Article I - League Settings & Requirements

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Section A: League Premise
To represent the current atmosphere of MLB for GMs in a manner that works effectively with fantasy baseball while not making it overly complicated to play.  The league will be a free league on Fantrax.

Section B: GM Requirements
Item B I: GM Appointment
There are no prerequisites for entry into this league.  The official signup / waiting list provides candidates to be considered.  New GM appointments are made at the commissioner's discretion.  For existing ProFSL members, the basis of approval is judged by activity on the ProFSL forum, membership in other ProFSL leagues, experience, and reason for applying to FGM.  In the event the waiting list is empty or those waiting are not interested in the available team the Commissioner reserves the right to appoint a GM.

Item B II: Activity
As a GM in this league, there are five pillars by which participation will be measured:

• Participation in Free Agency - You must be an active member of the ProFSL forum as all transactions are decided by bidding on the Franchise GM boards.
• Setting lineups during the season in Fantrax
• Participation in the amateur draft - Voluntary auto draft or opt out is considered participation.
• Responding to PMs It is expected that GMs respond to all PMs from the commissioner or other GMs in the league (i.e. trade requests, etc.). All members are under a subjective 'contract' to all other Franchise GM members to respond to all inquiries and offers in a positive and timely manner. (See Etiquette below.)
• Logging in to ProFSL - The expectation is that Franchise GM members will log on to the ProFSL site at least once every 14 days (two weeks).

Penalty: This league uses a three strikes penalty approach.  Any GM who fails to meet any of these five pillars of participation, without prior communication, may be assessed a "strike."  You will receive notification that you failed to meet one of these expectations and may be asked to respond accordingly.  Any member who reaches three "strikes" may be relieved of his GM duties by the commissioner.

Etiquette
This league is meant to be fun and enjoyable.  It is certainly not expected that you put your life on hold to play in this league.  There are times when things come up that prevent us from having the time to put as much effort in as we would like.  In this league, we make every effort to mitigate that impact and provide ways to work around or through these things.  That said there are some points of etiquette to address:

• Activity: If you plan on going on a hiatus of any type (vacation, busy with work) please notify the commissioner ahead of time.  If we know there are issues or reasons, you will not be around, we can take the necessary steps to ensure your team is taken care of (auto draft, pms to address specific items).  The point is: Please communicate.  This makes it easier to work with these issues.

• Responding to PMs: Much like in our everyday lives, when someone comes up to speak with us, it is only in good manners to respond.  This is not an attempt to create more trades or transactions, but to generate a good community within the league.  News travels fast, and if you were to ignore a certain member, odds are other members will become aware of it.  Many of us are friends throughout the site, and keep in touch with all facets of Franchise GM and other leagues, including responsive and unresponsive GM's.
  
  If you do not like an inquiry or offer, a simple 'No thanks' is perfectly acceptable within a time frame of reason, rather than ignoring the message entirely.  Sometimes a member simply forgets to get back to someone, but a repeated lack of responses will be noticed and reported, subjective to the time frame and dialogue exchanged. 

• Resigning: There is no shame in having to step away.  Life is far more important than this game.  If things come up and you need to step away, please reach out and communicate this.  If you decide at some point you would like to come back, this communication will be a point in your favor when we consider your request.

The ultimate goal is to ensure that GM's are being positive members, and the league has 30 active GM's.  We want Franchise GM to be a stalwart of quality fantasy baseball, and I feel I speak for all of us when I say that our biggest goal is to have fun and enjoy some competitive fantasy sports.

Item B III: GM Transfers
FGM is designed for the long term development of it's franchises by dedicated ownership. When a GM position becomes open and a current GM requests to move into that opening, consideration will be given to those seeking to transfer based on a combination of the following criteria:

• Tenure within FGM itself (9 mo. minimum with current franchise)
• Success within FGM
• Desire to rebuild a less successful franchise
• Requested GMs stated favorite MLB team

Item B IV: Franchise Names
Your franchise name is tied to the actual MLB franchise.  If the team name changes, or the franchise moves to a different city, your team name must adapt.  In the event of contraction, your team name remains grandfathered unless you decide to take on a different franchise in MLB that may become open.

Section C: Rosters
Item C I: Roster Sizes

• MLB rosters will have no minimum and a 40 player maximum
• Minor league rosters will have no minimum and a 20 player maximum

Item C II: Lineups

• The lineups can be set daily.  Roster is locked 1 minute before games start.
• The scoring period is weekly, Monday thru Sunday
• Lineups consist of the following positions:
  
  • C (1)
  • CI (2)
  • MI (2)
  • OF (3)
  • Util (1)
  • SP (5)
  • RP (6)

Article I Update Log
Adopted 9/20/15

• Part 1 Discussion
• Part 1 Poll