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# High-Level Summary of Changes

### Governance

- The League has moved from a President-centered governance model to a Board-led nonprofit governance model.
- The old life-term President structure has been replaced by annually elected Directors and annually appointed Officers.
- The Board now has formal authority over corporate governance, League Policy, officer appointments, budgets, membership status, and oversight of the Commissioner.
- The Commissioner remains responsible for day-to-day League administration, but now operates under Board oversight and an approved budget.
- Member Franchises retain an important voice: they elect Directors, vote on Playing Rules amendments, give advisory votes on operations, and participate in confidence votes on Officers.
- The current draft clarifies that Bylaws, League Policy, and Playing Rules are separate documents with different amendment processes.
- The League's legal/corporate framework has been modernized to include nonprofit powers, limitations, records, deposits, registered office/agent, and dissolution provisions.

### League Policy

- Operational rules have been moved into a dedicated League Policy document instead of being mixed throughout the old Constitution, By-Laws, and Playing Rules.
- Member Franchises, Managers, Players, Good Standing, suspension, discipline, appeals, annual meetings, rosters, postseason eligibility, field administration, uniforms, forfeits, and standings are now organized in one policy document.
- The Manager is now clearly identified as the sole authorized representative of a Member Franchise unless the Commissioner approves otherwise.
- Good Standing is more clearly tied to financial obligations, compliance, voting rights, postseason eligibility, and League awards.
- Discipline is more structured: the Commissioner may impose discipline, the Board provides oversight, committees are advisory unless specifically given authority, and appeals/Board review are defined.
- Conduct rules have been strengthened around professionalism, fighting, umpire abuse, dangerous play, alcohol, facility rules, false reporting, and repeated noncompliance.
- Roster administration remains familiar but has been cleaned up. The latest draft removes the face-photo roster requirement and allows roster submission through Excel, Google Sheets, or similar formats.
- Forfeits, technical forfeits, standings points, postseason eligibility, field status, rescheduling, protests, and reporting obligations are now more clearly separated from Playing Rules.

### Playing Rules

- Playing Rules now focus on on-field competition only, with administrative topics moved into League Policy.
- The Playing Rules expressly incorporate the Official Baseball Rules unless a League exception applies.
- The draft clarifies which modern MLB rules are not adopted by description, including limits on position-player pitching, shift restrictions, extra-inning automatic runners, pitch clocks, disengagement limits, the three-batter minimum, per-game mound visit limits, mandatory 18-inch bases, and replay/specialized-equipment rules.
- The League now has a clear rule hierarchy: League Policy controls first, then Playing Rules, then incorporated MLB rules.
- Regular-season and postseason lineup rules are now organized as two formats: Expanded Lineup Format and Restricted Lineup Format.
  - Regular-season flexibility is preserved through the Expanded Lineup Format, allowing unlimited Extra Hitters, shared batting positions, free defensive substitution, Designated Runners, and Courtesy Runners.
  - Postseason play is treated more formally through the Restricted Lineup Format, which excludes shared batting positions and uses stricter substitution rules.
- Minimum-player rules have been clarified: teams must start when both have one fewer than the required batting positions, short spots are outs, and teams falling below the minimum forfeit.
- Collision, injury substitution, Designated Runner, Courtesy Runner, and umpire-dispute rules have been rewritten for clarity and consistency with incorporated baseball rules.