Expansion: Yea or Nay?

With expansion a hot topic lately, let's take a look at the pros and cons of expanding.

First the cons. Well obviously the talent level will be watered down. 60 more players selected means less quality free agents. It'll be harder to make the playoffs. Teams that have stockpiled great talent will obviously be hurt more than those with thinner rosters. Expansion teams will most likely raid these teams more than their weaker counterparts.

Now on the other hand, less free agents and harder to make the playoffs means the league will require you to dig deeper. If you like that sort of thing, then this is a bonus! Adding two more teams spreads the talent around more (hopefully) and gives you more possible trading partners.
Let's take a look at the history of those expansion teams that I mentioned yesterday.

The 1992 Scranton Sparrows finished dead last in the league, but in 1993, the Sparrows turned things around tremendously, winning 90 games and finishing just outside of the final playoff spot. In 1994, the team moved to Louisiana and regressed back to second worst, but the franchise enjoyed three straight winning seasons, including a Hanover Division title.

The three teams in 1993 went in three different directions. The Cheyenne Warhawks became the only expansion team to ever make the playoffs in their inaugural year. In fact, the team made the playoffs in the only two years of its existence. Meanwhile, the Waikiki Keys lost a still record 129 games and is probably the worst team in the history of the DMBL. But in year two the Keys made tremendous improvement and won 76 games. The team looked headed in the right direction before dissolving after the 1995 strike season. The Charleston Chiefs meanwhile finished second to last in 1993 and then dead last in 1994.

The 1997 teams almost all finished in the last spots, except for Carolina, who finished in 10th. The last three spots went to Honolulu, Lisbon, and Phoenix. Carolina would be the first to make the playoffs in their third season, while Honolulu didn't make the playoffs until 2003 and the Lisbon Diabos (which were sold and moved to Philadelphia) first made the playoffs in 2005. The Dragons (now defunct) have never made the playoffs or had a winning record.