An online league concept

[jpeters1734]

Hey I'm curious what the community's thoughts are on an online league concept that I thought of.

It would be a fictional league. Settings and number of teams do not matter yet. The idea is that each team's GM is its owner as well. When a GM quits the league, his team is folded(or will fold after the season if it's midseason still).

The folded team's players are either released as FA's or is entered into a draft pool. When a new Gm wants to come into the league, we would hold an expansion draft. So basically no one ever takes over a long neglected team and everyone comes into the league fresh.

How difficult would this be to pull off and does it sound doable to anyone?

I am sure someone will think of something that I didn't so I am really hoping I get some responses, positive or negative.

It would certainly make for an ever-evolving league.

[bwburke94]

Certainly a good concept. Obviously there may need to be an AI controlled filler team some years, if you end up with an odd number of owners.

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by bwburke94

Certainly a good concept. Obviously there may need to be an AI controlled filler team some years, if you end up with an odd number of owners.

Crap, did not think of that. But an AI team would work

[TomVeal]

A setup like that might tempt me to try on-line play. Ideally, the game would be set in a fictional world where baseball is a marginal sport and lots of franchise turnover is to be expected. India, perhaps?

[Fyrestorm3]

Originally Posted by TomVeal

A setup like that might tempt me to try on-line play. Ideally, the game would be set in a fictional world where baseball is a marginal sport and lots of franchise turnover is to be expected. India, perhaps?

You could also just make it an alternate history, since the early years of baseball had lots of turnover. I dunno how I'd feel about the league being in a country that I'm not very familiar with.

But this idea as a whole is really cool.

[TomVeal]

Originally Posted by Fyrestorm3

You could also just make it an alternate history, since the early years of baseball had lots of turnover. I dunno how I'd feel about the league being in a country that I'm not very familiar with.

But this idea as a whole is really cool.

Yes, a late 19th Century setting, with teams in places like Providence and Troy and Altoona, would also be interesting. I thought of India, because cricket is immensely popular there, and one can envision baseball as a struggling rival.

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by TomVeal

A setup like that might tempt me to try on-line play. Ideally, the game would be set in a fictional world where baseball is a marginal sport and lots of franchise turnover is to be expected. India, perhaps?

I have tried international leagues, but I have always lost interest. When I play fictional in the US, it's a completely different plane of existence, lol. I don't try to structure it to make sense with real life baseball evolution.

Originally Posted by Fyrestorm3

You could also just make it an alternate history, since the early years of baseball had lots of turnover. I dunno how I'd feel about the league being in a country that I'm not very familiar with.

But this idea as a whole is really cool.

Thank you very much Most fictional solo leagues I begin, usually starts from the 60's to 80's it's easier for me to wrap my me to relate to the years. A league too far into the future seems disconnected to me.

[sc_superstar]

As long as you don't expect realistic type modernized or even stats that don't fluctuate wildly then you'll be fine, because multiple contractions/expansions will leave you with some really odd talent pool distributions at various times.


The only thing I could see being really hard is doing expansion drafts frequently without bogging down the league time wise

[moonlightmerc]

I never joined any online leagues, but If I would like to join a fictional league that I'm not restricted to team name or location of my team. And starting out as a expansion team would be ok.

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by sc_superstar

As long as you don't expect realistic type modernized or even stats that don't fluctuate wildly then you'll be fine, because multiple contractions/expansions will leave you with some really odd talent pool distributions at various times.


The only thing I could see being really hard is doing expansion drafts frequently without bogging down the league time wise

The number of drafts could be an issue, but I'm optimistic

Originally Posted by moonlightmerc

I never joined any online leagues, but If I would like to join a fictional league that I'm not restricted to team name or location of my team. And starting out as a expansion team would be ok.

I may or may not get this off the ground for ootp 16, but if you're looking for something now, the Corporate Baseball league has an opening. The only restriction, team wise, is that it has to be a company.

[MarkInCincy]

I like the idea

[Painmantle]

Heck drafting is my favorite part, I'd join just so I could quit every other year and draft a new team

In all seriousness though, I agree with others that what you're describing is how baseball was at it's origins. A very intersting concept, it's success would be very dependent on the tenasity of the Commish and what decides which teams fold? Finacial disaster? Disapearing GM's? all of the above? So many things to consider

[jpeters1734]

Originally Posted by Painmantle

Heck drafting is my favorite part, I'd join just so I could quit every other year and draft a new team

In all seriousness though, I agree with others that what you're describing is how baseball was at it's origins. A very intersting concept, it's success would be very dependent on the tenasity of the Commish and what decides which teams fold? Finacial disaster? Disapearing GM's? all of the above? So many things to consider

I've gotten mostly positive feedback on this so I think I might proceed with this idea.

I've been working on a constitution and here is something regarding your comment.

"• Each GM is it’s own owner. When a GM leaves, the team folds.
o Teams will fold only after there’s 2 GM’s that leave. The league office will keep the team competitive and will try to sell the team.
o If an owner takes over a vacant team, he may elect to keep the team or fold it for an expansion team if a second Owner folds."

[cuervo72]

That's an interesting idea, assuming all of your non-leaving owners are conscientious enough to make good protection lists and you're not doing this every other season.

In FOBL we try to protect against destitute teams by putting a limit on what draft picks can be traded and by having a financial system that naturally benefits "losers."

For the first part, say you are in the year 2053. Up until the AS break, you are only allowed to trade picks for 2054; after the break, you may also trade picks for 2055. So an owner can only mortgage two drafts ahead, and even then only picks in the first five rounds (ten round draft where rounds 6-10 are auto-picked, so a team should always have something in the minors).

Financially, we run a closed system - total league cash is always current. And with how things are designed, a team with a minimal payroll will make cash. (See Norwich here; they are awful this year, but they are making a profit). So even a bad team will naturally rebound, it just might take a couple of seasons to really build back up (that money will of course be helpful in free agency or purchasing picks from other teams - competing teams - who are losing money but want to make one last push).

Salt Lake City is another good example in that link. It was DarkCloud's team (though it is really in need of an owner currently). DC has been an owner a number of times, and his MO is to compete now, and in doing so he jettisons picks and financially runs his teams into icebergs. It's just his wont. So when the bottom fell out on him again, he was left with no money in the bank (actually he was in the red and we had to auction off a pick or two). So this year the team is awful. But, they will be making the largest profit in the league this season, which is a good first step in a rebuild.

Also, sometimes owners leave while on top, or when their team is really on the rise. Life happens. In those cases, you might not want to see a team cast to the four winds.

[munstermash]

I might try something like this in my solo fictional league.

Instead of expansion have a team drop out of the league and then create a new team.

Interesting