Here is a proposed alternative. I’ll put a poll below to see which you prefer. I feel like this offers expanded and equitable draft pools and will play well as a higher cap. Plus, added agency throughout the first phase.

$140 Million - Quick Drafts (Post-Deadball, Pre-Steroid Era Edition)

The Setup:
There will be six independent 4-person drafts. The top six finishers from round 1 will be captains who make the initial choices. Starting with the 1st place owner, they will pick one of the original 16 franchises. Same for #2, #3, #4, #5 and #6. These six will each represent a different division. They will draft 4th in each division draft.

The next six owners choose a different original 16 franchise and which group they join. They will draft 3rd in each division draft.

The third six (13-18) choose an expansion franchise and which group they join. They will draft 2nd in each division draft.

The final six (19-24) choose their group (in which they’ll have 1st pick) and assign the group in the division alignment.

The Drafts:

The drafts will be 20 rounds:
Rounds 1-16, 1 player (16)

Rounds 17-18, 2 players (4)

Rounds 19-20, 3 players (6)
That’s 26 picks, because you would also draft a ballpark (must be in use from one of your franchises in these years)

The division drafts will be serpentine (1-4, 4-1, 1-4). Players are exclusive within each division. When a player is drafted, he is off the board for that draft (the person drafting does not have to specify which season he is using). You must use a season he played for one of your franchises.

(To be clear, let’s say one division includes the Reds. You can draft any Reds season for Frank Robinson. If another division has the Orioles, someone can draft any FRob Orioles season in that draft. But there’s no crossover.)

Seasons: 1920-1990

DH: Yes

Clones: No

Ballpark: Draft any stadium any of your franchises used in the era

Alignment: as determined above

Combined seasons: You can use partial or combined seasons

300K exceptions: No

Team name: No restrictions

Does the poll not show the buttons to cast a vote for anyone else? Think there's a glitch

I made a late edit. It might have been saving. I do see a vote in there.

I think I cast my vote while you were making the edit, so it didn't register but now I also can't revote lol. The vote that's showing up for me is for the option that did not exist when I cast my vote.

I guess I'll just state that my vote would be to use the revised theme

Posted by ozomatli on 9/9/2025 10:48:00 PM (view original):
I think I cast my vote while you were making the edit, so it didn't register but now I also can't revote lol. The vote that's showing up for me is for the option that did not exist when I cast my vote.

I guess I'll just state that my vote would be to use the revised theme

Duly noted. Sorry about that.

Thanks red. Really creative revision on the fly. While I do appreciate the spirit of the initial theme, this updated one feels like it’ll be a lot more fun.

I really like the revision. Great job by redcped to come up with something that has the spirit of the original theme but seems to be a little more equitable for everybody. I'm very excited about this!

I’m holding off on voting. It’s not unanimous so let’s give all the owners time to review and vote.

So just to be clear on the new version if adopted, in the end:

1. There would be 3 franchises to select from in each draft (2 original, 1 expansion)
2. Players selected are exclusive in the same draft
3. The bottom 6 owners are selecting which group they want to join and which division for alignment purposes.

Posted by buddhagamer on 9/9/2025 11:28:00 PM (view original):
So just to be clear on the new version if adopted, in the end:

1. There would be 3 franchises to select from in each draft (2 original, 1 expansion)
2. Players selected are exclusive in the same draft
3. The bottom 6 owners are selecting which group they want to join and which division for alignment purposes.

That is correct.

For item 3, the #19 owner it doesn’t matter much where he puts the division, but he gets first choice of group. #20 can decide to put his group in the opposite league or same. Etc. So there’s a little opportunity to pick who’s on your side of the bracket so to speak. Obviously #24 isn’t getting a choice.

As someone who doesn't always have a lot of time for research, I hope this change comes with a lot of leniency on slow picks and time for research, and hopefully some later dates for teams being due. I could have really used that time I spent researching the original theme to build my teams, and this new one sounds like a fair bit of research too.

I understand the need for a change if everyone thought the previous setup would be too skewed (and I'm sorry if I caused it by not following the 60s herd). I just hope we don't have to scrap this one too.

I agree completely with jfranco - while the (likely) new theme could (but not necessarily) end up more equatable, there is the sunk cost of time already spent.

Let’s give people some time to consider these recent comments and for the final votes to come in before making a final decision, but ideally later today so we move forward.