Article X- Transactions

[BHows]

Section A- Trades
Item AX A-1.0 Definition
A trade in FGM is only considered legitimate after one teams posts the terms of the agreement and the corresponding team approves/confirms on the Transaction board.

Item AX A-2.0 Protocol
In order to be considered for approval by the TC the following information should be submitted:
1.) Names, positions and current contracts of players involved.
2.) Any existing Cash Exchanges held for players involved, if applicable
3.) Any new Cash Exchanges, if applicable.
4.) An explanation, from both teams, as to why the trade is being made.

Item AX A-3.0- Process
The procedure for processing trades can be found here: Item VI C-2.0 Trade Approval/Veto Process

Item AX A-4.0- Deadline
All trade proposals must be posted and confirmed by midnight on 7/31

Item AX A-5.0
Cash exchanges must follow a given player in a trade at all times.

Item AX A-6.0
Prospect signing bonuses remain with the original team if said prospect is being traded.

Section B- Free Agency
Sub-Section 1- FA Bidding
Item AX B(1)-1.0
Each player is auctioned in a separate thread at the ProFSL website that may be started by anyone.  There is no limit to the number of players that can be auctioned at one time or the number of bids for a player.  A bid on a player is considered final when it has been open for 72 hours.

Item AX B(1)-2.0
Bids are in format of total contract value. Note that the number of years does not need to be listed until the bid is won.  The resulting salary will be the final bid divided by number of years, rounded to the nearest $500k. The winning bid will be the highest total contract amount.  If the bid is less than $20m then contract can be valued in multiples of $500k.  If it is $20m or more then it must be in multiples of $1m.

Item AX B(1)-3.0
Players who are eligible for a prospect contract can have the bid (less $500k) turned into a guaranteed signing bonus.  Note that signing bonuses are 100% guaranteed and stay on the issuing team's books, regardless if that player is later traded.

Item AX B(1)-4.0 (Adopted 4/7/15)
Upon the expiration of the 72 hr. clock the winning bid will be modified to show the winning team and "Stickied" on the board. It is the responsibility of the GM who won the bid to declare the contract terms within 48 hrs.
If, after 48 hrs have expired, terms are not posted, the 2nd highest bidder has the OPTION to petition the league for the rights of the player. Should that option be declined, the player will be returned to the free agent pool.

Item AX B(1)-5.0
Free Agent signings, and players who are extended, cannot be traded until 60 days after they have signed.  This date will be shown per each player in the official rosters section.  In addition to our 60-day NTC rule, any players signed to extensions as well as FA contracts in the offseason cannot be traded until June 1st the following year.

Sub-Section 2- Off-season free agency (OFA)
Item AX B(2)-1.0
OFA begins at a set date and is no different than regular season free agency other than the dates positions open.  The exact dates will be posted in the league schedule.

Sub-Section 3- Compensation for losing a FA
Item AX B(3) 1.0
The following rules shall apply only to players lost during the OFA bidding period, and beginning in 2018, a player lost will be defined as a player who has been on a given team's roster for the entire season.

On December 18, 2016, a league referendum was passed by a majority of league members to have Franchise GMs compensation rule for lost free agents mirror the provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that was ratified by Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association on December 1, 2016.

The new FGM Compensation Rules for lost free agents are as follows:

For 2017:

1) Only one draft pick as compensation for a Type A free agent;
2) The elimination of Type B free agents;
3) Protection of 1st Round Picks for the top ten teams in the draft;
4) When a team loses a 1st Round pick, the team gaining the pick does not replace that team in the 1st Round.  Instead, the 1st Round is condensed and that pick becomes a part of the Compensation Round between the 1st and 2nd Rounds.  If the pick lost is protected (1-10), then the pick lost is the teams 2nd Round pick, or possibly a Compensation Round pick, whatever is higher.

For 2018 and subsequent years thereafter:

1: Continue one draft pick compensation for Type A free agents;
2: There shall no longer be any protection of 1st Round Picks for the top ten teams in the draft (since they are losing a later round pick);
3: Draft compensation would be a 3rd Round pick--which would be taken in the same spot as the team who signed the free agent would normally have.
4: Compensation would be tied to a player who has been on a team the entire season.
5: If a Type A free agent is signed to a contract of $52.0m, or more, then the team signing that player will give up their 2nd and 5th Round picks to the player's former team.

Adopted by unanimous consent, January 9, 2021
You are not prohibited from signing more than one Type A free agents. You would normally lose a 3rd round pick if one was signed for less than $52.0m, but since you are signing two for less than $52.0m, and getting two quality players, you would lose a 2nd Round and a 3rd Round pick.  The GM losing the Type A player to the highest contract would get the 2nd Round pick and the other GM would get the 3rd Round pick.  If the contracts were identical, then the higher pick would go to the GM with the lowest rank in the previous year’s standings.


FAs shall be either Type A or regular. 

Therefore, for Franchise GM, Type A FA are:
Top 6 C
Top 12 MI, CI
Top 15 OF
Top 30 SP
Top 6 RP (Revised by Rules Committee on August 28, 2015)

FAs are to be classified as Type A, B, or a regular FA.  Type A FA (as dictated by MLB is a player in the top 20% of their position).  Type B FA are the next 20%.

Therefore, for Franchise GM, Type A FA are:
Top 6 C
Top 12 MI, CI
Top 15 OF
Top 30 SP
Top 6 RP (Revised by Rules Committee on August 28, 2015)

Type B FA are:
7th - 12th ranked C
13th - 24th ranked MI, CI
16th - 30th ranked OF
31st - 60th ranked SP
7th - 12th ranked RP (Revised by Rules Committee on August 28, 2015)

Item AX B(3) 2.0
You are eligible to extra compensation if you lose the player.  If the player was a Type A FA, then you will receive the winning team's 1st round pick and gain a supplemental pick (After 1st round, before 2nd).  If that team's 1st round pick was protected (first half of 1st round) then you will instead receive two supplemental picks.  If the player was a Type B FA, then you will receive a supplemental pick.

Item AX B(3) 3.0
Order of supplemental picks is based solely on fantasy points scored in the previous season of each FA lost.  If one team wins bids on multiple Type A FA, then the player with the most points is the one that has a team receive the 1st rounder.  The other teams will receive two supplemental picks.

Sub-Section 4- FA Prospects
Item AX B(4) 1.0
Bids on players that may fall under prospect contracts work differently.  The prospect contract has its own set of rules at a league minimum salary.  Any amount over $0.5m is considered a signing bonus, and is on a team's books even if they release the player.  Signing bonuses are guaranteed money.

Sub-Section 5- Non-Compliance Penalties
Item AX B(5) 1.0
Upon winning a bid that sets a team over the cap, the GM is granted 24 hours to post the transactions that will make the cap work (either a trade or releasing players).  If the transactions are not valid or not posted within 24 hours of the bids being finalized, that team no longer receives the player.  If this is a first time offense, the GM is given a warning.  For all subsequent offenses, the team is penalized a 10% cap penalty for the current season.

Item AX B(5) 2.0
After such a failed bid, the player is offered to the 2nd highest bidder as outlined in Item AX B(1)-4.0 (Adopted 4/7/15).  If the 2nd highest bidder does not want to sign the player, he is returned to the free agent pool.  The offending team can no longer bid on that player, even if they clear up the cap space to do so.

Item AX B(5) 3.0
No exceptions are granted to teams that won the bid but had a trade fall through - if you're not certain you'll have room, make the trade first.  In other words, don't bid on a player you can't afford!  Note that this applies only to FA.  No trades can be completed that set a team over the cap - the trade must be re-worked.[/color]

Section C- Releases/Buyouts
Sub-Section 1- Releasing Players
Item AX C(1)-1.0
Any player dropped before the trade deadline still has part of his contract count against the cap in the following manner:  Current year: 90%, Next year: 60%, All future years after: 30%.

Item AX C(1)-2.0
If the player is dropped after the trade deadline, then the hit to the cap changes to 75%, 50%, 25%, respectively.

Item AX C(1)-3.0
The hit against the cap is rounded to the nearest $500,000.  Therefore, if it ends up being less than $250,000, the hit to the cap will be zero for that year.

Item AX C(1)-4.0
You may not bid on a player that you have released for a period of 30 days. After that period, if you resign a player, their original contract is restored, however, if the total value of the bid is larger than the previous contract, the difference will be converted to a signing bonus (to take effect after the 2022 season)

Item AX C(1)-5.0
Any player released under a prospect contract will not cause a hit to the cap.

Sub-Section 2- Contract Buyouts
Item AX C(2) 1.0
Money owed to a player released under contract may be financed through a contract buyout.  This is done by first releasing the player by using the aforementioned formula (Releasing Players). Then the remaining contract amounts are added together, multiplied by 1.1, and the total is rounded up to the nearest $0.5m.  This amount may be divided up any way you choose as long as the number of years is not more than what it was before AND that no salary owed in any year is more than an amount in a prior year.  I will use some current examples to highlight the effects of the buyout and its 10% tax.

Contract Buyout One time payment
SP Chacin, Jhoulys, $4.5m (2017)
2015 $4.5M- (75%) $3.5M CAP Hit for 2015
2016 $4.5M- (50%) $2.5M CAP Hit for 2016
2017 $4.5M- (25%) $1M CAP Hit for 2017

Take Jhoulys Chacin cap hits ($3.5 + $2.5 + $1) all this year. $7m total*1.1 = $7.7m rounded up to $8M

Jones, Andruw, Released Under Contract ($5m in 2009, $3m from 2010 to 2014)
Jones' salary hit doesn't fall under the 90/60/30 cap hit rules because these liabilities were inherited. The lump sum as of 2009 is $20m.  Applying the buyout tax of 10% ($2m), and the cap hit can be consolidated into $22m for 2009.

Now, the Dodgers don't have the room to take on such a hit, so what if they wanted to arrange something for 2010 instead of 2009?  I would vouch for an additional rule to say that when a cap hit is consolidated, it must start in the current year and not increase in any future years.  Also, the number of years of the buyout must be less than or equal to the number of years in the current cap hit.  Say the Dodgers only have $4.5m in cap room, but they wish to max that out for Jones' contract buyout.  Now, note that Jones already has a $5m cap hit in 2009, so that needs to be taken out of the equation.  They really have $9.5m in cap room without Jones' liability.

They may now divide the $22m liability in a myriad of different ways as long as it does not go beyond 2014 and is never increasing from one year to the next...

    $9.5m, $9.5m, $3m
    $9.5m, $8m, $4m
    $8m, $7m, $7m
    $7m, $6m, $5m, $4m
    $6m, $5m, $4m, $4m, $3m


The point of consolidating the cap hit is to relieve your team from liabilities in future years, so I imagine the first option would be taken.  Let's do another example with Carlos Silva, formerly of the Seattle Mariners.

Silva, Carlos, Released under contract (2012 option not exercised), $7m in 2010, $3.5m in 2011, $11m in 2009
The lump sum is $21.5m (10% is $2.15m, rounded up to $2.5m), so the buyout lump sum is a whopping $24m.  With no room under the cap, a buyout isn't possible for 2009.  The team will have to wait until the offseason, so they can arrange a 2010 buyout.  Assume the Mariners have tons of cap room in the 2009-2010 offseason, so they arrange this buyout as one of the top priorities.  The lump sum is now $10.5m (10% is $1.05m, rounded up to $1.5m), so the buyout lump sum is $12m.  They may decide to take it all in 2010, or split it between 2010 and 2011 where the 2010 cap hit is not less than the 2011 cap hit.

Another example with a mid-market team that has some room under the cap for 2009...

Riske, David, Released Under Contract, $2.5m in 2010, $4m in 2009
The Brew Crew is $5.5m under the cap, but without Riske in the situation, they are $8m under the cap.  The lump sum for Riske's contract is $6.5m (10% is $650k, rounded up to $1m), so the buyout lump sum is $7.5m.  They may opt to consolidate the cap hit into 2009.[/color]

Section D- International Signees
Item AX F-1.0
International signees (including those in the July signing period) are subject to the normal in-season FA rules. See Section B- Free Agency, Sub-Section 1- FA Bidding above.

Item AX D-2.0
An International player is defined as any player who is not eligible to be drafted in the MLB Rule 4 amateur draft.

Item AX D-3.0
International players are not eligible to be bid on or signed until they have signed with a MLB team and have a page on Baseball Reference.  A link to another source confirming their signing, should be submitted with the bid. Fantrax will not add the player unless their Baseball Reference page is submitted.

Adopted 11/10/15
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