2022 Salary Cap Game Strategy

(Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire)

by Doug Gruber

A Salary Cap contest is one where each MLB player is assigned a fixed monetary value, or salary. Players and their salaries must then be assembled into a roster within a defined total salary limit, or cap.

To illustrate our process for applying BABS in a salary cap structure, we will use the long running Diamond Challenge (DC) contest as our example. Formerly managed by CDM Sports and now part of NFBC, the DC consists of traditional 5×5 rotisserie 15-team leagues, with both league and overall prizes.

For background, the basic rules for the DC contest are:

1) Rosters consist of 28 players (18 hitters and 10 pitchers) with a $30M salary cap.

2) Starting lineups for hitters include two catchers and one of each infield position, six outfielders and two utility players, who can be players from any position.

3) Starting lineups for pitchers include six starters, three relievers and one swing position — either a SP or RP.

4) Benches are comprised of 15 players from any position with any salary.

5) When a bench player is substituted into the starting lineup, the total team salary for the lineup must remain under the $30M cap.

6) After your initial roster of 28 starters and 15 bench players are established, you are limited to 16 additional player purchases/drops throughout the season.

Let’s begin the process. Grab a BABS Master Spreadsheet and a blank roster grid. Our goal is simple…to accumulate as many BABS assets as possible within the salary cap restrictions.

Simple math: 28 starters for $30M equates to just under $1.1M per player. The player salaries range from a high of $1.6 million (Fernando Tatis and Trea Turner) to a low of $400K, which are predominately minor leaguers. For perspective, to include a high-priced player like Tatis (pictured) at $1.6M requires another player on the roster to have a salary around $600K. Or two players around $850K to stay within the cap.

An uncomplicated way to locate the best values is to utilize the Master Spreadsheet. I found it simplest to add a column for DC Player Salary on the far left. BABS players are listed from highest ranked asset group to lowest. It soon becomes easily visible who are the best full-time players from the top-rated asset groups with the lowest salaries.

Let’s look at an example for several hitters (all values exclude ’000):These three highly rated asset groups are close in value, with each holding one extreme skill and one moderate skill. Note that the DC Salary for each player has been added on the left.

SALARY BATTER Pos Tm PT Pw Sp Av * Pk Rg Sk- Inj Ex Nw Ag Pk Rg Risk
1260 Perez,Salvador CD KCR F P+   a –         inj-         Rg- 3.25
1130 Smith,Will D. C LAD F P+   a *         inj- e         2.00
1100 Lowe,Brandon 2 TBR F P+   a *                     0
900 Hoskins,Rhys 1 PHI F P+   a *         INJ           3.00
950 Muncy,Max 12 LAD F P+   a *         INJ           3.00
810 Garver,Mitch C MIN F P+   a *         INJ           3.00
1160 Mondesi,Adalberto 3 KCR M p S+   –         INJ           5.00
1000 Chisholm,Jazz 2S MIA F p S+             inj- e         2.00
1550 Guerrero,Vladimir 1D TOR F p   A+                       0
1120 Seager,Corey S TEX F p   A+           INJ   Nw       3.25
1060 Marte,Ketel O2 ARZ F p   A+           INJ         Rg- 3.25
1010 Winker,Jesse O CIN F p   A+ *         INJ           3.00

Using our $1100 average cost per player benchmark, and a BABS reminder that players within each group have similar skills, several values become evident. At 1B, Rhys Hoskins ($900) is much cheaper than Guerrero ($1550), and slightly less expensive than Muncy. We need two catchers, and the three highest rated BABS catchers all fall in the (P+,a) class. We can limit our spending to $1940 for Smith and Garver, a discount from using the comparable Sal Perez.

Jazz Chisholm provides a savings and dual position eligibility versus asset-mate Mondesi, making him our priority, although in this format both players with their extreme speed skills could be very valuable. Similar, both Ketel Marte and Jess Winker have attractive salaries to go with their extreme batting skills.

Hoskins, W. Smith, Garver, Chisholm, K. Marte and Winker form a low-cost foundation to build upon, while providing valuable skills. Continue the process searching for hitters with the lowest salaries who provide at least two assets and full-time at bats. Names who fit that criterion include Byron Buxton ($1040), Chris Taylor ($880), Jonathon India ($970) and Christian Yelich ($960), all triple asset performers with costs below our per player average.

Selecting our starting pitchers also plays perfectly into BABS’ strength, knowing we must roster SPs who all contribute to ERA, WHIP and K’s. As such, target full time SPs who have either extreme (E+,K+) or significant (ER,KK) skills. We will have to pay up for arms of this caliber as only a few possess those elite skills at an average salary level. Even more reason it was important to “bank” money with our hitters. Best targets can be found in the (ER.KK) group among Joe Musgrove ($1110), Frankie Montas ($1170) and Aaron Nola ($1190).

To be able to fit in pitchers with the highest skills such as Corbin Burnes ($1430) or Gerrit Cole ($1420), we will need to selectively mine for skillful mid-timers with lower salary options. Shane Baz ($850), Blake Snell ($890), and Shane McClanahan ($990) are among those best values.

For relief pitchers, we want lower-priced, highly skilled closers who have a firm hold on the ninth-inning role. There are few closers that fit that description, as BABS identifies only six projected for 30-plus saves. Of the six, Jordan Romano ($930) carries the lowest salary cost.

In this format, it is not as critical to avoid players with significant risk. We will have a bench of 15 skillful players as well as the ability to add/drop players up to 16 times throughout the season. And the entire player pool is available to us, as opposed to scouring through a collection of unrostered free agents. While BABS does not recommend compiling a roster overwhelmed with risks, especially for the pitchers, our Risk Cost budget for a DC league can certainly be relaxed. We will target a budget of approximately $40.

This process has led us to our sample DC lineup:

 

SALARY BATTERS Pos Tm PT Pw Sp Av   Pk Rg   Av Inj Ex Nw Pk Ag Rg RISK
1130 Smith,Will D. C LAD F P+   a *         inj- e         2.00
810 Garver,Mitch C MIN F P+   a *         INJ           3.00
900 Hoskins,Rhys 1 PHI F P+   a *         INJ           3.00
860 Votto,Joey 1 CIN F PW   a *         inj-     Ag     1.25
1510 Ramirez,Jose 3 CLE F PW s AV *                   0
1160 Mondesi,Adalberto 3 KCR M p S+   –         INJ           5.00
1060 Marte,Ketel O2 ARZ F p   A+           INJ         Rg- 3.25
1000 Chisholm,Jazz 2S MIA F p S+             inj- e         2.00
1120 Baez,Javier S2 DET F p SB a –             Nw     Rg- 0.50
970 India,Jonathan 2 CIN F p s a *           e         1.00
1290 Marte,Starling O NYM F   S+ AV         inj-   Nw     Rg- 3.50
1040 Buxton,Byron O MIN F PW SB AV           INJ         Rg- 3.25
960 Yelich,Christian O MLW F p s a *         inj-           1.00
1210 Castellanos,Nick O CIN F P+   AV                       0
1010 Winker,Jesse O CIN F p   A+ *         INJ           3.00
880 Taylor,Chris O2S LAD F p SB a                       0
1120 Martinez,J.D. DO BOS F PW   AV                       0
750 Witt,Bobby S KCR M PW SB a             EX         2.00
18780 Total 16 21 13 18                       33.75
SALARY PITCHERS Pos Tm PT Er K Sv   Pk Rg   Er Inj Ex Nw Pk Ag Rg RISK
1420 Burnes,Corbin SP MLW M E+ K+                       0
1200 Ray,Robbie SP SEA M e K+     Pk+           Nw     Rg- 0.50
1190 Nola,Aaron SP PHI F ER KK       Rg+                 0
1110 Musgrove,Joe SP SDP F ER KK             inj-           1.00
1170 Montas,Frankie SP OAK F ER KK             inj-           1.00
850 Baz,Shane SP TBR M ER K+             EX         2.00
1010 Diaz,Edwin rp NYM   ER K+ SV                       0
1140 Iglesias,Raisel rp LAA   E+ K+ SV                       0
1130 Pressly,Ryan rp HOU   E+ K+ SV                       0
930 Romano,Jordan rp TOR   ER KK SV           inj- e       Rg- 2.25
11150 Total 3/3 9 12 4   1 1                 6.75
29930   40.50
BENCH
1260 Perez,Salvador CD KCR F P+   a –         inj-         Rg- 3.25
790 Belt,Brandon 1 SFG M P+   AV *         INJ           3.00
1100 Lowe,Brandon 2 TBR F P+   a *                     0
840 McMahon,Ryan 32 COL F PW   a                       0
1600 Tatis,Fernando SO SDP F P+ SB AV           inj-           3.00
800 Laureano,Ramon O OAK M p s a                       0
1230 Alvarez,Yordan DO HOU F P+   AV           INJ e         7.00
1430 Cole,Gerrit SP NYY F ER K+                         0
1360 Woodruff,Brandon SP MLW F ER KK                         0
1280 Bieber,Shane SP CLE F ER K+             INJ           5.00
890 Snell,Blake SP SDP M e K+             inj-           1.00
990 McClanahan,Shane SP TBR M ER KK               EX         2.00
1030 Rogers,Trevor SP MIA M ER KK               e       Rg- 1.25
870 Kershaw,Clayton SP LAD M ER KK           INJ           3.00
1280 Hader,Josh rp MLW   E+ K+ SV                     Rg- 0.25
16750                                  
1117 Avg Bench

This lineup has accumulated 52 batting assets across our 18 starting hitters, which equates to almost three assets per batter! For our 10 pitchers, we have 21 (Er) plus (K) assets, along with four with (SV) ratings. We are well balanced across all categories. Total playing time is maximized, with only two of our batters carrying a mid-time designation, and three of our SPs.

The bench has a mixture of skills to allow for deployment towards categories that may need a boost after the season begins. It also is balanced between high- and low-priced players, recognizing that we cannot insert higher salary players unless we can free up cap space. And keep in mind that our lineup, especially a few of the low-salary options, could change between now and Opening Day, as we learn more information on final MLB rosters, lineups and pitching rotations.