The Draft in S+ - A LEAGUE ARTICLE
May 5, 2018 8:41:35 GMT -5
NickP_Marlins GM, Texas Rangers, and 4 more like this
Post by David_ExposGM on May 5, 2018 8:41:35 GMT -5
The DRAFT in S+
When every GM is fully engaged and the picks influence the future of your franchise, then the traditional way of conducting the first-year player draft is a cool thing. Clearly it works for MLB IRL. You focus on developing your list of prospects, grading and prioritizing so that you have a “short-list” from which to choose the “difference maker” when your number comes up!
The reality of an OOTP online league is that some GM’s are just more engaged than others and I’ll leave it there, so as to not ruffle any feathers.
Another factor can certainly be “time zones” and even GM’s from different countries around the globe (Europeans and Australians, for example, alongside North Americans can certainly make “timer arguments” interesting).
But especially in a league where draft picks can be traded, I would think there would be far more interest in turning your original picks and, even more so, acquired picks, into the future minor league currency of your franchise.
All that said, and especially since we have moved to the new “S+” software package, here are some alternate takes on ways to execute the draft in an online league that I have encountered over the years, one of which might be a better way of keeping things moving to make as many picks as possible (for those interested) but keep things moving (if you’d rather be auto picked).
How best can we accomplish that to the benefit of all involved? My thoughts:
The PBL Draft – New in S+
This season, bringing the tried and true, but very very manual version of the draft within the forum to S+, we went with a traditional draft and a 24-hour per pick clock.
While it was far better to utilize S+, the time-outs are still kind of a pain (whether through inattention or simply having real life get in the way of your pick, which happens).
Alternative #1 – Shorter Timer
One of my past leagues was adamant about an “8-hour” timer for the draft. At first, as with any change, it was roundly criticized and shouted down. But eventually the league pushed forward with it. Turning negatives into positives, the rationale was that the traditional “work day” or “sleep cycle” was essentially 8-hours, so knowing that you were a couple of picks away at any given time, you would have plenty of time to set a very short “draft list”. That way you would have three GREAT options when your number came up in the draft:
1) You had done your homework and had a short list from which to choose in real time
2) You could set “pick from list” to auto your choice if you knew you’d be at work or snoozing
3) Best of all, should a team time out, the gap in the draft would be 8-hours MAX (a third of the time presently in PBL)
And let’s face it, whether 8-hours or 24-hours, if your heads not in the draft, the time frame is irrelevant.
The only potential downside to this approach is that you can be a little surprised if several picks happen back-to-back and, all of a sudden, you are next up, semi-unprepared, only 8-hours from a pick and not really in a good position to make one. But this is, in fact, rare in practice.
In fact one could very easily argue that an even shorter time frame (like 4-hours) makes little difference and would move things along even faster, but I have used 8-hours and – while it is CHANGE and foreign - it does indeed work nicely.
Alternative #2 – Fixed Positions
Another league I am in uses S+ with “fixed positions” for the draft. This one was simply mandated by the Commissioner because he liked the idea and had seen it work well elsewhere, so you simply adapt!
This is actually quite slick as it sets out, HOURLY, your exact pick time. Once the clock starts, it’s actually quite easy to see where you are in the draft and when your pick will come up.
With that information, you can easily plan a short list:
1) Make your choice in real time if you’re around
2) Just prior to your pick, or before you go to bed or work, or otherwise will not be around, set “pick from list”
3) And, of course AUTO is always an option
The best part of this process is that S+ picks happen HOURLY (one way or the other) so you can very easily time the draft to finish any time you like. Through one of the three options about OR an auto-pick hourly, the draft FLIES!
Through fixed positions, those that are really into this stuff can pick as deep as they like into the draft process as they know their “next pick” is coming soon. And, unlike the tiny downside of the 8-hour draft timer, you are never, ever surprised by your pick coming sooner than expected, because they happen every hour regardless of what happened the pick before.
Summary
We all know how hard CHANGE can be.
We all know it’s rare to persuade 32 people to unanimously agree on anything.
And while it may seem the most radical, I am a huge fan or the “fixed positions” through S+ draft process, having used it for several seasons elsewhere.
Unless every one of our 32 PBL GM’s are focused on the PBL Draft, we waste days at a time waiting for those that don’t or cannot pick. Because of that, I think the process (not the PBL draft specifically, but the 24-hour process itself) is flawed.
While moving to “S+” this year was a major (and positive) leap in the PBL Draft, after years of very dedicated work making it happen through the forum, I think it is well worth another quick tweak – while we are in “change” mode - for next season to make the draft even better for everyone!
Then we can live with the brand NEW standard for the PBL Draft for another decade or more within this great league.
When every GM is fully engaged and the picks influence the future of your franchise, then the traditional way of conducting the first-year player draft is a cool thing. Clearly it works for MLB IRL. You focus on developing your list of prospects, grading and prioritizing so that you have a “short-list” from which to choose the “difference maker” when your number comes up!
The reality of an OOTP online league is that some GM’s are just more engaged than others and I’ll leave it there, so as to not ruffle any feathers.
Another factor can certainly be “time zones” and even GM’s from different countries around the globe (Europeans and Australians, for example, alongside North Americans can certainly make “timer arguments” interesting).
But especially in a league where draft picks can be traded, I would think there would be far more interest in turning your original picks and, even more so, acquired picks, into the future minor league currency of your franchise.
All that said, and especially since we have moved to the new “S+” software package, here are some alternate takes on ways to execute the draft in an online league that I have encountered over the years, one of which might be a better way of keeping things moving to make as many picks as possible (for those interested) but keep things moving (if you’d rather be auto picked).
How best can we accomplish that to the benefit of all involved? My thoughts:
The PBL Draft – New in S+
This season, bringing the tried and true, but very very manual version of the draft within the forum to S+, we went with a traditional draft and a 24-hour per pick clock.
While it was far better to utilize S+, the time-outs are still kind of a pain (whether through inattention or simply having real life get in the way of your pick, which happens).
Alternative #1 – Shorter Timer
One of my past leagues was adamant about an “8-hour” timer for the draft. At first, as with any change, it was roundly criticized and shouted down. But eventually the league pushed forward with it. Turning negatives into positives, the rationale was that the traditional “work day” or “sleep cycle” was essentially 8-hours, so knowing that you were a couple of picks away at any given time, you would have plenty of time to set a very short “draft list”. That way you would have three GREAT options when your number came up in the draft:
1) You had done your homework and had a short list from which to choose in real time
2) You could set “pick from list” to auto your choice if you knew you’d be at work or snoozing
3) Best of all, should a team time out, the gap in the draft would be 8-hours MAX (a third of the time presently in PBL)
And let’s face it, whether 8-hours or 24-hours, if your heads not in the draft, the time frame is irrelevant.
The only potential downside to this approach is that you can be a little surprised if several picks happen back-to-back and, all of a sudden, you are next up, semi-unprepared, only 8-hours from a pick and not really in a good position to make one. But this is, in fact, rare in practice.
In fact one could very easily argue that an even shorter time frame (like 4-hours) makes little difference and would move things along even faster, but I have used 8-hours and – while it is CHANGE and foreign - it does indeed work nicely.
Alternative #2 – Fixed Positions
Another league I am in uses S+ with “fixed positions” for the draft. This one was simply mandated by the Commissioner because he liked the idea and had seen it work well elsewhere, so you simply adapt!
This is actually quite slick as it sets out, HOURLY, your exact pick time. Once the clock starts, it’s actually quite easy to see where you are in the draft and when your pick will come up.
With that information, you can easily plan a short list:
1) Make your choice in real time if you’re around
2) Just prior to your pick, or before you go to bed or work, or otherwise will not be around, set “pick from list”
3) And, of course AUTO is always an option
The best part of this process is that S+ picks happen HOURLY (one way or the other) so you can very easily time the draft to finish any time you like. Through one of the three options about OR an auto-pick hourly, the draft FLIES!
Through fixed positions, those that are really into this stuff can pick as deep as they like into the draft process as they know their “next pick” is coming soon. And, unlike the tiny downside of the 8-hour draft timer, you are never, ever surprised by your pick coming sooner than expected, because they happen every hour regardless of what happened the pick before.
Summary
We all know how hard CHANGE can be.
We all know it’s rare to persuade 32 people to unanimously agree on anything.
And while it may seem the most radical, I am a huge fan or the “fixed positions” through S+ draft process, having used it for several seasons elsewhere.
Unless every one of our 32 PBL GM’s are focused on the PBL Draft, we waste days at a time waiting for those that don’t or cannot pick. Because of that, I think the process (not the PBL draft specifically, but the 24-hour process itself) is flawed.
While moving to “S+” this year was a major (and positive) leap in the PBL Draft, after years of very dedicated work making it happen through the forum, I think it is well worth another quick tweak – while we are in “change” mode - for next season to make the draft even better for everyone!
Then we can live with the brand NEW standard for the PBL Draft for another decade or more within this great league.