Question regarding Franchise League Drafts

I've never played in a franchise league and I don't mean to hijack the thread, but hope you all don't mind if I ask a couple questions about franchise play.
First of all, how can leagues be balanced and competitive when some franchises (Yankees, Dodgers, Cardinals, Red Sox, etc) have a history of success that would seem to overwhelm some of the competition? For example, how can the Padres or Senators hope to compete with the Yankees?
Next question--are there rules for sorting out the sometimes tangled history of historical franchises? The A's would seem pretty easy, since they started in Philly, moved to KC, and finally to Oakland. But what about the Senators? The first Senator franchise moved to Minnesota and became the Twins. Then the next Senator franchise moved to Texas and became the Rangers--so who gets to draft who?

Just wondering...

There are rules regarding which franchises are in play, and typically that removes the weaker ones. Additionally, you still have a salary cap, and supplemental picks, so it should be pretty even. As for sorting out the franchises, it's typically not that hard - most that are allowed aren't that tangled. The Braves are probably the most traveled, but it's still fairly clear who you can get.

I've never played in a franchise league and I don't mean to hijack the thread, but hope you all don't mind if I ask a couple questions about franchise play.
First of all, how can leagues be balanced and competitive when some franchises (Yankees, Dodgers, Cardinals, Red Sox, etc) have a history of success that would seem to overwhelm some of the competition? For example, how can the Padres or Senators hope to compete with the Yankees?
Next question--are there rules for sorting out the sometimes tangled history of historical franchises? The A's would seem pretty easy, since they started in Philly, moved to KC, and finally to Oakland. But what about the Senators? The first Senator franchise moved to Minnesota and became the Twins. Then the next Senator franchise moved to Texas and became the Rangers--so who gets to draft who?

Just wondering...

OL. Go to the iLC and check some of the rules for franchises as a matter of fact we just started one called new franchise theme. It has no yanks or Giants or a's or Red Sox or cards

Most franchise leagues, unless they are set up to involve seldom-used teams like the one mentioned above, involve only those franchises that have players in each of the time periods (DB - EXP); these leagues are usually comprised of the same teams, with some variation among those last chosen. Thus there are generally about 14 franchises that are ever used.

Most of these leagues supplement in reverse order with either NeL players and/or players from non-chosen franchises; thus if you get the last pick of the franchises you'll get the chance to add Josh Gibson. I know I've done couple of these in which the number of supplemented players is determined by all-time win percentage. Thus the top teams get either none or one supplement, the bottom 2-4 supplementary players and those in-between somewhere between 1-3 players.

Usually the franchise with the highest card value gets control of players with multiple teams, so Speaker usually belongs to Red Sox rather than the Tribe. There are, of course, many variations and permutations, which accounts for some of the sustained interest among regular franchise aficionados, at least in my view.

I've never played in a franchise league and I don't mean to hijack the thread, but hope you all don't mind if I ask a couple questions about franchise play.
First of all, how can leagues be balanced and competitive when some franchises (Yankees, Dodgers, Cardinals, Red Sox, etc) have a history of success that would seem to overwhelm some of the competition? For example, how can the Padres or Senators hope to compete with the Yankees?
Next question--are there rules for sorting out the sometimes tangled history of historical franchises? The A's would seem pretty easy, since they started in Philly, moved to KC, and finally to Oakland. But what about the Senators? The first Senator franchise moved to Minnesota and became the Twins. Then the next Senator franchise moved to Texas and became the Rangers--so who gets to draft who?

Just wondering...

Well, right now, I've got four theme leagues running, with variations on the franchise theme, and I’m in four others.

1921-1946 Franchise League utilizes players from that particular era. I assign certain players to certain franchises they played for to help with competitive balance, but after the AutoDraft, managers can grab any Free Agents who PLAYED FOR THEIR FRANCHISE from 21-46. We use all 16 original franchises along with split Yankee squads, since they are obviously the strongest franchise in this era. We have some long-time managers in this league, and we also do the theme with other eras, rotating through Deadball, 1947-1966, and 1967-present.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=634389

8m Franchise League is a POST WAR SET league that uses almost every franchise, rotating through 24 seasons. Same as above, I assign certain players to franchises to help competitive balance, but once the Autodraft runs, you can grab any player who played for your franchise. The cap is 80m and we have an 8m MAX on Hitters and SPs and a 4m MAX on RPs.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=633763

Alternate History Leagues 1.0 and 2.0 begin with 12 managers drafting a franchise to run through the 20th century. Each manager is in charge of an original MLB franchise; drafting 'rookies', watching old-timers retire, and working as GM to keep your franchise viable as the seasons roll. A season is based on 5-season increments, drafting new players in chronological order as they entered MLB. ALT1.0 is currently in Season Five, corresponding to 1935-1939. ALT2.0 is currently in Season Two, corresponding to 1920-1924.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=634066
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=636089

We completed an earlier theme league, a 20th Century Tournament utilizing the best franchises from a given decade, with a Championship Season with each decade’s champion. The1955 Brooklyn Dodgers won it all.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=822

2cityfan runs great franchise leagues. Right now, we are playing the ATG Alltime franchise League and Era AllTime Tournament, similar to our 20th Century Tournament. 2city assigns players for competitive balance, but also uses high$$ card in some instances.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=634424

I’m also in tcochran’s AL and NL Round Robin Leagues, playing each NL franchise in one them and each AL franchise in the other. In this league, a player carded to more than one team is assigned by which team he played the most games for in his career.

First of all, how can leagues be balanced and competitive when some franchises (Yankees, Dodgers, Cardinals, Red Sox, etc) have a history of success that would seem to overwhelm some of the competition? For example, how can the Padres or Senators hope to compete with the Yankees?

I am in a league using the decade cards (we used the 60s, then the 70s, ...) where we picked a franchise and then we can add 3 free agents. For some reason I picked the Senators. I looked at my team in the 60s and thought it would be competitive with good luck on the cards. I lost over 100 games as most of my cards had the 4th or 5th best year. In the 70s I thought I would be competitive as long as I didn't have bad luck. I won over 100 as most of my cards had the 1st or 2nd best cards. The Yanks were terrible in the 70s mainly due to bad luck on their cards. So by limiting the deck bad franchises can succeed. (In case anyone is wondering the stupid Giants have won both the 60s & 70s, currently we are in the 80s).

One other league I have thought about trying is a franchise league using the expansion deck but naming the franchises available - Rangers, Padres, Cubs, etc. so that some of the clubs that are normally not used have to be used.

Thanks for all of the detailed information. It sounds interesting....