Proposal to Eliminate Minor League Pitching Rule Soundly Defeated

A discussion in the Mantle world chat about the minor league pitching rule that was put in place effective with season 21 led to a proposal that the rule be repealed.  The rule requires that all teams must keep healthy pitching staffs at all minor league levels.  The proposal to repeal the rule was put up to a vote, and has been soundly defeated.

Final voting results are as follows:

Yes (repeal the rule) - 8 votes (30.8%)
No (keep the existing rule in place) - 18 votes (69.2%)
No preference - 3 votes (not included)
Did not vote - 3

Results: DEFEATED - current rule to remain in place

According to Mantle world rules, this rule must remain in place for at least another three seasons, and cannot be considered for repeal again until season 36.

No Cash in Trades Before Rule 5 Freeze Rule Adopted

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

Cash in Trades Rule Adopted

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.

Final voting results are as follows:

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

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

Updated Win Minimum Rules Adopted

After a fair amount of discussion in the World Chat 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 as the first of the four seasons

Season 21 - Minimum Win Requirements

In season 19, we adopted a win minimum rule of 110 wins over a rolling two-season period. Season 20 was the first season that this took effect, so season 21 is where the rubber starts to meet the road. Nobody is in any grave danger of falling short, but the purpose of this post is to document the targets for each franchise for the upcoming season.

AL North

Detroit (repsher) - 16
Chicago (tomq) - 18
Scranton (tecwrg) - 23
Kansas City (rbedwell) - 32

AL East

Baltimore (reps) - 8
Durham (bertrand93) - 24
Pittsburgh (silentpadna) - 32
Buffalo (sir_slamalot) - 50

AL South

Richmond (dgtrache) - 9
Jacksonville (mbooker) - 30
Jackson (rwright) - 45
Charlotte (jmil397) - 48

AL West

Colorado Springs (brendanjod) - 26
San Francisco (evegoe) - 26
San Diego (ericsomsel) - 39
Scottsdale (MikeT23) - n/a *

NL North

New York (jonas1102) - 11
Minnesota (raidersfan) - 19
Milwaukee (battmann) - 39
Trenton (KGS77) - 40

NL East

Boston (neilg) - 9
Rochester (indiansrck27) - 20
New Britain (malewell) - 21
Washington (jmaese) - 30

NL South

Florida (welsh5) - 25
Little Rock (shanklsa) - 28
Oklahoma City (coneheads) - 40
Monterrey (drichter) - 48

NL West

Albuquerque (sculley) - 23
Oakland (goodtymes31) - 40
Vancouver (diryn) - 43
Sacramento (hbdgirl) - n/a *

* Please note that as first season owners, both Scottsdale (MikeT23) and Sacramento (hbdgirl) are not at risk from the MWR this season, but S21 is the first of their two rolling seasons.

Waiver Wire and Minor League Pitching Staff Rules Adopted

Two additional rules for Mantle World were proposed, voted upon, and adopted for implementation starting in season 21.  The two rules are described below:

1)  "Waiver Wire Rule" - 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.

2)  "Minor League Pitching Staff Rule" - 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.

Both rules passed by receiving over 60% of the votes cast (excluding any votes of "no preference").  They will start to be enforced during season 21.  Full voting results can be found at:

http://mantleworldhbd.blogspot.com/2010/07/proposed-rules-and-voting-results.html

As commissioner, I do not intend to actively police all 32 teams to ensure that these rules are constantly being enforced.  I am looking for other owners in the world to bring any perceived violations to my attention if and/or when they see violations occurring.  At that time, I will take over responsibility for addressing enforcement with the violating owner.

I will remind all owners of these rules at the beginning of each season.  I intend to also document these rules with the purpose of informing all potential incoming new owners of these rules in our recruitment thread in the "HBD Classifieds" forum.  Should we ever have the need to bring in a mid-season replacement, those owners will also be informed directly by me of these rules to make sure they understand the expectations.

Finally, concerning the "Minor League Pitching Staff Rule", I will consider extenuating circumstances because I know that sometimes "real life" gets in the way and we cannot be as attentive to our teams as we want.    As long as the explanation for violation seems reasonable, I will take that into consideration as part of the process.  However, blatant violation of the rule without a reasonable explanation will be subject to full enforcement of the rule as described above.

Minimum Win Rules Adopted

After a couple of weeks of voting, Mantle World has adopted a rule that mandates that a franchise must win a minimum of 110 games over two consecutive seasons, starting in season 20.  Failure to win 110 wins over two seasons will result in an owner leaving Mantle.

Owners who fail to meet the requirements and leave Mantle can be considered for reinstatement in Mantle after one season away, though there will be no guarantee that they will be able to return  or be able to take over the franchise of their choice.

Any replacement owner that comes in after the regular season has started will be exempt from the rule for that season only.  Any replacement owner that comes in before the regular season has started may be considered for exemption at the discretion of the commissioner.

The commissioner will send a sitemail at the beginning of each season to all owners reminding them of how many wins they need in the upcoming season to meet the minimum win rule requirements.  A copy of this sitemail will also be sent to WIS via a ticket as documentation of the rule in the unlikely event of an owner being unwilling to leave despite failing to meet the requirements.  Hopefully, that never happens.

"Win Minimum" Rule Defeated in Narrow Vote

Mantle World's first order of business after going private was to vote on whether or not we wanted to adopt a rule on minimum number of wins required in order for an owner to retain their franchise.

Commissioner tec instituted a voting policy that would require any world rule that was to be adopted would have to (a) receive at least 24 votes from current owners (in which the owners would vote either "yes", "no", or "no preference"), and (b) there would need to be at least 60% "yes" votes between the yes's/no's cast (i.e., the "no preference" votes would be excluded).

The results of the win minumum rule voting was:

Yes - 17 (56.7%)
No - 13 (43.3%)
No Preference - 2 (excluded)

So by a narrow margin of only one vote, adoption of a "win minimum" rule, starting in season 18, has been defeated. It will not be revisted again this season. It can be brought up again for discussion and voting again during season 18 (for adoption in season 19) if desired.