Hypothetical Major League Baseball
Imagine a world where there is no such thing as free agency. This is a world where arbitration does not exist, and there are no such things as trades. The only way to acquire players is through the First Year Player Draft or through the international free agent market. Would the Yankees and Red Sox still be the dominant teams? Would the Nationals or Royals actually be able to compete?
Back by popular demand is the return of the Hypothetical Major League Baseball (HMBL). During the 2008 season, the Cleveland Indians reigned, but it is a whole new year and fresh new faces in baseball. Oh yeah, I should probably mention that YOU get to choose the winner (last year I chose the winner myself).
The WVBR Sports Blog will keep you updated on who will move on and who will be sent home.
Back by popular demand is the return of the Hypothetical Major League Baseball (HMBL). During the 2008 season, the Cleveland Indians reigned, but it is a whole new year and fresh new faces in baseball. Oh yeah, I should probably mention that YOU get to choose the winner (last year I chose the winner myself).
The WVBR Sports Blog will keep you updated on who will move on and who will be sent home.
VOTE RIGHT NOW
HMLB National League East
HMLB National League Central
HMLB National League West
HMLB American League East
HMLB American League Central
HMLB American League West
HMLB National League Central
HMLB National League West
HMLB American League East
HMLB American League Central
HMLB American League West
HOW THIS IS GOING TO WORK
Players: I have analyzed all the players on the 40-man rosters as of May 25, 2009.
A player was placed was assigned to a team based on one of two criteria:
A) Draft: The player was assigned a team based on the first team to successfully draft and sign a player, not just the first team to draft a player. For example, Luke Hochevar was drafted by the Dodgers twice (2002 and 2005), but he was placed on the Royals roster because Kansas City was the first team to successfully sign him after drafting him.
B) Undrafted free agents: These players were not chosen in the MLB first player draft but were eligible. Basically, no one wanted these players, so a team took a chance by signing and developing this player. Scott Richmond is a good example of an undrafted free agent.
C) International Free Agency: I used my own discretion here. Many of the players in Latin America, Asia, Australia, and Europe are usually young. If a player was signed before his 22nd birthday, I allowed him to remain with the team he signed with because he was developed by that team (includes players like Alphonso Soriano, Kendry Morales, and Jose Reyes). If a player was older than 22, I consider him more advanced. His price tag was usually higher, so he was more of a traditional free agent signing, which would give teams like the Yankees and Red Sox an advantage that would not exist in the HMLB.
After the players were sorted out, I created a full 25-man roster with a starting lineup and a rotation.
League: Every few days, I will be posting all the teams in a certain league and division. You will be able to view the rosters. There will be a poll where you vote who the division winner.
Each team that wins the division vote will be the HMLB division champion. The team that receives the most amount of votes will be the Wild Card winner. These teams will advance to the playoffs.
The team with the most votes will face the wild card, while the other two division winners will oppose each other for each league.
Once the winner of each division round is determined, you will vote for the league champion and then there will be a World Series, where we will go more in depth into the remaining teams.
