For a variety of reasons I will set forth below, I am proposing that, effective this year, we change the way that the IOD is conducted. In short, I would like to change from a "live" all-night chat room draft to using StratDraft, an online drafting site developed specifically for use with Strat drafts, and running the IOD through that site over a period of a couple of weeks (more details below). I think that this will be an easier, more efficient way of conducting the draft that will help with scheduling, prevent most (if not all) of the instances of people trying to draft guys who were already taken, and allow all owners to participate in the draft.
There are several reasons why I would like to move away from the all-night AIM chat format. The principal ones are:
(1) Over the last few years, more and more owners have told me that setting aside two full Saturday evenings is problematic for them due to family and work commitments.
(2) While I still fondly remember getting everyone together in a room for the drafts, the very spread-out and indeed international (hi Aaron!) status of the league in the internet age means that there is no real reason to have a "live" draft in terms of building and maintaining league community.
(3) I know that many/most/all owners are dreading the often 6+ hour process, especially after the similarly-long auction.
(4) As demonstrated by the number of "already taken" picks, it can very difficult in a real-time draft to keep up with what players have been taken and to plan upcoming picks.
(5) While I cannot come up with good ideas about how to automate or otherwise change the process of the C/FA Auction from a real-time experience, I do not believe that anything would be lost in switching the IOD to StratDraft.
What it boils down to for me is that using StratDraft will be free, easier, less stressful, and should allow for greater actual participation by the league owners.
Other leagues that I am in have used StratDraft and found it very user-friendly and easy to use, and I know that many other owners have similar experiences. For those of you who are not familiar, please go to www.stratdraft.com and look around. Each team will have its own log-in (which could be shared with other owners if you want). One of the most-important features of StratDraft is that it has an autodraft feature where you can preload up to 15 picks for when your pick comes up so you should not have to continually monitor the draft throughout the day.
All carded players available to be drafted would be loaded into StratDraft and I would also enter a large number of prospects. StratDraft also allows you to create a new draftable player for your own pick if you want to draft a 12-year-old Cuban and any other player that I didn't pick up on the list. Note that creating this draftable player is not visible to the rest of the league so you wouldn't be tipping anyone off to your secret prospect stash.
I am very open to suggestions on the details, but here are my current thoughts about how it would work:
- The IOD would start on or around the current 2/27 date so that we would all have the same prep time as we expected.
- There would be a "clock" during certain hours of the draft (currently thinking between 9 am CT and 9 pm CT, but very open to thoughts and suggestions). For the first 3 rounds of the draft, each pick would have 2 hours to pick after the time the prior pick was made (with the 2 hours only counting during the 9-to-9 period). After the 3rd round, I think it would make sense to switch to 1 hour as the choices become more idiosyncratic and thus less likely that someone's choices will all be taken when their pick comes up.
- If people prefer, instead of a clock we could assign specific times during the day that each pick in a round is to be made - ie, at the end of each day a 30-minute time slot would be assigned for each pick in the following round. That way you would only have to check in at a certain time to make sure that all of your autodraft choices hadn't been taken (of course if you have 15 choices set overnight in autodraft and your pick is within the first 15 of a day, there would be no need to check at all).
I know that this is quite a change from how we've done it in the past, but as more and more owners tell me that they can't make the IOD (I'm currently at 3 this year that have told me that they definitely can't make it, and that doesn't account for people who just make arrangements with other owners) I think this really makes sense for the league.
As mentioned, all comments and suggestions are welcome, including any objections to the change generally. Happy to discuss here or via email (although I think the league as a whole would benefit from discussion on the board).
And if anyone else that has experience with stratdraft would like to post thoughts and experiences, good or bad, I would greatly appreciate that as well.
One suggestion: for the first year we don't have a clock on picks, at least at the beginning. Experience with AYURL suggests that picks get made pretty quickly.
My initial reaction is to NOT be in favor of some type of prolonged drafting process. Here are a few of the issues I see that might come up:
1. Could take forever "waiting on someone to make their pick before we can move on".
2. Having a clock means that someone could loose their pick because time has elapsed.
3. Nothing else could move forward until we had completed the draft (no waiver, pitching rotations, final trades) therefore the season could potentially start late.
4. People are still going to try and pick previously drafted players because they might have missed someone getting drafted earlier in the day or week.
5. Do you have to have the game to use STRATDRAFT. If you do then you would need to install your game onto a computer at work and remember to move your authorization to your home computer to be able to follow the draft later that night. What about those who do not have access to a computer during the day.
6. Under the present process two online meetings and its done. If you don't want to be at the IOD that's the easiest one to miss, just give someone a list.
In closing I don't see the problem. The hobby does not call for much time. You can play your games at 2:00 am in the morning if you want. The only demands other than playing your games on time is making yourself available for 2 evening meetings which I personally look forward to. If it's that much drudgery then give some one a list and skip them. They are not MANDATORY just highly suggested and enjoyable for most.
If the majority of the league see this as a solution to some mythical problem that exsist then I'm willing to try it, but; I don't see the 2 meetings as a problem. I see them as something that is enjoyable and looked forward to each year.
1. Having a clock would prevent this, although it does mean that #2 is a possibility. Having done this in other leagues, though, I've personally never found it a problem, particularly since you can set up autodraft lists.
4. This is prevented by the website. You should not be able to choose someone already chosen.
5. The website is not linked to the game. You can draft without having the game installed on the computer you are accessing the draft website from.
Obviously, if you enjoy the live process, these are not necessarily sufficient reasons to change...
Hey everyone, my name is Rick Cantor and I'm the new manager of the Haven franchise. I look forward to getting to know you all and am excited to get started on reworking the team's roster (who will be renamed the Redwood Pioneers), so when trading is opened up again, I definitely plan on being active. I have a few clarifications on Ken's post on stratdraft. I have used Stratdraft for several seasons now in another league, and it really is a very useful tool.
1. Stratdraft can be setup to allow a certain window for each manager to make a pick. Once that time period has been reached, the pick goes to the next manager, so the amount of time everyone waits for a manager to pick can be setup by the league. If its your pick, you can pick immediately or wait until the end of the time frame. So the draft can set to last as long, or as short, as you'd like. Also, you can program Stratdraft for auto-pick for you, allowing you to pick and rank players over several criteria, so that when your turn comes up, the computer will pick your top player available. You can set the computer to pick immediately when your selection is up, or wait until the time frame has expired and pick then (allowing you time to turn it off at any point in your time frame and make the pick yourself).
2. If your time frame to make a pick ends, you don't "lose" your pick. The pick goes to the next manager, but you can still come back to the draft and make your pick after your time frame as ended. You may lose the player you wanted (the next manager may take him), but you still get to make your pick.
4. You cannot draft a player who already has been taken. When its your pick, you go to a screen with all the available players, which is immediately updated after each pick. When a player is taken, his name disappears from the available list, so you can't take him.
5. You do not need to have the game to use Stratdraft. All you need is access to the website, on any computer or hand-held device, which is exceedingly convenient.
Also, the stratdraft website includes a chat option, so its possible to have a very lively chat session with other managers during the draft.
I've also used StratDraft in another league, so I can confirm Mike's clarifications. While I'm here, I'll say a little more. Big surprise, I know.
1) The Clock and Missed Picks - I strongly recommend using a clock to limit the maximum mount of time between picks. Some people will have AutoDraft set up or pick very quickly anyway. If the clock runs out and moves to the next pick, the team that was skipped can go in at any time to make their selection. So they wouldn't actually lose their pick. I should also note that in our other league, we've only had the clock deadlines active during the waking hours of day.
2) Strat Draft allows you to set up AutoDraft with up to 15 players at a time in 3 categories. Note that each team has a separate login. So you can use contingencies, such as having carded players in one list and minor leaguers in the other. All players entered will be shown with a code to help facilitate this. For carded players, it also shows their stats. You can set up AutoDraft without actually making it active, which could be done quickly if you suddenly realize that you won't be able to make your pick live. You can also easily turn it off again if you return and do want to make the pick. Once we get past the top prospects and rookies, it should be easier to just enter your favorites and let it roll.
3) Strat Draft accessibility/usability - It's very easy to view and use through PC, iPad, and iPhone. Presumably true for other devices. Further addressing Ken's 4th point, the default view shows the previous, current, and next round. You can easily switch to a full draft view. As Mike said, the system won't allow duplicate picks in the sense that selected players would no longer be on the list. However, it still possible that someone could write in a player who is already owned. That can be corrected, but someone would have to be monitoring for that to happen right away.
Overall, I do think this is a viable option for us to consider. However, I am with Ken on enjoying the madness of the live draft event, despite the scheduling challenges. Also, I would be opposed to this approach if we don't have time limits in place to ensure that the draft doesn't drag on too long. How long is too long? It's hard to say, but I would want to wrap it up in a week, 2 at the most. We certainly can't allow it to delay the season, as Ken noted.
Finally, I'll share a suggestion that I just made to Tom. Regardless of what we decide about this year's IOD, the waiver draft seems like a perfect candidate for StratDraft. I don't think that anyone would really miss our current process for that event!
I've used stratdraft in two different leagues and it is indeed a very user-friendly tool.
I tend to agree with Ken, though, that a lengthy IOD would put a cramp in the second trade period, even if it doesn't drag on long enough to actually delay the start of the season.
I'd also like to point out another issue with lengthy drafts. The IOD is usually in March after Spring Training starts and the time frame Tom is proposing will also be during Spring Training. That means events that significantly alter the value of players will be happening while the draft itself is happening. Do you want to monitor daily injury reports to see if any of the prospects on your list are on there? Do you want to be at a competitive disadvantage because you aren't doing that? What about the scenario where "so-and-so, who is near the top of the list right now among the remaining players available in this draft, left today's game with an X injury but we won't know if its a serious injury for two days when he goes for an MRI." That's not something I'm pulling out of my butt, by the way, that is something that happened in another league that I used to be in, which did a draft after the season had already started. The proposed timed picks adds to that the layer of "too bad for you that your next pick is before the MRI results come out while mine is after."
None of that stuff happens in a one-night draft- we all have access to the same information, and we can all do as much or as little research as we want, but the information is essentially static between the start and end of the draft, not changing over a period of weeks.
On the whole, I personally would favor keeping the one-night IOD, though its not a deal-breaker for me if the majority of the league wants to try the new way.
We trade draft picks in ARBA and it is possible to have multiple picks in a round. I sometime make a pick depending on what I got in the last pick. So....
1. Can we list contingency picks? If I got a carded pitcher and I only wanted one, how would I be able to make sure my next pick was not a carded pitcher?
2. If there is a run on carded catchers and I need a backup, how do I adjust and make sure I get one?
3. How many rounds will take place in a day?
Seems like we would have to be monitoring the entire day to make these type of adjustments, but I have to admit I have not looked at the program/web site yet. I would prefer to handle this in one session and get it over with, but then I am retired and do not have young children or a picky wife to deal with.
I would probably be more in favor of this if we separated the carded players from the minor leaguers. Created two separate drafts. The carded draft could be handled much quicker and we could get on with trades and the getting the season started. The IOD for minor leaguers could then be delayed as long as necessary and would not affect the start of the season. Not a priority and I do like the nuances of having to decide when to take cards as opposed to uncarded players the way we currently have it setup, but it would make it easier to get through both of them. At least I think it would.
Hey everyone - many thanks to all those with comments / questions! A couple of things I thought I'd mention in response to some of the open things:
- To be clear about the main thing I'm trying to address, there are multiple owners who *want* to be involved in the draft and find it very difficult, due to family commitments, work schedules, etc, to take two full Saturday nights off. It's not that people don't want to be involved in the draft, they just can't make it work in the current format. As Commissioner, one of my primary goals is to make sure that everyone can participate. While this is a particular issue this year it's been an ongoing problem for a while.
- I think we need some kind of timing mechanism. The more I think about it, the more I think that having assigned "slots" makes the most sense. The way that works on StratDraft is that each morning it looks where the draft is and assigns a series of half-hour slots to the upcoming picks. Those slots are set so you know when your deadline is for the day. If the first 5 picks go immediately that would not affect when picks 6-24 are due. Thus each night/morning we could set our autodraft lists, check in once during the day to adjust if needed, and be done. Or, if you wanted, you could check religiously throughout the day to see how the draft is moving and adjust your strategy accordingly! If you want, you can set the site to send you an email with every single pick that is made so you can follow along.
- Assuming that we do a mandatory 24 picks per day (one each half-hour from 9 am CT to 9 pm CT), even assuming that nobody picks other than during that window (which is in my experience highly unlikely - people generally pick at night and earlier in the morning also even though there are no deadlines), we will automatically complete the IOD within 2 weeks. I went back and looked at the last 5+ years of drafts and we normally get between 230-240 picks (the largest number was 262 one season). So if we push the rest of the season back fully to allow for a 2 week draft we would only be starting 2 weeks later than usual. Hard for me to see that making any difference in anything.
- With respect to trades, I should've stated this in my first post, but I would assume that trades could be made freely during the draft, including trades of draft picks. Frankly, this would be MUCH easier (at least for me) using StratDraft than during the live IOD.
- I'm not sure I see the issue with the idea that information could come out at different times during the draft. Could happen on the night of 2/27 too! And of course with carded players what happens now is often less important that what happened in 2015 anyway.
- The autdraft function is deliberately set up to accomodate contingent picks. The 15 autodraft players are divided into 3 different groups of 5 so, for example, you could put your top 3 carded catchers in group 1 and tell it only draft one of them, then put minors in group 2, so if you get a catcher with pick #8 it would not take another catcher with pick #9.
I guess I just don't understand the problem that is causing this change. We get together TWICE a YEAR. This is a very time efficient hobby. In the past when people have claimed time restraints as the reason they want to leave the league I have interpreted that to mean they have lost interest or something, because time should NEVER be a reason to leave the league with a few rare exceptions (work on a oil derrick, going to war and then I doubt if you would have joined). Most in the league either have young children or have had young children and have made it work. As I said earlier if you have to miss one then the IOD is the one to miss. It's the easiest to write instructions and lists for. Real time bidding and drafting leagues are hard to come by and I think its one of the things (besides our salary system) that makes us different. Gary and I play in another league that flatly refuses to do anything in real time, so I understand how precious these times are. Maybe break them into the first 4 rounds on one weekend and then on another maybe later in the evening make it all the other rounds. I don't know maybe start later. My intentions are not to run any off or make it difficult for them at home, but; again to me this is one of the 2 biggest joys of the season. I've said my piece so I will leave it in the hands of the majority. Those who are having a difficult time being there for the IOD send me your list and instructions I ail help you get through the nite.
Let me add to Tom's observations re: time commitment.
Setting aside a second Saturday evening is a big problem. It is not, as some have suggested, merely the amount of time. The timing is awful because of family.
However, I LOVE using Stratdraft in other leagues. I can review the draft and set up picks early in the morning before the kids are awake. This is a much more convenient situation for me.
I vote we move to Stratdraft as a one year experiment. If we don't like it, we can go back.
Let me add to Tom's observations re: time commitment.
Setting aside a second Saturday evening is a big problem. It is not, as some have suggested, merely the amount of time. The timing is awful because of family.
However, I LOVE using Stratdraft in other leagues. I can review the draft and set up picks early in the morning before the kids are awake. This is a much more convenient situation for me.
I vote we move to Stratdraft as a one year experiment. If we don't like it, we can go back.
Uggh. I keep forgetting to put my name. The prior comments were from Josh
So if I understand the draft ya'll want to do you X amount of hours to make your pick and a couple days to a week to do draft. I travel with my job a lot and I am not going to be able to make any picks during work hours for I am not able to use my phone on work time. I need to keep the old way of set down and get it done in one night.
So if I understand the draft ya'll want to do you X amount of hours to make your pick and a couple days to a week to do draft. I travel with my job a lot and I am not going to be able to make any picks during work hours for I am not able to use my phone on work time. I need to keep the old way of set down and get it done in one night.
Doug, my experience with StratDraft is that is works great with work and travel. You can set auto pick selections at your convenience before and after work and not have to worry about it. Very low stress.
