MLB Draft Game
Era Draft
#2
Fresh slate in --:--:--
How to play
Nine spins and nine slots. The first spin lands on a club and a decade, and that decade is the season you play; every spin after it can land anywhere, so taking a man from fifty years away costs him something. Fill five bats, two starters, a bullpen arm and a bench spot, burn a respin if a club has nobody who fits, then run the schedule against that era's league. The bracket is the one that actually existed: before 1969 there were no rounds at all, and the pennant winner went straight to the World Series.
Spin for a club and a decade, draft nine men out of it, and find out what the season does. The era you land on first is the one you play in.
How to play MLB Draft Game
Nine spins and nine slots: a catcher, two infielders, two outfielders, two starting pitchers, a bullpen arm and a bench man. The wheel lands on a club and a decade, and you draft one of the men that club actually had in that decade. The FIRST spin is the one that matters most — its decade becomes the season you play, and every man you take afterwards is drafted into that era rather than his own. Two respins let you burn a club that has nobody who fits. When the nine are filled you run the schedule against that era's league and find out whether it was enough.
Strategy & tips
- The first spin sets your era. A club with depth in a decade you like is worth more than one great name from a decade you do not.
- A player from fifty years away is discounted, and heavily. Two good men from your own decade usually beat one legend from someone else's.
- The rotation carries far more weight than the bullpen. A great closer is a luxury; a great starter is most of a pennant.
- Save a respin for the catcher or the bullpen. Those are the slots a club is most likely to have nobody for.
- Making October is a higher bar than you think, and before 1969 it is much higher: there were no rounds, so you had to finish first outright.
About MLB Draft Game
Every rating here is relative to the league that player actually faced, which is the only way a 1968 pitcher and a 2000 one can stand next to each other. The league hit .249 in the 1960s and .283 in the 1920s, and league ERA runs from 2.37 in 1908 to 4.77 in 2000, so a raw comparison would rank eras rather than players. The Negro Leagues are in here as major leagues, rated against their own leagues for the same reason. Short seasons are regressed toward the league mean rather than taken at face value — that applies identically to a 60-game Negro League year, to 1918, to 2020, and to anyone who missed half a summer.
Frequently asked questions
How is a player rated?
Off his best qualifying season inside that decade, measured against his own league that year — OPS+ for a bat, ERA+ for an arm — then adjusted for how much he actually played. Rate alone is not a rating: fifty brilliant innings is not a season.
Why is my 1920s slugger worse in a 2010s season?
Because he is being asked to play fifty years from his own game. The further a man is from the era you are simulating, the more he is discounted, down to a floor.
How many games is a season?
154 before 1961 and 162 after, which is what those leagues actually played. It is also why a 95-win 1950s season is a better year than a 95-win modern one.
Why did my 100-win team miss the playoffs?
Check the decade. Before 1969 there were no divisions and no rounds: you finished first in your league or your season was over, however many you won.
Does everyone get the same wheel?
Yes. The spins are seeded to the date, so the board you get is the board everyone gets.
Statistics come from Major League Baseball and cover every player since 1871, including the Negro Leagues, which MLB recognised as major leagues in 2020.