Prelude to Winter Waivers

Gentlemen -

It is just about that magical time of year. The calendar turns to Winter, the breeze turns cold and blustery and the good, fine people of America decorate their houses in honor of The CFCL's Winter Waiver Season!

That's right, we are T-13 days away from the beginning of Winter Waivers. Your first cuts are due to me by 3pm, Sunday, January 1st. I will be sending my cuts to the Executive Committee before opening any of your e-mails, just to keep things legal.

I have uploaded an updated roster that shows players on rosters currently in the American League and also has been purged of all expiring contract players.

Your job is to cut down to 23 players. For Winter Waivers there are no position restrictions. You may keep 15 pitchers and eight minor leaguers if you want. It does not matter.

I encourage you all to visit the Constitution to remind yourselves of the process, but certainly if you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me.

I hope you find what you're looking for under the tree this year. Personally I'm hoping Santa has a low-priced quality starter earmarked for Rebel Headquarters.

CFCL Head Into the Off-Season

Some crazy-ass ballots have been submitted. The votes have been tallied and all will be revealed at the Banquet. Right now it looks like we won't be gathering until some time in November - more details will be forthcoming. Nine of the ten owners have indicated their intentions for 2012. Here's what we know so far.

The Kenndoza Line have neither confirmed, nor denied their intention to compete next year.
Dem Rebels will be returning for their 29th season.
David's Ruffins will be returning for their 27th season.
DoorMatts will be returning for their 19th season.
Graging Bulls will be returning for their 13th season.
Morkertzuma's Revenge will be returning for their 5th season.
Candy Colored Clowns will be returning for their 5th season.
Twin Killers will be returning for their 3rd season.
Stranger Danger will be returning for their 2nd season.

It is with great sadness that we report that after six seasons, Mo's Red Hots have decided to close their doors. Something about the pressure being too great to stay ahead of Dem Rebels each season. I would like to thank Bob for six wonderful years and wish him all the best in his Non-CFCL future.

So that leads to us finding at least one more owner for 2012. If you have a neighbor, co-worker, Facebook friend, hell even a twin brother who likes the Cubs, see if they're interested in being considered for ownership. In a perfect world I would love to have everything in place before Winter Waivers so the new owner can get a feel for their team and begin building in their own way.

Let me know if you have any leads.

Wrapping Up 2011

The Ruffin captured The Copperfield Ball for the second year in a row and all that's left is handing out the awards. To that end, the ballots have been e-mailed. Here are some things we have to work on now.

Please vote for each category and get your ballots back as soon as possible. I need each owner to submit their votes. Last year there were some categories that literally came down to the final voter.

Once we have the ballots back we can then officially have our banquet. We'll do it again at Home Run Inn in Darien on 75th street. Please let me know your availability for Friday, Saturday or Sunday afternoons/evenings. So far only one owner has mentioned any possible availability.

I also need everyone to let me know their intentions of returning next year or not. As a courtesy to the league, if you know you're not returning, letting us know early is best. The league will have to consider a replacement owner(s) and with Winter Waivers looming a few months from now, having an owner in place to that is paramount.

That gets us to Winter Waivers. Certainly you don't have to submit your cuts until, as it turns out, 3pm on New Year's Day (the first Sunday in January). This is just an early reminder in case you want to start thinking about who your keepers are. I would encourage each of you to visit the Constitution and read (or re-read) the rules of Winter Waivers so you have a clear understanding on how it works.

A new roster (without expiring contract players and "S" contract players) has also been posted at the link on your right.

So to wrap up. Two very important items at this point. VOTE! And let me know if you're coming back for CFCL 2012 (We're Not Even Halfway There!)

Ruffins Repeat in 2011

Congratulations to the 2011 CFCL Champion - David's Ruffins! In an amazing final week of the season the Ruffins came out of seemingly no where to capture their second consecutive title and fourth overall.

Kenndoza Line gave a valiant effort but came up just short. And the Revenge, oh the Revenge. They captured the final money slot after leading for most of the year. Interestingly the Revenge fell behind the Line, into third, by losing a point to the Bulls in ERA on the final night. The Revenge didn't pitch on Wednesday. Stephen Strasbourg of the Bulls did and posted six scoreless innings, which was enough to push the Bulls past the Revenge in ERA and drop the Revenge to third.

As recently as September 22nd (SIX DAYS AGO, FOLKS!) the top four in the standings looked like this:

Revenge 76

Kenndoza Line 74.5

DoorMatts 71

Ruffins 67

Somehow, some way the Ruffins made up nine points in six days. We have had some amazing finishes in CFCL history, but this ranks right up there as the best.

Securing the Sweet Spot (trademark - Candy Colored Clowns) are the DoorMatts. They will have the use of the full compliment of the Home Team Discount budget. Here's a look at the HTD.

DoorMatts .06

Garrett Jones

Dan Uggla

Shane Victorino

Luke Gregerson

Josh Johnson

Carlos Marmol

Mo's Red Hots .05

Ryan Braun

Stephen Drew

Bronson Arroyo

Dem Rebels .04

Brian Wilson

Graging Bulls

No eligible players

Candy Colored Clowns

No eligible players

Twin Killers .02

Sergie Romo

Stranger Danger

No eligible players

Some other housekeeping notes:

- The 2011 Final Roster has been posted to the link on the right. Shortly I will be cleaning the roster of all 11(!) and S contracts, so make sure you download the end of year version soon.

- I have yet to hear any feedback on availability for the CFCL Banquet. Usually we like to make sure that the CFCL Champion is available, but I'm sure Dave won't be flying in to accept his trophy and money. So we'll revert to a majority rules decision.

- I will work on putting together the CFCL Awards Ballot as quickly as possible. If you have someone on your team that you feel deserves consideration for a specific award, please e-mail me. Keep in mind - THIS IS NOT THE ALL-STAR GAME! A player from each team does not need to be represented in each category. So whomever you submit for consideration, please make sure they are worthy of the award.

Once again, congratulations to the Ruffins! Looks like they are focused on surpassing the Copperfields for most championships in the shortest time possible.

CFCL Miscellaneous

An updated Roster Excel spreadsheet has finally been posted to the link on your right. I apologize for the delay (delinquency) in having it updated recently.

Since we are officially half way through September, that means two things.

1) The Cubs are officially eliminated from the Division Race and,

2) It's time to start preparing for the CFCL Banquet.

Traditionally we have met some time in fall (or winter, depending on our schedules) at the Home Run Inn in Darien. To keep things easy, we'll keep that as our location unless someone has major objections.

I will be putting together the ballot for the CFCL Awards. While I will try to do as comprehensive of a job as possible, I always welcome any suggestions from you. If there is someone on your team (or in the NL) that you feel needs to be on the ballot, please feel free to e-mail me to make sure that that player is included.

I will also need some feedback from each of you as to which dates your are available for attending the banquet. I would assume our out of town owners won't be attending, so the remaining eight, please let me know if you plan on attending and, if so, which dates work best for you. We'll work on a "majority rules" basis, showing no favoritism, though we typically like to the the current year's champion in attendance. The Ruffins thumbed their nose at that preference last year, and believe you me that was noted in their permanent file.

Usually we focus on either a Saturday or Sunday afternoon or evening but as I mentioned we can let majority rule.

E-mail me if you have any questions about the Post-Season Process.

Free Agent Bidding Reminder

Just a quick reminder that this Sunday (August 28th) is your last chance to pick up a player via FAAB and keep them going into next year should you so choose. Everyone acquired starting on September 4th will be assigned a contract of "S" which means they are immediately released at the end of the season.

Happy spending.

Getting caught up with trades

To make things official and for a complete archived record, there were two deadline trades made.

The Clowns added to their prospect rich roster by acquiring Zach Wheeler (.02 Mx) and Jonathan Singleton (.05 Mx) from the Revenge in exchange for flavor of the month Ryan Vogelsong (.05 13+) and Francisco Cordero (.17 12+). The hope here was that this deal could hold of the active and hard charging Ruffins.

Not to be deterred, the Ruffins swung this deal with the Rebels. They acquired Hiroki Kuroda (.31 13+) and Eli Whiteside (.05 13+) for Rubby DeLaRosa who must have been in Dr. Andrews admitting office at the time of the deal.

Rebels and Danger Work a Buster

Jealous that earlier in the day the Ruffins had cornered the market on all available Drews, the Rebels shored up their pitching staff by acquiring Chris Carpenter (.31 13+) and Chris Narveson (.05 13+) from the Danger in exchange for Hanley Ramirez (.49 13+).

Weeks Won't Keep Ruffins Down

Despite having traded Neil Walker minutes before Rickie Weeks forgot how to run to first, the Ruffins are undeterred and made a move to shore up their 2B slot.

The Ruffins traded Ricky Nolasco (.12 13+), Zach Braddock (.06 13+) and their 4th and 14th picks to the Bulls in exchange for Kelly Johnson (.20 12+), the lame duck Colby Rasmus (.04 X) and the Bulls 9th round pick.

Bulls - Rebels Continue Trading Frenzy

The Bulls and Rebels completed a deal that can best be viewed as building for the future for both teams.

The Bulls acquired Anibal Sanchez (.02 13+) and the Rebels 8th round pick in exchange for minor league speed demon (and Candy Clown heart throb) Billy Hamilton (.05 Mx), Mike Minor (.05 12+) and the Bulls 4th round pick.

Money Ball

Allow me to put on my Roger Ebert hat for a moment. I've seen the trailer for the new movie Money Ball starring Brad Pitt. Based on the book by the same name it's a movie that chronicles Wunderkid Billy Bean and his approach to running the Oakland A's.

Based only on the trailer, it looks like a wonderful movie. It's baseball, it's true (or as true as Hollywood will allow it to be), it star Brad Pitt displaying his dry humor (think Ocean's Eleven/Twelve/Thirteen in baseball cleats) and (perhaps best of all) it has Pitt looking a bit worse for wear. Don't know if it's the camera, the makeup or maybe Brad is just showing some age like the rest of us. What's not to like? Hopefully the rest of the movie will hold up.

Clowns and Ruffins At It Again

The Clowns sent out a Going Out Of Business Sale ad and the Ruffins ran to the store with a shopping cart.

Solidifying their outfield and bullpen, the Ruffins acquired Drew Storen (.10 12+) and Drew Stubbs (.05 11) in exchange for Neil Walker (.05 12+) and Brandon Beachy (.01 13+).

In the Ruffins words "I will now begin the difficult task of acquiring JD and Stephen Drew just for the hell of it."

Clowns - Ruffins Engage in Trade

The Ruffins are not letting the Revenge take the easy road to victory. Swapping pitching and future for some hopeful recovering offense the Ruffins made this deal with the Clowns.

Ruffins send Mike Leake (.01 13+) and Arodys Vizcaino (.05 Mx) to the Clowns for Ubaldo Jimenez (.27 13+) and Carlos Gomez (.07 13+)

Recapping IFAB Day

The planets have aligned to make this years Interleague Free Agent Bid (IFAB) Day a little more complicated. On top of that, since we enter our own bids on OnRoto there's a wrinkle we need to work around.

Here's the deal. In a normal year the IFAB Day (August 1st) is the day after the Major League Trade Deadline (July 31st). Both of those are still true this year. Normally the ML Trade Deadline does not fall on our Transaction Day. This is not true this year. July 31st is this Sunday. So that means we have normal Transactions and Free Agent Bids on Sunday the 31st. THIS YEAR we have IFAB (Bids on players that have come over to the NL on the Trade Deadline Day) Day on Monday, August 1st.

Here's the wrinkle. OnRoto is set for us to make transactions on Sunday and Friday. We cannot add a Monday transaction day. Well, actually we can but not without screwing up other parts of player movement. I won't bore you with the details, but I will tell you that your EC has been hard at work weighing the options and your OnRoto Czar, M. Coulter, has been even harder at work trying to figure out how to make this all work.

Here's what we've come up with. Sunday is a normal transaction day where you can make changes to your roster and make free agent bids on any player OTHER THAN A PLAYER WHO WAS TRADED TO THE NL ON SUNDAY! I give you the Constitution:

"Interleague Free Agent Bid (IFAB) Day

On the day immediately following the MLB Interleague Trading Deadline, the CFCL will hold a special sealed bid auction. Players who were traded from the American League to the National League on the day of the trading deadline, as well as any other free agents, are eligible to be bid upon on IFAB Day.

Players who are traded from the American League to the National League on the same day as the MLB Interleague Trading Deadline (typically July 31) are not eligible to be bid upon until IFAB Day, even if the trading deadline occurs on a Sunday. In other words, if July 31 falls on a Sunday and an AL player is traded to the NL at 9:00 on Sunday morning, that player cannot be bid upon until the next day, even though he was in the NL prior to the 3:00 PM Sunday transaction deadline."

As you can see, Former Co-Commissioner and Current Owner Emeritus, David Mahlan, anticipated a year like this and has laid out in plain English how things will happen. The only thing he couldn't have anticipated is what stat service we would be using. So on Sunday you do what you always do. Make bids, don't make bids, make changes to your lineup. If a player is traded over to the NL on Sunday THEY ARE NOT ELIGIBLE TO BE BID ON.

On Monday (August 1st), here's what you need to do. Submit bids on ANY PLAYER (whether they were traded from the AL or not) to David's e-mail address. I'm not posting that information here, it has been included in an e-mail to you. You must submit your bids to David's e-mail address by 3pm Monday, August 1st.

Any e-mails David receives prior to 3pm, Monday August 1st will then be forwarded to OnRoto Czar Coulter who will sort through the bids and assign the players to the appropriate teams and e-mail the teams to let them know if they received the player.

Any e-mail getting to David's InBox after 3pm WILL NOT be forwarded to M. Coulter.

As you can see, there's a bunch of moving parts in a normal year. This year there's even more. Coupled with that, I will be heading out of town this Friday so other than updating the Excel Spreadsheet I won't be able to provide Mike much support in a timely manner.

I say all of that to say this. Please be judicious in your bidding. By that I mean, by all means place bids and contingency bids. But don't submit four e-mails saying "OK, follow the first two bids of the first e-mail, but change the third bid from the second e-mail so that I have the fourth bid in this e-mail." Mike has enough work to do without trying to decipher multi-layers of bids from one owner over several e-mails.

If you have any questions, please e-mail me before Friday. One last piece of information. Here are the remaining budgets for all the teams:

Revenge - .57; Killers - .85; Danger - .75; DoorMatts - .18; Dem Rebels - .64; Bulls - .35; Ruffins - .48; Clowns - .40; Red Hots - .40; Line - .58

Killers Keep Trading

The Killers keep acquiring inexpensive talent preparing for next year's draft. This time they picked up Aaron Harang (.01 13+) from the Bulls in exchange for the Killers' 7th Round Draft Pick.

Killers and Rebels make deal

Since the trading hat was already on, the Killers decided to keep dealing, this time bolstering their pitching staff.

The Killers acquired Paul Maholm (.02 13+), Charlie Morton (.05 13+) and Sergio Romo (.01 11). Dem Rebels attempted to bolster their meager offense by receiving in return Jose Reyes (.29 12+) and Jason Heyward (.10 12+).

Red Hots/Killers swing deal

The trading season flew into full force this morning with a couple of trades. The Red Hots and Killers opened with a seven player deal that saw a significant amount of salary switch sides. The Red Hots, with the Revenge squarely in their crosshairs, acquired James Loney (.21 12+), Shawn Marcum (.33 13+) and Marlon Byrd (.18 13+) from the Killers. The Red Hots sent Greg Dobbs (.05 13+), Homer Bailey (.01 13+), David Hernandez (.05 13+) and Roger Bernadina (.05 12+) to the Killers.

The deal puts the Red Hots in immediate jeopardy of the salary cap, but they gain some relief at noon today when the cap increases from 3.00 to 3.50.

Ruffins and Bulls Report Trade

Not wanting to lay down down to the mighty Revenge, the Ruffins struck a deal to bolster their pitching.

The Ruffins trade Anthony Rizzo (.05 13+), Wilton Ramos (.03 13+) and their 8th round pick in the 2012 Rotation Draft to the Bulls for Wandy Rodriguez (.08 11!), Francisco Rodriguez (.22 13+) and Mike Leake (.01 13+).

The Natural Day

Celebrating the 27th anniversary of the Ryne Sandberg Game we have our 1st Annual The Natural Day wherein the team with the most TB+R+RBI on their ACTIVE roster wins a $25 gift card to mlb.com.

The evening started off slow since we had a partial slate of games. By 8:07pm (CDT) the totals were:

Ruffins - 13

Bulls - 12

Danger - 12

Red Hots (looking for a clean gift card sweep) - 10

Killers - 7

Revenge - 6

Clowns - 5

DoorMatts - 0

Rebels - 0

An hour later at 9:17 some jumbling took place:

Bulls - 17

Danger - 14

Ruffins - 13

Red Hots - 10

Revenge - 7

Killers - 7

Clowns - 7

Line - 4

DoorMatts - 2

Rebels - 0

But by the end of the night the Ruffins ran away to hide:

Ruffins - 23

Bulls - 17

Danger - 15

Revenge - 11

Red Hots - 11

Killers - 10

DoorMatts - 8

Clowns - 7

Line - 4

Rebels - 0

Congratulations to the Ruffins, winner of a $25 mlb.com gift card!

Next up, August 8th - Lights Out Loser (LOL) for the team with the lowest production from their active roster (both offense and pitching). No gift card, just the embarrassment of being on the CFCL Internet Headquarters Marquee for the rest of the season.

First Blockbuster Deal of the Season

Not waiting for the rest of the league to catch up now that Pujols has his wrist elevated for six-eight weeks, the Revenge pulled the trigger on a blockbuster with the Clowns. Here are the particulars:

The Clowns send Matt Holliday (.44 12+), Brandon Phillips (.29 12+), Javier Lopez (.10 13+), Ryan Roberts (.05 13+) and Ramon Hernandez (.09, 13+)

to the Revenge for Freddie Freeman (.05 13+), Pedro Alvarez (.05 12+), Francisco Cordero (.17 13+), Chris Heisey (.10 13+) and minor league pitcher Casey Kelly (.05 mx).

Clowns - Line Open Trading Season

The Candy Colored Clowns and Kenndoza Line have open Trading Season - CFCL 2011 by swapping pitchers of the present for pitchers of the present/future.

The Line trade Craig Kimbrel (.05 13+) and Jordan Lyles (.05 13+) to the Clowns for the Hudson brothers - Tim Hudson (.10 12+) and Daniel Hudson (.06 12+) [what Chicago company used to advertise with the deep voiced guy singing the phone number HUdson 3-2700?].

By making this deal Kimbrel and Lyles contracts move from 13x to 13+, but the Clowns start building an inexpensive staff of the future that will allow them to overpay for Cincinnati Red pitchers again at next year's draft.

Happy Father's Day and stuff

First of all let me offer a big CFCL Happy Father's Day to all you daddy-o's out there. I think the greatest father's day wish was posted on Facebook earlier today by our own Mike Bentel of the Twin Killers. His post? "Hey dad, wanna have a catch?" Brilliant on so many levels.

CFCL Reminder: This Thursday is June 23rd and thus is The Natural Day. To win the $25 mlb.com gift card your team needs to amass the most TB, Runs and RBIs on its ACTIVE roster. Unfortunately Thursday is not scheduled for a full slate of NL games.

Enjoy the weekend! Go have a catch.

The Injury Bug

The recent run of e-mail bemoaning injuries made me wonder if any one team is more affected by injuries than another. So I put together a list (below) of players that are CURRENTLY on the DL. This list does not take into consideration players that were on the DL but have been activated, players that were demoted to the minors or players that are under performing. It appears the Baseball Gods hate all CFCL teams.

Dem Rebels

LaRoche

McLouth

Bourgeois

Zito

Casilla

Parnell

Clowns

N. Morgan

Lidge

Chapman

Wainright (started season on DL)

Ruffins

Wright

D. Murphy

Beachy

Braddock

Red Hots

Broxton

Padilla

DoorMatts

Victorino

Thames

Blake

Uribe

J. Johnson

Killers

Heyward

Byrd

Pagan

Laird

Wells

Kenndoza Line

Contreras

Freese

Kuo

Punto

Soto

Demel

Revenge

Alvarez

Blanton

Schneider

Lyon

Bulls

DeLaRosa

Cashner

Sandoval

Santana (Started season on DL)

Garza

Strasburg (Started season on DL)

Stranger Danger

DeRosa

Hundley

I. Davis

Duke

Ohlendorf

Medlen

K-Wood Winner

There was stiff competition to win the first MLB giftcard via K-Wood Day. The DoorMatts missed out by a day with Halladay and Josh Johnson pitching on the 5th. The Clowns tried to channel K Wood karma by having the award's namesake active, lo Kerry logged only one strikeout, just nineteen fewer than he did thirteen years ago.

The Ruffins logged 17 Ks in 10 innings. The Revenge nabbed 20 strikeouts, falling just short. But ultimately the Red Hots nabbed the $25 prize with a total of 25 Ks, riding the coattails of Cliff Lee's 16 strikeouts.

Congratulations to Bob! Your mlb.com gift card is on its way to your e-mailbox.

Correcting some Issues

Proving that it's always a good idea to check your work, the CFCL Front Office has had to make some corrections to contracts on a couple of players. The DoorMatts noticed two mistakes on their roster. Madison Bumgarner was incorrectly assigned an 11 contract. Bumgarner was acquired as a minor leaguer in the 2009 Rotation Draft. He then was activated by the DoorMatts during the 2010 season which should have given him a contract status of 12x. That's not what happened and somehow the contract ended up as 11. The correct status (which is on the current Roster Excel Spreadsheet) is 12x.

Also from the DoorMatts roster, Jair Jurrjens was assigned a contract of 12!. Jurrjens was signed to a two year deal going into the 2010 season, so his contract status should have been 11! This also has been corrected on the spreadsheet.

I deeply apologize for the errors. Fortunately they did not impact that budget of the DoorMatts on Draft Day.

I would also like to pass along a HUGE thank you to the DoorMatts for their honesty. They could have kept their mouth shut and had Jurrjens for an extra year at a discounted price.

Probably the best thing about this league above all others - the integrity of the owners.

DON'T FORGET!!! Next week, Friday May 6th, is K-Wood Day. The CFCL team with the most strikeouts from the pitchers on their ACTIVE roster will win the first $50 gift certificate to mlb.com.

FAAB Results

Gentlemen -

It looks like everyone understands how to submit Free Agent Bids at OnRoto - thanks in LARGE part to Mike's excellent descriptive e-mail.

Not only does OnRoto allow us to submit our moves directly to the website, rather than sending it in via e-mail, they also allow us to see the results of the bidding.

When you go to OnRoto, on the left-hand side under the LEAGUE PAGES heading, hover over "Transaction Logs". That will activate a drop down menu to the right. Click on either "View Bid-Meister Results" or "View Bid-Meister Bids" and you will see everyone's bids for that week.

Since we can see all that on our stats site, I will not be reposting the bids and results here at the Front Office. For the most part, this site will be used (during the season) for major announcements, rule interpretations, feedback requests from owners and the like.

I encourage you to stop by every week or so, to make sure you don't miss out on any important news or announcements.

Roster Freeze Day

Gents - Before I give you the final lineup changes for tomorrow's draft, let me just say that Kerry Wood is the luckiest guy on the face of the earth. He gets to pitch for the Cubs and, today, he was able to catch the first pitch thrown out by Robert Redford and then snagged his autograph. Doesn't get better than that. Now on to our business. I've posted updated rosters for your download pleasure that reflects the moves teams have made in reaction to Disabled List announcements. Your OnRoto Guru has also updated the rosters at OnRoto. Here is the breakdown of money and players needed at the draft. Ruffins have .73 to draft 9 players Revenge .92 for 9 players Clowns 1.05 for 12 players Twin Killers 1.20 for 9 players Graging Bulls 1.31 for 13 players Kenndoza Line 1.53 for 9 players Red Hots 1.90 for 14 players DoorMatts .61 for 8 players Dem Rebels 1.91 for 14 players Stranger Danger 1.69 for 11 players Please, please, please verify the numbers on the roster and OnRoto. Those are the figures and rosters we will use tomorrow. That's it!! See you tomorrow in 22 and a half hours!

Roster Freeze Official

OK Boys, the cuts are finally in and a new roster has been uploaded to the link on the right. Here's a breakdown of who did what. Contract Penalty Qualls .05 penalty DoorMatts McLouth .05 penalty Revenge X Year Exercised Colby Rasmus .04X Bulls Signed LTC Contracts Andrew McCutchen 3 years .15 Revenge Matt Cain 2 years .15 Revenge Tommy Hanson 2 years .07 Revenge Mat Latos 2 years .07 Revenge Cody Ross 2 years .15 Stranger Danger Skip Schumaker 2 years .06 Stranger Danger Ryan Zimmerman 2 years .27 Stranger Danger Mike Adams 2 years .10 Stranger Danger Michael Bourn 2 years .15 DoorMatts Jay Bruce 2 years .08 Clowns Big Salaries Cut Jimmy Rollins .30 Brian McCann .25 Matt Kemp .46 Aramis Ramirez .26 Jayson Werth .32 Ryan Howard .40 Chase Utley .40 Carlos Beltran .29 Aroldis Chapman .17 Francisco Rodriguez .26 Winter Waivers Kept Jonny Gomes Dem Rebels .01 Ben Francisco Red Hots .02 Ivan Rodriguez Twin Killers .05 Alfonso Soriano Bulls .17 Chris Snyder Bulls .03 Devin Mesoraco Clowns .05 Money Per Team Dem Rebels 1.93 13 players needed (14.8 per player) Red Hots 1.90 13 players (14.6) Revenge .92 8 players (11.5) Stranger Danger 1.69 11 players (15.3) Twin Killers 1.20 9 players (13.3) DoorMatts .61 8 players (7.6) Graging Bulls 1.31 13 players (10.0) Clowns 1.05 10 players (10.5) Ruffins .73 9 players (8.1) Kenndoza Line 1.53 8 players (19.1)

Last Minute Blockbuster

As the clock ticks down to Roster Freeze, the Clowns and Line couldn't resist making a deal for the ages.

The Clowns trade the Line's third round pick back to the Line (yeah, you read that right) in exchange for Devin Mesoraco (.05 W) (original Clown draft pick) and current Line Winter Waiver Claim.

So basically Kenn gets back what was his and Mike gets back what was his.

Editorial Comment - The Butler Bulldogs are awesome!

2011 National League Spring Training Rosters

Here it is - my first post-retirement post at the old CFCL Front Office.

As you are probably aware, Matt G. has been tracking National League roster moves this spring - as he has done for the past couple years since taking over the task.  The results of his labors - up-to-date spring training rosters for all the National League teams - have now been posted in the Download Center. Enjoy!

Revenge - Rebels make a deal

The Revenge further stabilized their bullpen and freed up some room for their talented minor league promotions. The Revenge traded surplus firstbaseman Adam LaRoche (.10 11+) and outfielder Jonny Gomes (.01 W) along with their 8th and 13th round picks to Dem Rebels for Leo Nunez (.01 11+) and the Rebels 7th and 14th round picks.

2011 Pre Draft Schedule and Fun

Alrighty boys, despite all the snow on the ground progress is being made in Florida and Arizona to bring us baseball at the end of next month! That means it's almost time for the best day of the year - - DRAFT DAY!!! Below is a bunch of information regarding timelines, fees, and some new things I think you'll enjoy. Grab yourself a beverage and a snack bar and settle in. It's a long post.

Batting Leadoff - House Cleaning.
A while back I sent you your Owner Profile with new questions for 2011. If you haven't responded, please do (and if your name is Stranger Danger - a full Team Profile would be greatly appreciated).

Batting second - Timeline. Here's the timeline we're going to follow:

Roster Cut Sheets E-mailed - Monday, March 21, 2011
Roster Freeze Day - Sunday, March 27, 2011 (Cuts are due back and no more trades allowed)
Keeper/Cuts Announced - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 (Announcement probably sooner, but this will be my deadline).
Hard Freeze Day - Friday, April 1, 2011 (No joke - no more movement on the roster)
Draft Day - 1pm Saturday, April 2, 2011 (PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE plan on arriving at noon or shortly thereafter. The Ruffins will invoke their Privilege at 1pm SHARP!)

Batting third - Draft Location
We will be drafting in an opulent building in downtown Naperville. The exact address will be e-mailed at a later date. However we will have access to a fridge and microwave. The room we're drafting in has plenty of outlets for laptops though we'll need to bring extension cords/power strips. THERE IS NO INTERNET ACCESS AT THE BUILDING!!

Hitting Cleanup - Fees
This year the fees remain at $120 per team. Since OnRoto isn't making us pay until sometime in May, there is no need to send your payments in early. Please bring a check or cash to the draft. Kenn, if you want to make your brother pay for you (not unlike Tom Sawyer) feel free to do so.

Now for the fun part!!!!

Something Old
Your Executive Committee has been hard at work this off-season. We have discovered that OnRoto will allow us to have both FAAB and Waivers. All of us know what FAAB is. But only those long in the CFCL tooth know what Waivers is. I sent out an e-mail recently asking you to vote on whether to reinstate waivers [thank you to the seven owners who voted, giving us a simple majority to bring back waivers]. Here's a quick synopsis of waivers - we'll talk more in detail at the draft.

When you need to get rid of a player from your roster (due to a lopsided trade or acquiring another player via FAAB) we used to simply "release" or "drop" that player back into the Free Agent Pool. Now that we have waivers, that player will be "waived". Waiver period runs from when transactions are announced on Sunday through the following Sunday 3pm transaction deadline.

Players that are on Long Term Contracts (even in their final year) may not be waived. Players traded to the AL during the season may not be waived. If their original CFCL team doesn't want that player any longer, the player is released and cannot be reacquired unless he comes back to the National League.

Players that are acquired via waiver will retain their contract status. Their salary will be their current salary or .10 which ever is greater.

Waivers work in reverse order of the standings. As I said - We'll talk about all the details on Draft Day. The specific verbage regarding waivers will be added to the Constitution once David gets a chance.

Something New

This one come from the Creative Department of the DoorMatts.

K Wood Day - Each season, startng in 2011, the CFCL team whose active pitching staff records the most strikeouts on May 6th wins a $25 gift card to mlb.com.

The Natural Day - Each season, starting in 2011, the CFCL team whose active roster produces the highest aggregate total of total bases + runs + runs batted in on June 23rd wins a $25 gift card to mlb.com.

Lights Out Day - Each season, starting in 2011, the CFCL team whose active roster produces the lowest number of points on August 8th will be named Lights Out Loser and have that moniker posted on the CFCL Internet Headquarters marquee for the remainder of the season.

The above three dates symbolize significant dates in Chicago Cub history since the CFCL has been in existence. We've chosen to commemorate Kerry Wood's 20 strikeout performance, The Sandberg Game and lights being turned on at Wrigley Field with the above rewards.

Something Borrowed

To cover the gift cards for K Wood and The Natural Days, we will use the money we saved from switching from CBS to OnRoto. Here's a breakdown of costs.

Stat Service $99
Trophy Ball $7
Trophy $14
Prize Pool $1030
Gift Cards $50

Total $1200 ($120 per team). The cost for CBS is $160, so by spending $100 on OnRoto and $50 on gift cards we actually are able to increase our prize pool by $10 without increasing fees.

Something Blue
I've got nothing here. Cub fans, think Cubbie Blue. Reds and White Sox fans . . . look at the sky.

That's it for now. Thanks for getting to the end of the post - hope it was worth it.

Clowns/Revenge Trade

Not waiting until Draft Day to swing their wallet around, the Revenge solidified their offense and pitching by giving up a little of their future and a lot of their cash.

The Candy Colored Clowns traded Albert Pujols (.50, 11+) and Francisco Cordero (.17, 12+) to the Revenge in exchange for Drew Storen (.10, 12+), Fernando Martinez (.05, Mx) and Christian Friedrich (.05, Mx).

This marks the first trade recorded since we've switched to OnRoto for our stat service. The Stat Czar is giddy with excitement!

Draft Day 2011 Set

Well we are a democratic group of ba***rds, I will say that. We had votes for each day and each time slot. Ultimately it came down to travel plans for the Ruffins vs. work schedules for the Clowns and Red Hots. The Clowns and Red Hots were able to coordinate things so that our Draft Day will be Saturday, April 2nd at 1pm.

I will have an exact address that will be e-mailed to you soon along with the ammenities that we do and don't have.

End of Winter Waivers - 2011

Winter Waivers 2011 came to a predictable end when Jenrry Mejia slipped into the Free Agent Pool.

Trade season is open and active (see post below).

Now we move on to Draft Preparations. I will provide all of you with specifics to the ammenities of the draft location once we lock in on a draft day and time (still waiting on one owner to respond) and once we make a decision the stat service (haven't heard back from anyone, though some of you may have contacted the Stats Czar directly which would be appropriate).

Revenge - Twin Killers Trade

With the Trade Season officially open, the Revenge and Twin Killers broke the ice by swapping pitchers.

Convinced that Carlos Zambrano (.08 12+) wasn't going to the Yankees, the Killers acquired Big Z from the Revenge in exchange for Huston Street (.08 11+) in a QS for H/S deal.

Winter Waiver 2011 - Round 3

It just won't die. THE CLOWNS just won't let it die. Guaranteeing a Round 4, the Clowns successfully submitted a claim.

Clowns
Phillipe Aumont .02M (Jenrry Mejia .05)

Anyone wanting Mejia has until Sunday, the 16th at 3pm to claim him. DUDE, DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE BEARS ARE PLAYING ON SUNDAY? AND AFTER THAT, "STRAIGHT NO CHASER" IS GOING TO BE ROCKING IT ON NBC FOR THE SKATING EXHIBITION?

This is going in your permanent file and not reflect kindly on you at Draft Day when you need a certain owner to blink.

Scott - still looking for a team name.

Everone else - please read the next post here at the Front Office and let me know what is your preferred Draft Day and time.

Preparing for Draft Day

Draft Day is fast approaching (pitchers and catcher report in about four weeks!) This year's draft will be held on the weekend of April 2nd-3rd in an opulent office building in downtown Naperville.

The task now before us is to decide the time and date of the draft. Access to the building is available either Saturday or Sunday. We have one out of towner with a travel schedule (since Kenn decided to wuss out because Kenndoza #2 will be arriving).

Last year we drafted on a Saturday and started at 1pm. The entire draft (including Rotation Picks) lasted just over seven hours. That doesn't mean we have to do it again this year (the Saturday draft - not the seven hours), but feedback to the Saturday draft was favorable.

So here's what I need you to do. Consult your calendars and loved ones (not necessarily in that order) and e-mail me your preferred day to draft. Majority will rule unless someone absolutely cannot make it on a given day. Also provide me with your preferred start time. I would suggest we keep this simple, so choose between an 8am start and a 1pm start.

As a follow up to our discussion at the Banquet, your Exeutive Committee is hard at work researching the OnRoto and Fanball stat services to see if they are more viable options to CBS Sportsline. This is your LAST CHANCE to have an opinion. Once we (the EC) finish our research we will be providing you with a comparison of the sites and then putting things up for a vote. If you would like to voice your thoughts, go visit each website and share your findings with the league.

One last piece of business - - Hey Scott? We're still waiting for a team name!

Winter Waiver 2011 - Round 2

Some familiar faces available again.

Dem Rebels
Randy Wolf .10 (Tom Gorzelanny .10)
Derek Lowe .17 (Santiago Casilla .05)
Jimmy Rollins .30 (Emelio Bonifacio .05)

Revenge
Jonny Gomes .01 (Phillippe Aumont .02M)

Bulls
Chris Snyder .03 (Chad Durbin .05)

Red Hots
Brian McCann .25 (Wade LeBlanc .07)
Ernesto Frieri .05 (Kyle Kendrick .05)

Less spirited action in the second round despite the increase in available talent. The players listed in ( ) are eligible to be claimed by Thursday, January 13th, 3pm. Here are all the claims that were submitted.

Dem Rebels
Randy Wolf
*Chris Snyder
*Jonny Gomes
Derek Lowe
Jimmy Rollins

Twin Killers
None

Kenndoza Line
None

Copperfields
None

Revenge
*Jonny Gomes

Bulls
*Jonny Gomes
*Chris Snyder

Red Hots
*Jonny Gomes
Brian McCann
*Chris Snyder
Ernesto Frieri

DoorMatts
None

Clowns
None

Ruffins
None

Winter Waiver 2011 - Round 1

Here are the results of the first round of Winter Waivers. If you would like to claim someone listed in the parenthesis for Round 2, you have until Sunday, January 9th at 3pm.

Dem Rebels
Everth Cabrera .06 (Derrek Lee .19)
Yunesky Maya .07 (Ryan Spilbourghs .10)

Twin Killers
Matt Belisle .05 (Esmalian Caridad .15)
Ivan Rodrigues .05 (Jesus Flores .04)

Kenndoza Line
Devin Mesoraco .05 (Nate Schierholtz .05)
Sean Burnett .08 (Ronny Paulino .02)

Copperfields
None

Revenge
Josh Vitters .02M (Randy Wolf .10)

Bulls
Alfonso Soriano .17 (Brian McCann .25)
Brad Penny .01 (Derrek Lowe .17)

Red Hots
Homer Bailey .05 (Joel Peralta .05)
Ben Francisco .02 (Scott Podsednik .24)
Kevin Correia .01 (Kyle McClellan .10)
Kyle Kendrick .05 (Orlando Cabrera .10)
Wilson Ramos .05 (Burke Badenhop .06)
Wade LeBlanc .07 (Carlos Lee .25)

DoorMatts
None

Clowns
Carlos Beltran .19 (Chris Snyder .03)
Jenrry Mejia .05 (Jonny Gomes .01)

Ruffins
Vincente Padilla .05 (Ernesto Frieri .05)
Pat Burrell .10 (Jimmy Rollins .30)

Here is the complete claiming per team. The Excel Roster Sheet will be updated later this evening. Oh by the way, TRADE SEASON IS OPEN!!

Dem Rebels
Everth Cabrera
*Josh Vitters
Yunesky Maya
*Pat Burrell
*Alfonso Soriano

Twin Killers
*Matt Belisle
Ivan Rodriguez

Kenndoza Line
Devin Mesoraco
*Sean Burnett
*Homer Bailey
*Josh Vitters

Copperfields

Revenge
*Matt Belisle
*Josh Vitters

Bulls (only two)
*Alfonso Soriano
*Homer Bailey
*Matt Belisle
Brad Penny

Red Hots (only six)
*Homer Bailey
*Sean Burnett
Ben Francisco
*Matt Belisle
Kevin Correia
Kyle Kendrick
Wilson Ramos
*Vincente Padilla
Wade LeBlanc
Matt Diaz
Adam Kennedy
Manny Parra

DoorMatts

Clowns (only two)
*Josh Vitters
*Alfonso Soriano
Carlos Beltran
Jenrry Mejia

Ruffins
*Vincente Padilla
*Josh Vitters
*Pat Burrell

Winter Waiver 2011

The cuts are in. Below are the players you have to choose from. I strongly, strongly encourage all of you to visit the Constitution and remind yourself of the rules of Winter Waivers. Here are a couple of high points.

• The Trade Season opens at the completion of the First Round
• The First Round picks must be submitted by 3pm, Thursday, January 6th (no exceptions - if you forget to submit your picks, you miss the round).
• For every Waiver Claim you make you MUST WAIVE a player (claim three, waive three). IT DOES NOT MATTER THE SIZE OF YOUR ROSTER.
• You may claim players in the AL from the list below. If they stay in the AL by Roster Freeze Day they will be released.
• You MAY NOT waive a player on a Long Term Contract

Submit your claims to demreb@sbcglobal.net by 3pm Thursday. Enjoy!

Jeff Francis .05 Eli Whiteside .05
Ramon Troncoso .10 Joe Saunders .09
Rusty Ryal .05 Aaron Heilman .10
Chris Volstad .10 Kyle Kendrick .05
Eric Hinske .05 Wilton Lopez .05
Raul Ibanez .26 Dave Bush .05
Brad Penny .01 Matt Downs .05
Ramon Hernandez .13 Rick Ankiel .14
Tony Abreu .05 Jeremy Affeldt .10
Rod Barajas .10 Matt Belisle .05
Carlos Beltran .19 Joe Blanton .10
Kevin Correia .01 John Ely .08
Ben Francisco .02 Tony Gwynn, Jr. .15
Livan Hernandez .05 Trevor Hoffman .10
Manny Parra .05 Dennys Reyes .05
Brendan Ryan .05 Hisanori Takahashi .09
Jerry Hairston .10 Brad Hawpe .24
Paul Janish .05 Luis Durango .05
Jonathan Herrera .05 Manny Corpas .01
Wade LeBlanc .07 Vincente Padilla .05
Chris Carter .05 Luis Castillo .07
Brad Davis .05 Steve Demel .08
Tyler Greene .05 Jenrry Mejia .05
Ross Ohlendorf .05 Adam Russell .05
Lance Berkman .30 Manny Ramirez .30
Felipe Lopez .18 Henry Blanco .05
Pedro Feliciano .02 Dan Haren .33
Melky Cabrera .05 David Eckstein .10
Kyle Farnsworth .12 Alex Gonzalez .18
Trever Miller .15 Aaron Rowand .08
Jeff Francouer .06 Alcides Escobar .02
Todd Helton .15 Brett Wallace .24
Humberto Quintero .08 David Ross .01
John Maine .10 Johann Santana .27
Carlos Villanueva .02 Barry Zito .05
Timothy Alderson .05M Jeff Baker .10
Lorenzo Cain .05 Xavier Nady .10
Chien-Ming Wang .02 Jake Westbrook .24
Randy Wynn .07 Matt Capps .12
Bret Lawrie .05 Homer Bailey .05
Ronny Cedeno .10 Pat Burrell .10
Matt Diaz .02 Mark DeRosa .06
Jose Guillen .24 Devin Mesoraco .05
Angel Sanchez .05 Darwin Barney .05
Casey Blake .13 Thomas Diamond .05
Mike Fontenot .01 Octavio Dotel .09
Wilson Ramos .05 Josh Vitters .02M
Jason Bay .35 Craig Counsell .05
Ryan Church .10 Zach Duke .10
Andy LaRoche .03 Jason Giambi .05
Adam Kennedy .04 Rodrigo Lopez .05
Akinori Iwamura .12 Dan Meyer .01
Koyie Hill .05 Melvin Mora .10
Kris Medlin .05 Russell Martin .14
George Sherrill .16 Edwin Jackson .14
Arthur Rhodes .01 Gerrardo Parra .05
Joe Beimel .05 Alfonso Soriano .17
Brooks Conrad .06 Troy Glaus .09
Chris Denorfia .08 Juan Uribe .15
Juan Francisco .05 Sean Burnett .08
John Jay .06 Jeff Keppenger .10
Rueben Tejada .06 Yorvit Torrealba .10
Everth Cabrera .06 Jason Bourgeois .05
Adam Dunn .35 Miguel Olivo .05
Travis Ishikawa .07 Jose Contreras .08
Yunesky Maya .07 Barry Enright .06
Ivan Rodriguez .05 Yunel Escobar .22
Josh Willingham .23