Expansion team?

[DannoMack]

Let me preface this by saying I have a propensity for having dumb ideas and convincing myself that they're amazing, so feel free to burst my bubble and tell me this idea is dumb if it is, I won't be offended!

Anyway, ever since I played EA's NHL 2000 over a decade ago, where there was an option to expansion-draft the Atlanta Thrashers from a list of pre-determined unprotected NHL players, I have been a huge fan of the idea of expansion teams in sports video games. Unfortunately, that option is extremely rare in games.

Recently, a friend and I were messing around with a two-player Show '10 fantasy draft franchise using Knight's great rosters, and my buddy started drafting a team of the best prospects in baseball. In response, I decided to field a team made up only of guys over the age of 40. By the end of the fantasy draft, my youngest player was 38, and my highest-rated player was Trevor Hoffman.

Needless to say, my team did not do well that first season. Also, as one might imagine, most of my MLB roster retired in the off-season as well. Because of my poor season, signing free-agents appeared to be a lost cause, and so I decided to re-stock my major league roster through the rule 5 draft, which was similar to building an expansion franchise.

To the point: Has anyone here ever emptied their 25man roster and picked an entirely new squad through the rule 5 draft? Is there another way of creating an expansion franchise experience that I have not discovered? If I simmed a season, emptied my roster, and started over again with 40-man castoffs only, would anyone be interested in following updates on that franchise?

Feel free to tell me this idea is dumb and I am a nerd with too much time on my hands... haha, I won't be offended.

[DannoMack]

I am going ahead with this for my own benefit so I drafted myself a roster of wily vets (which I will post below). I chose the Orioles because the GM contract for them is 5 years and has very low difficulty franchise goals, so I won't get fired for fielding a team of geriatrics and then a team of Rule 5 castoffs, and I used the latest live rosters. If there's no interest in updates about this I won't annoy people by bumping this thread anymore after this.

Here is your 2010 Icepack All-Star team (ages appear after each player's name):

SP Brian Moeheler 38
SP Tim Wakefield 43
SP Pedro Martinez 38
SP Jamie Moyer 47
SP Paul Byrd 39

RP Takashi Saito 40
RP Darren Oliver 39
RP Arthur Rhodes 40
RP Darren Oliver 39
RP Alan Embree 40
RP David Weathers 40
RP Jose Contreras 38

CP Trevor Hoffman 42

C Jorge Posada 38
C Brad Ausmus 40

1B Jim Thome 39
1B Jason Giambi 39

2B Mark Grudzielanek 39

3B Melvin Mora 38

SS Omar Visquel 42
SS Craig Counsell 39

LF Gary Sheffield 41
LF Garret Anderson 37

CF Jim Edmonds 39

RF Ken Griffey Jr. 40
RF Matt Stairs 42

And some AAA guys for good measure:
RP Miguel Batista 39
RP Scot Schoenweiz 36
CP Armando Benitez 37
C Mike Redmond 38
C Henry Blanco 38
C Greg Zaun 38
2B Miguel Cairo 38
3B Geoff Blum 36

Thanks for reading!

[Dienerbird55]

I really have to try this idea. This sounds like fun, building up a dynasty from nothing. Great idea!

[DannoMack]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dienerbird55

I really have to try this idea. This sounds like fun, building up a dynasty from nothing. Great idea!

If you do try, post updates, I'm interested in this stuff.

[DannoMack]

Alright, that one reply has bolstered my resolve that this is a good idea, so I will post another update. I just simmed the first season, made no adjustments to lineups or rotations except in the case of injuries (which were surprisingly rare considering the age of the club). I will be doing the expansion draft part another day. Until then, here are some stats for the Icepack All Stars season, or as we shall now call it "The Season That Never Was":


Note: Matt Stairs broke his ankle on opening day and was placed on 60-day DL. Utility man Geoff Blum was called up to replace him. Blum, at age 36, instantly became the youngest man on the Orioles. Everyone was looking over their shoulder wondering if this young hotshot from AAA was going to steal their jobs!

ALL STAR BREAK:
The club managed two all-stars. Jorge Posada (who had 15hr, 54rbi and a .308avg at the all-star break) was the American League's starting catcher, while Tim Wakefield (7-4, 3.43ERA, 64k at the break) made it as a pitcher. Both of these gentlemen kept up their stellar play for the remainder of the season, as you can see below.

END OF SEASON:
The team finished the season at 80-82, good enough for 3rd place in the AL East behind 1-Tor and 2-Nyy (Tor went on to lose the World Series to the Cardinals)

Awards:
Backup Left Fielder Garret Anderson won the 2010 Silver Slugger award despite only getting 476 at bats in 123 games-played.

SP Brian Moehler, backup C Brad Ausmus, 2B Mark Grudzielanek, SS Omar Visquel, CF Jim Edmonds all won gold gloves, but that should be taken with a grain of salt because in a tie it seems that gold gloves always to go to Baltimore for whatever reason.

SEASON STATS THAT NEVER WERE:
Pitchers (W-L, ERA, SOs, SVs)
SP Brian Moehler 12-8, 5.72, 82k
SP Pedro Martinez 8-13, 5.08, 124k
SP Tim Wakefield 15-5, 3.24, 106k
SP Jamie Moyer 4-15, 7.29, 72k
SP Paul Byrd 11-10, 5.64, 83k
RP Jose Contreras 5-3, 4.25, 79k
RP David Weathers 8-6, 3.24, 76k, 1sv
RP Arthur Rhodes 6-7, 3.22, 111k
RP Alan Embree 7-4, 3.38, 55k, 1sv
RP Takashi Saito 3-4, 3.26, 65k, 3sv
RP Darren Oliver 1-5, 3.94, 38k, 4sv
CP Trevor Hoffman 0-2, 4.50, 33k, 36sv

Hitters (BA, HR, RBI)
3B Melvin Mora .259, 14, 52
C Jorge Posada .312, 32, 98
LF Gary Sheffield .298, 25, 79
1B Jim Thome .251, 28, 85
CF Jim Edmonds .289, 34, 116
RF Ken Griffey Jr .288, 20, 78
RF Matt Stairs .275, 14, 39
2B Mark Grudz .273, 9, 64
SS Omar Visquel .248, 4, 51
C Brad Ausmus .229, 2, 15
1B Jason Giambi .221, 15, 46
SS Craig Counsell .262, 2, 22
LF Garret Anderson, .326, 15, 67 *SILVER SLUGGER*
UTIL Geoff Blum .246, 1, 19

After that season, the Following guys retired due to age from the club:
C Brad Ausmus, RP Miguel Batista, SP Paul Byrd, SS Craig Counsell, RP Alan Embree, 1B Jason Giambi, RF Ken Griffey Jr., 2B Mark Gruz, SP Jamie Moyer, RP Darren Oliver, C Jorge Posada, RP Arthur Rhodes, LF Gary Sheffield, 1B Jim Thome, SS Omar Visquel, SP Tim Wakefield

That's 15 of the 25 MLB players (Batista spent the year in AAA). The rest of my team (including Hoffman and Stairs, both 43yrs old now) stuck it out and did not retire, leaving ten men on my MLB roster. 9 of those men were free agents (Hoffman a Type A, Saito a type B), and I allowed them to walk with no arbitration offered. That left 1 man on my MLB roster, 41 yr old David Weathers, who had two years of his contract remaining. I released him, and then the remaining fantasy draft guys who spent last year in AAA. I also allowed Geoff Blum to walk away.

That's all for now til the Expansion Draft!

[Dienerbird55]

Are you going to touch Free Agency at all that first offseason?

[DannoMack]

Hmmm, no. I'm going to pick 25 guys in the rule-5 draft and those guys will be my opening day roster. I might pick up a few guys once the season starts to fill out my minor league spots, but I won't send down a single one of my rule-5 picks because I won't want to lose them.

After playing a full season with a team of rule-5ers though, I'll likely be very keen on making a run at a free agent or two, haha.

[dc634]

Quote: Originally Posted by DannoMack

Hmmm, no. I'm going to pick 25 guys in the rule-5 draft and those guys will be my opening day roster. I might pick up a few guys once the season starts to fill out my minor league spots, but I won't send down a single one of my rule-5 picks because I won't want to lose them. After playing a full season with a team of rule-5ers though, I'll likely be very keen on making a run at a free agent or two, haha.

I have to try this out...lol...Please keep me updated, it sounds fun...

And by the way, do you sim a lot of your games, or play them all??

Thanks