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With Major League Baseball moving the Houston Astros to the American League in 2013, we now have 15 teams in the AL and 15 in the NL. Sounds reasonable, but it now changes the dynamics of inter-league play and of course in fantasy baseball it changes the dynamics of AL-only and NL-only leagues. For these single leagues that were 12-team leagues in the AL for the last two decades and 13-team leagues in the NL, what happens now?

Heck, in the NFBC we need to decide what we're going to do with one more AL team and one less NL team. Do we go 12 teams in the AL and NL Auction Leagues or 13 teams? I'm trying to figure this out.

I reached out to Ron Shandler at BaseballHQ.com and he said they are pushing 12 and 12, since the free agent pool would be too thin in each league with 13 teams. However, in the old days when there were 14 MLB teams in each league, we did have 12-team AL-only and NL-only leagues. And single-league fantasy leagues are supposed to be about stars, scrubs and thin waiver wires.

So I'm torn here. I know we run only one $1,300 league for each format, but I want to make sure we're doing the right thing and conforming (or leading) with what the rest of the industry is doing. It's an important time and an important decision since Rotisserie Baseball actually started with AL-only and NL-only leagues.

Should we go back to 12 and 12, or keep it tough with 13-team leagues for each format? It's time to set this format for 2013 and beyond. Let's do it right.

Alright, since posting this I've made some phone calls and sent some emails and found out that it looks like the industry is leaning toward 12 team leagues for AL-only and NL-only. BaseballHQ.com customers seem to be leaning that way and Steve Gardner of USA Today and commissioner of LABR said he definitely is going with 12-team leagues for both formats. Todd seems to be indicating that Tout Wars may be leaning the same way.

Back in 1979 when Daniel Okrent invented Rotisserie Baseball, he ran a 10-team NL-only league when there were only 12 NL teams. He went with 12 teams when he expanded to include the AL at a time when the AL had 14 teams. As Ron noted:

Penetration into the player pool:
Originally: 10 fantasy teams out of 12 NL teams = 83%
12 out of 14 AL teams = 86%

Now: 13 of 16 NL teams = 81%
12 of 14 AL teams = 86%

Proposals:
12 of 15 = 80% (near dead-on to the current NL-only leagues)
13 of 15 = 87%

I think 87% of the available player pool is almost too much for the masses and having 20% for the free agent pool might actually make these leagues more fun. I think the industry is leaning one way and it's definitely toward 12 teams. Thoughts?

any chance of doing AL/NL only leagues for the online game? Or even h2h leagues?

I think 12 is the right number. It changes both games slightly from the previous year, but a deeper free agent pool isn't a bad thing.

I like 12 each but adding a 24th player than can be a hitter or a pitcher.

The present overall roster penetration is 79% for AL only and 78% for NL only. Using 24 man rosters in 12 team leagues after Houston moves makes it 77%.

it's houston moving over, right? can't see how that would make any difference to either league

12 and 12 , i think.

Can we do some online this year, with 12?

poopytooth wrote:Can we do some online this year, with 12?

We do not have auction software nor will we be building that anytime soon. That being said, I have reached out to an industry provider who has fantastic auction software to see if there is a way to run pay auctions on their site and then run the leagues on the NFBC site. If we can work through that, we'll see about some online auction satellite leagues. But I need to work through all of this to do it right for all parties, so hang tight.

12 teams in the AL Auction League
12 teams in the NL Auction League

Let the Games Begin!!

That sounds good. any chance of draft al or nl only...8 hours per pick, like slow draft...of course less rounds and free agent pool...just an option to think about.