League Rules
1. League Overview
The Big League (TBL) is a fictional baseball league in the Out of the Park (OOTP) universe. TBL is not bound by real-world MLB rules or customs.
1.1 Format & Communication
- Sim nights: regular-season sims run on a five-week rotating cadence. Week 1 runs Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday; Weeks 2 through 5 run Sunday through Thursday. Weeknight sims start at 9 PM Eastern, Sunday sims at 10 AM Eastern. Week 6 resets the cycle and doubles as next season's Opening Day.
- Season length: the regular season runs 14 sims and the off-season runs 8 sims (back-to-back on consecutive real-world days). Together with the postseason, a full season cycle spans about five weeks.
- Platforms: Slack is the league's main communication hub. StatsPlus handles exports, scouting, and draft management.
- Upgrades: the league moves to the newest OOTP version annually — GMs are expected to adopt the update.
1.2 League History
Established in 2001 with 28 teams, TBL expanded to 32 teams in 2011. Full league history is on StatsPlus.
1.3 Conferences & Divisions
TBL has two conferences — Ice and Fire — each split into two eight-team divisions. Ice Conference: Jade & Sapphire. Fire Conference: Ruby & Topaz. See the Teams page for the current team lineup.
2. Roles & Responsibilities
2.1 Current League Roles
| Role | Who |
|---|---|
| Game Commissioner | Zeus Lunari (Oahu Paddlers) |
| Co-Commissioner | Vacant |
| Primary Simmer | Zeus Lunari |
| Seasonal Podcast Host | Zeus Lunari (open to others) |
| League Recruiter | Zeus Lunari |
| TBL Historian | Vacant |
| General Managers | 32 total |
2.2 Role Descriptions
- Game Commissioner: oversees operations, manages servers and platforms, recruits, mediates disputes, and holds final say on league rules and direction.
- Co-Commissioner: assists the Commissioner and serves as second-in-command.
- Seasonal Podcast Host: produces pre-season content.
- League Recruiter: manages roster vacancies.
- TBL Historian: tracks league stats and posts history and fun facts to Slack.
2.3 GM Responsibilities
- Exporting: export before every sim — a consistent history shows active participation.
- Announcements: check the daily "Commish Announcements" in Slack.
- Communication: respond promptly on Slack or email.
- Social engagement: participate in general league chat.
- Absences: notify a commissioner if you'll be away more than two sims.
- Conduct: act professionally and aim to field a competitive, budget-conscious team.
3. Game Settings & League Rules
3.1 Game Settings
- Scouting: enabled, normal update frequency and accuracy.
- Player ratings: 20–80 scale.
- Coaching: enabled (poaching disabled).
- Injuries & suspensions: enabled at normal frequency; hidden ratings.
- Roster sizes: Active 28 / Secondary (40-man) / Expanded 35 in September.
3.2 League-Specific Rules
- Designated Hitter: enabled.
- Minimum batters faced: 1 (relievers).
- Roster limits: set separately for regular season, expanded September rosters, and postseason.
- Trade eligibility: injured players and draft picks can be traded (full rules in Chapter 9).
4. Schedule & Key Dates
4.1 Season Structure
- Regular season: 162 games across 14 sims, on a set divisional and inter-conference schedule.
- Playoffs: 7-7-7-7 format — see Chapter 6, Postseason Format.
- Off-season: 8 sims, starting on a Wednesday or Thursday and running on consecutive real-world days. The first four off-season sims land on the same calendar dates every year (12/2, 12/16, 12/31, 1/21); the last four can shift slightly year to year.
4.2 Regular Season Milestones
| Sim | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1 | Opening Day |
| 2 | AAA/AA ball begins |
| 3 | A+/A ball begins |
| 5 | Draft pool loads pre-sim |
| 6 | Short-season A-/Rookie ball begins |
| 7 | Over-budget trades open (after July 1; see Chapter 9.2) |
| 8 | Through All-Star Game; prospect call-up day post-sim (promote top prospects without burning a year of service time) |
| 10 | Trade deadline hits (pre-sim) |
| 12 | Rosters expand |
| 14 | Regular season ends |
4.3 Off-Season Milestones
| Sim | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 0 | Dev Lab opens; check coaching vacancies; make arbitration offers; last chance to vote for GM of the Year; HOF voting begins |
| 1 (through 12/2) | Season-end awards announced; through arbitration; free agency begins; IAFA training camp begins |
| 2 (through 12/16) | Winter Meetings begin; draft lottery order revealed |
| 3 (through 12/31) | Last call to protect players ahead of the Rule 5 Draft; Winter Meetings end |
| 4 (through 1/21) | Rule 5 Draft results; preseason begins; draft class finalized; budgets lock next sim |
| 5 (through 2/17) | Spring Training begins; budgets lock; IAFA bidding opens; HOF voting results announced; short Dev Lab opens |
| 6 (through 3/3) | Spring Training sim 1 |
| 7 (through 3/17) | Spring Training sim 2; amateur draft begins |
| 8 | Spring Training sim 3 — next stop, Opening Day |
Award voting opens at the end of the season and closes once the league sims to free agency. Each GM gets up to ten Hall of Fame votes (see Chapter 14).
5. Roster Rules
Each franchise fields teams across six minor league levels (AAA, AA, A+, A, A-, Rookie) plus an International Complex. GMs manage player movement, lineups, and rosters at every level. AI assistance can be enabled, but manual management is recommended — neglected minor league systems get a verbal warning first, but may be reorganized by the Commissioner if it continues.
| Level | Max Roster | Age Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Major League (ML) | 28 active (must be on the 40-man) | — |
| Triple-A (AAA) | 30 | No limit |
| Double-A (AA) | 30 | Under 28 |
| Single-A Advanced (A+) | 30 | Under 26 |
| Single-A (A) | 30 | Under 25 |
| Low-A (A-) | 45 | Under 24 |
| Rookie League | 45 | Under 22 |
| International Complex | 60 | Ages 16–19 (IAFA / scouting) |
Players who age out of a level mid-season must be moved by the GM to an appropriate level. Non-compliance results in the player being designated for assignment (DFA).
6. Postseason Format
The postseason features 8 teams from each conference (16 total), competing for the TBL Championship in a 7-7-7-7 game format. Ties for the final postseason spots are settled with a one-game playoff. Beginning with the 2030 season, the best overall record no longer earns a bye.
- Wild Card Series (WCS): best-of-seven; 1st/2nd-place finishers host wild card teams.
- Divisional Championship Series (DCS): best-of-seven; division winners or best remaining record hosts.
- Conference Championship Series (CCS): best-of-seven between the remaining teams.
- TBL Championship Series (TBLCS): best-of-seven; top overall record hosts. Once it wraps, the league sims straight into the off-season.
7. Acquiring Players
7.1 Trades
See Chapter 9, Trading, for the full rules.
7.2 Free Agency & Service Time
- Major league free agency: players become free agents after five ML seasons of service time (85 days on the ML roster = a full year).
- Minor league free agency: granted after five years, unless the player is on the 40-man roster.
- Arbitration: eligibility starts at three years of ML service.
- No compensatory picks: TBL does not award compensatory picks for lost free agents — trade for future value instead.
7.3 Amateur Player Draft
Conducted on StatsPlus starting in Spring Training (sim 7 of the off-season), with time limits per round. Draft order follows regular-season record, with ties broken by the previous year's standings. Draft-day trades are allowed, but only picks for picks — no players or cash. Drafted players join automatically.
7.4 Waivers
Waived players can be claimed within 15 in-game days. The claiming team takes on the player's salary and must have room on the 40-man roster.
7.5 International Amateur Free Agents (IAFA)
The IAFA pool releases annually at the start of the off-season with a $6 million soft cap. Exceeding the cap triggers a luxury tax and future limitations. Full rules are listed in-game.
7.6 Rule 5 Draft
Held annually; players under 23 are ineligible for selection. The deadline to protect players falls on the off-season's third sim (through 12/31). See the Rule 5 Draft Rules page for the full procedure.
8. Financial Structure
8.1 Budgets
- Team budgets: typically $165–230 million, set manually by the Commissioner based on each team's prior-season revenue. Unspent budget does not carry over. Budgets lock during the off-season (sim 5, through 2/17).
- Minimum salary: $500,000.
- No salary cap or luxury tax on spending — but a negative budget on Opening Day triggers a 150% tax the following season (introduced 2013).
8.2 Export Bonus
The export bonus is currently inactive but may return in the future.
8.3 Contracts
- Extensions: allowed at any time, for up to five years.
- Player options: convert to guaranteed years once the season hits Opening Day (introduced 2013 to prevent gaming contracts).
9. Trading
Use the in-game trade block, Slack's #tradeblock and #tradewants channels, the StatsPlus Trading Block, or direct messages to find a deal.
9.1 What Can Be Traded
- Players: any player without a no-trade clause or 10/5 rights, and not currently on waivers.
- Draft picks: rounds 1–28, including supplemental picks, up to two years out. During an active StatsPlus draft, picks can only be traded for other picks; next year's picks become tradable once the off-season starts.
- Cash: can be included if it stays within Total Money Available (TMA). Cash is a budget modifier — teams can trade for cash to become trade-eligible.
- Salary retention: up to 50% of a contract, in 5% increments. Multiple teams can retain portions, totaling up to 100%. Retention applies to the full contract, not just salary.
9.2 Over-Budget Trades
Trades that push a team over budget are generally prohibited unless they're of equal value or improve the team's position. Starting at sim 7 of the regular season (around July 1st), a team may also make one over-budget trade per season if it has a winning record, is within 8 games of the division leader, and within 5 games of a playoff seed — meant to let teams go all-in on a title push.
9.3 Processing & Posting
- Processing: trades process before each sim. Specify destination roster spots in Slack's #commish_actions — without instructions, traded players go to the DFA list.
- Posting: done through the StatsPlus Trade Tool. Once both sides confirm, a trade can only be canceled by mutual agreement before it processes; afterward it's final.
- Post-playoffs: trading resumes after the playoffs but only processes at Free Agency.
9.4 Trade Deadline
The deadline hits before the regular season's 10th sim (the first sim in August of the in-game year). Trades must be confirmed before the deadline — invalid trades cannot be renegotiated afterward.
9.5 Unprocessed Trades
A trade can fail to process if a team exceeds its Total Money Available, the trade violates a rule or is improperly formatted, or a player exercises a no-trade clause or 10/5 rights. Unprocessed trades are noted in the sim announcement and must be reworked by the involved GMs; the sim upload doesn't wait on it.
9.6 Trade Veto
TBL has no blanket trade veto. The Commissioner can void a trade for collusion (including bad-faith trading between two parties), an involved GM leaving the league before the trade processes, mutual agreement by both parties, or any other rule violation. Flag suspected cases to the Commissioner immediately.
10. Tiebreakers & Competitive Integrity
- Postseason seeding: one-game playoffs decide the final spots. Ties for first or second place don't require a playoff and are settled by head-to-head record.
- Draft order: based on regular-season record, with ties broken by the previous year's standings.
- Anti-tanking: rebuilding is fine; intentionally underperforming is not. GMs who play unqualified players or otherwise sabotage performance will get a warning and may face penalties.
11. League Customization
11.1 Relocation & Rebranding
GMs may request a team relocation or name change after managing a team for three full seasons. New locations should be in North America (Canada, Mexico, the U.S., or similar) and fit the division's geography. Minor league team relocations and renames can be requested at any time. Approved changes are announced in Slack, and a relocating team can reroll its park factors.
11.2 Nicknames
Each GM may assign one nickname per season to a player in their organization. You can't rename a player another GM has already nicknamed, and GM-created nicknames override auto-generated ones.
12. Violations & Inactivity
12.1 Missed Exports
Occasional missed exports are fine. Four or more consecutive misses disrupt team performance and league integrity, and trigger a commissioner-led AI reorganization if the team structure is significantly impacted. Notify a commissioner of any expected absence to avoid unintended team management.
12.2 Sim Violations
A sim violation halts the sim until the Commissioner takes corrective action on the violating GM's behalf. Common cases:
- Over roster/age limit: the Commissioner may demote, promote, or DFA a player to get back into compliance, typically choosing limited-value players.
- Expired DFA clock: during the regular season, DFA'd players must be moved within 42 days or they're released (with any financial consequences). In the off-season, expired DFA players move to AAA or the ML roster if space allows.
12.3 Replacing an Inactive GM
If a GM misses four consecutive exports without notice, the Commissioner will reach out on Slack and expects a response within 24–48 hours. No reply is treated as "ghosting" and prompts a replacement.
13. New Members
- Graphics: install the league's logos and uniforms from the 'Links' section on StatsPlus.
- Slack: required for communication. Register with the same email used for your invite, and set your display name to "Name - City" (e.g. "Pete - Toronto") with your team logo as your avatar.
- StatsPlus: used for exports, draft management, scouting, and sim tracking, with mobile drafting and real-time updates.
- League HTML Reports: detailed league info, no login required.
- Export Tracker: confirms your export actually reached the server — the in-game export screen doesn't.
- YouTube Broadcast Feed: youtube.com/@BigLeague-cr3zp streams important sims, including postseason games. Announcements go out in advance.
14. Hall of Fame
Players stay on the HOF ballot for up to 10 years post-retirement as long as they get at least one vote annually. A player can't appear on the ballot if they had major league activity the prior season. Election requires 75% of the vote, and each GM gets up to ten votes. HOF voting begins at the start of the off-season and closes once the league sims to free agency.
15. Proposing Rule Changes
Any GM can propose a rule change or addition. Submit proposals to the Commissioner or in #proposals with clear, thorough reasoning. New rules typically take effect in the off-season, unless they can be applied immediately without disrupting the current season. Voting on proposals is a league duty.