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2005 Constitution

UNITED STRAT BASEBALL ASSOCIATION

2005 CONSTITUTION

 

1. OVERVIEW


            A. The USBA is a continuous ownership draft league and will consist of twenty (20) teams.

            B.. All USBA games will be played head to head, via the internet, using the most current version of Strat-O-            Matic CD-ROM computer baseball game.

            C. USBA members are required to own the latest version of Strat-o-Matic CD-ROM computer baseball game, currently 10.0, and have AOL Instant Messenger.

            D. The commissioner, with support from a league president, reserves the right to do whatever is required             during the season to do what is in the best interests of the league. 

 

2. MORALS CLAUSE

            A.  All members will treat each other with dignity and respect. Under no circumstances will foul language be        tolerated.  Any owner violating this clause will be warned and fined a 5th round draft choice.  Any subsequent             violations will result in AUTOMATIC termination of the owner.

 

3. STRUCTURE


            A.  The USBA will consist of 2 sub-leagues, designated as the American and National leagues. Each sub-            league             will consist of ten (10) teams.

            B.  The USBA will be made up of six (4) divisions, two (2) in each league, designated AL East, AL West, NL             East and NL West.  Each division will consist of four (5) teams.

            C.  The American league teams will use the designated hitter.  The National league will not use the             designated hitter.

            D.  Teams will be assigned to a league before the initial draft. Teams must pick a City and a nickname prior to         the draft. These names may not be changed during the season.

 

4. DRAFTS AND TEAM ROSTERS

            A. Team Composition
                        1. Each team shall consist of 35 players with room for uncarded contracted players or free agents for                         up to 40 players. But a team may never have more than 35 active players at any time.. These players                         may be obtained through the draft, free agents, or trades. We will use actual MLB salaries based on the                   latest current year salaries as of March 1st for each year and, if available, the Baseball Today salary                         database will be used.                       

                        a.  The current cap is $78 million and will increase by $2 million next year (2006) bringing the salary cap                  to $80 million in 2006.

                        2. You may sign a player at his current ML salary for 1, 2, or 3 years maximum. Once signed, this                         salary does not change until his contract is up at which time a team can keep the player at the                             following rates. A player with a contract of 0-5 million can be resigned once his initial contract is up for                    his actual MLB contract, 5-7.5 million a 50 percent raise, above 7.5 up to 10 million a 33 percent                         raise and above 10 mil up to 15 million max, a 10 percent raise.

                        a.  Once someone reaches the 15 million dollar max they can be re-signed for that price                                      indefinitely.

                        4.  The MAXIMUM a player will be paid is $15 million dollars.

                        5. If a team cuts a player still under contract, then the team that cut him is still under obligation to pay                         the player unless another team drafts him. His contract will follow the player to the drafting team and the                   new team has to abide by the pre existing contract in terms of years and salary. Note: the current ML                         salary of a player who has an unpublished salary due to retirement, etc... shall be 300k. 

                        6.  Any team that has players who are under contract but are uncarded due to retirement, injuries, etc.                  may either buy out the remainder of the contract or pay the contract as it exist at that time.  This is not                   meant to punish teams but it is meant to not bail an owner out after applying a bad contract to                              a player.  The player will also be counted as a roster spot but he may be moved into the 36-40 player                         range.  The 36-40 player range was created as to allow teams a way of dealing with an uncarded                         contracted player without it counting against a usable roster spot.  Example's listed below;

                        a.   { Aaron Sele  $2,000,000  (3) year contract } To buy out his contract all in one season it would                         cost you $6,000,000 against your cap.  That would clear up the $2,000,000 each year for the following                      two seasons.  The benefit would be getting rid of the contract all in one year but it would depend on you                        having the cap space to be able to deal with a contract this way.

                        b.  { Aaron Sele  $2,000,000  (3) year contract } To just pay for the contract for the entire length of it.                          This would cost you $2,000,000 per season until the contract expires. 

5. EXPANSION

            A.  Rules of the Expansion Draft: -- The Expansion Draft will be conducted in 3 phases.

                        1.  PHASE 1 will use Post Season rosters. Phase 2 will use the Minor League Draft.  Phase 3 will use                  the New Data Disk with Rookies, etc.

                        a.  Phase 1:  Expansion teams will draft four players per round for a total of five rounds.  Each                             expansion team will draft a total of twenty (20) players in this phase.  Each current USBA will be able to                     protect a number of players, the (*) formula is listed below.  The players available are any carded player              in both the USBA major and minor league squads.

                        b.  Phase 2:  Expansion teams will draft (4) uncarded minor leaguers each from the available minor                         leaguer pool.  Then the Expansion teams will draft the remainder of their minor league prospects with                         the rest of the USBA teams in the Minor League Draft.  This is meant to allow the Expansion teams to                     build a foundation to build their future on.

                        c.  Phase 3: The normal FA/Rookie draft held in March will put the 4 expansion teams at the                                end of each round with the them changing positions in each subsequent round, ie; the team that                         picked 20th in round 1 will pick 17th in round 2. This draft will bring teams up to the 35 man                                  roster.

 

            *PHASE 1: Protected players:  Each expansion team will make four selections per round.  Each current             USBA team will lose only one (1) player per round, for a total of five (5) players.

                        -Prior to round 1 each team can protect 10 players.

                        -Prior to round 2 each team can protect 2 more players

                        -Prior to round 3 each team can protect 2 more players

                        -Prior to round 4 each team can protect 2 more players.

                        -Prior to round 5 each team can protect 2 more players.

            By the end of this portion the expansion teams will have 20 players on their teams.  The current USBA             teams will have the remainder of their contracted players available. 

_______________________________________________________________________________

6. YEARLY FREE AGENT AND ROOKIE DRAFT

            A.  Draft and Player Acquisition:

            1. You may have have less than 35, but no less than 32,  on your team if they meet the following                         requirements, All positions have at least 750 abs rated at every position, you have at least 1480IP AND                 162 game starts. 

                        2. Eligible players to be drafted are any players who played in MLB the previous season and received a                      player card for that season. IMAGE-ONLY players ARE NOT draftable. You may not keep an uncarded                     player if his contract has expired, but you may keep him if he is still under contract. The limit is 40                players total however. This means that if you are in the unlikely position of having more than 5 uncarded                     players under contract, you will have to cut one or more to stay under the 40man max.

                        3. The teams win/loss record shall determine draft order for all non playoff teams. The team with the                         worst record drafts first and so on.  If there is a tie, head to head records will determine the drafting                         postition with the team with the winning record drafting first.  If there still is a tie, then road records will                         be used, and if still a tie, a coin flip.  Playoff teams will be seeded at the end of the list, with the World                         Series winner picking last, WS series loser second to last and so on.  Ties for teams eliminated at                         same time in post season will be determined by best record picking after other team.  See expansion                         section for their drafting positions.

                        4. The draft shall consist of as many rounds as it takes to get all teams up to 32-35 players.  Any of the                   first five round picks may be traded or waived prior to the beginning of the draft if the owner realizes his                   team will reach the 35 man roster.  If the team hits the 35 man roster and still has picks left then he will                   forfiet the remaining picks if not traded.         

                        5. A team may pick up free agents during the season as long as the team can afford them and keep                         under the 40 man max.  If you pick up a free agent, then you have to pay the player his full ML salary                         and he is not protectable.  If you cut a player during the season to make room, you still must pay the                         cut players salary.  Another team may pick this player up, and will have to pay the same salary that the                   old team was paying.  If the cut contracted player is picked up by another team then the original team                         will only pay for that season.  If the cut contracted player remains a free agent then the original team is                     responsible for his entire contract until drafted or picked up via free agency.  The team that picks up the                   free agent will lose him at the end of the season like any other free agent.

            ALL FREE AGENTS ACQUIRED DURING THE SEASON ARE RELEASED BACK INTO THE FREE             AGENT/ MINOR LEAGUE DRAFT AT THE END OF THE SEASON.

7. BALLPARK CHANGES

            A.  Prior to the Player draft, a Ballpark draft will be held for any team that wishes to change parks. Ballparks will       be awarded by a seperate random drawing.  The teams will draft ballparks from worst to first.

            B.  Expansion teams will select a Ballpark prior to the start of the Expansion draft.

8. BONUSES AND PENALTIES

            A. Teams will receive a bonus of 1 million dollars per play period if they finish their games 1 week prior to             the deadline.  Bonus money can only be spent on Free Agents and used as space to increase salaries for             trades.  At the end of each season the bonus money will be removed from each teams salary space.

            B.  Penalties for unexplained late play are the following,

                        1st time - a warning

                        2nd time - 5th round draft pick

                        3rd time - 3rd round draft pick

                        4th time - 1st round draft pick

                        5th time- dismissal

 

9. COMPUTER MANAGERS

 

            A.  All teams must submit computer managers  for the upcoming month between the CM Rosters being sent             out up to Thursday by 12pm est.

 

            B.  If no Computer manager is submitted the commissioner will submit the starters schedule. Any overusage       problems and associated penalties with any pitchers will be the COMPLETE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE    TEAM OWNER.

 

 

 

10. PLAYING THE GAME

 

            A.  Since this is a computer game "Max Rules" ,with the exception of Force Daily Injuries and Allow extra pre-           1900 errors, will be used.


            B.  Prior to the start of each series, teams are required to designate a number of players as Inactive, in order to         bring their Active Roster to 25. Active rosters must contain a minimum of 5 pitchers who are eligible to START            and they must include the scheduled Starters for that series. (Must be rated as Starter or Starter/Reliever)          Each team must have four (4) starters who is a starter only and the fifth can be a starter/releiever whom is        avialable to pitch in that series.

            C.  Teams must send their Computer Manager, with "STARTERS SCHEDULE" during the submission period after the end of the play month and prior to the start of the new month.  

            D.  All players designated as Inactive, prior to the start of a series, must remain in the Minor Leagues until the       completion of the current series. .EXCEPTION: SEE INJURIES BELOW

            E.  Active rosters expand to 35 players on September 1.

            F.  All games are to be played with out dice mode/card image unless mutually agreed upon by both             managers.

 

11. PLAY MONTH SCHEDULE

            -Deadline for picking up Bonus Million will be exactly 7 days prior to Game Deadline.

            -Trade Deadline and Free Agent claim period deadline is final Sunday in Play Month at midnight Eastern.

            -Every Play Month will end on a Monday at midnite Eastern.

            -New Rosters FOR CMS ONLY will be sent out the next day, Tuesday, between every Play Month

            -New CMS must be in by Thursday at midnite Eastern. See Rule concerning Late CMS

            -New Rosters for PLAY MONTH will be sent out every Friday morning and play may begin                       

 

12. PLAYER USAGE


            A.  Player usage will be limited as follows:

                        1.  Players are limited to 100 percent of PLATE APPEARANCES or Innings Pitched

                        2.  Pitchers, who are not rated as Starter, may not perform in that role, Pitchers who are rated as a                              Starter only may only pitch in relief under the following conditions:

                                    a. All of the teams remaining available Relief rated pitchers are fatigued

                                    b. The team has no remaining Relief rated pitchers available.

            B.  Starting Pitchers designated with  a (*) must have at least 3 days of rest.  All other starting pitchers must                   have at least four (4) days rest.  Any pitcher starting games with less than required rest will be suspended            for 1 Play beginning the first week of the upcoming month. If the infraction occurs in September, the                 suspension will begin immediately if possible, if not possible, the commissioner will determine the       appropriate penalty. Any second offenses by an owner will result in a player suspension of 3 weeks. A third                   offense by an owner will result in that player being released into the free agent pool and the owner will lose            a 1st round draft choice the following year.

                        1.  A Starting pitcher may only start on 3 days rest if he has a * listed by with his ratings.

            C.  Starting pitchers must go 4 innings or allow 3 runs before they can be removed.

            D.  Position Players may not pitch in ANY GAME.

            E.  A pitcher may be used to pinch hit for a position player during any game even if that team has remaining                  position players on the bench.  This rule will be monitered very closely to see if some are abusing this.  The           rule will be reviewed in the offseason if we have several problems that arise from this change.

            F.  A player may not field a position for which he is not rated, unless said game goes into extra innings.

            G.  After 9 innings have been completed, players may freely field a position for which they are not rated.

            H.  If an ineligible player appears in a game, or an illegal move is made, and said infraction is caught by the                  opposing manager before the first At Bat is resolved in the next half inning, then the UNDO LAST PLAY                  function will be used to revert to the point in the game just prior to the infraction taking place and the                     infraction corrected. If the infraction is caught after the first At Bat is resolved in the next half inning then the            ineligible player shall immediately be removed from the game. Any player who has exhausted his allowed                  usage will be manually flagged as "Injured" with the league files, by the Commissioner. Said players will                  remain "injured" for the remainder of the regular season.

 

13. PENALTIES / INJURIES

            A.  Penalties will be assessed for overusage, tardiness and any other behavior that infringes upon the spirit of              the league, unless the league office grants specific permission to do so.

            B. Player Overusage: Managers are expected to act in the spirit of fair competition, as such, if a player is                 overused by more than the allowed 100% usage then the penalty will be as follows:

                        1.   Suspension of the player for the rest of the season, including playoffs.

                        2. . If steps are taken to stop further overuse and if the player is within 2% of overuse, (i.e. e-mail all                               managers to take player from the roster, stop further use of the player, notify league office, etc.) the                         team will lose a 4th Round Draft pick the following year. If the player is overused by 3% or more,                               part 3 of this rule will apply. If more than one player is overused, the manager will lose the next                               highest pick as well.  If four or more players are overused the manager will be expulsed from the                               league.

                        3. If no steps are taken to prevent overuse, or the player is overused by 3% or more as listed on part 2,                         the manager will lose the player entirely plus draft picks as stated in part two of this rule. The                               manager will also be placed on probation for the following season. Any further overuse of players the                       following season, no matter how slight, will result in immediate expulsion from the league.

                        4.   Special circumstances can allow the commissioner to reduce the penalties if deemed necessary.

            C.  INJURIES

                        1.  Injuries will be used but will only affect the series being played. Players will be given "REST" and                              injured players will be available for duty during the following series.  Prior to the start of each series                   the home team will select "Set off days, give each team 15 days rest".

                        2.  INJURED PLAYERS MAY BE SUBSTITUTED FOR BETWEEN GAMES.

 

14. SCHEDULE


            A.  Each team will play a 162 game regular season schedule.

                        1.  Each team will play 1 month on the schedule and the games must be completed during that "Play                              Month”. Deadline for Playing Games will be as posted on either Website or email notifications.

                        2.  Once all games are finished the rosters will updated for trades.

                        3.  Once the new rosters are sent out, each manager MUST send the computer manager, which will                               include the "Starter Schedules" for the upcoming play period.

                        4.  League games will be scheduled within the CD Rom game itself, but the actual day/time that these                    games are actually played, during each "Play Week" is left to the opposing managers.

                        5.  ALL games in each scheduled series MUST be completed by the end of the current "Play Month".                              League files for each successive "Play Months" cannot be released until all series from the previous                           month have been completed. Managers who are continually involved in late series will have their                         membership reviewed by the Commisioner, and may face expulsion from the league.

                        6.  ALL GAMES must be played between two human opponents. Under no circumstances are any                              league games to be played one manager vs. a HAL computer manager controlled team. Teams                              must immediately inform the Commissioner if they are unable to manage their teams during a                              current, or upcoming, "Play Month".

                        7.  Teams may elect to bring in their own Fill In manager. If the team is unable to supply their own "Fill-                      In" manager, the Commissioner will make arrangements for someone to step in and manage the                              team’s games. All results from games managed by Fill In managers are final and binding.

            *ANY MANAGER FAILING TO NOTIFY THE LEAGUE OFFICE THAT HE WILL BE UNABLE TO PLAY             HIS GAMES, AND FAILS TO DESIGNATE A FILL IN MANAGER IN TIME FOR THOSE GAMES TO BE              COMPLETED WITHIN THE DESIGNATED PLAY PERIOD WILL BE SUBJECT TO PENALTIES UP TO              DISMISSAL.

 

 

15. TRADES


            A.  Teams may freely trade players from a period immediately following the previous season's World Series up              to 3 days prior to the player draft.

            B.  Trades will be allowed during the draft as long as it does not slow down the draft process. All decisions as              to whether trades are allowed or discontinued during the draft, if problems arise, belongs to the                commissioner.  

            C.  Post season rosters players are eligible if they are on the roster August 1st, or the first day of the August                   play month

            D.  Trade and free agent request deadlines for the each "Play Period" is 48 hours prior the Game Deadline.

            E.  Teams may not make any trade that would place their current roster above the team roster limits. You may           however freely release players into the Free Agent Pool, in order to make room on your roster for a trade.                   (such a release does not void any contractual obligations, it only frees up a roster spot)

            F.  Trades must also fit within the salary limits imposed by the salary cap.  At no time may a team exceed the            78 million in roster obligations after assuming the contracts of all acquired players.*

*Cash may not be included in any trades, ie: no ones salary cap will ever be anything other than 75 million.

            G.  Once a player has been traded from a team, he will be ineligible to play for that team again for a period of                   one calendar year, UNLESS, said player has played for more than one other team, prior to being re-        acquired.

            H.  Draft picks may be included as part of a trade, but ONLY (3) DRAFT PICKS from the next years draft                   Rounds 1 - 5, may be offered as part of any trades.  NO draft picks may be traded for rounds 6 and                   beyond.

            I.   After a trade has been agreed upon, all parties involved must submit a trade proposal via email to every                  USBA franchise owner.  The trade will be reviewed by the Commissioner and the League President to                  ensure that no rules have been violated.  The Commissioner and the League President reserve the right to              ask for a league wide vote for any trade that appears to be overwelmingly one sided.  We will need for                  atleast (8) owners to agree that it so before we ask that the trade to be reworked.

            J.  Trades which have been "Approved" may only be rescinded if all of the managers involved in the trade                  agree to do so. 

            K.  At the conclusion of the current "Play Month", all "Approved" trades will become "Official, with the            Commissioner actually moving the players to their new teams prior to the release of the next months league           files.  All officially "Approved" trades will be posted on the USBA Forum as well as on a master sheet which             will be kept by the commissioner.

 

16. FREE AGENT POOL


            A.  All carded players who are not on a USBA roster, at the conclusion of the Free Agent/Rookie draft will be                  placed in the Free Agent Pool.

17. FREE AGENT ACQUISITIONS

            A.  Teams may acquire players via Free Agency from April 30th of the season until the trading deadline July                  31st. All Free Agent claims during the month will become active at the start of the next play period.

            B.  Teams may select FA’s 1 week prior to Games deadline for each upcoming play period.

            C.  Teams wishing to add a player from the Free Agent Pool, to their roster, must submit a claim to the        Commissioner.

            D.  Only ONE (1) Free Agent claim per team will be allowed per every PLAY PERIOD until July 31st, when two           (2) can be added. Two (2) Free Agents can be added on Aug 31 but will not be allowed on any post season                  roster.       

            E.  Free Agent claims must be accompanied by a tentative “release” if roster limits will be exceeded, before the            player can be added to a team’s roster.  *See Roster Limits for further, SECTION 4.A

            ANY TEAM THAT DOES NOT SUBMIT A “RELEASE” IF REQUIRED WILL HAVE ITS FREE AGENT             CLAIM IGNORED.

            F.  If any teams, with a worse record than the team originally making the claim, put in their own claim for a                  listed player, then the team with the worst overall record will have the player in question added to their                  roster, at the end of the current "Play Month".

            G.  Free Agent Claims deadline is the same as the game deadline. Only one free agent LIST WILL BE          ACCEPTED FOR EACH MONTHS FA PERIOD.

            H.  Once made, a Free Agent claim cannot be rescinded. Teams DO NOT retain the rights to players                   added via Free Agency. Players added via Free Agency must be released at the end of the current                   season. Free Agents picked up via Trade will be released into the Free Agent pool at the end of the year.

            NOTE:  Our rules state that a team is obligated to pay a contract as long as two conditions exist.  Player in                           question is NOT under contract* by another team, AND time still exists on the player in question                           contract.  *See Roster, Contract obligations, SECTION 4.A subsection 5

            I.  Free Agents will be paid full salary if acquired and will remain under the responsibility of signing team until                 traded or dropped and subsequently picked up. 

 

18. LEAGUE FILES


            A.  Required "Option" menu settings will be set by the Commissioner prior to league files being made available               each "Play Month". Managers are NOT to change any of these settings, unless requested to do so by the      Commissioner.

            B.  Managers are allowed to set the following options to his or her personal preferences: Offense and Defense                color, Play by Play Color, Play by Play Background and Sound.

            C.  Upon completion of each series, the Home team manager is required to email the Game Result and Print           Files to the Commissioner.  ALL FILES MUST BE MAILED TO THE COMMISSIONERS OFFICE             IMMEDIATELY UPON COMPLETION.

            D.  Receiving League Files:

                        1. League files for the current "Play Month" are to be available the Friday morning of the start of every                             play period.  These files will include: Roster, Stats and Print Files.

                        2.  After extracting the current league files, to their corresponding folders, the teams are required to run                       "SCHEDULE BATCH CHANGE" function in order to set your scheduled games to Manual, while                              setting all other games to "HOLD".

            E.  Submitting Files:


                        1.  From your cdrombb\export folder, select all the Game Result files that begin with "2004US", zip                              them, and name the Zip file as per USBA file naming conventions.

                        2.  Re-name the Print files, from the current series; located in your cdrombb\print\2004US folder, as per                        the USBA naming conventions, see below.

                        3.  Select the Print files, from the current series, in your cdrombb\print\2003US folder, and add them to                          the Zip file containing your Game Result files.

                        4.  E-mail the Zip file, containing your Game Results and Print files, to the Commissioner.

                        5.  Print Files: May 5 series NAN vs. POA folder will be labeled May5 NAN@POA. Individual game print                     files should be renamed as follows 050702 NAN@POA is for the May 7 game between Nantasket                             and Portland.

 

19. POST SEASON

 

            A.   Team rosters will be set when we begin play for the month of August in regards to the post                     season.


            B.   The playoff format will consist of two division winners and two wild card teams in each league.  The two                    division winners with the best record will have home field advantage in the first round.  At no time will a                   wildcard team have home field advantage.

            C.  Each post season series will be a best of 7 series, with the higher seeded teams having home field         advantage hosting games 1,2,6 and 7.  In the event that teams are tied, for purpose of determining home                  field advantage, tie breakers will be used in the following order:

                        1.  Head to head record

                        2.  Division record

                        3.  Total runs scored minus total runs allowed

                        4.  Coin flip

                  The World Series will be a best of 7 series, with the winner being crowned USBA Champions.  Home field            for the World Series will be determined with the team with the best season record having home field                   advantage. In no case will any wild card teams have home field advantage during the divisional or            conference playoff series. 

            D.  A Post season league will be created for the entire post season.  Injuries will be used during a series.                  The max a player may be injured in the playoffs is three (3) games.  Days off will be given between                  games 2 and 3 and games 5 and 6 for each post-season series. There will be a one (1) day break between               games 7 of each series and game 1 of the subsequent series. One (1) day off will be given and injuries will            not carry over from one series to the next.

            E.  Post Season Rosters Prior to the start of post-season play:

                        1.  Each participating team must name a 25-man play-off roster.  This roster will be used for a series                         and they may be changed the next series so long as the players changed meet the required playoff                         criteria.

            F.  PLAYOFF USAGE AND ELIGIBLES:

                        1.  Any player who meets the following conditions can be used in the playoffs as the owner see's fit:

                                    a.  STARTING PITCHERS:  MAY NOT START ON LESS THAN 3 or 4 DAYS REST depending                                    on whether pitcher has * associated.  Starter pitchers must have 80 innings and starter                               rating on his card.

                                    b.  POSITION PLAYERS:   Must have 125  plates appearance (at bats + walks). If the player                                          has a catcher rating on his card he needs to have only 60  plate appearances.

                                    c.  RELIEVERS:  Must have 25  innings and a relief rating on his card.

 

20.  MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS

            A.  Each USBA franchise will have a minor league system.  The minor league system will consist of twenty                  (20) players who will be uncarded with one exception.  The following rules will apply for each teams minor        league system:

                        1.  Each player protected on a teams minor league system can't be carded for that upcoming season,                            with one exception (listed in subsection c).  If that player is carded then that franchise has three (3)                          options;

                                    a.  Sign the carded minor league player to a contract for the base salary of $300,000.

                                    b.  Release the carded minor league player into the upcoming season's draft.

                                    c.  You may protect a carded minor league player only if he meets the following criteria:

                                                (1)  The carded minor league player can be protected in the minor league system if he                                                 has no more than thirty (35) at bats or fifteen (15) innings pitched.  The protected carded                                                 minor league player will count as one of the twenty (20) minor league players.

            B.  Each franchise will have the oppurtunity to replace each player that is either signed or released.  If nobody                  is signed each franchise can replace up to five minor leaguer's each season.  The exception to that is if any                                  franchise has more than five minor league players carded (signed or released) for the upcoming season,                 then he can replace each carded (signed or released) player up to the amount of twenty (20). 

                        1.  Examples:

                                    a.  If a franchise has twenty (20) minor league players that are uncarded for the upcoming                                         season, then he can replace five of those minor league players in the minor league draft, if                                         desired. 

                                    b.  If a franchise has two (2) players that are either signed or released because of being                                            carded, that owner can replace no more than three uncarded players and the two carded                                          players (For a total of five players). 

                                    c.  If a franchise has 5-20 players that are either signed or released because of being carded,                                          that owner can replace each player who was either signed or released.

            C.  Each franchise is allowed to have no more than (20) minor league players in their minor league system with      one exception.  If you pick up a minor league player in a trade during the previous season or off season and             your total number of players exceed (20), that will be permitted but you will need to reduce the number of             players in your minor league system to (20) prior to the start of the upcoming expansion draft.

21. LEAGUE OFFICERS
           

            A.  The USBA will have two League Officers: A Commissioner and a co-commissioner.  These two officers will       be responsible for running the day-to-day business of the USBA. These two positions are currently held by             Stephen O'Hare (Commissioner) and Gino Mello (Co-commissioner).

            B.  Responsibilities of the Commissioner:

                        1.  The Commissioner will be responsible for filling league openings, advertising such openings,                              interview interested candidates, and approve or deny membership applications.

                        2.  Prepare both the regular season, and post season, schedules and import those schedules into                              Master USBA files.  Build the Master Files for both regular season and post season.

                        3.  Determine the date/time and vehicle (email, chat, etc) for the yearly Free Agent/Rookie Draft/ Run                              the FA/Rookie draft lottery prior to each draft

                        4.  Receive Game Result and Print files from each USBA 'Play Week", import those files into the Master                              league files, and make these updated league files available to the league membership prior to the                    scheduled start of the next 'Play Week'.

                        5.  Furthermore the commissioner will maintain back- up copies of the Master League Files Review.

                        6.  Rule on grievances involving both AL and NL teams. 

                        7.  Arrange for "Fill In" managers when an owner is unable to manage his games for a particular 'Play                              Month', and cannot provide his own "Fill In" manager Review.

                        8.  Approve trades between AL and NL teams and make official all trades that have been approved.

            C.  Responsibilities of the co-commissioner:

                        1.  Review and approve trades made between USBA teams.

                        2.  Review, and rule on, grievances involving USBA teams.

                        3.  Make sure that leagues members are following the rules and procedures as set forth in the                                 Constitution. 

            D.  Rules Committee:

                        1.  The Commissioner and co-commissioner will collectively make up the USBA Rules committee and                       a unanimous vote is required to change any rules. No rules will be changed during a season, but any                       necessary rules interpretations be the sole responsibilies of the Commissioner and co-                                        commissioner.  All cases will be considered final and binding.