Winter Waivers 2011-12 Round 1

The cuts have been submitted and are listed below. As always I suggest using the Constitution as your guide through the process, but feel free to e-mail me with any questions or discrepancies. Here are a couple of things to remember about the rest of Winter Waivers:

1) The Trade season in now open! You can trade without restriction. There are no player restrictions or salary restrictions.

2) When you make a Waiver Claim you MUST WAIVE a player. As of this moment you may have more or less than 23 players on your roster. If you make a lopsided 2-1 deal that leaves you with 22 players on your team, you still must waive a player if you claim one.

3) There are many American League players on the list below. You may claim them, but if those players are still in the American League as of Roster Freeze Day, you must release them.

4) The claim deadline for Round 1 is 3pm this Thursday (January 5th).

5) MOST IMPORTANT!!! WHEN YOU SUBMIT YOUR WINTER WAIVER CLAIMS YOU HAVE TO SEND THEM TO ME!! YOU CANNOT GO THROUGH ONROTO. ANY CLAIMS NOT SUBMITTED TO ME ARE NOT VALID. I WILL NOT CHASE DOWN ANYONE IF THEY SUBMIT THEIR CLAIMS OTHER THAN IN AN E-MAIL TO ME.

Here are the players:

Javier Lopez .10
Clay Hensley .01
Wilson Valdez .06
Yu Darvish .02M
Mitchell Boggs .08
Matt Belisle .10
Randy Wolf .15
Jose Altuve .10
Jeremy Affeldt .05
Casey Blake .15
Ross Detwiler .06
Nathan Eovaldi .06
Jeff Keppinger .10
Jiovanni Mier .05M
Ronny Paulino .05
Tony Sanchez .02M
Juan Uribe .08
Tyler Colvin .10
Jonny Gomes .01
Humberto Quintero .05
Chris Iannetta .09
Rubby DeLarosa .10
Mark Rzepczynski .11
Charlie Blackmon .05
Santiago Casilla .05
James Darnell .05
Delino DeShields .05M
Mike Fontenot .10
Edwin Jackson .24
Kameron Loe .10
Chris Narveson .05
Chris Resop .05
Jeff Samardzija .05
Geovany Soto .22
Kosuke Fukudome .08
Chad Qualls .10
Bill Bray .10
Hong-Chi Kuo .12
Justin Sellers .07
Pat Burrell .03
Todd Frazier .02
Matt Guerrier .06
Tony Gwynn .10
LaTroy Hawkins .05
Trayvon Robinson .05M
David Ross .01
Josh Spence .05
Reed Johnson .10
Yunesky Bentancourt .07
John Grabow .05
Matt Downs .05
Armando Galarraga .02
Alex Cora .05
Jay Gibbons .10
Aaron Rowand .10
Henry Blanco .05
Zach Duke .05
Ross Ohlendorf .05
Kris Medlin .05
Ryan Theriot .10
Sergio Mitre .02
Laynce Nix .05
Kenley Jansen .05
Marlon Byrd .18
Ben Francisco .02
Chipper Jones .21
Jonathon Broxton .15
Derek Lowe .07
Sean Burnett .15
Willie Harris .10
James McDonald .10
Wil Nieves .05
Scott Rolen .12
Ryan Spilbourghs .01
Eric Hinske .10
James Loney .21
Rick Ankiel .01
Mike Cameron .05
Corey Hart .30
Alfonso Soriano .17
JB Shuck .05
Ryan Howard .45
Mark Ellis .09
Willie Bloomquist .10
Steve Pearce .05
Derrick Norris .05M
Jose Constanza .05
Jose Ceda .05
Kyle McClellan .15
Kerry Wood .15
Collin Cowgill .05
Brian Bogusevic .05
Jerry Hairston Jr. .10
Chris Heisey .10
Nyjer Morgan .03
Brad Ziegler .05
Jordan Lyles .05
Edison Volquez .07
Dontrelle Willis .05
Josh Collmenter .10
Mike Pelfrey .01
Christian Friedrich .05M
Jonathan Singleton .05M
Josh Lindblom .05
Brandon Allen .02
Aubrey Huff .09
Jason Bartlett .13
Kelly Johnson .20
Rod Barajas .10
Javy Guerra .24
Ubaldo Jimenez .27
Jordan Schafer .11
Eli Whiteside .05
Hiroki Kuroda .31
Chris Denorfia .10
Raul Ibanez .10
Blake Dewitt .05
Greg Dobbs .05
Lyle Overbay .04
Miguel Cairo .05
Jamey Carroll .05
Gerald Laird .02
Ronny Cedeno .05
Ted Lilly .17
Randy Wells .09
Matt Antonelli .10M
Roger Bernardina .05
Livan Hernandez .10
Fred Lewis .10
Ivan Rodriguez .05

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.