Want a more fleshed out “GM Experience”, one where a budget matters?
I’m looking at starting a new “experimental” BL for 2024 with at least 10 teams. The format and rules are designed to prevent literal All-Star teams – even with such a small number of teams. The trick/catch: each team has the same budget (equal to the 11th-highest MLB team payroll from the previous season). The objective is to build a successful roster within that limitation. Suddenly, salary matters. How should you allocate that budget across 35 roster spots for best results? $40+ million for an MVP and relative scraps for everyone else? Or a more balanced approach?
When you draft a player, you are also “drafting” both his current MLB contract terms and his current arbitration/free agency status. Draft a player who is arbitration eligible next year, his salary for next year becomes whatever he agrees to or is awarded via the arbitration process unless you “non-tender” him at the end of the current season. If a player signs an extension, you take on that new obligation unless you release him by the non-tender deadline.
Additionally, minor league drafts will take place before and after each season. The objective is to stock each team with 10 prospects at the outset and allow that to build to 20 over time. These “prospects” will not count against the budget until they appear in an MLB game.
What you might notice missing in this overview is mention of “keeper limits”. The cap itself is the limit. If you can squeeze in 35 carryover-worthy players onto your next season’s roster, more power to you.
I have operated similar “salary” leagues going as far back as 2004 (give or take a year) and organized my first private league via AOL message boards back in the mid-1990s (yes, I’m that old). My overall Scoresheet experience dates back to the 1980s (with paper lineups mailed weekly). What I learned from those efforts is that the salary format is not for everyone. It requires thinking beyond simply drafting the best player on the board. One should not underestimate the effort needed to incorporate all the “financial” elements into planning rosters. Solid Excel skills are a must.
At the end of the experimental 1st year, we’ll evaluate what worked and what didn’t work and decide whether to move forward with future seasons and, hopefully, devise an expansion protocol that is fair to both original and incoming owners.
For now, I’m still tweaking the details to try to cover everything. Nothing is final about the rules until everyone is on board and we feel that all the bases have been covered and questions answered. The first step into such a brave new world is identifying who might be interested in participating in this experiment. One other thing I’ve learned over the years is that is takes a group effort. Overseeing the salary enforcement process works best with at least one backup ‘support’ person. And, ideally, a “Commissioner-By-Committee” approach. We all have lives beyond these games, so nobody should be shouldering the entire load from enforcement to recruiting 365 days a year.
If you think you’re up for it, shoot me an email. I endeavor to respond within 24 hours, but paying work does get in the way sometimes.