Financial Penalties

Last week, I talked about leagues where there are disincentives for going over a certain amount of your FAAB. Eugene mentioned a league he used to be in where the penalties were severe:

One league I used to do had a rule that if you bought a FAAB player for $25 or more you had to either keep him, or buy him out. The buy out was $50 or twice his salary, whichever was more. The money went into the prize pool.

It allowed teams to bid a lot, knowing it could cost them next year. A $70 Teixeira could help you win a lot of money last year, but he'd cost you an additional $140 this year.

I've actually moved away from leagues with what I'd call "event oriented" payments. These events are typically free agent acquisitions, but they can also be trades, FAAB penalties, or other payments into the pool. I think some owners like the excitement of seeing the kitty grow as the season moves along, but I don't like the idea of an owner thinking twice about picking up a free agent because he doesn't want to pay the transaction cost.

Penalties I do like are ones that dock teams freezes or auction dollars. That seems like a penalty that everyone would try to avoid. Financial penalties would be viewed differently by some owners than others. The guy in first place might be willing to pay that $140 penalty, since getting his name on the trophy is more important to him than the actual winnings, while the guy in 5th might not bother. I don't like the idea that a financial penalty might tilt the playing field toward the team that's already stronger.