SJL Constitution

PDF version

Constitution of the Shoeless Joe League

 March 6, 2018

Last revised: December, 2024

Preamble: Upon a two-thirds vote of the owners, the following constitution shall become the sole governing document of the Shoeless Joe League. 

Ratification Record: Approved by 11 of 16 owners.  Ratification confirmed by commissioner on December 11, 2012.

Amendment on Voided Contracts: Approved by 12 of 16 owners.  Approval confirmed by commissioner on January 7, 2013.

Amendment on Roster Size and Draft Rounds: Approved by 9 of 16 owners.  Approval confirmed by commissioner on February 18, 2018

Amendment on Draft Date: Approved by 9 of 16 owners.  Approval confirmed by commissioner on February 23, 2018.

Cleanup: Superfluous wording on superseded contract voiding provisions was removed on February 24, 2018.

Amendment on Roster Size for Future Years: Approved by 12 of 16 owners.  Approval confirmed by commissioner on March 6, 2018.

Amendment on Entry Draft Pool: Approved by 11 of 16 owners.  Approval confirmed by commissioner on March 6, 2018.

Revision of SJL Salary definition for Salary Cap Purposes: Approved by owners 10-1, December 2024.

I. Definitions

Contract: A contract extension or a free agent contract under which an owner assumes a fixed-term obligation for the salary of a player.

Contract Extension: A contract extension is a contract of from one to five years made for a player who hadn’t been under a contract during the preceding season or whose contract was voided during the preceding season.  It obligates the owner to pay the SJL salary for the player over the term of the contract unless that obligation is removed by trade, waiver claim, retirement, or contract voiding.

Draft Dollars: An SJL currency which is distributed annually based on final season standings, is used to acquire some of the players in the Entry Draft, and may be traded.

Entry Draft: Annual draft by which new players are added to SJL.

Free Agent Contract: A free agent contract is a contract offered through free agent bidding which obligates the winning owner to pay a fixed salary amount for term of the bid, which can be from one to five years, unless that obligation is removed by trade, waiver claim, retirement, or contract voiding,

Major League Season: For purpose of determining the status of players in SJL, any season in which a player appeared in at least one Major League game shall be considered a Major League Season.

Major League Salary: The reported by Baseball-Reference.com for the year preceding the current SJL year.  If no Major Salary is reported in Baseball-Reference.com, the minimum Major League salary for the year shall be used.

Owner: The individual(s) responsible for the management and fees for an SJL club.  In the event that more than one individual is responsible for a club, the individuals will advise the commissioner of which individual will represent the club in any league votes.

Player List: The Player List is the list of all players who have been added to SJL through Entry Draft and haven’t yet been deemed retired.  All players on the Player List should be on a team roster, on the Waiver Wire, or, between November 30 and the end of the Free Agent auction, on the free agent auction list.

Rookie: Any player who has not accumulated 50 innings pitched or 130 at-bats in previous Major Leagues seasons.

Season: The 12 months over which an SJL competition exists.  A season will be considered to extend from the end of the playoffs in one calendar year to the end of the playoffs in the next calendar year.

SJL: Shoeless Joe League

SJL Salary: The salary that applies to any SJL player. For most players, the SJL salary will be the salary listed at Baseball Reference. There are three exceptions. 

(1) If a player is under a free agent contract, then his salary is set by the winning free agent bid. If the winning free-agent bid is below the minimum Major League salary, then the minimum Major League salary shall replace the bid in calculating the SJL roster payroll.

(2) If a player is a rookie, then his salary is $0 for salary cap purposes.

(3) If the player salary listed at BR is >= $2M, then the SJL salary is the luxury tax salary listed at Spotrac.com.

SJL Salary Cap: The maximum cumulative combined salaries to which an SJL club must conform.

Vendor: The vendor is the company that provides the tabulations or simulations on which the SJL season is based.  At the time of ratification of this constitution, the vendor is Scoresheet Baseball.

Waiver Wire: The waiver wire is a list of all players who are in SJL but are not currently on a team roster or on the free agent auction list.

II. Commissioner

A.      Duties: The commissioner is responsible for maintaining the league history, constitution, standings, and newsletters. The commissioner shall be responsible for the conduct of the free agent auction.  The commissioner shall keep the owners apprised of all key dates and deadlines.  The commissioner shall perform all other tasks required for SJL to function.

B.      Delegation: The commissioner may delegate any of the tasks described in A, but remains responsible for assuring that the tasks are completed.

C.      Interpretations and Rulings: The commissioner is responsible for making any constitutional interpretations and/or other rulings that may be required.

D.      Change of Commissioners: A commissioner will serve an indefinite term.  His tenure may be ended by his decision to resign or by the owners selecting a new commissioner.  Any owner may call for a vote on a new commissioner at any time.  An owner may propose another owner or himself as a new commissioner.  A majority of owners shall be required to select a new commissioner.  The previous commissioner shall serve until a new commissioner is elected.

III. Administration of SJL

A.      Dues: There are no dues required to participate in SJL, with sole exception of any fees that may be required by the vendor.  Payment of all such vendor fees on a timely basis shall be a requirement for continued participation in SJL.  The commissioner shall confirm with the vendor on or about the beginning of the season’s games that the all fees are current.

B.    Disputes: In the event of a dispute for which an owner is dissatisfied with the commissioner’s interpretation or ruling, the commissioner shall submit the matter to a vote and establish a reasonable time for voting.  A majority of all owners will be required to reverse a commissioner’s decision.

C. Constitutional Amendments: Constitutional amendments require the approval of two-thirds of the owners.

D. League Website:  All official SJL business, including rosters, league transactions, supplemental drafts, newsletters, history of the league, team standings and statistics, Waiver Wire, Player List, all outside websites used to conduct league business such as Baseball-Reference.com, and other information pertinent to the operation and enjoyment of the SJL will be posted to the league website.   The league website will provide spaces for team-by-team profiles, analysis of the coming season, reports on minor league organizations, etc.  The commissioner may, from time to time, change the location of the website.

E. Replacement of Owners: In the event that a vacancy occurs among the owners, the commissioner shall have the authority to identify and to select a suitable replacement.  The commissioner may ask for comments and suggestions from the owners, but the selection of a new owner does not require approval of the existing owners.

F. Changing Vendors: At his sole discretion, the commissioner may submit a proposed new vendor to a vote of the owners.  In the event that the current vendor is ceasing business or is otherwise no longer available to SJL, a majority of the owners is required to approve a new vendor.  In the event that the current vendor would remain available to SJL, two-thirds of the owners are required to approve a new vendor.

G. Designated Hitter: There is no designated hitter in SJL.  Pitchers proudly, if ineffectually, take their chances at the plate. (Deletion approved 11.2022)

IV. Roster, Salary Cap, and Player Transactions

A.      Rosters: Owners shall at all times maintain a current and accurate roster showing all players, their salaries, their contract status, and any other salary cap obligations.  These rosters may be used to check compliance with roster size and salary cap requirements.  The rosters shall be maintained on the league website with security such that they may be accessed by the commissioner if needed.

B.      Roster Size:  No SJL club roster may have more than the maximum number of players following the claim of a player from the waiver wire or when submitting a strategy form to the vendor.  At other times, no roster limit applies.  The maximum number shall be 63 players for the 2018 season, 66 for the 2019 season, 69 for the 2020 season, 72 for the 2021 season, and 75 for the 2022 season and thereafter.

C.      Salary Cap: For the 2013 SJL season, the salary cap will be 125 percent of the median Major League club salary.  For the 2014 SJL season and afterwards, the salary cap will be 125 percent of the centerweighted mean Major League club salary.  With the Major Leagues at 30 clubs, the centerweighted mean shall be calculated by applying a weight of 15 to the teams with the 15th and 16th highest club salaries and then applying decreasing factors in both directions, down to a weight of 1 for the highest and lowest club salaries.  The weighted salaries shall be summed and then divided by the sum of the weighting factors, which is 240.  If the Major Leagues change the number of teams, appropriate changes shall be made to the centerweighting calculation.   No SJL club roster may exceed the salary cap when submitting a strategy form to the vendor.  At other times, the salary may be exceeded, although the commissioner may request an intended strategy for returning to salary cap compliance.

D.       Waiver Moves: Owners may make waiver transactions involving either the release of players to the Waiver Wire or claims of players from the Waiver Wire at any time except during the 48 hours prior to the Entry Draft.

E.       Continuing Salary Obligation to Waived Players: If a waived player is not under a contract, there is no salary obligation.  If a waived player is under a contract, there is a continuing obligation.  In most cases, the obligation remains with the waiving club.  However, if the salary for the current season was assumed by another club as the result of an earlier trade, the obligation remains with the other club.  If the contract term extends beyond the current season, that obligation reverts to the waiving club at the end of the current season.  If a waived player is subsequently claimed, the rule for salary obligations for claimed players shall supersede this rule.

F.       Assumed Salary Obligation for Claimed Players: With one exception, the claiming club is responsible for the salary of a player claimed from the Waiver Wire.  The exception is if the salary for the current season was assumed by another club as the result of an earlier trade, the obligation remains with the other club.  If the contract term extends beyond the current season, that obligation reverts to the claiming club at the end of the current season.

G.     48-Hour Rule: The 48-hour shall be imposed by the commissioner for newly –released players, immediately after key scheduled events that will affect Waiver Wire activity such as the November 30 contract deadline and the Entry Draft, for players who have been clerically misplaced and are now eligible for waiver claiming, and at other such times as he deems appropriate.  Under the 48-hour rule, any club may clam the player during the 48 hours after he becomes available.  After 48 hours, the player will be award to the club with the highest priority, which will be the reverse order of the applicable standings.  For the first six full weeks of the season, the applicable standings will be the standings from the previous season.  After that, the applicable standings will be the standings for the current week.  For players made available for claim up until midnight ET of the day prior to the receipt of new standings, the current standings will be the standings for the prior week.  After midnight ET of the day prior to the receipt of new standings, the current standings will be the standings for the new week.  Ties will be broken by the Breaking Ties rules.

H.      Trades: Trades may include players, draft picks, draft dollars, and obligations to carry salary for the current season.  Unless otherwise negotiated, all salary obligations are traded with a player.  Neither an obligation to carry salary in future seasons nor salary dollars may be traded.

I.        Trading Windows: With two exceptions, trades are allowed at any time during the season.  The first exception is the 48 hours prior to the Entry Draft.  The second exception is between midnight ET on August 15 and conclusion of the SJL playoffs.

V. Entry Draft

A.      Date and Place: The Entry Draft will be conducted on the third Saturday of March at 11:00am ET unless an alternative time is established by the commissioner.  The draft will be conducted on-line on an internet site appropriate to the use and to be determined by the commissioner.

B.      Draft Rounds: The Entry Draft will have 12 rounds.

C.      Draft Pool: Prior to every Entry Draft, eleven Major League clubs will be randomly selected by the SJL owners from among the nineteen teams not in the current draft pool.  The method of selection will be approved by the commissioner.  The eleven clubs will be the draft pool for the Entry Draft the following year.

D.      Eligible Players: Players who may be selected in the Entry Draft include all players on the draft pool teams who are still rookies or who exhausted their rookie status no earlier than during the previous season.  The determination of eligibility shall include consideration of all trades up the start of the draft.  Also eligible are all players on the Waiver Wire.

E.       Draft Order and Draft Dollar Allocations: Draft order and draft dollar allocation will be based on the standings from the previous season.  The SJL champion will be considered to have finished first and the loser of the championship series will be considered to have finished second.  The losers of the two playoff series immediately before the championship series shall be considered to have finished third and fourth, with third place given to the team with the better regular season record.   The losers of the two opening playoff series shall be considered to have finished fifth and sixth, with fifth place given to the team with the better regular season record.   For all other teams, draft order will be in reverse order of the standings.  For draft order, ties shall be subject to the Breaking Ties rules.

F.       Draft Dollars: Draft dollars will be allocated in the following amounts according to the standings from the previous year.  In the event of ties, the draft dollars for the tied position shall be summed and divided equally between the tied teams.  The results of the division shall be rounded to the nearest whole dollar, with half dollars rounded upward.

                        1st place: $9               2th place: $12

                                                        3rd place: $15            4th place: $18

5th place: $21            6th place: $25

7th team: $29            8th team: $33

                                                        9th team: $37            10th team: $41

11th team: $46          12th team: $51

13th team: $56          14th team: $61 

15th team: $66          16th place: $71

G.     Draft Dollar Retention: Draft dollars not spent in an Entry Draft will be retained.

H.      Draft Dollar Pricing: All players who have at least 15 innings pitched or 30 at-bats at the Double-A or Triple-A level in the affiliated leagues associated with the Major Leagues will have a price of at least $5.  Higher prices for some players may be set by the commissioner.  The commissioner shall use the annual prospect publication by John Sickels for general guidance on price setting, with prices between $20 and $30 for players rated as A or A- prospects, prices between $10 and $20 for players rated as B+, B, or B- prospects, and a price of $7 for players rated as C+ prospects.  However, the commissioner has the authority to go outside these ranges.  The commissioner also has the authority to set the prices for players who exhausted their rookie eligibility in the preceding season.

I.        Timing for Draft Picks: All owners shall endeavor to make draft picks as quickly as possible and not in any event to require more than two minutes per pick.  In the event that an owner wishes to spend more than two minutes on a draft pick, he may voluntarily pass.  The commissioner shall allow an opportunity for all owners who have passed to make up any missing picks at the end of each round including at the end of the draft.  Any made-up picks will be made in the same order in which they were passed.   The commissioner shall monitor any passed picks.

VIII. Contract Extensions and Free Agency

A.      Expired Contract Players: By November 30, all owners shall provide a list to the commissioner of players under contracts that expired at the end of the preceding season.  Those players will be available in the free agent auction and shall be removed from team rosters.

B.      Contract Decisions: By November 30, all owners shall inform the commissioner whether or not Contract Extensions have been offered to any players who have played in six or more Major League Seasons and who were not under a contract that expired at the end of the preceding seasons.  All owners shall provide lists to the commissioner of all Contract Extensions and of all players to whom Contract Extensions were not offered.  For the latter list, the players will be available in the Free Agent Auction and shall be removed from team rosters.

C.      Overlooked Players: If after November 30, an owner determined that he has a player to whom a contract could have been offered, the owner will be deemed to have signed the player to a one-year contract.

D.      Record-Keeping: The commissioner shall compile a list of all decisions for the league records.

E.       Free Agent Auction List: The commissioner shall assemble a list of the players who will be available in the free agent auction.  In addition to the players with expired contracts and the players for whom contract extensions weren’t offered, the commissioner will determine the players on the Waiver Wire with an SJL Salary of $3 million or more and add those players to the list.  The list shall include minimum bid information and auction dates.  The list shall be ordered with the better players being auctioned earlier.  The method of ranking shall be at the discretion of the commissioner.

F.       Conduct of the Free Agent Auction:

a.       Auction Posting: No later than date noted on the auction list, the commissioner will post each player for auction.  The posting will be done on an internet site that is suitable to the purpose and which will be selected by the commissioner.  All owners must be able to view all activity on the internet site.

b.      Bidding: Owners may bid on any player posted for auction.  Bids should include an annual salary that would remain fixed over the term of the contract and a contract term that would be no less than one nor more than five years.   Annual salaries must be an amount that is a whole number multiple of $100,000.

c.       Minimum Bids: For bids with a contract term of one year, the minimum bid will be 40 percent of the SJL Salary that would apply if the player wasn’t up for auction.  For bids with a contract term of two years, the minimum bid will be 60 percent of the SJL Salary that would apply if the player wasn’t up for auction.  For bids with a contract term of three to five years, the minimum bid will be 75 percent of the SJL Salary that would apply if the player wasn’t up for auction.  In no case may the minimum bid be less than the Major League minimum salary.

d.      Contract Value:  The value of the bid shall be calculated for all bids.  The value is will be the annual salary multiplied by a factor which is 1.0 for a one-year contract and increases by 0.5 for every year beyond one year.

e.      Progressive Bidding: Any bid must have a greater contract value than all previous bids.

f.        Auction Closing: No less than 24 hours after the posting date of an auction and repeated every approximately 24 hours thereafter, the commissioner shall advise the owners of the highest bid on a player and advise that the auction will close in approximately 24 hours if a higher bid is not received.  If a period of approximately 24 hours passes without a higher bid, the commissioner will deem the auction closed and announce the winner.

g.       Multiple Player Auctions: For the players near the bottom of the free agent list, the commissioner may choose to combine multiple players into a single auction.  The commissioner may have more than one multiple player auctions, such as one for pitchers, one for catchers, etc.  For multiple player auctions, every approximately 24 hours, the commissioner shall identify and announce to the owners the current high bid player and the current high bid.  If in the succeeding 24 hours no higher bids are received on the previous high bid player nor are any bids received on other players that are higher than the previous high bid, then the auction will be closed for the previous high bid player.  The auction shall continue until all players have been auctioned or there are no bids on the remaining players.

h.      Players with No Bids: All players for whom no bids were received shall be placed on the Waiver Wire effective at the start of the Entry Draft.

IX. Retirement

A.      Retirement Determination: Following the conclusion of every season, the commissioner shall review all players on the Waiver Wire.  Any player who did not play during the preceding season in any league reported by Baseball-Reference.com shall be deemed to have retired for the purposes of the SJL.  All retired players shall be removed from the Waiver Wire and the Player List.

B.      Contract Termination: If any player deemed to have retired has remaining term under an SJL contract, that contract shall be deemed terminated and the owner will have no continuing obligation.

C.      Deadline for Retirement Determination:   Any player who is waived before midnight ET on November 30 will be eligible for retirement and contract termination. If an owner fails to waive on a timely basis a player who would have otherwise been eligible for contract termination that player will not be deemed retired nor will the contract be terminated. 

X. Contract Voiding

A.      Purpose: An owner may determine that he no longer wishes to continue with a player contract.  He may void the contract, but may be subject to a salary penalty. 

B.      Fall Contract Voiding: Contracts may be voided between the end of the playoffs and midnight ET on November 30. The penalty for a fall voiding shall be a minimum of 50 percent of the SJL salary that would apply to the new season. If there are two years remaining on the contract, the penalty shall be 70 percent of the SJL salary that would apply to the new season. If there are three years remaining on the contract, the penalty shall be 85 percent of the SJL salary that would apply to the new season. If there are four years remaining on the contract, the penalty shall be 95 percent of the SJL salary that would apply to the new season.

C.      Spring Contract Voiding: Contracts may be voided between March 15 and midnight ET on April 15. The penalty for a spring voiding shall be a minimum of 70 percent of the SJL salary that would apply to the new season. If there are two years remaining on the contract, including the current season, the penalty shall be 90 percent of the SJL salary that would apply to the new season. If there are three years remaining on the contract, the penalty shall be 105 percent of the SJL salary that would apply to the new season. If there are four years remaining on the contract, the penalty shall be 115 percent of the SJL salary that would apply to the new season. If there are five years remaining on the contract, the penalty shall be 125 percent of the SJL salary that would apply to the new season.

D.      Voiding for Players Not in an Affiliated League: An owner may request the voiding of a contract for a player who has not appeared in a league affiliated with Major Leagues during the preceding season.  This request must be made prior to midnight ET on November 30 and shall be approved by the commissioner upon confirmation that the requirements for the request are met.  No penalty will be attached to the voiding.

E.       Assignment of Voided Player: Any player whose contract is voided shall be moved to the Waiver Wire and shall be subject to the same rules that apply to all players on the Waiver Wire.

XI. Playoffs

A.      Divisions: The season shall be conducted as two divisions, Northern and Southern, the alignment of which will remain fixed from year to year.

B.      Teams: The playoff teams will be the champions of the two divisions and the four other clubs with the best won-loss records, who will be called the wildcards.  If there is a tie for a divisional championship, the tie will be broken by the Breaking Ties rules.  If there is a two-team tie for the final playoff opening, the two teams will engage in a best-of-seven playoff for the final playoff opening.  If there are more than two teams in a tie for the final playoff opening, the commissioner shall, using the tie breaking standards and in his sole judgment, determine the seeding for the tie-breaking playoffs.

C.      Playoff Format: All playoff series will be best-of-seven in a 2-3-2 format.  The team which begins the series at home is considered to have the homefield advantage.

D.      Playoff Seeding: In the first round of the playoffs, the two divisional champions will have a bye.  The wildcard team with the best record shall play the wildcard team with the worst record.  The other two wildcard teams will also play.  In the second round, the divisional champion with the better regular season record will play the first round winner with the worse regular season record.  The other divisional winner will play the other first round winner.  The final series will include the two second round winners.

E.       Homefield Advantage:   In all playoff series in which a division winner faces a wildcard team, the division winner will have the homefield advantage.  Otherwise, the homefield advantage will be given to the team with the better regular season record.  Ties will be broken by the Breaking Ties rules.

F.        Player Eligibility for Post-Season: Player eligibility for the post-season will conform to the rules used by the vendors and will generally include all players on the club roster at the end of August.

XII. Breaking Ties

A.      Division Championships: If there is a tie for a divisional championship, the championship shall be determined by the following checks.  Each succeeding check shall be used only if the preceding checks have failed to break the tie.  (1) Record in head-to-head competition.  (2) Record in intradivisional games.  (3) Run differential in all games.  (4) Coin flip.  The only exception is if the loser of the tie breaker would fail to qualify as a wildcard.  In that case, the tie shall be broken by a seven-game playoff series.

B.      Playoff Teams: All end-of season ties for playoff spots between two or more teams will be settled by best-of-seven series.  The same tie-breakers used for determining divisional champions will be used to establish to seeding for any tie-breaking playoff series.

C.      Playoff Homefield: If regular season records are tied, homefield advantage in the playoffs shall be determined using the same tie breaking rules used to determine divisional championships.

D.      Waiver Wire Claims: The same tie breaking rules shall be used as are used to determine divisional championships.

E.       Entry Draft Order: The same tie breaking rules shall be used as are used to determine divisional championships.

XIII. Penalties

A.      Commissioner Discretion: In the event that a violation of league rules occurs which is not adequately addressed under this constitution, the commissioner shall have the authority to impose whatever penalties he deems fit, up to and including expulsion from SJL.