III) LEAGUE STRUCTURE

A)    The Commissioner will provide ALL teams with the Official MWWL Season Organization Disk/Commissioner Disk. Please DO NOT set up your own organization. All owners are required by law to purchase the officially published copyrighted season disk even though a league disk is provided.

B)    MWWL will be composed of two twelve-team leagues, with three divisions, with each division having four franchises:

1)      The Designated Hitter will be used in both leagues starting with the 1999 Season.

C)    Both leagues will use the Designated Hitter (DH)

D)    This is a continuous ownership league and all players, once drafted, will remain with your team until traded or released. Although there will be cut downs.  There will be no inter-league play.

E)    Each team will play 162 games.

F)  There will be no ballparks effects. 

G)     Franchise Fees.

1)      A $50.00 Franchise Fees for the following season will be due at the end of each current season.

2)     If an owner is in both MWWL and MWBL (Mid-West Baseball League), the price would be a combined $75.00.

H)   Realignment

1)      When realigning divisions, a vote must be made to approve the realignment.

2)      All teams changing divisions must agree to realignment.

3)      Including the moving team’s ‘Yes’ vote, all Divisions receiving new teams must approve by a 3/4 majority.

4)      Including the moving team’s ‘Yes’ vote, all Leagues receiving new teams must approve by 10/12 majority.

I)    Ownership Changes

1)      If a single change in franchise ownership occurs, the Commissioner will attempt to find a new owner for the franchise. Once the Commissioner has approved and officially handed over the franchise to the new owner, the said owner will take full stewardship over the franchise.  This includes the ability to make any trade, roster changes, franchise files, and changing the team’s name if they so choose.

2)      If multiple owners leave the league at the same time during the offseason, all affected franchises will be placed in a Dispersal Draft (See Article VII Section D).

3)      Franchise and player records will be collected based upon the time at which the new owner receives stewardship.

(a)    If the new owner takes over before the All-Star break in the middle of the MWWL season, all franchise and player statistics will be collected under the franchise’s new name and the owner will be permitted to vote on Post-Season awards for the current season.

(b)   If the new owner takes over during or after the All-Star break in the middle of the MWWL season, all franchise and player statistics will be collected under the previous franchise name however the owner will still be permitted to vote on Post-Season awards for the current season.

J)       Rules Proposals

1)      Beginning April 1st (League Manager Calendar) all MWWL Franchises may “Propose” rule changes for the upcoming season.

(a)    Proposals must be submitted in E-Mail to the Commissioners Office no later than August 31st (League Manager Calendar).

(b)   Proposals must have a valid reason along with the proposal detailing why the Proposal would be a good idea for the league to adopt.

(c)    Voting will be held after the current MWWL Season completes and results will go into effect at the start of the upcoming MWWL Season.

(d)   Fifteen (15) votes by the league members are needed to adopt a proposal for the upcoming season

(e)    The Commissioner’s Office may at any time institute a new rule that he deems is for the betterment of the league

K)      League Disk

1) MWWL uses the Bill James Encyclopedia for the years 1970-1997.

2) MWWL uses the Mid-West Baseball League (MWBL) former disks from 1998-forward.

(a) The MWBL disk used Wizard to adjust the pitcher grades using the MLB averages from that season.

3) All disks are adjusted in accordance with Article VIII.