Post Season Stuff

First an official Front Office congratulations to the Clowns for capturing their first ever Copperfield Trophy.  Job well done.

There is some off-season things to be aware of.  First of all . . .

Hometown Discount  Here's how it breaks done, budget-wise.

Kenndoza Line beat out the Bulls for the Sweet Spot and garnered the maximum budget of .06.  They have the rights to the following players:

Ian Desmond
Jose Tabata
Jonathon Lucroy
David Freese
Logan Morrison
Jason Motte
Ian Kennedy

Graging Bulls  .05
Pablo Sandoval
Hunter Pence
Troy Tulowitzki
Jonny Venters
Brett Myers

Twin Killers .04
Omar Infante
Angel Pagan
Carlos Zambrano

Stranger Danger .04
Ike Davis
Nick Hundley

DoorMatts .04
Chris Johnson
Carlos Ruiz

Ruffins .03
Chris Young (OF)
Drew Storen

Beatniks .03
Brandon Phillips
Andres Torres
Josh Thole

Revenge .00
Yadier Molina
Jose Reyes
Matt Cain
Mat Latos
Eric O'Flaherty
Tommy Hanson

Dem Rebels .00
Ryan Zimmerman
R.A. Dickey
Mike Minor
Cole Hamels

Candy Colored Clowns .00
Ryan Hannigan
Pedro Alvarez
Roy Halladay
Johnny Cueto

Some other resposibilities for you the owners over the next few weeks.

1)  Please contact Commissioner Bentel and let him know your intentions for next year.  If anyone isn't coming back we need to know ASAP to try and find new ownership.  Are you in or out?

2)  We need to plan the Award Banquet.  Let's assume the Line, Beatniks and Ruffins aren't coming into town for pizza and beer (although you of course are welcome to attend).  The other seven owners please e-mail Commissioner Bentel with preferable dates/days or problematic dates/days so we can find a time to celebrate.  As always majority will rule, but there is always special weight given to the newly crowned Champion's schedule.

3)  Speaking of the banquet, you will be receiving the Awards Ballot in your In Box soon (hopefully within the week).  Please take time to vote, but return it in quickly.  The Banquet cannot occur until all votes are in.  This will be repeated when the ballot is e-mailed out but "Please vote for the most deserving candidate.  Most deserving does not necessarily constitute the player on your CFCL team or your favorite National League team."

That's it for now.  See (hopefully) most of you at the banquet!

Coming Down To The Wire

In what has become virtually an annual experience, the CFCL title is back up for grabs.  A couple of years ago the Line and DoorMatts duked it out until the last out of the season before the Line won in a tie-breaker.  Last year the Ruffins leapfrogged their way from third with half a week left in the season to win the championship yet again.

This year what looked like a run away romp by the Candy Colored Clowns has turned into a closer-than-it-appears battle between the Clowns and Rebels.  After Week 10, the Clowns lead the league by twelve points and that lead soon ballooned up to 21 points shortly after the trade deadline.

Now we are staring at fifteen days left in the season and the Clowns still hold a strong, but vulnerable eight point lead over the Rebels.  Additionally we see the standings have three other races as well.  The Revenge look to be a strong bet for third, but the Bulls and Line are fighting it out for the Sweet Spot (a.k.a. 4th place).  The Killers are firmly entrenched in sixth while the DoorMatts and Danger keep flipping the seventh and eighth spots.  And last year's champion Ruffins are doggedly fighting off the Beatniks for ninth.

Since it's been said that no one remember who finishes second, let's take a look at the categories that are in play and how they impact the Clowns eight point lead.  First of all, I didn't not include the opportunities the Clowns have to increase their lead, since if that happens nothing is different than it is today, the Clowns in the lead.  What follows is only potential for the Clowns to drop points or Dem Rebels to gain points to see if this is a close pennant race.  So by category, here we go.

Stolen Bases
Dem Rebels trail the Revenge by one stolen base.  (One potential point for Dem Rebels)
The Clowns are safely 16 bags ahead of the Killers (No potential loss in points)

Runs
The Bulls trail the Clowns by seven Runs (One potential point lost for the Clowns)
Dem Rebels are 32 runs away from the Revenge (No potential gain in points)

RBIs
The Clowns safely lead Dem Rebels by 94 RBIs (No potential loss for the Clowns or gain for Dem Rebels).

Total Bases
This one may be a bit of a stretch, but maybe not.
The Clowns lead Dem Rebels by 47 Total Bases.  That breaks down to Dem Rebels needing three more Total Bases than the Clowns each day for the rest of the season to pass the Clowns.  Likely?  Don't know, but possible.  (One potential point lost by the Clowns and one potential point gained by Dem Rebels).

On Base Percentage
Dem Rebels trail the Killers by .0018 (One potential point gained by Dem Rebels)
The Ruffins trail the Clowns by .0009 (One potential point lost by the Clowns)

Offensively there are conceivably six points in play.

Earned Run Average
The Clowns are safely .233 ahead of the Danger (No potential point lost)
Dem Rebels are .037 behind the Revenge and .051 behind the Bulls (Two potential points gained)

WHiP
Danger is securely .0381 ahead of Dem Rebels (No potential point gained)
Danger is .0242 behind the Clowns (One potential point lost)

Quality Starts
The Bulls are three QS behind the Clowns (One potential point lost)
Dem Rebels are nine QS behind the Killers (No potential point gained)

Holds/Saves
The Clowns are a secure seven H/S ahead of the Line (No potential point lost)
Dem Rebels are a distant twelve H/S behind the Bulls (No potential point gained)

K/BB
The Line is a mere .002 behind the Clowns (One potential point lost)
Dem Rebels trail the DoorMatts by .106 (One potential point gained)

Pitching has six points in play.  In total there are twelve points available to move with an eight point lead.  Some are more possible than others, but the potential for another last day show down is still there with fifteen days remaining.  If nothing else, this yet again points out to Bud Dumber of Major League Baseball that you don't need to create stupid ass rules and monkey with the system to have drama at the end of the season.

Good luck to all for an exciting finish to 2012!!

Christmas Comes Early to the Line

The Kenndoza Line benefitted from some fortunate timing as well as heads up team management to secure two potential big pieces of their 2013 puzzle at very reasonable rates.

With 27 hours to spare before the Free Agent Bid Deadline for the week, the Red Sox and Dodgers completed a massive deal that sent a lot of Dodgers and Beatniks to Boston in exchange for four major leaguers.  We'll come back to the significance of the deal being done on Saturday versus, say Monday, in a moment.

With an influx of talent into the CFCL Free Agent Pool, bidding promised to be interesting.  Alas, it wasn't as interesting as it could have been.

The DoorMatt and Clowns had already spent themselves dry, so they had to sit on the sidelines for this one.  The Revenge (.10) and Ruffins (.07) also didn't have much fire power available for the bidding it would take to pick up Gonzalez, Crawford or Beckett.  That didn't stop them from making a Hail Mary bid, but they didn't have enough to be successful.

The big spenders that had a chance to pick up some 2013 pieces were the Beatniks (.35), Killers (.84) and Danger (.40).  The Line walked into the day with .39 left in their budget as well.  What figured to be a bidding war between the 10th, 8th, 6th and 5th place teams turned into a true silent auction as only the Line submitted bids out of the four teams.  The only stiff challenge came from Dem Rebels who pushed all in with their .20 budget for Adrian Gonzalez.  That wasn't near enough to beat out the Line who picked up Gonzalez for .26 and Carl Crawford for .13.

The amazing thing about the timing of the trade is this.  By the bids being submitted on Sunday, August 26, 2012, all players acquired (Gonzalez .26, Crawford .13 and Beckett .20 to the Rebels) receive a two year renewable contract.  Gonzalez has to be kept for 2013 lest the Line sacrifice .13 of their 2.60 on Draft Day.  Somehow the Line will suffer penciling in Gonzalez at first for .26.  This would have happened whether the Dodger/Red Sox trade took place Saturday or Monday.

Now, if the trade had been finalized on Monday, those players wouldn't have been available for bid until Sunday, September 2nd, 2012.  Any player acquired after September 1st receives an S contract and is released at the end of the 2012 season.  So Beckett and Crawford would not have the chance to be with the Rebels and Line, respectively, in this case.  Most likely, having just had Tommy John surgery last week, Crawford would not have received any bids anyway.

So if the Line finds themselves to be contenders next year they can thank the Dodgers and Red Sox for the 27 hour gift.

End of Season Reminders

We are fast approaching the homestretch of the 2012 season.  Here are a couple of things to remember.

1)  For those of you that still have a Free Agent Budet, this weekend is the last weekend to acquire a free agent and keep him next season.  That's because . . .

2)  Anyone you acquire during September receives an "S" contract, which means the contract expires at the end of the current season.  Also, for "S" contracts, there are NO Home Team Discount rights.

3)  A week from Saturday (September 1st) you are able to activate an extra player into a second Utility spot.  The player can be pitcher or position.  Keep in mind that if you activate a player from your reserve to the September Roster Expansion (SRE) spot, this does not allow you to fill the open reserve spot without waiving someone.  You are allowed 40, and only 40, players on your roster.  For five months the split is 23 active 17 reserve.  For September it can be 24 active 16 reserve.  You are not required to activate an extra player in September.

For the above three points, more details can be found in our beautiful Constitution.

I have started putting together the ballots for our end of season awards.  If you would like to submit some suggestions, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Why I Love This League

Gents -

Another trade deadline and IFAB Day has come and gone and, without trying to sound condescending, I am really impressed.  The CFCL has experienced its bumps along the road, but this year went swimmingly (if I can go Olympic on you).  Here are just a couple of reasons for the title of this post.

• Trading - This year, from my point of view, the trades were extremely fair.  Competing teams looked to fill needs and were not involved in huge, egregious trades involving Uber-stars with Uber-salaries while giving up Rookie Ball prospects.
• Prior to this week, before trading began, we had the makings of a horserace for at least 2nd through 5th place.  The trades that were made did nothing to violate that and may have enhanced the race.  Nothing against the Clowns, but here's hoping that the race for the title becomes a little more interesting.
• IFAB.  Many years teams will want to acquire a moderate talent level guy and throw a .24 bid out there so that they ensure getting him but are not tied to the player for the next season.  While it's a valid strategy, it's also not very creative.  But this year, while we only had four teams make bids on IFAB Day, all the bids were within reason and each player acquired could easily be kept next year for that salary.  Well done!
• The commitment of our owners.  Mike Coulter commented that he took IFAB Day off (not sure if it was only because of IFAB Day) so he would be available to process trades, answer questions, etc.  And then there's the Ruffins.  Mind you the Ruffins are coming off of back-to-back championships and are currently mired in 8th place.  It would be relatively easy for them to rest on their laurels (and championship rings) and not worry about making a last minute deal.  Especially so if they were, say, meeting with a leader of the country.  But, no, the Ruffins frantically worked their IPhone - well, let me have Dave use his own words:

I made two trades today on my IPhone minutes before our trade deadline and minutes before Michelle Obama spoke on campus today...literally minutes. If my wife was unsure up to this point, and honestly she was likely quite sure, she now knows that I am completely batshit crazy. About to hear the first lady speak from the VIP section right next to the podium and what am I doing? General managing my fake baseball team.

In any case, I write to make sure everything is ok with the Bulls-Ruffins trade because I see it hasn't been processed yet. I sent the trade and my related moves to you at 11:44 your time. Matt's email likely came in just a tad earlier.

 

With 16 minutes to spare before the deadline and the First Lady clearing her throat, Dave's punching proposals into his phone.  I'm sure Secret Service was not nervous at all by the profusely sweating professor playing with an electronic gadget mere feet from Mrs. Obama.

 

And here's Dave's proof.

 

 

Impressive.  The only negative to any of this is I heard a few comments from owners that their trade inquiries were completely ignored.  Rejecting a trade offer is normal and acceptable.  Not responding at all isn't.  But overall, this very well could be the most successful mid-season experienced by the CFCL in quite a long time.

 

Clowns working until the end

Seeing the championship within reach and not wanting leave a stone unturned, the Clowns pulled off a deal within 30 minutes of the trade deadline and the Ruffins were involved in two deals to help build for next year.

First the Ruffins sent Hunter Pence (.25 12) and Brett Myers (.07 12) to the Bulls in exchange for Bobby Parnell (.05 14+), Julio Teheran (.02 Mx) and Matt Sczur (.05 Mx). 

Then with four minutes left before the deadline the Ruffins and Clowns dealt.  The Ruffins sent Emilio Bonafacio (.10 13+) and Ryan Hannigan (.04 12) to the Clowns and received Yasmani Grandal (.02 Mx) and Joe Segura (.10 14+).

The Clowns are in the driver seat especially with all the last minute fortification.  The interesting part of the standings will be for the remaining money slots.  The Bulls and Dem Rebels made some moves to try and advance and currently the Line and Revenge are holding down 2nd and 3rd.

Injuries, playing time by NL teams in and out of the playoff hunt as well as the IFAB later this afternoon will most likely tell the tale of how things finish.  This should be interesting to watch.

Rebels welcome Ruffins back to America with trade

Dem Rebels added to their starting stable by acquiring Cole Hamels (.29 12) and a 6th round pick from the Ruffins in exchange for some high risk, high reward ammo in Mike Leake (.01 13+) and Domonic Brown (.02 13+).