The NWPEE (No Whining Progressive, Early Edition) is a unique 16-team, double-season progressive league in our 3rd season (1887/1952). Two original owners will be leaving us at the conclusion of this season, and so we are looking for two new owners for season 4 (1888/1953).
The two teams are listed below.
What makes us unique? A couple of things:
1.) Our philosophy is summarized in the name of the league; no whining here. All owners take complete responsibility for their teams, and for the well-being of the league as a whole. If you miss a draft pick, we move on without you. If you leave a player off your keeper list inadvertently and someone else drafts him, you lose the player. Don't get the wrong idea - we're not a group of sharks. We just expect everyone to be accountable. We've all been in leagues where a couple of owners take forever to hit deadlines, or are sloppy with their keepers, and just expect everyone else to put up with it. Not here.
2.) Tanking is not rewarded in any way. Our draft order is completely randomized; every team has the exact same chance, 1/16, of getting the top draft pick. There is absolutely no incentive not to put your best effort into winning, and many of us take pride in winning more games than we "should" based on our payroll in any given season. Note that this means unlike most leagues, you can't just rebuild by waiting around for good draft picks, because there is no guarantee you will get them. The remainder of the draft runs in serpentine fashion, so the first overall pick in round 1 will draft 16th in round 2, 1st in round 3, etc.
3.) We use a unique system of contract points. Each team has up to 75 contract points they can use each season. Contracts are divided among your players based on how many seasons you want to keep them. IR seasons do count against your contract point cap. Once you have signed a player to a particular contract, you may not reduce or extend the terms of that contract (though you may choose to cut a player who is still under contract.) This system has proven to have 3 significant effects that make the NWPEE very different from a traditional progressive:
-- There is much more strategy around drafting and annual roster management. You have to make very difficult tradeoffs.
-- The annual draft pool is MUCH deeper than in a traditional progressive. In addition to being a 16 team league drawing from 2 MLB seasons (which already makes the draft pool very deep), every season there are very good players whose contracts expire and who therefore return to the draft pool.
-- There is much more annual roster turnover. The NWPEE looks quite a bit like modern MLB in this regard, with each team having a small number of long-term players, and then a bunch of guys signed to 1-season contracts who turnover frequently. It's not unusual for teams to have 10 or fewer keepers each season.
Beyond all of that, the NWPEE is just a good, solid fun league with good owners and a fascinating mix of eras. The 1880s bring some big offensive numbers and high-IP pitchers, but also severe defensive liabilities. The 1950s guys often have better normalized pitching numbers, but can't be used as often. Their defense is better, and they hit for more power (though HR numbers are restrained by deadball era pitching). Again, your roster-management skills will be really tested here.
Sitemail me if you're interested in either team below, and I'll add you to the league forum where you can see our league history, previous drafts, complete rules, etc.
7/26/2015 10:36 PM (edited)