2012 Economic Primer
The VFBL economic primer was written to give owners old and new a guide of reference as to how the VFBL salary system works. To be successful in this league, the understanding of our economic system is paramount. The primer was written by the founder of our economic system Tim Conklin and edited by Kevin Hitt.VFBL Currency
The VFBL uses "VFBLs" as its currency. 1 VFBL is equal to $100,000 in fantasy dollars, while 10 VFBLs is $1,000,000 in fantasy dollars.
Acquiring Players
Players in the VFBL are acquired by purchasing their contracts via the auction system, through the supplemental draft, through trade, and in-season free agent acquisition. When You Come Into the League (New Owner Section) As a new owner, you will most likely come into the VFBL to begin a new season. This means when the new disk comes out, you will have to look over your roster to see which players you will want to keep. If you have in fact come into the league during the off-season, start with the "Off-Season" section and start there. If you have come in mid-season, start with the sections that encompass the dates that are still applicable to the VFBL season.
Off-season (Release of VFBL Disk by the Commissioner to January 31st/February 1st)
At the end of the season, you still retain the rights to all of your players, who you've acquired previously through trade or auction purchase. All of these players are due a raise (if you keep them) for the coming season of 10% or 1 VFBL, whichever is greater. What's more, if a player is about to enter the 4th year of a contract (that is, if he was initially purchased at auction three years previously, and has not been released back into the free-agent pool since that time), his contract for the coming year can be no less than 10 VFBLs. If a player is about to enter the 6th year of a contract, his contract for the coming year can be no less than 50 VFBLs.
Of course, you're under no obligation to keep any of these players. During the off-season (which begins with the release of the first VFBL disk following the release of the new season disk from DMB), you can release or trade players at will. Players who are released go back into the free-agent pool. And the players you trade for can be turned right around and traded to yet another team during this time. No one is being paid anything yet. But any player you acquire and ultimately keep will be due a raise, just as spelled out above and in the table below, come February 1.
Example Player Salary Increase Table:
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | Year 6 | Year 7 | Year 8 | Notes: | |
| Player #1 | 1 VFBLs | 2 VFBLs | 3 VFBLs | 10 VFBLs | 11 VFBLs | 50 VFBLs | 55 VFBLs | 100 VFBLs | Year 4 was automatically increased to 10 VFBLs and 50 VFBLs at year 8. |
| Player #2 | 2 VFBLs | 3 VFBLs | 4 VFBLs | 10 VFBLs | 11 VFBLs | 50 VFBLs | 55 VFBLs | 100 VFBLs | Year 4 was automatically increased to 10 VFBLs and 50 VFBLs at year 8. |
| Player #3 | 9 VFBLs | 10 VFBLs | 11 VFBLs | 12 VFBls | 13 VFBLs | 50 VFBLs | 55 VFBLs | 100 VFBLs | Because player was above 10 VFBLS at year 4, the increase is 10%. |
| Player #4 | 10 VFBLs | 11 VFBLs | 12 VFBLs | 13 VFBLs | 15 VFBLs | 50 VFBLs | 55 VFBLs | 100 VFBLs | The year 5 salary was rounded up at the 10% mark, hence the jump from 13 to 15. |
| Player #5 | 55 VFBLs | 61 VFBLs | 67 VFBLs | 74 VFBLs | 81 VFBLs | 89 VFBLs | 98 VFBLs | 108 VFBLs | All 10% increases because the salary is always above the year 4,6 and 8 thresholds. |
January 31/February 1
January 31 is what is commonly referred to as the "freeze" day in the VFBL off-season, which is sort of a misnomer, but it is a very important date. It's the day by which you will have needed to turn in two lists comprised of those players whose rights you currently retain. One list is your "keeper" list - those players who you are willing to keep on your roster, that you will pay 2/3 of their salary on February 1st (with the other 1/3 paid the day after the trade deadline, week 17). The other list is your "dump" list - those players (everyone not on the "keeper" list) who you're casting back into the free agent pool.
February 1 is the day you receive the money your team earned the previous season, which is added to any monies that you still have unspent from previous seasons. It's also the day that the players on your "keeper" list get paid 2/3 of their salaries for the coming season. (Again, the other 1/3 being paid the day after the trade deadline of week 17)
So, for example, on 2/1/2012, your team is due to receive 500 VFBLs for their 2011 performance. This will be added to any money left over from previous seasons. From that, you will pay 2/3 the salaries of anyone on your "keeper" list. Another 10 VFBLs is placed in a "lockbox" for 2012. Half of this "lockbox" money (5 VFBLs) will be released to you after the regular season starts in April, and you can do what you want with it. The other half is held until after the trade deadline - it's a safeguard for teams who may end up short on cash and player usage near the end of a season.
Pre-Auction
OK, so now you have the beginnings of a team for the coming season, and some cash to play with in the free-agent auction. But just because you've "frozen" players doesn't mean you're necessarily done dealing. It just means the rules are a little different now. Any player you trade now, you've already paid 2/3 for his contract, so you want to make sure you get a fair return for him. And the same holds true for trades made from that point through the end of the season.
Here's a practical example to illustrate the difference. Let's say you owned Barry Bonds the previous season for 80 VFBLs and I owned Jason Tyner for 2 VFBLs. Come January 15th (this is before the "freeze" date), you've decided you want to scale back on player salaries, so you offer me Bonds for Tyner, straight up, and I accept. And when February 1 rolls around, I pay 58 VFBLs of the 88 his contract demands (remember the 10% raise?) for Bonds and you pay 2 VFBLs of the 3 his contract demands (also the 10% raise) for Tyner. In other words, we traded rights to sign players to contracts.
But now it's February 5th, and we're both having second thoughts. You offer to swap players back. Trouble is, I've already paid Bonds 58 VFBLs, and if I trade him back to you for Tyner straight up, I'm going to be out 56 VFBLs. So in such a case, I would probably insist on you giving me a substantial amount of cash, or maybe additional players, or maybe a little of both, to make up the difference before I made that trade.
Of course, that's not to say that there aren't trades made later in the season that are lopsided on the money side of things. It's common to see rebuilding teams trade high-salaried stars even-up for low-salaries prospects as the trade deadline looms, with no additional compensation in the mix. (Remember, you still owe 1/3 of every contract on your team the day after the week 17 trade deadline) In these instances, the rebuilding team is leveraging the star's marketability to try and get a head start on future seasons, while the other party is most likely leveraging their future in an effort to win now. But there's a limit to how much of this can be done, and we'll cover that in a second.
Auction
The VFBL Auction typically starts in mid-February. Each night, [a number of] randomly selected free agents are put up on an eBay-style auction board, and owners have 72 hours to place bids on those players' services. Bids are in increments of 1 VFBL. Like eBay, you can place a proxy bid on a player (that is, a maximum amount that you are willing to pay for the player, should another owner also end up bidding on him). You can bid on a player more than once. This goes on for several days until every free agent has been posted at least once.
By the end of the auction, you need to have at least 35 players (though no more than 40), with at least 18 batters and 14 pitchers. You'll also probably want to have a little cash left over in your coffers, the "lockbox" money notwithstanding.
Opening Day / Payroll "Cap"
On Opening Day, the total cost of your roster is noted for the purpose of establishing a "cap" on the amount of payroll you can have on your roster in a given year (40% above what you started with). On Opening Day 2012, your team's payroll totaled 500 VFBLs. Between now and the end of the season, that payroll was allowed to increase by no more than 40%, to a total of 700 VFBLs. Remember, when making trades, the player's salaries have already been 2/3 paid, so the purpose of the "cap" is merely to keep in check rampant stockpiling/dumping during the course of a season.
Remember that you may also have extra cash left in your coffers after the auction (plus the 5 VFBLs you'll get from the lockbox once season play starts) to play with in making deals.
In-Season Free Agents
In a typical VFBL season, there are usually about 10-20 position players and 50-60 pitchers who will be eligible for VFBL play, but will be unsigned. During the season, owners can request that these players be placed on the auction board, which is typically done on Thursdays for a 72-hour period. High bid takes the player (regardless of current league position), and you can pay for these players using money either from your lockbox or general funds.
Fines
From time to time, owners screw up. Often this is tied to a usage issue, or reactivating a disabled player too early, or making an illegal mid-week move, etc. When such things happen, the League Council will convene online and consider penalties. Once we've made a decision, we'll notify the offending party and tell them their punishment. The offending party can appeal the decision, providing any additional rationale why we should reconsider at that time. Fine money will usually be taken from general funds, but we may take it from a team's lockbox if their general funds are exhausted.
Rules to Remember to Avoid Fines
* Roster moves can only be made between series (weeks of play), not during, EXCEPT to put someone on the DL (and promote someone in their place) or reactivate someone from the DL (and demote someone to make room).
* All players placed on the DL must remain on the DL for a minimum of 15 days. If a player gets hurt on the 6th, and you DL him, he can't come back until the 22nd (or until his injury has healed, whichever is longer). So if a player is injured for less than 15 days, and you elect to put him on the DL, he still has to stay on the DL for no less than 15 days.
* Once a player has been farmed for over usage (more than 110%), he cannot be promoted for the rest of the season or postseason.
Usage Rules / Unlimited Players
Remember, when purchasing or trading, players are restricted to no more than 110% of their real-life usage. If a player exceeds 110% (as checked at the end of each week), he is farmed for the rest of the season and post-season, and cannot be traded (although the rights to that player are still retained by the team, provided they don't release him). If such a player is subsequently promoted, the offending owner faces a variety of penalties, including (but not limited to) loss of that player's rights, replay/forfeiture of games, fines, probation and/or expulsion.
As of the 2011 season the VFBL has adopted and will be using the "replacement level" rule. What this rule does is reduce the effectiveness of players that go over the 110% threshold. Players that go over the 110% playing time limits are reduced to replacement level players, which is a significant reduction in the ability to produce the same statistics as they would before 110%.
Trade Deadlines
Any trades made in a given week must be completed by the deadline for turning in games. Both teams must send verification of the trade to admin@vfbl.org before that deadline. The trade then takes effect with the next disk.
The trade deadline is at the conclusion of Week 17.