Category Theme League/ Live Category Draft

12 positions need to be filled, no NO DH.
12 categories are needed to fill these positions.
So, we'll use Hits/ 2B's/ 3B's/ HR's/ SB's/ BA/ OBP/ SLG for our hitters.
And W / ERA / WHIP / Saves for our pitchers (All SP's must be *SP's)
I'm thinking $ 100-120 million. Open to suggestions/discussions.
Any park you want.
5/10/20% drops (again, open to discussions)
The live draft will be randomized. By the end of the 12 round draft, you MUST have your 8 position players and 4 pitchers as well as your category requirements filled.

The categories:
HITS: 220 +
2B's: 30+
3B's: 18+
SB's: 50+
HR's: 50+
BA: .380+
OBP: .450+
SLG: .650+
Wins: 26+
Saves: 30+
ERA: < 1.80
WHIP: < 1.00

I'm thinking of a draft just like a position draft. We will all get a chance to be #1 in a round. As #1, you call the category. ie. You have the #1 pick in the draft. You take Bonds (SLG). EVERYONE else must use SLG for the rest of that round. You might have the 12 pick in the next round and have no choice but to use the 2's category (as an example).

Any interest?

1. visick
2. Frank M.
3. bcp7
4. 42Tsunami
5. xuandemackay
6. bontomn
7. hackra
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Question (perhaps a silly one) : can a manager drop any of their live draft picks in the preseason and not use them?
Can you use alternate years on guys (example say in the HR category I pick Griffey Jr....do I have to use his 9.14 card)?

I would think you could drop a player but the replacement would have to fill the category. So if I drop my 220+ hit guy, I would have to replace him with a 220+ hit guy. Essentially the requirement being you always need to have 12 guys that fit the 12 categories but Mr V. can give the official answer..

I would think you would have to use the card that fits the category.

Tenatively put me in. Depends on answers on rules and if when I am more awake tomorrow I still think I have a credit to spare.

I'm interested, but there may some logistical issues. For instance, virtually no catchers will qualify except under the doubles category (which seems much less restrictive than the other offensive categories-- there are literally hundreds of players with more than 30 doubles). But for the other categories, the only catchers who qualify are Gibson (AVG/ OBP/ SLG), King Kelly (SB), plus a couple of guys who have catcher eligibility but would kill you defensively (Boudreau, Chance, Beckwith).

I haven't studied the other positions in depth, but it's possible that other positions such as 2B or SS may also have difficulty getting twelve eligible players. While doubles may work, you can't fill two positions with one category.

Sb/3b category can probably find you either a ss or 2b....but finding both may be a challenge. Of positions pitching and 1b should be easy. Lowering the threshold for HR, triples, obp or slg a tad could help......OR allow catchers a 10-20% reduction in any category (say 40 hr instead of 50,or obp of .405 instead of .450, or Slg of .595 instead of .650) which would add many options

"I would think you could drop a player but the replacement would have to fill the category. So if I drop my 220+ hit guy, I would have to replace him with a 220+ hit guy"

Correct. You MUST put who you drafted on your draft card. You also must use that card for that category. If post waivers, you don't want a particulair card, you can replace it with someone else that fits that category.

The catching position was the only position where I had to go over those parameters a few time.
I'm open to changing the category requirements, but this is where the idea for this league came about.

I wanted guys to think where they wanted to use their player/category picks.

But we can open HR's to 30 or >
BA- .330 or >
SLG- .500 or >

I'm assuming one guy cannot fill multiple categories?

Your assumption is correct.

Mock Draft:
(randomized draft order)
Manager 1: ICHIRO (HITS= 220 +) RF
MGR 2: SISLER 1B
MGR 3: TERRY 1B
MGR 4: SIMMONS RF/LF/CF
MGR 5: HORNSBY 2B
MGR 6: KLEIN RF
MGR 7: COBB CF
MGR 8: HERMAN RF
MGR 9: ERSTAD LF
MGR 10: CAREW 1B
MGR 11: MATTINGLY 1B
MGR 12: DUFFY CF

In this example, the HITS category is fulfilled. So, manager #1 now has a RF as well. MGR 2 has a 1B. MGR 3 also has a 1B. etc...

Say MGR 12 has the #1 pick in the next round. He might choose to go with the SLG category and choose GEHRIG 1B. Now he has a 1B and a CF (DUFFY) and 2 categories filled. If MGR 1 has the next pick, he doesn't need a RF, so he could choose to go with BONDS. Now he's got RF & LF filled. (HITS & SLG filled)

Get it?

The only current stat where you can find a good number of catchers is doubles. There are 34 catchers with 30 or more doubles.

Also -many of these categories are dominated by high priced talent. I would think we would need at least 120 million cap, maybe 140, but I wouldn't want to go higher than that.