Expansion Help

Bobfather · 08-08-2022, 07:28 PM

I am going to add 4 expansion teams to my league.
I currently have 36 teams 2 leagues of 18 each
My roster is 27 majors/ 45 secondary.
My questions,
How many players should be protected?
How many players should each team lose?

The Game · 08-08-2022, 09:27 PM

I would protect 25. Each team can only lose 2 players. This should give the 4 teams some good stars but not great stars along with anyone that might be good on the 40.

Brad K · 08-09-2022, 07:09 AM

When you last expanded, which I'm guessing was from 32 to 36, how many players did you protect? Were you satisfied with the strength of the expansion teams? If not did you want them to be stronger or weaker?

Pelican · 08-09-2022, 03:19 PM

Sorry, but in Bobfather’s example, with that many teams, that is nine hundred players protected. So, unless you have been allowing the expansion teams to sign and draft and build up a minor league system (my approach to expansion, if you can anticipate it by several years), their best players will be #901 and #902 in baseball. That is not competitive. Those expansion teams will be doomed to hundreds of losses for years. They will utterly suck.

I recently did an expansion in 2021 with the current teams protecting twelve players, not including guys under three years, protecting an additional guy for each one picked. [Because I just started this sim in 2021, I couldn’t use my approach of a few years of player development before the expansion teams played their first year.]. That process, plus a few key free agent signings, produced some competitive, but not dominant, expansion teams. Sure the good teams suffered. That had an amazing leveling effect on the game as a whole. Competitive balance!

My approach was - intentionally - extreme. As with so much in OOTP, I just wanted to test a theory and see what would happen. The world did not end. In Bobfather’s sim, the best 432 players would be protected, at 12 a team for 36 teams. The expansion teams won’t get any five-star players, and not many four-star players. I would suggest the ideal number is somewhere between 12 and 25 protected per team. I would go closer to 12 than 25.

locuspc · 08-09-2022, 03:29 PM

You have to be careful about how minimum service time for selection interacts with protection numbers, if you auto-protect anyone with less than 3 years you have to give them many fewer protection slots.

Honestly, I don't mind expansion teams being pretty bad the first few years of their existence. It's realistic to how expansion teams work in real life.

Brad K · 08-10-2022, 10:07 AM

It's important to consider the number of teams. Expanding by four teams from 20, as for 1969, is not the same as expanding by four teams from 36. My view is with more teams each should get to protect more players. See Las Vega Golden Knights for an example of a low number of protected players.

08-08-2022, 07:28 PM	#1
Bobfather All Star Starter Join Date: Jun 2016 Location: Boston Ma. Posts: 1,915	Expansion Help I am going to add 4 expansion teams to my league. I currently have 36 teams 2 leagues of 18 each My roster is 27 majors/ 45 secondary. My questions, How many players should be protected? How many players should each team lose? __________________ I play out every game—one pitch mode.

08-08-2022, 09:27 PM	#2
The Game Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Inside The Game Posts: 30,937	I would protect 25. Each team can only lose 2 players. This should give the 4 teams some good stars but not great stars along with anyone that might be good on the 40. __________________ Go today don't wait for tomorrow It isn't promised, all the time you get borrowed Don't live your life for other people Don't bottle your emotions till they crack and fill a couple just sorrows Take your mind and refocus go get a paper write your goals out Throw your middle fingers to all your haters "Stay Strong"

08-09-2022, 03:19 PM	#4
Pelican Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2021 Location: Wilmington, Delaware Posts: 3,267	Sorry, but in Bobfather’s example, with that many teams, that is nine hundred players protected. So, unless you have been allowing the expansion teams to sign and draft and build up a minor league system (my approach to expansion, if you can anticipate it by several years), their best players will be #901 and #902 in baseball. That is not competitive. Those expansion teams will be doomed to hundreds of losses for years. They will utterly suck. I recently did an expansion in 2021 with the current teams protecting twelve players, not including guys under three years, protecting an additional guy for each one picked. [Because I just started this sim in 2021, I couldn’t use my approach of a few years of player development before the expansion teams played their first year.]. That process, plus a few key free agent signings, produced some competitive, but not dominant, expansion teams. Sure the good teams suffered. That had an amazing leveling effect on the game as a whole. Competitive balance! My approach was - intentionally - extreme. As with so much in OOTP, I just wanted to test a theory and see what would happen. The world did not end. In Bobfather’s sim, the best 432 players would be protected, at 12 a team for 36 teams. The expansion teams won’t get any five-star players, and not many four-star players. I would suggest the ideal number is somewhere between 12 and 25 protected per team. I would go closer to 12 than 25. Last edited by Pelican; 08-09-2022 at 03:21 PM.

08-09-2022, 07:09 AM	#3
Brad K Banned Join Date: May 2016 Location: St Petersburg Florida USA Posts: 6,693 Infractions: 0/2 (4)	When you last expanded, which I'm guessing was from 32 to 36, how many players did you protect? Were you satisfied with the strength of the expansion teams? If not did you want them to be stronger or weaker?

08-09-2022, 03:29 PM	#5
locuspc Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2022 Posts: 348	You have to be careful about how minimum service time for selection interacts with protection numbers, if you auto-protect anyone with less than 3 years you have to give them many fewer protection slots. Honestly, I don't mind expansion teams being pretty bad the first few years of their existence. It's realistic to how expansion teams work in real life.

08-10-2022, 10:07 AM	#6
Brad K Banned Join Date: May 2016 Location: St Petersburg Florida USA Posts: 6,693 Infractions: 0/2 (4)	It's important to consider the number of teams. Expanding by four teams from 20, as for 1969, is not the same as expanding by four teams from 36. My view is with more teams each should get to protect more players. See Las Vega Golden Knights for an example of a low number of protected players.