New 2017 Dynasty League - Owners Needed

For those looking for a baseball league to join in 2017, I am likely to begin recruiting soon for a new league that will bring a twist to traditional ottoneu. This will be a very active prize league that includes a non-roster minor league system (somewhat similar to 5MiLB).

Still tinkering with rules and setup, but the foundation of this new league is this:

The league will consist of 12 owners drafting once to fill two separate leagues, one of which is 4x4 scoring, the other is FGPTs. The same 12 owners will fill both leagues (A & B). Only one initial 2017 auction draft will take place, but prizes will be paid out (1st - 5th place) in both leagues, so owners will essentially have the option to draft with a strategy to try and win one or the other (or both). After the initial auction, a separate auction draft will take place for each league (A & B) in Y2+. Player transactions (trades, waivers, auctions) be separate between both leagues following the initial auction, so over time owners will manager different rosters between their two teams in both leagues.

In addition to 12 owners managing two different rosters (A & B), both leagues will utilize arbitration discounts, or “coupons”. For the first time these coupons will be awarded not based on finish, but on AB and IP thresholds, so that they are equally available to all owners by the end of the season. For example, for each 1,000 AB’s (beginning at 2,000), each owner will earn $1 in coupons, used to offset annual arbitration. Each team achieving 7,000 or more AB’s in a season will earn $6 in coupons, and another $6 (total of $12) for reaching the 1,500 IP cap at season’s end.

More details to come as this league will likely be created this winter, but if you have questions or interest in joining this league please let me know.

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Are you happy with co-owners?

I really like the idea of coupons being done by playing time thresholds

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Did someone say new league(s)?

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Co-owners are just fine, but must be the same owners in each league.

Yeah, most coupons I’ve played with in the past have been performance based, but I think it makes sense here to try more “activity” based rewards, so all can play on the same level. Some of the skepticism about coupons in the past has been that every owner should be allowed to run (rebuild) their team any way they see fit, and this certainly allows for that - if you decide it’s better to roster 18 minor league players after July 1st, that’s perfectly fine, but you’ll do so knowing you’ll forfeit a few coupons along the way. Should give owners some incentive to keep the waiver wire hot and stay engaged throughout the entire season, which is a benefit to all.

I’m probably limiting this one to owners with < 20 other leagues…

I mentioned a non-roster minor league system, and the details are still being worked out, but one of the goals here is to create a few more activities in the off-season to keep the league alive year round. Will probably go ten deep per team in this league, with a snake draft following the annual auction, maybe another draft during the All Star break, and possibly another during the lull between the end of the season and arbitration. Still in the works, so open to suggestions. I’m learning towards a minor league roster without trades, however, just because it’s a lot of work to keep up with. Also leaning towards just one minor league roster per owner between the two leagues, so it’s a feeder for both your teams.

Mark me down as in for this experiment. Can’t go any worse than the no loan league experiment for me.

Definitely interested then.

I’ve been looking for a 4x4 league - and having a co-owner helps with those darn cubbie day games (aka 4-5am my time)

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Sounds great - count me in.

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As for the “coupons”, I am leaning towards applying them before arbitration, and limiting them to up to $2 per player max. In other words, it sort of reduces the inflationary $2 increase on major league players, then arbitration follows.

For example, if you hit both the AB and IP top thresholds and earn a total of $12 in coupons, you could apply up to $2 on six total players before arbitration begins (via allocation system), or you could apply $1 to twelve different players.

Not set in stone yet so open to discuss, but this is the way I’m leaning…

I think applying it this way might tip your hand as an owner. Just curious as to why are you thinking of going pre-arb?

Tip your hand as to which players you might keep? I guess that’s possible but since you can only use up to a max of $2 per player (so six total players if you earn all $12 in coupons), it seems likely most teams will at least 6 solid (obvious) keepers. With the $2 max/player, you’re essentially using the coupons to wipe away the natural inflation of MLB players anyway, so applying prior to arbitration probably doesn’t matter.

My preference for applying pre-arbitration is mostly based on the fact that there’s a natural ~15 day deadline (end of regular season to the start of arbitration on 10/15) to get all coupons applied. Otherwise the league has to set an arbitrary deadline after arbitration, which delays trades, etc.

I don’t think there’s much of a difference in strategy if the coupons are applied before or after arbitration, but it’s a good question and I’m open to being convinced otherwise if there’s some risk I haven’t thought of.

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That makes perfect sense. Cool.

So now @sakiehl has me thinking this league might be good for a slow draft, which means we could draft much earlier this winter…

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@keefsmitty I am curious on your feedback long term about applying your coupons in LG198 before arbitration, with no real limitations. That’s sort of the way I lean, but in the past others have argued it’s better to apply them after, and/or limit them only to those players who receive allocations.

I think in @Brinksmanship we settled on applying them after arbitration.

We are currently setup to apply pre-arb with no limits. The rationale of pre-arb was to allow the rest of the league to “correct” the application of coupons. I would argue strongly against waiting until after arb to allocate the coupons. You could end up with some crazy uber-surplus players.

As for who is eligible, I could be persuaded either way but the point of the coupons is to provide an incentive to teams that are out of the race. Anything you do to limit their usefulness decreases that incentive. Nothing is preventing your league mates from only adding arb dollars to players you applied coupons against which ends up having the same impact. I would also argue that it adds an element of strategy during a time in the Ottoneu calendar that is typically empty.

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I should also add that I might be interested in the new league.

A slow draft would be great…

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