DM Classic IV Keeper League - General Discussion

[leecemark]

--Here's an alternative idea for those who don't like the plan of free agents assigned by position. How about the team with the best record has their 2nd round pick file, the next the 3rd pick, on down to the team with the worst record having their 10th pick file?

[mac195]

3) The premium free agent auction, which would be the one player per team through 1967 and the 6 year class thereafter.
4) The secondary free agent auction, which would be players non-tendered by their original team.

That sounds good. I didn't realize you were already planning to have these auctions.

[mac195]

--Here's an alternative idea for those who don't like the plan of free agents assigned by position. How about the team with the best record has their 2nd round pick file, the next the 3rd pick, on down to the team with the worst record having their 10th pick file?

That would work for '62, but how would it work after that?

[leecemark]

--After the first year it could be 2nd-10th highest paid player instead of draft pick. That could add some additional realistic issues. If you sign a FA more more than 12m, your no longer highest paid player/first draft choice may become disgruntled and would be eligble to be lost to free agency. If free agent signees are on multi-year deals (which I endorse) and one of them was your selected player, he could demand a trade instead of being a free agent. You'd have to deal him or have a holdout.

[J W]

Looks like it's Mark, Mac, and me for the most part. No prob. So as far as I'm concerned we've locked in the following:

X) 12 teams, 3 divisions
X) The cap set at $100 mil
X) The 1961 draft and pay scale totaling $81 mil
X) Trade deadline (100 G/ July 31)
X) Tenders - base raises of $250k/year for MLBers
X) Subsequent drafts in reverse order of finish

We may need to keep a running list of this while we work it all out. I'm keeping it roughly in chronological order.
-------------------------------------------------

Now for the new points:

--I see there being 4 phases of player acquistion from 1962 forward;
1) Trades could be made anytime from the new season startup to the deadline (100 games or July 31 if I can avoid the excessive offdays in the schedule).
2) The new player draft, in inverse order of finish.
3) The premium free agent auction, which would be the one player per team through 1967 and the 6 year class thereafter.
4) The secondary free agent auction, which would be players non-tendered by their original team. Alot of players in the secondary auction will be worn out and not likley to play a major role. However, there will be some good talent availble as we get further into the project and have to make tough salary cap decisions .

- (1) should just go up on the list. In fact I just added it. Mac if you floor me with a dissenting vote I'll take it off.

- (2) already up there.

- (3,4) I like the idea of drafting FAs in 1961 and auctioning them thereafter. I agree with the order as well (tenders, then rookie draft, then FA auctions). As for splitting the auction: I'm fine with it if it means the premium auction doesn't take long. Say 1 hour, with last second bids and everything like last time. One bid per post. This is because there's only 12 names to keep track of.
The second auction I'd like to do differently but I'm not sure how. I'd just like to give everyone a chance so one team doesn't hog all the good cheapies.

[leecemark]

--Actually in the premium FA auction there would only be 9 names to keep track off, since the doormats would be stagnent. For the secondary auction maybe we could do it by division, so nobody gets shafted if they miss one phase. Or maybe we want to do both auctions together with the split being by division instead of class. I'd like to have at least a tenative agreement on the process for acquiring players in subsequent years, but if all the details are quite clear it wouldn't need to stand in the way of getting 1961 underway. We'll probably end up tinkering with the rules in the 61-62 offseason anyway. We will need to have salary increase rules hammered out though, since that will affect draft strategy.

[mac195]

We will need to have salary increase rules hammered out though, since that will affect draft strategy

$250,000 per player per year is fine. Let's get the draft started!

[leecemark]

--Neither of our two new owners (or what I thought were new owners) have been active since their original inquiries. I'm not sure we have all 9 teams in good hands yet. Dodger and Honus Wagner Rules have until tomorrow to confirm their commitment. If not, I have one owner ready to step in, but would need to find one more. Beyond that, I want to get the defensive ratings posted (still haven't received the program yet) so everybody can make informed selections.

[leecemark]

--Dodger has decided against running a team. EdgartoHoF, previously an owner in DM I and II, will be taking on a team.

[Edgartohof]

Just wanting to let you know that I'm here

[Edgartohof]

Edgar's Raptors

I'll take County Stadium

[Nails]

I'll be Nails' Quakers, playing in C. Mack Stadium.

[catcher24]

Sorry, guys, didn't see the new thread until today . Would have made some input into the salary suggestions otherwise. That is the one beauty of OOTP - the players automatically demand a specific salary for a given number of years based on past performance. Too bad DM doesn't have that capability, because it really makes it interesting trying to deal with your players.

Anyway, with DM, I'm not sure I agree with the auto $250K raise for all ML'ers. Some of the scrubs wouldn't really be worth the raise. Of course, you could always release them, but if you had a guy who was a decent defensive replacement but didn't hit a lick, it might be worth keeping him ifyou didn't need to give him the raise. I also tend to believe that once free agency starts to kick in, the bidding for free agents will tend to keep everyone near the cap. I lean more towards having the contracts, with the amount of the contract remaining the same for the duration of the contract. I would also like to see a way to buy a guy's contract out, so if you had a poorly performing regular you could buy him out in late July and try to pick up a Fa for the stretch run (George Steinbrenner, anyone?).

Again, sorry I didn't see the thread until today. I would have liked to propose some of these ideas before you guys gto so far along, but I still hope you will consider them.

[leecemark]

--Free agency really shouldn't create any cap issues for some years down the road if there are no built in raises. Every team will have one player declare which, with no raises, would drop salaries from 2-10 million. In most cases that money would be reinvested in a replacement FA, generated little real change in payroll.
--Your utility guys are likely to be starting out under a million and few guys are really good in that role for more than the few years it would take to price them out of budget. As for the starters, making them more expensive is what will make it interesting. When a team gets squeezed it will fuel the secondary FA market.

[538280]

I've come up with a better and more creative team name. I'm going to name my team the Cannons.

Also, I agree with Mac about the raises in salary for leading the league in a category. That's not a very good idea. It would prompt me (and I'm sure others as well) to sit a star player on the bench towards the end of the year so he doesn't lead the league in anything.

It does most certainly take away from the spirit of the game. Leading the league in something is supposed to be a positive thing, and by increasing salaries for that you're actually making it a negative thing.