Here are Jeff's rule proposals, which he asked me to post for official vote (Jeff actually sent them on the 19th but I was being a slacker on vacation, so the delay in getting these posted is entirely my fault).
Votes are due by Friday, January 7, to give people time to get back from the holidays. Vote by email to me or by posting here. As previously discussed, these are all technically "in-season" proposals and thus require the unanimous approval of all those voting. So please be sure to vote, especially if you feel strongly about one or more of the proposals.
(Because the stupid site won't let me post the whole thing at once, each proposal will be listed as a response) ________________________________
Proposal #1 - Playoff Series Length (Rest) Round 1 will consist of a 12 day series, 9 days for the games, and 3 days for travel/rest after the series has ended.
Round 2 will consist of a 14 day series, 9 days for the games, and 5 days for travel/rest.
All days must be accounted for in a series no matter how many games the series takes to complete.
Day 1-2 - Game 1/2 Day 3 - Travel Day Day 4-6 - Game 3/4/5 Day 7 - Travel Day Day 8-9 - Game 6/7 Day 10-12 - Travel Days between series (3 days for round 1, 5 days for round 2)
Proposal #2 - Playoff Injuries Injuries will carry over from one round to the next. The term "games" will be substituted for and replaced by "days". For every game a player is injured they will have to sit out the exact same amount of days in the playoffs.
# of games injured = # of days required to recover (Game Day OR Travel Day)
Proposal #3 - Playoff Pitcher Usage Starters - The number of starts for the series will be 10% of total starts for the prior MLB season. Starting pitchers will have unlimited innings, but must be pulled the following inning after becoming "tired". Starters can only start on three days rest when allowed by the Strat-O-Matic game.
Relievers - Relief innings will be based on innings pitched of the pior MLB season and not on appearances.
50-150 PA = 6 PA 151-250 PA = 10 PA 251-350 PA = 14 PA 351-450 PA = 18 PA 450 + PA = Unlimited
Explanation: A 7 game series is 4% of the regular season. So playoff usage will be determined by taking the "upper end" of each bracket and multiplying it by 4%.
Comment from Jeff on Rule 4
** By breaking the brackets down to 100 pa increments instead of 125 pa increments, and changing the multiplier to mirror MLB, I think a better representation of player usage can be accomplished. Players will still be getting a substantial amount of PA in the playoffs for part time guys. Managers will actually be forced to play their roster and "manage" their teams in the playoffs instead of relying on "magical" rules that turn limited players into series changing All-Stars once the playoffs hit. The current rule is listed below
Current Rule:
MLB PA
PA Per Playoff Series
0-99
7
100-225
15
226-350
19
351-450
25
451+
Unlimited
I truly believe a player with 100 PA should not be able to impact a playoff series with 15 PA. That 100PA card can play in 3.5 games in a playoff series averaging 4 PA in each game. The part time pinch hitter who was essentially a "non-factor" in the regular season now becomes a "ringer" and a major factor in a playoff series outcome.
I'm just want to confirm. Relief IP limitations are for each series? Or for the entire playoffs? I think it should be clarified if it is to become a rule.
The IP and PA listed in the proposed rules are for each round of the playoffs. So your guys will still be getting plenty of IP and PA as the numbers will reset after each round.
The goal with these proposals was to limit the impact of guys who have limited roles in real life.
So someone with 30 IP in real life will get 4 IP in round one, and 4 IP in round two if the team advances.
We can add the additional wording if the rule passes b/c that's the intent.
If they don't pass at this time b/c of the "unanimous" vote that is required, I'll resubmit them again next offseason when passing them would be less restrictive.
In principle I am ok with these but I would like to see proposal #3 made a bit clearer....
Starting pitchers are allowed 10% of their MLB starts- is that rounded up, rounded down, or just rounded off? It matters quite a bit. I'm assuming "rounded off" for now.
Let's say a guy made 8 starts and pitched 50 innings. If I read the rule correctly, in a postseason series he is now allowed to make one start AND pitch up to 8 innings as a reliever, is that correct? Or is it meant to be 8 innings total?
the "starts" for the playoffs is exactly the same as it is now. So a pitcher must have a minimum of 10 starts to get 1 playoff appearance. That part of the rule is exactly the same as the current rule.
The only change to the rule is on the relief innings side.
So for a guy with 8 starts and 50 ip. He would not be able to start any games, and would get 8 ip in relief per the relief section of the rule. He would get 8ip per playoff round.
If we need to spell it out we can. Essentially the current rule says 10% of total starts (no rounding at all)
