time. However, if a GM is definitely unable to return, the Commissioner may turn over the team to a new GM as he sees fit.

In the case of a GM unwilling to manage his or her team, the team remains in receivership for as long as the Commissioner sees fit, until it is turned over to a new GM.<ref>Matt McQueeney was unavailable for comment.</ref>

=== MLB Work Stoppage ===
In the event of a season that starts late or misses some mid-season weeks, the Commissioner has discretion to rework the schedule as necessary to facilitate the continuation of the LDB season.

In the event that games are cancelled through the end of the season or where there are insufficient weeks remaining to conduct a full playoff bracket, non-expense portions of LDB dues will be refunded to GMs. If MLB plays games through the All-Star Game break, a league champion will still be decided on the basis of best overall record, but that champion's accomplishment will be marked with an asterisk, otherwise there will be no LDB champion for the year. A team denied a championship due to a shortened season will be known as "Seliged."

<references/>

The Game

2017-03-19T00:23:59Z

45.48.13.12: /* Playoff Rosters */

LDB is divided into two subsidiary leagues: the Federal League and the Union Association. Each league has two four-team divisions. 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 and eleventh weeks, which may extend beyond seven days.</ref> for a total of 20 weeks, with each statistical category representing one game, meaning 12 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. During the regular season, each team will play the other three teams in their own division twice (6 games), each other team once (12 games), and each team will have two additional non-division intraleague matchups (2 games). Matchups for the extra two intraleague matchups will be determined by the prior season's records. Teams with the two best records in one division in a league will face the teams with the two best records in the other division in that league, and vice versa for the two teams with the worst records their divisions.

The Commissioner will implement "road trips" where teams play out of their divisions multiple weeks in a row.

== 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
! Pitchers
|-
| On-Base Percentage (OBP)
| Net Quality Wins: NQW = 4QS + W - L - 2GS
|-
| On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage: OPS = OBP + SLG
| Adjusted WHIP: aWHIP = (H + BB + HBP)/INN
|-
| Runs Scored (R)
| STARR: (RIP+3*SV+3*HLD-8*BS-8*RL)/4
|-
| Adjusted Runs Batted In: aRBI = RBI - GIDP
| Home Runs Allowed (HRA)
|-
| Home Runs (HR)
| Pitcher Strikeouts (K)
|-
| Adjusted Stolen Bases: ASB = SB - CS/2
| Earned Run Average (ERA)
|}

Just as in baseball, there can be no ties. If a statistical category ends in a tie at the conclusion of the week, the home team will win all such categories.

===Rain Delay Relief===
In the event of a rain delay, if the starting pitcher of such a game has ERA of 4.50 or less in the innings he has pitched in that game, he will receive a 0 in NQW instead of a -2.

The rule will apply in the following situations:

*If a starting pitcher, who has pitched less than 6 innings in a game, is removed from a game immediately following a weather delay; or
*If a starting pitcher does not pitch a full 6 innings because a game is deemed officially completed before the completion of the 6th inning due to a rainout or other weather-related game shortening.

This rule will be self-enforced. Teams will have to identify situations where this has occurred on their teams and notify the Commissioner within seven days of the occurrence. The Commissioner will then make the necessary scoring changes.

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

=== Batting and Fielding Penalties ===
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 ===
If a team fails to reach the required 44 innings pitched in a given week, that team will automatically lose the following categories: NQS, ERA, WHIP, HRA, and STARR. These losses will count as losses in the standings and will be known throughout the league as FUs,<ref>Fuck-ups</ref>. Should a team miss the innings requirement once, there will be no financial penalty. After the first instance of missed innings, each additional week a team misses innings will cost that team's owner $1 million, to be levied immediately upon the completion of the LDB Championship Series for that season.

== McQueeney Performance Penalties <ref>Known as "McQueeneys"</ref>==
The McQueeney Performance Penalty deducts LDB cash from a team's subsequent yearly budget when that team finishes the regular season with a sub-.400 winning percentage (including any FU losses) in the second half of the regular season. The "McQueeneys" will be assessed according to the following formula:

:LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-WL%)), rounded to the nearest half million

Additionally:

*The McQueeney Penalties shall be capped at a $20M maximum potential fine.
*The Commissioner may, at his discretion, grant an exemption from the penalties for any team that actively and competently manages its roster throughout the season and does not make a concerted effort to sell players on its active major league roster for future value (i.e., draft picks, cash, or AA players).

For examples, a team with a .380 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-38%)) = LDB$3 million; a team with a .333 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$10 million; and a team with a .200 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$30 million.

During the 2017 and 2018 season, expansion teams will not be subject to McQueeney penalties unless the Commissioner determines they failed to actively manage their rosters.

== All-star Break ==
LDB will not hold regular games during the week of the MLB All-star Game. That week, at the option of the Commissioner, LDB may either: (1) hold an LDB All-star Game and/or (2) fold any official MLB stats accrued that week into the subsequent week, if feasible.

In the event LDB holds an All-star Game, such game will be held between the Federal League and the Union Association and use the official MLB statistics accrued that week. 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 ==

=== Advancing to the Playoffs ===
The LDB Playoffs occur after the regular season concludes. Eight teams make the playoffs: the four division winners and two wild card teams from each league. The wild card teams from each league first play each other in a wild card round. The winners of the wild card round advance to the Lucid Division series, where they will play the division winner in their respective leagues with the second best league record (that division winner therefore gets a one-round bye). The winner of the Lucid Division Series advances to the Lucid Championship Series, where they face the team with the best record in their league (the league winner therefore gets a double bye). The home team in 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, determine seeding, and home field advantage in the event no LDB All-star Game takes place 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 by independent pairwise comparisons. 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.

=== Playoff Rosters ===
Once playoff rosters lock for the first time, player adds and drops are prohibited until the conclusion of playoffs.

Playoff rosters contain 20 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]] until the following Monday. However, position players on the DL may be added to the 20-man roster after rosters lock if there is a space reserved for their potential activation.

Positional players within the 20-man roster may be freely subbed in and out of slots during playoffs.

Each playoff team must start exactly five pitchers in each round of the playoffs: three starting pitchers, one relief pitcher and one flex (starter or reliever). Pitchers must remain active the entire week and cannot be benched. Starting pitchers must start at least one game for each week they are selected for a playoff roster. Teams may select pitchers on the DL as one of their five pitchers, but must also declare alternate, healthy pitchers in case such pitchers on the DL do not make a start in a game during that week. Teams may also, at their option, designate alternate pitchers for pitchers that are not on the DL.

=== Playoff Scoring ===

Pitching stats for the playoff week are as follows: ERA, WHIP, NQW/GS, K/9, HR/9, and STARR.

In the event of a playoff tie in points, such games will be decided by a cumulative measure for each stat category. Specifically: at the end of each season, a volunteer must determine the Categorical League Average Performance (CLAP) for each category. The CLAP will be determined by the mean and standard deviation for each category over the course of the season.

:Example
:Let's use aSB as an example. Over the course of the season, each team has 20 different aSB scores, for 280 data points total. Let's assume that out of the 280 observations of aSB, the mean is 2.5 and the standard deviation is 0.75.

:Now let's say that Team A has 4 aSB and Team B has 2. Team A would get +2 in tiebreaker scoring (because it's 2 Std Devs over the mean) while Team B would be given -0.67 (because it's 2/3 Std Devs. below the mean).

:We repeat this for all stats and see who has the higher total.

:Weights will be calculated annually at the conclusion of the regular season, prior to the conclusion of the first week's playoff matchups. As a proof of concept, we'll calculate the first-half weights at the all-star break to show what the tiebreakers would be if the season ended then (and to show that this is simpler in practice than it sounds in the abstract). We'll also create a plug-and-play google spreadsheet that lets you input the current score of your matchup and automatically calculate who holds the tiebreaker.

=== The McQueeney Cup ===
LDB will award the McQueeney Cup each season to the non-playoff team that wins the McQueeney Cup bracket, which will be played over three rounds parallel to the LDB playoffs, with Union and Federal ladders composed of each divisions' respective four non-playoff teams, seeded in order of regular season finish, with the last round including the Union and Federal finalists. The winner of the McQueeney Cup will receive a sandwich round pick between the first and second round of the amateur draft. In all other respects, McQueeney Cup games are decided as a regular playoff game. The winner of the McQueeney Cup may choose to either take the sandwich round pick or forfeit that pick in exchange for wiping his McQueeney penalties to $0, should he have any.

<references/>

Keepers and Drafts

2017-03-19T00:21:50Z

45.48.13.12: /* AA Draft */

== Keepers ==

=== Majors ===
In the off-season, GMs will be able to designate five players on their [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] rosters as keepers. Only players signed to long-term deals (contract status of K1/2) are eligible to be kept. These players are retained for the next year at their current salary: auction price, less a 10% signing bonus. However, 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 its mid-season free agents or mid-season free agents claimed from waivers as its "hometown hero" (HTH). K-, H-, S-, RFA, and NG waiver pickups are not eligible; the player must clear waivers if he was on one of these contracts. The HTH must be a player who logged non-September call-up time in the Majors and is no longer rookie-eligible. The HTH must also have accrued positive fantasy statistics on the active roster of the team wishing to grant HTH status. The HTH gets a one-year contract extension at six million dollars, or two million for RPs. The HTH contract cannot be extended beyond that one year. To qualify as a Relief Pitcher, a player must have pitched the majority of innings in the prior season as a reliever.

Teams have the option to expand the number of HTH contracts granted each year beyond the one provided by substituting for a commensurate number of keeper contracts.

=== Homegrown and Super-twos ===

Homegrown players are players drafted into [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] (and possibly promoted). Homegrown players do not count against the [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors keeper total]]. After AA players' promotion to 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
| $0.5 million
|-
| Year 2
| $1.0 million
|-
| Year 3
| $1.5 million
|-
| Year 4
| $4.0 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.

Teams may promote a homegrown player in the second half of a the LDB season (after week 10's final roster lock) 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="3" | Super-two Salary Structure
|-
| Salary Year
| Pre-2014 Promotion
| Current
|-
| Year 0 (promotion year)
| $0.5 million
| $0.5 million
|-
| Year 1
| $1.0 million
| $1.0 million
|-
| Year 2
| $2.0 million
| $1.5 million
|-
| Year 3
| $4.0 million
| $4.0 million
|-
| Year 4
| $4.0 million
| $7.5 million
|}

Teams 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.

===Injured Keepers===
After the keeper deadline, but prior to the start of the auction, a team may release any keeper, H4, S4 or HTH and receive their salary in full for use at the upcoming auction if a player is injured or an injury (or updated extent of an injury) is reported after the keeper deadline. If a team releases a keeper or HTH under this rule, they may not designate a replacement keeper or HTH.

== 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, as determined by the Commissioner. 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.

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, subject to the requirements herein. For teams that do not make playoffs, 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 order for teams missing playoffs is then followed by teams making playoff appearances in ascending order of finishing places. The draft position of a traded draft pick corresponds to the original owner, not the owner at the time of the AA Draft.

=== Logistics and Requirements ===

Once a team is on the clock and has not picked for one full day (24 hours), that team will incur a $2 million fine, subject to the provisions below, and the draft may continue on as if he has picked. Such a team may jump back in and pick at any time. A team may assign another GM to make the pick on its behalf.

If the draft is not complete by 10 PM EST on the Friday prior to the auction, two penalties are assessed: (1) the $2 million fines above and (2) the three teams who have caused the longest delay between picks, counting only the hours between noon and 10 PM EST, will each be fined $1 million 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, teams will nominate players in an order established by the Commissioner. A nominating team 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 team that turns in the highest bid will be awarded the player.

Bidding prices are subject to these increments:
* $0.5 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 signed 25 players, (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.

===Blind Auction Option===
The Commissioner may timely announce that any number of rounds will be conducted by blind auction. In a blind auction, teams take turns nominating players as they do above. Nominating a player requires the nominating team to post at least a minimum salary bid. Teams then simultaneously make a single bid. The highest bid wins the player. Ties are resolved by: (1) deferral, (2) an open "bidding war" process that resembles our current open auction, or (3) draft nomination order in the event that nobody defers or offers a higher bid.

== Snake Draft ==

The final component of a season's draft is the Snake Draft, during which time each team may draft up to five additional players for their Majors roster. Players with H1, H2, S1, or S2 contract statuses may fill Snake round draft spots, but must be announced before the Majors Draft starts. Players may not move up or down from the Snake Draft slots once the Majors Draft begins.

Every player chosen in the Snake Draft receives the league minimum salary. Up to three Snake 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 ==

In order to dissuade teams 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, teams may poach such players from other teams 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, and
* Currently be on an MLB team's 25 man roster.

The Rule V draft will take place over the All-star Break each season. 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. A player may not be designated as a "protected player" in consecutive years. The draft will last until each team passes. Once a team passes, the team 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 then-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 or she deems most efficient (e.g., email, website, or conference call).

Teams drafting players by Rule V will be required to keep them on their LDB Majors roster for the following one and a half seasons. Teams may place Rule V draftees on the DL. However, spending a half season (10 weeks, aggregated over all DL stints), does not count toward the one and a half seasons. 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 team 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 may not change their protected player once the draft begins without either promoting that player or subjecting him to waivers.

<references/>

The Game

2017-03-19T00:14:34Z

45.48.13.12: /* Advancing to the Playoffs */

LDB is divided into two subsidiary leagues: the Federal League and the Union Association. Each league has two four-team divisions. 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 and eleventh weeks, which may extend beyond seven days.</ref> for a total of 20 weeks, with each statistical category representing one game, meaning 12 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. During the regular season, each team will play the other three teams in their own division twice (6 games), each other team once (12 games), and each team will have two additional non-division intraleague matchups (2 games). Matchups for the extra two intraleague matchups will be determined by the prior season's records. Teams with the two best records in one division in a league will face the teams with the two best records in the other division in that league, and vice versa for the two teams with the worst records their divisions.

The Commissioner will implement "road trips" where teams play out of their divisions multiple weeks in a row.

== 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
! Pitchers
|-
| On-Base Percentage (OBP)
| Net Quality Wins: NQW = 4QS + W - L - 2GS
|-
| On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage: OPS = OBP + SLG
| Adjusted WHIP: aWHIP = (H + BB + HBP)/INN
|-
| Runs Scored (R)
| STARR: (RIP+3*SV+3*HLD-8*BS-8*RL)/4
|-
| Adjusted Runs Batted In: aRBI = RBI - GIDP
| Home Runs Allowed (HRA)
|-
| Home Runs (HR)
| Pitcher Strikeouts (K)
|-
| Adjusted Stolen Bases: ASB = SB - CS/2
| Earned Run Average (ERA)
|}

Just as in baseball, there can be no ties. If a statistical category ends in a tie at the conclusion of the week, the home team will win all such categories.

===Rain Delay Relief===
In the event of a rain delay, if the starting pitcher of such a game has ERA of 4.50 or less in the innings he has pitched in that game, he will receive a 0 in NQW instead of a -2.

The rule will apply in the following situations:

*If a starting pitcher, who has pitched less than 6 innings in a game, is removed from a game immediately following a weather delay; or
*If a starting pitcher does not pitch a full 6 innings because a game is deemed officially completed before the completion of the 6th inning due to a rainout or other weather-related game shortening.

This rule will be self-enforced. Teams will have to identify situations where this has occurred on their teams and notify the Commissioner within seven days of the occurrence. The Commissioner will then make the necessary scoring changes.

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

=== Batting and Fielding Penalties ===
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 ===
If a team fails to reach the required 44 innings pitched in a given week, that team will automatically lose the following categories: NQS, ERA, WHIP, HRA, and STARR. These losses will count as losses in the standings and will be known throughout the league as FUs,<ref>Fuck-ups</ref>. Should a team miss the innings requirement once, there will be no financial penalty. After the first instance of missed innings, each additional week a team misses innings will cost that team's owner $1 million, to be levied immediately upon the completion of the LDB Championship Series for that season.

== McQueeney Performance Penalties <ref>Known as "McQueeneys"</ref>==
The McQueeney Performance Penalty deducts LDB cash from a team's subsequent yearly budget when that team finishes the regular season with a sub-.400 winning percentage (including any FU losses) in the second half of the regular season. The "McQueeneys" will be assessed according to the following formula:

:LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-WL%)), rounded to the nearest half million

Additionally:

*The McQueeney Penalties shall be capped at a $20M maximum potential fine.
*The Commissioner may, at his discretion, grant an exemption from the penalties for any team that actively and competently manages its roster throughout the season and does not make a concerted effort to sell players on its active major league roster for future value (i.e., draft picks, cash, or AA players).

For examples, a team with a .380 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-38%)) = LDB$3 million; a team with a .333 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$10 million; and a team with a .200 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$30 million.

During the 2017 and 2018 season, expansion teams will not be subject to McQueeney penalties unless the Commissioner determines they failed to actively manage their rosters.

== All-star Break ==
LDB will not hold regular games during the week of the MLB All-star Game. That week, at the option of the Commissioner, LDB may either: (1) hold an LDB All-star Game and/or (2) fold any official MLB stats accrued that week into the subsequent week, if feasible.

In the event LDB holds an All-star Game, such game will be held between the Federal League and the Union Association and use the official MLB statistics accrued that week. 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 ==

=== Advancing to the Playoffs ===
The LDB Playoffs occur after the regular season concludes. Eight teams make the playoffs: the four division winners and two wild card teams from each league. The wild card teams from each league first play each other in a wild card round. The winners of the wild card round advance to the Lucid Division series, where they will play the division winner in their respective leagues with the second best league record (that division winner therefore gets a one-round bye). The winner of the Lucid Division Series advances to the Lucid Championship Series, where they face the team with the best record in their league (the league winner therefore gets a double bye). The home team in 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, determine seeding, and home field advantage in the event no LDB All-star Game takes place 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 by independent pairwise comparisons. 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.

=== Playoff Rosters ===
Once playoff rosters lock for the first time, player adds and drops are prohibited until the conclusion of playoffs.

Playoff rosters contain 20 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]] until the following Monday. However, position players on the DL may be added to the 20-man roster after rosters lock if there is a space reserved for their potential activation.

Positional players within the 20-man roster may be freely subbed in and out of slots during playoffs.

Each playoff team must start exactly five pitchers in each round of the playoffs: three starting pitchers, one relief pitcher and one flex (starter or reliever). Pitchers must remain active the entire week and cannot be benched. Teams may select pitchers on the DL as one of their five pitchers, but must also declare alternate, healthy pitchers in case such pitchers on the DL do not make a start in a game during that week. Teams may also, at their option, designate alternate pitchers for pitchers that are not on the DL.

=== Playoff Scoring ===

Pitching stats for the playoff week are as follows: ERA, WHIP, NQW/GS, K/9, HR/9, and STARR.

In the event of a playoff tie in points, such games will be decided by a cumulative measure for each stat category. Specifically: at the end of each season, a volunteer must determine the Categorical League Average Performance (CLAP) for each category. The CLAP will be determined by the mean and standard deviation for each category over the course of the season.

:Example
:Let's use aSB as an example. Over the course of the season, each team has 20 different aSB scores, for 280 data points total. Let's assume that out of the 280 observations of aSB, the mean is 2.5 and the standard deviation is 0.75.

:Now let's say that Team A has 4 aSB and Team B has 2. Team A would get +2 in tiebreaker scoring (because it's 2 Std Devs over the mean) while Team B would be given -0.67 (because it's 2/3 Std Devs. below the mean).

:We repeat this for all stats and see who has the higher total.

:Weights will be calculated annually at the conclusion of the regular season, prior to the conclusion of the first week's playoff matchups. As a proof of concept, we'll calculate the first-half weights at the all-star break to show what the tiebreakers would be if the season ended then (and to show that this is simpler in practice than it sounds in the abstract). We'll also create a plug-and-play google spreadsheet that lets you input the current score of your matchup and automatically calculate who holds the tiebreaker.

=== The McQueeney Cup ===
LDB will award the McQueeney Cup each season to the non-playoff team that wins the McQueeney Cup bracket, which will be played over three rounds parallel to the LDB playoffs, with Union and Federal ladders composed of each divisions' respective four non-playoff teams, seeded in order of regular season finish, with the last round including the Union and Federal finalists. The winner of the McQueeney Cup will receive a sandwich round pick between the first and second round of the amateur draft. In all other respects, McQueeney Cup games are decided as a regular playoff game. The winner of the McQueeney Cup may choose to either take the sandwich round pick or forfeit that pick in exchange for wiping his McQueeney penalties to $0, should he have any.

<references/>

External Transactions

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== Designation for Assignment ==
Players being cut are designated for assignment. Designation immediately removes the player from the [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] and subjects him to a 3-day waiver process. Such players are available to trade for the next three days. If they are not traded after three days, they are given to the highest waiver claimant. If the player is not claimed on waivers, the player is cut. Designation is not revokable. Refunds are not awarded for players unclaimed on waivers.

== Mid-Season Free Agents ==
Any unsigned player can be acquired mid-season. Players who are acquired mid-year are paid the [[Finances#Payroll|league minimum]].

Players drafted in the [[Keepers and Drafts#Snake Draft|Snake Draft]] with non-guaranteed contracts may be freely swapped for a replacement player who is in the same player grouping (i.e., SP, RP, inﬁelder, outﬁelder, catcher) until the end of April. Replacement players cannot be swapped for other replacement players. Players with NG contracts cannot be kept at the conclusion of the season.

== Waiver Claims ==
Any player on waivers can be claimed. At the end of the waiver period, the claim will be awarded to whatever team made the claim that has the lowest overall season-to-date record, measured on the date of expiration of the waiver period. In the case of a tie, the player will first be awarded to the team with the lowest division record. In the case of a further tie, the player will be awarded to the team in a different division. In the case of a further tie, the previous season’s record will be used, with the award to the team that finished in a lower standing. In the case of a further tie, the winning teams will publicly auction on the player for the rights to acquire. Funds paid toward acquisition do not offset any of the assumed salary burden, and are on top of the assumed salary. Awarding a player results in the acquisition of that player, pending roster space being made available for the new player. The claiming team assumes the remaining salary burden of the player, calculated by remaining weeks in the LDB regular season.

== Trades ==
Trades may occur at any point in the off-season and during the season, up to the league trade deadline, which will be the end of week 15. All trades must have timestamp of 11:59 PM EST<ref>The standard time zone for LDB is Eastern Standard Time.</ref> on Sunday of week 15 or earlier, or have been announced to the league in a reasonable manner before that deadline.

Trades will be subject to approval by a vote of the other managers in the league. If greater than one-half of the non-involved managers veto a trade, the trade will be cancelled. The veto window is three days. All trades will be immediate. A veto of a trade will be prospective; if vetoed, the players traded will have their stats count for their teams that temporarily held them.

Trades may involve players and cash, but just as in MLB, players cannot be dealt only for cash. Trades may also involve other assets, such as, but not limited to, future [[Keepers_and_Drafts#AA_Draft|draft picks]], [[Keepers_and_Drafts#Restricted_Free_Agents|RFA rights]], etc. Trades can include a "player to be named later" as long as that player has not accumulated any LDB stats between the trade and the player changing hands. As a general policy, trades are looked upon favorably, regardless of the types of assets involved. The full terms of a trade need not be fully disclosed to the league and may involve gentlemen's agreements and other conditions.

However, no trade may involve an agreement to temporarily hold or "rent" a player. Any trade that attempts to work around the ban on renting players is also prohibited. For example, a trade involving an agreement to later send back a player of similar value could be considered a workaround. Whether a trade constitutes a rental or an attempted workaround will be determined by a Rules Committee vote, if one is called for.

==Bets Involving LDB Assets ("Friendly Wagers")==
"Friendly wagers" are the only class of transactions that can include yet-unrealized future assets (money, AA picks past the 2-year allocation window, yet-unborn naming rights to sons/daughters, etc). Friendly wagers cannot adversely impact the competitiveness of the league (if there is question about whether a wager will do so, the wager's status will be determined by that year's Rules Board). All assets involved in friendly wagers will be held in escrow, a spreadsheet that will spell out the parties, terms, timeline, and payouts of the friendly wager. Friendly wagers are bound to the team, rather than the owner, such that a owner's departure does not invalidate the wager (unless specified in the terms of the wager). In the event a team's owner leaves, new prospective owners should be made aware of the team's wagered obligations before agreeing to take control of a team, as the assets are held in escrow and will only be released pursuant to the terms of the wager.

<references/>

Internal Transactions

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45.48.13.12: /* AA Transactions */

== Disabled List Transactions ==
The [[Organizational_Structure#Disabled List|Disabled List]] (DL) opens on opening day.

== AA Transactions ==

=== Promoting Players from AA ===
A GM may promote players in [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] to 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]].

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

<references/>

Internal Transactions

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== Disabled List Transactions ==
The [[Organizational_Structure#Disabled List|Disabled List]] (DL) opens on opening day.

== 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]].

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

<references/>

Lucid Dream Baseball League Rules

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{| style="float:right; margin-left: 10px; border:0;"
| valign="middle"|[[File:Draft 2007.jpg|border|150px|2007 Draft]]
| valign="middle"|[[File:Draft 2008.jpg|border|150px|2008 Draft]]
| valign="middle"|[[File:Draft 2010.jpg|border|150px|2010 Draft]]
|-
| valign="middle"|[[File:Draft 2011.jpg|border|150px|2011 Draft]]
| valign="middle"|[[File:Draft 2012.jpg|border|150px|2012 Draft]]
| valign="middle"|
|-
| valign="center" align="center" colspan="3"| A study in technological advances of cell phone cameras.
|}Lucid Dream Baseball (LDB) is a fantasy baseball league designed to mirror owning and managing a Major League Baseball franchise as nearly as possible. LDB principally accomplishes this two ways: (1) providing each league member deep organizational tiers that allow all types of players, from marquee superstars to young prospects and (2) calculating player performance from statistics that better measure player performance than traditional fantasy baseball systems. LDB also offers other features that better simulate team management than traditional fantasy baseball systems, including a yearly budget, trades that involve assets other than players, rules for internal team management that mirror MLB, among others.

Each LDB league member will be the GM of his or her own franchise, in complete control of team payroll, roster composition, game lineups, and management of the farm system.<ref>However, a GM may opt to appoint a co-manager. Co-managed teams have one vote on trade vetoes, rule changes, etc.</ref> Financial constraints have been designed to resemble those of the top-tier of MLB organizations, and GMs will have the ability to engage in realistic transactions and roster moves to put their teams in the best position to win. Given the unique features LDB offers, LDB GMs have a higher responsibility to manage their team than they would in an average fantasy league.<ref>[[Legacy_Rules_and_Rules_Board_Reporter#In_re_Robinson_Cano.27s_Contract_Status.2C_2012_LDB_1_.28Feb._16.2C_2012.29|In re Robinson Cano's Contract Status, 2012 LDB 1 (Feb. 16, 2012)]].</ref>
__NOTOC__
==[[Organizational Structure]]==
* [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]]
* [[Organizational Structure#Disabled List|DL]]
* [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]]

==[[Finances]]==
* [[Finances#Yearly Budget|Yearly Budget]]
* [[Finances#Luxury Tax|Luxury Tax]]
* [[Finances#Payroll|Payroll]]

==[[Keepers and Drafts]]==
* [[Keepers and Drafts#Keepers|Keepers]]
* [[Keepers and Drafts#AA Draft|AA Draft]]
* [[Keepers and Drafts#Majors Draft|Majors Draft]]
* [[Keepers and Drafts#Snake Draft|Snake Draft]]
* [[Keepers and Drafts#Rule V Draft|Rule V Draft]]

==[[The Game]]==
* [[The Game#Schedule|Schedule]]
* [[The Game#Scoring|Scoring]]
* [[The Game#Roster Requirements|Roster Requirements]]
* [[The Game#McQueeney Performance Penalties|McQueeney Performance Penalties]]
* [[The Game#All-star Break|All-star Break]]
* [[The Game#Playoffs|Playoffs]]

==[[Internal Transactions]]==
* [[Internal Transactions#Disabled List Transactions|Disabled List Transactions]]
* [[Internal Transactions#AA Transactions|AA Transactions]]

==[[External Transactions]]==
* [[External Transactions#Designation for Assignment|Designation for Assignment]]
* [[External Transactions#Mid-Season Free Agents|Mid-Season Free Agents]]
* [[External Transactions#Waiver Claims|Waiver Claims]]
* [[External Transactions#Trades|Trades]]
* [[External Transactions#Bets Involving LDB Assets ("Friendly Wagers")|Bets Involving LDB Assets ("Friendly Wagers")]]

==[[Rule Changes, Disputes, and Contingencies]]==
* [[Rule Changes, Disputes, and Contingencies#Rule Changes|Rule Changes]]
* [[Rule Changes, Disputes, and Contingencies#Commissioner Relief|Commissioner Relief]]
* [[Rule Changes, Disputes, and Contingencies#Rules Board|Rules Board]]
* [[Rule Changes, Disputes, and Contingencies#Contingencies|Contingencies]]

==[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Zv1CQUTWkl3Limne9-pJbF_e8yW41Bl1CqWE1ZDktYg/edit?usp=sharing Future Rule Changes]==

==[[Legacy Rules and Rules Board Reporter]]==
* [[Legacy Rules and Rules Board Reporter#Legacy Rules|Legacy Rules]]
* [[Legacy Rules and Rules Board Reporter#LDB Rules Board Reporter|LDB Rules Board Reporter]]

<references/>

Keepers and Drafts

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== Keepers ==

=== Majors ===
In the off-season, GMs will be able to designate five players on their [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors]] rosters as keepers. Only players signed to long-term deals (contract status of K1/2) are eligible to be kept. These players are retained for the next year at their current salary: auction price, less a 10% signing bonus. However, 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 its mid-season free agents or mid-season free agents claimed from waivers as its "hometown hero" (HTH). K-, H-, S-, RFA, and NG waiver pickups are not eligible; the player must clear waivers if he was on one of these contracts. The HTH must be a player who logged non-September call-up time in the Majors and is no longer rookie-eligible. The HTH must also have accrued positive fantasy statistics on the active roster of the team wishing to grant HTH status. The HTH gets a one-year contract extension at six million dollars, or two million for RPs. The HTH contract cannot be extended beyond that one year. To qualify as a Relief Pitcher, a player must have pitched the majority of innings in the prior season as a reliever.

Teams have the option to expand the number of HTH contracts granted each year beyond the one provided by substituting for a commensurate number of keeper contracts.

=== Homegrown and Super-twos ===

Homegrown players are players drafted into [[Organizational Structure#AA|AA]] (and possibly promoted). Homegrown players do not count against the [[Organizational Structure#Majors|Majors keeper total]]. After AA players' promotion to 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
| $0.5 million
|-
| Year 2
| $1.0 million
|-
| Year 3
| $1.5 million
|-
| Year 4
| $4.0 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.

Teams may promote a homegrown player in the second half of a the LDB season (after week 10's final roster lock) 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="3" | Super-two Salary Structure
|-
| Salary Year
| Pre-2014 Promotion
| Current
|-
| Year 0 (promotion year)
| $0.5 million
| $0.5 million
|-
| Year 1
| $1.0 million
| $1.0 million
|-
| Year 2
| $2.0 million
| $1.5 million
|-
| Year 3
| $4.0 million
| $4.0 million
|-
| Year 4
| $4.0 million
| $7.5 million
|}

Teams 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.

===Injured Keepers===
After the keeper deadline, but prior to the start of the auction, a team may release any keeper, H4, S4 or HTH and receive their salary in full for use at the upcoming auction if a player is injured or an injury (or updated extent of an injury) is reported after the keeper deadline. If a team releases a keeper or HTH under this rule, they may not designate a replacement keeper or HTH.

== 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, as determined by the Commissioner. 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.

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, subject to the requirements herein. For teams that do not make playoffs, 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 order for teams missing playoffs is then followed by teams making playoff appearances in ascending order of finishing places. The draft position of a traded draft pick corresponds to the original owner, not the owner at the time of the AA Draft.

=== Logistics and Requirements ===

Once a team is on the clock and has not picked for one full day (24 hours), that team will incur a $2 million fine, and the draft may continue on as if he has picked. Such a team may jump back in and pick at any time. A team may assign another GM to make the pick on its behalf.

If the draft is not complete by 10 PM EST on the Friday prior to the auction, the three teams who have caused the longest delay between picks, counting only the hours between noon and 10 PM EST, will each be fined $1 million 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, teams will nominate players in an order established by the Commissioner. A nominating team 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 team that turns in the highest bid will be awarded the player.

Bidding prices are subject to these increments:
* $0.5 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 signed 25 players, (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.

===Blind Auction Option===
The Commissioner may timely announce that any number of rounds will be conducted by blind auction. In a blind auction, teams take turns nominating players as they do above. Nominating a player requires the nominating team to post at least a minimum salary bid. Teams then simultaneously make a single bid. The highest bid wins the player. Ties are resolved by: (1) deferral, (2) an open "bidding war" process that resembles our current open auction, or (3) draft nomination order in the event that nobody defers or offers a higher bid.

== Snake Draft ==

The final component of a season's draft is the Snake Draft, during which time each team may draft up to five additional players for their Majors roster. Players with H1, H2, S1, or S2 contract statuses may fill Snake round draft spots, but must be announced before the Majors Draft starts. Players may not move up or down from the Snake Draft slots once the Majors Draft begins.

Every player chosen in the Snake Draft receives the league minimum salary. Up to three Snake 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 ==

In order to dissuade teams 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, teams may poach such players from other teams 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, and
* Currently be on an MLB team's 25 man roster.

The Rule V draft will take place over the All-star Break each season. 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. A player may not be designated as a "protected player" in consecutive years. The draft will last until each team passes. Once a team passes, the team 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 then-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 or she deems most efficient (e.g., email, website, or conference call).

Teams drafting players by Rule V will be required to keep them on their LDB Majors roster for the following one and a half seasons. Teams may place Rule V draftees on the DL. However, spending a half season (10 weeks, aggregated over all DL stints), does not count toward the one and a half seasons. 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 team 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 may not change their protected player once the draft begins without either promoting that player or subjecting him to waivers.

<references/>

The Game

2017-03-18T22:50:09Z

45.48.13.12:

LDB is divided into two subsidiary leagues: the Federal League and the Union Association. Each league has two four-team divisions. 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 and eleventh weeks, which may extend beyond seven days.</ref> for a total of 20 weeks, with each statistical category representing one game, meaning 12 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. During the regular season, each team will play the other three teams in their own division twice (6 games), each other team once (12 games), and each team will have two additional non-division intraleague matchups (2 games). Matchups for the extra two intraleague matchups will be determined by the prior season's records. Teams with the two best records in one division in a league will face the teams with the two best records in the other division in that league, and vice versa for the two teams with the worst records their divisions.

The Commissioner will implement "road trips" where teams play out of their divisions multiple weeks in a row.

== 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
! Pitchers
|-
| On-Base Percentage (OBP)
| Net Quality Wins: NQW = 4QS + W - L - 2GS
|-
| On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage: OPS = OBP + SLG
| Adjusted WHIP: aWHIP = (H + BB + HBP)/INN
|-
| Runs Scored (R)
| STARR: (RIP+3*SV+3*HLD-8*BS-8*RL)/4
|-
| Adjusted Runs Batted In: aRBI = RBI - GIDP
| Home Runs Allowed (HRA)
|-
| Home Runs (HR)
| Pitcher Strikeouts (K)
|-
| Adjusted Stolen Bases: ASB = SB - CS/2
| Earned Run Average (ERA)
|}

Just as in baseball, there can be no ties. If a statistical category ends in a tie at the conclusion of the week, the home team will win all such categories.

===Rain Delay Relief===
In the event of a rain delay, if the starting pitcher of such a game has ERA of 4.50 or less in the innings he has pitched in that game, he will receive a 0 in NQW instead of a -2.

The rule will apply in the following situations:

*If a starting pitcher, who has pitched less than 6 innings in a game, is removed from a game immediately following a weather delay; or
*If a starting pitcher does not pitch a full 6 innings because a game is deemed officially completed before the completion of the 6th inning due to a rainout or other weather-related game shortening.

This rule will be self-enforced. Teams will have to identify situations where this has occurred on their teams and notify the Commissioner within seven days of the occurrence. The Commissioner will then make the necessary scoring changes.

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

=== Batting and Fielding Penalties ===
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 ===
If a team fails to reach the required 44 innings pitched in a given week, that team will automatically lose the following categories: NQS, ERA, WHIP, HRA, and STARR. These losses will count as losses in the standings and will be known throughout the league as FUs,<ref>Fuck-ups</ref>. Should a team miss the innings requirement once, there will be no financial penalty. After the first instance of missed innings, each additional week a team misses innings will cost that team's owner $1 million, to be levied immediately upon the completion of the LDB Championship Series for that season.

== McQueeney Performance Penalties <ref>Known as "McQueeneys"</ref>==
The McQueeney Performance Penalty deducts LDB cash from a team's subsequent yearly budget when that team finishes the regular season with a sub-.400 winning percentage (including any FU losses) in the second half of the regular season. The "McQueeneys" will be assessed according to the following formula:

:LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-WL%)), rounded to the nearest half million

Additionally:

*The McQueeney Penalties shall be capped at a $20M maximum potential fine.
*The Commissioner may, at his discretion, grant an exemption from the penalties for any team that actively and competently manages its roster throughout the season and does not make a concerted effort to sell players on its active major league roster for future value (i.e., draft picks, cash, or AA players).

For examples, a team with a .380 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-38%)) = LDB$3 million; a team with a .333 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$10 million; and a team with a .200 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$30 million.

During the 2017 and 2018 season, expansion teams will not be subject to McQueeney penalties unless the Commissioner determines they failed to actively manage their rosters.

== All-star Break ==
LDB will not hold regular games during the week of the MLB All-star Game. That week, at the option of the Commissioner, LDB may either: (1) hold an LDB All-star Game and/or (2) fold any official MLB stats accrued that week into the subsequent week, if feasible.

In the event LDB holds an All-star Game, such game will be held between the Federal League and the Union Association and use the official MLB statistics accrued that week. 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 ==

=== 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, determine seeding, and home field advantage in the event no LDB All-star Game takes place 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 by independent pairwise comparisons. 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.

=== Playoff Rosters ===
Once playoff rosters lock for the first time, player adds and drops are prohibited until the conclusion of playoffs.

Playoff rosters contain 20 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]] until the following Monday. However, position players on the DL may be added to the 20-man roster after rosters lock if there is a space reserved for their potential activation.

Positional players within the 20-man roster may be freely subbed in and out of slots during playoffs.

Each playoff team must start exactly five pitchers in each round of the playoffs: three starting pitchers, one relief pitcher and one flex (starter or reliever). Pitchers must remain active the entire week and cannot be benched. Teams may select pitchers on the DL as one of their five pitchers, but must also declare alternate, healthy pitchers in case such pitchers on the DL do not make a start in a game during that week. Teams may also, at their option, designate alternate pitchers for pitchers that are not on the DL.

=== Playoff Scoring ===

Pitching stats for the playoff week are as follows: ERA, WHIP, NQW/GS, K/9, HR/9, and STARR.

In the event of a playoff tie in points, such games will be decided by a cumulative measure for each stat category. Specifically: at the end of each season, a volunteer must determine the Categorical League Average Performance (CLAP) for each category. The CLAP will be determined by the mean and standard deviation for each category over the course of the season.

:Example
:Let's use aSB as an example. Over the course of the season, each team has 20 different aSB scores, for 280 data points total. Let's assume that out of the 280 observations of aSB, the mean is 2.5 and the standard deviation is 0.75.

:Now let's say that Team A has 4 aSB and Team B has 2. Team A would get +2 in tiebreaker scoring (because it's 2 Std Devs over the mean) while Team B would be given -0.67 (because it's 2/3 Std Devs. below the mean).

:We repeat this for all stats and see who has the higher total.

:Weights will be calculated annually at the conclusion of the regular season, prior to the conclusion of the first week's playoff matchups. As a proof of concept, we'll calculate the first-half weights at the all-star break to show what the tiebreakers would be if the season ended then (and to show that this is simpler in practice than it sounds in the abstract). We'll also create a plug-and-play google spreadsheet that lets you input the current score of your matchup and automatically calculate who holds the tiebreaker.

=== The McQueeney Cup ===
LDB will award the McQueeney Cup each season to the non-playoff team that wins the McQueeney Cup bracket, which will be played over three rounds parallel to the LDB playoffs, with Union and Federal ladders composed of each divisions' respective four non-playoff teams, seeded in order of regular season finish, with the last round including the Union and Federal finalists. The winner of the McQueeney Cup will receive a sandwich round pick between the first and second round of the amateur draft. In all other respects, McQueeney Cup games are decided as a regular playoff game. The winner of the McQueeney Cup may choose to either take the sandwich round pick or forfeit that pick in exchange for wiping his McQueeney penalties to $0, should he have any.

<references/>

The Game

2017-03-18T22:38:20Z

45.48.13.12: /* Playoff Rosters */

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 and eleventh weeks, which may extend beyond seven days.</ref> for a total of 20 weeks, with each statistical category representing one game, meaning 12 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
! Pitchers
|-
| On-Base Percentage (OBP)
| Net Quality Wins: NQW = 4QS + W - L - 2GS
|-
| On-Base Plus Slugging Percentage: OPS = OBP + SLG
| Adjusted WHIP: aWHIP = (H + BB + HBP)/INN
|-
| Runs Scored (R)
| STARR: (RIP+3*SV+3*HLD-8*BS-8*RL)/4
|-
| Adjusted Runs Batted In: aRBI = RBI - GIDP
| Home Runs Allowed (HRA)
|-
| Home Runs (HR)
| Pitcher Strikeouts (K)
|-
| Adjusted Stolen Bases: ASB = SB - CS/2
| Earned Run Average (ERA)
|}

Just as in baseball, there can be no ties. If a statistical category ends in a tie at the conclusion of the week, the home team will win all such categories.

===Rain Delay Relief===
In the event of a rain delay, if the starting pitcher of such a game has ERA of 4.50 or less in the innings he has pitched in that game, he will receive a 0 in NQW instead of a -2.

The rule will apply in the following situations:

*If a starting pitcher, who has pitched less than 6 innings in a game, is removed from a game immediately following a weather delay; or
*If a starting pitcher does not pitch a full 6 innings because a game is deemed officially completed before the completion of the 6th inning due to a rainout or other weather-related game shortening.

This rule will be self-enforced. Teams will have to identify situations where this has occurred on their teams and notify the Commissioner within seven days of the occurrence. The Commissioner will then make the necessary scoring changes.

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

=== Batting and Fielding Penalties ===
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 ===
If a team fails to reach the required 44 innings pitched in a given week, that team will automatically lose the following categories: NQS, ERA, WHIP, HRA, and STARR. These losses will count as losses in the standings and will be known throughout the league as FUs,<ref>Fuck-ups</ref>. Should a team miss the innings requirement once, there will be no financial penalty. After the first instance of missed innings, each additional week a team misses innings will cost that team's owner $1 million, to be levied immediately upon the completion of the LDB Championship Series for that season.

== McQueeney Performance Penalties <ref>Known as "McQueeneys"</ref>==
The McQueeney Performance Penalty deducts LDB cash from a team's subsequent yearly budget when that team finishes the regular season with a sub-.400 winning percentage (including any FU losses) in the second half of the regular season. The "McQueeneys" will be assessed according to the following formula:

:LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-WL%)), rounded to the nearest half million

Additionally:

*The McQueeney Penalties shall be capped at a $20M maximum potential fine.
*The Commissioner may, at his discretion, grant an exemption from the penalties for any team that actively and competently manages its roster throughout the season and does not make a concerted effort to sell players on its active major league roster for future value (i.e., draft picks, cash, or AA players).

For examples, a team with a .380 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$1.5 million * (100(40%-38%)) = LDB$3 million; a team with a .333 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$10 million; and a team with a .200 winning percentage would incur a penalty of LDB$30 million.

== All-star Break ==
LDB will not hold regular games during the week of the MLB All-star Game. That week, at the option of the Commissioner, LDB may either: (1) hold an LDB All-star Game and/or (2) fold any official MLB stats accrued that week into the subsequent week, if feasible.

In the event LDB holds an All-star Game, such game will be held between the Federal League and the Union Association and use the official MLB statistics accrued that week. 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 ==

=== 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, determine seeding, and home field advantage in the event no LDB All-star Game takes place 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 by independent pairwise comparisons. 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.

=== Playoff Rosters ===
Once playoff rosters lock for the first time, player adds and drops are prohibited until the conclusion of playoffs.

Playoff rosters contain 20 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]] until the following Monday. However, position players on the DL may be added to the 20-man roster after rosters lock if there is a space reserved for their potential activation.

Positional players within the 20-man roster may be freely subbed in and out of slots during playoffs.

Each playoff team must start exactly five pitchers in each round of the playoffs: three starting pitchers, one relief pitcher and one flex (starter or reliever). Pitchers must remain active the entire week and cannot be benched. Teams may select pitchers on the DL as one of their five pitchers, but must also declare alternate, healthy pitchers in case such pitchers on the DL do not make a start in a game during that week. Teams may also, at their option, designate alternate pitchers for pitchers that are not on the DL.

=== Playoff Scoring ===

Pitching stats for the playoff week are as follows: ERA, WHIP, NQW/GS, K/9, HR/9, and STARR.

In the event of a playoff tie in points, such games will be decided by a cumulative measure for each stat category. Specifically: at the end of each season, a volunteer must determine the Categorical League Average Performance (CLAP) for each category. The CLAP will be determined by the mean and standard deviation for each category over the course of the season.

:Example
:Let's use aSB as an example. Over the course of the season, each team has 20 different aSB scores, for 280 data points total. Let's assume that out of the 280 observations of aSB, the mean is 2.5 and the standard deviation is 0.75.

:Now let's say that Team A has 4 aSB and Team B has 2. Team A would get +2 in tiebreaker scoring (because it's 2 Std Devs over the mean) while Team B would be given -0.67 (because it's 2/3 Std Devs. below the mean).

:We repeat this for all stats and see who has the higher total.

:Weights will be calculated annually at the conclusion of the regular season, prior to the conclusion of the first week's playoff matchups. As a proof of concept, we'll calculate the first-half weights at the all-star break to show what the tiebreakers would be if the season ended then (and to show that this is simpler in practice than it sounds in the abstract). We'll also create a plug-and-play google spreadsheet that lets you input the current score of your matchup and automatically calculate who holds the tiebreaker.

=== The McQueeney Cup ===
LDB will award the McQueeney Cup each season to the non-playoff team that wins the McQueeney Cup bracket, which will be played over three rounds parallel to the LDB playoffs, with Union and Federal ladders composed of each divisions' respective four non-playoff teams, seeded in order of regular season finish, with the last round including the Union and Federal finalists. The winner of the McQueeney Cup will receive a sandwich round pick between the first and second round of the amateur draft. In all other respects, McQueeney Cup games are decided as a regular playoff game. The winner of the McQueeney Cup may choose to either take the sandwich round pick or forfeit that pick in exchange for wiping his McQueeney penalties to $0, should he have any.

<references/>

Organizational Structure

2017-03-18T22:34:49Z

45.48.13.12:

Each LDB franchise has three tiers: Majors, the DL, and AA.

== Majors ==

The Majors level is a 30-man roster and represents the active players on the team whose performance may affect scoring. It closely resembles an MLB franchise. All 30 players are available for active duty, and are broken down into the following positions:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|-
! Hitters
! Pitchers
|-
| Catcher
| rowspan="4" | Starting Pitchers (Up to 5)
|-
| First Base
|-
| Second Base
|-
| Short Stop
|-
| Third Base
| rowspan="5" | Relief Pitchers (Up to 6)
|-
| Left Field
|-
| Center Field
|-
| Right Field
|-
| Designated Hitters (Up to 2)
|-
| colspan="2" align="center" | Bench
|}

During playoffs, this structure changes. See [[The_Game#Playoff_Rosters|Playoff Rosters]] for more information.

=== Positional Eligibility ===

==== Hitters ====
For hitters, a player is eligible for a position if (1) that player made 20 appearances in that position during the previous season or (2) the player appeared at that position for 50% of games in April of the current season, or, after April, appeared at that position a total of 15 times during the season. Until a hitter meets one of these thresholds, he may bat as a designated hitter only.

==== Pitchers ====
For pitchers, to be eligible as a starting pitcher, a player must have appeared as a starting pitcher in one game during the previous or current season. To be eligible as a relief pitcher, a player must have appeared as a relief pitcher in one game during the previous or current season.

== Disabled List ==
In addition to a its 30-man roster, each team may have up to five players on its disabled list. A player in the Majors is eligible to be on the Disabled List (DL) when he is on the MLB DL. See [[Internal Transactions]] for other rules related to the DL.

== AA ==

The AA tier is a roster of unlimited rookie players signed in the AA draft. See [[Internal Transactions]] for rules relating to the consequences of promoting a player out of AA.

<references/>

Organizational Structure

2017-03-18T22:34:28Z

45.48.13.12:

Each LDB franchise has three tiers: Majors, AAA, and AA.

== Majors ==

The Majors level is a 30-man roster and represents the active players on the team whose performance may affect scoring. It closely resembles an MLB franchise. All 30 players are available for active duty, and are broken down into the following positions:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|-
! Hitters
! Pitchers
|-
| Catcher
| rowspan="4" | Starting Pitchers (Up to 5)
|-
| First Base
|-
| Second Base
|-
| Short Stop
|-
| Third Base
| rowspan="5" | Relief Pitchers (Up to 6)
|-
| Left Field
|-
| Center Field
|-
| Right Field
|-
| Designated Hitters (Up to 2)
|-
| colspan="2" align="center" | Bench
|}

During playoffs, this structure changes. See [[The_Game#Playoff_Rosters|Playoff Rosters]] for more information.

=== Positional Eligibility ===

==== Hitters ====
For hitters, a player is eligible for a position if (1) that player made 20 appearances in that position during the previous season or (2) the player appeared at that position for 50% of games in April of the current season, or, after April, appeared at that position a total of 15 times during the season. Until a hitter meets one of these thresholds, he may bat as a designated hitter only.

==== Pitchers ====
For pitchers, to be eligible as a starting pitcher, a player must have appeared as a starting pitcher in one game during the previous or current season. To be eligible as a relief pitcher, a player must have appeared as a relief pitcher in one game during the previous or current season.

== Disabled List ==
In addition to a its 30-man roster, each team may have up to five players on its disabled list. A player in the Majors is eligible to be on the Disabled List (DL) when he is on the MLB DL. See [[Internal Transactions]] for other rules related to the DL.

== AA ==

The AA tier is a roster of unlimited rookie players signed in the AA draft. See [[Internal Transactions]] for rules relating to the consequences of promoting a player out of AA.

<references/>