For our new team owners and for anyone who needs a refresher, here is a league salary cap, auction and draft summary.
---Each team is subject to a salary cap of $250. This is adjusted upwards after each season by a Bonus Plan, which thru on-time results, managers, etc, you may earn an extra $5, $10 or $15 cumulative each season.
---There is no limit to the number of HoF/Created players you may have on your roster as long as you stay under your team cap dollars. Teams may bid on players up to their team cap total.
---New HoF/Created players and players released at the end of a season enter the auction pool as Unrestricted Free Agents. Players who finish out a contract with a team are considered Restricted Free Agents, with that team holding Topper rights on any subsequent high bid. This means they have the option to bid $1 higher than the auction high bid to retain that player. Further examples of this will follow.
---Players are bid upon by an auction/e-mail process, with each team bringing a player forward from the auction/free agent pool that they would like to see bid upon that period. A max of 10 players will be bid upon each period until all players have been either bid upon and won at auction, or not bid upon and they then enter the free agent/past season draft. Teams are under no obligation to bid during the auction.
---Any HoF/Created player drafted during the free agent draft costs $1 towards a teams salary cap. Past season players have a $0 cost. A HoF/Created player that is drafted for $1 may be retained after the season by purchasing his contract for $11. He then is in the A or first year of his contract.
---Players are recognized as being in a particular year of their contract by a letter designation. A is the first year, B is the second year, C is the third or final year. For purposes of record keeping, a player is designated in the D or fourth year of his contract, or E the fifth year of his contract, if they are extended in year 2, but will become C players once they enter their final year.
---Originally when bid upon, a player is signed to a 3 year contract. After year two, they may be extended up to 2 more additional years at a cost of $10 per year. For example, Johnny Mize is purchased at auction for $33 dollars and a basic 3 year contract. At the end of year 2, Brooklyn has the option to extend Mize to $43 for years 3 and 4, to $53 for years 3, 4 and 5, or keep him at $33 for year 3. In any of the scenarios, Mize may not be further extended once he enters his final year of his contract and then he becomes a Restricted Free Agent, entering the auction with Brooklyn retaining Topper rights.
--- Players may only be released during the off-season. However, once extended beyond an original 3 year contract, a player may not be released in their D or E years. They may however be traded, with the receiving team now under the same conditions as the original team.
---Players traded carry all contracts with them to their new team, along with any contract extensions or Topper rights.
AUCTION EXAMPLE
All teams have made their decisions regarding releasing or extending player contracts and now know their respective team salary caps.
Teams send in a name from the league free agent pool to compile the Auction Bid Period One. Using the 2005 season as an example, these are the players that were up for auction on Period One.
|
2005 Auction Bid Period 1 |
|
8/15 thru 8/18 |
|
Player |
Bid Team |
Bid Amount |
|
Ryne Sandberg |
Cleveland |
$ 45 |
|
Ed Delahanty |
Chicago |
$ 35 |
|
Wade Boggs |
Chicago |
$ 33 |
|
Turkey Stearnes |
New Bedford |
$ 26 |
|
Don Drysdale |
Cleveland |
$ 18 |
|
Jackie Robinson |
New Bedford |
$ 16 |
|
Verdell Mathis |
Cincinnati |
$ 15 |
|
Pete Rose |
New Orleans |
$ 9 |
|
Willie McCovey |
New Bedford |
$ 8 |
|
Fleetwood Walker |
Paris Texas |
$ 7 |
Starting on August 15th, players began bidding on the above list. On August 18th at 6:00 pm, the bid period closed, with the high bid team now owning the respective players. Bids are made by simply copying and pasting the above list into a new message to the e-groups list. You may bid as often as you like within cap limits, or not at all on any players. Final bids are considered those time stamped by the list as being no later than 6:00 pm. CST.
The final Bid Period consisted of the following:
|
2005 Auction- Bid Period 9 |
|
9/9 thru 9/12 |
|
Player |
Bid Team |
Bid Amount |
|
Jelly Gardner |
Virginia |
$ 1 |
|
Kenichi Yazawa |
|
$ |
|
Hideji Kato |
|
$ |
|
Jimmie Crutchfield |
|
$ |
|
Joe Tinker |
Paris Texas |
$ 1 |
|
Charlie Comiskey |
|
$ |
|
Makato Matsubara |
|
$ |
|
Manabu Kitabeppu |
|
$ |
|
Candy Cummings |
|
$ |
|
George Kelly |
|
$ |
|
Sammy T. Hughes |
Virginia |
$ 1 |
The above players, along with any others during the auction, that were not bid upon, now enter the draft with the past season players.
TOPPER EXAMPLE:
Kansas City owns Shoeless Joe Jackson at a $51 contract. Should the Monarchs decide not to release him, he will become a Restricted Free Agent after the upcoming season. He will then enter the auction next year. If the high bid on Shoeless is $67 after the period ends, KC has the Topper right to bid $68 and sign him to a new 3 year contract at that amount. Should KC release him this off-season, he becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent and they lose their Topper right on him. Only when a player finishes a designated contract does he remain a Restricted Free Agent.