1974 Winter Meetings (pre-1974 Season)

Rule Suggestions for season 1974

  1. v3 or v4 rules or a mixed bag.
  2. Adjust limits for batters to minimum 60 AB per side rather than 40. per Chris Davis, “The split AB/BF limits have been at 60 for years.  I see I hadn’t changed the message to update that in years as well though.”  also raise the overall minimum to 150 AB – meaning you have to have at least 60 AB on each side and have at least 150+ AB overall to be considered unlimited.
  3. Change the Disabled List to 5 days rather than 7.
  4. Pitchers can only pinch hit if they have a minimum of 60 AB on their card OR if you have already used all other potential batters.
  5. Allow a starting pitcher to be used any time the starter has to be removed due to injury, ejection, or rain delay (eliminating “the first two innings” from the current rule).
  6. Allow pitchers who have used up their limits to be sent down without having to wait until they’re rested enough to pitch. i.e. a starting pitcher (only) who has used up his spot-starts, can be sent down at the next roster movement interval (start of the series or halfway).
  7. If a pitcher has spot starts and IP limits, he may pass his IP limit during his start (current rule), however if he has NO IP remaining, he cannot be used as a starter even if he has spot starts still available.
  8. Helping teams who have poor records (think of this as a way to help struggling franchises):
    * Last place +$10 in the draft
    * 14th and 15th place +$7 in the draft
    * 12th and 13th place +$5 in the draft
    They would be back to a max $300 prior to the next auction unless they continued to fall in the bottom 1/4 of the league.
  9. Change K (W) results to K (HR) results if the pitcher is tired.
  10. Playoffs are too long. Suggest 3 game series for the first two (Wild Card and Championship) and five games for the World Series.
  11. Keep playoffs as is, but set time frames (like we do for the regular season schedule:
    OctB: Wildcard (one in each div OR two best non-division winners)
    NovA: League Championship
    NovB: World Series
    December 1, Trade window opens
  12. Add a Slack channel for all league communication. TESTING THIS CURRENTLY – you all were invited.
    trades and transactions must still be emailed to the commish. SLACK 90 day rule is the culprit.
  13. Add option for a 5th year. Decision would be needed at the OPT-4. Salary would be additional $5 for both years 4 and 5. i.e. $12 player going finishing his 3rd season could be extended for one year (year four) at the same $12 salary OR be offered years 4 and 5 at $17 each year.  Still no extensions beyond the 5th year.
  14. Move trade deadline up to the end of July (as MLB had in the 70s). Math-wise, this worked out to be about 1/3 of the season post-trades.  It would be the same if we moved it up to end of July the way our schedule is played.