[Chief Rum]

Hello everyone,

I have written a number of dynasties in my time, but I usually run out of time/interest to complete them. So I am warning you now, especially with as busy as I have been--don't love this dynasty and don't expect update after update. They will just come as they come.

That said, if you're looking for some reading to do, hopefully I can provide that.

Anyway, here's the gist of it. I have been dying to give OOTP 6.5 a whirl and see if I can runt he sort of baseball dynasty I have always wanted to run, while giving myself a test as well.

So here's what I am doing. I will take over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, my favorite team, and try to run them as best as I can. Here are the league rules and limitations and what not.

1. I will use SkyDog's settings as posted in the OOTP forum (although the effect that will have will be gradual as the current players are weeded out).

2. I am removing all basic ability ratings and limitng all other ratings listings to 1-5 (where possible), and disabled coaches/scouts. This will be a league where we determine ability with an eye toward the basic talent ratings and hwo the player does on the field.

3. I have turned on all rules (including 40-man) except for waivers, because I still haven't heard that the AI handles waivers or DFA's well.

4. The financial setup will remain much the same as default until I determine the best way to go about things there. My plan is to run the league for five years (if I get that far) and then evaluate where the league's finances are and make changes where I see fit to improve competitiveness while also maintaining somewhat the current power structure in baseball.

5. I used the All-in-One Installer for this league, including Halofan's roster set updated through August. I reset all injuries and fatigue, so everyone is (unprecedented) completely healthy in the league.

6. I changed the Divisional Series to Best-of-7 games. Sorry, that's always bugged me.

7. Halofan's rosters already have 2005 draft picks on them, so I will try to switch over to a June 1 amateur draft after June 1 in the first season(hopefully the game will let me do that). That should keep me from having a new draft class until next year and at the proper time. If not, I will probably just have a draft every offseason. As per SkyDog's settings, drafts will be 12 rounds and signing bonuses are enabled.

(Note: I just did a test run in another league, and it looks like this will work, with my first actual draft happening in June, 2006).

On a personal note, I am going to keep some house rules.

1. I can only make three major trades all year (no matter who initiates). I can only initiate a trade involving one of my own players if the principal player in the deal (on my end) is in the final year of his contract. A major trade is one in which a player making greater than the minimum is involved, or a prospect on a team's Top 10 prospect list or on the league Top 100 list. All other deals are allowed, unlimited.

2. I must maintain at most 25-man rosters on my minor league teams at all times.

3. My payroll cannot exceed my expected income (except in the first year, as it so happens, my payroll is already in excess of my expected income--I will not be able to increase it).

4. If a player says he wants to test the market, I cannot make him an extension offer. I can make offers until a player refuses to listen to me otherwise (but only once every two weeks).

I may feel the need to have other house rules as I come along them, but I think that should work for right now.

Lastly, I will be using a random event generator created by Bobble to add a little randomness to the league. Each team will get a roll at it each in-season month (including my own), as does the league. Each team has a 50% chance per month of having a chance at something happening (in other words, they have a 50% chance of rolling against Bobble's random events list). If the event that comes up cannot be done for practical purposes or simply cannot be applied to the team, it is ignroed and the team gets a free pass. If a team can have it happen, then a day will be randomly selected and a player (if applicable) randomly chosen as well. I have an Excel spreadhseet set up to produce the random numbers.

Well, I hope that covers it. Enjoy!

CR