draft strategy

[aleitel]

i'm a new strat-o-matic player and wanted to know if it's best to use up your entire cap when drafting your team, or save some in order to pick up free agents. it's my understanding that when you drop a player you are only able to reclaim 80% of that player's cap value.is this accurate? any advice?

[cummings2]

I say use it all. Do your homework and try to field the best team possible, hopefully all the rolls will go your way and you'll never have to drop any player.

Some leagues have a 10% drop penalty and some others the drop goes 5%-10%-20% depending on what point of the seaso you make the drop.

I believe all Autoleagues have the 20% drop though. -haven't played 'em this year.

However, some players do like to leave some wiggle room with the cap between the draft andf the start of the season, that is when they fill their draft card they leave themselves some cap room to be able to make some moves during waivers. Just different approaches.

Welcome to SOM-OL :D

[JOELKING]

First your season doesnt start until monday, in that time your allowed to drop or add at will without losing any cash towards your cap. #2, alot ppl prefer using up there funds when you draft , it doesnt mean you will get all the players you are selecting either, usaully you end up with some cash to fine tweak your roster .

[markp65]

Welcome to a great game, aleital, nice to have you aboard.

The cap value penalty only comes into play AFTER the draft and waivers have been completed. Therefore, it's definitely best to apply every cent of your 80 mil to drafting players.

You're smart to be on these boards. Reading the boards is one of the best ways to learn about the game. Also, if you haven't read the FAQ, do so. Loaded with all the essentials you need to know.

Enjoy!

[geekor]

[quote:e7ff77581a]The cap value penalty only comes into play AFTER the draft and waivers have been completed. Therefore, it's definitely best to apply every cent of your 80 mil to drafting players.[/quote:e7ff77581a]

No, the 20% hits after THE FIRST GAME HAS PLAYED.

It other words, even though your lineups, etc have to be set by 10 EST the Mon the season starts, the games dont run till 12:15 at the earliest, and you could still make changes in the between time with no penalty.

When selecting your draft list, it's best to use as much as you can, you will inevitibly end up with some cap space after 2 ways. 1) You can drop down to 24 players as soon as your team is drafted, before wiavers. Which means some high priced replacement player you get, that you dont like, can be dropped and cap space freed up. 2) Any player you dont get, you get the next closest player who A) plays the same primary position (first position listed on their card), B) Isn't on anyone elses draft list and C) Closest in salary or under. So if you draft Arod, and miss him, you will prbably get Wright in replacement, which will put 6 mil in your cap for waivers. It would be very unlikely you get all the players you try for, so you will inevitbily end up with at least a few mil to spend during waivers.

[Jeepdriver]

[quote:48b3a3781b]So if you draft Arod, and miss him, you will prbably get Wright in replacement...[/quote:48b3a3781b]

Are you kidding? I'd draft Arod every time if I was going to get Wright as a replacement. :wink:

[Mean Dean]

[quote:044f127668]No, the 20% hits after THE FIRST GAME HAS PLAYED.

It other words, even though your lineups, etc have to be set by 10 EST the Mon the season starts, the games dont run till 12:15 at the earliest, and you could still make changes in the between time with no penalty. [/quote:044f127668]
Well, yes, but on the other hand, you then can't use your newly acquired players in the first series. The only time it would seem to make sense to do what you're suggesting is if 1) your first series is against a team with some huge weakness that you want to use very specific players to combat, or 2) someone whom you want gets released after 10 EST and thus you have no choice in the matter. Anyway, I don't think a first-time player needs to worry about this :)

There's no need to feel like you must spend every cent. Having a little cap room makes it significantly easier to make trades; if both teams are right up against the cap, then the salaries in the trade have to [i:044f127668]exactly[/i:044f127668] match, which can be quite difficult. It's also possible that "upgrading" a position to one of the more expensive options available wouldn't be an upgrade given your particular team's circumstances. I wouldn't leave more than $1M on the table, though.

[Play By The Rules]

For a "frenzy" (not many of those happening anymore) some guys intentionally leave a few million unspent, hoping to get a jump on someone else who has to drop salary before picking up the first and best free agents.

I always thought this was silly. Spend every penny.