Since we've completed 50 session of the Rewrite History League and are currently in 1969 I thought we could start back at the beginning and start a new league in 1885. Basically the Rewrite League is an Icon Lite where you can only draft players who played for your team in the first four rounds of the draft. Here are the full rules:
We are using the Alternate WIS format C or D (162 games, 12 teams, 6 NL, 6 AL)
No Cap
No DH
6/6 below average AAA
No injuries
Transaction Deadline Game 120
Draft order: Draft Order will be a straight worst to first records by season's end record. If it's obvious that a team is tanking on purpose (playing players out of position, starting exhausted pitchers when rested pitchers are available, etc. then the commissioner reserves the right to impose a draft position penalty on that team. This action will only take place in extreme situations and I will consult with other managers to discuss an appropriate penalty.
Draft format:
1) In the first 4 rounds of the drafts, players who played for more than one team may only be drafted by teams they played for at least one game in their career. This is to be decided by their franchises in baseball-reference.com regardless of their WiS seasons. Seasons before the start of WiS in 1885 also count as long as the franchise is still around. So someone like SS Chub Collins would be available to Indianapolis, Buffalo, and Detroit (DTN) even though he only has one WiS season in 1885 since he played for Buffalo and Indianapolis in 1884.
2) Exclusives (players who only played for one team their entire career (Walter Johnson, Lou Gehrig, etc.)) will be assigned to either the First or Second Round using the following method. Any player who played for only one active team (with the rest being defunct teams) will also be an exclusive fit the active team.
a) All players with an Average WiS Salary of at least $3.5million and at least 5 WiS Seasons OR an average WiS Salary of at least $3.0million and at least 10 WiS seasons will be Round 1 Exclusives.
b) Anyone who does not fall into either of those two categories will be a Round 2 Exclusive and then open to all teams starting in Round 3.
So, for example, Lou Gehrig is a Round 1 Exclusive. If the Yankees don't take him in the first round he is available to all teams starting with the first pick of the Second Round. If you have multiple rookies that are in the same round you need to have multiple picks in that round or risk losing the players to another team starting with the next round. You make pick a player before their voted round if you wanted to. (For example, if you have two players as Round 2 Exclusives, but only have one Second Round Pick, you can pick one player with your First Round Pick and the next with your Second Round Pick.)
3) Any exclusive with only 1 WiS season (no matter what his salary is that one season) or less than $5 million in total WIS salary will be a Round 2 Exclusive. After that they will be open to all teams.
4) Any player who only played for defunct teams (currently XXX, XXX, XXX, XXX) can be drafted by any team during any round.
5) Any player who was undrafted from previous seasons or cut before the current draft is available to all teams during any round.
6) Franchises own the rights to their picks even if they are unneeded. You may trade those picks if you can find a taker, or if you make a mid draft trade and need a pick that is upcoming in a future round that you didn't need before, you will get that pick (you don't have to wait until the end of the draft to make up the pick)
7) Any supplemental picks that are awarded by the commissioner for draft mistakes made by the commissioner or any other reason are not tradable. You either have to use the pick or lose it. **This rule does not apply to thee Comp Pick that new owners get if their franchise does not have a First Round Pick because of trades made by previous owners. It only applies to supplemental picks that were awarded by the commissioner.
Other Rules
- Once drafted players can be traded to any team without restrictions.
- Traded picks are allowed to be dealt in the current draft + 2 seasons ahead. For example, if we're in the 1903 draft, only picks up to the 1905 draft will be allowed.
- In order to help recruiting of new owners to the league, if an open team does not have a First Round Pick in the upcoming draft due to a trade from a previous owner the new owner will receive a Comp Draft Pick at the end of the First Round in the Draft.
8) Draft Order Tiebreakers will be the lower expected win % gets the better pick
example:
Team A has 70 wins and .442 XWP
Team B has 70 wins and .469 XWP
Team A picks before Team B
In the rare event that two teams are tied in Expected Win Percentage as well the team that had the better pick in the previous season will have the better pick in the upcoming draft.
For example, in the other ReWrite History League, the Boston Bees and Brooklyn Dodgers ended the 1940 season with exactly the same record of 59-103 and they both ended with exactly 721 Runs Scored and 906 Runs against giving them exactly the same Expected Percentage. Since the Bees were 58-104 in 1939 and the Dodgers were 82-80 in 1939 the Bees had the better pick in the 1941 Rookie Draft.