The Official Professional Baseball Rules Book

The Official Professional Baseball Rules Book governs all aspects of the game of Major League Baseball beyond what happens on the field of play. There are a number of sources for these rules, but they all ultimately are sanctioned by the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball. Examples of these rules are the Rule 5 draft (so-named for the applicable section of the rule book) and the injured list. Other examples include:

  • the 5/10 Rule whereby players who have been with a club for 5 consecutive years and have been a major league player for 10 years cannot be traded without their consent.
  • the roster list rules (active and expanded rosters) which also determines who is eligible to play for a team in the playoffs and World Series
  • tie-breaking rules for deciding which teams go to the playoffs
  • implementing/enforcing the expanded playing rules issued to umpires which goes into much greater detail than the official baseball rules of play. These rules are described in the Umpire's Manual.
This article is about Major League Baseball's business rules. For the rules of play, see Official Baseball Rules.

Rules Book

The Official Professional Baseball Rules Book is organized into the following sections:

Major League Rules

The below sections enumerate the numbered Major League Rules, both before and after Major League Baseball reorganized the minor leagues in advance of the 2021 season, as multiple rules were changed at that time.

As most rules do not state what the penalty is for a violation, broad discretion is granted to the Commissioner of Baseball via Rule 50, "Enforcement of Major League Rules", which specifies "action consistent with the commissioner’s powers under the Major League Constitution".[1]

The Major League Rules begin with a note stating that whenever a provision of any of its rules conflicts with a provision in the Basic Agreement (collective bargaining agreement) negotiated with the Major League Baseball Players Association, the provision in the Basic Agreement "shall in all respects control".

2019 edition

Source:[2]

  1. Circuits
  2. Player Limits and Reserve Lists
  3. Eligibility to Sign Contracts, Contract Terms and Contract Tenders
  4. First Year Player Draft
  5. Annual Selection of Players (known as the Rule 5 draft)
  6. Selected Players
  7. Termination of Player-Club Relation
  8. Major League Unconditional Release
  9. Assignment of Player Contracts
  10. Major League Waivers
  11. Optional Agreements
  12. Transfer Agreements
  13. Suspended Players
  14. Retired Players
  15. Restricted, Disqualified and Ineligible Lists
  16. Reinstatement of Players
  17. Player Salaries (governed by the Basic Agreement)
  18. Playing Otherwise than for Club
  19. Umpires and Official scorers
  20. Conflicting Interests
  21. Misconduct
    • a) Misconduct in Playing Baseball (throwing games)
    • b) Gift for Defeating Competing Club
    • c) Gifts to Umpires
    • d) Gambling
      1. Betting on other baseball teams (1 year ineligible)
      2. Betting on own team (permanently ineligible)
      3. Using an illegal bookmaker (Commissioner decides penalty)
    • e) Violence or Misconduct (judgement of Commissioner)
    • f) Other Misconduct
    • g) No Discrimination
    • h) Rule to be kept posted (in English and Spanish in every clubhouse)
  22. Claim Presentation
  23. Holidays
  24. Suspended Personnel
  25. Uniform Playing Rules
    • a) Official Baseball Rules
    • b) Playing Rules Committee
    • c) Duties of Playing Rules Committee
    • d) Official Scoring Rules Committee
    • e) Duties of Official Scoring Rules Committee
    • f) Copyright and Publication
  26. Gate Receipts
  27. reserved
  28. Voting
  29. Major League Disaster Plan
  30. Finances
  31. Bulletins
  32. Schedules (to be issued by commissioner)
  33. Qualification for Post-Season Series
    • a) Division Champions
    • b) Wild Card
    • c) Tie-Breaking Procedures
  34. Post-Season Series
    • a) Wild Card Game
    • b) Division Series
    • c) League Championship Series
    • d) World Series
  35. Post-Season Supervision by the Commissioner
  36. Pennant and Memento
  37. Post-Season Schedule
  38. Post-Season Series Termination
  39. Post-Season Playing Rules (use home team's rules)
  40. Players Eligible for Post-Season
  41. reserved
  42. Post-Season Expenses
  43. Post-Season Playing Grounds
  44. Post-Season Admissions
  45. Division of Post-Season Receipts
  46. Bonus Forbidden
  47. Exhibition Games
  48. Obligations of Participants
  49. reserved
  50. Enforcement of Major League Rules
  51. Classification of Minor Leagues
  52. Major and Minor League Territorial Rights
  53. Minor League Expansion, Contraction, Relocation and Reclassification
  54. Regulation of Minor League Franchises
  55. Minor League Free Agency
  56. Standard Player Development Contract
  57. Travel Standards for Minor League Clubs
  58. Standards for Minor League Playing Facilities
  59. Lien on Territory
  60. Definitions
    • a) Major League
    • b) Major League Club
    • c) Major League Player
    • d) Minor League Association
    • e) Minor League
    • f) Minor League Club
    • g) Club
    • h) Minor League Player
    • i) First-Year Player
    • j) Commissioner
    • k) President of a Minor League Association
    • l) Major League Reserve List
    • m) Minor League Reserve List
    • n) Major League Active List
    • o) Minor League Active List
    • p) Championship Season
    • q) Player Development Contract (PDC)
    • r) Independent Minor League Club
    • s) Inactive Lists
    • t) Winter League
    • u) Major League Trade Deadline

The Rules are followed by an Acceptance; "The foregoing ... have been duly accepted by the Major League Clubs and the Leagues of the National Association."

There are then Attachments to the Rules (numbers refer back to Rule # above):

  • 3—Minor League Uniform Player Contract
  • 12—Notice to Player of Release or Transfer
  • 52—Major and Minor League Territories
  • 54—Standard Minor League Financial Disclosure
  • 56—Standard Form Letter Establishing Player Development Contract
  • 58—Minor League Facility Standards and Compliance Inspection Procedures

2021 edition

Source:[3]

  1. Reserve Lists
  2. Player Limits
  3. Eligibility to Sign Contracts, Contract Terms and Contract Tenders
  4. First Year Player Draft
  5. Annual Selection of Players (known as the Rule 5 draft)
  6. Assignment of Player Contracts
  7. Optional Agreements
  8. Major League Waivers
  9. Termination of Player-Club Relation
  10. Bulletins
  11. Player Salaries (governed by the Basic Agreement)
  12. Playing Otherwise than for Club
  13. Claim Presentation
  14. Suspended Personnel
  15. Umpires
  16. Official scorers
  17. Uniform Playing Rules
    • a) Official Baseball Rules
    • b) Playing Rules Committee
    • c) Duties of Playing Rules Committee
    • d) Official Scoring Rules Committee
    • e) Duties of Official Scoring Rules Committee
    • f) Copyright and Publication
  18. Schedules
    • a) Major Leagues (to be issued by commissioner)
    • b) Minor Leagues (per Minor League Guidelines)
  19. Major League Disaster Plan
  20. Conflicting Interests
  21. Misconduct
    • a) Misconduct in Playing Baseball (throwing games)
    • b) Gift for Defeating Competing Club
    • c) Gifts to Umpires
    • d) Gambling
      1. Betting on other baseball teams (1 year ineligible)
      2. Betting on own team (permanently ineligible)
      3. Using an illegal bookmaker (Commissioner decides penalty)
    • e) Violence or Misconduct (judgement of Commissioner)
    • f) Other Misconduct
    • g) No Discrimination
    • h) Rule to be kept posted (in English and Spanish in every clubhouse)
  22. Circuits
  23. Gate Receipts
  24. reserved
  25. Finances
  26. Major and Minor League Territorial Rights
  27. Classification of Minor Leagues
    • actual content is "Standards For Minor League Playing Facilities"
  28. reserved
  29. reserved
  30. reserved
  31. reserved
  32. reserved
  33. Lien on Territory
  34. Qualification for Post-Season Series
    • a) Division Champions
    • b) Wild Card
    • c) Tie-Breaking Procedures
  35. Post-Season Series
    • a) Wild Card Game
    • b) Division Series
    • c) League Championship Series
    • d) World Series
  36. Post-Season Supervision by the Commissioner
  37. Pennant and Memento
  38. Post-Season Schedule
  39. Post-Season Series Termination
  40. Post-Season Playing Rules (use home team's rules)
  41. Players Eligible for Post-Season
  42. Post-Season Expenses
  43. Post-Season Playing Grounds
  44. Post-Season Admissions
  45. Division of Post-Season Receipts
  46. Bonus Forbidden
  47. Exhibition Games
  48. Obligations of Participants
  49. Holidays
  50. Enforcement of Major League Rules

The Rules are followed by an Acceptance; "The foregoing ... have been duly accepted by the Major League Clubs."

There are then Attachments to the Rules (numbers refer back to Rule # above):

  • 3—Minor League Uniform Player Contract
  • 12—Notice to Player of Release or Transfer
  • 26—Major and Minor League Territories

References
  1. Baccellieri, Emma (January 14, 2020). "The Meaning Behind MLB's Unprecedented Astros Punishment". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  2. The Official Professional Baseball Rules Book (PDF). New York City: Office of the Commissioner of Baseball. 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 31, 2019 – via Wayback Machine.
  3. The Official Professional Baseball Rules Book (PDF). New York City: Office of the Commissioner of Baseball. 2021. Retrieved May 1, 2021 – via mlbpa.org.
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