Expansion Timing Question

Tribe1450 · 04-26-2020, 08:20 PM

I am trying to work in a two team expansion to a modern day MLB setup. I want to play out 2020 and then expand by two teams heading into 2021.

I know how to do the expansion as soon as the 2020 season ends, but.....

You can manually expand during a current season - create the teams and their minor league affiliates, etc., but then NOT hold the expansion draft right away.

I actually tested this on a standard modern day league.... first day before I did anything else I manually expanded the league by two teams, set up their minor leagues but did NOT schedule the expansion draft and left both teams personnel completely empty. Both expansion teams were just empty shells, with an owner and nothing else.

I would assume that since the new teams are not currently in any schedules, they would simply show up with a 0-0 record all year long and would appear in the standings as such.

My question however is trying to find a way to actually hold the expansion DRAFT process at a date to be determined. If we could select a date in the future (November or first day of off-season, etc.) then we would be able to spend the current year hiring coaches and front office personnel for the new MLB club and all of their affiliates.

We could basically watch the current season play out while tweaking the expansion clubs to our liking (ballparks, logos, unis, etc.) I am not sure how or if the AI could handle that action during a year and I know you would hire personnel to say a four year deal and year one would be used up with no games being played, but it would be intriguing to be able to create new teams basically a year in advance - IF we could hold an expansion draft on a day or our choosing.

Canuck · 05-06-2020, 02:30 PM

I've done this before on previous versions. When you create the expansion team schedule the expansion draft. Go into league events as commissioner and change the protection list deadline and draft for the following offseason. This allows you to sign international free agents and make your draft selections. You can generate schedules for your minor league teams and have them play like how real mlb expansion worked. The issue that I ran into was that teams didn't sign any major league free agents or make any trades during the seaspn, I assume this was because they had the protection list pending. I wonder if you removed the protection list deadline and added it back later if they would behave normally?

dnwman · 05-06-2020, 05:57 PM

I've played with various work-arounds for expansions so that a new team has more of an established minor league base prior to their inaugural season.

Minor leagues can be expanded in seasons prior to an MLB expansion and those new minor league teams left unaffiliated until the MLB expansion occurs.

During the amateur draft, I manually assign players from the draft pool between each round to the rookie-league club that will be eventually linked to an MLB expansion team. The big issue here seems to be that I only have access to OSA scouting - so players selected may be of questionable quality.

It would be a great option to have expansion take place over a 12-month period to better reflect the realities of MLB expansion.

04-26-2020, 08:20 PM	#1
Tribe1450 Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Sandusky, Ohio Posts: 152	Expansion Timing Question I am trying to work in a two team expansion to a modern day MLB setup. I want to play out 2020 and then expand by two teams heading into 2021. I know how to do the expansion as soon as the 2020 season ends, but..... You can manually expand during a current season - create the teams and their minor league affiliates, etc., but then NOT hold the expansion draft right away. I actually tested this on a standard modern day league.... first day before I did anything else I manually expanded the league by two teams, set up their minor leagues but did NOT schedule the expansion draft and left both teams personnel completely empty. Both expansion teams were just empty shells, with an owner and nothing else. I would assume that since the new teams are not currently in any schedules, they would simply show up with a 0-0 record all year long and would appear in the standings as such. My question however is trying to find a way to actually hold the expansion DRAFT process at a date to be determined. If we could select a date in the future (November or first day of off-season, etc.) then we would be able to spend the current year hiring coaches and front office personnel for the new MLB club and all of their affiliates. We could basically watch the current season play out while tweaking the expansion clubs to our liking (ballparks, logos, unis, etc.) I am not sure how or if the AI could handle that action during a year and I know you would hire personnel to say a four year deal and year one would be used up with no games being played, but it would be intriguing to be able to create new teams basically a year in advance - IF we could hold an expansion draft on a day or our choosing.

05-06-2020, 02:30 PM	#2
Canuck Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 28	I've done this before on previous versions. When you create the expansion team schedule the expansion draft. Go into league events as commissioner and change the protection list deadline and draft for the following offseason. This allows you to sign international free agents and make your draft selections. You can generate schedules for your minor league teams and have them play like how real mlb expansion worked. The issue that I ran into was that teams didn't sign any major league free agents or make any trades during the seaspn, I assume this was because they had the protection list pending. I wonder if you removed the protection list deadline and added it back later if they would behave normally?

05-06-2020, 05:57 PM	#3
dnwman Bat Boy Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Toronto, ON Posts: 3	I've played with various work-arounds for expansions so that a new team has more of an established minor league base prior to their inaugural season. Minor leagues can be expanded in seasons prior to an MLB expansion and those new minor league teams left unaffiliated until the MLB expansion occurs. During the amateur draft, I manually assign players from the draft pool between each round to the rookie-league club that will be eventually linked to an MLB expansion team. The big issue here seems to be that I only have access to OSA scouting - so players selected may be of questionable quality. It would be a great option to have expansion take place over a 12-month period to better reflect the realities of MLB expansion.