Golden era 5 round player draft- Drafts complete!

Geoff's golden era 24 team theme league ("GG24"):

My goal is to recreate the feeling of that era in major league baseball (i.e. 1969 to 1993). It's a bit of reminiscing on my part. I started following baseball around 1969, and it was the MLB that I knew and loved for so many years. (I don't dislike the subsequent era, but it was what I grew up with, that's all!) I realize that the 1969 playoff structure means that there will be fewer teams making the playoffs, but historical reality is part of this theme league. It's what I'm striving for!

This league is not a keeper league. It's a theme league. There isn't any commitment beyond this one season. If enough people like it, we can do it again sometime. My idea on timing is to launch opening day sometime in the next month or two. I'd like to have this league run annually, roughly after the end of the PC tournament (or at least when it's winding down for the year), and start it before the beginning of the new year (when the Mystery tournament is kicking in). Also, most keeper leagues are winding down by the fall. Sort of an end of year theme league.

We will be using ATG post WW2 set, with the exception that you can only use player cards from the years 1968 to 1995, inclusive. STRAT HAS CREATED A SPECIAL CARD SET FOR THIS LEAGUE, under ATG "shuffle the deck", "1968-1995" here:

http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/pl ... rowse/3818

I included the years 1968, 1994 and 1995 to broaden the player cards available.

The league will be 24 teams, but the catch is that we will be using the playoff format that was in effect in MLB from between 1969 and 1993, inclusive. In 1969 to 1993, it was like 4 divisions with their own "pennants". Only 1 team from each division made the playoffs. There were no wildcard playoff teams. For the years before the Blue Jays and Mariners joined, it was in fact precisely in this format, with 4 divisions of 6 teams each.

Please note that I've decided to include all players who had ATG strat cards from 1968 to 1995, to broaden the player pool a little bit. This means that the new players for the 1994 Montreal Expos will also be included in the player pool for this league.

My calculations are that there should be enough cards extra for a decent free agent pool. (I've done the math on it, and I've taken into account players with more than 1 card for that time period).

It will be a salary cap league, with a $100 million cap for each team. We will use the DH (NL franchises can pick up a DH through free agency). Each franchise must use one of it's own real life ballparks from 1968 to 1995, for that particular franchise.

There will be a draft to select real life teams from that era (with a random order determination for the draft order). ("The franchise draft").

Then, there will be a 5 round draft for special player selections ("the player draft"). The 5 round player draft will be serpentine. The first round will be in the opposite order of the franchise draft. EDIT September 4 - "In the 5 round player draft, you can only draft players who were carded to your team, OR players who were carded to the 2 franchises not drafted by any manager. Once drafted in the 5 round player draft, you unconditionally own the rights to that player for the remainder of the league. However, with respect to players who have ATG cards for more than one team in this player set, no team can suffer the loss of more than 2 players carded to their team in any one round of the player draft, and notore than 7 for the entire 5 round draft. If a team loses 7 players in the draft, they can make an additional pick in a supplemental 6th round."

Roster restrictions -

1. At least 15 players must be carded to your own franchise for one of the years between 1968 and 1995 inclusive, at all times. You can use (and draft) a different "card year" for that player - i.e. other than the year that he played for your franchise - as long as he played and was carded to your team in the ATG8 set for any year between 1968 and 1995 inclusive. These will be referred to as "core franchise players".

2. Your initial autodraft must contain the 5 players drafted in the player draft. These players should be placed at the top of your autodraft order (spots 1-5 on your draft order).

3. The first remaining draft order spots on your autodraft (i.e. 6 and subsequent) must be used first to obtain your 15 required core players for your franchise. Once you have filled up your 15 core players, the remaining spots on your autodraft order can be used for non-core players that you would like to draft as "free agents". This will be on the honor system. It is advisable to print out a copy of your autodraft draft priority ranking list before joining the league, so that you can show it later in the event of any dispute.

Division allotment - divisions will be filled as much as possible in the same historical divisions as they had in MLB history, with the primary divisional allocation being based on the earliest division allotments. If there are uneven division allocations based on the franchises drafted, the commissioner (me) will assign divisions in a way that is consistent with MLB history, in his sole discretion. I will take suggestions though.

You must also use a ballpark that was used by your team during the years 1968-1995.

Resolving autodraft issues:

1. If a player picks someone who was already selected during the 5 round player draft ("protected players"), they must delete the unlawfully drafted protected player. The protected player may be claimed back by the original owner either during waivers or during the post-waiver frenzy, but must be claimed back by the original owner by midnight EST on the day of the waiver draft. If unclaimed by that time, the player is no longer a protected player and may be acquired by a free agent "add" by any other player, after midnight (12:01 or later). If there is more than one unlawful pick by the same manager, then the offending manager must trade the player to the manager who owns the rights to the protected player, in exchange for a player of that other manager's choosing. That "substituted player" becomes a protected player to that manager in the same way, until 12:01 (just after midnight) EST on the day of (technically following the day of) the waiver draft.

2. If a player is unable to acquire the required 15 core players through the autodraft, they must use their first waiver draft picks to acquire enough core players to bring them up to the 15 requirement. If there are salary cap issues, the manager must organize their roster through the waiver process and the following frenzy in order to get their 15 core players as quickly as possible, and before any other free agent transactions. It may be strategically advisable to attempt to autodraft more than 15 core players, in order to maximize your strategic freedom during the waiver draft (i.e. instead of having to potentially use a few of the first rounds of the waiver draft to pick more "core" players.

3. Please note that there are no rules about autodraft priority in this league. So, if a particular hitter or pitcher is carded to more than 1 team that is a franchise in this league, then it's "first come, first serve" through the autodraft. There is no reference to the cumulative games played for each franchise, for example, to determine which franchise owns the player's rights. In fact, because there can be at least 9 free agent (non-core) players for each franchise, "core players" can be legitimately scooped up by an opposing manager during the autodraft (except - see draft order rules above).

4. From point #3 above, it follows that some managers may choose to use the 5 round player draft to select some of their core players that they dearly want to protect. So, the 5 round player draft isn't just for free agents or non-core players - it can be used for core players as well. Exception - the 5 round player draft selections can only include players that are "core players" for your franchise, or "free agents" that are from the franchises that were not picked in the franchise draft.

5. If there are any disputes, they will be resolved by the commissioner (me) in the commissioner's sole discretion, after hearing any arguments from the 2 (or more) parties to the dispute. The players must execute the instructions from the commissioner. The commissioner may take into account any suggestions as to how to execute the resolution of the dispute. If the dispute arises after the opening day for the season (game 1), the players may have to suffer salary cap penalties if the resolution involves adds or drops (although trades might assist in the resolution of the dispute).

Please note that the 1968-1971 Washington Senators player cards will be treated as Texas Rangers player cards for the purposes of that Texas Rangers franchise (i.e. the franchise relocated to Texas, and was really the same franchise).

I'm open to suggestions for improvements in the theme league rules and rosters!


If you would like to play in this league, please sign up here:

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If you would like to play in this league, please sign up here:

1.GBrookes
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Looks interesting. I'm gonna be out for next few days, but I'll check it when I have more time.

I agree with Andy - sounds interesting, but..........


24 teams? I know your intent - to include the core teams in a season from that time period.

But theoretically, that might only leave the BlueJays, Mariners, Marlins and Rockies to choose all those free agents from?
Would that be right?

If you would like to play in this league, please sign up here:

1.GBrookes
2.ycbill
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.GBrookes
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I agree with Andy - sounds interesting, but..........


24 teams? I know your intent - to include the core teams in a season from that time period.

But theoretically, that might only leave the BlueJays, Mariners, Marlins and Rockies to choose all those free agents from?
Would that be right?

There's more than enough player cards from that era, even without the expansion teams, for a deep enough free agent pool. I counted the individual players included in that set, for both batters and pitchers.

Remember that players aren't "protected" to teams unless they are drafted in the 5 round player draft. Any hitters or pitchers not drafted in the 5 round player draft can be either taken by any manager as a free agent, or as one of their 15 core players if the hitter or pitcher was ever carded to that franchise during 1968 to 1995. So as long as the player pool is deep enough (and it is), then there will be more than enough cards to make up a good roster for 24 teams.

I'll publish the stats on the player cards available later today.

I agree with Andy - sounds interesting, but..........


24 teams? I know your intent - to include the core teams in a season from that time period.

But theoretically, that might only leave the BlueJays, Mariners, Marlins and Rockies to choose all those free agents from?
Would that be right?

Not right actually. Only the 5 players picked in the 5 round player draft are fully protected. See my previous post, just above this one.

In the 5 round player draft, the pool is thin. You'll probably want to use the 5 round player draft to "lock up" and protect your key core players.

But once the 5 round player draft is done, and in the autodraft, after you fill out your remaining core player picks, then you can draft anyone else not selected in the original 5 round draft.

For example, I take the Montreal expos in the franchise draft. In the player draft, I use all 5 picks to take my favourite all time expos, naming the player (I don't have to name the card year, because I now "own" that player. The only requirement is that that player was carded to the expos sometime between 1968 and 1995). So now I have 5 Expos core players. I use my first 10 autodraft selections to take another 10 Expos carded players. I can now use the last 15 autodraft selections to take any players I want to, as long as they weren't picked in the 5 round player draft on the boards.

Any players that I'm able to get in the autodraft are now owned by me. If I'm short on my 15 core players (because I didn't get one of my autodraft selections), then I need to acquire a core player to fulfill that requirement for 25 core players . I can do that through waivers and the frenzy period. By opening day game 1, I must have my 15 core players.

Note that the only way that I won't be successful in getting my 15 core players in the autodraft, is if one of the core players that I picked was also carded to one of the other league franchises during 1968-1995. If there is an error committed by another player, then I can ask the commissioner to fix the error for me, by waiver drop or trade, at my preference, subject to the league rules.

1.GBrookes
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