Timelines
This is the basic breakdown of deadlines for each season,
subject to change:
|
Date: |
Action: |
|
January |
Off-season
redistribution draft for
returning leagues |
|
January - March |
Startup draftor new leagues as they fill |
|
January - March
|
Off-season
transactions |
|
March |
Signup for new
leagues ends |
|
April |
Payment due |
|
April |
Regular season
begins |
|
September |
Deadline for
owners to indicate they are returning for the next
season. |
|
October |
Playoffs |
|
October - March |
Find new owners
for Orphan Teamsin
existing leagues. |
|
November |
Signup for new
leagues begins |
|
November |
Salaries posted
for next season |
|
November |
Two-week off
season trading period. |
|
December |
Early-payment
discount for next season ends |
|
December |
Returning teams
submit carryover rosters |
|
December |
New players added
for next season based on 40-man rosters. |
Entry Fees and Prizes
The cost for a season of Benchwarmer Baseball is $55.
Entry fees go toward costs for the web site, stat services,
and potentially post-season rewards. It also helps to cover
the great amount of labor behind the game.
The charter league of Benchwarmer Baseball, the Hall of
Fame League, has a lower entry fee.
Multi-team discounts are available. Each team beyond the
first gets a $10 discount.
In future seasons, a non-refundable deposit may be
collected toward the end of summer from owners who intend to
return for the following season.
Group Pricing
Benchwarmer Baseball also offers special pricing
discounts for owners who want to join as a 4-team division,
8-team conference, or a full 16-team league. See the web
site or contact BWB for more details on price and
availability. A single owner will be responsible for paying
the package price. The teams in the package must remain
grouped together and in the same position within the league
as they originally joined. No additional discounts will be
provided for the group – including the free team for the
league champion (although free extra teams in additional
leagues will be available for post-season tournament
winners).
As a point of clarification, League packages do not get
an extra free team for the league champion (the package
price includes 6 free teams). However, Conference or
Division packages will get a small discount for league
championship teams. A conference package will receive a $10
discount if the league champion comes from that conference
and a division package will receive a $20 discount for any
league champs. If any prize winners from the Benchwarmer
Bash come from a package, whether it is league, conference,
or division, that league will receive a $30 discount for the
seasons covered by Bash prizes.
While an exception or two was provided in 2008, bonus
Orphan teams that may be given away to new owners cannot be
used for Orphans that are part of a package.
Owners who join as a package may have some input on the
league naming. Groups who join as a full league will also
have the option of running their own drafts outside of the
BWB process.
Prizes
There are no cash prizes for this league. Currently, the
reward for division and playoff titles is a hearty "Well
done!" and a virtual slap-on-the-back. Cash prizes would
mean a higher entry fee, plus a higher level of scrutiny on
transactions and other moves that doesn’t exist today in a
game played “for fun.”
However, the league champion will get his/her team for
free for the next season, plus the opportunity to play for
free for one season with an Orphan team in another existing
league or a team in a brand new league.
Teams that win the other postseason tournaments – the
Gore Cup and the Bottom Feeder Open – will be allowed to
pick up an Orphan/new team for the next season for free.
There is a final tournament in the post season that
includes all the league champions – the Benchwarmer Bash.
The winner of the tournament will get their team for free
for two additional seasons and the runner up will get one
free year.
Referral Bonus
Owners - new and returning - who refer additional new
owners to Benchwarmer Baseball will receive a bonus for each
paid new team (amount subject to change). To avoid the
hassles of refunds, if an owner has already paid, the bonus
will generally be applied for the next season. If the team
making the referral is already playing for free, the bonus
will automatically be carried over to the next season.
The referral bonus is only provided for one season and is
not applicable if the "new owner" is a previous member of
Benchwarmer Baseball. The referral is applied only once per
owner (or co-owners), regardless of how many teams they
purchase.
Late Payment of Entry Fees
Currently, BWB requires new owners of new teams to pay before
drafting. On the other hand, returning teams may conduct
off-season business before payment and existing owners who
pick up new teams can start up before paying their fees. We must, however, try to
encourage payment by means other than the early payment
discount. Thus, if you do not pay by certain times, there
will be roster penalties:
|
If entry fee is not received by: |
You may not... |
|
Week Three deadline (4/18/08)
(Note, this is modified from the usual Week 1 date). |
Make roster changes (signings,
drops, trades, contract extensions). |
|
Week Five deadline (5/2/08) |
Make roster changes or lineup
changes (batting order, pitching rotation, etc.) |
|
Week Ten deadline (6/5/08) |
Continue to own your team.
Benchwarmer Baseball will take control of the team and
find a replacement owner. |
Once payment is received, full rights are restored.
If you need more time, please contact BWB and we can work
something out. The idea is to not string out the
process all summer.
At any time, if the league office considers the owner has
abandoned the team, it reserves the right to take over the
team before the Week 10 deadline and find a new owner. This
will occur if repeated attempts to contact the team fail
and/or it is evident that no actions are being taken on the
team's behalf or the owner is not logging in to the web
site.
Terminology
Throughout this rules manual the following terms will be
used – hopefully on a consistent basis:
- Players: refers to Major League players, not
participants in the BWB Game.
- Owners: refers to participants in Benchwarmer
Baseball.
- Teams: may also be used interchangeably to
refer to participants in the game.
- Week: 6 games in the Benchwarmer Baseball
Season
- Series: All series during the regular season
are 3 games.
- Opening Day: Unless otherwise noted, this
refers to the Week 1 transaction deadline for Benchwarmer
Baseball, not the first major league game of the season.
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