Automatic drafting players to original teams 1871-1899

[BaseballMan]

Currently im working on editing the lahman database so that that players are automatically drafted to the teams they played for. I had to use Al & Nl because setting up a fictional NL only league wouldnt allow me to use automatic expansion.
I had to have some teams move between leagues a few times but tried to keep most teams in the same league.
It works fine except a couple of problems.
What shall i do with the extra teams in years of odd number of teams.
The years of 1877-1878 when there were only 6 teams and the Union Association & Players League.
Here is my idea. I was thinking of taking all the players who had only one career season in 1884 & 1890 and creating 4 teams for 1877 & 1878.
I use those players because i wouldnt have to worry about the rest of a players career since they only played one season.for the rest of the players
i was thinking of either having the players come in as free agents or assign them to a team. Im not sure which would be better.
Im not sure if i should create any new teams for odd number years because in some instances there is already 2 philadelphia teams. Is it really worth having a third even though thats the way it was in real life?
If i assign extra players to teams then that might help eliminate the illegal roster message.

[BaseballMan]

I decided to leave players from the extra teams as free agents.
That way if i want to play strictly by history with actual trades, i already have the players on the right teams. If i want to let the AI trade then i have
some extra free agent players.
But for 1877 & 1878 i had to had 2 teams for each season. So i just took the players from the Union Assocuiation & Players League that only played 1 season in their career and used them. I figure they probably wont challenge any of the real teams any its only 2 years if i try to play strictly as history happened. Plus they should retire after one year.
So now im almost finished. I just got to make sure the new teams only have players that played one year and in in either the Union Association or Players League only.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by BaseballMan

What shall i do with the extra teams in years of odd number of teams.

There's an easy way to handle those: combine the two (or more) relevant teams into one.

The 1884 AA, for example, opened the season with 12 teams. In early August, Washington dropped out and was replaced by Richmond, which took over Washington's schedule. Since there were two clubs sharing one overall schedule, you could say they were two sides of the same coin. So, combine the Richmond roster with the Washington roster by assigning Richmond's players to Washington, and the original 1884 AA schedule can be used.

The 1884 UA is similar. It started the season as an 8-team league. Following the same combining philosophy, you'd combine the following teams' rosters:

• assign Kansas City's players to Altoona
• assign Wilmington's and St. Paul's players to Philadelphia
• assign Milwaukee's players to Chicago/Pittsburgh

For the 1890 AA, assign Baltimore's players to Brooklyn; for the 1891 AA, assign Milwaukee's players to Cincinnati.

for the 1871-1875 National Association seasons combining won't really work since there wasn't the same kind of direct dropping out and replacement as there was in later years.

[BaseballMan]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

There's an easy way to handle those: combine the two (or more) relevant teams into one.

The 1884 AA, for example, opened the season with 12 teams. In early August, Washington dropped out and was replaced by Richmond, which took over Washington's schedule. Since there were two clubs sharing one overall schedule, you could say they were two sides of the same coin. So, combine the Richmond roster with the Washington roster by assigning Richmond's players to Washington, and the original 1884 AA schedule can be used.

The 1884 UA is similar. It started the season as an 8-team league. Following the same combining philosophy, you'd combine the following teams' rosters:

• assign Kansas City's players to Altoona
• assign Wilmington's and St. Paul's players to Philadelphia
• assign Milwaukee's players to Chicago/Pittsburgh

For the 1890 AA, assign Baltimore's players to Brooklyn; for the 1891 AA, assign Milwaukee's players to Cincinnati.

for the 1871-1875 National Association seasons combining won't really work since there wasn't the same kind of direct dropping out and replacement as there was in later years.

Yeah thats a good idea but i dont wanna add more teams unless absolutely neccassry. I want to have the players automatically import to their real teams. So i figure i would just leave the extra team players as free agents.
That way i can play with trades off and have the free agents sit out a year
or i can let computer sign them. Easier than having to remove them from teams if i wanna keep the rosters like they were in real life.
I plan on playing strictly as history happened with real trades. I would like to have injuries but no CEI.
I also plan on playing a league with finances and trades etc on as well.