Rules Page
The Rules page defines the select league's set of core rules. The Rules page is divided into six sections, described below.
Designated Hitter Rule
If the Designated Hitter Rule box is selected, then the selected subleague will use the designated hitter rule. This rule allows teams to have a player other than the pitcher take a place in the batting order, resulting in greater offensive output. In leagues that use the designated hitter rule, pitchers do not bat.
Roster Rules
The Roster Rules section defines how rosters are handled in the selected league. See Roster Rules and Management for more information about rosters in OOTP.
Option | Description |
Age Minimum | The minimum age for players on this roster. Players under this age cannot be placed on rosters in this league. Set to 0 for no age minimum. Note: Age limits are checked on the first day of the offseason. |
Age Maximum | The maximum age for players on this roster. Players over this age cannot be placed on rosters in this league. Set to 0 for no age maximum. Note: Age limits are checked on the first day of the offseason. So, you could have a player who is over the age maximum for part of the season. |
Active Roster Size | The maximum number of players allowed on each team's active roster. Players who are not on the active roster are not eligible to play in the team's games. A league's active roster can have between 15 and 50 players. See Active Rosters for more information. |
Foreign Players Limit | The maximum number of foreign players allowed on the active roster of each team. A foreign player is defined as any player not from the League Nation defined for the league. The foreign player limit can be between 0 and 10 players. Teams can have as many foreign players as desired on nonactive rosters. |
Expanded Roster Size | The maximum number of players allowed on each team's active roster after the Roster Expansion Date. Typically, leagues will allow expanded rosters late in the season. Expanded Roster Size can be between 15 and 70 players. Expanded rosters can be disabled. See Expanded Rosters for more information. |
Roster Expansion Date | The date on which expanded rosters become effective. Rosters return to normal size on the first day of the playoffs. See Expanded Rosters for more information. |
Secondary (40-Man) Roster Size | The Secondary (40-Man) Roster Size defines the number of players allowed on each team's secondary roster, which can be between 25 and 70 players. Secondary rosters can be disabled. See Secondary (40-Man) Rosters for more information. Note: Even if you set your secondary roster to a number other than 40, some pages might still refer to the '40-man roster.' |
Minimum Days of Service for One Service Year | The number of calendar days a player must be on a team before he accumulates one 'service year.' Service Years impact free agency for players. See Service Time for more information. |
Waiver Period Length | The number of days a player must remain on waivers before he 'clears waivers.' This time can be between 1 and 30 days, or waivers can be disabled. See Waivers for more information. |
DFA Period Length | The number of days a player must be 'designated for assignment' before the assignment is completed. This time can be between 2 and 30 days, or DFA can be disabled. See Designated for Assignment (DFA) for more information. |
Minor League Option Years | If this box is checked, the league will use minor league option years. See Minor League Option Years for more information. |
Disable Right to Refuse Minor League Assignment | If this box is checked, players will no longer have the right to refuse minor league assignment. This option is typically only required in online leagues where the commissioner wishes this ability. |
Rule 5 Draft | If this box is checked, the league will have a Rule 5 Draft. See for more information. |
Trade Rules
The Trade Rules section of this page establishes league rules for trades.
Option | Description |
Player Trades | If this box is checked, players can be traded within the league. |
Trading Deadline Date | The date after which all players must clear waivers before completion of a trade. |
Trades with Other Major Leagues | If this box is checked, players can be traded to other parent leagues. Otherwise, trades can happen only within the selected league, if allowed at all. |
| Allow trading of recently drafted players | If this is unchecked, then players with less than a full year of pro service who were recently drafted cannot be traded. This is the so-called "Incaviglia Rule" from professional baseball. (This is new in OOTP 9.1.2.) |
Allow Draft Pick Trading | If this box is checked, teams can trade draft picks in the upcoming first-year player draft to other teams. Only the upcoming draft's picks can be traded. |
See Trading for more information on trading in OOTP.
Historical Rookies Options
The Historical Rookies Options section affects the treatment of rookies in historical leagues. If you are not using a historical league, there is no need to touch these settings.
Option | Description |
Automatically Import Historical Rookies | If this box is checked, each year the actual rookies from the historical database will be imported into your league automatically. Note: If you want historical rookies to be assigned to the same teams they played for in real life, you must disable the first-year player draft, described in the Amateur Draft Rules section below. The rookies will be imported on the first day of the preseason. If you do not do this, all historical rookies will be dumped into the first-year player draft pool. |
Database Path | During game creation, this area displays the text 'Please set after game has been created!' When you access this page through the Game Setup option later, the database path will be set to whichever directory stores your historical database. If you have moved your historical database, or if you didn't use a historical database during game creation, you can enter a new path here. Warning! If the historical database is moved or deleted without correcting this value, your game will be unable to continue! |
Note: If you are importing historical players, you might want to schedule your first-year player draft between October and November. Otherwise your rookies might make their major league debuts a year earlier than you expected.
Amateur Draft Rules
The Amateur draft rules establish league rules concerning first-year player drafts.
Option | Description |
Amateur draft | If this box is checked, an amateur player draft will be held each year in the league. Note: If this option is deselected, the game will create fictional free agents during each offseason, so that teams do not run out of players. |
Amateur Draft Date | The date on which the first-year player draft will be held. |
Amateur Draft Number of Rounds | The number of rounds in the first-year player draft. This value can be between 1 and 50 rounds. |
Generate Players for X Rounds | This option allows you to define how many rounds' worth of players you want to generate. By default, the game will generate just enough players for all teams to draft in each round. This gives you the ability to create more or fewer players than necessary. This value can be between 0 and 150. |
Amateur Draft Pool Reveal Date | By default, the annual draft pool is revealed one month prior to the first-year player draft date. However, this option allows you to customize this value. It can be set anywhere between 5 and 75 days before the draft, in increments of 5 days. This option is most commonly used in online leagues, where first-year player drafts typically take place over a longer period of time. |
See First-year Player Drafts for more information.
Note: If you elect not to have a first-year player draft, and your league does not have free agency enabled, OOTP will create a number of young players before each offseason and dump them into the free agent pool, so that the league can still have some influx of talent.
Note: Affiliated leagues never have first-year player drafts. Affiliated leagues receive players directly from their parent leagues. Any parent league might or might not have an first-year player draft.
Financial Rules
The Financial Rules section sets up the financial model to be used in the league. See the Financial Model for more information on finances in OOTP.
Option | Description |
Average Attendance per Game | The average attendance per game in the league. This figure is used as a baseline to determine attendance figures for each team. |
Average Ticket Price | The average ticket price in the league. Some team owners might set prices higher or lower. |
Away Team's Gate Share | Percentage of ticket sales revenue at the home team's ballpark that is paid to the away team. |
Financial System | If this box is checked, the league has a financial system. If unchecked, the entire financial model will be disabled for this league. |
Minimum Service Years for Free Agency | The number of service years a player must accumulate before becoming eligible for free agency. Can be between 1 and 12, or free agency can be disabled. See Free Agency for more information. |
Allow Free Agents from other Leagues | If this box is checked, free agents from other leagues can be signed to play in the selected league. If unchecked, players from other leagues cannot be signed. See Free Agency for more information. |
Allow Free Agents to leave League | If this box is checked, free agents from this league can sign with teams in other leagues. If unchecked, free agents cannot sign with teams from other leagues. See Free Agency for more information. |
Draft Pick Compensation for Lost Free Agents | If this box is checked, teams get draft picks as compensation for players lost during free agency. See Draft Pick Compensation for Lost Free Agents for more information. |
Minimum Service Years for Salary Arbitration | The number of service years a player must accumulate before becoming eligible for salary arbitration. Can be between 1 and 5, or salary arbitration can be disabled. See Salary Arbitration for more information. |
Minimum Service Years for Minor League FA | The number of service years a player must accumulate before becoming eligible for minor league free agency. Can be between 1 and 12, or minor league free agency can be disabled. See Minor League Free Agency for more information. |
Average Media Contract | The average media contract in the league, in dollars. Media contracts affect team income. |
Media Contract Fixed? | This option determines whether media contracts in the league are fixed, or can change. Contracts can either be equal for each team, or they can vary based on team market size. |
Salary Cap | Sets a cap on team salaries. Total team salaries must be below this figure. The computer will disallow any contract offer or trade if it would put a team over the salary cap during the current year or the following year. An entry of $0 means there is no salary cap. Note: If you create a game with a salary cap already turned on, be aware that the initial salaries generated by the game will not necessarily fall under the cap. Since player salaries are generated based on the player salary averages in the league setup, it might be best to play with the player salary averages a bit before assigning a specific salary cap. |
Team Owner Controls Budget? | Determines whether or not the team owner controls the budget. Either the team owner controls the budget, and the general manager has limited use of money, or the team's entire revenue is available to the general manager. |
Revenue Sharing | Determines whether or not the league uses revenue sharing. Either there is no revenue sharing, or any cash in a team's treasury above the Cash Maximum (see below) is shared between all teams. The revenue sharing calculation takes place on the first day of the offseason. Revenue sharing works as follows: At the end of the season, all profits that would put any team above the Cash Maximum are put into a pool. This pool is then divided evenly among all teams that had a financial loss. |
Cash Maximum | The maximum amount of cash a team is allowed to have at the end of the season. If revenue sharing is turned on, surplus is shared between other teams. If revenue sharing is turned off, excess cash is lost. Cash Maximum is calculated on the day the offseason starts. |
Average Scouting Budget | The average scouting budget for teams in this league. See Scouting for more information. |
Option | Description |
Average Coach Salary | The salary of an average coach or staff member in the league. (This is not the average salary, it's the salary for a coach who has average ratings.) |
Minimum Player Salary | Minimum player salary in the league. All players who have a major league contract receive at least this amount. |
Player Typical Salary (multiple) | These settings establish the typical salary figure for players of differing caliber. These values are used by the computer in a number of areas of the game, such as computer GMs determining contract offers and players assessing the value of an offer. The eight categories of players are superstar, star, good, above average, average, below average, fair, and poor. |
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