Loser's league

Our historical single season sets

Loser's league

Postby labratory » Mon Mar 24, 2008 9:11 pm

League ID Lowballers
Password loser

Since the free 1986 leagues don't affect our manager's rating, how about a league where the objective is to lose the most games.

Rules:
$60 mil cap (must submit a draft list with at least $45 mil)
Must play the first 81 games with the exact team that comes out of the draft (no free agent moves)
The only exception is if you have NO players at a position, then you can add someone. Honor system: we cannot intentionally submit a draft list with positions missing.
You can set lineups etc.
After 81 games, teams with records above .500 can try to improve with free agents and play for the best record.

Comments?
labratory
 
Posts: 55
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The King

Postby labratory » Tue Mar 25, 2008 7:42 pm

In this online world of loners and losers, I declare myself king. Even when it's free, I can't get anyone to join my loser's league or even comment to my post.

All hail... King of the losers.
labratory
 
Posts: 55
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 2:34 pm

Postby apolivka » Tue Mar 25, 2008 8:31 pm

I've toyed with the idea of a losers league as well. But for it to be really fun, I think it would have to go an entire season. Basically the playoffs would mean nothing. The only rule I would make is that you would need a starter at every position in both lefty and righty lineups. (i.e. you couldn't draft a team full of catchers so HAL would start fielders that are all 5s or something.) Not sure why you would want to have a 45M requirement.

Who would you put first on your draft card? Dave Stapleton maybe? Al Pardo is pretty bad to, but he has a 0 arm, and I would want at least a +2 at catcher. Paul Zuvella is awful as well. It would sure be an interesting autodraft.

It would only be fun if you could really trust all the managers to play for losses.
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Postby Al Hogg » Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:16 am

I've also been thinking about a league where you try to lose.

I agree, though, that we should not have a $45 million requirement. Let's bring out the worst of the bunch and get all the 50-centers some action! It would be interesting to see how stats look when the worst pitchers go up against the worst batters (with the worst fielders backing them up).

I also think allowing teams to avoid positions could make it more fun. Why not let a team go without shortstops and let HAL choose who to play there? (A team might be better - that is, worse - off choosing a player with a bad SS rating who is also a bad batter, or else HAL will probably choose the best batter for the lineup hole.)

I would vote for going the whole season, too. The playoffs would determine who is the worst at being bad - the ultimate loser who is so bad he can't even manage to lose!
Al Hogg
 
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Postby labratory » Fri Mar 28, 2008 12:29 pm

Being the only person in the league, I'm open to negotiate on the rules.

My preference would also be for no minimum price on the draft list. However, HAL wouldn't let me put in a team unless the salaries total at least $45 mil. So it's part of SOM online.

If a position player is unavailable, I think HAL normally picks the next cheapest option at that position. If all of the .50 players are unavailable, I don't know what the next default would be.
If you have a team of all catchers, I don't know how you could put it a lineup without getting an error message.
Basically I thought it would be safer to require people to draft at least one person at every position so that HAL doesn't explode. If people are reasonably confident this won't happen, we can drop the position requirement.

I don't mind if people would rather have all teams play to lose the entire season. I just thought that someone with a 51-30 record would have more fun beating up on the losing teams and trying for 110 wins. Unfortunately, everyone can't be below average.

Let's discuss.
labratory
 
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Postby Al Hogg » Sat Mar 29, 2008 12:14 am

Didn't know about the $45 million requirement. I suppose the best way to load up on high salaries you don't want in the game would be to spend on starting pitchers that you never actually start.

Can you drop down below $45 million after the draft? If so, I would think that we should allow that. I'll post the question on the main board; it might drum up some additional interest here.

Regarding positions: If you leave a position blank in a lineup, you get a warning that you might not like who HAL picks, but HAL will pick somebody. I know I've done that in situations in which all my players at a particular position are injured. Typically, I think HAL will pick the best hitter on the bench to fill the spot. That's why I say you might be better (that is, worse) off with, say, Paul Zuvello (4e30) at shortstop than you would be having HAL choose a better hitter without a shortstop defense rating.

That said, I would be open for a requirement that, with a healthy roster, you could theoretically fill out all nine positions, although I don't think there would be a way to enforce that people actually fill out their lineup card that way. (Would we want to have a DH? That would open up rosters to include bad hitters who are good fielders without risking that HAL will put them in at the position in which they field well as a defensive sub. On the other hand, having pitchers bat would PROBABLY make the hitting lineup worse.)
Al Hogg
 
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Postby labratory » Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:07 pm

I never tried to drop below $45 mil after the draft, so I don't know if it's allowed. Therefore, the ultimate salary cap (I guess it would be a salary floor) will be determined by HAL.
You're right about blank positions in the lineup. I've tried to list players without positions, but that doesn't work. I never thought to leave the name blank and let HAL pick someone.
If a position (SS) is left blank, I think the first default is to look for anyone on the bench who can play SS. If there are no healthy options, the second default is the best hitter on the bench. Therefore, I think that as long as each roster contains one player for each position, then HAL will automatically use them at that position unless injured. I'm not smart enough to figure out a way to rig the system, but it doesn't mean it isn't possible.
I set it up as a DH league so we could use the DH position to hide our good fielding, weak hitting middle infielders so their good defense wouldn't hurt our scheme.

To summarize what we've discussed:
Draft salary minimum $45 mil. After draft, HAL will determine salary floor.
Waiver- DH league
Roster must contain at least one player for each position.
Transactions allowed after the draft
Play for losses all 162 games and playoffs
labratory
 
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Postby Al Hogg » Sat Mar 29, 2008 11:21 pm

LMBombers indicates that if you set up the league as a $200 million league, there is no minimum salary requirement:

http://forums.sportingnews.com/viewtopic.php?t=392778

That said, we need to find some more people who are interested in the general concept of trying to lose!
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Postby 216 Stitches » Sun Mar 30, 2008 1:37 am

Some moral support. Sounds like fun and I would join if I hadn't used my 5th free team credit already.

Idle curiosity why the $45 minimum? Can't you just find 4 $10 million players and have them ride the bench?
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Postby labratory » Sun Mar 30, 2008 9:47 am

I removed my team from the $60 mil league in favor of eventually joining a $200 mil league with no minimum salary requirement. Now I need to change my draft list to get rid of all of the good players. If someone else wants to set up the league in the meantime, be my guest. I'll join ASAP.
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