September Reminders

Gentlemen -

Just a couple of quick September reminders.  With the 1st of September come the opportunity to expand your ACTIVE roster by one player.  We have had some confusion on this in years past.  So here is the blurb from the Constitution:

ARTICLE XVII. September Roster Expansion

If it chooses, a team may expand its Active Roster for the pennant drive by one player. The player may play any position, and may come from either the team’s Reserve List or the Free Agent Pool (see

Article XV. Signing Free Agents for salary considerations).

NOTE: If a team acquires a player from the Free Agent Pool for September Roster Expansion the team may be required to waive or release a player from the Active or Reserve roster as a team’s roster may never exceed 40 players (Active and Reserve combined), even during September.

It states this right above, but you are NEVER allowed to have more than 40 players on your roster.  During the majority of the season the split is 23/17.  For September you can, if you choose, to have the split be 24/16.  If you have any questions, please e-mail me.

Another September reminder.  For those of you that still have a FAAB and are trying to overthrow the Clowns or solidify you current place or build for the future, keep in mind the rule about signing free agents in September.  Again - from the Constitution:

September Free Agent Signings

Free agent bidding may continue in September, throughout the end of the season. This includes any National Leaguers who are not yet owned, any minor league callups, and any American League players traded over to the National League. The only provisions are the following:

1) All free agents signed during September with bids of .24 or lower are given a contract of

S instead of the usual renewable two-year contract. This means that any of these players are automatically released at the end of the year.

NOTE: Players acquired in this manner will NOT be eligible to have their Home Town Discount rights retained the following season.

2) Free agents signed for .25 or more after August 31, he will be given a renewable, two-year contract, in which the first year is guaranteed. This guarantee is indicated by an asterisk (*) following the player’s contract status. The asterisk means that the penalty for releasing the player before the following season is that half of his salary will be deducted from the team’s $2.60 Draft Day spending limit.

Interleague Free Agent Bidding Day Reminder

Just a reminder, good gentlemen, that tomorrow (August 1st) is the Interleague Free Agent Bidding (IFAB) day.  You are allowed to bid on any ballplayers that came over the American League AS WELL AS anyone else that is in the Free Agent Pool.

Here's the blurb from 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.

Trading Slugmatch Continues

The Battle for Supremacy continued yesterday between the 1st place Clowns and 2nd place Bulls. 

The Clowns and Revenge agreed to a 10 player deal.  Going to the Revenge were:  Billy (the quick) Hamilton (.05Mx), Jonathan Broxton (.10 14+), Brad Ziegler (.05 15+), Jonathon Niese (.08 14+) and Alexi Amarista (.10 15+).  Returning to the Clowns were:  Cole Hamels (.39 15+), Jacob Turner (.02 15+), Luke Gregerson (.08 15+), Martin Prado (.18 14+) and Travis D'Arnaud (.10 Mx).

Not to blithely sit by and watch, the Bulls crafted their own deal sending Ryan Vogelsong (.10 15+), Hyun-Jin Ryu (.02 15+), Max Fried (.02 Mx) and their 4th round pick to the Twin Killers and receiving Jonathan Papelbon (.29 14+), Jimmy Rollins (.21 15+) and Homer Bailey (.01 13).

This may be the first time in CFCL history that three Jonathans (or Jonathon) were traded on the same day.

Clowns/DoorMatts Trade

With four days left until the trade deadline, the Candy Colored Clowns looked to counteract the latest moves by the Beatniks.

The Clowns picked up some help in the starting rotation by acquiring Madison Bumgarner (.15 13) from the DoorMatts in exchange for minor league prospect Noah Syndergaard (.05 Mx).

Kenndoza Line/Beatniks Trade

In a blockbuster for the ages the Beatniks and Kenndoza Line swapped relief pitchers.

The snake-bit Beatniks are admirably fighting to stay in the money spot and hopefully capture the Copperfield Trophy.  Having watched a recent trade acquisition (Revere) and a starting rotation mainstay (Hudson) go down with lower extremity injuries, the Beatniks needed to provide a little punch to their bullpen.  They acquired Rafael Bentancourt (.09 13) in exchange for Drew Storen (.08 15+) and their sixth round pick.

The Kenndoza Line continue to retool by making their third trade and acquiring more underpriced talent.

Kenndoza Line and Clowns Trade

With a week left in the trading season, the Clowns hoped for some "second season turnaround".  They acquired the oft-injured Cameron Maybin (.19 15+), the under-performing Dan Haren (.17 15+) and Adrian Gonzalez (.26 14+) from the Kenndoza Line for Freddie Freeman (.10 14!) and Pedro Strop (.07 15+).

Currently the Clowns trail the Bulls by three points.  At one point last week, the first four spots in the standings were separated by 1 point.  The remaining seven days figure to be a hotbed of activity.

Beatnik/Rebel Trade

To send a message to the Clowns, Bulls and Ruffins, the Beatniks stated "I've been in first for most of this season and I'm not giving up without a fight!  Where's my homemade beer?"

The Beatniks picked up some needed help on the basepaths and in the bullpen today by acquiring Ben Revere (.27 15+) and JJ Putz (.12 13).  To get that help they traded Mike Minor (.07 15+), Zach Lee (.02 Mx) and Brian Goodwin (.05 Mx) to the Rebels.

The Rebels are hoping Minor can give a little "oomph" to their rotation and pick up some points in pitching.  Having plenty of relievers on staff already allowed them to part with Putz.  Additionally with Hill, Ruiz, Stanton and Tabata all returning from injuries and Marte having a stellar sophomore season, Revere became expendable on the offensive side of things.  According to anonymous insiders Rebel management, while not wanting to disrespect any co-owner, is hoping this deal and the renewed health of the club will allow the team to pass another team that didn't complete their roster until days after the draft with the scraps that were left after the rotation draft.