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sbrylski · 06-18-2011, 09:20 PM

The International Baseball Association - A Quick-Start League

The "International Baseball Association" is a fictional league set in the near future, in which club teams from the best baseball leagues around the world are organized geographically into dynamic, hierarchical divisions. While division titles are revered (especially at the Premier level) and a progression towards the top of the gamut is the long-term goal of all teams, the most sought after award is the "(name pending)", which is awarded annually to the champion of the International Club Tournament in autumn.

Layout

HIGHER RESOLUTION LINK

The globe is broken into two conferences, the American Conference and Asian Conference. Three divisions from each conference play in the International Circuit, although during the regular season there is no inter-conference play.

The lowest two American divisions play in the American Circuit. This circuit is not necessarily less in stature than the foreign divisions, however these "bottom sixteen" American teams are not eligible to qualify for the International Club Tournament. Instead, these clubs participate in a separate, post-season domestic tournament.

ALTERNATIVE: All five divisions in the American Conference play in the same circuit. Advantages: Increased simplicity. Drawbacks: Crowded schedule, loss of the domestic postseason.

International Club Tournament

Qualification: The top four (of six) teams of both the American and Asian Premier divisions form the top eight seeds of the ICT as designated on the chart above. The top two teams of the non-premier divisions (American, Caribe, Nippon, Korean) round out the bottom eight seeds, again as designated on the chart above.

Structure: The seeding is designed such that the first round of the tournament will consist of intra-conference matchups, and all quarterfinals matchups will be inter-conference matchups. The aforementioned series will be best-of-five, while the semifinals and title series will be best-of-seven.

American Club Tournament

The winners of the Eastern and Western division are awarded the first and second seed in the tournament. The next six wildcard teams will fill out the eight team field. The first round of the ACT will be a best-of-five series, and the semifinals and title series will be best-of-seven.

Promotion/Relegation

There are four regions of teams: American, Caribe, Nippon, and Korean. Each team can only be promoted or relegated to either their conference's Premier Division, or to a lower division of their team's region. This means that some divisions will fluctuate in numbers each season by one or two.

Regular season standings from the prior season will determine which teams are promoted to a higher division and which teams are relegated to a lower division.

Premier Divisions - Bottom two teams are relegated to the division of their region.
Caribe, Nippon, and Korean Divisions - Top team is promoted to the Premier Division.
American Division - Top team is promoted to the Premier Division. Bottom two teams are automatically relegated to the American Circuit. The third-to-last team is relegated if a third team in the American Circuit earns a promotion. Teams in the Eastern Time Zone are automatically placed in the Eastern Division, teams in the Pacific Time Zone are automatically place in the Western Division, and other teams are placed to best balance out the two divisions.
American Circuit - The regular season winner of both the Eastern and Western Divisions earns a promotion. The winner of the American Club Tournament also earns a promotion, if that team did not also win one in the regular season.

Finances

Media contracts are even amongst the following groups:

Level 4: $X*4 - American Premier Teams
Level 3: $X*3 - Nippon Premier Teams, American Division Teams
Level 2: $X*2 - Caribe Premier Teams, Korean Premier Teams, Nippon Division Teams, American Circuit Teams
Level 1: $X - Caribe Division Team, Korean Division Teams

NOTE: The value of $X will be determined once I can play around with the league after OOTP 12 is launched. Also, these levels were awarded based on the difficulty of a team in each region of winning the ICT. American teams face the most number of teams in their own region, as well as an extra level of hierarchy, so all those teams climbed two levels in media dollars. Nippon teams face the second most number of teams in their own region, so they climbed one level of media dollars. Lastly, Caribe and Korean teams have the least competition and stayed in the baseline media contract levels. As a result, tournament teams from the American region should have an advantage in the ICT over tournament teams from the other regions.

Rules

League rules and financials will be almost identical to current MLB rules, with each player earning three years at minimum salary followed by three years of arbitration before hitting free agency, etc.

There will be either four or five levels of minors, which each minor league team named after their parent club.

...more pending?

06-18-2011, 09:20 PM	#1
sbrylski Major Leagues Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 331	The International Baseball Association The International Baseball Association - A Quick-Start League The "International Baseball Association" is a fictional league set in the near future, in which club teams from the best baseball leagues around the world are organized geographically into dynamic, hierarchical divisions. While division titles are revered (especially at the Premier level) and a progression towards the top of the gamut is the long-term goal of all teams, the most sought after award is the "(name pending)", which is awarded annually to the champion of the International Club Tournament in autumn. Layout HIGHER RESOLUTION LINK The globe is broken into two conferences, the American Conference and Asian Conference. Three divisions from each conference play in the International Circuit, although during the regular season there is no inter-conference play. The lowest two American divisions play in the American Circuit. This circuit is not necessarily less in stature than the foreign divisions, however these "bottom sixteen" American teams are not eligible to qualify for the International Club Tournament. Instead, these clubs participate in a separate, post-season domestic tournament. ALTERNATIVE: All five divisions in the American Conference play in the same circuit. Advantages: Increased simplicity. Drawbacks: Crowded schedule, loss of the domestic postseason. International Club Tournament Qualification: The top four (of six) teams of both the American and Asian Premier divisions form the top eight seeds of the ICT as designated on the chart above. The top two teams of the non-premier divisions (American, Caribe, Nippon, Korean) round out the bottom eight seeds, again as designated on the chart above. Structure: The seeding is designed such that the first round of the tournament will consist of intra-conference matchups, and all quarterfinals matchups will be inter-conference matchups. The aforementioned series will be best-of-five, while the semifinals and title series will be best-of-seven. American Club Tournament The winners of the Eastern and Western division are awarded the first and second seed in the tournament. The next six wildcard teams will fill out the eight team field. The first round of the ACT will be a best-of-five series, and the semifinals and title series will be best-of-seven. Promotion/Relegation There are four regions of teams: American, Caribe, Nippon, and Korean. Each team can only be promoted or relegated to either their conference's Premier Division, or to a lower division of their team's region. This means that some divisions will fluctuate in numbers each season by one or two. Regular season standings from the prior season will determine which teams are promoted to a higher division and which teams are relegated to a lower division. Premier Divisions - Bottom two teams are relegated to the division of their region. Caribe, Nippon, and Korean Divisions - Top team is promoted to the Premier Division. American Division - Top team is promoted to the Premier Division. Bottom two teams are automatically relegated to the American Circuit. The third-to-last team is relegated if a third team in the American Circuit earns a promotion. Teams in the Eastern Time Zone are automatically placed in the Eastern Division, teams in the Pacific Time Zone are automatically place in the Western Division, and other teams are placed to best balance out the two divisions. American Circuit - The regular season winner of both the Eastern and Western Divisions earns a promotion. The winner of the American Club Tournament also earns a promotion, if that team did not also win one in the regular season. Finances Media contracts are even amongst the following groups: Level 4: $X4 - American Premier Teams Level 3: $X3 - Nippon Premier Teams, American Division Teams Level 2: $X2 - Caribe Premier Teams, Korean Premier Teams, Nippon Division Teams, American Circuit Teams Level 1: $X - Caribe Division Team, Korean Division Teams NOTE: The value of $X will be determined once I can play around with the league after OOTP 12 is launched. Also, these levels were awarded based on the difficulty of a team in each region of winning the ICT. American teams face the most number of teams in their own region, as well as an extra level of hierarchy, so all those teams climbed two levels in media dollars. Nippon teams face the second most number of teams in their own region, so they climbed one level of media dollars. Lastly, Caribe and Korean teams have the least competition and stayed in the baseline media contract levels. As a result, tournament teams from the American region should have an advantage in the ICT over tournament teams from the other regions. Rules* League rules and financials will be almost identical to current MLB rules, with each player earning three years at minimum salary followed by three years of arbitration before hitting free agency, etc. There will be either four or five levels of minors, which each minor league team named after their parent club. ...more pending? __________________ The International Baseball Association - A Quick-Start League Last edited by sbrylski; 06-19-2011 at 12:57 AM.