I'm Going to Simulate the 1997 MLB Expansion Draft with 2018 Rosters

[MightyMaxxx13]

So us offline franchise players have clamored for an expansion mode for years and years. Since it doesn't seem to be happening any time soon, I've pondered how I could simulate an expansion team just for fun. Essentially, two teams would have to be stripped of their players and then "draft" from the remaining teams to formulate their starting rosters. I am going to try to do this.

The two teams that I will be stripping and re-drafting are the Rays and Diamondbacks, the most recent expansion teams. My process will be done entirely manually and under the same parameters as the 1997 MLB expansion draft. Once the teams are drafted I will run a franchise mode with the new teams. I am undecided as to whether I would control both teams or pick one and roll with it.

The parameters of the draft are as follows:
- Both "expansion" teams will select 35 players.
- The draft is divided into 3 rounds, with each team selecting 14 players in round 1, 14 players in round 2, and 7 players in round 3.
- The expansion teams may select any player not on the protected list of the other 28 teams, however the other 28 teams may only lose one player per round.

Rules for Protected List:
Round 1 - 15 players from the entire organization (majors and minors)
In round two and again in round three, each team may add 3 additional players to its protected list.

In addition to the players protected above, players drafted or signed as international amateurs in 2015 or later will be automatically excluded.

For the sake of simplicity in this process, the current rosters of the D'Backs and Rays will be automatically excluded from the draft. When a player is "picked," they will be exchanged for players on the stock roster of the Rays and D'Backs in order of overall rating (IE the first pick for the Rays will be exchanged for the Rays' player with the highest overall rating). In real life the Rays and D'Backs had been participating in the first year player draft since 1996. So all 2016 and 2017 draft picks and international amateur signings will be retained by the Rays and D'Backs (Brendan McKay, etc.).

I am going to spend some time setting up the protected lists for each of the other 28 teams. It will be tedious but I will probably enjoy it. I will then simulate the draft and post the results. If anyone is actually interested I will keep up a log of what is going on in this thread. My intent is for this to be a long-term simulation, with the goal of getting these two teams to face each other in the World Series (if I do control both of them in the franchise, which I am leaning towards). As in real life, the Rays will be focused on drafting a team of prospects with the goal of building a future dynasty. The Diamondbacks will be focused on drafting the best team to compete as soon as possible.

Hopefully not biting off more than I can chew with this. We will see.

[JoseJoseph9119]

What are your draft philosophies for both teams?
What are your protection philosophies for the other 28?
Are you turning off budgets?

[kinsmen7]

Any chance that you'd post or send me your protected list when you get that far?

Very interested in giving something similar a try, just afraid that I would spend a ton of time doing it, but then decide a week into my franchise that I've ripped off the CPU by not protecting someone.

[MightyMaxxx13]

Thanks for being interested guys, this is going to take me a while unfortunately. I haven’t figured out a way to simulate the protected lists within the game itself, so I may have to do it on my own externally. If I get through it I will absolutely share it with whoever.

My draft philosophiea for each team would be
Rays- Try to build from the ground up for a future contender. Focus would be on young, controllable major leaguers, prospects, or valuable trade pieces who can be flipped at the deadline.

Diamondbacks- Try to build an immediate contender. This would mean possibly taking some risks on veterans who are left exposed (IE, Seattle may opt to leave Robinson Cano unprotected in an effort to ditch his contract). A good mix of prospects would need to be added as well just to ensure the franchise doesn’t crash and burn.

My protection philosophy for the other teams, present stars and A prospects will be protected. Non-controllable guys, impending free agents, guys over 30, and guys on unfavorable contracts (Ellsbury etc) would likely be exposed in favor of younger athletes.

I always prefer budgets on, so would likely leave them.

[YATSEN10R]

Quote: Originally Posted by MightyMaxxx13

Thanks for being interested guys, this is going to take me a while unfortunately. I haven’t figured out a way to simulate the protected lists within the game itself, so I may have to do it on my own externally. If I get through it I will absolutely share it with whoever. My draft philosophiea for each team would be Rays- Try to build from the ground up for a future contender. Focus would be on young, controllable major leaguers, prospects, or valuable trade pieces who can be flipped at the deadline. Diamondbacks- Try to build an immediate contender. This would mean possibly taking some risks on veterans who are left exposed (IE, Seattle may opt to leave Robinson Cano unprotected in an effort to ditch his contract). A good mix of prospects would need to be added as well just to ensure the franchise doesn’t crash and burn. My protection philosophy for the other teams, present stars and A prospects will be protected. Non-controllable guys, impending free agents, guys over 30, and guys on unfavorable contracts (Ellsbury etc) would likely be exposed in favor of younger athletes. I always prefer budgets on, so would likely leave them.

This is a great idea, keep us posted!

Sent from my VS988 using Operation Sports mobile app

[AUTiger1]

Quote: Originally Posted by MightyMaxxx13

Thanks for being interested guys, this is going to take me a while unfortunately. I haven’t figured out a way to simulate the protected lists within the game itself, so I may have to do it on my own externally. If I get through it I will absolutely share it with whoever. My draft philosophiea for each team would be Rays- Try to build from the ground up for a future contender. Focus would be on young, controllable major leaguers, prospects, or valuable trade pieces who can be flipped at the deadline. Diamondbacks- Try to build an immediate contender. This would mean possibly taking some risks on veterans who are left exposed (IE, Seattle may opt to leave Robinson Cano unprotected in an effort to ditch his contract). A good mix of prospects would need to be added as well just to ensure the franchise doesn’t crash and burn. My protection philosophy for the other teams, present stars and A prospects will be protected. Non-controllable guys, impending free agents, guys over 30, and guys on unfavorable contracts (Ellsbury etc) would likely be exposed in favor of younger athletes. I always prefer budgets on, so would likely leave them.

One idea is to have each team go veteran heavy as they did in real life back at the beginning. Remember the Diamondbacks and Rays both loaded up on veteran players and for the Diamondbacks it paid off by them making the playoffs in just their 2nd season and winning the World Series in just their 4th. For the Rays it didn't work out. The Diamondbacks suffered though as that team got old very quickly and didn't have the minor league system and had one of the worst seasons in MLB history in 2004 and suffered through a lot of losing as a result. It wasn't until about 2004 that the Rays started drafting better players and once those guys started coming up that they finally started having success. Just interesting how each team had the same idea of wanting to win immediately and for one it worked and the for the other it didn't.

[kinsmen7]

Quote: Originally Posted by AUTiger1

One idea is to have each team go veteran heavy as they did in real life back at the beginning. Remember the Diamondbacks and Rays both loaded up on veteran players and for the Diamondbacks it paid off by them making the playoffs in just their 2nd season and winning the World Series in just their 4th. For the Rays it didn't work out. The Diamondbacks suffered though as that team got old very quickly and didn't have the minor league system and had one of the worst seasons in MLB history in 2004 and suffered through a lot of losing as a result. It wasn't until about 2004 that the Rays started drafting better players and once those guys started coming up that they finally started having success. Just interesting how each team had the same idea of wanting to win immediately and for one it worked and the for the other it didn't.

It would (hopefully will!) be very interesting to see how future expansion teams handle it. I like the idea of trying to be as successful as possible, but with the "Tank and build" strategy that teams now seem to want to use, you'd have to think that future expansion teams likely spend a few years being horrible.

I wonder if MLB will try to adopt a more "NHL" expansion draft model though, which seemed to try to allow Vegas (And hopefully Seattle), to pick competitive teams, and also allowed them to acquire prospects and picks (obviously not how the MLB draft works), in exchange for leaving certain unprotected players on their current teams.

[AUTiger1]

Quote: Originally Posted by kinsmen7

It would (hopefully will!) be very interesting to see how future expansion teams handle it. I like the idea of trying to be as successful as possible, but with the "Tank and build" strategy that teams now seem to want to use, you'd have to think that future expansion teams likely spend a few years being horrible. I wonder if MLB will try to adopt a more "NHL" expansion draft model though, which seemed to try to allow Vegas (And hopefully Seattle), to pick competitive teams, and also allowed them to acquire prospects and picks (obviously not how the MLB draft works), in exchange for leaving certain unprotected players on their current teams.

I understand that expansion teams want to be competitive as quickly as possible to build their fan base, but IMO the proper strategy would be to take the long-term approach and build up a farm system that is capable of turning out long-term success.


The NHL model for expansion is really good because teams get the best of both worlds. But it's also kinda different since NHL has a salary cap that also includes a floor as well as a cap. That salary cap makes a big difference since all the best teams can't horde all the best players like the 2002 Detroit Red Wings super HOF team that they built.


We'll see if MLB teaks their expansion draft process for when it happens in a few years.