Probably not a lot of extensive research will be needed for this round. I wanted to have at least one round where things were pretty straight forward and easy to understand.

I’ve looked at the Won/Loss totals for all of the teams for every season between 1901 and 2021 and, by breaking them down into twelve divisions (two leagues – six divisions in each league), I’ve figured out the top ten teams in “Wins” for each 10-year period (except for the last division – it has eleven seasons). By pairing the top franchise with the 10^th best for that 10-year period, the second best franchise with the 9^th best, etc. etc., it allows us to have five choices in each division.

Pretty simple, eh? The Draft Order for each league will be based on the W/L records from Round Four. Each division has five teams to choose from so there won’t be any getting “stuck” with an unwanted or unsavory combo. In fact, every team in every division should be quite good.

KEY POINT: You must roster exactly 5 pitchers and 7 position players from each of your two franchises. That’s 24 players. There will then be a draft for each division to choose one Free Agent from one of the franchises that are not being used in that division. For example, in the first division (1901-1910), your Free Agent can come from any of the six franchises that weren’t offered to you, as well as the two franchises that no one chose to use from the available combos.

Based on the final W/L totals of Round 4, a draft order will be set for both leagues in Round Five. First, however, I’ll take the top four finishers (according to W/L record in Round 3) and let them determine which of the leagues they want to play in. Once these four picks are decided, I’ll create a draft order for both leagues to round out each league draft. There will only be one round of drafting in each league.

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

NO CAP – Build the best roster you can from your two teams (and your one Free Agent) that season.

Federal League players are available as Free Agents in the 1911-1920 Division.

Clones: None.

Designated Hitter: Yes – in both leagues

Waiver Wire: No

Injuries – Turned On

Trades: No

A.A.A.: No

You may use either partial or full season stats of any player who had a split season - as long as the stats indicate it was for your franchise.

Stadium – Any stadium that one of your two teams used during that particular decade.

Who Moves On?

Once Round FIVE is complete, the owners who own the eight playoff teams in each league will earn a spot in Round Six. 8 x 2 = 16 spots. That leaves 8 spots to fill. The final 8 spots will be awarded to the teams who had the most wins across both leagues (who didn't make their league's playoffs). The tie-break (should it come into play) will be (1) Highest Exp. %, and (2) Most Home Wins.

Round Six will be for the Championship of the tournament.

Here what’s available for each league:

LEAGUE ONE:

N. L. EAST: 1901-1910
Pirates / Phillies
Orphans-Cubs / Reds
Giants / Blues-Naps
Athletics / Tigers
White Sox / Americans-Red Sox

N. L. CENTRAL: 1911-1920
Giants / Dodgers-Robins
Red Sox / Pirates
White Sox / Phillies
Cubs / Senators
Indians / Tigers

N. L. WEST: 1921-1930
Yankees / Indians
Giants / Tigers
Pirates / Reds
Cardinals / Senators
Athletics / Cubs

A. L. EAST: 1931-1940
Yankees / Red Sox
Cubs / Dodgers
Cardinals / Senators
Giants / Pirates
Tigers / Indians

A. L. CENTRAL: 1941-1950
Cardinals / Reds
Yankees / Pirates
Dodgers / Braves
Red Sox / Giants
Tigers / Indians

A. L. WEST: 1951-1960
Yankees / Phillies
Dodgers / Reds
Indians / Cardinals
White Sox / Red Sox
Braves / Giants


LEAGUE TWO:

N. L. EAST: 1961-1970
Orioles / Braves
Giants / Pirates
Reds / Cardinals
Tigers / Dodgers
Twins / Yankees

N. L. CENTRAL: 1971-1980
Reds / Astros
Orioles / Phillies
Dodgers / Athletics
Pirates / Royals
Yankees / Red Sox

N. L. WEST: 1981-1990
Mets / Royals
Blue Jays / Expos
Tigers / Yankees
Red Sox / Dodgers
Athletics / Cardinals

A. L. EAST: 1991-2000
Braves / Dodgers
Yankees / Blue Jays
Indians / Giants
White Sox / Reds
Red Sox / Astros

A. L. CENTRAL: 2001-2010
Yankees / Giants
Red Sox / Dodgers
Cardinals / Athletics
Angels / Phillies
Braves / Twins

A. L. WEST: 2011-2021
Dodgers / Brewers
Yankees / Braves
Cardinals / Athletics
Rays / Red Sox
Indians / Nationals

So the order for picking franchises AND the free agent draft order will both be best records first? No interest in snake style, worst to first for the free agent draft to even things out a bit? Just asking!

I haven't really given the Free Agent selection process much thought yet. That will be ironed out relatively soon. I just wanted to get the gist of the theme posted so folks know what's coming.

Will drafts be divided into AL and NL in each league or one draft in League 1 and one in League 2? Basically, 4 total drafts or 2?

One draft per league. I trust that most owners that have multiple teams in the round will try and keep their teams in separate divisions (as much as they possibly can)


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Posted by thejuice6 on 3/15/2022 11:51:00 PM (view original):
I haven't really given the Free Agent selection process much thought yet. That will be ironed out relatively soon. I just wanted to get the gist of the theme posted so folks know what's coming.

As somebody who should have a number of early draft selections, I don't mind reversing the order on the free agent selection as it does help even things out a bit. And since each division will have it's own 4-person draft (one player per team), it's not going to be all that significant of a difference between the best and fourth best free agent.

Truer words were never spoken - sounds like the plan we'll go forward with.

League 1 NL East..Indians should actually be Blues/Naps?

Yes - matter of fact, there's a few changes to team names I need to add (i.e., Red Sox are also the Americans, etc.). Thanks for pointing that out.

A couple of questions I think I know the answer to, but would like to get confirmation so there is no surprises...

If I have the 1931-40 Yankees/Red Sox and roster 1936 Lefty Grove (Red Sox), I cannot draft as a free agent, 1931 Lefty Grove (A's) even though he plays for a different franchise? Because that would violate the no clones rule, right? But somebody else could draft '31 Grove.

Are more than one version of a player eligible to be drafted as a free agent? For example, 1908 and 1910 Walter Johnson are both available as free agents. If one of the 1901-1910 teams drafts 1910 Walter Johnson as their free agent, can a different team draft 1908 Walter Johnson? I assume the answer is no.

Good questions.

Scenario #1 - you are correct. By drafting the '31 version, you would have a clone on your roster and that's not permitted. Other teams, however, could draft the '31 version.

Scenario #2 - By no clones, i simply meant on the same team. If one team drafted the 1910 version for their Free Agent, I don't have a problem with another team drafting the 1908 version.

Thanks for clarifying.

FYI - I asked thejuice6 via site-mail about multiple teams in one division. He basically said this should be avoided at all costs, which means the last few picks might be forced due to this restriction. Those with multiple teams should be safe unless one or more of those teams is picking near the end of the draft. I will end up with 10 or 11 teams, which could be problematic without this "must-be-in-separate-divisions" mandate.

If I end up with 11 teams, 6 teams will be in one league, which means each of my six selections must fall in a different division. Obviously, when I am choosing my 2nd, 3rd, 4th teams, I will pick a team from a different division. At some point as each division starts to fill up, there will be a situation where the last spot must be reserved for one of my teams.

Here is an extreme example to illustrate the point. Let's say I have 6 teams in League 1. I therefore have to have one team in each of the six divisions. I have draft pick numbers 1, 5, 10, 12, 18, 24. I select a team in the NL East (1901-1910) with pick #1. The next three people each choose a team in the NL West (1921-1930). Since I must have a team in each division, the last spot in the NL West is reserved for one of my picks - nobody else can pick from this division (obviously, I would not be forced to use my #5 pick for the fourth team in a division).

This could easily happen to somebody else with multiple teams especially if they have a very late pick. Let's say nocomm999 has 3 teams in League 1. He has already selected a team in the NL East and AL Central. Now there are two picks left, including nocomm999 who has the last pick. The two divisions left are AL West and AL Central. The person picking 2nd-to-last must take a team in the AL Central so nocomm999 doesn't have two teams in that division.

It should be pretty easy to keep track of potential conflicts as the draft progresses.