Draft Details and Discussion Thread

[Wee Willie]

The cut-off can't be 1871 if you're not allowing a season with less than 140 games be a part of the sim. Teams didn't play 140 or more games until the the mid 1890s or somewhere around there.

I'd say a good cut-off point can be 1884, when seasons were finally over 100 games (112), and overhand pitching was allowed for the first time. This would also allow the great 1880's stars (Anson, Brouthers, Connor, Kelly, etc.) to still have a solid WARP1 season for the sim during their era while using a high enough sample-size of games.

The minimum games played rule could then be simplified to:

Non-catchers: must have played in 80% of team's scheduled games for the representative sim year
Catchers: must have played in 70% of team's scheduled games for the representative sim year
Pitchers: The previous minimums already decided upon can still apply.

It would be the drafter's responsibility to make sure they are picking an eligible year. Major strike years can still be excluded from the sim.

[Minstrel]

I'd say a good cut-off point can be 1884, when seasons were finally over 100 games (112), and overhand pitching was allowed for the first time. This would also allow the great 1880's stars (Anson, Brouthers, Connor, Kelly, etc.) to still have a solid WARP1 season for the sim during their era while using a high enough sample-size of games.

The minimum games played rule could then be simplified to:

Non-catchers: must have played in 80% of team's scheduled games for the representative sim year
Catchers: must have played in 70% of team's scheduled games for the representative sim year
Pitchers: The previous minimums already decided upon can still apply.

It would be the drafter's responsibility to make sure they are picking an eligible year. Major strike years can still be excluded from the sim.

This is quite reasonable.

Rules post updated to reflect this change.

[Erik Bedard]

Fair enough. Eric Bedard seems to be the guy who'll do the simming, so maybe he can enlighten us as to what metrics it uses.

Basically, everything you can think of is kept track of by OOTP2006, which is what I have. VORP, WARP1, whatever. What goes into rating the players is their actual stats. That's about it.

On another note, after, say, the tenth round, the "miss a round, get kicked out" rule should be dropped.

This looks like a lot of fun. And I love having an early pick.

[Erik Bedard]

On another note, I found a DB that uses Japanese League HoFers. So they could be used in the sim.

BTW, what time does the clock start?

[Minstrel]

BTW, what time does the clock start?

Tomorrow, 10 AM EST for both leagues.

[Erik Bedard]

Cool with me.

[Wade8813]

Can we get a list of which seasons were strike shortened? I know about '94, but not any of the others.

[Minstrel]

Can we get a list of which seasons were strike shortened? I know about '94, but not any of the others.

The main three I know of are 1981, 1972 and 1994. If anyone else has a more comprehensive list, that would be great.

[Wee Willie]

The main three I know of are 1981, 1972 and 1994. If anyone else has a more comprehensive list, that would be great.

1972 had a short strike at the beginning of the season, but I'd put it in the category of "minor strike year", as probably 1995 should be as well. So I think both of those years should be eligible. 1981 and 1994 are the only ones I know of where a good chunk of the season was missed.

[Minstrel]

1972 had a short strike at the beginning of the season, but I'd put it in the category of "minor strike year", as probably 1995 should be as well. So I think both of those years should be eligible. 1981 and 1994 are the only ones I know of where a good chunk of the season was missed.

Sure. I don't know much about the history of strikes in baseball...and 1994 was the only one that happened while I was old enough to be following baseball.

[plask_stirlac]

How does the sim treat shortened seasons since we can pick anything lower than the players' third-best WARP?

[Wee Willie]

Also, what if two seasons are tied for the 2nd-best WARP1 for a player? Should either one of those seasons be eligible, since one of them could actually be the third best? Or would we need to pick that player's 4th best WARP1 year?

[ChrisLDuncan]

Can we trade players?

[The Splendid Splinter]

what stat are we using to determine the pitcher's seasons? is it still WARP1?

[Minstrel]

Also, what if two seasons are tied for the 2nd-best WARP1 for a player? Should either one of those seasons be eligible, since one of them could actually be the third best? Or would we need to pick that player's 4th best WARP1 year?

Either can be selected, since one of them is third-best. The "third-best season" thing is mostly to prevent Brady Anderson-esque hijinks. Or, more generally, one or two year flukes. Plus, one's two best seasons are probably not one's general ability, but one's highest-variance ability.

[Minstrel]

Can we trade players?

Yes.

what stat are we using to determine the pitcher's seasons? is it still WARP1?

For the purposes of determining third-best season, yes.

[Erik Bedard]

How does the sim treat shortened seasons since we can pick anything lower than the players' third-best WARP?

OOTP adjusts everything to a 162-game schedule.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

I'm confused. Managers from both drafts can draft the same player? So Ruth will be picked twice?

[Erik Bedard]

It's not a problem as far as the sim's concerned.

[Wee Willie]

I'm confused. Managers from both drafts can draft the same player? So Ruth will be picked twice?

That's correct. The AL - NL designation for each draft just means the AL draft will allow the use of a DH.

[Wade8813]

It was mentioned before, but I don't see it in the official rules, so I wanted to clarify - we take all suspected steroid users by their actual numbers, correct?

I can pick Honus Wagner in a year he played SS, and stick him at 3B, since he had enough games played there?

* To be eligible as a relief pitcher, pitcher must have at least 5 seasons in which he had 40+ non-start appearances. If pitcher has fewer than 5 full seasons in his career, all 3 or 4 of his seasons must meet the 40+ non-start appearances qualification.

This needs to be modified, IMO. John Smoltz should definitely qualify as a reliever, but he only has four seasons from the pen (and only three with 40+ non-start appearances). Since we only need three years worth of stats, I think we should only require three years with 40+ non-start appearances.

This raises another question - if Smoltz's two best years are from when he was a starter, does that mean we can take his best year as a reliever for the sim?

Lastly, the Baseball Prospectus site lists Warp1 for pitchers under advanced batting statistics. Is that still what I'm supposed to be looking at?

[Erik Bedard]

It would be great if we had a Rosters thread as well.

[Minstrel]

It was mentioned before, but I don't see it in the official rules, so I wanted to clarify - we take all suspected steroid users by their actual numbers, correct?

For the sim, we're going to have to. We have no way to come up with "real" numbers.

In the poll, people will vote based on what they think. While that's fine, I'd urge people to vote based on their appraisal of true talent and not punitively.

I can pick Honus Wagner in a year he played SS, and stick him at 3B, since he had enough games played there?

Right.

This needs to be modified, IMO. John Smoltz should definitely qualify as a reliever, but he only has four seasons from the pen (and only three with 40+ non-start appearances). Since we only need three years worth of stats, I think we should only require three years with 40+ non-start appearances.

Okay, that's fair. I'll drop the five year requirements to three.

This raises another question - if Smoltz's two best years are from when he was a starter, does that mean we can take his best year as a reliever for the sim?

That's a good question that should be resolved. Yes, it would work that way...WARP is comparable between starters and relievers, since BP adds value for the leverage of the innings pitched.

Lastly, the Baseball Prospectus site lists Warp1 for pitchers under advanced batting statistics. Is that still what I'm supposed to be looking at?

Yes. BP seems to classify WARP an offensive number, but it combines batting, fielding and pitching, so it's valid for pitchers as well as hitters.

[Minstrel]

It would be great if we had a Rosters thread as well.

We don't want to create too many threads for this. Posters can occasionally post their to-date rosters in the discussion thread, just to show how it's shaping up.

[Wee Willie]

I assume the NL in the rules stands for "Negro Leagues", right? Are essentially all Negro Leaguers eligible? How are their stats going to be simmed, since the actual Negro League season was quite short each year?