Equalizing teams in a new league

satchel · 01-27-2009, 09:08 PM

One of the biggest problems in the game is the imbalance of talent in new leagues.

How can you make the talent level of all the teams in a new league roughly equal?

Jaxxvain · 01-27-2009, 09:25 PM

could you be more specific?

do you mean a league where human managers have an inaugural draft?

or do you hand the owners random teams after a 10 year sim?

If you are drafting maybe you could do some kind of progressive serpentine draft by position. 1st round you can only pick a pitcher, then next round is SS and the order is reversed, then CFers with the middle teams picking first and going "up" the chain, then Catchers starting with the middle and going "down" the chain, etc. Don't know, but it might work. Maybe through in Age restrictions on the picks too.

Or just manually fill the rosters yourself as a commish.

satchel · 01-28-2009, 10:38 PM

I'm talking about setting up an online league and hitting "fill all teams with fictional players." If you do this, some of the teams are good, and some suck. It's not fair to the human owners; I want them to all start on equal footing.

Does holding an inaugural draft result in a better balance of talent, league-wide? Is that the best method for starting a league of equal teams?

(I don't believe in pre-simming in a human-managed league. If it's a human league, the humans should control its destiny from Day One, and not be spectators to a computer-made history.)

I understand that the Commissioner could go through by hand and distribute all the players in a way which he thinks is fair. I'm looking for a quicker, more objective technique.

satchel · 01-28-2009, 10:39 PM

I do appreciate your thought-out proposal. I'm looking for an automatic way.

Jaxxvain · 01-29-2009, 08:48 AM

Inaugural drafts do NOT create a balanced league.

I absolutely suck at drafting against human opponents, so the teams I have drafted recently are awful, both in the ML and down through the minors.

At least with a draft the owner gets more of the "team he wants" rather than handed the AI's crap.

Back to your question, I don't think there is an automated way to create balanced teams to start. I wonder if anyone has done extensive testing on the subject. I am not even convinced that setting the Team Strategy effects how the team drafts (or auto-fills).

That being said, I think one of our communities esteemed roster builders should set out on a project to created balanced roster sets to start leagues with.

I wonder how it would work out if you made every team EXACTLY the same and just randomized names. If you are playing in a league without showing the ratings and/or stars you might be able to pull this off. Once the randomness of the player development and the effects of each human manager's strategies take over, the sameness would fade away.

satchel · 02-03-2009, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaxxvain

I wonder how it would work out if you made every team EXACTLY the same and just randomized names. If you are playing in a league without showing the ratings and/or stars you might be able to pull this off. Once the randomness of the player development and the effects of each human manager's strategies take over, the sameness would fade away.

This sounds intriguing, and although it's more extreme than what I had in mind, it's pursuing the same ends.

I want the decisions of the owners to shape the league, and not have a random initial distribution of talent decide how things are going to turn out for the first five to seven seasons.

vwxy686 · 03-11-2009, 07:50 AM

This guy really has no life, does he?

01-27-2009, 09:08 PM	#1
satchel Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Ft Smith AR Posts: 2,681	Equalizing teams in a new league One of the biggest problems in the game is the imbalance of talent in new leagues. How can you make the talent level of all the teams in a new league roughly equal?

03-11-2009, 07:50 AM	#7
vwxy686 Banned Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 10 Infractions: 0/1 (99)	Oh my word This guy really has no life, does he? Last edited by CommishJoe; 03-11-2009 at 10:50 AM.

01-27-2009, 09:25 PM	#2
Jaxxvain All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 531	could you be more specific? do you mean a league where human managers have an inaugural draft? or do you hand the owners random teams after a 10 year sim? If you are drafting maybe you could do some kind of progressive serpentine draft by position. 1st round you can only pick a pitcher, then next round is SS and the order is reversed, then CFers with the middle teams picking first and going "up" the chain, then Catchers starting with the middle and going "down" the chain, etc. Don't know, but it might work. Maybe through in Age restrictions on the picks too. Or just manually fill the rosters yourself as a commish.

01-28-2009, 10:38 PM	#3
satchel Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Ft Smith AR Posts: 2,681	I'm talking about setting up an online league and hitting "fill all teams with fictional players." If you do this, some of the teams are good, and some suck. It's not fair to the human owners; I want them to all start on equal footing. Does holding an inaugural draft result in a better balance of talent, league-wide? Is that the best method for starting a league of equal teams? (I don't believe in pre-simming in a human-managed league. If it's a human league, the humans should control its destiny from Day One, and not be spectators to a computer-made history.) I understand that the Commissioner could go through by hand and distribute all the players in a way which he thinks is fair. I'm looking for a quicker, more objective technique.

01-28-2009, 10:39 PM	#4
satchel Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Ft Smith AR Posts: 2,681	I do appreciate your thought-out proposal. I'm looking for an automatic way.

01-29-2009, 08:48 AM	#5
Jaxxvain All Star Reserve Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 531	Inaugural drafts do NOT create a balanced league. I absolutely suck at drafting against human opponents, so the teams I have drafted recently are awful, both in the ML and down through the minors. At least with a draft the owner gets more of the "team he wants" rather than handed the AI's crap. Back to your question, I don't think there is an automated way to create balanced teams to start. I wonder if anyone has done extensive testing on the subject. I am not even convinced that setting the Team Strategy effects how the team drafts (or auto-fills). That being said, I think one of our communities esteemed roster builders should set out on a project to created balanced roster sets to start leagues with. I wonder how it would work out if you made every team EXACTLY the same and just randomized names. If you are playing in a league without showing the ratings and/or stars you might be able to pull this off. Once the randomness of the player development and the effects of each human manager's strategies take over, the sameness would fade away.