Wartime Leagues: Franchise Setup

• **Origins**: Wartime began with the 1994 season of DLB, and was based on the amount of WAR a .500 type team would average 
• **Franchise Selection**: Each manager chooses an actual MLB franchise to build from scratch, including the stadium, colors, logo, etc. No players are attached, retained, or selected with this choice.
• **WAR Information**: All player WAR information comes from the numbers used on the [Baseball Reference](https://www.baseball-reference.com/) website. You can check under the VALUE section for Batters and Pitchers if you wish to challenge a WAR rating.
• **Series Schedule**: Series are scheduled twice per week, with a Tuesday-Saturday rollover time.
• **Division Format**: In the current 12-team format, all teams are in one division and play a balanced schedule. If the league expands to 16 teams, it will be divided into two divisions of 8 teams each, playing an unbalanced schedule, but every team will still be played during a season. 

• **Origins**: Yazzy began with the 1967 card set of DLB, named to honor Carl Yastrzemski's triple crown season in 1967.
• **Franchise Selection**: Each manager chooses an actual MLB franchise to build from scratch, including the stadium, colors, logo, etc. No players are attached, retained, or selected with this choice.
• **WAR Information**: All player WAR information comes from the numbers used on the [Baseball Reference](https://www.baseball-reference.com/) website. You can check under the VALUE section for Batters and Pitchers if you wish to challenge a WAR rating.
• **Series Schedule**: Series are scheduled twice per week, with a Tuesday-Saturday rollover time.
• **Division Format**: In the current 12-team format, all teams are in one division and play a balanced schedule. If the league expands to 16 teams, it will be divided into two divisions of 8 teams each, playing an unbalanced schedule, but every team will still be played during a season. 

• **Team Draft**: All players will draft teams of 35 players before a seson begins.
• **WAR Limit**: All teams must remain below 46.0 WAR at all times during a season.  All negative players count as 0.0 WAR, so only positive WAR goes toward that number.
• **Season Length**: Each season lasts 132 games, with 3 games per series and 44 series per season.
• **Trades**: Trades can be made during the season between teams as long as both teams stay under 46.0 WAR. Trades between teams are unlimited during the course of a season.
• **Trade Deadline**: No trades or rentals can be made after game 90.

• If you need more details or have any specific questions about these rules, feel free to ask! 

• **Team Draft**: All players will draft teams of 30 players before a season begins.
• **WAR Limit**: All teams must remain below 46.0 WAR at all times during a season.  All negative players count as 0.0 WAR, so only positive WAR goes toward that number.
• **Season Length**: Each season lasts 132 games, with 3 games per series and 44 series per season.
• **Trades**: Trades can be made during the season between teams as long as both teams stay under 46.0 WAR. Trades between teams are unlimited during the course of a season.
• **Trade Deadline**: No trades or rentals can be made after game 90.

• If you need more details or have any specific questions about these rules, feel free to ask! 

So let's start with the basic principle of waiver rentals:

1. This is NOT a trade.
2. This is NOT a fantasy baseball free agent transaction.
3. This is NOT a redraft of your team during the season.
4. This is a chance to fix a problem you have found on your team build following a specific set of contraints that have been carefully thought out and set up for you in the waiver rental submision form.

• **Transaction Limit**: Each organization is limited to 3 transactions between games 1 and 90 (the trade deadline) of the regular season.
• **Waiver Submissions**: No claims are accepted after the trade deadline. Claims MUST be submitted using the league waiver claim form, not through email, DLB mail, Slack, texts, etc.
• **Processing**; Waiver claims for the week are looked at on Sunday Nights; and are processed Sunday night or Monday morning.  Claims put in after processing begins will not be looked at until the following Sunday.  All claims must be enter before game 91 has started.  The claims entered prior to game 91 will be processed on the next Sunday Night.
• **Order Rules**; At the time of a claim, the team with the worst win % will have their claims processed first in order to give the struggling teams a greater chance to get into the race.  Number of claims processed will not factor into this because in MLB waivers regardless of how many claims a team makes, lowest percentage always goes first.
• **Keeper Rules**: Players picked up in a waiver rental transaction cannot be kept at the end of the season and will be re-entered into the draft pool.
• **Matching Players**: The number of players acquired MUST MATCH the number of players dropped.

1. A limit of 5 players added or dropped in a single claim will be enforced in the submission sheet.  If you can't figure out how to balance he WAR in 5 players, you need to re-think your claim.

• **WAR Rules**: WAR dropped MUST MATCH WAR acquired.  Any transaction that does not match will not be accepted. No exceptions.  Do the math.

1. If an organization has leftover WAR from the draft, it can be used in the transaction. 
2. If the math of a transaction is incorrect, the transaction will not count against the 3 opportunities for claims that a team has during a season.
3. WAR must match because this is not a trade nor is this a re-draft.  There are more than 300 players to choose from with a wide variance of WAR.  Do the math and think through your claim.
4. A column in the waiver availability sheet will have a column for previously dropped players.  This is your notice to check relevant data of that player.  BUYER BEWARE - Make sure you check the league injury lists, usage or availability of pitchers innings or limited at bats vs. LHP or RHP from , etc.  It is the GM's job to research the players they are attempting to acquire.

• Claims will not be reversed if research has not been completed by the claiming organization.

So let's start with the basic principle of waiver rentals:

1. This is NOT a trade.
2. This is NOT a fantasy baseball free agent transaction.
3. This is NOT a redraft of your team during the season.
4. This is a chance to fix a problem you have found on your team build following a specific set of contraints that have been carefully thought out and set up for you in the waiver rental submision form.
5. Form Link: https://forms.gle/8JBtah5NkuT9gTUS8

• **Transaction Limit**: Each organization is limited to 3 transactions between games 1 and 90 (the trade deadline) of the regular season.
• **Waiver Submissions**: No claims are accepted after the trade deadline. Claims MUST be submitted using the league waiver claim form, not through email, DLB mail, Slack, texts, etc.
• **Processing**; Waiver claims for the week are looked at on Sunday Nights; and are processed Sunday night or Monday morning.  Claims put in after processing begins will not be looked at until the following Sunday.  All claims must be enter before game 91 has started.  The claims entered prior to game 91 will be processed on the next Sunday Night.
• **Order Rules**; At the time of a claim, the team with the worst win % will have their claims processed first in order to give the struggling teams a greater chance to get into the race.  Number of claims processed will not factor into this because in MLB waivers regardless of how many claims a team makes, lowest percentage always goes first.
• **Keeper Rules**: Players picked up in a waiver rental transaction cannot be kept at the end of the season and will be re-entered into the draft pool.
• **Matching Players**: The number of players acquired MUST MATCH the number of players dropped.

1. A limit of 5 players added or dropped in a single claim will be enforced in the submission sheet.  If you can't figure out how to balance he WAR in 5 players, you need to re-think your claim.

• **WAR Rules**: WAR dropped MUST MATCH WAR acquired.  Any transaction that does not match will not be accepted. No exceptions.  Do the math.

1. If an organization has leftover WAR from the draft, it can be used in the transaction. 
2. If the math of a transaction is incorrect, the transaction will not count against the 3 opportunities for claims that a team has during a season.
3. WAR must match because this is not a trade nor is this a re-draft.  There are more than 300 players to choose from with a wide variance of WAR.  Do the math and think through your claim.
4. A column in the waiver availability sheet will have a column for previously dropped players.  This is your notice to check relevant data of that player.  BUYER BEWARE - Make sure you check the league injury lists, usage or availability of pitchers innings or limited at bats vs. LHP or RHP from , etc.  It is the GM's job to research the players they are attempting to acquire.

• Claims will not be reversed if research has not been completed by the claiming organization.

• **Playoff Structure**: The top 6 teams in the league make the playoffs.

1. **Round 1**: The 3rd seed hosts the 6th seed, and the 4th seed hosts the 5th seed in a 3-game series. The top two teams receive a first-round bye.
2. **Round 2**: A 7-game series where the top seed hosts the lowest remaining seed, and the second seed hosts the other series winner.
3. **Round 3**: The championship series is a 7-game series, with the higher-seeded team hosting the series.

• **End of Season**:

1. New WAR values are uploaded for each player who is carded in the card set for the next season at [Dynasty League Baseball](https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/).
2. Teams must cut players to get their team value below 36.0 WAR before the next draft can begin.
3. Organizations may cut as many or as few players as needed, as long as the team does not exceed the required WAR for the league (36.0).
4. Any trades at the end of a season must be made before final cuts are sent in.
5. No trades may be made during the draft, and draft picks may not be traded.
6. The time for cuts at the end of a season is around 1 week. 

• **Playoff Structure**: The top 6 teams in the league make the playoffs.

1. **Round 1**: The 3rd seed hosts the 6th seed, and the 4th seed hosts the 5th seed in a 3-game series. The top two teams receive a first-round bye.
2. **Round 2**: A 7-game series where the top seed hosts the lowest remaining seed, and the second seed hosts the other series winner.
3. **Round 3**: The championship series is a 7-game series, with the higher-seeded team hosting the series.

• **End of Season**:

1. New WAR values are uploaded for each player who is carded in the card set for the next season at [Dynasty League Baseball](https://www.dynastyleaguebaseball.com/).
2. Teams must cut players to get their team value below 36.0 WAR before the next draft can begin.
3. Organizations may cut as many or as few players as needed, as long as the team does not exceed the required WAR for the league (36.0).
4. Any trades at the end of a season must be made before final cuts are sent in.
5. No trades may be made during the draft, and draft picks may not be traded.
6. The time for cuts at the end of a season is around 1 week.