I haven't been scrutinizing other teams as much in the last few years, but I still can't say I've noticed such low-cost rotations being particularly prevalent. Are you playing in any particular
types of leagues? I did think about some of my past teams with cheap rotations, and the closest I came were these two:
Here's a 2002 team where I stripped down the rotation, mid-season, to almost a sub-5 mil one. It went on to win 51 games in the second half and make the playoffs:
http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/team/551975And here's another 2002 team that made the finals with every starter in a 5-man rotation having less than 2 mil in salary, but the salary still eclipsed 5m:
http://onlinegames.strat-o-matic.com/team/558653As you can see, both I spent generously on both teams' bullpens, and I would imagine that would be par for the course for any teams with sub-5-m rotations.