2021 Salary Cap Game Strategy

(Photo by Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire)

by Doug Gruber

A Salary Cap contest is one where every MLB player is assigned a fixed salary value. Team owners must then construct a roster within a defined total salary limit, or cap. To illustrate our process for applying BABS in a salary cap format, we will use the long running Diamond Challenge (DC) contest as our example. The DC for many years was managed by CDM Sports, but for 2021 has joined the suite of contests available within the NFBC.

The basic rules for the DC contest are as follows:

1) Rosters consist of 28 players (18 hitters and 10 pitchers) based on pre-determined player salaries and positions, with a $30M salary cap.  The full list of players and salaries can be found HERE.

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

3) Starting lineups for pitchers include six starting pitchers, three relief pitchers 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) The scoring format is the traditional 5×5 rotisserie categories, with stats accumulating each week from your starters.

7) 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.

8) Teams are placed in 15-team leagues and compete against all participants for the overall prize.

We can begin the process by using our BABS Master Spreadsheet and a blank roster grid to formulate our rosters. 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 (Mookie Betts (pictured) and Gerrit Cole) to a low of $400K, which are predominately players without MLB experience. For perspective, to include a high-priced player like Betts at $1.6M requires another player on the roster to have a salary around $600K. Or two players around $850K.

A straightforward way to locate the best values is to utilize the Master Spreadsheet, while adding a column for DC Player Salary. I found it easiest to add that column to the far left of the spreadsheet. We know that the 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.

Case in point. Jose Ramirez ($1.49M) and Ke’Bryan Hayes ($890K) are members of the (p,s,AV) asset class. We would love to roster both, but we may not be able to afford Ramirez at that price. BABS reminds us that players in asset groups have comparable skill sets, which tells us that Hayes provides more assets per dollar of salary as compared to Ramirez.

Other players such as Yordan Alvarez ($970), Will D. Smith ($790), Kyle Tucker ($850) and Randy Arozarena ($780) start to form a low-cost foundation from which to build upon. Within each hitter position, it is also recommended to find the player who provides at least two assets and full-time at bats for the smallest salary. For example, at second base, Marcus Semien at $800K with his (s,a) rating fits that criterion.

Selecting our starting pitchers plays perfectly into BABS’ strength as we must roster SPs who best contribute to ERA, WHIP and K’s. As such, target SPs who have either extreme (E+,K+) or significant (ER,KK) skills. Unfortunately, we will have to pay up for starting pitchers of this caliber as only a few have the necessary skills with a below-average salary. Tyler Glasnow ($920), Corbin Burnes ($810), Brandon Woodruff ($990) and Carlos Carrasco ($970K) are among the best pitcher values.

For relief pitchers, our goal would be to find lower-priced, highly skilled closers who have a firm hold on the ninth-inning role. To begin this season, regrettably there are few closers that fit that description. Two of the best values at this point are Trevor Rosenthal ($930K) and Will Smith ($940K). However, given that the highest priced closer (Josh Hader) is at $1.3M, there is not a big spread in salaries between the closers, making our main priority to roster RPs who have both the elite skills and a firm role.

In this format, it is not as critical to avoid players with significant risk. We will have a bench of 15 players as well as the ability to add/drop players up to 16 times players throughout the season. And the entire player pool is available to us, as opposed to scanning a traditional waiver collection. While BABS does not recommend compiling a roster overwhelmed with risks, the maximum liability targets from standard 15-team leagues can certainly be relaxed.

The described 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
850 Perez,Salvador C KCR F PW a – inj- Rg-
790 Smith,Will D. C LAD M P+ a * inj- EX
1520 Freeman,Freddie 1B ATL F PW A+ *
860 Mancini,Trey 1B BAL F p s a INJ
960 Moncada,Yoan 3B CWS F p s
890 Hayes,Ke’Bryan 3B PIT F p s AV EX Rg-
1400 LeMahieu,D.J. 2B NYY F A+ Rg-
800 Semien,Marcus 2B TOR F s a Pk+ Nw
1100 Mondesi,Adalberto SS KCR F S+
1450 Tatis,Fernando SS SDP F P+ S+ AV e
1380 Soto,Juan OF WAS F PW A+ * Rg-
1120 Martinez,J.D. OF BOS F PW AV Rg+
780 Arozarena,Randy OF TBR F p s a EX
1130 Judge,Aaron OF NYY F P+ a * INJ
850 Tucker,Kyle OF HOU F PW SB EX
850 Meadows,Austin OF TBR F PW a inj- e
1020 Bichette,Bo UT TOR F p s AV inj- EX
610 Taveras,Leody UT TEX M p SB EX
18360 Total 16 18 12 17 6 8
SALARY PITCHERS Pos Tm PT Er K Sv Pk Rg Er Inj Ex Nw Pk Ag Rg
1580 DeGrom,Jacob SP NYM F E+ K+
1600 Cole,Gerrit SP NYY F ER K+
1090 Giolito,Lucas SP CWS F e K+
990 Woodruff,Brandon SP MLW M ER KK INJ e
1010 Castillo,Luis SP CIN F ER KK
920 Glasnow,Tyler SP TBR M ER K+ Rg+ INJ
1300 Hader,Josh RP MLW E+ K+ SV
1250 Diaz,Edwin RP NYM E+ K+ SV
940 Smith,Will RP ATL e K+ sv- Rg-
930 Rosenthal,Trevor SP/RP OAK e K+ sv- inj- Nw Rg-
11610 Total 4 9 14 4 3 1
29970
BENCH
1500 Acuna,Ronald OF ATL F P+ SB a *
1310 Rendon,Anthony 3B LAA F PW AV *
1090 Hoskins,Rhys 1B PHI F P+ * INJ
730 Hampson,Garrett 2B COL M S+ e
970 Alvarez,Yordan OF HOU M P+ AV Rg+ INJ EX
730 Murphy,Sean C OAK M p a * INJ EX
600 Hilliard,Sam OF COL F P+ s -A EX
1510 Bieber,Shane SP CLE F E+ KK Rg-
810 Burnes,Corbin SP MLW M e K+ INJ e Rg-
1340 Bauer,Trevor SP LAD F ER KK Nw Rg-
1170 Darvish,Yu SP SDP M ER KK Nw Rg-
1310 Kershaw,Clayton SP LAD M ER KK Rg-
1260 Nola,Aaron SP PHI F ER KK
970 Carrasco,Carlos SP NYM M ER KK Nw
1020 Maeda,Kenta SP MIN M ER KK
16320

This lineup accumulated 47 batting assets across our 18 starting hitters, and 27 assets from our 10 pitchers. That equates to more than 2.5 assets per lineup position! We are also well balanced across the categories. Total playing time is also maximized, with only two of our batters carrying a mid-time designation, which could still change.

The bench has a mixture of skills to allow for deployment towards categories that may need help 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. The starting lineup and a few of the low-salary options should be viewed as placeholders for now, until more information becomes available over the next few weeks regarding starting lineups and pitching rotations.