Current draft rules encourage managers to seek the worst possible results if they have little or no chance of being in the playoffs, in order to improve their positions in the next annual free agent draft. The rules vaguely say that "it is expected that all owners will act in the best interests of the game", however that is subjective and difficult to enforce fairly.
Several solutions have been proposed in the league chat, based on season W/L records, including:
- Weighted draft lottery, NBA-style, for the 4 or 6 or 8 teams with the worst records
- Straight lottery (not weighted) for the teams with the worst records
- Two lotteries, for the worst 8 and then the next 8, followed by playoff teams from #8 to #1
- Awarding top picks to the best teams not in the playoffs (from #9 to #24, followed by #8 to #1)
That last option would make it very difficult for a mediocre team to ever improve, however any of the lotteries have a certain appeal as solutions. There are even a number of websites to aid in generating the lottery results, such as
http://www.draftpicklottery.com/After reviewing the extended discussion in the league chat -- and the playoff-style weights used in some other leagues -- I propose a tiered system in the following amendment to the rules:
Effective with the draft for the 2012 card set, draft order is determined by the previous regular season win/loss records and playoff records, as follows:
- The 8 teams with the worst W/L records will have the first 8 picks in the draft, with the sequence determined by a straight lottery; a random number generator, such as that at http://www.draftpicklottery.com/, will be used to determine the order of the first 8 picks
- The draft sequence for the next 8 teams will be in reverse order, worst-record first, NFL style*
- The draft sequence for the 8 teams in the playoffs will be determined by their playoff results, with those eliminated in the quarter-finals* followed by those eliminated in the semi-finals*, followed by the league runner-up at #23 and the champion at #24
* Ties between teams will be handled as in the League Setup rules Since "all rule changes must pass by a super majority of 16 owners or more", it will take 16 YES votes to pass this measure. Shall the amendment be approved?
1. tcochran - YES