FREE AGENCY

Players become free agents under the following circumstances:
- Players who complete the final year of Arbitration 6 (Arb6) contracts automatically become free agents.
- Players who complete the final year of Type F (Free Agent), Type L (Long-term), Type X (Extension), or Type U (Utility/Emergency) contracts become free agents, except Type U players may be draft-eligible if they have fewer than three (3) years of service time.
- Players non-tendered after completing AA, AAA, Y1, Y2, Y3, Arb4, or Arb5 contracts who have three (3) or more years of service time become free agents. Players with fewer than three (3) years of service time enter the annual draft instead.
Non-Tender Deadline: Teams must decide whether to retain or release (non-tender) players completing AA, AAA, Y1-Y3, Arb4, or Arb5 contracts by November 15th.
Early Free Agency: A team non-tendering a player after their Y3, Arb4, or Arb5 contract allows that player to enter free agency early, provided the player has accumulated three (3) or more years of service time.

Qualifying Offer Eligibility
- Teams may extend a Qualifying Offer (QO) to any of their own players entering free agency if both conditions are met:
- The player has never received a qualifying offer previously in their career (one-time eligibility only)
- The player spent the entire regular season on the team's roster from Opening Day through season end (trades and mid-season acquisitions are ineligible)
Qualifying Offer Amount
- The QO amount is calculated as the mean Average Annual Value (AAV) of the league's highest-paid players from the previous season, rounded to the nearest $25,000.
- For a 12-team league: Top 60 player salaries by AAV
- For a 16-team league: Top 80 player salaries by AAV
- For a 20-team league: Top 100 player salaries by AAV
- For a 24-team league: Top 120 player salaries by AAV
Qualifying Offer Timeline
- Teams must extend qualifying offers by November 15th
- Players must accept or reject by November 15th
Player Acceptance Decision
- Player acceptance is determined objectively using the Qualifying Offer Acceptance Formula (QOAF) detailed in Appendix B. The formula evaluates:

Decision Threshold:
- Player ACCEPTS if: Projected Free Agency Value < QO Amount × 1.25
- Player REJECTS if: Projected Free Agency Value ≥ QO Amount × 1.25
Acceptance Outcome
- If a player accepts, they sign a one-year Type Q contract at the QO amount and cannot be traded until June 15th without consent.
Rejection Outcome
- If a player rejects, they enter free agency and the team becomes eligible for draft pick compensation per Rule 5.3.

Compensation Eligibility
- Teams are eligible for compensatory draft picks only when:
- The team extended a qualifying offer to a departing free agent
- The player rejected the qualifying offer
- The player signed a Type F contract with another team during the primary free agency period (January-February)
- Players signing Type U contracts during secondary free agency or in-season do not trigger draft pick compensation.
Compensation Value Determination
- Premium tier (contract total value ≥ $50M): Compensatory pick awarded after the 2nd round.
- Standard tier (contract total value < $50M): Compensatory pick awarded after the 3rd round
Signing Penalties
- Teams signing qualified free agents must forfeit draft picks as follows:
- First qualified free agent signed: Forfeit 3rd round pick or the equivlant picks in total value of points.
- Each additional qualified free agent: Forfeit 2nd round pick or the equivlant picks in total value of points
Pick Forfeiture Process
- Teams forfeit picks in draft order until the required point total is satisfied
- All first-round picks are protected and cannot be forfeited under any circumstances, even if traded to another team
- If a team's point obligation extends beyond Round 5, any remaining debt rolls to the following year's draft starting at Round 2 pick values as a penalty
- Refer to Appendix C (Draft Pick Value Chart) for specific pick point values
Acceptance Eliminates Compensation
- When a player accepts a qualifying offer, no draft picks change hands in any direction. The team retains the player on a one-year contract at the qualifying offer value.

Free Agency Period: Free agency begins in mid-to-late January and continues through the end of February.
Platform: Free agency is conducted via Stratdraft (stratdraft.com) until the Commissioner implements a proprietary league system.
Bidding Deadline: All free agency bidding must conclude before the annual player draft begins.

Auction Clock Mechanism:
When a player receives their first bid, a 48-hour auction clock begins
Each subsequent bid resets the clock to a minimum of 24 hours
Teams need only check bids once daily (every 24 hours) to remain competitive
This process continues throughout January and February
Closing Unbid Players: Players receiving no bids by mid-February have their auctions automatically closed.
Contract Award: The player signs with the team offering the highest perceived contract value as determined by the Bid Superiority system (Rule 5.6).
Tie-Breaking: If multiple teams offer identical perceived contract value, the team with worse previous season record receives priority.

Annual Perceived Contract Value (APCV) represents how players value multi-year contracts compared to single-year deals. Longer contracts provide security, making them more attractive even at lower average annual values.
Year Multiplier Formula: The security premium for multi-year contracts is calculated using:
`M(y) = -0.015×y³ + 0.18×y² + 0.10×y + 0.735`
`Where y = contract length in years`
Calculating Perceived Value:
`APCV = Contract_AAV × M(Contract_Length)`
Contract_AAV = Total Contract Value ÷ Contract Length
M(Contract_Length) = Year Multiplier from formula in 5.6.2
Year Multiplier Reference Table:
1 year 1.00x
2 years 1.29x
3 years 1.61x
4 years 1.95x
5 years 2.28x
6 years 2.58x
7 years 2.84x

Minimum Contract Values by Length:
1 year: $1,000,000
2 years: $5,000,000 AAV ($10M total)
3 years: $5,500,000 AAV ($16.5M total)
4 years: $6,000,000 AAV ($24M total)
5 years: $10,000,000 AAV ($50M total)
6 years: $15,000,000 AAV ($90M total)
7 years: $24,000,000 AAV ($168M total)
Maximum Contract Length: No free agent contract may exceed seven (7) years in length.

In-Season Signing Eligibility: Teams may sign available players during the regular season to address immediate roster needs through Type U contracts (see Rule 4.10 for contract details).
Eligible Players: Only unsigned free agents or carded players in the draft-eligible pool who were not selected may be signed during the season.
Signing Process: Teams notify the Commissioner of intent to sign a player. The signing is processed immediately upon confirmation of roster space and contract terms.
Restrictions:
May not sign players currently under contract with another team
Players are signed to Type U contracts the only ones permitted for in-season additions

Timing: A secondary free agency period occurs during the weekend immediately preceding the start of the regular season.
Secondary Free Agency Format:
All players available for secondary free agency are listed for a one-weekend auction
All auctions are set to expire on Sunday at 11:00 AM
Any bid placed extends that player's auction by a minimum of one (1) hour from the time of bid
Auctions are expected to conclude before 11:00 PM Sunday, but 11:00 PM is a hard stop regardless of bidding activity
Contract Type: All secondary free agency signings are Type U contracts (see Rule 4.10 for contract details).
Eligible Players: Secondary free agency includes:
Players who received no bids during primary free agency
Players non-tendered after the primary free agency period
Draft-eligible players who were not selected
Any other unsigned players available in the player pool

Foreign Player Eligibility: Players from Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), Cuban leagues, or other international leagues who signed with MLB teams in real life become available in TSBBL free agency the following calendar year.
Timeline Example: A player who signed with an MLB team in real-world 2025 becomes available in TSBBL's 2026 free agency period.
No Special Restrictions: Foreign players entering free agency are subject to the same rules, bidding processes, contract minimums/maximums, and all other provisions outlined in this rule. They receive no special treatment or limitations.