2021 Tour Changes??

One more thought about live drafting in the semis. Wouldn't it be a lot easier for everyone to set aside one Saturday or Monday night for a 90 minute live draft, if you really feel one bad auto draft makes it impossible to compete? It's 90 minutes.

Also, in the future,( again), if you feel a bad auto draft makes it impossible to compete, why not set aside one night for a Finals Live Draft, and get it done in one night instead of taking days or weeks on the boards?

It's just a suggestion. I am not heavily invested in this Tournament enough to get mad about anything, this will probably be my first, and last PC (For Reasons stated a few posts back). I have nothing against this Tournament (though I think that the ballpark rules are silly and I don't really understand what they are supposed to accomplish).

Nothing against this Tournament but it is just not my favorite game. I am really all about the Mystery Tournament, Mystery Leagues, Daily Leagues, and the retro sets ('69-'82-'86-'99- ) I would love to see a mini Tournament with the three they still offer.

But here's my two cents, give the top 4 teams a bye, have the next 24 play a semi, with those 8 playoff teams joining the four that got the bye to make your final 12.... Often times because of the stupid four team divisions, wild cards win more games than division winners and they should not be excluded.

I don't think picking stadiums first is an advantage but it's definitely not a disadvantage. With the stadiums the only people who are disadvantaged are people who like to build small ball teams. There is no shortage for bomber parks. Anything over 1-9 HR for RHB and LHB is a bomber park. They are mostly bomber parks.

Getting screwed by the auto draft is unfortunately A HUGE part of this game, but if you throw in the towel from a bad auto draft, are you really one of the best?? Seriously? It's a huge part of the game, and every non live drafting league.

Having the final's draft being non serpentine for however many rounds IS A HUGE ADVANTAGE, and I guess one that is well earned. ... I will most likely be drafting last, in every round. But I will not be making excuses and saying that finishes me.

By the way, how many rounds are on the boards and not serpentine THIS YEAR?

I'm not saying that myself or Cristano or Scumby or anyone else with a tough auto draft threw in the towel, just saying that it suddenly puts a manager deserving of some sort of reward for finishing high in regular season at a big disadvantage. As Gilbo stated, the way it is right now there is no reward for finishing high in the standings in semi finals but there is in the finals. I personally think it should be the other way around. I like your idea of a full live draft but not sure that's the way everyone would want to go.

Bottom line, everyone in the semis are very good managers and I just think there should be some sort of reward for finishing high in the regular season standings. As it stands now there isn't. Take our league for example. Cristano finishes first overall, you finish 36 so you are in same division. Does this mean Cristano is a better manager than you? No. You are both very good. So not only is he not being rewarded, he's suddenly at a disadvantage with a tough auto draft. I think this is like telling the Kansas City Chiefs that yes you finished first overall, but you are losing your first round bye and you have to play on the road for the entire playoffs. No reward whatsoever.

Anyways, this is just one crappy managers opinion. Really what do I know???

I'm a relative newcomer to this, and the whole tournament has been a huge amount of fun. Many thanks to Mr. BBW for organizing it!

My 2 cents: I agree with those who say that getting to pick a ballpark early is not much of a reward (if any), and it certainly wasn't something I even thought about during the first five rounds of tournament. It also doesn't seem like much of a *disadvantage* either, which leads me to think it should be abandoned altogether - I'd just let managers pick their ballparks in the same way that they picked them in the first five rounds. Instead, the biggest challenges have been (1) the level of the competition, and (2) fixing issues brought about by the autodraft results. As many have said, the level of the competition in the semi-finals is incredibly high - certainly by far the best group of managers/general managers I've run up against. This makes the autodraft even more important than it already is, so ending up with the #1 pick in the waiver draft meant I was trying to fix a lot of holes. But I don't agree that having a horrible autodraft means the season is basically over - it's simply a a stroke of bad luck (like injuries, bad "rolls," etc.) that you need to try to compensate for.

Bottom line: if finishing near the top after the first 5 rounds is intended to bring with it a meaningful reward, then the limited-round draft that others have proposed (2 rounds?) seems the best solution to me. It has the potential to provide a limited but still meaningful reward as a hedge against the potential of a terrible draft.

Good luck to the finalists! (The Wombats may technically still have a shot at the WC, but I think that's about as likely as winning the lottery! )
--MochaDog

Mocha,

Apologies for missing that you and NYY are still in the mix. An oversight on my part, not a sleight. You both had very good seasons, and good luck tonite.

Milty,

From the rules:

Champions League
The 12 Semi-Finals playoffs qualifiers in a single 12-team league
Start Date January 25 or February 1
Salary Cap: $80,000,000 (standard)
DH Rule: Yes (standard)
Free Agent Drop Penalty: 5/10/20

There will be an eight pick live draft for the Tour Championship, consisting of seven players and a ballpark, to be done on the forum boards. The draft will NOT be serpentine for the finals - i.e., the draft order will be repeated in each round. These "seeding" rules for the draft order provide an incentive and a reward for the managers who finish with the highest scores in Events I-V.

Reference is made to the slight change in the point system, adding points accumulated in the semi-finals round to the manager's points total from the qualifying rounds. This will effect the final overall standings, impacting the order of picks in the live draft for the Champions League.

The reason there is no live draft:

A. International community (stevep107 is in Perth, Australia for instance).
B. Even if we all lived in the same HOUSE, you couldn’t get 12 managers to agree on ANYTHING, least of all a set time and place.

Nothing against this Tournament but it is just not my favorite game. I am really all about the Mystery Tournament, Mystery Leagues, Daily Leagues, and the retro sets ('69-'82-'86-'99- ) I would love to see a mini Tournament with the three they still offer.

But here's my two cents, give the top 4 teams a bye, have the next 24 play a semi, with those 8 playoff teams joining the four that got the bye to make your final 12.... Often times because of the stupid four team divisions, wild cards win more games than division winners and they should not be excluded.

I don't think picking stadiums first is an advantage but it's definitely not a disadvantage. With the stadiums the only people who are disadvantaged are people who like to build small ball teams. There is no shortage for bomber parks. Anything over 1-9 HR for RHB and LHB is a bomber park. They are mostly bomber parks.

Getting screwed by the auto draft is unfortunately A HUGE part of this game, but if you throw in the towel from a bad auto draft, are you really one of the best?? Seriously? It's a huge part of the game, and every non live drafting league.

Having the final's draft being non serpentine for however many rounds IS A HUGE ADVANTAGE, and I guess one that is well earned. ... I will most likely be drafting last, in every round. But I will not be making excuses and saying that finishes me.

By the way, how many rounds are on the boards and not serpentine THIS YEAR?

I'm not saying that myself or Cristano or Scumby or anyone else with a tough auto draft threw in the towel, just saying that it suddenly puts a manager deserving of some sort of reward for finishing high in regular season at a big disadvantage. As Gilbo stated, the way it is right now there is no reward for finishing high in the standings in semi finals but there is in the finals. I personally think it should be the other way around. I like your idea of a full live draft but not sure that's the way everyone would want to go.

Bottom line, everyone in the semis are very good managers and I just think there should be some sort of reward for finishing high in the regular season standings. As it stands now there isn't. Take our league for example. Cristano finishes first overall, you finish 36 so you are in same division. Does this mean Cristano is a better manager than you? No. You are both very good. So not only is he not being rewarded, he's suddenly at a disadvantage with a tough auto draft. I think this is like telling the Kansas City Chiefs that yes you finished first overall, but you are losing your first round bye and you have to play on the road for the entire playoffs. No reward whatsoever.

Anyways, this is just one crappy managers opinion. Really what do I know???

Thank you for your opinion. Yes, no one "threw in the towel". A live draft is not feasible. too hard to lock in a time for many of us. Bottom is line why seed the semis leagues if ranking doesn't matter? Just randomize the 36 semis.

Thank you for the comments made regarding my thoughts on the Semi's vs the Finals draft: Advantages / Disadvantages. I appreciate the measure of respect and open thinking / feeling that has gone on in the discussion so far!

I see good points made in each of the statements given. I do think the 36 number cut off is wise as well as the [u]seeding of positions...I wouldn't want to change either![/b]. I always appreciate J-Pav's fine thinking and discussions on anything Strat related and agree with almost everything he has said on this issue.

It does appear, however, that the theme of appropriately honoring those who scored higher in regular season in the Semi's is something we should still consider making some kind of adjustment(s) to. After all, am I the only one who looks at some of the best teams in the PC tournament and try to incorporate some of their "secrets" in trying to make my teams better?

It seems like the place to reward that is in the Semi s rather than the Finals! By the Finals shouldn't it be as even as possible so that anyone will win 'by hook or by crook'.

Even the way the Finals is worded seems to acknowledge my point:

There will be an eight pick live draft for the Tour Championship, consisting of seven players and a ballpark, to be done on the forum boards. The draft will NOT be serpentine for the finals - i.e., the draft order will be repeated in each round. These "seeding" rules for the draft order provide an incentive and a reward for the managers who finish with the highest scores in Events I-V.:

Why do we skip this in the Semis than add it in during the "Championship"?
* Most of the Real major sports seem to do the rewarding of advantage immediately after the Regular season ends: In the Playoffs and early rounds - Not in The Finals...

Thank you for the comments made regarding my thoughts on the Semi's vs the Finals draft: Advantages / Disadvantages. I appreciate the measure of respect and open thinking / feeling that has gone on in the discussion so far!

I see good points made in each of the statements given. I do think the 36 number cut off is wise as well as the [u]seeding of positions...I wouldn't want to change either![/b]. I always appreciate J-Pav's fine thinking and discussions on anything Strat related and agree with almost everything he has said on this issue.

It does appear, however, that the theme of appropriately honoring those who scored higher in regular season in the Semi's is something we should still consider making some kind of adjustment(s) to. After all, am I the only one who looks at some of the best teams in the PC tournament and try to incorporate some of their "secrets" in trying to make my teams better?

It seems like the place to reward that is in the Semi s rather than the Finals! By the Finals shouldn't it be as even as possible so that anyone will win 'by hook or by crook'.

Even the way the Finals is worded seems to acknowledge my point:

There will be an eight pick live draft for the Tour Championship, consisting of seven players and a ballpark, to be done on the forum boards. The draft will NOT be serpentine for the finals - i.e., the draft order will be repeated in each round. These "seeding" rules for the draft order provide an incentive and a reward for the managers who finish with the highest scores in Events I-V.:

Why do we skip this in the Semis than add it in during the "Championship"?
* Most of the Real major sports seem to do the rewarding of advantage immediately after the Regular season ends: In the Playoffs and early rounds - Not in The Finals...

Is there a player draft for the finals? If so, that negates the argument that the top 36 are equal. So I agree the Semi finalists should also have some kind of player draft if not the same.

I set up a poll in a separate thread so we can gauge the mood of the community. Please go over and vote (one time only, no changes).

One point that I think that is always overlooked is that there is a lot of strategy that goes into formulating your autodraft card. It is not necessarily bad luck when you have a bad autodraft. Strategizing on how to rank your players on that draft card is a talent. The Finals draft is long and laborious as mentioned. My opinion is the autodraft for the Semis needs to remain in place. Heck, I wouldn't mind an autodraft for The Finals.

One point that I think that is always overlooked is that there is a lot of strategy that goes into formulating your autodraft card. It is not necessarily bad luck when you have a bad autodraft. Strategizing on how to rank your players on that draft card is a talent. The Finals draft is long and laborious as mentioned. My opinion is the autodraft for the Semis needs to remain in place. Heck, I wouldn't mind an autodraft for The Finals.

That's certainly true, and it's a skill that I'm trying (not terribly successfully yet!) to learn. On the other hand, as a counter-balance it seems to me that at this level all 12 managers are more focused on what are considered to be the "most desirable" subset of players than in, say, the average autodraft league, which could mean more competition for a smaller group of players. I recall early on reading advice somewhere in these forums to keep an eye out for player names that pop up time and again on rosters of the best managers, because they are "added value" players in many circumstances. And the consequence of not getting your choice is (from the rules) "the next highest-priced available player who plays [---] as his primary position. The replacement player they receive would not be on any other team's draft card." I.e. (unless I'm misunderstanding this), someone none of the other 11 managers wanted enough to put on their autodraft list. Sometimes that can lead to a gem landing in your lap, but other times it can lead to getting, say, a hitter who pounds lefties and is weak against righties, when you really need someone the other way around. Probably not insurmountable, but definitely a hole to dig out of.
--MochaDog