The California Baseball League (est. 2014, Fictional, Promotion/Relegation)

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I’m going (going), back (back), to Cali (Cali).

The great state of California. Beautiful beaches, scorching deserts, and glorious mountains. Silicon Valley, Napa Valley, Hollywood, and Disneyland. Whatever your heart desires, you can probably find it in California.

A region worthy of envy, outsiders often “ridicule” Californians for their luxurious lifestyles and beach bum vernacular (Yea, I’m looking at you SNL! (I actually do love those skits though)). But whether you love it, or you hate it, you can’t deny its position of power in today’s world. Of the top ten largest cities in the United States, three can be found in California (2010) – Los Angeles (2), San Diego (8), and San Jose (10). California also boasts the eighth largest economy in the entire world (2013-2014)! So, with a plentiful population, ample land, and money to spend, the California Baseball League was created!

The CBL features sixteen teams, each with one reserve team, that are separated into two divisions. The top eight teams are found within the Gold League, while the bottom eight teams are found in the Silver League. The winners of each league will play a seven game series to determine the winner of the California Cup. At the end of the season, the bottom two teams in the Gold League will be relegated to the Silver League, while the top two teams from the Silver League will be promoted to Gold.

So, with that brief overview in hand, I present to you the inaugural season of the California Baseball League!

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As mentioned above, the league is divided into 2 divisions, with the winner of each division playing a seven game series for the California Cup.

At the end of the season, the bottom 2 teams from the Gold League will be relegated, while the top 2 teams from the Silver League will be promoted.

The season begins on May 1st of each year, and consists of 100 games. There’s no DH and no inter-league play (until the playoff series). The inaugural season will begin with a draft. The amateur draft will occur on May 15th of each year (Starting in 2015). Rule 5 draft is on April 1st of each year (Starting in 2015). The trade deadline is July 1st of each year. Salary and revenue settings are default. League evolution is on, except for schedule length, DH rules, and roster sizes. Trading difficulty is hard, with a preference for prospects. Lineup selections are geared towards sabermetrics.

Each team consists of a maximum of 27 players at any one time, and has a 40 man secondary roster. On July 15th of each year, rosters will expand to 30 players. Each team is only allowed to sign a maximum of 3 foreign players.

Each team has 1 reserve team. The reserve league is an under 25 league. The reserve league is set up in the same fashion as the professional league – 2 divisions (Under 25s Alpha and Under 25s Bravo), 8 teams each, bottom 2 relegated, top 2 promoted. The roster size for the reserve teams is set at 35.

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For the inaugural season, the Gold League will consist of:

Bakersfield Cardinals
Fontana Alleycats
Hawthorne Black Sox
Modesto River Rats
Oceanside Buccaneers
Sacramento Sun Kings
San Bernardino Reign
San Diego Missions

And the Silver League consists of:

Chula Vista Templars
Glendale Longhorns
Irvine Bay Bears
Long Beach Surf
Ontario Blizzard
Riverside Outriders
San Francisco Gargoyles
Stockton Vipers

[darkcloud4579]

Good names, good start. #takethe202

[Trebro]

Cool start--for the relegation division, are you doing anything to those teams (manually lowering budget, smaller stadiums or revenue adjustment, etc.) to make them weaker? Or is it entirely a prestige thing?

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Originally Posted by darkcloud4579

Good names, good start. #takethe202

Thanks! Just wanted to try something a little different for when I need to break up the grind of my Padres dynasty

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Originally Posted by Trebro

Cool start--for the relegation division, are you doing anything to those teams (manually lowering budget, smaller stadiums or revenue adjustment, etc.) to make them weaker? Or is it entirely a prestige thing?

Thanks! For now it's just a prestige thing. This is my first time creating an entirely fictional league, so I wanted to start off with things sort of simple. My one twist is this soccer-esque setup with the divisions and "youth" teams.

Things certainly aren't written in stone though. Once I get a feel for this universe, additional rules on the divisions could definitely be a possibility.

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The strength of the Cardinals lies in their pitching staff. Four of their top five players are pitchers, and the rotation is headlined by the trio of Dean Fields (78/78), Leonardo Esparza (63/63), and John Koonts (63/63). The backend of their staff is anchored by closer Lonnie Sanford (79/79), one of the best in the business. The Cardinals also have a very promising outfield comprised of 22 year old left fielder Cary Patterson (65/65), 24 year old center fielder Erwin Myers (54/80), and 21 year old right fielder Gilbert Witt (54/74). Myers has been named the #1 overall prospect in the CBL, while Witt is ranked #9.

The Cardinals have two international players, reliever Kwi-Tae Chon (63/63) out of Korea and catcher Edgar Mansvelt (41/41) from Curacao. Chon is listed at 6’7”, 240 lbs and looks to be a topnotch reliever. His velocity is in the low 90s, but because of his size and release point, the ball gets on the hitters quick. The scouting report has him ranked as above-average across the board, and his two-pitch repertoire consists of a good fastball and a devastating slider. Mansvelt will begin the season as the team’s starter behind the plate. He’s average across the board, but brings good leadership and works well with the pitching staff.

Predicted Finish: 42-58, 8th place

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Power is the name of the game for the Alleycats. Scouting reports indicate that five of their starting nine are considered to have plus power, with two of those being considered as elite. The heart of their lineup should strike fear into the hearts of most pitchers and consists of RF Grady Gerhardt (80/80), LF Brian Schmidt (76/76), and 1B Joe Webster (57/57). Their pitching staff as a whole is average at best, and their ace, Evan Larson (73/73) is well above average, although I wouldn’t place him among the elite. Still, given their potential offensive prowess, their pitching staff probably doesn’t need to be all that great for them to compete. The Alleycats open the season with one prospect making their big league roster – 3B Mack Hunter (25/62). Hunter is further along in his development than many prospects, but still has a lot of growing to do. Right now, he’s a borderline big league talent, but if he develops properly, he could easily be a very good, well-rounded hitter. He’s a line drive hitter that will eventually hit something along the lines of 15-20 HR per year. He has a habit of expanding the zone, but a mechanically solid swing makes him extremely difficult to strike out.

The Alleycats have chosen not to enlist the services of any foreign players at this time.

Predicted Finish: 57-43, 2nd place