Organizational Structure
Each LDB franchise has three tiers: Majors, AAA, and AA.
Majors
The Majors level is a 25-man roster, and represents the active players on the team whose performance may affect scoring. It closely resembles an MLB franchise. All 25 players are available for active duty, and are broken down into the following positions:
| Hitters | Pitchers |
|---|---|
| Catcher | Starting Pitchers (5) |
| First Base | Relief Pitchers (6) |
| Second Base | |
| Short Stop | |
| Third Base | |
| Left Field | |
| Center Field | |
| Right Field | |
| Designated Hitters (2) |
AAA
The AAA group is a 7-man roster that will be in most cases composed of a GMs professional reserves, although minor-leaguers can be stocked away on this roster at the GMs discretion.
AA
The AA tier is for rookie-eligible players (those defined as prospects by Baseball America, having less than 131 MLB AB or 50 IP), and will provide a GM with a place to draft high-ceiling prospects and to hold on to them for future seasons. Each team can hold six prospects in AA at a time (in the ’10 season, this number will be larger).
Internal Transactions
• Optioning - Players who have not accumulated more than four half-seasons of “Service Time” (LDB concept, see below) are eligible to be optioned to AAA at any time. This is an internal roster move. Players cannot be moved back into the AA roster at any point once they leave that tier. • Outrighting - Players who have accumulated more than two seasons of “Service Time” are considered veterans, and cannot be sent to AAA without clearing 3-day waivers. This transaction is not revokable. If a player clears waivers, then they move to AAA. If the player is claimed, they are lost. • Purchasing a Contract - Players in AA and AAA can be promoted to the Majors at any time, so long as sufficient roster space is available. Note that promoting a AAA player may add to their Service Time, and promoting a player out of AA to AAA or the Majors starts their arbitration clock, and locks them out of demotion to AA. • Disabled List (DL) - Players on the Majors roster can be put on the disabled list if they currently are on an MLB disabled list. There are three DL spots per organization. Minor league affiliates do not get extra roster space for DL players.
Service Time To determine veteran status, LDB will use an internally tracked concept of Service Time. Each time a player is promoted from the minors to the Majors-level for the first time in a particular half-season, and at the start of each half season, the player will accumulate one half-season of Service Time. Having more than four half-seasons of Service Time qualifies a player as a veteran, and they cannot be freely optioned to AAA. Players retain their Service Time even if they are dropped, waived, or traded.
Keepers In the off-season, LDB GMs will be able to designate a select five players on their Majors roster who will be keepers. These players are retained for the next year at their current salary (Auction Value - 10% signing bonus, but no player can be paid less than 400k.). A player can be kept for three seasons, and then they become a free agent.
Players in the (LDB) Majors and (LDB) AAA who are signed to long-term deals (contract status of K1/2/3) are eligible to be kept. Mid-season free agents are automatically free agents after the season ends. Starting in the offseason prior to 2010, each team will be allowed to designate one of their mid-season free agents as their “home-town hero”. The home-town hero gets a one-year contract extension at six million dollars (and a contract status of HT). The home- town hero cannot be extended beyond that one year, and must be a player who logged non-September call-up time in the Majors, and is no longer rookie-eligible.
“Home-grown” players do not count against the keeper total. Home-grown players are those players that a GM drafts through the amateur draft into their AA system. After their promotion to AAA or the Majors, they are subject to the following salary schedule:
“HOME-GROWN” SALARY STRUCTURE Year 1 .4 million Year 2 .6 million Year 3 1.2 million Year 4 3.6 million
If a Home-grown player is traded, they remain on the same salary structure when they join their new team, unless they are released and not claimed on waivers.
A GM can promote a player in the second half of a the LDB season (week 11 or later) without burning a full year of eligibility. These players are “super-twos”, and are treated exactly like home-grown players for keeper purposes, but they follow an accelerated salary promotion scale. A GM can decide upon promotion whether they want they player to use up a year of eligibility or to be a super-two at promotion time through an email to the commissioner. Supertwos follow the salary structure below:
“SUPER-TWO” SALARY STRUCTURE Year 0 (promotion year, only in final half of season) .4 million (prorated) Year 1 .6 million Year 2 1.8 million Year 3 3.6 million Year 4 3.6 million