cardsfan - i will make the league # avail before the end of the weekend. that way people can see what the players look like, stats, ect. for some foreshadowing, baseball-reference.com has per season averages listed under career stats for every player.
i don't like using AAA in these leagues but it would act as insurance so that we all have enough PA's & IP's. the 154/162 difference doesn't matter as the stats already take into consideration a 162 game schedule. this is why guys like Al Simmons & Tris Speaker never need rest in career formats. even if a guy only played a few games in 1901, his career stats version will most likely be set up for a longer stamina (his career ave). assuming we use AAA they will be normal at best, possibly set up as below normal to insure things aren't screwed up by ultra-AAA's. the way i look at it, in 1901 there were a lot of guys who didn't get signed because scouting and the development of players isn't what it became when Branch Rickey got rolling. so it's feasible that a few players good enough to make a visit to the majors never got their chance. look at the old minor league Baltimore Orioles of the early 20's, which had Max Bishop & Lefty Grove on their roster for several years. these guys were stars in the big leagues, and Grove won 300 games, but Baltimore head on to them for years because the franchise was making good money off them. Heck, Grove was ready for the bigs when he was 21 but had to wait until he was 25 before he was sold to Connie Mack. this is how i justified the AAA to myself.
i think it will work out fine. we will all face the same challenges, and it changes things up a bit. if 1901 teaches us that we need to make some changes for 1902, then we will make those changes as the majority sees fit.
all trades are possible, including for future draft picks, as long as approved by league vote. majority rules. i expect everyone to compete each season and may devise a lottery similar to the NBA to insure against tanking, although i don't see it necessary with our current list of owners.
pick1or2 - we will start at 1901 and i hope you reconsider, but if you want to wait i will give you first dibs on any abandoned teams in the future.