This will be an epic progressive league shootout spanning only eight seasons.The name of the game is simple, ‘survive and advance’.
We will begin with 30 hopeful owners and a standard snake-style mega-draft using the entire 2003 player pool.
The dream, however, will be short-lived for two unfortunate owners.Following the completion of the 2003 regular season, the two franchises that finish with the least amount of wins will be eliminated from the league.
Therefore, the 2004 season will consist of only 28 teams.Following the completion of the 2004 season, the two teams with the least amount of total combined victories through the first two seasons will be eliminated from the league.Get the picture?
Henceforth, the 2005 season will consist of only 26 teams, and again, after the conclusion of the 2005 season, the two incompetent owners that have recorded the least amount of cumulative wins over the course of the first three seasons will get the boot.Rinse and repeat, until we reach the 2010 season, where the last 12 teams standing will compete for the title. The winner of the 2010 (Season 8) World Series will be crowned as the champion.
Here is the breakdown:
(Season, Year, Number of teams remaining, League Format to be used)
Season 1, 2003, 30 teams - 1998-2000 configuration:8 playoff teams, AL 5/5/4 – NL 5/6/5, inter-league play, balanced schedule.
Season 2, 2004, 28 teams – 1997 configuration:8 playoff teams, AL 5/5/4 – NL 5/5/4, inter-league play, balanced schedule.
Season 3, 2005, 26 teams – 1977-1992 configuration:4 playoff teams, AL 7/7 – NL 6/6, No inter-league play, balanced schedule.
*Season 4, 2006, 24 teams – Standard WIS Format:8 playoff teams, AL 4/4/4 – NL 4/4/4, inter-league play, non-balanced schedule.
Season 5, 2007, 20 teams – Alternate WIS Format F:4 playoff teams, AL 5/5 – NL 5/5, inter-league play, balanced schedule.
Season 6, 2008, 18 teams – 1961 configuration:2 playoff teams, AL 10/0/0 – NL 8/0/0, No inter-league play, balanced schedule.
*Season 7, 2009, 16 teams – Alternate WIS Format E:4 playoff teams, AL 4/4/ - NL 4/4, inter-league play, balanced schedule.
Championship - Season 8, 2010, 12 teams –Alternate WIS Format D:2 playoff teams, AL 6/0/0 – NL 6/0/0, inter-league play, balanced schedule. All teams will use the DH.
(*-Note: due to the limited league options that are available, FOUR teams (instead of the usual two) will be eliminated following the 2006 and 2009 seasons only.)
RULES:
Standard progressive rules will apply for the most part.Unlimited cap, unlimited IR, 6-2 below average AAA, etc. Maximum 25 man rosters (not including players on IR). DH will be used in the AL only. Transaction deadline will be set for game 162. Alignment for the 1st year will be done randomly before we draft.However, the alignment will change before each and every season, depending on the current overall standings (more on that later).
Team names will be in the standard format "City - Mascot". You can choose any city/town/suburb in the vicinity of the stadium you select (Ex. if you select Yankee Stadium, you don't have to name your team the New York Whatevers, you can choose Brooklyn, Queens, etc., you can get creative, but just keep the nickname "somewhat baseball-like"). Once you choose a name, that's it, you will not be allowed to change it for the rest of the league's existence.
THE INITIAL 25-ROUND, 30-TEAM, MEGA-DRAFT bONANZA OF EPIC PROPORTIONS:
After thirty of the bravest owners in WIS-Land have signed an Owners’ Contract (thereby pledging their unwavering commitment to either:A. Participate in all eight seasons, or B. Suffer through the humiliation of cold-blooded elimination), the 30 teams will be randomly aligned into either the American League (5/5/4) or the National League (5/6/5). This will be done prior to the draft just so you’ll know whether or not you’ll need a DH.
The draft order will be randomly assigned and a snake-style order (1-30, 30-1) will be used for all rounds. Preceding the live draft, we'll do a Stadium draft in the forums. The team that draws the last pick of the 1st round will have the first choice of stadiums, and so on. After the completion of the drafts, we will be ready to begin the initial 2003 season.
THE OFF-SEASON
Firstly, the “Contracted Franchises” will be swiftly eliminated following the 162nd game of each season.Tie-breakers for teams facing elimination will be as follows:
A.First-year:If two or more teams finish tied, with at least one having to be eliminated, head to head will be used as the first tie-breaker (better record survives). In the case of a 3-way or 4-way tie, with all teams having faced one another, the team(s) with the lowest winning percentage in the common games will be eliminated. The second tie-breaker will be a teams' record in the last 10 games of the season (team(s) with the better record survives). If the “L10” records are the same, then their W/L streak at season’s end will be used (better streak survives). The 4th and 5th tie-breakers will be:4. Home record; 5. Expected win percentage (higher pct survives).
B.Second year and beyond: If two or more teams are tied with the least number of cumulative wins to that point, the team(s) with more wins in the most recent season will survive.If still tied, the team that had more wins in the previous year will survive (and so forth, until you are forced to revert to the tie-breakers listed above).
bonus Wins:Victories added to a teams’ cumulative win total after the completion of each post-season.They will be awarded to playoff teams in the following manner.
1. Losing in the ALCS or NLCS – 3 Bonus wins
2. Losing in the World Series – 7 Bonus wins
3. Winning the World Series – 11 Bonus wins
Bonuses are only given once, you don’t get one each time you advance, you get it once you’re finished (ex. Winning the WS nets you 11 bonus wins, not 3+7+11).This formula basically rewards post-season series’ wins with equal weight, regardless of whether a season has only 2, 4, or 8 playoff slots.
Note: Any team that wins the World Series will have immunity from elimination in the very rare case that they still finish the season at the bottom of the list in cumulative wins through that point. In that case, the next team(s) with the least amount of cumulative wins would be eliminated. Since Bonus Wins are not handed out until after the Eliminations have been done, a playoff team that finds itself in the Elimination Zone following the completion of the regular season would have to win the World Series to avoid elimination. In that case, the league would wait for that team to either bow out or win that seasons' championship before determining the Contracted Teams.
THE DRAFTS
The draft order for all subsequent Rookie Drafts will be determined by the current overall cumulative standings at the end of each regular season (including all Win Bonuses EXCEPT for the ones from the most recent season).The remaining team with the worst overall record will get the first pick in each round of the Rookie Draft, while the team with the best overall record will receive the last pick. Tanking, my friends, will be a complete non-issue due to the constant threat of elimination (and the accompanying embarrassment).
Before the Rookie Draft takes place, there will be a One-Round Free-Agent Draft.The player pool for the Free-Agent Draft will consist only of the players who had belonged to the two (or four) Contracted Franchises.As an added incentive for winning, the winner of the World Series will be awarded the 1st pick of the Free-Agent Draft.The rest of the free-agent draft order will be determined by most wins during the most recently completed regular season. After each team has selected its’ one player, all remaining players from the Contracted teams will be black-listed from the league forever.
The Tie-breakers for determining draft order are as follows:
1. Rookie Draft - First Year: The tie-breakers for surviving teams that finish with the same record in Season One will be: 1. Head-to-Head, better record gets higher pick (for 3-way and 4-way ties, highest winning percentage in common games decides the order); 2. Teams' record in the last 10 games of the season (team(s) with the better record gets higher pick); 3. Win/Loss Streak at season’s end (better streak gets higher pick); 4. Home record (better record, better pick); 5. Expected win percentage (higher pct, higher pick).
2. Rookie Draft - Second Year and beyond: If two or more surviving teams finish a season with the same number of overall cumulative wins, the team(s) that had the most wins in the most recent season will get the higher pick. If still tied, the team(s) that had more wins in the previous season will get the higher pick (and so on, until forced to revert to the five tie-breakers listed above).
3. Free-Agent Draft - First year: same as Rookie Draft - First year. Teams that win tie-breakers will have a higher pick in both drafts.
4. Free-Agent Draft - Second year and beyond: If two or more surviving teams finish with the same amount of wins after 162 games, the team(s) with the better cumulative record at that point will get the higher pick. If still tied, the team(s) that had more wins in the previous season will get the higher pick (and so on, until forced to revert to the five tie-breakers listed above).
Following the Free-Agent Draft, owners will post their rosters for the upcoming year. Each team will be allowed to keep a maximum of 20 active players.Players that are released will be placed back into the draft pool, along with the incoming rookies and any players that went undrafted in previous seasons.
Due to the nature of the league, the trading of future draft picks during a season will be prohibited.Player-for-Player trades, however, will be allowed during the season (subject to veto).Draft picks from the Rookie Draft may only be traded in the off-season, during the draft, or in preparation for the draft, but only for either players and/or picks from the current draft.Teams will not be allowed to trade picks from the One Round Free Agent Draft.
The Rookie Draft will consist of 5 rounds.Afterwards, teams that kept less than 20 players and teams that traded away more picks than they got, will fill their remaining roster spots on a first-come, first-served basis.
ALIGNMENT
The league will be randomly aligned for the first year.After that, the league will re-align before each and every season depending on the cumulative team records to that point.
1. The American League will be the A-league, while the National League will be the B-league (think of the European Soccer divisions).
2. After each season, all remaining teams will be seeded first thru last based on cumulative wins (including all Bonus Wins) through that point. If any teams are tied in cumulative wins, the team(s) that had more wins in the most recent season will be awarded the higher seed. For the following season, the AL will be made up of all the highest seeds (the exact number of AL teams will depend on that season's configuration), while the NL will be filled by the remaining bottom seeds, forced to fight for their survival. The two groups of teams will be distributed evenly amongst their divisions by using snake-style dispersal.
For example, 2004 (the second season) will be aligned as follows:
2004 - 28 teams: The 14 AL Teams will consist of the 14 teams that had the best record in Season 1, The 14 NL teams will consist of teams seeded 15th thru 28th. Divisions would be balanced by seed. Using the 5/5/4 breakdown, the AL East Division will house Seeds # 1, #6, #7, #12, #13; the AL Central Division will be made up of Seeds #2, #5, #8, #11 and #14; while the AL West Division would have Seeds #3, #4, #9, #10.The same will be done for the NL (East: #15, #20, #21, #26, #27; Central: #16, #19, #22, #25, #28; West: #17, #18, #23, #24).
This system will not be used for the Championship Season (2010, Season 8). The remaining 12 teams will be aligned snake-style based on seed. The AL will have seeds #1, #4, #5, #8, #9 and #12. The NL will have seeds #2, #3, #6, #7, #10 and #11. The entire league will use the DH.
LOOSE ENDS
There is the very real possibility that I, as both owner and commissioner, may be eliminated from the league at some point.In that case, the remaining owner with the highest Owner Rating will have first rights at taking over commissioner duties (along with the free team).If that owner refuses, the owner with the next highest rating will have the choice, and so on, until an owner accepts.
AND THEN THERE WAS ONE...
The Champion of the Inaugural Progressive Eliminator will be the owner that captures the World Series crown in Season 8 - The Championship Season.
Nothing else matters, not cumulative wins, not prior World Series' victories, nothing. It's all about the end game. Ofcourse, first you have to get there. Cumulative wins keep you alive, while World Series wins boost your odds, but it all means nothing if you can't win The Big One. Admin has agreed to reward the Champion of Season 8 with an extra $40 in WIS credits.