Post by Bubs on Jan 28, 2023 2:33:16 GMT -5
The Rules/Constitution for the LS Dynasty can be found below.
Any questions, just post a thread, or email jlatzke@hotmail.com (although I may reproduce your question on the forums if I feel it could benefit others' understanding).
League format
LS Dynasty is a 16-team head-to-head points league, with teams split equally into four divisions.
It features an 18-week regular season, with 4 rounds of playoffs, including a wild card round and a consolation bracket for non-playoff teams.
Lineups are set daily.
It is run on Fantrax, with off-season auctions and drafts taking place on Proboards.
Dues, Payments, & Abandonment rules
The fee for the league is $50 per year, with $100 collected in the first year of a new owner to ensure that teams are always paid up for the year ahead. This encourages GM retention and dissuades team abandonment.
Payments are collected and managed through Fantrax Treasurer, with the next payment of $50 due by the beginning of the off-season auctions in 2024.
The deadline for payments will be December 31st for each upcoming season. Any GM not paid up by 11:59pm CT on December 31st will have their team permissions removed and will get a grace period of seven days to pay their dues. Otherwise they will forfeit their team and will be removed from the league. Likewise, any owner not participating in the minor league draft and/or major league auction in each off-season will be deemed to have abandoned their team, will forfeit any payment and will be removed accordingly.
Roster construction & Eligibility
Major League rosters feature a maximum of 25 players, with a seven man bench and a daily 18-player starting lineup of C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 3 OF, 2 UT as well as 4 SP and 4 RP.
Minor League rosters feature a maximum of 20 players, with a minimum of 10 at any time. Both minor and major leaguers count to the overall salary cap (see below).
Players will be eligible at any position at which they appear(ed) 15 times in either the previous or current season. If they did not appear at any position 15 times in the previous season, the position at which they appeared the most will be assigned to them.
To be eligible as a starting pitcher, the player must have made 3 appearances in either the previous or current season. To be eligible as a relief pitcher, the player must have made 3 appearances in either the previous or current season.
Players who are at or below either 130 AB or 50 IP are eligible to be placed in the minor league slot of your LS Dynasty team. At the end of the season in which they reach that threshold they must either be placed on the active roster or released, as per the contract rules section below.
Each team will have access to 5 Injured Reserve spaces. Players who are suspended (eg for PED use or under the MLB Domestic Violence Policy) or are on a minor league contract are not eligible to be placed on the IR.
Scoring
Scoring will be as follows:
- Hitting
Walks, HBP, Singles, Runs, RBI, & Stolen Bases – 1 point; Doubles - 2 points; Triples 3 points; Home Runs - 4 points.
Strikeouts will cost -0.5 points, and Caught Stealing will cost -1 point.
- Pitching
Strikeouts – 1 point; Innings Pitched, Wins and Holds – 3 points; Saves – 4 points; Quality Starts – 6 points.
Hits Allowed, Walks allowed and HBP will cost -1 point; Losses and Home Runs Allowed will cost -4 points.
Scheduling & Playoff structure
Each team will play 39 regular season matchups across 18 weeks. A team will face each team within their division (intradivisional games) five times – 15 games in total – while facing every non-divisional opponent (interdivisional games) twice – 24 games in total. Where necessary, the all-star break and opening week matchups will be ‘extended’ to avoid short weeks. Those two longer weeks, alongside the last week of the season, will feature three matchups apiece, with every other week having two matchups – similar to the typical real-life schedule. The schedule will be advised to GMs ahead of each season by the commissioner.
The first, last, and all-star weeks will be reserved for intradivisional rivalries, to ensure greater interest when it comes to teams battling out for division championships/playoff places, or to win potential tiebreakers.
The 4 division winners qualify automatically as top seeds for the playoffs, ranked in order of win-loss record (with head-to-head records and overall season points acting as tiebreakers, if necessary). The two best remaining teams by win-loss records (same tiebreakers apply) get the 5th and 6th spots.
The 4 play-in teams will be comprised of:
- the next 2 best teams in terms of win-loss record, followed by
- the 2 best remaining teams in terms of points throughout the season.
If two or more teams are tied for best win-loss record, the tie-breaker will be the results of their head-to-head matchups during the season, followed by rankings based on the head-to-head record in a mini-league (of all teams tied), or else their overall season points total.
If two or more teams are tied in terms of points throughout the season, the results of their head-to-head matchups during the season (including overall point spread, as needed) will be used as a tie-breaker, otherwise their overall-win-loss record.
A coin toss will be used if all tiebreakers fail to resolve the tie.
The play-ins will be decided in the order above, meaning the 10 teams will be ranked on win-loss record, with two teams progressing (subject to tiebreakers). The remaining 8 will then be ranked on points throughout the season, with two teams progressing (subject to tiebreakers). Rankings of these four will be in the order listed – best W/L, 2nd best W/L, best points, 2nd best points.
Play-in round
The 4 teams that make the play-in round of the playoffs will have a one-week matchup to fill out the last 2 spots in the playoffs. The top seed (best W/L) will face the 4th seed (2nd best points) and the 2nd seed (2nd best W/L) will face the 3rd seed (best points). The winners will move on to fill out the playoff bracket while the losers will move on to the consolation bracket.
The 8 teams that make the playoffs will fill out the last 8 picks of the First Year Player Draft in reverse order of finish in the playoffs, with the champions receiving pick 16. In each of the two previous rounds the teams who were knocked out will be ranked on their regular season records, subject to the tiebreakers listed above.
The 8 non-playoff teams will be ranked in the same order as the playoff teams above, with the teams ranked 13th through 16th competing in a consolation bracket to win the 1st overall pick at the next season’s First Year Player Draft. The runners-up in this bracket will receive the 2nd pick, with the teams knocked out in the first round being ranked on their regular season records, subject to the tiebreakers listed above.
The teams ranked 9th to 12th will compete for draft picks 5 through 8 in a similar fashion.
The First Year Player Draft will be a non-snake draft, meaning that the team winning the 13th-16th consolation bracket will have first pick each round & the champions the 16th and final pick each round.
Prizes
All proceeds, minus the fee for Fantrax Premium, will be returned in the form of prizes.
16 x $50 (-$129.95 for Fantrax) gives a prize pool of $670.05, which will be split as follows:
1st - $275.05
2nd - $125
3rd and 4th - $85
5th and 6th - $50
Should the fee for Fantrax Premium change, the commissioner will amend the prize pool as necessary in line with the above, with the understanding that those who make the playoffs will be guaranteed a return on their seasonal fee.
Auction procedures for both MiLB and MLB
Each team in LS Dynasty is subject to a salary cap of $100M.
Each off-season will feature both a First Year Player Draft (in January/February) and a Major League Player Auction (in February/March), both of which will take place on Proboards at a time to be advised by the commissioner.
The exception to this is in the inaugural year, in which there will be an auction for each team’s initial minor league roster, rather than a draft, following the procedure below.
A record of contracts and future cap space will be updated throughout the auction by the commissioner via Google Sheets to facilitate GMs in this process.
Initial Minor League auction
Ahead of the inaugural season, there will be a minor league auction.
Players eligible to be won in this auction must a) have a contract with a major league club, and b) be at or under the rookie limits of 130 AB or 50 IP at the start of the auction. This does not include any J2 eligible players from 2022 who have confirmed a signing with a major league club - they will be eligible for the Major League auction.
Minor leaguers are subject to the league’s minimum salary ($500k) as long as they occupy a spot in a LS Dynasty minor league roster.
Each GM may nominate no more than two players at a time via Proboards, and teams will be able to bid a ‘signing bonus’ to win the player. The signing bonus will come off the team’s 2023 $100M salary cap in addition to the minimum salary.
Bids must stand for 24 hours to be won.
GMs may nominate a player with ‘no bid’, and should no other GM offer a signing bonus that player will be placed on the roster of the initial team at the base salary.
Any new bid on a player must be at least $100k more than the preceding bid.
Every team must leave the auction with no fewer than 10 minor leaguers, and with sufficient funds to complete their major league roster (at a minimum of $500k per open roster spot).
Initial Major League auction
Once the inaugural minor league auction has been completed, teams will then be able to put their remaining salary cap towards filling out their major league roster of 25 players.
The same auction process will take place with GMs nominating up to 2 players each at any one time to be bid on.
Each GM must fill their major league roster completely at the end of the auction.
Major leaguers are similarly subject to a minimum contract of $500k. Any new bid on a player must be at least $250k more than the preceding bid. The following modification has been made to help expedite the bidding process:
The bids being made in the major league auction are for the player’s ‘base salary’, which will be subject to an annual increase when contracts are assigned (see below).
Any bid made must be considered a ‘won’ bid, and each GM will need to ensure they have enough funds remaining to fill out their entire major league roster.
Any infraction whereby a GM has bid over their salary cap will result in the bid being made null and void, and the previous winning bid being reinstated. The GM concerned will be barred from winning that particular player.
Any further infraction(s) will result in the same punishment, plus the removal of $1m of cap space per infraction. It is each GM’s responsibility to ensure they don’t overbid on players.
If a player is destined to start on the 60-day Injured Reserve, the commissioner can move them there at GM’s request (using Rosterresource as a likely arbiter in disputed cases) at any time to allow the GM to add a free agent in their place, if cap space allows.
Contracts
Once the auction ends, GMs will have a short period to assign contracts to each player they have won.
Contracts may range between 1 and 5 years for each player.
The base salary of a player will increase by 10% of the base salary each year – so a player won for $1M and given a 3 year contract will be paid $1M in year one, $1.1M in year two, and $1.2M in year three, while a player won for $4M and given a five year contract will be paid $4M, $4.4M, $4.8M, $5.2M and $5.6M accordingly over the life of their contract.
It is up to each GM to keep an eye on future cap space, as you must enter each off-season auction process with enough cap space to fill the necessary places on your roster.
A record of contracts and future cap space will be managed and made available by the commissioner through Google Sheets to facilitate GMs in this process.
In the event a player is entering a draft over cap, they must trade and/or release players (see below) before the start of the auction. Failure to do so will result in the commissioner deciding to release a player(s) as necessary.
Minor League roster eligibility
A player is able to be placed on an LS Dynasty minor league roster if he fulfills one of the below:
1 - He is at or below the rookie limits of 130 AB or 50 IP.
2 - He is on a real-life MLB minor league roster (marked by the green flag in Fantrax).
3 - He began the season on an LS Dynasty minor league roster and has surpassed his rookie limits, but has not been promoted.
Options 1 and 2 apply to all players, and are intended to provide roster flexibility - if one of your major leaguers is demoted or placed on a rehab assignment following an injury, for example, you can temporarily place them into your minor league roster (providing you have space) and sign a replacement for your major league roster. Should a player to whom 2 is applicable be promoted back to their team's major league roster, the GM must make a corresponding move within 3 days, as that player no longer fulfills the requirement of being eligible for a minor league spot.
A player can be promoted from the minor leagues at any time, but doing so starts their 'service clock' immediately (see 'Contracts' section below).
The exception to the above is in-season FA pickups. Options 1 and 2 apply to those players when they are added to your roster, so that a FA pickup can be made and 'stashed' in your minor leagues. To avoid a constant cycling of players between minors and majors, once an FA addition is promoted to the major league roster he cannot be demoted to the minors, and must either stay on the roster or be released.
Option 3 does not apply to FA additions - as soon as an FA pickup passes rookie eligibility he must be promoted or released within 3 days.
Future Year First Year Player Drafts (FYPDs)
Minor leaguers will be available to be drafted in a non-snake draft, conducted on Proboards.
The order of the draft will be in relation to the playoff and consolation brackets of the preceding season as outlined above, with the winner of the 13th-16th place bracket having the first pick in each round, and the overall champion the 16th pick in each round.
In these drafts, any player under the rookie limits of 130 AB or 50 IP is available to be drafted, provided they are signed with a major league team.
The only exception to this will be any international free agents who sign as a professional for an MLB team (ie they get a major league contract, rather than receive a signing bonus under the international bonus pool allocation, such as Shohei Ohtani or Yoshinobu Yamamoto in recent years). These players will be available in the Major League auction.
Future Year Major League auctions
Each year after the FYPD each team will fill up the remaining spaces on their roster through the major league auction.
This will follow the auction process outlined above, and any player with at least 1 AB or 0.1 IP is eligible to be bid on.
Any player signed can be given a contract between 1 and 5 years without restriction.
Contracts, Salaries, Extensions, Drops, FA and waivers, FAAB
Minor league players that are selected in a FYPD are retained on the minor league roster as long as the team wishes to keep them, and will continue to receive a $500k salary annually while they are rostered. Such a player will be denoted with a ‘Min’ contract, denoting that they can be retained in a subsequent offseason. Minor leaguers are eligible to be dropped for a one-off payment of $250k during the season, but can be dropped for free in the off-season. As soon as a minor league player is promoted, their ‘service clock’ begins.
The service clock occurs in one of two ways:
• A player has surpassed the rookie limits when entering the offseason (will need to either be promoted or dropped to begin the following year), OR
• A player is promoted at any time, regardless of rookie limit restrictions.
When the service clock begins, a rookie contract is implemented. The owner has 72 hours from the time of the promotion (in-season, otherwise any time during the promotion period in the off-season) to designate a contract of 1-5 years, starting at the initial $500k salary that year, and increasing by the standard 10% of the base salary annually as assigned. If the owner does not announce a duration in the allotted time, then a 5-year contract will be established by default.
Any players not selected in the initial minor or major league auction (or in subsequent First Year Player Drafts or auctions) will proceed to free agency. All free agents are available at the minimum salary of $500k for one year, and will proceed to the appropriate draft or auction at season's end.
A player can be dropped from a roster at any time, but the team dropping him is liable for a portion of his entire remaining contract. The breakdown by year is 50%/40%/30%/20%/10% of the total salary hit for years 1-5, respectively. (For example, if a player is on a 5-year contract at $1M - which equates out to $1M in year 1, $1.1M in year 2, $1.2M in year 3, $1.3M in year 4, & $1.4 in year 5 - the drop fee penalty would be $500k + $440k + $360k + $260k + $140k, or $1.7M in total.) The amount owed will automatically be applied to future years as cap reductions as appropriate. If the team in question has sufficient cap space in the current season and wishes to pay off all future years when the drop occurs, they can elect to do so by requesting the commissioner update the spreadsheet accordingly (on Proboards site).
Once dropped, players proceed to the waiver wire for 2 days. The waiver wire is set as the reverse of the standings, and once a claim is made that team will move to the bottom of the claim order.
Players moved to the Injured Reserve do not count against cap space while they are on the IR. They must be promoted to the roster (or dropped) within 3 days of coming off the IR in real life.
Free Agent signings are subject to a Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB). The free agent process runs daily, and each team is given $100 in FAAB each season. Bids of $0 are allowed.
A player's contract will be voided in the event of confirmed retirement or death. The team will not be responsible for any current or future year's salary.
Extensions
In the off-season in which a player's contract expires, a GM has the option to extend that player another year. The cost of doing so would be 100% of his original base salary. This only applies to players won at auction (excluding initial minor league auction) whose initial contract was at least two years as well as two-year minor league contract extensions - single year deals at auction, one-year minor league contract extensions, and players picked up in Free Agency during the season would automatically be released.
In the off-season in which a promoted minor league player's contract expires, a GM has a one-off option to extend that player either another year (at a cost of $4M), or two years (at a cost of $4M in the first year, and $8M in the second year). These amounts have been chosen to reflect the average cost of a major league contract, given the $100M budget. The decision for the extension to be for one or two years must be done at that time (no accepting/rejecting a 2nd extension year later on).
In-season trading & trade deadline
The trade deadline will be set and advised to managers ahead of each season. It is expected to fall between the MLB non-waiver trade deadline and the end of LS Dynasty’s regular season where possible.
GMs may trade any combination of player(s) and FYPD draft pick(s) to each other.
Salary cap space/cash may not be traded.
Draft picks may only be traded from the upcoming draft, to ensure that players are trading away a pick in a season which they have already paid for.
Trades will be automatically approved in two business days. The commissioner will manually push trades forward only as necessary, so plan your roster management accordingly.
There will be no voting on trades, but if any GM has a concern on a trade agreed between two parties, they should raise it with the commissioner before it is approved.
It is a principle of the league that all GMs should be allowed to manage their teams as they see fit – any objections should be respectful of that fact, and concerns should be about the integrity of the league rather than the ability or judgement of the GM with regard to a player(s).
In incredibly rare cases, a GM (or both) in a deal may be required to explain their reasoning behind a trade if the commissioner feels that it is not in the best interests of both teams and the integrity of LS Dynasty as a whole before the trade is approved.
Others – changes to constitution, commissioner rulings on disputes
The season end date, as specified at the beginning of each season, will be final. It is intended to finish near the end of the regular MLB season, but may not be exact, depending on scheduling conflicts. Where the season ends in the final week of the MLB season, any 'Game 163' results will not be included in the final playoff matchup(s).
Changes can be made to the constitution at any time. When a significant change is proposed, it may be deferred for a year (or more) to allow teams to come into compliance (eg: should it have significant effects on roster size or salary cap). Such timetables will be announced by the commissioner. Major changes will be voted upon by the league, with the majority required to be determined by the commissioner on a case by case basis.
Minor changes, clarifications or rulings on disputes may be made from time to time by the commissioner. Whenever these are made, they will be communicated to GMs as quickly as possible, with full reasons given for any decision, and the constitution updated accordingly.
Rough Timelines for each season of LS Dynasty
January – Resigns/releases to be completed & trading opens
Early March - Major League auction, to include professional international signings (such as Shohei Ohtani & Yoshinobu Yamamoto)
Late March / Early April - Season begins
Mid-August - Trade deadline
Late August through Early October – Playoffs & end of season
Dissolving the league
There comes a time in each league's lifespan that it should come to a close. LS Dynasty may be dissolved by a vote of its GMs at any point during any offseason. Should that occur, dues will not be collected for the final season, and payouts made from the virtue of having been collected a year in advance from the outset.
Any questions, just post a thread, or email jlatzke@hotmail.com (although I may reproduce your question on the forums if I feel it could benefit others' understanding).
League format
LS Dynasty is a 16-team head-to-head points league, with teams split equally into four divisions.
It features an 18-week regular season, with 4 rounds of playoffs, including a wild card round and a consolation bracket for non-playoff teams.
Lineups are set daily.
It is run on Fantrax, with off-season auctions and drafts taking place on Proboards.
Dues, Payments, & Abandonment rules
The fee for the league is $50 per year, with $100 collected in the first year of a new owner to ensure that teams are always paid up for the year ahead. This encourages GM retention and dissuades team abandonment.
Payments are collected and managed through Fantrax Treasurer, with the next payment of $50 due by the beginning of the off-season auctions in 2024.
The deadline for payments will be December 31st for each upcoming season. Any GM not paid up by 11:59pm CT on December 31st will have their team permissions removed and will get a grace period of seven days to pay their dues. Otherwise they will forfeit their team and will be removed from the league. Likewise, any owner not participating in the minor league draft and/or major league auction in each off-season will be deemed to have abandoned their team, will forfeit any payment and will be removed accordingly.
Roster construction & Eligibility
Major League rosters feature a maximum of 25 players, with a seven man bench and a daily 18-player starting lineup of C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 3 OF, 2 UT as well as 4 SP and 4 RP.
Minor League rosters feature a maximum of 20 players, with a minimum of 10 at any time. Both minor and major leaguers count to the overall salary cap (see below).
Players will be eligible at any position at which they appear(ed) 15 times in either the previous or current season. If they did not appear at any position 15 times in the previous season, the position at which they appeared the most will be assigned to them.
To be eligible as a starting pitcher, the player must have made 3 appearances in either the previous or current season. To be eligible as a relief pitcher, the player must have made 3 appearances in either the previous or current season.
Players who are at or below either 130 AB or 50 IP are eligible to be placed in the minor league slot of your LS Dynasty team. At the end of the season in which they reach that threshold they must either be placed on the active roster or released, as per the contract rules section below.
Each team will have access to 5 Injured Reserve spaces. Players who are suspended (eg for PED use or under the MLB Domestic Violence Policy) or are on a minor league contract are not eligible to be placed on the IR.
Scoring
Scoring will be as follows:
- Hitting
Walks, HBP, Singles, Runs, RBI, & Stolen Bases – 1 point; Doubles - 2 points; Triples 3 points; Home Runs - 4 points.
Strikeouts will cost -0.5 points, and Caught Stealing will cost -1 point.
- Pitching
Strikeouts – 1 point; Innings Pitched, Wins and Holds – 3 points; Saves – 4 points; Quality Starts – 6 points.
Hits Allowed, Walks allowed and HBP will cost -1 point; Losses and Home Runs Allowed will cost -4 points.
Scheduling & Playoff structure
Each team will play 39 regular season matchups across 18 weeks. A team will face each team within their division (intradivisional games) five times – 15 games in total – while facing every non-divisional opponent (interdivisional games) twice – 24 games in total. Where necessary, the all-star break and opening week matchups will be ‘extended’ to avoid short weeks. Those two longer weeks, alongside the last week of the season, will feature three matchups apiece, with every other week having two matchups – similar to the typical real-life schedule. The schedule will be advised to GMs ahead of each season by the commissioner.
The first, last, and all-star weeks will be reserved for intradivisional rivalries, to ensure greater interest when it comes to teams battling out for division championships/playoff places, or to win potential tiebreakers.
The 4 division winners qualify automatically as top seeds for the playoffs, ranked in order of win-loss record (with head-to-head records and overall season points acting as tiebreakers, if necessary). The two best remaining teams by win-loss records (same tiebreakers apply) get the 5th and 6th spots.
The 4 play-in teams will be comprised of:
- the next 2 best teams in terms of win-loss record, followed by
- the 2 best remaining teams in terms of points throughout the season.
If two or more teams are tied for best win-loss record, the tie-breaker will be the results of their head-to-head matchups during the season, followed by rankings based on the head-to-head record in a mini-league (of all teams tied), or else their overall season points total.
If two or more teams are tied in terms of points throughout the season, the results of their head-to-head matchups during the season (including overall point spread, as needed) will be used as a tie-breaker, otherwise their overall-win-loss record.
A coin toss will be used if all tiebreakers fail to resolve the tie.
The play-ins will be decided in the order above, meaning the 10 teams will be ranked on win-loss record, with two teams progressing (subject to tiebreakers). The remaining 8 will then be ranked on points throughout the season, with two teams progressing (subject to tiebreakers). Rankings of these four will be in the order listed – best W/L, 2nd best W/L, best points, 2nd best points.
Play-in round
The 4 teams that make the play-in round of the playoffs will have a one-week matchup to fill out the last 2 spots in the playoffs. The top seed (best W/L) will face the 4th seed (2nd best points) and the 2nd seed (2nd best W/L) will face the 3rd seed (best points). The winners will move on to fill out the playoff bracket while the losers will move on to the consolation bracket.
Consolation brackets and draft order
The 8 teams that make the playoffs will fill out the last 8 picks of the First Year Player Draft in reverse order of finish in the playoffs, with the champions receiving pick 16. In each of the two previous rounds the teams who were knocked out will be ranked on their regular season records, subject to the tiebreakers listed above.
The 8 non-playoff teams will be ranked in the same order as the playoff teams above, with the teams ranked 13th through 16th competing in a consolation bracket to win the 1st overall pick at the next season’s First Year Player Draft. The runners-up in this bracket will receive the 2nd pick, with the teams knocked out in the first round being ranked on their regular season records, subject to the tiebreakers listed above.
The teams ranked 9th to 12th will compete for draft picks 5 through 8 in a similar fashion.
The First Year Player Draft will be a non-snake draft, meaning that the team winning the 13th-16th consolation bracket will have first pick each round & the champions the 16th and final pick each round.
Prizes
All proceeds, minus the fee for Fantrax Premium, will be returned in the form of prizes.
16 x $50 (-$129.95 for Fantrax) gives a prize pool of $670.05, which will be split as follows:
1st - $275.05
2nd - $125
3rd and 4th - $85
5th and 6th - $50
Should the fee for Fantrax Premium change, the commissioner will amend the prize pool as necessary in line with the above, with the understanding that those who make the playoffs will be guaranteed a return on their seasonal fee.
Auction procedures for both MiLB and MLB
Each off-season will feature both a First Year Player Draft (in January/February) and a Major League Player Auction (in February/March), both of which will take place on Proboards at a time to be advised by the commissioner.
The exception to this is in the inaugural year, in which there will be an auction for each team’s initial minor league roster, rather than a draft, following the procedure below.
A record of contracts and future cap space will be updated throughout the auction by the commissioner via Google Sheets to facilitate GMs in this process.
Initial Minor League auction
Ahead of the inaugural season, there will be a minor league auction.
Players eligible to be won in this auction must a) have a contract with a major league club, and b) be at or under the rookie limits of 130 AB or 50 IP at the start of the auction. This does not include any J2 eligible players from 2022 who have confirmed a signing with a major league club - they will be eligible for the Major League auction.
Minor leaguers are subject to the league’s minimum salary ($500k) as long as they occupy a spot in a LS Dynasty minor league roster.
Each GM may nominate no more than two players at a time via Proboards, and teams will be able to bid a ‘signing bonus’ to win the player. The signing bonus will come off the team’s 2023 $100M salary cap in addition to the minimum salary.
Bids must stand for 24 hours to be won.
GMs may nominate a player with ‘no bid’, and should no other GM offer a signing bonus that player will be placed on the roster of the initial team at the base salary.
Any new bid on a player must be at least $100k more than the preceding bid.
Every team must leave the auction with no fewer than 10 minor leaguers, and with sufficient funds to complete their major league roster (at a minimum of $500k per open roster spot).
Initial Major League auction
Once the inaugural minor league auction has been completed, teams will then be able to put their remaining salary cap towards filling out their major league roster of 25 players.
The same auction process will take place with GMs nominating up to 2 players each at any one time to be bid on.
Each GM must fill their major league roster completely at the end of the auction.
Major leaguers are similarly subject to a minimum contract of $500k. Any new bid on a player must be at least $250k more than the preceding bid. The following modification has been made to help expedite the bidding process:
- $500,000-$2,000,000 - bid increase of at least $250,000
- $2,000,001-$10,000,000 - bid increase of at least $500,000
- $10,000,001-$20,000,000 - bid increase of at least $1,000,000
- $20,000,001 and up - bid increase of at least $2,000,000
The bids being made in the major league auction are for the player’s ‘base salary’, which will be subject to an annual increase when contracts are assigned (see below).
Any bid made must be considered a ‘won’ bid, and each GM will need to ensure they have enough funds remaining to fill out their entire major league roster.
Any infraction whereby a GM has bid over their salary cap will result in the bid being made null and void, and the previous winning bid being reinstated. The GM concerned will be barred from winning that particular player.
Any further infraction(s) will result in the same punishment, plus the removal of $1m of cap space per infraction. It is each GM’s responsibility to ensure they don’t overbid on players.
If a player is destined to start on the 60-day Injured Reserve, the commissioner can move them there at GM’s request (using Rosterresource as a likely arbiter in disputed cases) at any time to allow the GM to add a free agent in their place, if cap space allows.
Contracts
Once the auction ends, GMs will have a short period to assign contracts to each player they have won.
Contracts may range between 1 and 5 years for each player.
The base salary of a player will increase by 10% of the base salary each year – so a player won for $1M and given a 3 year contract will be paid $1M in year one, $1.1M in year two, and $1.2M in year three, while a player won for $4M and given a five year contract will be paid $4M, $4.4M, $4.8M, $5.2M and $5.6M accordingly over the life of their contract.
It is up to each GM to keep an eye on future cap space, as you must enter each off-season auction process with enough cap space to fill the necessary places on your roster.
A record of contracts and future cap space will be managed and made available by the commissioner through Google Sheets to facilitate GMs in this process.
In the event a player is entering a draft over cap, they must trade and/or release players (see below) before the start of the auction. Failure to do so will result in the commissioner deciding to release a player(s) as necessary.
Minor League roster eligibility
A player is able to be placed on an LS Dynasty minor league roster if he fulfills one of the below:
1 - He is at or below the rookie limits of 130 AB or 50 IP.
2 - He is on a real-life MLB minor league roster (marked by the green flag in Fantrax).
3 - He began the season on an LS Dynasty minor league roster and has surpassed his rookie limits, but has not been promoted.
Options 1 and 2 apply to all players, and are intended to provide roster flexibility - if one of your major leaguers is demoted or placed on a rehab assignment following an injury, for example, you can temporarily place them into your minor league roster (providing you have space) and sign a replacement for your major league roster. Should a player to whom 2 is applicable be promoted back to their team's major league roster, the GM must make a corresponding move within 3 days, as that player no longer fulfills the requirement of being eligible for a minor league spot.
A player can be promoted from the minor leagues at any time, but doing so starts their 'service clock' immediately (see 'Contracts' section below).
The exception to the above is in-season FA pickups. Options 1 and 2 apply to those players when they are added to your roster, so that a FA pickup can be made and 'stashed' in your minor leagues. To avoid a constant cycling of players between minors and majors, once an FA addition is promoted to the major league roster he cannot be demoted to the minors, and must either stay on the roster or be released.
Option 3 does not apply to FA additions - as soon as an FA pickup passes rookie eligibility he must be promoted or released within 3 days.
Future Year First Year Player Drafts (FYPDs)
The order of the draft will be in relation to the playoff and consolation brackets of the preceding season as outlined above, with the winner of the 13th-16th place bracket having the first pick in each round, and the overall champion the 16th pick in each round.
In these drafts, any player under the rookie limits of 130 AB or 50 IP is available to be drafted, provided they are signed with a major league team.
The only exception to this will be any international free agents who sign as a professional for an MLB team (ie they get a major league contract, rather than receive a signing bonus under the international bonus pool allocation, such as Shohei Ohtani or Yoshinobu Yamamoto in recent years). These players will be available in the Major League auction.
Future Year Major League auctions
This will follow the auction process outlined above, and any player with at least 1 AB or 0.1 IP is eligible to be bid on.
Any player signed can be given a contract between 1 and 5 years without restriction.
Contracts, Salaries, Extensions, Drops, FA and waivers, FAAB
Minor league players that are selected in a FYPD are retained on the minor league roster as long as the team wishes to keep them, and will continue to receive a $500k salary annually while they are rostered. Such a player will be denoted with a ‘Min’ contract, denoting that they can be retained in a subsequent offseason. Minor leaguers are eligible to be dropped for a one-off payment of $250k during the season, but can be dropped for free in the off-season. As soon as a minor league player is promoted, their ‘service clock’ begins.
The service clock occurs in one of two ways:
• A player has surpassed the rookie limits when entering the offseason (will need to either be promoted or dropped to begin the following year), OR
• A player is promoted at any time, regardless of rookie limit restrictions.
When the service clock begins, a rookie contract is implemented. The owner has 72 hours from the time of the promotion (in-season, otherwise any time during the promotion period in the off-season) to designate a contract of 1-5 years, starting at the initial $500k salary that year, and increasing by the standard 10% of the base salary annually as assigned. If the owner does not announce a duration in the allotted time, then a 5-year contract will be established by default.
Any players not selected in the initial minor or major league auction (or in subsequent First Year Player Drafts or auctions) will proceed to free agency. All free agents are available at the minimum salary of $500k for one year, and will proceed to the appropriate draft or auction at season's end.
A player can be dropped from a roster at any time, but the team dropping him is liable for a portion of his entire remaining contract. The breakdown by year is 50%/40%/30%/20%/10% of the total salary hit for years 1-5, respectively. (For example, if a player is on a 5-year contract at $1M - which equates out to $1M in year 1, $1.1M in year 2, $1.2M in year 3, $1.3M in year 4, & $1.4 in year 5 - the drop fee penalty would be $500k + $440k + $360k + $260k + $140k, or $1.7M in total.) The amount owed will automatically be applied to future years as cap reductions as appropriate. If the team in question has sufficient cap space in the current season and wishes to pay off all future years when the drop occurs, they can elect to do so by requesting the commissioner update the spreadsheet accordingly (on Proboards site).
Once dropped, players proceed to the waiver wire for 2 days. The waiver wire is set as the reverse of the standings, and once a claim is made that team will move to the bottom of the claim order.
Players moved to the Injured Reserve do not count against cap space while they are on the IR. They must be promoted to the roster (or dropped) within 3 days of coming off the IR in real life.
Free Agent signings are subject to a Free Agent Acquisition Budget (FAAB). The free agent process runs daily, and each team is given $100 in FAAB each season. Bids of $0 are allowed.
A player's contract will be voided in the event of confirmed retirement or death. The team will not be responsible for any current or future year's salary.
Extensions
In the off-season in which a player's contract expires, a GM has the option to extend that player another year. The cost of doing so would be 100% of his original base salary. This only applies to players won at auction (excluding initial minor league auction) whose initial contract was at least two years as well as two-year minor league contract extensions - single year deals at auction, one-year minor league contract extensions, and players picked up in Free Agency during the season would automatically be released.
In the off-season in which a promoted minor league player's contract expires, a GM has a one-off option to extend that player either another year (at a cost of $4M), or two years (at a cost of $4M in the first year, and $8M in the second year). These amounts have been chosen to reflect the average cost of a major league contract, given the $100M budget. The decision for the extension to be for one or two years must be done at that time (no accepting/rejecting a 2nd extension year later on).
In-season trading & trade deadline
The trade deadline will be set and advised to managers ahead of each season. It is expected to fall between the MLB non-waiver trade deadline and the end of LS Dynasty’s regular season where possible.
GMs may trade any combination of player(s) and FYPD draft pick(s) to each other.
Salary cap space/cash may not be traded.
Draft picks may only be traded from the upcoming draft, to ensure that players are trading away a pick in a season which they have already paid for.
Trades will be automatically approved in two business days. The commissioner will manually push trades forward only as necessary, so plan your roster management accordingly.
There will be no voting on trades, but if any GM has a concern on a trade agreed between two parties, they should raise it with the commissioner before it is approved.
It is a principle of the league that all GMs should be allowed to manage their teams as they see fit – any objections should be respectful of that fact, and concerns should be about the integrity of the league rather than the ability or judgement of the GM with regard to a player(s).
In incredibly rare cases, a GM (or both) in a deal may be required to explain their reasoning behind a trade if the commissioner feels that it is not in the best interests of both teams and the integrity of LS Dynasty as a whole before the trade is approved.
Others – changes to constitution, commissioner rulings on disputes
The season end date, as specified at the beginning of each season, will be final. It is intended to finish near the end of the regular MLB season, but may not be exact, depending on scheduling conflicts. Where the season ends in the final week of the MLB season, any 'Game 163' results will not be included in the final playoff matchup(s).
Changes can be made to the constitution at any time. When a significant change is proposed, it may be deferred for a year (or more) to allow teams to come into compliance (eg: should it have significant effects on roster size or salary cap). Such timetables will be announced by the commissioner. Major changes will be voted upon by the league, with the majority required to be determined by the commissioner on a case by case basis.
Minor changes, clarifications or rulings on disputes may be made from time to time by the commissioner. Whenever these are made, they will be communicated to GMs as quickly as possible, with full reasons given for any decision, and the constitution updated accordingly.
Two-way players will only count for the position at which they are placed in a lineup for any given period. If an owner wishes to have the player count as a pitcher, the player must be placed in a pitching slot. If an owner desires the hitting stats to be counted, then the player must be placed in a hitting slot.
When a new owner is established for a team, no less than a one-week window will be provided for conversations relating to potential trades of players on the current roster. The new owner will then be allowed a one-time option to drop ANY players from the roster without penalty prior to being allowed to make trades and/or conduct other off-season activities.
Rough Timelines for each season of LS Dynasty
January – Resigns/releases to be completed & trading opens
February - League spreadsheet & contracts updated for beginning of season, Minors auction/draft, to include FYPD and J2 signings
Early March - Major League auction, to include professional international signings (such as Shohei Ohtani & Yoshinobu Yamamoto)
Late March / Early April - Season begins
Mid-August - Trade deadline
Late August through Early October – Playoffs & end of season
Early October - Rosters lock, owner status updates, league spreadsheet & contracts updated for end of season
Mid-October (through off-season, as needed) - discuss & vote on rule changes, search for replacement owners
December - League buy-in occurs, setup league for next season (sooner when possible)
Mid-October (through off-season, as needed) - discuss & vote on rule changes, search for replacement owners
December - League buy-in occurs, setup league for next season (sooner when possible)
Dissolving the league
There comes a time in each league's lifespan that it should come to a close. LS Dynasty may be dissolved by a vote of its GMs at any point during any offseason. Should that occur, dues will not be collected for the final season, and payouts made from the virtue of having been collected a year in advance from the outset.