MLB96661

The lack of movement in this league has prompted me to come up with a 12-team version (or 16). Alignment will be done through random.org to ensure a mix of the various salary caps in each league. I've eliminated the $100M teams, the Cream Puffs and the LA AAA.

I added a bunch of goals for everyone to try for, with emphasis on the ROY voting since that will remain a mystery until I get a list from support of just AAA players at the end of the season. Hopefully that will be enough to keep teams playing, as it will be harder to know who is out of the race. The big downside to a 12-team format is only two teams make the playoffs. I'm checking with support to find out whether they can set up a four-team playoff, but doubt it. If enough owners are interested in a smaller format and some want 2 teams, we can do it as a 16-team format, with 4 playoff berths.

Below is the summary of franchises and revised goals. Each franchise also has a requirement that must be met for the team to be eligible for playoffs, mostly related to drafting the team. Each franchise has two specific goals. One listed in bold is worth 20 points (or bonus wins) and the other is worth 10. I'm completely open to discussion of those goals and anything else here.

RULES/SETUP
50 Games Live required for playoff eligibility
12/10 Random AAA
$100M Cap (teams must follow the cap stated in the description until game 140; see WW rules below)
No Clones/No DH
Trades Allowed
Waiver Wire: After your team has played 140 games, you may add players from the Waiver Wire until reaching the $100M salary cap. Those players may not be used in a game until your 158th game. The purpose of this is to even the playing field for playoffs and allow owners to improve their teams after seeing a season's worth of performance.

TEAM GOALS ACHIEVED: 20 POINTS EACH

10/8/6 PT BONUS ($40M/$60M/$80M)
Top 3 Runs Scored
Top 3 K/BB Ratio (pitching)
Top 3 Wins/$ in payroll
Top 3 HR/K ratio (hitting)
10 PT BONUS FOR ANY TEAM
Top 3 Live games
Top 3 Live losses
5 PT BONUS FOR $40/$60M TEAM
Winning major award ROY (AAA players only), Cy, MVP, Fireman
1 PT BONUS
$40M team for each Silver Slugger
Any team for each Gold Glove

ROY SPECIAL BONUS
Because no one will be able to see the AAA players until I get a list at season's end, this will help give teams more incentive to keep playing by not knowing who is still in the race, at least to a degree.
1st in ROY with AAA player in either league is worth 5 points, 2nd 4 points, 3rd 3 points, 4th 2 pts, 5th 1 pt. A $60M team getting 2 of the 5 ROY spots gets another 3-pt bonus, and a $40M team a 6-pt bonus.

RIVALRY BONUS
After leagues are aligned, each team will be assigned a rival. The winner of the season series gets 5 points. If the series is split, no points. If there are not equal numbers of teams at each cap, the team whose rival has a higher cap only needs to split the series to get the bonus.

Franchises
Pittsburgh Prospects - At least 5 AAA must start every game. (9ookoloo)
Cap: $60 million, Park: Comerica Park, Projected Wins: 70
AAA player Top 5 in Rookie of the Year voting or on all-star team
Have three pitchers with 15 wins each.

Atlanta Speed - No player on roster with more than 40 SB in RL. (theyard2)
Cap: $80 million, Park: Polo Grounds, Projected Wins: 90.
AAA Limitation: Unlimited
Have four .300 hitters with 400+ at-bats.
3 players with 40+ stolen bases, with 1 of those in Top 3 for steals.

Rhode Island Slammers - $16M max on drafted pitching staff
Cap: $40 million, Park: Citizens Bank Park, Projected Wins: 50
Be in the Top 7 for team homeruns.
Have one AAA player with 16 homeruns.

Philadelphia Platoons - No one drafted with over 400 PA. (onubears4656)
Cap: $80 million, Park: Miller Park, Projected Wins: 80
Have at least 5 pitchers with 150+ IP and ERA under 4.50.
Have a closer with 40+ saves.

Chicago Competitors - Must draft 3 Cubs and 3 White Sox. (dahsebater)
Cap: $80 million, Park: WhatIfSports Park, Projected Wins: 90
Finish over .550 in live games.
Win division.

Indianapolis Fielders - No drafted pitcher over $6.5M (BastanRedsox)
Cap: $60 million, Park: Petco Park, Projected Wins: 70
Commit the fewest errors in the league.
Be in the Top 7 in team ERA.

Cheyenne Clutch - Must draft at least 6 players under $1M in salary. (donaldjtrump)
Cap: $60 million, Park: Memorial Coliseum, Projected Wins: 70
Finish the last 20 games of your schedule over .500.
Win 5 games in the 9th inning.

Sacramento Sluggers - Max $33M on pitching staff (frozen_rope)
Cap: $80 million, Park: Baker Bowl, Projected Wins: 90
Finish in the Top 4 in team RBI & HR.
Have one player in the Top 5 in MVP voting.

Anaheim Ace - At least 4 AAA must start every game (BastanRedsox)
Cap: $60 million, Park: PNC Park, Projected Wins: 70
Have one pitcher with 25+ wins and 250+ IP.
Have one pitcher in the Cy Young voting.

Oregon Open - Must draft at least 4 P with 150+ IP in RL. (lloyd1955)
Cap: $60 million, Park: Olympic Stadium, Projected Wins: 70
Be in the Top 6 in ERA.
Have at least 2 .300 hitters with 400+ at bats.

Boston Beaters - No drafted players from any New York franchise. (kneeneighbor)
Cap: $80 million, Park: Arlington Stadium, Project Wins: 90
Be in the Top 3 in runs scored.
Finish over .560 at home.

Baltimore Bunters - Must draft at least 3 players with 50+ SB. (Yaz_Benders)
Cap: $60 million, Park: County Stadium, Projected Wins: 70
SB success rate of at least 70%.
Lead the league in sac bunts.

Massachusetts Mediocre - No drafted player with salary above $4.5M (joshkvt)
Cap: $40 million, Park: Jack Murphy Stadium, Projected Wins: 50
Have a closer with at least 10 saves.
Finish in the Top 4 in Rookie of the Year.

Detroit Duo - Two P over $10M and 2 hitters over $8M (clk0619)
Cap: $80 million, Park: Tiger Stadium, Projected Wins: 90
2 P 20 wins+ERA under 4.00 OR 2 players over .300 AVG+20 HR+20 SB.
Be in the Top 3 in doubles.

Cincinnati Classics - Draft 4 SP with salaries $4.5-$7M
Cap: $60 million, Park: 3Com Park, Projected Wins: 70
No position players can bat over .330 with 300+ at-bats or hit 40+ homeruns.
At least 2 all-stars.

Dallas Double Plays - Draft SS+2B with more than 600 PA
Cap: $60 million, Park: Shibe Park, Projected Wins: 70
No SS or 2B regular (anyone eligible at the position with more than 300PA) over 10 errors.
Drafted MIF starters 120 RBI AND .300+ average or 20+ HR.

Portland Power - Must draft 2 hitters with more than 30 HR and 2 P with more than 200 Ks. (5pointtoss)
Cap: $80 million, Park: Sicks' Stadium, Projected Wins: 90
2 batters with 35+ HR OR 3 P with 200+ K.
Be in the Top 3 in Strikeouts and Homeruns.

Santa Fe Small Slammers - $15M max on pitching staff. (joshkvt)
Cap: $40 million, Park: Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, Projected Wins: 50
3 players with 16+ homeruns.
1 position player all-star.

Phoenix Pitchers - No hitter over $5M. (ratedpg_13)
Cap: $60 million, Park: Safeco Field, Projected Wins: 70
2 all-star pitchers, at least 1 must be AAA.
2 closers with 18+ saves.

RULES
50 games live required.
You must follow the cap, park, AAA limitation, and team name or you will be disqualified from the playoffs. You must also follow the spirit of the goals: to meet SP goals, pitchers must be used as realistic starters, not frequently starting a game and pulled after an inning; if you have a middle-infield defensive goal, your middle infielders must play the majority of their innings at middle infield; etc.

FREE AGENT RULE: A little more help to the small markets. You are allowed to sign free agents and get up to the cap after 140 games. These players may not be used until after you have played 157 games. It is acceptable for teams to try arranging their schedule so games they need to win are the ones they play after the WW callups can be used.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD: Teams with an objective of having a player in the top five in voting for Rookie of the Year can meet that goal only with a AAA Prospect. The list of awards on the league page will include drafted players who have not appeared in the league since it was set up as a continuing league, but only the AAA Prospects will be eligible for purposes of meeting the goal. I will obtain a list of the top 5 ROY who are AAA Prospects from support if it will affect playoff berths.

$100 million salary cap
Random AAA 12/10
Trades Allowed
No Waiver Wire allowed, until after Game 140, when it is used to sign players to get up to $100 Million. Any player claimed on the Waiver Wire cannot be used until Game 158.
No Clones, No DH

Playoffs will be decided by the following formula: Wins - Projected Wins + bonus points. Tiebreakers: 1. one-game playoff if needed to break eighth seed tie; 2. lower cap; 3. head-to-head; 4. head-to-head run differential.

DRAFT ORDER

1. ratedpg_13 Phoenix Pitchers
IN 2. joshkvt Santa Fe Small Slammers
IN 3. theyard2 Atlanta Speed
4. 5pointtoss Portland Power
IN 5. 9ookoloo Pittsburgh Prospects
IN 6. onubears4656 Philadelphia Platoons
IN 7. dahsdebater Chicago Competitors
IN 8. frozen_rope Sacramento Sluggers
IN 9. clk0619 Detroit Duo
IN 10. lloyd1955 Oregon Open
IN 11. BastanRedsox Anaheim Ace
12. Yaz_Benders Baltimore Bunters
IN 13. kneeneighbor Boston Beaters
IN 14. donaldjtrump Cheyenne Clutch
IN 15.BastanRedsox Indianapolis Fielders
IN 16. joshkvt Massachusetts Mediocre

ratedpg_13; joshkvt; theyard2; 5pointtoss; 9ookoloo; onubears4656; dahsdebater; frozen_rope; clk0619; lloyd1955; BastanRedsox; Yaz_Benders; kneeneighbor; Donaldjtrump

I don't see the Louisville Live. They were not a $100M team. Was this an oversight?

No, with the issues getting live games in lately, I thought they were a logical team to drop. I also eliminated or changed any goals involving live games for other teams.

ill still play

me too

Im in

I'm in.

Will a team be randomly assigned to us or will there be some sort of draft?

I usually do a draft for franchises, but random might be good instead. Open to thoughts on that.

i would still go with a draft , also no blacklist for this version ?

Totally still in.

No blacklist.

I am in.