Contraction League

fhomess · 01-30-2003, 04:10 PM

Here's an idea that I'd love to participate in, but I really wouldn't have the time or expertise to run myself.

How about a league that starts out at 30 teams with an initial draft. At the end of each year, the worst two teams are contracted and the league goes on with a contraction draft (or you could just delete those players and say they were so depressed by all that losing that they retired).

After several seasons you'd be down to only a few teams. When you finally declare a winner in the final season, which would only have two teams in it, you could start the league up again.

I think a league like this would be interesting because it would be dangerous to not field at least a somewhat competitive team. There would be a long term goal in sight of winning the final season, as well as the short term goal of winning now.

You might also want to try changing the contraction selection criteria to a points based system where you get a point for each game won, as well as points for each all-star, division title, league title, etc. That way a team that did really well early on but couldn't maintain it would still have a decent chance of continuing.

Anyway, if anyone is interested in starting a league like this, I'll be your charter member!

Total Nirvana · 01-30-2003, 06:37 PM

I had thoughts about excatly that, but just thoughts.

goroyals · 01-30-2003, 07:30 PM

I always thought it would be cool to run a league like U.K. soccer. Maybe 2 or 3 divisions with the top moving up and the worst moving down.

Stealth · 01-30-2003, 08:35 PM

I always thought it would be a great idea for there to be one main league that .400 studios hosts. It would be a league where the best managers go head to head.

For the sake of making my point quicker, we will call the main league the MLB.

The MLB participants go around the Internet and recruit all the best owners from independent leagues. (Participants will be called scouts.) The scouts would recruit the best owners and try to get them to join the MLB.

Example: Jon Smith is in some random league where he has won 90+ games three years in row with two World Series rings. The scouts would inspect the league and watch how Jon handles trades, free agents, drafts, line-ups, and pitching staffs. Oh, and finances.

The scouts like what they see, so they put him at the top of their list for prospect coaches. Then they would wait for a spot to open up in the MLB.

Once a spot becomes available, the league president would make an offer to Jon. The contract would say something like,
"Jon needs a .500+ winning percentage within four years, or his team has to make at least one play off appearance." And if doesn't fulfill his contract, he would be back to managing in the independent leagues.

Maybe it's just me, but I think a league with that much competition would be great.

--Nathan--

SimSportsWorld · 01-30-2003, 09:25 PM

That'd be a good idea, except for the fact that it is 100% not fair to tell an owner "you had a bad season, bye." What if they were one of the best owners in the league, but lost 3 of their star players due to injury, or if they just plain out had an unlucky season?

Stealth · 01-30-2003, 09:37 PM

I know exactly what you are saying. But I don't think having one bad season would be grounds for dismissal. I was thinking more like having three to five bad seasons in a row would be more like it.

It probably only works in Theory, but I have always liked the idea.

fhomess · 01-31-2003, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SimSportsWorld
That'd be a good idea, except for the fact that it is 100% not fair to tell an owner "you had a bad season, bye." What if they were one of the best owners in the league, but lost 3 of their star players due to injury, or if they just plain out had an unlucky season?

This could very easily happen. In the contraction league idea of mine, it would just be one of those things. I sort of think of it a bit like the NCAA basketball tournament. A team gets upset because they had bad luck, or they all had a bad game at the same time. There IS some luck involved in moving on, but a lot also depends on skill, which can reduce the effects of bad luck.

Everyone would know going into it that that's a possibility, and it would probably play a bigger role as the league got whittled down to less teams. For me, this is part of the attraction. There's a lot more risk involved, and for me that makes it a lot of fun, even if I were to lose because of some injuries or bad luck.

01-30-2003, 04:10 PM	#1
fhomess Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 3,693	Contraction League Here's an idea that I'd love to participate in, but I really wouldn't have the time or expertise to run myself. How about a league that starts out at 30 teams with an initial draft. At the end of each year, the worst two teams are contracted and the league goes on with a contraction draft (or you could just delete those players and say they were so depressed by all that losing that they retired). After several seasons you'd be down to only a few teams. When you finally declare a winner in the final season, which would only have two teams in it, you could start the league up again. I think a league like this would be interesting because it would be dangerous to not field at least a somewhat competitive team. There would be a long term goal in sight of winning the final season, as well as the short term goal of winning now. You might also want to try changing the contraction selection criteria to a points based system where you get a point for each game won, as well as points for each all-star, division title, league title, etc. That way a team that did really well early on but couldn't maintain it would still have a decent chance of continuing. Anyway, if anyone is interested in starting a league like this, I'll be your charter member! __________________ StatsLab- PHP/MySQL based utilities for Online Leagues Baseball Cards - Full list of known templates and documentation on card development.

01-30-2003, 06:37 PM	#2
Total Nirvana All Star Reserve Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: San Diego, California Posts: 750	I had thoughts about excatly that, but just thoughts. __________________ Total Hockey Commissioner Your Off-Topic Nightmare. Free Agent OT Player - Plays 1B/3B/OF, hits for power on all fields, great fielder, can hit .330 a season!

01-30-2003, 07:30 PM	#3
goroyals All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Kentucky Posts: 930	I always thought it would be cool to run a league like U.K. soccer. Maybe 2 or 3 divisions with the top moving up and the worst moving down.

01-30-2003, 08:35 PM	#4
Stealth Registered User Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 144	I always thought it would be a great idea for there to be one main league that .400 studios hosts. It would be a league where the best managers go head to head. For the sake of making my point quicker, we will call the main league the MLB. The MLB participants go around the Internet and recruit all the best owners from independent leagues. (Participants will be called scouts.) The scouts would recruit the best owners and try to get them to join the MLB. Example: Jon Smith is in some random league where he has won 90+ games three years in row with two World Series rings. The scouts would inspect the league and watch how Jon handles trades, free agents, drafts, line-ups, and pitching staffs. Oh, and finances. The scouts like what they see, so they put him at the top of their list for prospect coaches. Then they would wait for a spot to open up in the MLB. Once a spot becomes available, the league president would make an offer to Jon. The contract would say something like, "Jon needs a .500+ winning percentage within four years, or his team has to make at least one play off appearance." And if doesn't fulfill his contract, he would be back to managing in the independent leagues. Maybe it's just me, but I think a league with that much competition would be great. --Nathan--

01-30-2003, 09:25 PM	#5
SimSportsWorld Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 236	That'd be a good idea, except for the fact that it is 100% not fair to tell an owner "you had a bad season, bye." What if they were one of the best owners in the league, but lost 3 of their star players due to injury, or if they just plain out had an unlucky season?

01-30-2003, 09:37 PM	#6
Stealth Registered User Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 144	I know exactly what you are saying. But I don't think having one bad season would be grounds for dismissal. I was thinking more like having three to five bad seasons in a row would be more like it. It probably only works in Theory, but I have always liked the idea.