I think several owners play stars and scrubs in these two leagues because they've seen the endgame play out over the last couple of years.John's definitely right; 2008 saw the same phenomenon play out in Sportsline, as $447 was spent on the top 12 hitters in the league. This year was even battier, as $506 was spent on the top 12 American League hitters, or $42 per hitter!!!
But just because the top owners are spending more money at the top doesn't mean that the profits at the bottom are getting all that much better.
2008 A.L. Expert League Hitter Prices and Values
(average per player)
| CBS Sal | CBS Val | LABR Sal | LABR Val | Tout Sal | Tout Val | |
| Tier #1 | $37 | $27 | $35 | $29 | $33 | $30 |
| Tier #2 | $29 | $23 | $27 | $22 | $26 | $20 |
| Tier #3 | $24 | $18 | $22 | $18 | $22 | $22 |
| Tier #4 | $20 | $18 | $19 | $21 | $18 | $14 |
| Tier #5 | $17 | $15 | $16 | $17 | $16 | $20 |
| Tier #6 | $14 | $17 | $14 | $13 | $14 | $13 |
| Tier #7 | $12 | $14 | $12 | $14 | $13 | $13 |
| Tier #8 | $10 | $10 | $10 | $11 | $11 | $9 |
| Tier #9 | $7 | $10 | $8 | $9 | $9 | $12 |
| Tier #10 | $4 | $9 | $6 | $8 | $7 | $7 |
| Tier #11 | $2 | $5 | $3 | $8 | $5 | $10 |
| Tier #12 | $2 | $9 | $2 | $7 | $3 | $4 |
| Tier #13 | $1 | $5 | $1 | $3 | $2 | $5 |
| Tier #14 | $1 | $2 | $1 | $2 | $1 | $3 |
| Totals | $180 | $181 | $177 | $181 | $178 | $182 |
The subject of how each Tout Wars team can earn $1 more per offense is better left to masochists. Or for another day.
The point of this exercise isn't to flagellate Sportsline because their 12 best hitters "only" earned $27 per player while Tout Wars' earned $30 per player. The point is to show that, despite all of the profits at the bottom, it's all irrelevant if you're blowing it at the top and then some.
I'm sure that some of you - always on the lookout for bargains - scanned the chart and gasped when you saw $2 and $9 for CBS in Tier 12. Good God! A $7 profit per player! The endgame looks much better in Sportsline than it does in the other expert leagues. Maybe John's theory is correct. Spend your money early and then wait for the endgame. The bargains are surely going to fall.
The problem with this is that Rotisserie is a zero sum game. And the teams that spent big on the top players did more than dial back to zero on the top players. They lost money.
I made this point last year about A-Rod and Miguel Cabrera, but it's so important that it's worth making again. Spend past a certain amount, and you will lose money on a player - especially in 5x5. And, sure enough, both A-Rod and Cabrera lost money in Sportsline last year, with A-Rod sucking $16 of value out of his team with his $54 bid while Miggy lost his owner $13 (I'm being charitable by leaving their 4x4 earnings in place here. The scorecard is a little worse with the 5x5 translation).
This year, with 10 hitter prices at $40 or more, I guarantee the heartbreak will be even greater.
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