So, you have a set of dollar values in hand, like the dollar values from the Fantasy Baseball Guide 2014 (use the promocode rotoman2014 to get a dollar off). But you don’t play in a 12-team AL or NL only league. How do you translate those prices to your league?
First off, read the Theory article that precedes this, to better understand the issue of scarcity, the replacement player and the pricing curve. Then:
1. Make a list of all the players in your league you think will be taken in the auction. In a 12-team mixed league with two catchers, that means the top 24 catchers. The top 12 shortstops. Identify them and pull them out of the pool in order of position scarcity. I cull, in order, Catcher, Shortstop, Second Base, Third Base, First Base, Middle Infield, Corner Infield Outfield, Utility. Then add the number of pitchers your league takes.
When you are done you will have the exact number of hitters and pitchers selected that your league will buy in the auction.
2. Rank the players by the dollar values you have, from most expensive to least expensive. Keep the hitters and pitchers separate.
3. The last hitter and last pitcher in your list will have a $ value greater than $1. Subtract $1 from the last hitter’s value, then subtract the resulting number from all the players in your list of hitters. Do the same with the pitchers. For example, let’s say the last hitter on your list was Carlos Ruiz. He has a $7 price in the Guide. When you subtract $1 from his price you end up with $6. Subtract $6 from Ruiz’s price and the prices of each of the other players in your hitters list. Ruiz’s price will be $1. All the other prices will be larger than that. Do the same thing for the pitchers.
4. Sum the new values of your hitters. This is your Marginal Hitter Value. Sum the new values of your pitchers. This is your Marginal Pitcher Value.
5. Determine your hitting and pitching budgets. Take the number of teams in your league and multiply it by the budget each has to spend. The standard roto budget is 12 x $260 = $3120. Your hitting budget would be 69 percent of $3120 or $2153 for hitting. Your pitching budget would be 31 percent of $3120 or $967.
5. Determine your conversion factor. Do this by dividing the Marginal Hitter Value by your total hitting budget. Repeat for the pitchers, dividing the Marginal Hitter Value by your total pitching budget.
6. Multiply the Hitter conversion factor by every hitter value in your list. Then Multiply the Pitcher conversion factor by every pitcher value in your list. The results are your converted values. Their totals, if you did this all correctly, should equal your total budget (the number you figured out in Step 5).
Obviously, this will take a little bit of work, but the result will be the direct translation of The Guide’s dollar values to your league’s size.
The next step is adapting your values to Bid Values that make sense for your league. The goal is to buy the most irreplaceable players in your auction, even if you have to pay a little premium, because you’ll always be able to find free agent outfielders who will help your team for free (or close to it).
