With a mere five days until Roster Freeze Day, the Bulls and Dem Rebels kissed the blarney stone and made a deal.
In an effort to shore up the middle infield and add some team speed, Dem Rebels acquired Emilio Bonafacio and the Bulls 5th round pick.
The Bulls were able to lock down 40% of the Rockies starting staff by acquiring Jason Hammel in return.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Roster Cut Details
"Making final cuts is what I hate most about this job. Monkeying around with people’s lives is never fun. On the other hand, when I’ve picked the team, 25 players are monkeying around with my life." - Don Zimmer
Roster Cuts
Rich has e-mailed roster cut worksheets to all owners - if you haven't received yours, please let Rich know. The deadline for roster cuts is 4:00 PM Central time on Monday March 22. All teams must reduce their rosters to 15 or fewer players and submit the names of the players being kept to Rich by this date. Any rosters not received by the deadline on March 22 will be reduced to 15 by a random method determined by the Executive Committee.
We'll Be Right Back...
Before we get to the information about the cuts, we've got a brief commercial interruption. As noted in earlier e-mails, all CFCL fees must be paid by the time your cuts are received. If you haven't done so yet, please be sure to send your payment soon so it's sure to get to me in time. Refer to the previous e-mails for payment information.
Cuts - The Gory Details
The roster cut sheets are (I think) fairly self-explanatory, and certainly those of you have been through this processes before should have no problem filling them out. I won't go into a lot of detail here about how to submit your cuts, but there are a number of things you should be careful to keep in mind when completing the form. A number of years ago I put those reminders and a number of other details into a separate document that I creatively entitled Roster Cut Instructions.
For old pros and young upstarts alike, the temptation will be to dive right in to your cuts, but I encourage everyone to at least take a glance at the instructions so you're aware of all the requirements and implications of your decisions.
Submitting Your Cuts
When you e-mail your cuts to Rich, make sure you put ROSTER CUTS in the subject line -- that way he will know not to open your message until he has submitted his own cuts to the other two-thirds of the Executive Committee.
While the deadline isn't until the beginning of next week, keep in mind that the earlier Rich gets your information the sooner he can start compiling the league-wide keeper lists, which means the sooner you'll get the news.
As a reminder, your cuts are considered final as of the time you send them -- that means no trades are allowed between MARCH 22 and the end of the Draft. Once you mail in your cuts, your roster is frozen, so if you're working on any last-minute blockbusters, make sure they're completed and noted on your roster cut sheet beofre you send it.
One protected lists have been submitted, they cannot be changed, even for moving players between Active and Reserve Lists. EXCEPTION: Changes may be made before the Draft ONLY to reserve players who were sent to the minors or placed on the DL or has received a special exception from the Executive Committee between the time cuts were submitted and the start of the Draft. You cannot move players from your Reserve List to your Active Roster after your cuts are submitted.
National League Opening Day Rosters
Draft Day (March 27) is the well before Opening Day for most teams, so the official National League rosters will not be set before the Draft. Every team will probably have a few borderline players who still might get send down to the minors before Opening Day.
Remember, you can download the 2010 Spring Training Rosters from the Download Center. Matt G. has been doing a bang-up job of keeping the spreadsheet up-to-date with information about which players have been send down by their NL team.
Pre-Season Calendar
Along with Draft Day, here's a list of other important days in the coming weeks:
Roster Freeze Day
- Monday March 22, 4:00 PM
List of Keepers Released
- Wednesday March 24
Hard Roster Freeze (no more adjustments for DL or demoted players)
- Wednesday March 24
Draft Day
- Saturday March 27
Opening Day Rosters must be set
- Monday April 4, Sportsline Deadline
First Regular Transaction Date
- Friday April 9
First Free Agent Bid Date
- Sunday April 11
Monday, March 15, 2010
More on Fantasyland
The buzz around the March 19 premiere of "Fantasyland" continues to grow. The makers have a fairly active Facebook page going, they've posted additional videos on their YouTube page (it's not clear if they're outtakes or excerpts from the finished film), and SnagFilms has posted a trailer on their site that is worth checking out: http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/fantasyland_preview_premiering_on_snagfilms_march_19/
In what I've seen so far, the Facebook comments and video clips seem to focus on the fantasy-baseball-players-are-oddball-geeks aspect (tales of trades made on honeymoon nights, during shivas and funerals, while having sex for cripessakes), and while humerous, they get old pretty fast. I'm hoping that what's been posted so far is just material collected during the search for the "regular guy" be featured in the film and is not representative of the film itself.
That said, it does look like a well made film, and as the bizare nature of the game's participants isn't the main focus, it should be alot of fun.
As an interesting side-note, "Trading the Gator" clips show up quite often in the "Related Videos" section on YouTube...
In what I've seen so far, the Facebook comments and video clips seem to focus on the fantasy-baseball-players-are-oddball-geeks aspect (tales of trades made on honeymoon nights, during shivas and funerals, while having sex for cripessakes), and while humerous, they get old pretty fast. I'm hoping that what's been posted so far is just material collected during the search for the "regular guy" be featured in the film and is not representative of the film itself.
That said, it does look like a well made film, and as the bizare nature of the game's participants isn't the main focus, it should be alot of fun.
As an interesting side-note, "Trading the Gator" clips show up quite often in the "Related Videos" section on YouTube...
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Fantasyland - The Movie
Word was sent out this week that the documentary movie version of "Fantasyland", the book by reporter Sam Walker in which he chronicles his rookie season in the Tout Wars expert league, is finally prepping for release. Rather than a broadcast, it sounds like this will be a direct-to-web release. I had given up hope of ever seeing this, since it covers the 2008 season (at least, that was the original intent). The film has "regular guy" Jed Latkin filling Sam Walker's non-expert role for a season in the AL-only Tout Wars.
The film has a tangential CFCL connection, as former CFCLer Jason Grey is one of the experts participating in Tout Wars AL.
The film is due to be released on March 19 , when it will be posted at http://fantasylandfilm.com/ or http://snagfilms.com/.
An outtakesnippet posted on YouTube has Jed trying to get an update on Barry Bonds' situation from Bonds' agent Jeff Borris (and oddly thinking he's speaking to Scott Boras).
Edit to note that the clip is an outtake and not in the final cut of the film...
The film has a tangential CFCL connection, as former CFCLer Jason Grey is one of the experts participating in Tout Wars AL.
The film is due to be released on March 19 , when it will be posted at http://fantasylandfilm.com/ or http://snagfilms.com/.
An outtake
Edit to note that the clip is an outtake and not in the final cut of the film...
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Reserving Non-DL Players Prior to the Draft
In a post about a month ago, we identified a number of special considerations due to our earlier-than-usual draft date. One of those considerations was to allow certain players who would clearly be starting the season on the disabled list to be reserved prior to Draft Day, even if they have not yet been disabled by their National League team.
The Executive Committee will evaluate each player's situation and determine whether he can be reserved going into Draft Day. As described in the earlier post, there will be a very high standard of evidence required before the EC will allow such an exception - there must be no doubt that the player will start the season on the Disabled List.
If you have a player you think may qualify for an exception, notify the Executive Committee by posting a response to the Pre-Draft Reserves of Non-DL Players thread on the Executive Committee Discussion board in the Forums. Include any details or links to published resources that may help clarify the player's situtation. The EC will discuss the request on the board (all CFCL owners are welcome to contribute) and make a decision about the player. Note that in some cases the EC may decide that a decision cannot be made right away.
In order to qualify for an exception, there must be CLEAR EVIDENCE that the player will start the season on the DL. The Executive Committee will use various information resources whether a player meets the criteria, but at a minimum, multiple online sources must have reported that the player will definitely (not "may", not "could", not "might", not "will probably", not "will likely") not be ready to start the season. We'll use other information in evaluating the situation, but the information available will likely vary by player. There may very well be players who we say DO NOT qualify for the exception who actually end up starting the season on the DL. Our goal is to make sure we do not allow an exception for a player who does not start the year on the DL.
Of course, players who do go on the DL before our Hard Roster Freeze (Friday March 26) are automatically qualified to go on the Reserve List - notification of this move will need to be given before the hard freeze.
Feel free to start a discussion on the Forum about any players you think would qualify for an exception, however the EC will likely wait until the week before Draft Day before making a final ruling - only in extreme cases (broken bones, surgery, etc) will the EC feel comfortable making a decision three weeks before D-Day. The EC will make all rulings by Thursday March 25 at the latest, but except in rare cases, do not expect a ruling before Sunday March 21.
If you have questions about this process, post a response to this note.
The Executive Committee will evaluate each player's situation and determine whether he can be reserved going into Draft Day. As described in the earlier post, there will be a very high standard of evidence required before the EC will allow such an exception - there must be no doubt that the player will start the season on the Disabled List.
If you have a player you think may qualify for an exception, notify the Executive Committee by posting a response to the Pre-Draft Reserves of Non-DL Players thread on the Executive Committee Discussion board in the Forums. Include any details or links to published resources that may help clarify the player's situtation. The EC will discuss the request on the board (all CFCL owners are welcome to contribute) and make a decision about the player. Note that in some cases the EC may decide that a decision cannot be made right away.
In order to qualify for an exception, there must be CLEAR EVIDENCE that the player will start the season on the DL. The Executive Committee will use various information resources whether a player meets the criteria, but at a minimum, multiple online sources must have reported that the player will definitely (not "may", not "could", not "might", not "will probably", not "will likely") not be ready to start the season. We'll use other information in evaluating the situation, but the information available will likely vary by player. There may very well be players who we say DO NOT qualify for the exception who actually end up starting the season on the DL. Our goal is to make sure we do not allow an exception for a player who does not start the year on the DL.
Of course, players who do go on the DL before our Hard Roster Freeze (Friday March 26) are automatically qualified to go on the Reserve List - notification of this move will need to be given before the hard freeze.
Feel free to start a discussion on the Forum about any players you think would qualify for an exception, however the EC will likely wait until the week before Draft Day before making a final ruling - only in extreme cases (broken bones, surgery, etc) will the EC feel comfortable making a decision three weeks before D-Day. The EC will make all rulings by Thursday March 25 at the latest, but except in rare cases, do not expect a ruling before Sunday March 21.
If you have questions about this process, post a response to this note.
Friday, February 26, 2010
NL Spring Training Rosters Posted
With the earlier-than-usual Draft this year it will be more important than ever to have a good handle on NL rosters as they take shape. To assist with that endeavor, the National League Spring Training rosters have been posted in the Download Center. They are in Excel format - a workbook with three tabs.
The current Spring Training rosters are on the first tab. As the NL teams make cuts and other roster moves during the season, Matt G. or I will update the rosters so they will reflect the players currently in camp -- whoever is still remaining on Draft Day will be eligible to be nominated in the Auction.
When players are cut, they are moved to the second tab in the workbook, along with a link to an online source providing evidence of the demotion. If you've got questions about whether a player has been sent down, this is a good place to look if you don't see him on the ST roster.
Finally, the third tab lists the current count of players in Major League camp for each team and how many they'll need to cut or put on the DL to get down to the 25 man Opening Day limit.
Matt G. will once again be helping out by making updates to the file as necessary so you can watch the CFCL Draft Pool take form right before your eyes.
The current Spring Training rosters are on the first tab. As the NL teams make cuts and other roster moves during the season, Matt G. or I will update the rosters so they will reflect the players currently in camp -- whoever is still remaining on Draft Day will be eligible to be nominated in the Auction.
When players are cut, they are moved to the second tab in the workbook, along with a link to an online source providing evidence of the demotion. If you've got questions about whether a player has been sent down, this is a good place to look if you don't see him on the ST roster.
Finally, the third tab lists the current count of players in Major League camp for each team and how many they'll need to cut or put on the DL to get down to the 25 man Opening Day limit.
Matt G. will once again be helping out by making updates to the file as necessary so you can watch the CFCL Draft Pool take form right before your eyes.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Early Draft Considerations
As you know, this year the CFCL will be conducting our Auction and Rotation Draft over a week earlier than is typical. Usually, we’re drafting the day before the season starts, so most NL rosters are fairly set - we have a good idea of which players will be opening the season on the major league rosters, who’s starting on the DL, and who will start things off in the minors.
This year, we’ll not only will we be drafting with a full week of spring training remaining, but we’ll need to submit our keepers, cuts, and contract information a week earlier than usual as well.
In order to ease the strain caused by the early draft, the Executive Committee recently discussed and agreed on some adjustments to our usual rules surrounding roster freeze and other Draft Day guidelines. In creating these provisions, we looked back on the experience from 2002, the last time we were forced to draft early.
In some cases we’re making exceptions to our usual rules, but in most cases we’re just clarifying and emphasizing our current rules so everyone is aware of the implications.
Pre-Season Calendar
To start, here’s what our Pre-Season and Opening Week Calendar will look like this year:
Tue Mar 16 - Roster Cut Sheets e-mailed
Mon Mar 22 - Roster Freeze Day (cut and keeper lists due)
Wed Mar 24 - Keepers/Cuts announced
Fri Mar 26 – Hard Roster Freeze (no more adjustments for demoted or DLed players)
Sat Mar 27 - DRAFT DAY
Mon Apr 4 - Opening Day rosters set
Fri Apr 9 - First regular season transaction date
Sun Apr 11 - First free agent acquisition date
Roster Freeze
Typically, lists of keepers and cuts must be submitted a week before Draft Day. We’re allowing a couple more days than that this year, with the Freeze being the Monday before the draft. The schedule calls for keepers and contract/salary changes to be announced by the Wednesday before the Draft. Rich will do his best to get this information out as soon as possible, but you can help considerably by ensuring that the information you submit to him is complete and correct, eliminating the need for him to track you down to verify your intent or fix errors.
If you have players sent to the minors or placed on the DL after Roster Freeze Day, you will have the opportunity to place them on your Reserve List up to the Hard Roster Freeze on Friday evening. Note, however, that you will NOT be allowed to move players from Reserve to Active during this time.
Placing Injured Keepers on Reserve
According to our rules, players on major league contracts can only be placed on the Reserve List if he has been officially placed on the Disabled List by his NL team. Unfortunately, major league teams routinely wait until the end of Spring Training to place players on the DL, even in the case where it is known weeks in advance that the player will miss significant time.
We will address these situations as we did in 2002. The Executive Committee will evaluate potential DL players on a case-by-case basis. If the EC concludes there is a preponderance of evidence that the player will open the season on the DL (torn rotator cuff, broken leg, knee surgery), the player’s CFCL owner will be allowed to place him on the Reserve List prior to the Hard Roster Freeze. Note that there will be a significant standard of evidence required for such consideration. The EC will review online news stories in evaluating each situation, and statements such as “will likely start the season on the DL”, “won’t be ready for Opening Day”, “might miss the first week” will probably NOT be enough to allow a player to be Reserved.
To keep things transparent and above board, we will probably set up a thread in the Forums for discussion of cases like these.
Minor League Keepers
In a similar vein, CFCL owners will need to decide earlier than usual whether to place their minor leaguers (Mx contracts) on the Active Roster or Reserve List going into the Draft. Our current rules sufficiently address the hazards of drafting early, but we’re mentioning this here to ensure all CFCLers understand the implications and consequences of where you place Mx contract players. For the full details of the rules, be sure to read the section titled “Protecting Mx Contract Players” in the Constitution – the rules covered there will be in effect for this season without change. The two situations you need to be aware of:
1) If you place an Mx player on your Active Roster at the freeze deadline and he does NOT make his NL team’s Opening Day roster, the player can be reserved and his contract will be reset to Mx (if the player is sent down before the Hard Freeze deadline, this move can be made before Draft Day).
2) If you place an Mx player on your Reserve List at the freeze deadline and he DOES make his NL team’s Opening Day roster, you will not be allowed to trade or activate him until July 1. The player’s contract will remain Mx until he reaches the minimum number of plate appearances or innings pitched.
As noted earlier, this is not a change from our standard rules, but given our early Draft, it’s more important ever to carefully consider where you place players on Roster Freeze Day.
Contracts of Players Acquired On Draft Day
This is another item that is not a change from our standard rules, but something we wanted to make sure everyone understands prior to Draft Day.
The player pool on Draft Day will be loaded with players who will end up getting demoted before the season starts. Players acquired in the Auction portion of Draft Day will receive a major league (12+) contract, even if they are subsequently sent to the minor leagues before Opening Day. So don’t come to the auction expecting to load up your roster with a bunch of Mx contract players for a penny each.
Players acquired in the Rotation Draft will have their contract determined by their status on Opening Day. Rotation Draft players who are on NL Opening Day rosters or disabled lists will receive a major league (12+) contract, while players who are in the minors, still meet the rookie PA and IP rules, and have never been active on a CFCL roster will receive an Mx contract.
Post-Draft Roster Moves
The salary cap will increase to $3.00 immediately following Draft Day. This will allow teams to do any shuffling between Active and Reserve to prepare their rosters for Opening Day. Likewise, trading will be allowed starting immediately after the Draft.
The first day for Free Agent Bids will be Sunday April 11, a full week into the season.
If you have any questions or concerns about the information we’ve covered here – or think we may have missed something, please let the Executive Committee know.
This year, we’ll not only will we be drafting with a full week of spring training remaining, but we’ll need to submit our keepers, cuts, and contract information a week earlier than usual as well.
In order to ease the strain caused by the early draft, the Executive Committee recently discussed and agreed on some adjustments to our usual rules surrounding roster freeze and other Draft Day guidelines. In creating these provisions, we looked back on the experience from 2002, the last time we were forced to draft early.
In some cases we’re making exceptions to our usual rules, but in most cases we’re just clarifying and emphasizing our current rules so everyone is aware of the implications.
Pre-Season Calendar
To start, here’s what our Pre-Season and Opening Week Calendar will look like this year:
Tue Mar 16 - Roster Cut Sheets e-mailed
Mon Mar 22 - Roster Freeze Day (cut and keeper lists due)
Wed Mar 24 - Keepers/Cuts announced
Fri Mar 26 – Hard Roster Freeze (no more adjustments for demoted or DLed players)
Sat Mar 27 - DRAFT DAY
Mon Apr 4 - Opening Day rosters set
Fri Apr 9 - First regular season transaction date
Sun Apr 11 - First free agent acquisition date
Roster Freeze
Typically, lists of keepers and cuts must be submitted a week before Draft Day. We’re allowing a couple more days than that this year, with the Freeze being the Monday before the draft. The schedule calls for keepers and contract/salary changes to be announced by the Wednesday before the Draft. Rich will do his best to get this information out as soon as possible, but you can help considerably by ensuring that the information you submit to him is complete and correct, eliminating the need for him to track you down to verify your intent or fix errors.
If you have players sent to the minors or placed on the DL after Roster Freeze Day, you will have the opportunity to place them on your Reserve List up to the Hard Roster Freeze on Friday evening. Note, however, that you will NOT be allowed to move players from Reserve to Active during this time.
Placing Injured Keepers on Reserve
According to our rules, players on major league contracts can only be placed on the Reserve List if he has been officially placed on the Disabled List by his NL team. Unfortunately, major league teams routinely wait until the end of Spring Training to place players on the DL, even in the case where it is known weeks in advance that the player will miss significant time.
We will address these situations as we did in 2002. The Executive Committee will evaluate potential DL players on a case-by-case basis. If the EC concludes there is a preponderance of evidence that the player will open the season on the DL (torn rotator cuff, broken leg, knee surgery), the player’s CFCL owner will be allowed to place him on the Reserve List prior to the Hard Roster Freeze. Note that there will be a significant standard of evidence required for such consideration. The EC will review online news stories in evaluating each situation, and statements such as “will likely start the season on the DL”, “won’t be ready for Opening Day”, “might miss the first week” will probably NOT be enough to allow a player to be Reserved.
To keep things transparent and above board, we will probably set up a thread in the Forums for discussion of cases like these.
Minor League Keepers
In a similar vein, CFCL owners will need to decide earlier than usual whether to place their minor leaguers (Mx contracts) on the Active Roster or Reserve List going into the Draft. Our current rules sufficiently address the hazards of drafting early, but we’re mentioning this here to ensure all CFCLers understand the implications and consequences of where you place Mx contract players. For the full details of the rules, be sure to read the section titled “Protecting Mx Contract Players” in the Constitution – the rules covered there will be in effect for this season without change. The two situations you need to be aware of:
1) If you place an Mx player on your Active Roster at the freeze deadline and he does NOT make his NL team’s Opening Day roster, the player can be reserved and his contract will be reset to Mx (if the player is sent down before the Hard Freeze deadline, this move can be made before Draft Day).
2) If you place an Mx player on your Reserve List at the freeze deadline and he DOES make his NL team’s Opening Day roster, you will not be allowed to trade or activate him until July 1. The player’s contract will remain Mx until he reaches the minimum number of plate appearances or innings pitched.
As noted earlier, this is not a change from our standard rules, but given our early Draft, it’s more important ever to carefully consider where you place players on Roster Freeze Day.
Contracts of Players Acquired On Draft Day
This is another item that is not a change from our standard rules, but something we wanted to make sure everyone understands prior to Draft Day.
The player pool on Draft Day will be loaded with players who will end up getting demoted before the season starts. Players acquired in the Auction portion of Draft Day will receive a major league (12+) contract, even if they are subsequently sent to the minor leagues before Opening Day. So don’t come to the auction expecting to load up your roster with a bunch of Mx contract players for a penny each.
Players acquired in the Rotation Draft will have their contract determined by their status on Opening Day. Rotation Draft players who are on NL Opening Day rosters or disabled lists will receive a major league (12+) contract, while players who are in the minors, still meet the rookie PA and IP rules, and have never been active on a CFCL roster will receive an Mx contract.
Post-Draft Roster Moves
The salary cap will increase to $3.00 immediately following Draft Day. This will allow teams to do any shuffling between Active and Reserve to prepare their rosters for Opening Day. Likewise, trading will be allowed starting immediately after the Draft.
The first day for Free Agent Bids will be Sunday April 11, a full week into the season.
If you have any questions or concerns about the information we’ve covered here – or think we may have missed something, please let the Executive Committee know.
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