Preparing for the Draft

We are less than four weeks away from the draft and it's time to identify some specifics for Roster Freeze Day and Draft Day.

Roster Freeze Day will be Thursday, March 26th at 3pm Central.  By that point every NL team will have begun play (weather permitting) aside from the Braves vs. the Diamondbacks.  The benefit there is every NL team's roster *should* be finalized and you will know who on your team made the NL roster, who was cut, who was placed on the IL and who was sent to the minors.

A quick recap - Any Non Mx player on your roster has to be kept or cut.  If they are kept and placed on the IL (or sent to the minors) you are allowed to reserve them.  They still count against your salary cap and the 15 player max.

An Mx player sent to the minors retains his Mx contract.  If an Mx player is on the NL roster, even if it's just for the opening weekend with the intent of being demoted Monday, that player HAS to be kept as one of the 15 or cut.  If kept, his contract switches to a 22x.  Yes we are at the mercy of NL GMs.  It's been that way since 1984 for the CFCL.  If you're uncomfortable with this, stop drafting Mx players.

If an Mx player is injured and placed on the team's IL, you can keep him BUT his contract changes to a 22x, salary counts against the 2.60 and he's one of your 15 keepers.  You can argue the point, but there is long standing precedent in the league that this is how we handle it. 

The only caveat to the above paragraph is if the Mx player is placed on the MINOR LEAGUE IL.  Then he is considered to still be a minor leaguer and will maintain Mx status.

I will do everything in my power to turn around the final cuts Thursday night.  The earlier I receive your cuts, the quicker I can do the turn around.  Once you submit your cuts you are not allowed to make any trades.  Please do everything you can to turn in a legal cut sheet.  If I have to chase people down to correct mistakes, the whole league is delayed in receiving the cuts.

You are allowed to keep 15 major leaguers (non Mx players) and four minor leaguers (Mx players).  If you want to keep more than 4 Mx players you MUST reduce the number of major leaguers by that number.  No more than 19 players can be on your active and reserved roster combined.  But under no circumstances are you allowed to keep more than 15 non Mx players.

We will be drafting on Sunday, March 29th at 9am.  We are going to use the same room we've used at my office building for the last few years (Conference room 1W).  There will be outlets for your laptops and cell service should be accessible, but no internet.  The building is located at 387 Shuman Boulevard, Naperville.  They have done massive reconstruction to the front of the building (where you enter).  If it doesn't look familiar, don't panic.  That's just the renovation.

Now, about Draft Day.  The Ruffins will not be able to attend in person.  The best, well the only work around we've been able to come up with is for someone to volunteer their cell phone, have it on speaker and we communicate with the Ruffins thusly.  We may  need a designated owner to repeat bids, identify a team dropping out, but hopefully the speaker part of the phone will do the majority of the work.

The Sombreros have once again volunteered to provide the Master Draft List, so thanks goes to Marc for that.

There is a microwave for heating food you want to bring.  No fridge.  I believe there are vending machines in the hallway, but it's basically like last year.

If anyone has any questions, please let me know.  I will be sending out the cut sheets in the next week or two.  We begin drafting with the Ruffin Privilege at 9am on Sunday the 29th.  Please arrive before that so we can conduct the necessary business of electing an EC, signing the trophy ball and collecting the entrance fee ($120 per team - bring cash or a check).

See you at the draft!