Thejuice6 and I have come up with a new idea for a “Franchise Draft Tournament”. Although there are some similarities to previous draft tournaments, this tournament has a unique twist that will make the season selection interesting. We are calling this the “1-3-5-7-9 Franchise Draft Tournament.”
Here is the basic concept.
When you sign up, you will select a franchise and an exclusive single season from that franchise (i.e., 1927 Yankees). This initial season selection process is considered round 1. Once 16 owners have selected a season from a specific franchise, round 2 will commence. The draft order for round 2 is the inverse order of the winning% of the season selected in round 1 (if win% is tied, the order is inverse of the round 1 selection order). Once each person has selected a second season, then round 3 will commence. The draft order for round 3 is in inverse order of the winning% of the season selected in round 2 (if win% is tied, the order is inverse of the round 2 selection order). This process continues for round 4 and round 5. Each person will have 5 seasons to build a roster from.
Here’s the catch…
In round 1, you must roster exactly 1 player from the season you selected.
In round 2, you must roster exactly 3 players from the season you selected.
In round 3, you must roster exactly 5 players from the season you selected.
In round 4, you must roster exactly 7 players from the season you selected.
In round 5, you must roster exactly 9 players from the season you selected.
If you want an early pick in the next round, then you need to take a season with a lower winning% in the current round. Of course, low-winning% seasons typically don’t have a lot of talented players. So, the tradeoff between winning% and usable/good players will result in some interesting decisions.
Unlike some of the previous draft tournaments I’ve run, there are no requirements on number of hitters or pitchers selected from each season. There are no requirements on what eras your seasons must be from and there are no rules on how many deadball innings you can roster.
Other Details
Salary Cap: None
DH: Yes
Seasons: 1901-2025 (1903-2025 for Yankees)
Ballpark: Any park that your franchise called home during 1901-2025
Alignment: Based on salary (highest salaried teams in NL East, lowest in AL West)
WW, AAA, Clones, Injuries, Trades are all set to NO / OFF
You can select partial or combined seasons.
Tournament Details
This tournament will be three rounds long and advancing teams will keep the same roster and ballpark. I will ask admin to donate something for the top two teams (i.e., the round 3 World Series Winner and loser).
Round 1
The first round of this tournament will consist of sixteen 16-team leagues (one for each of the sixteen original franchises). Normal franchise rules apply (i.e., Orioles franchise includes St. Louis Browns). Six teams will advance to round 2… the four playoff teams and two wildcard teams. The two wildcard teams will be determined in the following order. (1) The non-playoff team with the best W-L record will advance (Exp Win% will break ties). (2) The second wildcard team is the team with the best Exp Win% among the other eleven teams (actual W-L break ties). If still tied, then head-to-head record (any 1-game playoff does not affect results, other than determining a division winner). The league (NL vs AL) doesn’t matter when selecting the two wildcard teams. It’s possible to have 4 teams from the NL and 2 teams from the AL (or vice-versa) advancing to round 2.
Round 2
The six advancing teams from each of Leagues 1, 2, 3 and 4 will be placed a 24-team league (using the division format from 1969-76, with four 6-team divisions, no inter-league play). The NL franchises will play in NL, the AL franchise will play in AL. This same process will apply to leagues 5-8, 9-12 and 13-16. That means there will be four round 2 leagues. Only the division winners will advance to Round 3.
Round 3
In theory, round 3 will have the best team from each franchise advancing. Round 3 will be a 16-team league with inter-league play. Division alignment is based on team salary within NL and within AL.
Sign up Procedure
To give everybody a chance at getting early picks in round 1, each person is initially only allowed to select a season from two franchises. 24 hours after your first post, you can sign up for another two franchises, 48 hours after your first post, you can sign up for another two franchises, etc. However, you can state your intention that you want to reserve spots for all sixteen franchises. You cannot reserve spots for just some of the 16 franchises – it’s “reserve-for-all-sixteen” or just post your selections every 24 hours. I expect this tournament to fill up quickly, so reserve your spot sooner rather than later.
Once a franchise has 16 people signed up (i.e., round 1 is complete), I will create a separate thread for that franchise and we can start the draft, beginning in round 2. There won't be an official clock turned on for rounds 2 thru 5, but the expectation is that you will make your pick within a reasonable amount of time. If 24 hours elapse from the pick before you, then you will be skipped.
Sign Up Begins now.
7/28/2026 9:32 AM (edited)