Open Comment Thread for Potential Rule Change - Put more established players into the off-season free agent pool with transaction order based on salary cut

Suggested to me this year:

I just wanted to offer one possible idea that may increase a "rebuilding" team's incentive to retain big money studs rather then trade them to a short-term super team.

As the system sits now, the team with the worst record gets first crack at the top 3 picks in the redistribution draft. That alone Is a huge incentive for teams to tank, Along with the top weekly picks they receive along the way. This may help parity since it allows them a mechanism for gaining assets, but it also may diminish the in-season competition. In short, what if the redistribution picks were ordered as a result of total dollars of players released to free agency at the time of the 28 man roster crunch?

It seems this could possibly incentivize struggling teams to think twice about trading a 10 million player for future salary relief. It may still be practical to do such a thing, but it think it would help some. Last year was a huge haul with Tanaka and others I remember. Also, I think it would make the redistribution draft a huge event if suddenly guys like Miggy or Kershaw were floating around. Doubtful the top redist picks would net a bigger haul then trading one of those studs, but it does seem increasingly difficult to move high priced talent in the off-season.

Your thoughts? (I'm personally in favor of no change as this would be something difficult to track and I do feel there's importance for teams that finished at the bottom one season to get first crack at the draft list)

Also note this change is as much about preventing dumping of players for salary reasons and for tanking late-season to get a better draft position (leaving some teams even more non-competitive during the last few weeks of the season).

Benchwarmer Baseball - A Year Round Proposition

This is a re-posting of an entry from November 2009...with new dates added.

Sure, you're probably still working on your fantasy football teams - and maybe you've got basketball and hockey going on too...but Benchwarmer Baseball keeps you active throughout the winter.

Quick note - some dates below might be in flux...the ones below represent a push back in some dates.  They will not be moved any earlier.

What should you be doing from now until Opening Day?

Trade with other teams - We run 2 fall trading sessions...the deadlines are Dec. 3 and Dec.17.  Did you keep a player under contract that you now regret?  Do you have too many high-priced players?  Do you need a lot of help for your team?  Do you want to address a position of weakness NOW?  This is the only chance to trade until after the Redistribution Draft in February.  Because nobody's paid salaries for 2011 yet, there's no cash assumption/rebate on salaries right now.  The team picking up the player will be 100% responsible for the salaries later in December.  Also - since there are no cuts right now, you temporarily do not have to worry about roster sizes and limits.

Choose players to keep - You can keep up to 28 players for your 2011 roster.  You don't have to keep that many (or any at all!).  But, if you have any players on your rosters with contracts for 2011 or beyond, you are obligated to keep them.  Once the cuts are processed, you will get charged for the 2011 salaries - so you need to pick your carry overs with these things in mind:

• Your roster must be legal.  You obviously won't be over 40 total players, but you must fit in the limits for hitters/pitchers making more than 250.
• The cash you have now is all you'll get.  Whatever you leave yourself is all you'll have for the Redistribution Draft and free agency until Opening Day.
• In January-March, if you end up deciding to cut a player you originally carried over into 2011, you do get a salary rebate - but only at 50%.
• Carryover choices are due Friday, Dec.31
• Use the table of information below your team roster to give you some guidance on whether or not your roster will be legal and how much cash you'll have left with your current set of cuts.

Pick Players in the Redistribution Draft - Once the players cut from rosters go back into the free agent pool, our first operation is to run the Redistribution Draft.  This is an optional exercise, but is your chance to pick up free agents (and new prospects added to the player list in December).  Teams pick in reverse order of 2010 finish...and get three players at a time.  We run the draft for 5 rounds, so that's 15 selections you can make.  Obviously, this is a chance for the lower-finishing teams to pick up good players or prospects.  Don't miss the chance.  Your picks for the Redistribution Draft will be due Sunday, January 16.

Free Agency and Trading - After we process the Redistribution Draft (sometime in late January), we go into weekly free agent pickups and trades again through the end of March.  This is where you put the finishing touches on your roster for your championship run in 2011.  Current plans should give you 9-10 weeks of transactions between the draft and the start of the season.

Set your Opening Day Lineup - Date TBD

Some Off-season Dates Pushed Back

BWB is year-round, but could use a little bit more space (for both you and me) in between some of the dates originally set.  I have some website retooling to work on over the winter, and I want a little bit of extra time to find new experts to take over some orphans in the Experts League.

New Dates (all deadlines at midnight Pacific time):

• Roster Carryover Choices - Saturday, Dec. 26th (was Dec. 11).  This is probably the only non-Friday date for returning leagues until April.
• Redistribution Draft Picks - Friday, Jan. 15 (was Dec. 31).  Current plan is to post results by Jan 23-24.
• Free Agency Opens - Friday, Jan. 29.

BWB Primer #7 - Off-season Money

The BWB Primer is a series of commentaries to provide rule interpretations and hints - something a bit more than you get out of the rules. See the Primer Index for the entire series.

Hopefully, none of you has lost enough hope that you're simply planning out for next year, but as we near the halfway mark of the season I just want to quickly explain how cash works from one season to the next.

2010 Salaries and Salary Cap
Salaries are determined by player performance. 2/3 of the 2010 salary will be based on performances in 2009 and 1/3 of the salary is the player's 2009 salary. In addition, players ranking in the top of certain hitting/pitching categories and for post-season awards will have a bonus attached to the 2010 salary - making premium players worth a premium price.

The salary calculations are shown in the rule book.

Once the salaries are complete (usually mid-November), the salry cap is calculated. Again, see the rules for the actual formulas, but the idea is to allocate so much money for the top salaries, an additional amount for mid-tier players, and an additional amount for minor leaguers. As overall salary levels themselves rise and fall, the salary cap will also change.

Cash Distribution
There's not really a hard cap on team salary - instead the "cap" is used to determine how much cash each team gets in the off season. The cash distribution for every team in a league will be the amount needed to get the team with the lowest balance up to the cap level.

For example, if Team X has the lowest cash balance in the league at 100,000 at the end of the season and the salary cap is 48 million, each team in that league will get 47.9 million. Any bonuses for playoff performance or player of the year awards will come after that.

Off-season signings
You get to keep up to 28 players from your roster. You must pay for those players immediately when you select them in December. You'll get only a 50% rebate if you cut them later in the off-season. Your remaining cash is all you'll have to sign players in the Redistribution Draft or in free agency until the season begins. Note - you do NOT have to sign a player to a contract during the season in order to keep him next season (more on that in Primer #8 regarding multiyear contracts)

Maximum cash
Just before the 2010 season will begin, any team with more than 5 million in the bank will have their cash balances reduced to 5 million. So you need to spend wisely in the off-season, but you can't hoard your cash either.

Multiyear Contracts
One way to save cash for the next year is to sign players for 2010 at their 2009 salary. This is the subject of the next chapter to come soon.