Monday, January 1, 2001

Commissioner's Challenge Award

I am proud to announce the "Commissioner's Challenge" award, which we will start in season 18. The award will be a $5 WIS gift certificate that will be awarded to the owner who has compiled the best record during the most recently completed season without making the playoffs. It's a reward for those owners who have done well, but may have fallen short of a post-season appearance. Hopefully, it offers teams something to play for late in the season if they've been eliminated from the playoff hunt.

Previous winners of the "Commissioner's Challenge" are listed below:

Season 20 - malewell, New Britain Blood Brothers, 89 wins (1GB a playoff spot)
Season 19 - rwright, Jackson Bootleggers, 89 wins (5GB a playoff spot)
Season 18 - mbooker, Jacksonville Seminoles, 87 wins (7GB a playoff spot)

Proposed Rules and Voting Results

1)  Win Minimums (season 17) - a proposed rule for whether "win minimums" would be put in place, such that failure to win a predetermined number of games over one or more seasons would result in forfeiture of a franchise for an owner

Yes - 17 votes  (56.7%)
No - 13 votes  (43.3%)
No preference - 2 votes  (not included)

Results: DEFEATED - can be voted upon again in season 18

2) Win Minimums (season 19) - a proposed rule for whether "win minimums" would be put in place, such that failure to win a predetermined number of games over one or more seasons would result in forfeiture of a franchise for an owner

Yes - 19 votes (73.1%)
No - 7 votes (26.9%)
No preference - 5 votes (not included)
Abstained - 1

Results: PASSED - rule to be adopted starting in season 20

3)  Win Minimum Rule (season 19) - after the Win Minimum rule in #2 was passed, a second vote took place to choose the actual rule to be adopted.  There were four options:
  • A) 50 wins in a single season
  • B) 110 wins over two seasons
  • C) 50/110 - wins over one and two seasons
  • D) 50/110/175 - wins over one, two and three seasons
An initial vote saw a tie between options B and D at 10 votes each.  A subsequent vote between the 12 owners who voted for other than B or D (or did not vote at all) was held to break the tie.  The final results were: B received 18 votes, and D received 10 votes.

Results: 110 wins over two seasons - rule to be adopted starting in season 20
NOTE: Changed in season 22 (see rule 6 below)

4) Waiver Wire Rule (season 20) - a proposed rule defined as follows:  After the trade deadline has passed, teams may have no more than 7 players on the waiver wire at any one time. This does not include players who have been released (who automatically show up on the waiver wire). This is for true waivers only. First violation will result in a warning. Second violation will result in being removed from the world.

Yes - 19 votes (63.3%)
No - 11 votes (36.7%)
No preference - 1 vote (not included)
Abstained - 1

Results: PASSED - rule to be adopted starting in season 21

5) Minor League Pitching Staff Rule (season 20) - a proposed rule defined as follows: Each franchise is expected to keep healthy pitching staffs at all minor league levels. If a violation is noticed, the owner will be given four days from notification to get their minor league staffs in order. If still not addressed, the owner will be on probation and if the problems are still not corrected after seven days, the owner will be removed from the world unless he can show that meaningful steps were taken to attempt to address the situation.

Yes - 19 votes (67.9%)
No - 9 votes (32.1%)
No preference - 3 votes (not included)
Abstained - 1

Results: PASSED - rule to be adopted starting in season 21

6) Updated Win Minimum Rule (season 22)  - after discussion that the original Win Minimum rules were too weak, and therefore ineffective, it was proposed that the rule be changed from 110 wins over two consecutive seasons to a four season rule of  55/120/185/260.   What this means is that there would be a minimum of 55 wins required each season. A minimum of 120 wins over any two consecutive seasons. A minimum of 185 wins over any three consecutive seasons. And finally, a minimum of 260 wins over any four consecutive seasons. Failure to meet these minimums would result in forfeiture of a franchise for an owner.

Yes - 21 votes (77.8%)
No - 6 votes (22.2%)
No preference - 5 votes (not included)

Results: PASSED - rule to be adopted starting in season 22, with season 22 being the first of the four seasons

7) Cash in Trades Rule (season 26)  - after some discussion in the World Chat concerning the inclusion of cash in trades, a common theme emerged in which many owners felt that the inclusion of cash that exceeded the amount of salary being received in a trade should not be allowed.  This was put up for a vote to formalize this as an official world rule, and has passed.

Starting in season 27, there should be no trades that include cash being sent to one team that exceeds the total amount of salary being received by that team.  Any such trade that is offered and accepted should be vetoed by the other 30 owners in Mantle.

Yes - 21 votes (75.0%)
No - 7 votes (25.0%)
No preference - 1 vote (not included)
Abstained - 3

Results: PASSED - rule to be adopted starting in season 27

8) No Cash in Trades Before Rule 5 Freeze Rule (season 29) - an accepted (and subsequently vetoed) trade during the pre-season in Mantle season 29 in which cash was being included in the deal at the start of the free agency period led to a fair amount of discussion in the world chat.  A number of owners felt strongly that cash being exchanged in deals at this particular point in the season was giving the receiving owners an advantage during free agency.  This led to a proposed new world rule which was put up for a vote, and has passed.

Starting in season 30, cash cannot be included in any trade before the Rule 5 freeze day.  Any such trade that is offered and accepted should be vetoed by the other 30 owners in Mantle.

Final voting results are as follows:

Yes - 15 votes (65.2%)
No - 8 votes (34.8%)
No preference - 5 votes (not included)
Did not vote - 4

Results: PASSED- rule to be adopted starting in season 30

Voting Procedures for Proposed Rules

Any proposed rule for Mantle World will go through the following procedures for voting upon:

1)  All voting will be done via WIS sitemail to the commissioner (tecwrg), and the voting timeline will be open for approximately one week.  An exact date/time at which voting will close will be specified for each proposed rule.  Owners can submit their vote at any time during the voting period but they also have the right to change their vote at any time while the voting period is open.  Their final vote will be the only one considered for the final outcome of the voting procedure.

2)  The voting period will NOT be closed early, even if all 32 owners have voted.  This allows for full opportunity for discussion via Mantle World Chat, and also provides owners the option of changing their votes if they see fit.

3)  In order for a proposed rule to be passed, at least 24 votes (75% of the current owners) need to be cast.

4)  Most rules will have three possible options for voting: "yes", "no", or "no preference".

5)  In order for a rule to be adopted, the rule needs to have a 60% acceptance by the voting owners. A vote of "no preference" (if it is one of the options) will not be included as part of the acceptance/rejection calculation. So if a question or rule is up for consideration, if all 32 owners vote, but 7 vote "no preference", then the question or rule will need 60% or the remaining 25 yes/no votes, or 15 yes's, to pass.

6)  If a rule is passed, it will be put in place starting with the following season.  A rule will never be passed and enacted either immediately or retroactively.  A rule that has been passed by the above procedure must stay in place for at least three seasons before it it eligible to be repealed.
 
7)  Repealing a previously adopted rule will go through the same procedure as described above.  As with adoption of a rule, a repeal of a rule must attain 60% of the vote to be repealed.
 
8)  If a proposed rule does not pass, and received less than 50% of all votes cast, it cannot be considered for voting again for at least three seasons.
 
9)  If a proposed rule does not pass, but received 50% or more of all votes cast, then it can be considered for voting again as early as the following season.  If it fails again a second time with over 50% of the vote, it must wait another two seasons before reconsideration for voting.