Have a league option to be AL- or NL-only

Wishlist
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Continuing the discussion from Filter by NL/AL in Auction Draft: Just getting this on the wishlist board. Thanks.

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Do u think you will have enough players in the player pool for a nl/al league only? Would u have to scale down to 8 teams? Love the idea tho.

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I’d play an NL-only league. I’ve played Baseball Manager for years, with ten teams in each league. I don’t think 12 Ottoneu teams in a League-Specific universe would be any problem, of course these would be deep leagues.

Baseball Manager has just announced that 2020 is their final season. I imagine there’ll be other BBM players who’ll migrate to Ottoneu, and a lot of them will be used to playing either AL-only or NL-only leagues.

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Would like to see this as an option. I think it adds another dimension to roster management. You draft Kris Bryant in an NL only league. Good offensive player, eligible at multiple positions… Good deal. Until he’s traded to the Angels at the break and no longer in the league! Just seems to add a touch of realism by acting as a manager who loses a player unexpectedly.

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I have been a fan of league specific Al/NL leagues but I think some of the issues is at most u can have only possible 8 teams in a AL only league. Unless u reformat ottoneu. I am going to do a 15 team with MILB $100 Roto league this year that I think brings in a deeper level of competition. If u get an Al or NL league let me know I would be interested…

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I sure will… I’ll keep you posted.

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If @blakestreetbombers has any notes for how they manage a NL-only league that would be helpful.

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Happy Holidays! Here are my two cents:

We’ve run an NL-only league with ottoneu for going on 4 years, and we ran it NL-only on another platform for 8 years prior to that.

Over time, we came up with these rules. I’d say we started with stricter interpretations, but as the years went by, we’ve loosened things up a little. For example, you used to be simply out of luck if your guy went to the AL, but then we changed it because we thought that messed with the competitive balance too much (what we do is described below).

We self-regulate. We are a league where we’re all friends and we know each other, so we’re able to maintain handshake agreements such as these pretty easily. We’re comfortable having a discussion with everybody if we question somebody’s actions, and while there have been subtle disagreements, nobody’s ever thrown a fit over a player’s eligibility:

  • Our universe is NL, which includes major leagues down to rookie ball with affiliated NL minor league teams.

  • When somebody acquires a player, whether during the pre-season auction or via a mid-season auction, it is that person’s responsibility to ensure the player is in the NL universe.

  • No AL player may enter the league while on an AL roster (sometimes this happens by mistake, and that owner must cut the player and further eat the cap penalty for the remainder of the season, no re-auctioning simply to cut later and reduce the penalty).

  • If a player enters the league while on the NL, but then mid-season moves to the AL because of a real-life trade, the team may keep that player in the active roster until the end of the season. The player that moves to the AL is allowed to be inserted into the roster and benched, just like any player. The player that moves to the AL is allowed to be placed on the DL and then re-inserted into the roster. The player that moves to the AL is allowed to be traded. If the player that moves to the AL is cut at any time, he is no longer in the universe and may not be picked up by another team.

  • An unsigned player (typically a free agent veteran who does not have a team, so he is neither NL or AL) is allowed to be auctioned. However, if the player eventually signs with an AL team, he must be dropped.

Regarding Keepers, we also had to make some rules about whether a player is in the NL universe before or after the winter meetings and the ottoneu keeper deadline:

  • If a player is in the NL universe at the end of arbitration, the owner is allowed to keep that player, even if that player is subsequently traded to the AL between the end of arbitration and the keeper deadline. This is the “Stanton Rule.” Stanton ended 2017 on the Marlins. He was traded to the Yankees in between the end of arbitration and the Keeper Deadline. Because he was still on an NL team at the end of arbitration, he was allowed to be kept heading into the 2018 season.

  • If a player is in the AL universe at the end of arbitration, two things could happen:

  1. The player remains in the AL universe from arbitration to the Keeper Deadline. In this case, the AL player may not be kept. So, speaking of Stanton, although he was kept heading into 2018, he then had to be dropped heading into 2019.

  2. The player winds up back in the NL universe between arbitration and the Keeper Deadline. In this case, the former AL player - who now resides in the NL - is allowed to be kept. This is the “Cueto Rule.” In 2015, Cueto started with the Reds. But then, he was traded to the Royals. And then, he was traded to the Giants during Winter Meetings. So, he started NL, moved to AL, but moved back to NL prior to the Keeper Deadline. He was allowed to be kept.

Hope that helps, and happy to field other questions.

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I’d be interested in an NL-only league for this season. I’ve always been a Braves fan, and I’m just more familiar with NL players. I don’t see why a 12-team Ottoneu league wouldn’t work in an NL-only player universe.