There was a time in early January when it appeared that not having a rotisserie style salary cap game for fantasy baseball was a distinct possibility. That’s why, when Fantistics founder Anthony Perri told me he was interested in forming a Salary Cap Fantasy Baseball contest, I could not have been more excited. Working for Anthony as a writer here at Fantistics, I know how dedicated and talented he is. After all, I think the Fantistics software and everything else that goes along with a Fantistics subscription speaks for itself. One thing became immediately apparent: if Anthony was going to run this game, he was going to do it right – something former salary cap players deserve as well as any newcomers to the salary cap format.

A few weeks later TFC (TheFantasyChallenge.com) was born. Although registrations are not yet officially open, enough work has been done to show that this will be a quality game – one that keeps as much beloved items from previous salary cap games as possible while remaining innovative and forward looking. Already, there is a state of the art message builder and one of a kind team builder spreadsheet.

Most exciting to me – as a former obsessed roto salary cap player – are the salaries and tweaks to the format. Let’s start with the format. The core of the game remains the same as previous versions: assemble the best team possible while remaining within the constraints of a salary cap. Owners will have to fill the same starting lineup positions as they are used to while utilizing a familiar scoring system (5x5). However, there are a few innovative modifications that show Anthony has this game moving in a forward direction.

About a month and half ago, I wrote a piece discussing the greatness of the freedom that a rotisserie style salary cap game provides – with particular focus on an owner’s ability to be in complete control of his or her team’s destiny so to speak. Anthony was clearly paying attention; TFC gives owners more control than ever before. Gone are the arbitrary weekly free agent lists, which had brought an element of luck into the salary cap contest that never seemed to jive with the game’s core philosophy. Also gone is the taxi squad expansion (ability to increase taxi squad from 12 to 14 players, by adding 2 additional players without a drop at the end of August). That was another facet from previous salary cap baseball games that seemed to reward reckless owners who had run out of purchases towards the end of the season, therefore indirectly penalizing owners who had conserved purchases and strategically constructed their taxi squads. TFC has corrected these mistakes, allowing owners a predetermined taxi squad roster size (14 from the beginning) and 15 add/drops, which can be used at any time, that will not change over the course of the season. All owners know what they will be dealing with prior to the start of the game, thus thrusting even more control into the hands of the owners while keeping everyone on a level playing field from start to finish.

Furthermore, TFC salaries themselves are innovative. A 90 million dollar cap (close to the average salary of an MLB team) and more intelligent salary design will make this game more fun and competitive. There was a clear shift (for worse) in the salary structure over of roto salary cap baseball the last few years. As a result, we saw way too many highly owned players and way too much of the player pool immediately disregarded before the season even began. TFC salaries do a wonderful job of accurately reflecting value – keeping the door open for old salary cap strategies to be implemented while opening it to new ones as well. This also gives owners more control as they are no longer “stuck” in playing a certain way or taking certain players as they had been in the past because salaries dictated so. Such are the benefits of having a statistician in charge!
If anything, these changes, although new, actually move the state of Salary Cap Fantasy Baseball closer towards its initial/core intentions. Another such indication of this is the elimination of divisions and institution of a flat $225 entry fee. Now, owners compete in only their league (reduced by 1 team to 24) and in the overall contest (against all other teams). By getting rid of divisions, TFC will be able to increase league payouts while maintaining a large overall prize pool and grand prize (guaranteed $20,000). Additionally TFC promises the best payouts in this type of game. If they get a big turnout this year, they’ll up that grand prize next year to yet another level.

The flat fee makes the game much less expensive over the long run, some owners were easily spending over $400 to run their teams. It also allows owners to not be penalized for making changes early in the week or for making late changes as player news leaks out. Another huge advantage to having a flat entry fee is the lessening of “dead” teams, whose owners quit early on as an unintended result of variable costs.
There’s no doubt TFC is taking Salary Cap Fantasy Baseball to new heights. It’s the rotisserie style salary cap game as you’ve never seen it before, and I promise you that you will love it. Once registration starts you’ll see TFC has incorporated many of your favorite features – including, but not limited to, live scoring and standings, the ability to see what percentage of owners own what players and sortable standings!

If anybody has any questions regarding what to expect from TFC this season or questions regarding strategy, shoot me an e-mail at mleone@fantistics.com. Perhaps a mailbag is in order? Also, all Fantistics employees are ineligible to play for prizes, but I will be entering a mock team to write about over the course of the season. Look for a preview of my team – including position by position analysis – in the coming days.