A Cap Study

The details of the WSEM talent cap were released September 1st and received mostly positive reviews. Even other leagues that have seen the similar phenomenon of “super teams” being formed took notice of our big change with envy and interest. I have been running this league long enough to realize you can never make everyone happy. The rotation rule in 2012 upset guys like Pearson, the pitching distance change in 2013 upset a lot of dominant pitchers, and now this big change for 2014 has upset El Diablos. In a perfect world every player and team would be happy, but anytime you can get a majority of the people on board with a change, it is a rousing success.

Since free agency and league expansion are still almost a month away, I am going to look at the teams from the 2013 season and hypothetically break down what each one could/should do if they all returned and everyone stayed on their current team - an incredibly unlikely scenario, but a good way to get a handle on how to work within the cap.

Belgian Wiffles  –  8 on roster  –  15 stars

Captain Buhr would have free reign to do pretty much anything he wants here. If his players return, his roster is set. If some of his guys leave, he has a lot of cap space to sign a few big names.

Ducks  –  5 on roster  -  15 stars

One of our new rules is a team must have a minimum roster of six players, so the Ducks would need to add a guy in this situation. Since they are well under the cap, it could even be a five star guy and they would be fine. Let’s say they added a four star player to complete the team. The Ducks would then have a five-star, two four-stars, a three-star, a two-star, and a one-star and would still be under the cap. That would be a great example of a perfectly well-rounded competitive team.

El Diablos  –  6 on roster  –  25 stars

Like I previously mentioned, El Diablos aren’t too thrilled about having the cap, but can you blame them? They were two wins away from winning the title, they have great team chemistry, and now they have to blow it up. Keeping their same roster for the 2014 season would be illegal, even with the hard cap (24 stars max). They really have two options here. 1) Drop one big name, add a rookie or cheap talent and pay the luxury tax, or 2) Drop two big names and add two rookies or cheap talent to stay under the soft cap. Either way, this will still be an upper echelon team.

Holy Balls  –  6 on roster  –  21 stars

The Holy Balls are a great example of a winning team with a perfectly assembled roster at 21 stars. The only concern would be is if they want to add someone it would cost them since they would get into the hard cap. Even with six guys on their team, they have no one under three-stars. So if you think you need to add some weak players to complete a legal roster, you are wrong.

Islanders  –  8 on roster  –  21 stars

The Islanders have an eight man roster and are right at 21 stars. They did have a lot of fill-in players though, so next season they will need to be careful with drop/adds and make sure at least six guys become playoff eligible. This roster is mostly two and three-star talent, but it is a great example of a full eight man team.

King Friday  –  8 on roster  –  25 stars

King Friday would have an illegal roster, but all they would need to do is release two players and they would be fine. Cutting two three-star players would leave them at 19 stars with six players on the team. That would give them room to make an in-season addition or add a rookie if they wanted, while still remaining under the cap.

Westside Warriors  –  8 on roster  –  24 stars

Technically this team is legal, but it would cost them a $200 luxury tax since they are at the max of the hard cap. If a team is in love with their guys and you want to roll with 24 stars, go for it. It is a dangerous route to take, though, because it would mean you couldn’t add a player without dropping another one.

Whiteford Wicked Aces  –  6 on roster  –  23 stars

This is another example of a team that would have to pay a luxury tax against the hard cap. Like El Diablos, the Aces have two five-star players, which makes it tough to build a team around. They will likely drop one of their big names and add some cheap talent or rookies to complete their roster.

So, even though some of these teams will either not be returning or will have completely made over rosters, this was just to show you what it would take to play under the cap. Competitive balance is a good thing. That is why all of the professional sports except the MLB use caps. Maybe if we had revenue sharing like them I would consider losing the cap, but since we don’t it had to be implemented.

I hope this little article shed some light on our big change for next season. I think when it’s all said and done and we close out the 2014 regular season with an actually decent playoff race, you will have the cap system to thank.