Hodgepodge Draft

[Brad Harris]

Waste not, want not. As my grandfather used to say "daylight's burnin'." So without further adieu, let's draft!

This will be piggybacking off a previous draft concept, but hopefully the hodgepodge of categories will successfully combine a challenge with flexibility. So here's what we're looking at:

- 25-man rosters, must have played 500+ games at a position to qualify

- Playoffs conducted after the draft, players evaluated on their career

- I will announce the categories/order after we have everybody signed up, though not before so that all participants have the same "start time." All categories will be announced simultaneously, however, in advance of the draft.

- Selections will be daily, from 10a to midnight, in two-hour intervals. You can vote as soon as its your turn and if you miss your turn, can vote at any time although votes will be counted in order-of-post in such instances. You can also vote during "off" hours (midnight till 10am the next day) if you so choose, but you won't be "on the clock" during that time. Proxy votes are allowed, as usual.

Examples of categories:
- Player must have played for a West Coast major league team
- Player must have been born before the Civil War
- Player must have accumulated at least 100 career triples
- Player must have served in the armed forces in World War II or the Korea War
- Player must have played for both the Yankees and the Red Sox

You get the idea.

So let's get people signed up for this so I can post the categories and we can have some fun. Hopefully this will keep the "fun" momentum we've had these past few drafts going strong.

If you're in, sign up below. Your initial post in this thread should include your team name as we'll use this as the roster thread as well. Questions are, of course, welcome.

[Brad Harris]

San Jose Cuervos
General Manager: Brad Harris

Roster
TBD

[BigRon]

I'll give it a go.

Hodgepodge Bums.

[Erik Bedard]

I'm in. Team name to be determined.

[Wade8813]

- Selections will be daily, from 10a to midnight, in two-hour intervals. You can vote as soon as its your turn and if you miss your turn, can vote at any time although votes will be counted in order-of-post in such instances. You can also vote during "off" hours (midnight till 10am the next day) if you so choose, but you won't be "on the clock" during that time. Proxy votes are allowed, as usual.

If you're in, sign up below. Your initial post in this thread should include your team name as we'll use this as the roster thread as well. Questions are, of course, welcome.

What time zones are that 10a - midnight?

What do you mean by "two-hour intervals"?

I'm not sure yet if I'll participate. I'm kinda busy, but I'll probably do it anyway...

Are we doing just MLB? Or do we include Negro Leagues/Japanese players?

I assume we're allowing positional flexibility again - CFers can player the corner OF, left field and right field are interchangeable, SP can be in the bullpen?

Are we allowing trades? Odds are that nobody will, because the round restrictions make that too hard, but it's good to establish ahead of time.

Are we going to have a DH?

[Brad Harris]

Eastern time zones. Two hours from the last pick. (This is negotiable as it's just a thought about moving things along in an orderly way. This group usually has no problems with that.) By-and-large it will encompass MLB only players. Players must have played 500 games at a position to qualify. No flexibility on that. Starters start, relievers relieve. Yes, there is going to be a designated hitter rule. Trades are allowed (but as you said, not bloody likely.)

[Wade8813]

Eastern time zones. Two hours from the last pick. (This is negotiable as it's just a thought about moving things along in an orderly way. This group usually has no problems with that.) By-and-large it will encompass MLB only players. Players must have played 500 games at a position to qualify. No flexibility on that. Starters start, relievers relieve. Yes, there is going to be a designated hitter rule. Trades are allowed (but as you said, not bloody likely.)

Wait, so if someone picks, I have only 2 hours to make my pick? That'll move really fast, but it'll result in a LOT of missed picks.

Also, bleh @ needing to sort players by LF vs RF...

[No Roids]

So you're gonna throw 25 random categories out there and we have to find guys who fit? I'm guessing you can fill whichever category you want in any given round?

[Erik Bedard]

My class schedule gives me about half an hour between midnight and 1:30 PM to check the internet on weekdays, so I don't know how well a two hour clock would work for me.

The no time limit format worked pretty well most of the time in the blacklist draft. I'd be up for doing that again.

[BigRon]

I think 2 hours is AWFULLY short. Like Wade, I think this will result in a lot of missed picks. Eight hours seemed to work well- that would be my preference- but maybe we could compromise at four?

[No Roids]

How about roster composition? How many pitchers total? Size of the rotation, etc?

[No Roids]

I'm in,

Team name:
Battlecreek Crispies

I emailed my brother-in-law to see if he'd be interested. He's even newer around here than I am.

[WallyWorldWizards]

If there is still availability...I'd like in

Team Name:
Wallyworld Wizards.

I am No Roids brother-in- law

Thanks

[Brad Harris]

Welcome, WallyWorldWizards! Always glad to have another fan join us!

How about we do a 12-hour time frame to begin with and if things start to bog down we'll just shorten it if we agree that's necessary?

As for the categories, no, they will be in a certain order. Example: 1st Round - Must have played for the Dodgers, 2nd Round - Must have led the league in stolen bases, 3rd Round - Must have been born North of the Mason-Dixon line, etc.

[No Roids]

Brad,
would it be too much hassle to allow owners to draft based on the criteria they want to fill instead of having everyone fishing from the same hole every round?
The way its set up, the people in the middle will never get the top player in any given category. If you allow owners to choose the criteria they are filling every round, everyone will at least have an opportunity to get the top player in a category at some point. You just have the owner declare what criteria is being filled when the player is picked.

[BigRon]

Brad,
would it be too much hassle to allow owners to draft based on the criteria they want to fill instead of having everyone fishing from the same hole every round?
The way its set up, the people in the middle will never get the top player in any given category. If you allow owners to choose the criteria they are filling every round, everyone will at least have an opportunity to get the top player in a category at some point. You just have the owner declare what criteria is being filled when the player is picked.

Roids makes a good point about guys in the middle, but I think the idea of having everyone learn at the beginning of a round what the category is, then picking, is a hoot. I love it.

[Wade8813]

Roids makes a good point about guys in the middle, but I think the idea of having everyone learn at the beginning of a round what the category is, then picking, is a hoot. I love it.

Brad said all categories will be announced simultaneously at the start of the draft. That way people can actually do a bit of research, and can actually plan their team.

I like No Roids idea, although you wouldn't necessarily have to declare which round you're using them for - but you should announce which round(s) you could be using them for, so everyone else doesn't have to slog through all the criteria figuring out the possibilities.

I'll participate.

[No Roids]

Brad said all categories will be announced simultaneously at the start of the draft. That way people can actually do a bit of research, and can actually plan their team.

I like No Roids idea, although you wouldn't necessarily have to declare which round you're using them for - but you should announce which round(s) you could be using them for, so everyone else doesn't have to slog through all the criteria figuring out the possibilities.

I'll participate.

Thanks Wade. Im just thinking it could be run like the Player Per Team Draft we just finished. I dont think that draft would have been as successful if we had designated rounds for each franchise. Again the guy in the middle picking 4th would never have a shot at the best player from any franchise. Ruth, Cobb, W Johnson, Brett, Yount/Molitor, Seaver-all those guys would've been forever out of his hands. Granted that person wouldnt have gotten the WORST of the top 7 players from any franchise but you need those top-flight superstars to field a competitive team. While getting the 4th best Yankee, Red Sox or Giants player will still net you a great player, getting the 4th best Brewer, Padre or Astro will probably not.

Personally, I'd LOVE to know that half of my personnel is guaranteed to be the best available player to fill a criteria. And my other half is still composed of players in the Top Ten (or whatever # of owners participate) of whatever the category might be.

[Wade8813]

I agree. If we had to all pick players from a certain criteria in a specific round, it's almost certain that the people in the middle would get the short end of the stick, and even likely that people at the beginning (or end) of the draft get a raw deal as well - just because like the teams, the criteria won't be close to having the same pool of players.

Just using the examples Brad gave, imagine you have the first pick in round 5 and have to pick a Dodger. You take Jackie Robinson. Then in round 6, the restriction is they had to play for both Yankees/Red Sox. Round 6 the picks are reversed, so whoever has the last pick gets to go first this round and takes Babe Ruth. Robinson's a great player, but having the last pick is a huge advantage. Obviously there will be round pairings that favor going first and rounds that favor going last, but it's almost impossible to make them balanced.

[Brad Harris]

Valid point. What if the draft order were randomly reshuffled each round in such a way that each team had a roughly equal number of times selecting first?

[No Roids]

Valid point. What if the draft order were randomly reshuffled each round in such a way that each team had a roughly equal number of times selecting first?

That could work OR I know CBSsports.com uses a rotating draft order for the autodraft fantasy leagues on their site.
For example, in one 10 man league I was in, for rounds 1-10 I drafted:

Rd 1- 8
Rd 2- 5
Rd 3- 2
Rd 4- 9
Rd 5- 6
Rd 6- 3
Rd 7- 10
Rd 8- 7
Rd 9- 4
Rd 10- 1

Then the pattern repeated until each team had 29 players on its roster. This way, everyone drafts in every available draft position once every 10
rounds. We could do something similar based on the # of owners we end up with. If we have 8 owners, our cycle would repeat every 8 rounds.

That might be less work than generating a new order every round. Of course, it would also be kinda fun to have the order revealed when the new round begins.

[Wade8813]

Valid point. What if the draft order were randomly reshuffled each round in such a way that each team had a roughly equal number of times selecting first?

That could work OR I know CBSsports.com uses a rotating draft order for the autodraft fantasy leagues on their site.
For example, in one 10 man league I was in, for rounds 1-10 I drafted:

Rd 1- 8
Rd 2- 5
Rd 3- 2
Rd 4- 9
Rd 5- 6
Rd 6- 3
Rd 7- 10
Rd 8- 7
Rd 9- 4
Rd 10- 1

Then the pattern repeated until each team had 29 players on its roster. This way, everyone drafts in every available draft position once every 10
rounds. We could do something similar based on the # of owners we end up with. If we have 8 owners, our cycle would repeat every 8 rounds.

That might be less work than generating a new order every round. Of course, it would also be kinda fun to have the order revealed when the new round begins.

I'm pretty sure doing either of those will result in chaos and confusion as to whose turn it is, making the draft take a lot longer and give everyone a headache

[No Roids]

I'm pretty sure doing either of those will result in chaos and confusion as to whose turn it is, making the draft take a lot longer and give everyone a headache

I can see where that's a concern. Unless Brad was to post the draft order for the next round as soon as a given round is finished. Maybe he could open a separate thread solely for the purpose of posting the next round's draft order??

Plus we already know that Brad's schedule on the weekends doesnt allow him much time for a draft-that means we could get hit with significant time lags on the weekends while waiting for the next round's draft order to be published.
Maybe we should stay with a fixed draft order and allow the flexibility of filling whatever criteria anybody wants. And add Wade's idea about disclosing which criteria your selection COULD fit wihtout disclosing the one you're actually filling.

[BigRon]

I'm not sure what the best solution is, but I do know that more complicated rules almost always cause problems. A simpler approach is better most of the time.

[No Roids]

Well, the SIMPLEST way to run this is with a fixed draft order AND fixed rounds to determine which criteria is being filled.
But that seems to be unfair to whomever is drafting in the middle of each round. That owner is unlikely to land the megastars unless a category or 2 are VERY deep and are done very early. Doing 100+ career triples in the 1st round would guarantee all of our owners a true megastar player. But if that same criteria came up much later, the pickings in that list wouldnt be as desirable.

That means either the draft order or the criteria order should be variable and I agree with Wade that a variable draft order is the worse of the 2 evils.
Allowing the owners the flexibility of what criteria they are filling each round gives ALL owners a chance to draft the best player to fill a given category. This approach served us well in the recent Player Per Team draft. Everybody got the best player from at least a few franchises. Brad himself got 2 outstanding guys right off the bat from teams with shallower pools by grabbing Brett and Seaver with his 1st 2 picks. (end of 1st round, start of 2nd).