MLB89069

Take control of a team in the USA Baseball Federation. Some are small market teams that are expecting 50-60 wins, some are big market teams expecting 110 or more wins. The idea, take a franchise (which will give you expectations, franchise name, park, AAA limitation and salary) and achieve those goals. The playoffs will be the teams that meet the three objectives and surpass the projected win total by the most wins. Playoff Formula: Wins - Projected + 20 Wins per Objective Completed. No owner may run the same franchise in consecutive years unless it is the only franchise remaining or is a second team and necessary to fill the league.

Franchises will be chosen in a draft after we are full. Owners taking second teams will choose their second teams after everyone has picked one. In odd-number seasons, the franchise-draft order will be the reverse of the previous season's, so owners at the bottom in one draft will be at the top in the next, and vice versa. Owners who have not played in this league before will be inserted randomly into the draft order in odd seasons. Owners falling short of the minimum will be dropped to the bottom of the draft order the next time they play.

Bold="Taken" Team
Franchises
National League East
Pittsburgh Prospects - An average franchise with a history for good AAA and pretty good pitching. (kneeneighbor)
Cap: $60 million, Park: Comerica Park, Projected Wins: 70
AAA Limitation: At least 5
Finish in the Top 5 in Rookie of the Year
AAA At-Bats+Innings Pitched>2,000
Have three pitchers with 15 wins each.

Atlanta Speed - An above-average franchise famous for stealing bases and hitting for average. (topgun11)
Cap: $80 million, Park: Polo Grounds, Projected Wins: 90
AAA Limitation: Unlimited
Have four .300 hitters with 400+ at-bats.
3 players with 40+ stolen bases, with 1 of those in Top 5 for steals.
Top 5 in team runs scored.

Rhode Island Slammers - A small franchise with a few home run hitters. (theyard2)
Cap: $40 million, Park: Citizens Bank Park, Projected Wins: 60
AAA Limitations: Unilimited
Be in the Top 10 for team homeruns.
Have one hitter with 30 homeruns.
Have one AAA player with 16 homeruns.

Philadelphia Platoons - An exciting team with good relief pitching. (Yaz_Benders)
Cap: $80 million, Park: Miller Park, Projected Wins: 80
AAA Limitations: Unlimited
Have at least 5 pitchers with 150+ IP and ERA under 4.50.
Have a closer with 40+ saves.
Have 12 position players with 300+ at-bats.

National League Central
St. Louis Superstars - A very good franchise with a few superstars. (staindman)
Cap: $100 million, Park: Fenway Park, Projected Wins: 110
AAA Limitations: Unlimited
Have 5 all-stars.
Finish in the Top 5 in the Cy Young voting and the MVP voting.
Win either the Cy Young or the MVP.

Chicago Competitors - A hated team with many rivals. (joshkvt)
Cap: $80 million, Park: WhatIfSports Park, Projected Wins: 90
AAA Limitation: Unlimited
Win/split season series with St. Louis Superstars.
Finish over .500 in live games.
Be in the Top 6 in Live Games Played.

Indianapolis Fielders - A small market team with a reputation for good fielding and solid pitching. (clk0619)
Cap: $60 million, Park: Petco Park, Projected Wins: 80
AAA Limitations: Unlimited
Commit the least amount of errors in the league.
Be in the Top 10 in team ERA.
Have 2 starters (min. 180IP) with ERAs under 4

Cleveland Cream Puffs - An expansion team with a small payroll.
Cap: $40 million, Park: Humphrey Metrodome, Projected Wins: 40
AAA Limitations: 4 or fewer on active roster at any time
Have five pitchers with 100+ IP and ERAs under 6.00.
Platoon three positions
Win one game against the St. Louis Superstars

National League West
Cheyenne Clutch - An exciting team with a small payroll famous for 9th inning wins and late runs. (tycobb32)
Cap: $60 million, Park: Memorial Coliseum, Projected Wins: 70
AAA Limitation: Unlimited
Finish the last 20 games of your schedule over .500.
Finish in the Top 10 in team RBI.
Win 5 games in the 9th inning.

Sacramento Sluggers - A very good hitting team with an above average payroll. (besterateam)
Cap: $80 million, Park: Baker Bowl, Projected Wins: 90
AAA Limitation: Unlimited
Finish in the Top 5 in team RBIs.
Finish in the Top 5 in team average.
Have one player in the Top 5 in MVP voting.

Anaheim Ace - An average team with one superstar pitcher and a lot of young hitters. (aisle5)
Cap: $60 million, Park: PNC Park, Projected Wins: 70
AAA Limitations: At least 5 hitters, 3 in starting lineup
Have one pitcher with 25+ wins and 250+ IP.
Have one pitcher in the Cy Young voting.
AAA position player finish in Top 5 in Rookie of the Year or on All-Star team.

Oregon Open - An average franchise with an average payroll. (ratedpg_13)
Cap: $60 million, Park: Olympic Stadium, Projected Wins: 70
AAA Limitation: At least 3, at least 1 in starting lineup
Have 4 pitchers with at least 150+ IP
Be in the Top 10 in ERA.
Have at least 2 .300 hitters with 400+ at bats.

Patriot League East
New York Bombers - A slugging team with a very high payroll. Famous for its great hitting. (The Taint)
Cap: $100 million, Park: Coors Field, Projected Wins: 110
AAA Limitation: Unlimited
Have at least 4 .300 hitters with 20 homeruns.
Have at least 5 pitchers with 150+ IP.
Have two players in Top 5 in MVP.

Boston Beaters - The famous arch-rival of the New York Bombers. Solid at producing runs. (mrnelson10)
Cap: $80 million, Park: Arlington Stadium, Project Wins: 90
AAA Limitation: Unlimited
Win/split the season series against the New York Bombers.
Be in the Top 5 in runs scored.
Be in the Top 6 in Live games played.

Baltimore Bunters - An average team with a small ball approach. (erbal kint)
Cap: $60 million, Park: County Stadium, Projected Wins: 80
AAA Limitation: Unlimited
Be in the Top 10 in runs scored.
Be in the Top 3 in sac bunts.
Be in the Top 5 in stolen bases.

Massachusetts Mediocre - A poor hitting team with average pitching. (hbomb223)
Cap: $40 million, Park: Jack Murphy Stadium, Projected Wins: 50
AAA Limitation: At least 5 starters
Have two pitchers with 150+ IP and ERAs under 4.
Have a closer with at least 10 saves.
Finish in the Top 5 in Rookie of the Year.

Patriot League Central
Detroit Duo - A team with two great starting pitchers and 2 great position players. (eman7400)
Cap: $80 million, Park: Tiger Stadium, Projected Wins: 90
AAA Limitation: 3 or Less, at least 1 starter
Have at least 2 pitchers with 20 wins and an ERA of under 4.00.
Have at least 2 position players with a .300 batting average, 20 homeruns, and 20 stolen bases.
Be in the Top 5 in doubles.

Cincinnati Classics - A regular team with regular stats. (FishNasty)
Cap: $60 million, Park: 3Com Park, Projected Wins: 70
AAA Limitation: Unlimited
No position players can bat over .330 with 300+ at-bats or hit 40+ homeruns.
4-man rotation at all times (4 guys with at least 35 starts; nobody else with more than 5)
At least 1 all-star.

Dallas Double Plays - An average team with great middle infielders. (clk0619)
Cap: $60 million, Park: Shibe Park, Projected Wins: 70
AAA Limitation: Unlimited
Make no more than 10 errors with a middle infielder.
Both starting middle infielders must have 500+ at-bats and a .300+ batting average.
Both starting middle infielders must have 20+ homeruns or 120+ RBI.
Note: MIF must play at least 90% of their innings at 2B or SS

Louisville Live - An exciting, average payroll team built around the manager's style. (donaldjtrump)
Cap: $60 million, Park: Exhibition Stadium, Projected Wins: 70
AAA Limitation: Unlimited
Finish in the Top 4 in Live Games Played.
Finish in the Top 5 in Live Wins
Finish in the Top 10 in team homeruns.

Patriot League West
Portland Power - A slugging homerun offense with power pitching. (lloyd1955)
Cap: $80 million, Park: Sicks' Stadium, Projected Wins: 90
AAA Limitation: Unlimited
Have 2 batters with 30+ homeruns and 1 with 40+.
Have three pitchers with 200+ K.
Be in the Top 5 in Strikeouts and Homeruns.

Sante Fe Small Slammers - A small cap team with poor pitching but good power hitting. (cstrohmier)
Cap: $40 million, Park: Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, Projected Wins: 60
AAA Limitation: Unlimited
Have four players with 20+ homeruns.
Have at least one hitter with 100+ RBIs.
Have one position player all-star.

Phoenix Pitchers - A team focused on pitching with an average market. (BastanRedsox)
Cap: $60 million, Park: Safeco Field, Projected Wins: 80
AAA Limitation: Unlimited
Have 2 all-star pitchers.
Have 2 AAA pitchers with 20 starts.
Have two closers with 20+ saves.

Los Angeles AAA - A rebuilding franchise with many AAA players.
Cap: $25 million , Park: Hilltop Park, Projected Wins: 50
AAA Limitation: Unlimited
Finish in the Top 5 in Rookie of the Year voting
Have a AAA player with 400+ at-bats and a .300 average.
Have a AAA player with 150+ IP and an ERA under 4.00.

RULES
60 games live required.
You must follow the cap, park, AAA limitation, and team name or you will be disqualified from the playoffs. You must also follow the spirit of the goals: to meet SP goals, pitchers must be used as realistic starters, not frequently starting a game and pulled after an inning; if you have a middle-infield defensive goal, your middle infielders must
play the majority of their innings at middle infield; etc.

FREE AGENT RULE: A little more help to the small markets. You are allowed to sign free agents and get up to the cap after 140 games. These players may not be used until after you have played 157 games. It is acceptable for teams to try arranging their schedule so games they need to win are the ones they play after the WW callups can be used.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD: Teams with an objective of having a player in the top five in voting for Rookie of the Year can meet that goal only with a AAA Prospect. The list of awards on the league page will include drafted players who have not appeared in the league since it was set up as a continuing league, but only the AAA Prospects will be eligible for purposes of meeting the goal.

$100 million salary cap
Random AAA 12/10
Trades Allowed
No Waiver Wire allowed, until after Game 140, when it is used to sign players to get up to $100 Million. Any player claimed on the Waiver Wire cannot be used until Game 158.
No Clones, No DH
The USA Baseball Federation will include a blacklist. Any player appearing on three or more teams any year will be added to the blacklist. Players will remain on the blacklist for three seasons.

Playoffs will be decided by the following formula: Wins - Projected Wins + 20 wins per objective completed. Tiebreakers: 1. one-game playoff if needed to break eighth seed tie; 2. lower cap; 3. head-to-head; 4. head-to-head run differential.

TEAM SUGGESTIONS
Pittsburgh Prospects - Owner experienced with AAA, who has done a few all AAA leagues.
Atlanta Speed - Easy team to draft. Good for someone who has mastered the $80M cap. Objectives are tough but you get a high cap and no major restrictions.
Rhode Island Slammers – Good for an experienced owner willing to take a challenge.
Philadelphia Platoons – Not particularly tough to win with but takes a manager who checks the team often.
St. Louis Superstars – Easy to win with but you might struggle with the objectives. It's like a 100 mil open team but you need to make sure you have a pitching star and a hitting star. Any manager could win with this team, but it will take a bit of luck with the objectives.
Chicago Competitors - A good live player with $80M open league skills should take this team.
Indianapolis Fielders – A team right in the middle. You get $60M but must have good fielding. Any owner could take this team but make sure you've looked over the objectives VERY CAREFULLY.
Cleveland Cream Puffs - This team is probably going to lose a lot, but 50 wins is .500. For those of you great at $40M leagues, the objectives are pretty easy. It's mostly following directions.
Cheyenne Clutch - This team is a challenge. If you think you can beat some of those cocky high-cap teams, this could be a playoff team.
Sacramento Sluggers – For any owner who wants to have some fun hitting.
Anaheim Ace – A great team to show off your "superman" strategy and win some games.
Oregon Open - Pretty much a $60M open league team but you must hit a few milestones. For any owner experienced with the $60M cap.
New York Bombers - Want to beat up on some chumps? Anybody who knows how to manage a big cap, but make sure you dominate the low caps with your offense, not your defense.
Boston Beaters - A good live player who can win in some mind games with the Bombers. You must be a good $80M manager.
Baltimore Bunters - This team needs some luck and is hard to draft to balance success and objectives. Hard to have success with but could be very successful if you can build your team around quality players who fit the objectives.
Massachussetts Mediocre – For anybody with small-cap experience.
Detroit Duo – A fun team to manage. You will need some luck to have some big seasons. Not for someone new to the sim. You will probably need to know how to get some cheap cookies.
Cincinnati Classics – Don’t take this franchise if you always go with "superman" strategies or dominate leagues with 2-3 players on your team. You will need to build a true team. Another great challenge.
Dallas Double Plays – Same advice as for the Duo, except you have more money to spend on other players than the "required" players. In this case you need two great middle infielders.
Louisville Live - Hey live buffs, this is the team for you. It's pretty much a $60M open team.
Portland Power - Experience shouldn't make a huge difference. Want some exciting games and interesting box scores? Take this franchise.
Sante Fe Small Slammers – A tough team to manage. You need to get some power out of small salary. Good for any owner willing to take on a tough challenge.
Phoenix Pitchers – A difficult franchise for a newcomer. If you are good at putting together small-cap pitching staffs, this is the franchise for you.
Los Angeles AAA – Probably the hardest franchise. You will need luck with AAA and there are lots of ways to spend the $20M million you have after taking $200K players. A challenge for any owner who wants bragging rights at the end of the season.

Other Things to Consider
• All-Star teams are generated when half of the league's full schedule of games has been played. Players with a lot of games will have a much greater chance of being all-stars, so if that's one of your goals, play as many as you can early.
• Stadium factors are considered in awards voting. A hitter in a pitcher's park has an edge in MVP voting over one in a hitter's park, and vice versa. Any hitter in Coors or a doubles hitter in Fenway will have to rack up big stats to get into the MVP top five.

Blacklisted Players
Season added to blacklist in parentheses; players remain blacklisted for 3 seasons

Babe Adams (13)
Roberto Alomar (15)
Sandy Alomar (15)
Jesus Alou (15)
Scott Barr (14)
Johnny Berardino (14)
Vida Blue (13)
Wade Boggs (15)
Barry Bonds (15)
Rod Booker (14)
Don Bosch (14)
Sid Bream (14)
George Brett (13)
Marshall Bridges (15)
Mordecai Brown (15)
Emil Brown (14)
Kevin Brown (14)
Cisco Carlos (15)
Bob Caruthers (13)
Cesar Cedeno (14)
Greg Colbrunn (15)
Scott Coolbaugh (15)
Carl Crawford (14)
Dennis Eckersley (13)
Mike Ferraro (14)
Dad Hale (14)
Roy Halladay (13)
Jack Hallett (13)
Rickey Henderson (13)
Eddie Hohnhorst (14)
Joe Horlen (15)
Chipper Jones (15)
Addie Joss (15)
Sandy Koufax (13)
Nick Maddox (14)
Pedro Martinez (15)
Christy Mathewson (14)
Jack McDowell (14)
Bob Milacki (13)
Corky Miller (14)
Jose Morban (14)
John Moses (14)
Johnny Niggeling (13)
Dennis Rasmussen (14)
Hanley Ramirez (13)
Mariano Rivera (15)
Alex Rodriguez (14)
Jim Roland (14)
Jorge Roque (14)
Babe Ruth (15)
Jason Schmidt (13)
Alfonso Soriano (14)
Tris Speaker (13)
Archie Stimmel (14)
Shane Victorino (13)
Larry Walker (14)
Ed Walsh (14)
Hi West (14)
Snake Wiltse (14)

Owner signup
1 joshkvt
2 BastanRedsox
3 clk0619
4 kneeneighbor
5 The Taint
6 staindman
7 eman7400
8 lloyd1955
9 topgun11
10 tycobb32
11 theyard2
12 FishNasty
13 Yaz_Benders
14 aisle5
15 donaldjtrump
16 ratedpg_13
17 cstrohmier
18 hbomb223
19 besterateam
20 verbal kint
21 mrnelson10
22 BastanRedsox (2)
23 clk0619
24 joshkvt (2)

joshkvt; BastanRedsox; clk0619; kneeneighbor; The Taint; staindman; eman7400; lloyd1955; topgun11; tycobb32; theyard2; FishNasty; Yaz_Benders; aisle5; donaldjtrump; ratedpg_13; cstrohmier; hbomb223; besterateam; verbal kint; mrnelson10

REMAINING FRANCHISE
NL
Cleveland
Cheyenne
AL
Dallas
Los Angeles

1 - (1) joshkvt — Chicago Competitors
2 - (7) eman7400 — Detroit Duo
3 - (9) topgun11 — Atlanta Speed
4 - (13) Yaz_Benders — Philadelphia Platoons
5 - (19) besterateam — Sacramento Sluggers
6 - (5) The Taint — New York Bombers
7 - (6) staindman — St. Louis Superstars
8 - (4) kneeneighbor — Pittsburgh Prospects
9 - (8) lloyd1955 — Portland Power
10 - (2) BastanRedsox — Phoenix Pitchers
11 - (21) mrnelson10 — Boston Beaters
12 - (15) donaldjtrump — Louisville Live
13 - (17) cstrohmier — Sante Fe Small Slammers
14 - (16) ratedpg_13 — Oregon Open
15 - (18) hbomb223 — Massachusetts Mediocre
16 - (11) theyard2 — Rhode Island Slammers
17 - (20) verbal kint — Baltimore Bunters
18 - (14) aisle5 — Anaheim Ace
19 - (12) FishNasty — Cincinnati Classics
20 - (3) clk0619 — Indianapolis Fielders
21 - (10) tycobb32 — Cheyenne Clutch
22 - clk0619 — Dallas Double Plays
23 - BastanRedsox — Cleveland Cream Puffs
24 - joshkvt — Los Angeles AAA

In

in i owe you one

I'm in and will make the min on my nut sac.

Do I even need to post?

just 1 team this time

Quote: Originally posted by BastanRedsox on 1/29/2010Do I even need to post?

No, I suppose not :)

hey josh- kind of busy this month... you can waitilist me & see how it goes. If you get 24 good owners, then I'll skip a year. But if you need someone come go time, I'm there for ya man...

Whatever works for you is fine with me.