Cough

[JimBob2232]

Wow. What are we talking about here????

[RonCo]

1) Nothing
2) Possible Expansion
3) Removing Interleague play to make the schedule less wonky
4) Reducing the size of rosters to 26
5) Removing the DH

Simple, eh?

If the board actually has interest in any of this, I would suggest the start individual threads to chat about it. But right now it's just funtalk.

[bschr682]

I’d go one step farther and say that if this was happening and I was taking an expansion team we could get a new guy in on my team right now and i could roll as assistant gm and help him learn the ropes.

[agrudez]

I've historically always been in favor of expansion because OOTP leagues generally tend to have a disproportionate cross section of the population driving most of the activity (conversation, trades, etc.) so increasing the number of participants increases the odds that one of the new folks will fall in the "active" category (ie. if you add 4 new memebers and 1 ends up hyper active while the other 3 generally meander then that still feels like a "win" to me). That said, you can't just expand in perpetuity, either. In my mind, it is a knob best pulled when the league needs a shot in the arm (ie. the trade market and forum are slow) as opposed to one you use when things are humming along nicely (ie. the inverse). Obviously, I have little to no point of reference for where the league is at on that spectrum atm.

As for the other issues, I prefer DH in OOTP because I want as little decision making in the AI's hands as possible. I mean, if you ever watch a playoff game stream on OOTPou they are littered with nonsensical bullpen decisions (many of which seem to fly directly in the face of how the team had their settings, mind you) that decide games. I don't really want the additional potential facepalms from pinch hitters and the like as well. Interleague I am indifferent about, though I strongly support a heavily conference-centric schedule (as opposed to a divison-centric schedule) with all of the wildcards in play. I'm also indifferent to smaller roster sizes - though as someone that doesn't use many platoons, defensive replacements or bullpen specialists I was also continually frustrated by the roster minimum (taking up salary cap space and forcing me to have a bad player that might get used poorly by the dumb AI on the roster) so maybe I just talked myself into being for a reduced roster size after all.

[recte44]

A second expansion has always been in the back of my mind as it will help ease some of the talent logjam and financial logjam.

[Fat Nige]

Go for it Matt

[agrudez]

A second expansion has always been in the back of my mind as it will help ease some of the talent logjam.

I mean, initially it would, but in the long run? The file would generate more talent for the trade sharks to feast on over time. There are reasons to do it (potentially) as I outlined, but I don't think this stated reason is necessarily one of them.

[RonCo]

I've historically always been in favor of expansion because OOTP leagues generally tend to have a disproportionate cross section of the population driving most of the activity (conversation, trades, etc.) so increasing the number of participants increases the odds that one of the new folks will fall in the "active" category (ie. if you add 4 new memebers and 1 ends up hyper active while the other 3 generally meander then that still feels like a "win" to me). That said, you can't just expand in perpetuity, either. In my mind, it is a knob best pulled when the league needs a shot in the arm (ie. the trade market and forum are slow) as opposed to one you use when things are humming along nicely (ie. the inverse). Obviously, I have little to no point of reference for where the league is at on that spectrum atm.

This is a fairly unique place to be. The league _is_ humming along on the whole, but the environment is showing signs that it might be healthier and stronger with more teams. So it's a great place to be as long as we have a real register of good candidates. At the end of the day, a baseball environment should be as big or small as its active GMs (no matter how vocal they are on the forum, if a GM is managing their teams and having fun, they're active). I actually take this as a sign of the strength of the league.

As for the other issues, I prefer DH in OOTP because I want as little decision making in the AI's hands as possible. I mean, if you ever watch a playoff game stream on OOTPou they are littered with nonsensical bullpen decisions (many of which seem to fly directly in the face of how the team had their settings, mind you) that decide games. I don't really want the additional potential facepalms from pinch hitters and the like as well.

Brett and I talked about this after the last GM's corner podcast. If DH is removed, there will definitely be face-palm stuff that happens. My personal mentality is to just run off and write a sarcastic TN, then eventually settle down. That said, while I _personally_ like the idea of removing the DH for both aesthetic reasons and for roster creation reasons, I would not argue at all if the bulk of the league just wants to avoid crappy AI. It's not as crappy as it was, but crappy is crappy, regardless.

though as someone that doesn't use many platoons, defensive replacements or bullpen specialists I was also continually frustrated by the roster minimum (taking up salary cap space and forcing me to have a bad player that might get used poorly by the dumb AI on the roster) so maybe I just talked myself into being for a reduced roster size after all.

Personally, I don't really care much about the roster sizes either way. I like 25 (max and min) just because to me that's how baseball is played.

[RonCo]

A second expansion has always been in the back of my mind as it will help ease some of the talent logjam.

The file would generate more talent for the trade sharks to feast on over time.

That's true and not true. It also varies over versions of OOTP as the developers flip-flop between games that create more realistic draft classes and those that create bloated drafts because that's what the customers like. There are also some settings that can be fiddled with that turn the ship slowly over time. That said, I understand when you're saying. It's not wrong, but it's not toally right, or at least not complete.

[ae37jr]

First off, welcome back Kyle. Whether anyone agreed or disagreed with you... I think we all agree your passion for the game and resulting forum fodder was missed.

I'm all for expansion, especially if it removes interleague play. As much as I loved beating up on the Heartland this year (16-8 vs 39-60 against the Johnson League). I like the idea of playing division rivals more. It adds more strategy as you can gear your team towards the weakness of others.

I kinda like the 27 man roster. I think MLB is heading in that direction. Pitchers are becoming more and more brittle and with trends heading toward pulling starters after 2x through the order, it's going to be necessary.

Removing the DH could create a mess. There were soooo many Dh's in the past several drafts that within a year or two, some teams are going to be playing DH's at all four corner positions as is.

[Edward Murphy]

A second expansion has always been in the back of my mind as it will help ease some of the talent logjam and financial logjam.

Here is my opinion; I would like the GB to announce the expansion of the league before the trading deadline to give all GM’s the option to adjust player rosters in advance of the expansion.

Expanding the league would also simplify the schedule process and should result in an improved schedule.

The only objection I have about the expansion is it gives the Atlantic City Gamblers a way to dump their ridiculous contracts with António Correa, Eduardo López, and Dan Cannon totaling 70 million dollars.

This is just my opinion.

[usnspecialist]

A second expansion has always been in the back of my mind as it will help ease some of the talent logjam and financial logjam.

Here is my opinion; I would like the GB to announce the expansion of the league before the trading deadline to give all GM’s the option to adjust player rosters in advance of the expansion.

Expanding the league would also simplify the schedule process and should result in an improved schedule.

The only objection I have about the expansion is it gives the Atlantic City Gamblers a way to dump their ridiculous contracts with António Correa, Eduardo López, and Dan Cannon totaling 70 million dollars.

This is just my opinion.

that assumes someone is going to take those contracts... I dont think you can pay anyone to take that lopez deal at this point (and probably not correa either). That being said, i do think that if expansion is in the cards it would be reasonable to have a special trading period during the playoffs for those non-playoff teams (and those who lose get added in) with maybe a few extra days built in as a buffer before the draft.

[bschr682]

Hell yes let’s do it. DH can stay. Especially with all the good bat no D guys that just came into the league.
And I agree with Ed that it should be announced ASAP for planning purposes.

[recte44]

Discussions are being had.

[usnspecialist]

if i hadn't poured everything into reshaping Havana into what it is (and prepping for the move), i would be all for taking over one of the expansion teams. That being said, im good with where i am haha.

On a related note, does anyone have the rules for the expansion draft last time (im assuming they would be similar if not identical this time around)?

[bschr682]

Last expansion coincided with absorbing the EBA. The rules this time would have to be different

[usnspecialist]

Last expansion coincided with absorbing the EBA. The rules this time would have to be different

fair point, i should have known that despite not being here...

[Fat Nige]

If you had four expansion teams you would have to have a minimum of 50 rounds in the expansion draft to enable the teams to draft the basis of the franchise and the rest would have to come from FA’s and the amateur/ Rule 5 draft. So 200 bodies would be required in the expansion draft, with 28 teams to supply them. If you had 56 rounds then each current MBWBA franchise would have to supply eight players?

On that basis each expansion team would start with 56 players and each current team would have eight players only picked from their organisation after which no more could be taken.

That would be my two pennies worth anyway

[recte44]

Alright- everyone take a deep breath. It's exciting, I know, but let's slow the speculation and allow us to put together a proposal.

[bschr682]

Buzzkillington