USKL

Hey Kev - when do I draft my new ballpark? Is it after the FA draft?

Yes, immediately after the player draft.

Everyone, it has been requested to look at how Draft Order is determined for each Spring and Supplemental Drafts. MLB rules these days drops the Playoff teams to the bottom of the draft with the WS Champs as the last pick.


7. Heading into the start of a NEW YEAR -- the Divisions (AND the FREE AGENT DRAFT ORDER) will be in order of the previous year's total combined standings. Any ties will be broken by; 1. Head to Head results and if needed -best head to head better seed; 2. Greatest positive RS-RA differential-better seed. The league will be formed such that the EAST will be teams 1-4, the CENTRAL 5-8 and the WEST 9-12.

Suggested New Format to determine Draft Order starting Supplemental 2024.

Draft order 1-8 Non-Playoff Teams (worst record #1 to best record at #8)
#9 - 1st Round Playoff Loser with worst record
#10. 1st Round Playoff Loser with better record
#11. World Series Loser
#12. World Series Winner

KLX22
Splinter
Seanreflex - YES
Nythawk - Yes
Palmtana - Yes
MLBPhan - Yes
Kevin - Yes
Keyzick - Yes
Akindian - Heck yeah!
Tanman
Champ - Yes
Ninersphan - YES


OK - rules will change. I did forget to clarify that even though we are using COMBINED RECORDS of Season 1 and Season 2 , the Draft Order is only based off Season 2's Playoff Teams.

Texted, Keith, he's otherwise engaged, and said it would be awhile.

Texted, Keith, he's otherwise engaged, and said it would be awhile.

A full round in less than a day. Great start by the USKL gang.

Everyone, it has been requested to look at how Draft Order is determined for each Spring and Supplemental Drafts. MLB rules these days drops the Playoff teams to the bottom of the draft with the WS Champs as the last pick.


7. Heading into the start of a NEW YEAR -- the Divisions (AND the FREE AGENT DRAFT ORDER) will be in order of the previous year's total combined standings. Any ties will be broken by; 1. Head to Head results and if needed -best head to head better seed; 2. Greatest positive RS-RA differential-better seed. The league will be formed such that the EAST will be teams 1-4, the CENTRAL 5-8 and the WEST 9-12.

Suggested New Format to determine Draft Order starting Supplemental 2024.

Draft order 1-8 Non-Playoff Teams (worst record #1 to best record at #8)
#9 - 1st Round Playoff Loser with worst record
#10. 1st Round Playoff Loser with better record
#11. World Series Loser
#12. World Series Winner

KLX22
Splinter
Seanreflex - YES
Nythawk - Yes
Palmtana - Yes
MLBPhan - Yes
Kevin - Yes
Keyzick - Yes
Akindian - Heck yeah!
Tanman
Champ - Yes
Ninersphan - YES


OK - rules will change. I did forget to clarify that even though we are using COMBINED RECORDS of Season 1 and Season 2 , the Draft Order is only based off Season 2's Playoff Teams.

Even though this rule change passed, I have some thoughts on this change. My first thought relates to penalizing the playoff team from the East division (the division with the weakest teams from the first season). Here's how it would have affected the draft order since I've been in this league:
CardSet EastPlayoffTeam Season1Wins Season2Wins OldDraftPosition NewDraftPosition
2017 CF13 77 83 6 9
2018 fowldog 66 86 4 9
2019 akindian 62 79 2 9
2020 ninersphan 58 78 3 9
2021 akindian 64 79 3 12
2022 keyzick 71 98 8 9

My second thought builds on the first thought. Under the new format, there is incentive to avoid making the playoffs in the East division as your picks lose quite a bit of value. This could lead to East teams selling off their best players and tanking their lineups so they don't make the playoffs. Maybe this won't happen, but it's a possibility.

My third thought builds on the above thoughts. Sometimes when I've been in the East division I've wanted to trade my draft picks to push for a playoff run. Under this new format, my picks will be less valuable so trades could be harder to make as other teams will be less interested in receiving my picks (especially my first round pick).

My fourth thought is some initial thoughts on how to overcome these downsides of the above rule change are to include the season 1 playoff teams in the free agent draft order (position #7 and position #8; may not always happen as the player teams may be the same in both seasons). We could also just use the new draft order for only the first round (could also just do the new draft order for the first 3 rounds or something). We could also not include playoff losers in the draft order. I really like the idea of the world series loser and winner getting the #11 and #12 spots in the supplemental and free agent drafts, but something feels off on how it affects the playoff team from the East division.

Just wanted to share my thoughts on this rule change. I'd love to see some adjustment made to the new rule, but I'll accept the current rule if there isn't enough interest in adjusting it.

I don’t have a problem with your thoughts, but why didn’t you bring it up when the proposal first hit the thread??? There’s clearly a lot of thought and research into your position and I would not object to implementing some of what you propose. But now else’s need another vote.

I will say, it was my ask that that brought this all about. Picking last after not having won the championship (twice) just felt wrong. So I asked Kev, if we could change the rule to get the WS champion picking last and the playoff teams as the last four picks. This is the way it’s run in almost every other keeper I’m in, and it’s also the way it’s run in the leagues I’ve been commissioner.

I’d say your concern about the East draft position I’d offset by allowing the East team the chance to compete for a WS title. Having the playoff structure we do allows for two new playoff teams every season, not just every year and to me that offsets your issue with the East champ's draft position. Do the East champs always win in the playoffs? No but they also don’t always lose. And the chance at a title is worth a one season with too high a draft slot. Besides it’s not the slot that determines the value it’s the player picked.

Just my two cents.


PS DRAFT NOT MOVING AS FAST TODAY

I don’t have a problem with your thoughts, but why didn’t you bring it up when the proposal first hit the thread??? There’s clearly a lot of thought and research into your position and I would not object to implementing some of what you propose. But now else’s need another vote.

I will say, it was my ask that that brought this all about. Picking last after not having won the championship (twice) just felt wrong. So I asked Kev, if we could change the rule to get the WS champion picking last and the playoff teams as the last four picks. This is the way it’s run in almost every other keeper I’m in, and it’s also the way it’s run in the leagues I’ve been commissioner.

I’d say your concern about the East draft position I’d offset by allowing the East team the chance to compete for a WS title. Having the playoff structure we do allows for two new playoff teams every season, not just every year and to me that offsets your issue with the East champ's draft position. Do the East champs always win in the playoffs? No but they also don’t always lose. And the chance at a title is worth a one season with too high a draft slot. Besides it’s not the slot that determines the value it’s the player picked.

Just my two cents.


PS DRAFT NOT MOVING AS FAST TODAY

Sometimes it takes awhile for me to compose my thoughts

I had message Kevin asking for some clarification yesterday morning about how the draft order would affect the Supplemental and Free Agency drafts. I didn't have an alternative to offer up for the rule change yet, so I was taking some time to think on it. I liked the finals teams picking last, but wasn't sure what to recommend for the playoff teams that missed the finals. Kevin had articulated the rule change was intended to model the real life MLB draft order (based on the MLB playoffs) The unbalanced divisions in our league causes this drafting system not to quite work as well. I guess an option would be to balance the divisions for season 2, so I was pondering on whether to offer that as an alternative or to just remove the player losers from the draft ordering. I was also busy preparing for the drafts of the four other keeper leagues I'm in. This is the first league incorporating the playoff team results in the supplemental and free agency drafts that I'm in.

The average drop in draft position for the East champ since I've been in the league is 4.67 spots per round. This drop most affects the East champs first round pick. Sometimes they can be a significant drop off around about the fifth pick in the first round. Good managers can find gems at any draft position, but it's possible you miss the gem you're targeting by just a couple picks. There's a cumulative loss of value that happens over the spring free agent rounds no matter how well you draft. Other alternative rule is 1st round playoff teams drop one position in the supplemental and free agent draft, the WS runner up drops two spots, and the WS winner drops three spots (max drop is end of round). You drop starting with the teams with the worst record, so the leapfrogging could end up putting a team back in their original spot.

Anyways, I'll be okay with whatever happens. I just thought I'd point out possible unintended results. Maybe I'm the only one that thinks the impact on the East champ is that big of a deal.

Thanks Tanner and Bill. I thought about different ways to make this all work. However, no matter what rules we go by, there is a degree of imperfection. At the end of the day, every scenario has the risk of guys trading or playing to lose to get a better draft spot.
This past year, Keyzick was in the East in Season 2. He won 98 games and lost in the 1st round. With the combined record, he ended up with an 8th pick. Under the new rules, he would have had the 9th pick in the draft. Had he won the first round series, he would have ended up with either the 11th or 12th pick.

IMO - in this instance, any of these Draft Positions would have been fair.

On the flipside, if you are in the East in Season 2 and you have a subpar team and you win the division, you will have a chance to win the World Series (i.e. Akindian with a 79-83 record 2 years ago). Even though Akindian had a subpar combined record, he won a title and would be the 12th pick. That's not a bad trade-off. The idea is to win titles.
Had he lost the first round and ended up with the #9 pick.....too bad. He at least had a shot at winning the World Series while 8 other teams had no shot.

No perfect system. I still like the re-ranking the teams after Season 1 with the worst in the East and the Best in the West. It gives guys a shot that would have ZERO change otherwise.

Kevin, you summed it up MUCH more eloquently than I did. That’s exactly the way I feel.


Anyone around to take a proxy??? I have plans for the early evening.

Hey peeps - please REMOVE Evan Phillips from the Available List. On Palmtana's Roster.