Bring the Heat Official Rules

1. League Overview
2. League Management
3. Team Locations / Names / Setup
4. General Managers
5. Roster Management
6. Players
7. Inaugural Draft
8. Recurring Drafts
9. Trades
10. Inactive Player Contracts and Extensions
11. Active Player Contracts and Extensions
12. Finances
13. Player Rights
14. Activity Points
15. Upgrades
16. Off-season schedule
17. Modification and Enforcement

1. League Overview
1. The league will be named Bring the Heat (BTH). The main website for the league will be at http://bthleague.com.
2. The league will use Out of the Park Baseball, version 6.51a.
3. The league will consist of two leagues, the Western League, and the Eastern League. Interleague play will regularly occur.
4. The regular season will be 162 games long.
5. At the conclusion of each season, the top two teams from each conference will play a best-of-seven series to determine the conference champions. These teams will then face off in a best-of-seven series to determine the BTH champion.
6. Sims will typically be 10 days long. Three sims will constitute one BTH month. The exceptions to this are the sims before/after the Allstar game, the sim prior to the trade deadline and the sim leading up to roster expansion.  Typically the last 3-4 sims of the season will be a day longer.
2. League Management
   1. The league will have two commissioners with overall responsibility for everything in the league.
   2. The league may have people designated as League Consultants who act as advisors to the commissioners and who perform other league duties as needed.
   3. The league will have one or more graders to assign point values to articles and graphics submitted by handlers for their players.
   4. The league will have a Sim Secretary responsible for inviting handlers to sims and recording the names of those handlers who attend.
3. Team Locations / Names / Setup
1. Team locations, names and logos must be approved by the commissioners.
2. When created or moved, a GM may choose a stadium for the team from an existing major league baseball stadium. It must be renamed to fit the team "theme". The commissioners has the right to veto any stadium choice he deems inappropriate for the league.
3. Each team will start with a fan interest of 75.
1. A GM may earn fan interest points by posting articles in the League Article forum.
2. Each article will be graded on a 0-1 scale by the league grader.
3. Each team may earn a maximum of eight fan interest points per season.
4. These points will be applied after the flip.
4. All teams will have a small market size.
5. Each stadium, no matter its configuration, will start with 42,000 seats.
6. Additional seating may be purchased at a cost of $1,000,000 per 1,000 seats up to 5,000 seats per season. Stadium upgrades will only be processed during the pre-season.
7. If a team changes GMs, the new GM may choose to relocate the team so long as the above guidelines are followed. A GM may only locate or relocate a team once in their tenure, so careful consideration must be taken.
8. Relocation occurs at the flip.
9. The team must announce their relocation plans prior to the All Star game.
4. General Managers
1. GM's, when hired, will be responsible for all aspects of their franchise, but may, if they wish, hire people to perform specific tasks.
2. GM's must own OOTP 6/6.5 in order to submit lineups and transactions. There will be no exceptions.
3. All GM's must have AIM, and be registered on the league forums.
4. If a GM is not as active as the commissioners like, the commissioners may opt to replace them.
5. Roster Management
1. Rosters will consist of 25 players up until September 1st, when the rosters will expand to include 40 players. Playoff rosters go back to 25 players. Players must be on a team's 25-man roster or the 15-day disabled list as of August 31 to be eligible for post-season play. The only exception is that a player on the 60-day disabled list may be replaced by another player from the team's 40-man roster (as of August 31) who plays the same position.
2. General managers are to make all transactions, with the exception of releasing players, on their copy of the league file, and to export them to the commissioners.
3. Releasing players in-game will not be permitted. To release a player, the GM must post in the appropriate forum. Teams will have to absorb the full penalty for releasing a player.
4. The waiver period will be fifteen days.
5. To claim a player off waivers, a general manager must post to the appropriate forum as well as claim the player in-game.
6. Players who have been claimed may not be withdrawn from the waiver wire.
7. All transactions will be completed prior to the sim.
8. At no time may a team have more than two players belonging to the same handler or handlers who share an IP.
1. If a team drafts a third player that belongs to the same handler, the team will have until the sim following the draft to trade any of the players belonging to that handler.
2. If the team fails to trade one of the players belonging to the handler, the newly drafted player will be released.
6. Players
1. Handlers may have up to four players. If a handler elects to have more than one player, he must have at least one pitcher and one non-pitcher. If a handler has four players, two must be pitchers and two position players.
2. At no time may a handler control more than four players.
3. Players may be created using the template below.
4. For the inaugural draft, only, up to two players may be transferred from Elite Players League. Players may only be transferred if they were born on or after 4/1/1992. Players must belong to the handler transferring them. Players will have their ratings capped at 100.
5. Any handler who transfers a player or players *must* create at least one new player as well.
6. Newly created players and transfer players will be placed in the appropriate draft pool.
7. Specifications for new players are to be posted in the Create Your Player(s) Here forum, using the provided template. Requests to transfer players must be posted in that forum as well.
8. Handlers may specify the following attributes for new players:
1. AIM Screenname: (to earn credit for online sims)
2. First Name:
3. Last Name:
4. Nickname (optional):
5. Jersey Number
6. Birth Place
7. Birthday (month and day only)
8. Height
9. Weight
10. Throws/Bats
11. Position:
12. Pitches (for pitchers only)
9. Pitchers may choose up to five of the following pitches: fastball, change-up, curve ball, slider, screwball, sinker, split-finger and knuckleball.
10. When players have been created in-game or transferred, their posts will be moved to the Created Players forum.
11. There is a limit of six players per IP address. Exceptions may be granted by the commissioners.
12. If a handler does not log onto the forum for fifteen calendar days, their players are considered to be "inactive". Players become active again when their handler logs into the forum.
7. Inaugural Draft
1. The draft order will be determined by the commissioners through a random process. Subsequent rounds will be conducted in a "snake" fashion.
2. Players drafted are automatically under contract as follows. Newly-created players drafted in rounds 1-10 will be signed to three-years at $3,000,000 per year. Newly-created players drafted in rounds 11-20 will be signed to 2 years at $2,000,000 per year and newly-created players drafted in subsequent rounds will be signed for 1 year at $1,000,000. Transferred players will be signed for 2 years at $5,000,000 per year.
3. New players may renegotiate their contracts following the rookie contract rules set forth below. Transferred players are locked into their contracts for the first season.
8. Trades
1. Trades are to occur between no more than two teams at a time.
2. When a trade is agreed to, it is to be posted in the appropriate forum by one GM and agreed to by the other GM.
3. Where a trade involves players with a no-trade clause in their contracts, the players must agree to the trade by posting to the trade thread.
4. Players who are inactive automatically waive any no trade or limited trade clause in their contracts.
5. A trade will not be considered to have been made until all the required GMs/handlers post their agreement.
6. The commissioners may veto a trade based on the level of fairness and/or for financial purposes.
7. Players, draft picks and cash can be traded.
8. The trade deadline is July 31st. No exceptions.
9. Inactive Player Contracts and Extensions
1. Free agents whose handlers are inactive may be bid on. This is true both in-season and during the off-season period.
2. Once a free agent becomes inactive either during the season OR during the off season (but after the in game FA period has ended), a GM can post a thread in the GM forum stating their intentions to bid on that inactive free agent. From that point, other GMs have a 24 hour window from the time of the original bid to post a higher bid, if they so choose. Bids will always be one year bids.
3. Teams may only have two outstanding offers to inactive free agents in-season.
4. General Managers may attempt to extend the contracts of inactive players on their team. This may be done *during the last season of the player's contract ONLY*. To extend an inactive players' contract, a GM must post an offer in the Extensions/Restructures forum. The commissioners will submit the offer in-game and reply in the forum with either an acceptance or a reason the offer was declined.
5. A General Manager may not reduce the contract length or salary of an inactive player.
10. Active Player Contracts and Extensions
1. In order for an active free agent to be signed to a team, both parties must agree to a deal posted on the Free Agent board on the forum. The contract must be posted by the GM and agreed to by the player. The minimum contract that may be offered to an active player is the league minimum, which is $500,000
2. Contract extensions must be posted to the appropriate forum and signed by both parties.
3. Players may not renegotiate their current season's salary unless they are currently under minor league contract.
4. The rookie contract maximum will be $3M a season with a maximum contract length of 3 years.. This applies to the first contract signed by any active player.
5. A player may not sign an extension until after the completion of the season in which they were initially signed or drafted.
6. Players with one-year contracts may extend at any time.
7. No-trade clauses are permitted.
8. Contracts may not contain roster bonuses or signing bonuses.
9. Contracts are made with a team and not with the GM. Therefore any clauses that permit a player to become eligible for free agency, whether directly or via changing guaranteed years to option years is prohibited.
10. A player under contract may not contact any other team's general manager to assess that team's interest or negotiate terms for a future contract unless a player has written permission from his current GM. Likewise, a General Manager may not contact a player under contract with another team without the permission of that player's current GM.
11. A player may retire from the league if s/he meets the following criteria:
1. The player has completed 4 seasons in the league total and is not under contract beyond the season in which he requests to retire. This includes both major league and minor league service. This term is reduced to 2 years if the handler creates a replacement player and if the retiring player is not under contract beyond the season in which he requests to retire. Former EPL players may retire after any season with no requirement for a replacement to be created.
2. The player does not owe any money to the bank
12. A player under contract must announce retirement prior to the All-Star break--a player who is a free agent and who otherwise qualifies may retire at any time.
13. A replacement for a retired player may be made prior to the season following the retirement.
11. Injuries
1. Players may elect to have a career-ending injury healed. this will be at a cost specified in the appropriate forum.
2. The injured player will miss the remainder of the season during which s/he sustained the injury, plus a full season to facilitate full recovery.
3. A player with a CEI may opt to retire without regard to meeting the conditions set forth in the preceding section. A replacement player may be created immediately.
4. if a player with a CEI retires, any article/sim/etc. points that were accrued to the player but which have not been used may be applied to the handler's replacement player.
12. Finances
1. All teams will start with $50,000,000.
2. The team cash maximum is $75,000,000.
3. The minimum player salary is $500,000.
4. There is no salary cap.
5. National contracts will start off at $15,000,000.
6. Local TV contracts will start off at $25,000,000. This will be increased by $5,000,000 per season for the first five seasons.
7. Players will not be allowed to co-mingle finances.
8. Players may borrow money from the bank. The interest rate is 10%, simple. A player's repayment schedule may not exceed the length of their guaranteed contract. Nor may the payments be greater than the player's base salary for the specified year.
13. Player Rights
1. A Player's Union will be formed in order to ensure that the rights of the players are not neglected. The Union Rep will be elected during the off-season, and will serve a term of one year. GMs and assistant GMs will not be allowed to view, post, or participate in any of the activities of the aforementioned Union.
14. Upgrade Points
1. Players may receive upgrade points for the following: Articles, Graphics, Sim attendance, Player Website, Recruiting and posting. Players may also receive upgrade points for participating in other activities such as contests at the discretion of the commissioners.
2. Articles and Graphics: Articles or graphics must be posted by the handler of the player receiving credit. Each article/graphic will be graded on a scale of zero to four. This will be done according the rules set forth by the grader in the appropriate forum.
3. The maximum number of upgrade points a player may earn from articles and graphics combined is 30 points each season. There is no limit on the number of articles that can be posted for a player in a season. Up to 15 points may be earned with graphics for a player each season.
4. Attendance: Handlers earn one upgrade point for every sim or off-season chat in which they participate.
5. Recruiting: When new handlers join the league and specifically identify a referrer, that handler will earn one upgrade point for every player created.
6. Player Website: A player may create or purchase a website to earn up to six upgrade points.
7. Posting: For every 25 forum posts, a handler may receive one upgrade point for each of their players.
15. Upgrades
1. There are two types of upgrades, immediate upgrades and seasonal upgrades.
1. Immediate upgrades can be used immediately to upgrade players. These include posting bonuses and prize awards.
2. Seasonal upgrades must be applied at the conclusion of the season, after the "flip" and prior to the Opening Day sim of the following season. Active handlers will have the opportunity to upgrade their players using upgrade points they earned during the previous season. An example of the seasonal upgrade points is attendance points.
2. For pitchers, the handler can upgrade Stuff, Control and/or Movement. For hitters, the handler can upgrade Contact, Gap, Power, Discipline/Eye and/or Avoid K's.
3. Upgrade points do not equal rating points. The numbers shown for ratings on the player's HTML page are on a 1-10 scale, but in the game as seen by the commissioners, the actual scale is 1-100. It is the 1-100 number that will be upgraded.
4. Activity points may be used one-for-one to upgrade any LHP/RHP category. Activity points may also be used at the rate of three upgrade points per one talent point.
5. Upgrades may also be purchased at any time with a player's money. Specific rules for purchasing upgrades are in the appropriate forum.
16. Off-season schedule
1. Retiring Players
2. Options
3. Free Agency
4. Re-Order Rosters
5. Spring Training
17. Modification and Enforcement
1. The commissioners may make changes to these rules as they see fit.
2. The consequences of breaking these rules will be determined by the commissioners.