Juice’s “Draft” Tournament
Thejuice6 came up with the idea, but he has asked me to administer this tournament. This is not an ad requesting for signups. I am simply posting the rules here for reference.

This is a 4-round tournament.

Round 1 Details
There will be twelve drafts in round 1. Each draft represents one 16-team league, using a specific time frame (i.e., League 1 uses years 1891-1906). You can participate in one draft, two drafts or all twelve drafts. League 1 is already full. When it’s time to draft for League 2, those who participate in League 1 get first dibs on League 2. If you choose to skip a league, then you can request to be put on the waitlist for the next league’s draft but are not guaranteed to get in.

Note that each draft will begin once the previous draft ends. The first league will begin play as soon as the first draft ends, the second league will begin play as soon as the second drafts ends, etc.. It’s very likely that the first league is over before the twelfth draft begins.

Here is a list of the seasons for each league in round 1.
League 01: 1891-1906
League 02: 1907-1919
League 03: 1920-1933
League 04: 1934-1945
League 05: 1946-1959
League 06: 1960-1970
League 07: 1971-1979
League 08: 1980-1988
League 09: 1989-1997
League 10: 1998-2006
League 11: 2007-2015
League 12: 2016-2024

Every season of each player will be eligible to be drafted. For example, it’s possible for every team in league 3 to roster a different Babe Ruth season.

The round 1 draft order for each draft will be determined at random. Each successive round after round 1 will be based on cumulative team salary (lowest drafts first).
Rounds 1-16, one player per round (16 players)
Rounds 17-19, two players per round (6 players)
Round 20, three players (3 players)

Each league in round 1 will be a 16-team league and the alignment will be based on final team salary (highest salary in NL East, lowest in AL West).

Other Details
Salary Cap: None
DH: Yes
WW, AAA, Clones, Injuries: No
Trades: Not allowed (during draft or in-season)
Multi-Team Seasons: You may use partial or combined season (only 1 version can be drafted). You must specify which version you are using so your current salary can be calculated for the draft order.
Ballpark: Any ballpark from any franchise (Must use same ballpark all four rounds).
Alignment: Round 1: Based on salary (highest in NL East, lowest AL West)
Alignment: Round 2: First chronological, then based on salary (highest in East)
Alignment: Round 3-4: Chronological

Advancement to Round 2:
Eight teams (50%) from each league will advance… the four division winners and the four best records of non-division winners (two from NL, two from AL) will advance to the next round. The first tiebreaker will be Exp Win%. The second tiebreaker is home field record.


Round 2 Details
There are six leagues in round 2. They will be determined as follows:

League 1: 1891-1906 (NL), 1907-1919 (AL)
League 2: 1920-1933 (NL), 1934-1945 (AL)
League 3: 1946-1959 (NL), 1960-1970 (AL)
League 4: 1971-1979 (NL), 1980-1988 (AL)
League 5: 1989-1997 (NL), 1998-2006 (AL)
League 6: 2007-2015 (NL), 2016-2024 (AL)

You will use the same roster from round 1 as you enter round 2, with one exception. Each of the 8 advancing teams from your round 1 league will hold a one round draft (worse record picks first) and select one player off a roster from the 8 non-advancing teams (which means you must cut one player from your current roster). You may select any player, but keep in mind that clones are not allowed so if you already have Babe Ruth on your roster, you cannot take another Babe Ruth unless you cut your current Babe Ruth (i.e., upgrade ’26 Ruth to ‘21 Ruth). This one round draft gives the lesser advancing teams a fair shot at improving going into the next round.

Advancement to Round 3:
Eight teams (50%) from each league will advance… the four division winners and the four best records of non-division winners (two from NL, two from AL) will advance to the next round. The first tiebreaker will be Exp Win%. The second tiebreaker is home field record.

Round 3 Details
There are three leagues in round 3. They will be determined as follows:

League 1: 1891-06 (NLE), 1907-19 (NLW), 1920-33 (ALE), 1934-45 (ALW)
League 2: 1946-59 (NLE), 1960-70 (NLW), 1971-79 (ALE), 1980-88 (ALW)
League 3: 1989-97 (NLE), 1998-06 (NLW), 2007-15 (ALE), 2016-24 (ALW)

You will use the same roster from round 2 as you enter round 3, with one exception. Each of the 4 advancing teams from each half league in round 2 will hold a one round draft (worse record picks first) and select one player off a roster from the 4 non-advancing teams from that half league. (i.e., 1891-06 teams will select from the other 1891-06 teams).

Advancement to Round 4:
Since each division in round 3 represents a different time frame, the top two teams from each division will advance to round 4. The first tiebreaker will be Exp Win%. The second tiebreaker is home field record. The final round will be a 24-team league.

Round 4 Details
The division alignment is determined as follows:
NLE: 1891-1919 (Round 3, League 1, NL)
NLC: 1920-1945 (Round 3, League 1, AL)
NLW: 1946-1970 (Round 3, League 2, NL)
ALE: 1971-1988 (Round 3, League 2, AL)
ALC: 1989-2006 (Round 3, League 3, NL)
ALW: 2007-2023 (Round 3, League 3, AL)

You will use the same roster from round 3 as you enter round 4, with one exception. Each of the 2 advancing teams from each division in round 3 will hold a one round draft (worse record picks first) and select one player off a roster from the 2 non-advancing teams from that division.


Max of 2 teams per league rule:
In round 1, nobody will have more than 1 team per league. In round 2, nobody will have more than 2 teams per league. But once we get to round 3 & 4, it’s possible for somebody to have more than 2 qualify to advance. This will not be allowed. If this happens, the third/fourth qualifying team(s) with the lowest winning% will be passed over and the next best eligible team from the division will advance.

Note that in each of rounds 2, 3 & 4, there will be the same number of teams advancing from the “round 1” leagues. In other words, eight teams from each of the round 1 leagues are advancing to round 2. Four teams from each of the round 1 leagues are advancing to round 3 and two teams from each of the round 1 leagues are advancing to round 4. So the final round will see the best two teams from each of the 12 original leagues (modified slightly due to the 1-player drafts).

Drafting Procedure
Each draft should take 2-3 weeks to complete. We will draft no fewer than 16 picks (one round) per day (45-minute intervals, from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm EDT). I will be posting the next day’s schedule every evening, but you should be able to estimate the time of your next pick, based on your cumulative salary, relative to other teams. If you can’t be available for your scheduled pick, please leave proxies with a few people. If we are way ahead of schedule, then I will modify the schedule – there is no reason to have five+ hour delays between picks. If somebody has not made a pick and your time slot arrives, you may skip him and make your pick, and those after you may pick immediately.

Prizes
Admin will donate $220 in credits...

$100 to the Round 4 World Series winner
$70 to the Round 4 World Series loser

$50 will go to the owner with the most regular wins across all 12 leagues. You don't have to play in all 12 to be eligible for this prize, but playing in all 12 will certainly increase your chances of winning this prize.

Participants in League 1 (Round 2?)
1.schwarze (Yes)
2.thejuice6 (Yes)
3.ronthegenius (Yes)
4.mllama54 (Yes)
5.pedrocerrano
6.njbigwig (Yes)
7.kstober
8.footballmm11 (Yes)
9.calhoop (Yes)
10.3dayrotation
11.Jtpsops
12.DarthDurron
13.nocomm999 (Yes)
14.chewy3344 (Yes)
15.eblankenstei (Yes)
16.bigsteve12

Wailist for League 2 (League 1 participants get first dibs on League 2)
1. toysboys
2. happyhours

Site-mail list:
3dayrotation; bigsteve12; calhoop; chewy3344; DarthDurron; eblankenstei; footballmm11; Jtpsops; kstober; mllama54; njbigwig; nocomm999; pedrocerrano; ronthegenius; schwarze; thejuice6

schwarze, are you still allowing a post-draft swap of a player to their partial (or combined) season if the salary is lower than the one that was drafted? Example: I draft a hitter's combined season for $5m but then don't need all of his PA so I swap for his $3m partial (fewer PA, but better OPS) instead.

Excellent question. Yes, I will allow a swap (after the completion of the draft), but only in the direction of swapping the more expensive salary for a less expensive salary. (This usually means swapping a combined version for partial version, but there are some instances where the partial is more expensive than the combined, which is why I used the term more expensive for less expensive).

Just so I’m clear because I think I may have misunderstood. With me taking 1902 Bernhard
1) That means other owners can draft other years of Bernhard but 1902 is off the table. Or can someone else take 1902 Cleveland Bernhard?
2) Can I draft 1899 Bernhard with my next pick? Or is Bernhard off the table for me now - ie, no clones?

02 Bernhard is off the table. Other Bernhards are available. You cannot draft a second Bernhard.

I just got confirmation that admin will donate $220 to this tournament. Here is how the prize will be distributed...

$100 to the Round 4 World Series winner
$70 to the Round 4 World Series loser

$50 will go to the owner with the most regular wins across all 12 leagues. You don't have to play in all 12 to be eligible for this prize, but playing in all 12 will certainly increase your chances of winning this prize.

Round two is gonna be nuts with the pitching. Definitely a big advantage to picking in the top half of the first round.

Which league format are we using? Two 8 team divisions with interleague play? I know there are other options for a 16 team league?

Posted by ronthegenius on 7/17/2025 3:59:00 PM (view original):
Which league format are we using? Two 8 team divisions with interleague play? I know there are other options for a 16 team league?

Although I see the four division winners advance to the next round. So 4 divisions of 4? And interleague play?

Yes, 4 divisions of four, with interleague play... Four teams from the A.L. and four teams from the N.L. will advance, including all 4 division winners.

Also note that the one player draft (which is in reverse order of the eight advancing teams' record, regardless of league) will include all eight non-advancing teams. In other words, the worst of the eight advancing teams has first pick and has the option of taking a player from a team in the opposite league.

Also, the 8 advancing teams from league 1 will all be in the NL for round 2, but the divisions could be different based on the salaries of the players taken in the 1-round draft. ANother way to say this is that the 4 teams from league 1's NL may not all be in league 2's NL East.