The reason for vacant teams is the lack of promotion. There has been no advertising nor other formal recruitment effort. I had considered mentioning PB on the Scoresheet board, but then I found that there was no easy way to sign-up. The entire entre to PB is designed around first joining a cheap Launch League and going on from there. Mike as indicated on this board that there will be no recruitment push until he has made some improvements to the game interface. Until then, it will be a struggle. I am quit certain that the problem is best solved by promotion to those looking for an involving game, not by broadening the target audience to Yahoos.

24 teams is interesting. Already, our average team is stronger than an average MLB team. Our total rosters are close to the same as MLB. MLB has 30 teams x 25 guys; we have 24 teams x 30 guys.

While the choosings in the FA draft look weak, remember its all relative. In a more shallow league, you get to the point where a Mark Ellis is a innocuous, replacement player. Whereas in scoresheet, as MLB, he's has real value -- not because he's a star, but because its hard to find guys who can play 2B and hit MLB pitching. Also, in a shallow league, an Edgardo Alfonzo kills you more than in MLB - because his current stats are that much further from the league average, and there are only good pitchers to face. So if you want to contend, you face the very unrealistic dilemma of whether to drop a good player for a bad start.

I would encourage you to not be dismayed because the FA list is not familiar or not stars. The game is meant to be a challenge. The deeper league adds to your knowledge, and keeps your players' stats closer to reality -- shallow leagues have an all-star affect on stats. In a deep league, your "lousy" MLB hitters get to face Parque; in a deeper league, your pretty-good hitters perform Lousy because they are always facing Zito. The challege you face, just as does Theo Epstein, is to build a team that works well together. If you trade for good pitchers, who are fly-ball pitchers in a HR park with bad OFs, you will lose. If however you trade for groundball pitchers to pair with your gold-glove infielders, you will win.

Did you ever notice that the only MLB team with 4 LH starters also has a good SS and a gold glove 3B? Would Billy Beane have brought in Lilly and Halama if the 3B was Zeile instead of Chavez? Is that the kind of reason he's been so successful on the A's budget? Can you find a way to build a team so successfully? That's the game! Give it a shot, and see if its not more fun than choosing between Aurilia and Renteria.