[jgross68]

I've been playing the game solo for over a year now, am an owner/GM in one online league (GABL Seattle Mariners) and have been planning for a couple months now to start my own online league. I want to take my time and do this right, so I'm interested in the thoughts of some of you seasoned commissioners on how to handle things like off-season free agency, the amateur draft, and what you think is the "ideal" sim schedule.

If anyone's interested in how I'm planning to structure the league, here's what I've been throwing around for the <a href="http://www.gross-net.com/ootp/gapbl/index.htm">Great American Pastime Baseball League</a>:
- Real players and teams, based on the Rolen/G-Force 2002 rosters (right now I'm using the winter meetings edition; will of course update if the opening day rosters come out before the league starts).
- Contraction. I have nothing against the state of Florida personally, and this has nothing to do with the butterfly ballot scandal, but I plan on contracting both the D-Rays and the Marlins. The players will be dispersed in a draft based on reverse order of 2001 finish. Drafting team must absorb existing player contract. Draft will probably be limited to 3 rounds; all undrafted players to go into FA pool. This will have the added benefit of spreading some much-needed talent around.
- Re-location. I really think Montreal is a great organization in a horrible location. As a result, the Montreal owner/GM will be given the option to relocate the team to the Washington, DC area. Would be interested in feedback on appropriate levels of fan interest, market size, stadium dimensions, etc. if any of you have made a similar move.
- Re-alignment. With the loss of one NL team and one AL team, the Milwaukee Brewers have been moved back to the AL, in the central division. Detroit moves to the AL East to make two 5-team divisions (AL East & Central, NL Central & West) and one 4-team division (AL West, NL East) in each league. I hate 4-team divisions, but the wild card has grown on me and I figured this was the best way to do it.
- Designated hitter rule remains in effect after much soul-searching. (American League only)
- Interleague play. Again, after much soul-searching I decided to keep this too.
- Playoffs. As mentioned earlier, the wild card system has grown on me by keeping things interesting well into September. We'll adopt the MLB format.

I appreciate any feedback/opinions on any/all of the above, plus any other good practices you've seen on the online leagues you're involved with.

Also, if you're interested in joining a league like this and you're willing to wait a little while to get up and running, drop me a line at jgross68@attbi.com. There's absolutely nothing at the site I've put together for this beside what I think is a pretty cool logo: <a href="http://www.gross-net.com/ootp/gapbl/index.htm">GAPBL</a>, but have a look anyway, I may have updated it since this post (6/19).