I’ve looked at the season stats for every year between 1894 and 2021 and I’ve pulled out the three teams from every season that were the closest to “0” run differential (the gap between how many runs they scored that year and how many runs they allowed). It’s a pretty interesting list. We’re talking teams that may have scored a ton of runs, but – if so, they also gave up a ton. We’re talking teams that may have had a great pitching staff that didn’t give up too many runs – but that means their offense was as putrid as the pitching staff was good. You’ll see some of your favorite teams on here but, for the most part, you’ll see some teams that don’t usually get used a lot by most of us.

The four leagues will be broken up into four 32-team offerings. Therefore, even the team picking last will still get a choice of nine teams to pick from. The split will be 1894-1925, 1926-1957, 1958-1989 and 1990-2021. Alignment for each league will be chronological. If 1894, 1895, 1896 and 1897 are all chosen by someone in League 1, then they know they’ll make up the N.L. East Division.

Each season has three teams listed. You must roster 8 players from each of the three teams. That’s 24 players. You then get to pick ONE Free Agent from your season from any of the other teams that played that season. The key here is that your Free Agent can’t be over $9,000,000 in salary.

Based on the final W/L totals of Round 3, a draft order will be set for all four leagues in Round Four. First, however, I’ll take the top eight finishers (according to W/L record in Round 3) and let them determine which of the leagues they want to play in. Once these eight picks are decided, I’ll create a draft order for all four 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 three teams (and your one Free Agent) that season.

Federal League players are available as Free Agents in 1914 and 1915

Clones: None.

Designated Hitter: Yes – in all four 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 three teams used during that particular season.


Who Moves On?

Once Round FOUR is complete, the owners who own the eight playoff teams in each league will earn a spot in Round Five. 8 x 4 = 32 spots. That leaves 16 spots to fill. The final 16 spots will be awarded to the teams who had the most wins across all 4 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.

Rounds Five and Six will be completely different than this and previous rounds. I’ve already got them figured out but will post them later.


Here what’s available for each league:


LEAGUE ONE:

1894: Pittsburgh Pirates / Brooklyn Bridegrooms / Chicago Colts
1895: Pittsburgh Pirates / New York Giants / Chicago Colts
1896: Philadelphia Phillies / New York Giants / Chicago Colts
1897: Washington Senators / Brooklyn Bridegrooms / Philadelphia Phillies
1898: Cleveland Spiders / New York Giants / Philadelphia Phillies
1899: Pittsburgh Pirates / Chicago Orphans / Louisville Colonels
1900: Philadelphia Phillies / St. Louis Cardinals / Boston Beaneaters
1901: Baltimore Orioles / Boston Beaneaters / Philadelphia Athletics
1902: St. Louis Browns / Chicago Orphans / Cleveland Blues
1903: New York Highlanders / Brooklyn Superbas / Detroit Tigers
1904: St. Louis Cardinals / Philadelphia Athletics / Pittsburgh Pirates
1905: Boston Americans / Cleveland Naps / Cincinnati Reds
1906: Philadelphia Phillies / Philadelphia Athletics / Cincinnati Reds
1907: St. Louis Browns / Cleveland Naps / Cincinnati Reds
1908: Boston Red Sox / Philadelphia Phillies / St. Louis Browns
1909: New York Highlanders / Philadelphia Phillies / Cincinnati Reds
1910: Chicago White Sox / Philadelphia Phillies / Washington Senators
1911: Boston Red Sox / Cleveland Naps / Philadelphia Phillies
1912: Cleveland Naps / Philadelphia Phillies / Chicago White Sox
1913: Boston Red Sox / Chicago White Sox / Brooklyn Dodgers
1914: St. Louis Cardinals / Brooklyn Dodgers / Detroit Tigers
1915: St. Louis Cardinals / New York Yankees / Pittsburgh Pirates
1916: Chicago Cubs / Washington Senators / New York Yankees
1917: Washington Senators / Chicago Cubs / Cincinnati Reds
1918: Chicago White Sox / St. Louis Browns / New York Yankees
1919: Pittsburgh Pirates / Boston Red Sox / Brooklyn Robins
1920: St. Louis Cardinals / Pittsburgh Pirates / Chicago Cubs
1921: St. Louis Browns / Brooklyn Robins / Detroit Tigers
1922: Brooklyn Robins / Chicago White Sox / Detroit Tigers
1923: St. Louis Cardinals / Washington Senators / Brooklyn Robins
1924: St. Louis Cardinals / Chicago Cubs / Brooklyn Robins
1925: St. Louis Cardinals / Cleveland Indians / New York Giants



LEAGUE TWO:

1926: New York Giants / Detroit Tigers / Washington Senators
1927: Cincinnati Reds / Chicago White Sox / Detroit Tigers
1928: Washington Senators / Cincinnati Reds / Brooklyn Robins
1929: Detroit Tigers / St. Louis Browns / Cleveland Indians
1930: Cleveland Indians / Pittsburgh Pirates / Detroit Tigers
1931: Brooklyn Robins / Chicago Cubs / Cleveland Indians
1932: Boston Braves / Brooklyn Dodgers / Detroit Tigers
1933: Philadelphia Athletics / Boston Braves / Cleveland Indians
1934: Pittsburgh Pirates / Boston Braves / Boston Red Sox
1935: Boston Red Sox / Chicago White Sox / Cleveland Indians
1936: St. Louis Cardinals / Boston Red Sox / Cincinnati Reds
1937: Boston Bees / Boston Red Sox / Cleveland Indians
1938: St. Louis Cardinals / Brooklyn Dodgers / Chicago White Sox
1939: New York Giants / Chicago White Sox / Chicago Cubs
1940: New York Giants / Pittsburgh Pirates / Chicago Cubs
1941: Chicago Cubs / Cleveland Indians / Chicago White Sox
1942: Pittsburgh Pirates / Detroit Tigers / Cincinnati Reds
1943: Chicago White Sox / St. Louis Browns / Chicago Cubs
1944: Chicago Cubs / Cleveland Indians / Cincinnati Reds
1945: New York Giants / Boston Braves / Cleveland Indians
1946: Boston Braves / Chicago White Sox / Chicago Cubs
1947: Philadelphia Athletics / Boston Red Sox / New York Giants
1948: Pittsburgh Pirates / Philadelphia Athletics / Detroit Tigers
1949: Boston Braves / Philadelphia Phillies / Philadelphia Athletics
1950: St. Louis Cardinals / Boston Braves / Cincinnati Reds
1951: St. Louis Cardinals / Philadelphia Athletics / Philadelphia Phillies
1952: Chicago Cubs / Washington Senators / Boston Red Sox
1953: New York Giants / Boston Red Sox / Philadelphia Phillies
1954: Brooklyn Dodgers / St. Louis Cardinals / Boston Red Sox
1955: New York Giants / Philadelphia Phillies / Cincinnati Reds
1956: St. Louis Cardinals / Boston Red Sox / Pittsburgh Pirates
1957: Detroit Tigers / Baltimore Orioles / Cincinnati Reds



LEAGUE THREE:

1958: Chicago White Sox / Boston Red Sox / Chicago Cubs
1959: Chicago Cubs / Detroit Tigers / Cincinnati Reds
1960: St. Louis Cardinals / Detroit Tigers / Cleveland Indians
1961: St. Louis Cardinals / Pittsburgh Pirates / Cleveland Indians
1962: Los Angeles Angels / Baltimore Orioles / Chicago White Sox
1963: Detroit Tigers / Chicago Cubs / Baltimore Orioles
1964: Los Angeles Angels / Cleveland Indians / Detroit Tigers
1965: New York Yankees / Philadelphia Phillies / St. Louis Cardinals
1966: New York Yankees / St. Louis Cardinals / Detroit Tigers
1967: California Angels / Pittsburgh Pirates / Atlanta Braves
1968: New York Yankees / Boston Red Sox / Chicago Cubs
1969: Boston Red Sox / Houston Astros / Cincinnati Reds
1970: California Angels / San Francisco Giants / St. Louis Cardinals
1971: New York Yankees / Cincinnati Reds / Houston Astros
1972: Minnesota Twins / San Francisco Giants / Boston Red Sox
1973: Kansas City Royals / Pittsburgh Pirates / Houston Astros
1974: Texas Rangers / Montreal Expos / Minnesota Twins
1975: New York Mets / San Francisco Giants / Cleveland Indians
1976: Cleveland Indians / Baltimore Orioles / Minnesota Twins
1977: California Angels / Houston Astros / San Francisco Giants
1978: San Diego Padres / Montreal Expos / San Francisco Giants
1979: Houston Astros / Chicago Cubs / Los Angeles Dodgers
1980: Texas Rangers / Pittsburgh Pirates / Boston Red Sox
1981: San Francisco Giants / Baltimore Orioles / Cleveland Indians
1982: New York Yankees / San Diego Padres / Philadelphia Phillies
1983: Houston Astros / San Diego Padres / Pittsburgh Pirates
1984: St. Louis Cardinals / Minnesota Twins / California Angels
1985: Houston Astros / Montreal Expos / Philadelphia Phillies
1986: Cincinnati Reds / Cleveland Indians / St. Louis Cardinals
1987: Oakland Athletics / Boston Red Sox / Chicago White Sox
1988: New York Yankees / San Diego Padres / Houston Astros
1989: Los Angeles Dodgers / Montreal Expos / Minnesota Twins



LEAGUE FOUR:

1990: Detroit Tigers / Cleveland Indians / Kansas City Royals
1991: St. Louis Cardinals / Kansas City Royals / California Angels
1992: Detroit Tigers / San Diego Padres / New York Yankees
1993: Los Angeles Dodgers / Chicago Cubs / Seattle Mariners
1994: Philadelphia Phillies / San Francisco Giants / Toronto Blue Jays
1995: Colorado Rockies / San Diego Padres / Chicago White Sox
1996: Boston Red Sox / Colorado Rockies / Cincinnati Reds
1997: Colorado Rockies / Detroit Tigers / Boston Red Sox
1998: Anaheim Angels / Seattle Mariners / Los Angeles Dodgers
1999: Pittsburgh Pirates / Philadelphia Phillies / Los Angeles Dodgers
2000: Anaheim Angels / Detroit Tigers / Houston Astros
2001: Minnesota Twins / Chicago White Sox / Florida Marlins
2002: Montreal Expos / Philadelphia Phillies / Toronto Blue Jays
2003: Los Angeles Dodgers / Montreal Expos / Anaheim Angels
2004: Florida Marlins / Baltimore Orioles / Cleveland Indians
2005: Texas Rangers / Florida Marlins / Chicago Cubs
2006: Houston Astros / Boston Red Sox / Colorado Rockies
2007: Los Angeles Dodgers / Minnesota Twins / Arizona Diamondbacks
2008: Arizona Diamondbacks / Florida Marlins / Houston Astros
2009: Florida Marlins / Detroit Tigers / Chicago White Sox
2010: Florida Marlins / Detroit Tigers / New York Mets
2011: Cincinnati Reds / San Francisco Giants / Toronto Blue Jays
2012: Baltimore Orioles / Philadelphia Phillies / Pittsburgh Pirates
2013: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim / New York Yankees / Arizona Diamondbacks
2014: Cleveland Indians / New York Mets / Milwaukee Brewers
2015: Minnesota Twins / Tampa Bay Rays / Arizona Diamondbacks
2016: Houston Astros / Texas Rangers / New York Yankees
2017: Texas Rangers / Tampa Bay Rays / Los Angeles Angels
2018: Los Angeles Angels / Colorado Rockies / Pittsburgh Pirates
2019: Cincinnati Reds / Milwaukee Brewers / Philadelphia Phillies
2020: San Francisco Giants / Houston Astros / Cincinnati Reds
2021: Cleveland Indians / San Diego Padres / Philadelphia Phillies

Pat, can you clarify the stadium requirement here? Any stadium any of our 3 teams used in their histories?

Stadium – Any stadium that your franchise called home during its history.

You know what, I'm glad you noticed that. I'm not sure where I came up with "during its history." I meant to say, "you need to use one of the stadiums that one of your three teams used during that particular season." I'll change it up at the top of the page. Thanks for bring that up!

Posted by thejuice6 on 1/1/2022 11:27:00 PM (view original):

You know what, I'm glad you noticed that. I'm not sure where I came up with "during its history." I meant to say, "you need to use one of the stadiums that one of your three teams used during that particular season." I'll change it up at the top of the page. Thanks for bring that up!

It was probably a holdover from a previous round. Thanks for clarifying.

It seems possible some of the oldest teams in League 1 might not have any stadium available, though.

Just did a double-check: there's at least one stadium available for every season on the list.

Excellent. I'm trying to start my research early this time since I expect to have a team in each league.

Federal League players eligible for the Free Agent spot in League 1?

Since I didn't include them in the research I did to come up with the teams in 1914 and 1915 (and I'm not even sure if any of them would be included), I'll say no. I went ahead and included that in the theme description above.

EDIT: You know what - that's a stupid reason for not including them. I'll go ahead and say yeah, they're available.

In theory, the correlation between how early you draft and your W-L record should be higher in this round than in any of the previous rounds.

I started researching for this next leg. Man, some of these teams are going to be terrible. Thankfully, the folks picking last will at least get to choose from the 9 remaining teams (out of 32).

Based on my very early analysis, it looks like these leagues will play as $85M to $90M salary cap leagues, and that includes the one sub-$9M free agent. The pitching "effective" salary is closer to $40-42M, while the hitting "effective" salary is $45-48M. Obviously, we'll spend more than that as we will all have a bunch of extra PA and IP, at least for leagues 1 and 2 where there aren't a lot of short-inning pitchers.

Yeah I’ve researched about half so far and the FA decision will be really tough. Most could definitely use the best pitching upgrade but also have a pronounced hole in the lineup or a stud hitter you hate to pass up.

Will be very interesting to see where people go with those choices and where we just accept being soft.

Right.

Almost every combination needs pitching, but at the expense of upgrading your crappy (.250 hitting, D/C- fielding) shortstop to .310 & B/A? The upgrade in hitting represents 11% of your offense while 250 innings of 2.45 ERC# could replace 250 innings of 3.72 ERC# (which represents 15-20% of your innings). Going to be some tough calls, for sure.

Based on how my best teams have fallen off their paces this round, I’m looking at a lot of picks in the 4-8 range. Plenty of choices but assured of notable flaws somewhere. Or several somewheres.

Pretty much all the teams have flaws. Based on the methodology thejuice6 used in selecting the teams, it's likely that if you are strong in pitching, you will be weak in hitting and vice versa. Your hope is that you find a strong free agent that fits what your team needs.

The other big thing is the "8-players from each team" rule. It doesn't matter as much in leagues 1 and 2, but in leagues 3 and 4, as you get into the modern era of relief pitchers, you sometimes have to pass on a low-inning solid RP due to having too many players from one. I've built what I think is a pretty good team only to find out after checking, that I have 10 players form one team and only 6 from another.

I just want to clarify since it looks like I might end up with the third or fourth pick. If the owners with the top two records select two years from the same league, I would be unable to select a third year from that league - even if it's my top remaining choice. I would need to select from another league, correct?