Do you guys like playing with a salary cap?
 

Do you guys like playing with a salary cap?

I love it! But that is well known around these parts lol.

No.

I have always used a salary cap...and shut off all the extra financial rules...like an NFL style finacial system...I never have crazy contracts and the model is much more stable overtime.
Set the cash max to the salary cap and I have only seen teams pay 10-20% over the "superstar" level salary
(for example 5 million dollars a year for the top level players...rarely do I see a salary higher than 6.5 million...only if I have a hall of fame caliber player I might see a 8 million dollar contract)

but that's why the game is great...if you love all the intricate MLB rules you can have them...if you are like me then you can have a parity league like the NFL...it's awesome!

How many years before players can hit free agency in your setup? Do you allow draft picks to be traded?

This is an interesting tactic. I may look at this with a couple of test leagues and see what results. Thanks. Areas that forever get inquiries are cash max and controlling escalating salaries. If you've found a method that addresses both, that's great.

I admit the idea of a parity league like the NFL does sound appealing, but on the other hand, I love all those intricate rules. Give me my 40 man rosters, my waivers, Rule 5 draft, option years. I love them all!

usually i have between 4-6 years before players can hit free agency and the same for minor league free agency
the shorter you set the above length, the more signings you will see and because the players are generally younger, the contracts won't be as inflated
age plays a huge factor in the amount of money they make
30 and older will command huge salaries(if they were productive players) from my experience and this is where i can see contracts around 8 million bucks

i usually set the salary cap between 35-50 million depending on my mood...i have to play with it a little every version of ootp.

so far so good...but i have only run one season so far with ootp13...

Agreed. I would love to run a few tests myself. Would you mind posting your settings? What do you mean by all the extra financial rules?

sure here a my settings i tweak them slightly depending on the version of ootp and how many years it takes for a player to reach free agency:

total team salary cap to spend: 40 million (can be between 35-50 million)

Player contract levels (can fluctuate by 20%):
Superstar: 5 million
Star: 2.5 million
Good: 1.25 million
Above ave: 750,000
Ave: 500,000
below ave: 250,000
Fair: 125,000
Poor: 50,000
Minimum: 50,000

Time for free agency: 5 major league years (can be between 4-6)
Minor league free agents: 5 years (can be 4-6)

Only one media contract...same for each team...national contract: 10 million dollars above the salary cap

Cash maximum is set to the salary cap

no 10/5 rule
no refusing minors
trade draft picks
no arbitration
no FA compensation
no 40 man roster (no waviers essentially)

I love this system...but i know many people enjoy these additional rules because it adds many layers of complexity.
I just like parity and how the AI uses this system is wonderful

hope that is a good starting point for anyone who wants to try!

What about merchendising/average attendance/ and ticket prices.

I would be looking to do this with more modern numbers.

I prefer the cap. makes it a little tougher to get the players you want.

It keeps you out of the FA market when you have 3-5 guys on big contracts.

No arbitration, FA in 5 years. So, basically, all players (good or bad) make League Minimum for their first 5 full season? Seems unfair.

That would never work for me. A system like this would be cool, but with something like the NHL, with restricted Free Agency (wich Arbritation sort of emulates).

No criticism intented, by the way. The parity league idea is cool, and a Salary Cap makes it much easier, with revenue very similar across the board.

Yeah I understand that you might think it's unfair...but I think baseball players get it too easy and i think teams should make them prove they are consistent before unloading millions of bucks on them! I am a tough comissioner in my baseball universe :)

I understand, I just think it's tough to get a Superstar 26yo and a journeyman making the same League Minimum justifiable. It can make somewhat easy to load up on top prospects and bring them up at the same time, having a huge 5 years window where they're making peanuts.

Arbitration separates these, and I use Arb elegibility after 2yr in my fictional leagues for this reason.

My thing with Arb is it's somewhat random, based on counting stats (like in real MLB). Someday I'll try a system with FA after 1 year. It's either lock the guy up or watch him go.

@Oman

I never touch the ticket prices or attandance
it never seems to matter for me since teams can only use the salary cap and the since the cash Max is the salary cap...the owner will pocket the rest.
I just set the national contract 10 million above the cash max to ensure every team makes at least the salary cap
all other contracts/merchandising is set to zero

It's interesting, but it looks like the cash cap in 13 is just for positive balances. Given that, raising it would have an inflationary effect on salaries, as it can only put more $ into the system. His cap is counteracting that.

It's a simply tactic: give every team enough $ to spend to the cap. Arbitration is the problem, but he turns it off.

I haven't used this system, but I wonder if turning on draft pick compensation for FA would be one way to develop something somewhat like an NHL style system for young FAs.