Advice on Expansion

[Buane]

Hey guys,

I Commish a 20-team online league, and we're looking to Expand. I fully understand how the process works, but I'm looking for a few bits of advice from people who have perhaps been there before and want to weigh in on what works best/what might work best.

First, how many players to protect? The league talent level is pretty solid, and I was initially thinking a number like 23 though I have no idea what works well.

Second, when to hold it? Right after Free Agents file? Right before Spring Training begins, after all the Free Agents have signed? I guess this kind of ties into #1.

Finally, if I expand before the Amateur draft, where do I put the Expansion Teams? Picks #1 and #2? Right in the middle of the draft? At the end?


I realize a lot of these questions are "personal preference" or "league preference," and in the end it'll come down to just what I want to do. But what I'm looking for is perhaps people who have expanded in an online league (or offline too) and have advice as far as "I did this and it worked really well," or "I wish we had done it like this," etc.

Any advice you guys have is appreciated.

[Stu]

The BLB started as a 20 team league and has since expanded to 24. We expanded by 2 teams after our 1981 season and by two more after 1983.

The biggest key to expansion, in my opinion, is finding patient and dedicated owners to take these teams. This is critical in keeping the expansion draft moving and they have to be patient enough to build a team from the ground up.

1) We protected 15 plus the previous two amateur drafts. If you don't protect the drafts, 23 would probably work as well since teams could still protect their top prospects. The one thing I would be nervous about though is not much talent in the expansion draft. In an online setting, I think it makes sense to give expansion teams an opportunity to succeed quickly.

We also ran the draft similar to how MLB ran it. Round 1 of the expansion draft was 14 picks per team. After that ended, we allowed teams to protect 3 more players. Round 2 was another 14 picks per team and they were allowed to protect 3 more players. Round 3 was 7 picks per team.

2) We held the draft right after Free Agent's filed but before any offers were allowed. As far as I'm concerned, this is the only time to hold the draft. It avoids confusion about teams protecting players who they might lose in free agency. It also gives the expansion teams, who likely will have substantial budget room, a chance to fully participate in free agency before their first season thus helping them to be more competitive.

3) I had the expansion teams pick first in the Amateur draft and Rule 5 draft during their first season.

Other random advice:
- If you're going to add 4 teams, be careful about doing it all at once. The talent pool will be VERY thin in the expansion draft.
- We gave all the expansion teams fan interest of 100 to start. This helps them weather the storm a little better since their first few seasons will be tough.
- When you create the expansion teams, make sure to go into them and disable AI offers. I completely forgot the first time I did it and had the AI signing players that the GM didn't want.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Buane]

Originally Posted by Stu

The BLB started as a 20 team league and has since expanded to 24. We expanded by 2 teams after our 1981 season and by two more after 1983.

The biggest key to expansion, in my opinion, is finding patient and dedicated owners to take these teams. This is critical in keeping the expansion draft moving and they have to be patient enough to build a team from the ground up.

1) We protected 15 plus the previous two amateur drafts. If you don't protect the drafts, 23 would probably work as well since teams could still protect their top prospects. The one thing I would be nervous about though is not much talent in the expansion draft. In an online setting, I think it makes sense to give expansion teams an opportunity to succeed quickly.

We also ran the draft similar to how MLB ran it. Round 1 of the expansion draft was 14 picks per team. After that ended, we allowed teams to protect 3 more players. Round 2 was another 14 picks per team and they were allowed to protect 3 more players. Round 3 was 7 picks per team.

2) We held the draft right after Free Agent's filed but before any offers were allowed. As far as I'm concerned, this is the only time to hold the draft. It avoids confusion about teams protecting players who they might lose in free agency. It also gives the expansion teams, who likely will have substantial budget room, a chance to fully participate in free agency before their first season thus helping them to be more competitive.

3) I had the expansion teams pick first in the Amateur draft and Rule 5 draft during their first season.

Other random advice:
- If you're going to add 4 teams, be careful about doing it all at once. The talent pool will be VERY thin in the expansion draft.
- We gave all the expansion teams fan interest of 100 to start. This helps them weather the storm a little better since their first few seasons will be tough.
- When you create the expansion teams, make sure to go into them and disable AI offers. I completely forgot the first time I did it and had the AI signing players that the GM didn't want.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks for the advice, Stu. The RSL is hoping to do the same as the BLB - we've got 20 teams right now, and hopefully will be expanding twice over a 3 year period to 24 teams.

All your advice is very helpful. Especially the part about setting Expansion teams' Fan Interest to 100 - it makes logical sense (what city wouldn't be initially excited about a new pro team?) as well as helping the team weather the lean years early on.

It's also good to hear that your expansions went smoothly - gives me hope that we won't run into too many problems.