2026 PGB Awards – Fill out form

• Thursday, September 24: Wild Card Game (Berlin @ Sheboygan) Gamer: Chad Boysen
• Sunday, September 27: Both LDS Series begin; games played daily for both series. Gamers: Swen, Jeff M., Sparky, Ken, Sam, Jeff B., Chuck
• LCS will begin a few days after LDS Series have concluded. Formal dates TBA.

The playoff league file has been created and login information will be emailed to participating managers and any other interested Groundout. Please re-familiarize yourself with playoff rules, but here's a quick overview:

• 26-man active rosters can only be re-set after each series. Wildcard rosters can NOT be reset after the one-game playoff.
• 10% usage for each series with zero, zero, ZERO overuse allowed.
• Starting pitchers must have fours days of rest between starts.
• One SP can be designated as a reliever each series, but they would forfeit ability to start a game.
• After the Wildcard game, all series are best of seven, using the 2-3-2 format.

Here are the early-round matchups:

• Wildcard: BER-SHE (Sheboygan advances with 9-5 win)
• LDS#1: THU-DEL
• LDS#2: CAS-SHE
• BYE: San Antonio and Homestead

Managers: be sure to Claim Team before the playoffs begin, and to upload your CMs prior to any autoplay series.

Schedule on the league file will be updated once teams have advanced to the next round. One off day between scheduled game 7 and start of next series. I'm also looking for non-playoff volunteers to autoplay games during the Wildcard and LDS rounds, so let me know if you're available for a little extra duty. Good luck to all Groundouts!

1. Playoffs can/will begin as soon as participants are ready. Typically, Jeff M. makes a new league file, and as soon as managers have submitted CMs, the games can begin. The wildcard game will be autoplayed by a non-participating Groundout. After that games will default to autoplay, unless both managers elect to play live. If you need a refresh on rules and usage, check out the Rulebook page.
2. Awards voting will begin next week. Watch for a message from Sam with details.
3. Trades can still be made up to October 9 at 11:59 p.n. CT. Rosters will be frozen on the next day.
4. Rule 5 protected lists (16 players) are due to The Commish October 11. I'll send out a reminder well ahead of that day.
5. The R5 and NL player draft are going to be combined. I tossed out a random date of October 25, but let me know early if that day is problematic and I'll try to reschedule as necessary. Provide blackout dates to make re-scheduling easier.
6. If that all goes as planned, we'll end our season with roster cuts on October 28, before we enter our quiet season.

Questions and concerns? Leave it in the comment section!

• The majority preferred a long off-season with no activities, so I'm blacking out any official events from November through January, As always, you can plan your draft any time, and info will be updated all winter, but no formal activities. The winter meeting will be scaled back and take place prior to R1 in February. See the updated Calendar web page for details.
• To help with unintentional overusage, Jeff Meyer has agreed to become PGB's Usage Czar. His responsibilities include conducting periodic sweeps to de-activate players, with increasing frequency during the latter stages of the season. When de-activating, the czar will not activate a replacement or alter lineups/rotations, but will notify managers as a courtesy prompt. Please note: managers are still 100% responsible for overuse, and shouldn't rely on this new form of assistance. Johnny Walbert has also agreed to sub in for Jeff on a part-time basis.
• Offseason rosters will now be trimmed back to 36 players.
• Overwhelmingly, the Rule 5 draft will be only two rounds and will take place on a single night. Due to our longer quiet season, it will take place in October rather than November, as in previous years. To further streamline, the NL player draft will take place the same night.
• Finally, the Library will continue to be available, but will be free to use, with a limit of three players claimed per team. This change is immediate, and applies to claims made during the current season.

Where applicable, the rulebook page will be updated to reflect these changes. Here are the actual survey results:

1. Do you plan on continuing as a Groundout for the 2027 season? Yes 16, Undecided 2
2. Compared to recent years, how does your active engagement level compare? More 2, Less 5, Unchanged 11
3. Are you satisfied with the current usage rules and enforcement? Like 2, Acceptable 12, Dislike 4
4. Would easing of usage restrictions improve your PGB experience? Yes 5, No 6, Unchanged 7
5. The offseason schedule is: Too busy 11, No changes 6, More drafts! 1
6. How do you feel about gamer duty? Like 8, Acceptable 8, Dislike 2
7. Are you interested in traveling GoCon? Yes or Planning 15, Uninterested 3
8. Would you be in favor of modifying the Rule 5 draft? Yes 13, Unchanged 3, Eliminate 2
9. Overall, does PGB require more time than you'd like to commit? Yes 2, No 13, Uncertain 3