2001 Off-season (Post-ST file is up. Season is Friday.)

[Young Drachma]

You can load the online league file as normal.

What's changed:

- Teams were generated via an auto-draft that the computer ran.
- You now have an extra $15m in cash to release players, etc., at the end of each season.
- You can offer extensions, incentives, etc., but use good sense or the contracts can be voided.
- Trade deadline is now Friday night.
- Season is 162 games.
- Two levels of minors. AAA - 25 man, AA - 40 man roster.
- Draft is now October 30th and conducted on the Monday sim.

[gstelmack]

I can open it and see my 85-man ML roster...

[gstelmack]

team_272 uploaded.

[Young Drachma]

I got your file. I'm still investigating the problem with automatic downloads, but in the meantime, if people download that file...they'll be able to get into the game, should be able to export with no problem and continue to generate those .zip files in the meantime. Not pretty, but at least it works for us.

[Young Drachma]

Teams are comprised as they are, so my desire would be to run a season as normal this weekend.

The draft has been moved to the end of the post-season, which I felt was a good thing to add to the off-season schedule, rather than to cram it at the end. I don't think it was possible two versions ago when we started FOOL, but it is now.

So when we sim after the post-season, the draft will take place during the Monday night sim along with the final chance to sign player extensions.

I'll update the schedule.

[kaosfere]

I've had a look at the FTP stream on an attempt to update the league file from in-game, DC, and I think I've found the problem. I'll PM you.

[TimGuru]

Heh. Hartford is STILL stacked.

[Tasan]

Wow. I'm just pouring over the stats right now and loving it. I'm sad that I didn't get to run with my guys I had worked so hard to bring along, but its cool to see what all they accomplished. I'd be hard pressed to say that I could have done a better job as well. Just wondering why so many players seemed to have changed teams the last two years. Was there a mass release?

[Tasan]

Oh and our HOF looks VERY empty right now. We need to get to work immediately putting some very good guys in.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Tasan

Oh and our HOF looks VERY empty right now. We need to get to work immediately putting some very good guys in.

For sure. We'll get on that, too.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Tasan

Wow. I'm just pouring over the stats right now and loving it. I'm sad that I didn't get to run with my guys I had worked so hard to bring along, but its cool to see what all they accomplished. I'd be hard pressed to say that I could have done a better job as well. Just wondering why so many players seemed to have changed teams the last two years. Was there a mass release?

Financials were turned off, then they were turned on and then there was a mass release.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by kaosfere

I've had a look at the FTP stream on an attempt to update the league file from in-game, DC, and I think I've found the problem. I'll PM you.

You are a genius.

I have just uploaded a new file, so you won't need to download any sort of zip files, just go in-game and load the newest league file. Everyone should do this, even if you loaded the zip file from earlier.

[Young Drachma]

We're going to operate a normal schedule the rest of this week. Thursday's file will be spring training like normal and we'll get going after Friday as usual.

[muns]

ive exported. Not sure how the new file schedule is gonna work with my schedule yet, as that might keep me from keeping a team until my season is over. Ill keep everyone posted. New concept is interesting though

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by muns

ive exported. Not sure how the new file schedule is gonna work with my schedule yet, as that might keep me from keeping a team until my season is over. Ill keep everyone posted. New concept is interesting though

The files would be up in the morning, versus say, staying up late to get them. That'd be the only difference, FYI.

Deadline would be 7am eastern each morning, as opposed to 10pm at night. And I'd process the files and upload them by 9pm that same morning.

[Young Drachma]

Ramz has officially left FOOL and San Diego. To fix a thing that's nagged me historically for years (given the historical swapping issues), San Diego will move to Compton and become the Compton Brothers, because well...the Fathers were too much like the Padres.

Depending on Alan's decision to take Valdosta or not to, that's the only other team that doesn't have an owner at present. So we just have one team open at the moment or maybe two.

[kaosfere]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

We're going to operate a normal schedule the rest of this week. Thursday's file will be spring training like normal and we'll get going after Friday as usual.

So this means the next deadline is tomorrow morning, for a sim some time during the day, is that correct?

[Chief Rum]

Okay, I am unclear on some things.

Are we keeping these teams as they are now? Or is this just a one season thing, and then all players are released to the free agent pool for a massive draft?

Is the cap still $65 M? Has the "ideal ticket" price in the game been raised above $1 now? I see the recissions of past financial laws, but I am unclear on just what the financial situation as a whole will be now, other than the $15 M reserves cap.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Depending on Alan's decision to take Valdosta or not to, that's the only other team that doesn't have an owner at present. So we just have one team open at the moment or maybe two.

I don't mean to be silent on this. I'm still debating. The new schedule deadline is fairly close to unworkable for me, so I am trying to determine if I'll be able to swing it or not. (I do all of my sim exports between 6:30am and 8:00am and several times during a season an OOTP export takes over an hour to do in full). My only option would be to do my exports at night at some point 10-11ish, but after a few months of getting my wife frustrated for not going to bed with her many nights, I'm trying to determine if I want to continue doing that.

The other thing I am trying to discern I guess is if things are going to be pretty laid back/hands off like I enjoyed for the first few months of FOOL, or if there are going to be constant changes and tinkering. If the latter, I might just watch for a while from the sidelines.

[Commo_Soldier]

With so much change recently, can the rules and information page be updated?

Also on a side note, it appears my roster settings for the playoffs hurt the Brownstones the next decade as my team was still set up to a two man rotation and I had starters taking the mound 50 times a year.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Alan T

The other thing I am trying to discern I guess is if things are going to be pretty laid back/hands off like I enjoyed for the first few months of FOOL, or if there are going to be constant changes and tinkering. If the latter, I might just watch for a while from the sidelines.

We can keep the schedule the same as it's always been, to maintain the status quo. We can keep the export deadline at 10pm eastern time. I thought about it a bit after having a day to think about it and I wondered if maybe making it too porous would make it more difficult when I was trying to be relaxed.

As for the tweaking....my idea was to keep things as normal as possible. Unlike when we first started the league and I was trying hard to make sure things stayed adaptable.

But we've been doing this for a long time now, so...honestly, there isn't anything to change and so, I'm trying to keep the changes to now and then not to do anything else, unless we go through the normal process.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Commo_Soldier

With so much change recently, can the rules and information page be updated?

Also on a side note, it appears my roster settings for the playoffs hurt the Brownstones the next decade as my team was still set up to a two man rotation and I had starters taking the mound 50 times a year.

I think I've updated the rules page at least to reflect the changes I'd posted here. If I missed something, lemme know...it's a long list. lol

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Okay, I am unclear on some things.

Are we keeping these teams as they are now? Or is this just a one season thing, and then all players are released to the free agent pool for a massive draft?

Is the cap still $65 M? Has the "ideal ticket" price in the game been raised above $1 now? I see the recissions of past financial laws, but I am unclear on just what the financial situation as a whole will be now, other than the $15 M reserves cap.

Situation is basically like it's been, the only real difference is that you'll effectively have a cushion of $15m a year at the year, rather than nil.

Cap is the same, 65 million.

Teams are as they are, now. The game didn't seem to handle it well when I released everyone into the FA pool in an online league, so I opted to do what we did with FOOL when it started and dole out teams as they were.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Commo_Soldier

With so much change recently, can the rules and information page be updated?

Also on a side note, it appears my roster settings for the playoffs hurt the Brownstones the next decade as my team was still set up to a two man rotation and I had starters taking the mound 50 times a year.

That's unfortunate. I ran computer manager on all teams, but I guess it doesn't reset those settings.

Incidentally, it's astounding that you managed to win a title in spite of that.

[Young Drachma]

I updated the first post to reflect changes.

[Tasan]

When are we starting this thing? This weekend? Could you post an upcoming schedule maybe?

[Young Drachma]

Sunday - Simming of FOOL Classic, other teams can offer roster moves (contract extensions, cutting players, etc) Trade window immediately following the FOOL Classic sim. (Sims from day after regular season through playoffs, all star game until first day of offseason)

Monday - Last chance to re-sign players before they become a free agent and set draft lists for the draft. (Sims from first day of offseason until First day of Free agency) Sim to start of free agency and through the draft.

Tuesday - First night of free agency (No Minor League contracts allowed to free agents). (Conversely, you can ALWAYS offer a free agent a contract if they're in the free agent pool. This date is just for guys who are under contract to declare they're free agents and they now enter the pool.) (Sims from draft to First day of Free agency until December 1st)

Wednesday - Second night of free agency (Sims from December 1st until February 1st)

Thursday - Final chance to sign free agents. Set your roster for spring training.

Friday - Get rosters ready for opening day. Must be under salary cap to avoid penalty. (Sims from opening day until the last day of the season) Trade deadline at 10pm eastern (Sims from February 1st until opening day of regular season)

Saturday - Season is run late Friday night or sometime on Saturday and is posted on the boards. Draft pool revealed after this sim.

Schedule is exactly the same as normal. The only difference is the draft takes place on Monday night now, not on Thursday, so all you want to do tonight is get your team ready for spring training. Season export is tomorrow night, as usual.

[Chief Rum]

That's weird with the draft at a different point. When is the game holding the draft now? No concerns, just curious.

[Chief Rum]

Oh, yeah, and I thought we were moving the trading deadline up to Friday, the season sim.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Oh, yeah, and I thought we were moving the trading deadline up to Friday, the season sim.

We are, sir. I probably didn't edit that right, sorry.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

That's weird with the draft at a different point. When is the game holding the draft now? No concerns, just curious.

End of October. October 30th. I thought it'd be better for owners if they could draft their guys before the start of the off-season, so they'd be on your team before free agency, rather than cramming it into Thursday with spring training and stuff.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

End of October. October 30th. I thought it'd be better for owners if they could draft their guys before the start of the off-season, so they'd be on your team before free agency, rather than cramming it into Thursday with spring training and stuff.

I think that's a good move. Mostly we're just resigning guys then. Spring training usually takes a bit to set up, so combining it with doing draft lists always made Thursday nights difficult to complete on time.

Incidentally, are we allowed then to trade those recently drafted players (since a trading period immediately follows the draft), or will we stick to not moving players like that for a season?

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

I think that's a good move. Mostly we're just resigning guys then. Spring training usually takes a bit to set up, so combining it with doing draft lists always made Thursday nights difficult to complete on time.

Incidentally, are we allowed then to trade those recently drafted players (since a trading period immediately follows the draft), or will we stick to not moving players like that for a season?

Recently drafted players can be traded. I don't see any reason to bar that, since we don't allow draft pick trading.

However, the one-year-in-possession of a free agent rule before you can trade them rule will still exist.

[Alan T]

Ok, with the deadline being 10pm, I can probably at least give it a try. Unfortunately I probably won't have time to do anything with a file tonight. If you can make sure I'm added to Valdosta for tommorrow, I'll try to do it tommorrow morning and get an export in. I have absolutely no idea what type of talent or lack there of I have.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Alan T

Ok, with the deadline being 10pm, I can probably at least give it a try. Unfortunately I probably won't have time to do anything with a file tonight. If you can make sure I'm added to Valdosta for tommorrow, I'll try to do it tommorrow morning and get an export in. I have absolutely no idea what type of talent or lack there of I have.

If you download this file , it's the latest FOOL files and it includes you in charge of Valdosta.

I'm updating the HTML right now, so it'll be right in a few hours.

[Young Drachma]

I will run the file when I get home in like 20 min

[kaosfere]

Erm. It's supposed to be spring training, but the roster limit is still set to 25.

My poor kids.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by kaosfere

Erm. It's supposed to be spring training, but the roster limit is still set to 25.

My poor kids.

Oops. Sorry about that.

[Young Drachma]

Exports from Columbus, Colorado, Hartford, Napa Valley and Toronto.

It says that Valdosta is using the wrong version.

[Young Drachma]

Ok...auto-set rosters to 40 for people for spring training, so you'll be able to make an informed decision about who to keep up vs. not.

Processing...

[Young Drachma]

Here are the Spring Training Standings
----
CL
Brooklyn 14-10
Valdosta 14-10
Napa Valley 13-11
Toronto 12-12
Atlanta 11-13
Baltimore 8-16

RL
Colorado 15-9
Hartford 14-10
Columbus 13-11
Boston 11-13
Ann Arbor 10-14
Compton 9-15

[Young Drachma]

Uploading the file now. I had to go back and set the rosters back to 25.

[Young Drachma]

File is up.

[Young Drachma]

I think we should name the MVP after Hideaki Tanaka and the Pitcher of the Year award for Billy Smith.

Thoughts, anyone?

[TeachEnEspanol]

I have to publicly say THANKS to DC. He is spending a lot of extra time making the files manageable so that I can keep playing in my new home and I'm thrilled to be back.

[Tasan]

I would object to the Billy Smith award. I don't think its so runaway that he's the best ever if FOOL.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Tasan

I would object to the Billy Smith award. I don't think its so runaway that he's the best ever if FOOL.

Yeah, we can wait another 30 years.

I think Tanaka is such that it ought to be though. Not just because of what he did, but because of the fact that when he left New York, he was the best in the league, but he left there and single handedly led Rio Grande to their only title and was there for-ever...he was the first BIG time free agent to change teams and he was the goods until the end.

I'd hate to some new Johnny come lately try to take that mantle, because he was the goods. We didn't really see Billy Smith's career and Slider had more strikeouts than him anyway...

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by TeachEnEspanol

I have to publicly say THANKS to DC. He is spending a lot of extra time making the files manageable so that I can keep playing in my new home and I'm thrilled to be back.

No biggie. I just made a separate zip file. I think this newest OOTP patch screwed up something with the way the tar.gz files are generated. Because I can't even do it in-game anymore. It makes absolutely no sense. I can do it for the other league, but for this league, for some reason...no dice.

At least the other way is faster anyway, save for the having to open jzip and do it part.

[Tasan]

Actually, after reviewing career numbers, I'm not sure we can really reach out and name EITHER of those awards after specific players.

I can almost see Tanaka, because at the time of the sim forward, he was tops in a lot of categories if I remember correctly. Right now, he doesn't lead any major career categories (hits, RBI, HR, etc) nor does he have any major single season leads.

As for Smith, while he was dominating for a long stretch, he also doesn't lead any career majors except for wins, and when you consider he has over 120 more innings than the next guy on the innings list, his small lead of 21 wins gets even smaller.

I'm not trying to slam anyone, but I just don't see the distance from the pack to really name either award after an individual player at the moment.

[Tasan]

Okay, after looking at things purely from the sortable stats table, I'd be fine with Tanaka being the MVP award. He was the dominant hitter before the offensive explosion, and piled up some impressive stats that even only a few of the explosion era hitters have even passed. Pitching still seems to lack an overall dominant player. I'd actually put up Carlos Gonzales as a candidate for our "Cy Young", as he was our first 300 game winner and had a real nice overall stats collection, but he's even shaky at best.