SimLeague Baseball will be down from 8:00 AM ET to approximately 6:00 PM ET on Wednesday, October 14th so we can release a significant update.

No games will be simulated on 10/14/2009. LIVE will be closed all day and turned back on at 8:00 AM ET on 10/15/2009.

A developer chat has been scheduled for this Friday at 2:00 PM ET. Questions may be asked in advance.

The feature list for the update includes:

• 2009 Players and Teams
• Normalized fielding
• Able to view and filter relative range factor, normalized fielding percentage and catcher caught stealing percentage in the player search
• Corrections to log5 values in player search where lower is better (think OAV#, etc.)
• New salary formula (adjustments for pitcher hitting, normalized fielding percentage, hitter/pitcher balance, catcher Arm, etc.)
• Adjustment to the Tournament of Champions payout to a $150 - $50 - $25 - $25 structure
• New minimum 1,250 IP/162 and 5,000 PA/162 for non-theme leagues. These will be enforced at the time of draft, waivers and trades.
• A cap on plate appearances per game will be introduced so only the first 6 PA in a game will count toward seasonal fatigue
• Improvements to the +/- distribution
• New theme commish page (with CSV) including actual stats of all players in league by team to help with policing and verifying teams
• Player name and season broken apart into two columns on several pages to help with CSV exporting
• Progressive League Play: first year players are now eligible for the ROY
• Progressive League Play: new career totals and career leaders to Team Stats and League Leaders
• Progressive League Play: new page for career team and owner records
• Lineup page now maintains attempted settings rather than reset to active after a failed save
• Addition of pitcher HR/9# to player search

We had to cut two items (triples distribution and adjusted fatigue effects). They will be rolled in during the next few weeks.

Normalized Fielding:

The biggest change in the update is how we handle fielding percentage. Up until this point, we have always used the raw fielding percentage (unless the player appeared in fewer than 20 games at a position).

As most of you know, fielding percentages have improved over time due to better equipment, better official scoring, better fields, etc.

We have decided to use the same method we use elsewhere to address normalized fielding, namely the Log5 algorithm. Four factors will be taken into consideration:

* Fielder's raw fielding percentage (adjusted downward if he played in fewer than 20 games at the position)
* The league average at the position for that fielder's season
* The league average at the position for the batter's season
* The league average at the position for the pitcher's season.

Each player has a "normalized" fielding percentage in the Player Search. It is based on the fielder, his league average, and the historical average at the position. This is the same way we represent our other normalized values (OPS#, ERA#, etc.)

The fielding percentage portion of the Fielding grade is now based on this normalized fielding percentage. This is also what's used in the new salary formula.

Normalized Fielding (cont'd):

Here are a few examples:
2009 Jason Bartlett, SS: 0.962
2009 SS average: .973
Pitcher from 1957: .9609
Batter from 1887: .871
Result: 0.9419

Barlett drops because he's below the league average and because the league average of both the pitcher and hitter are lower than his season's average.

1905 Honus Wagner, SS: .935
1905 SS average: .0.931
Pitcher from 1957: .9609
Batter from 1887: .871
Result: 0.928

Wagner drops a very small amount. He's better than his league average, but the disparity between the batter's league average and the pitcher's league average is stronger, so it results in a small dip.

1905 Honus Wagner, SS: .935
1905 SS average: .0.931
Pitcher from 2005: 0.97399
Batter from 1991: 0.968765
Result: 0.9615

Wagner improves, because the league average for both the pitcher and hitter are better than his league average, and he's slightly better than the league average.

Normalized Fielding (cont'd):

After you read this a couple times, some immediate strategies probably come to mind. We have thought them through and believe the pros and cons wash each other out.

For instance -- draft a bunch of deadballers to drag down your opponent's defense. Sure, but you'll have a team yourself that has poor defense and no power.

It's an interesting concept, but we truly believe it improves the game.

Also, generated prospects will NOT be normalized. They will continue to use their raw rate.

+/- Distribution:

Another significant chance is the improvement to the +/- distribution model.

Each position should now see a similar range of good and poor plays. Previously, CF was seeing a bunch and the rest were not.

The system targets +30 and -30 for the best and worst historical fielders over a season with the normal rate of opportunities.

What Impacts Who?

Open leagues (open, career and champion) without schedules as of 8:00 AM ET on 10/14 will be returned to the draft center. These rosters will be updated to reflect the new players (salary, fielding grades, etc.) Theme league commissioners can choose to return teams to the draft center or keep things as they are.

Leagues and TOCs with the first game of the season prior to 10/14/2009 will NOT be impacted by the Min IP/PA restriction, the normalized fielding percentage change, or the 6 PA/game cap. All other leagues/TOCs will be impacted.

TOCs that started prior to 10/14/2009 will NOT be impacted by the change in prizing. All other TOCs will.

Questions

If there are any questions regarding any of this, please ask it here and we will respond the rest of the day.

Please do no post general comments here, only questions. We want to keep this thread clean.

Thank you!

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Quote: Originally posted by wonker on 10/13/2009QUESTIONtz,I have a theme league that is ALMOST full.  Have read that open leagues with available spots remaing will have all teams returned to their owners draft centers for resubmission into a league, but that theme league commishes will have the option of NOT disbanding the league.How, when and/or where will that option appear and how do we make sure that theme leagues are not dumped with the update tomorrow?Thanks!

We will definitely NOT be dumping any theme leagues.

If you choose to do nothing, the the teams will stay as they are (as in salaries will not change). But when the season begins, the first game will be after 10/13 so the update changes will be in play (normalized fielding, 6 PA/game cap).

As commish, you can disband the theme league if there aren't too many teams in it. Otherwise, you can ask each owner to return themselves to the draft center and then re-enter the league. Once they have all done so, you can return yourself and re-enter. When a team is returned to the draft center, the salaries are automatically updated to the new player values.

Quote: Originally posted by lvspirits on 10/13/2009Question--I am currently in the process of drafting a new team in an OPEN league. Am I correct in that if I do NOT have 1250 IP and 5000 Plate Appearances, the team WONT be drafted? In other words, when you go over $80 million, you cant create a team. Will the 1250/5000 work the same way?

If it's a non-theme league, that is correct. You will not be able to enter a team into a league if the minimum requirements are not met.

Quote: Originally posted by Ox on 10/13/2009Why does the league fielding percentage average of the batter and pitcher's season have any impact on how well a player fields?  This would mean that a fielder would field better behind Roger Clemens than Walter Johnson.  And if Ty Cobb came up to bat suddenly all of the fielders would be much worse than if Barry Bonds is batting.  That doesn't seem to make any sense.  Why isn't fielding just normalized based on the league average that year vs. historical average?And, even though this aspect doesn't make any logical sense to me, are pitchers and hitters going to be priced on their effect on the defense behind them or the opposing defense?  Or else, there are going to be teams of deadball hitters and modern pitchers because they will be getting a free advantage by making the opposing fielders worse and their's better.

Good questions (ones we dealt with internally).

Comparing the fielder only to his league average doesn't do much because the player is already better/worse compared to the average. For instance, a .980 SS from a season with an average of .970 is already better than the average.

More inputs are needed to make it a true system. The batter and pitcher are the other inputs, even though it's odd to think they would be involved in the decision as to whether the fielder makes an error or not.

Try to think about it another way: the fielder is playing a game with players from different eras and all the eras have to be represented. A deadball pitcher currently suppresses homers because during his era there weren't many homers. But, his era had low fielding percentages. This system now reflects that. Spun the other way, pitchers today give up a bunch of homers but have good defense behind them. Throw Clemens on the mound with a bunch of 1890 fielders and he'll give up more homers but the defense will improve. It's meeting closer to the middle of all parties involved.

For the other question, there are pros and cons to these strategies. While you can pull the opposition down or your own defense up, it comes at a cost as you're also incurring the penalty.

Quote: Originally posted by sheller on 10/13/2009re. progressive league ROY - If the league is progressing with one season (say 1918) and regressing with another (say 1988), so it's using players from 1918 (progressing) and 1988 (regressing), will retirees from the regressing year also be eligible for ROY honors?

That is not something we covered, no. It's only for first year players.

Quote: Originally posted by wonker on 10/13/2009If SIM baseball is down on Wednesday, will we still have access to the forums?Participating in an ongoing draft and need to know if we will be making selections on Wednesday.

Yes, you will have access to the forums and the rest of the site. Only the SimLeague Baseball, SimMatchup Baseball and LIVe will be down.

Quote: Originally posted by houseofbayne on 10/13/2009As far as the PA and IP requirements being introduced, once the season starts...1. Are these minimums calculated by all of the real players on your roster whether you have them in the majors or minors?  Do WIS issued AAA players have any impact on those minimums?2. At the transaction deadline, would this mean that one would have to have at least a real player sum of 1250 IP and 5000 PA on your active roster before being able to carry WIS issued AAA players on the major league roster?Thanks for the answers!

The totals to go against the minimums are all non-prospects, whether they are in the majors or AAA. Generated prospects do not count against the minimums.

This same rule is active the entire season, before and after the deadline.

Remember, this rule is only for non-theme leagues.