2000 CFCL News Flash Archive

Our Total Quality Stats web pages are now up and running for the 2000 season.  All rosters are current and up-to-date, and more importantly, the Free Agents listing includes everyone who will be available in the Draft (so far), including players who were released following the 1999 season because they played out their options.  Other useful information includes, stats for last year, as well as the number of games played by position.

While most of the information on the private team pages is not up-to-date, you can read current notes about your players.  To access your private page, select your team name from the drop-down menu on the main page and enter CFCL2000 as the password.  Then click the Submit button.  Once you're in your private page, you can change your password to whatever you'd like.

As always, the TQS pages can be found at: http://www.tqstats.com/_baseball/_leagues/_cfcl/index.html

Riddle me this, Batman.  When does the CFCL have 10 teams, but 11 owners?  When one of the teams is owned by a partnership, that's when.  Harry Witzke (whom some of you know as the owner of the Mount Prospect PeteRosers, currently kicking all butts in the Winter League) and buddy Bruce Ellman have joined forces to form the first ownership team in CFCL history.  Their franchise will replace the departed Steve Donaldson and his Slackers.

Our first impulse was to just give them the Slackers' old roster, but we decided to hold off for a bit until we had definitely finalized our membership for 2000.  The FlatFeet have not yet confirmed that they're returning, and we're still tinkering with the idea of expanding to 11 teams.

Although they've yet to receive any players, Harry and Bruce wasted no time in revealing the name of the CFCL's latest franchise -- Bruce's Witzke au Go-Go.  Enquiries about the origin of the name should go to the new ownership.

Stay tuned to the News Flashes for developing details on the membership of the CFCL 2000.

The CFCL was saddened to learn that Ken Welsch would be withdrawing his franchise, Welsch's FlatFeet, from the CFCL.  The FlatFeet had been in the league for four years, and had their most successful season in 1998 when they finished in 5th place.

The Executive Committee acted quickly to approve a new franchise to take the place of the FlatFeet, tabbing Steve's Stones, owned by Steve Olson, as the CFCL's 10th team for 2000.  Like Harry Witzke of the Bruce's Witzke au Go-Go, Olson in a charter member of the Winter Pastime Baseball League, and is also having a fine winter season.

Insiders say that expansion is being seriously considered for the 2000 season, and it is anticipated that the CFCL will take on one or two teams for the coming year.  If this is the case, the Stones, along with the recently founded Go-Go, will join the expansion team(s) in an expansion draft.

The CFCL announced plans today to expand to 12 teams for the 2000 season.  The move will give the CFCL its largest membership ever, the previous high being 10.

Joining the league as the 11th and 12th teams are Matt's Hard Hats, owned by southside firefighter Matt Grage, and Nick's Picts, owned by curling Appeals Court clerk Nick Hansen.  Both new owners made contact with the CFCL via the Fantasy Baseball newsgroup.

Click here to read the Picts' press release about joining the CFCL.

Plans are already underway for an Expansion Draft, in which the Hats and Picts will participate with the other new teams, the Go-Go and the Stones.

The CFCL Expansion Draft has been scheduled for Wednesday February 16, and 8:00 PM.  The Draft will take place in the CFCL Dugout Chatroom.

In preparation for the Expansion Draft, existing teams were required today to submit their lists of 14 protected players.  All the lists were received, and the Draft Pool has been compiled.  Click here to view an interactive list of the players available to be selected in the Expansion Draft.

The expansion from 10 to 12 teams has allowed us to reduce our roster sizes from 27 to something a little more standard.  After a short debate, the Executive Committee has defined the following parameters for rosters in 2000:

For the 2000 season, the CFCL will use 23-man Active Rosters and 17-man Reserve Lists.  

The positional distribution will be as follows: 5-OF, 1-3B, 1-1B, 1-1B or 3B, 1-SS, 1-2B, 1-2B or SS, 2-C, 1-Sw, 9-P.  ('Sw' stands for Swingman, a utility player that can be either a hitter or a pitcher).

The Draft Day spending budget for each team will be $2.60.

Since the size of the rosters have been reduced, each team will be able to protect 16 players prior to the Draft.  In previous years, with the 27-man rosters, teams were allowed to protect 17 players.  The level of 16 is a special exception for the 2000 season only.  In subsequent years, the keeper limit will be 15 players.  The exception is being made to accommodate teams that may have made free agent pickups, trades, or waiver claims in anticipation of being able to protect 17 players.

Any questions should be directed to the Executive Committee.

In a random method, the four 2000 expansion teams picked their slots for the upcoming Expansion Draft.

Each team was asked to submit a number between 1-200.  Co-Commissioner Mahlan then randomly selected a baseball book off of his bookshelf ("Why Time Begins on Opening Day" by Thomas Boswell) and turned to the pages corresponding to the numbers selected.  He then took the first word off of each selected page, and alphabetized the words to determine the order in which the new teams could declare their preference for drafting position.  

Steve Olson, of Steve's Stones, had the first alphabetically ordered word, and elected to take the first pick in the Expansion Draft.  Next up was Nick Hansen, of Nick's Picts, and he decided to take the #2 spot.  He'll be followed by Matt Grage, of Matt's Hard Hats, and the first round will be completed by Harry Witzke and Bruce Ellman, owners of Bruce's Witzke au Go-Go.

For the second round, the draft order will reverse, with the Go-Go getting the #5 pick.

The Expansion Draft is scheduled for Wednesday, February 16, at 8:00 PM.  It will be held in the CFCL Dugout Chatroom, and all are invited to witness the spectacle.

Steve's Stones selected fireballer Randy Johnson with the #1 pick in the 2000 CFCL Expansion Draft.  Nick's Picts had the second pick and chose controversial John Rocker from the Ruffins' roster.  Matt's Hard Hats followed and selected shortstop Alex Gonzalez from the DoorMatts, and Bruce's Witzke a Go-Go finished out the first round by claiming reliever Dave Veres.  Both Johnson and Veres were refugees of the departed FlatFeet/Slacker franchises.

The use of the CFCL Chatroom for the Draft was a rousing success, and Executive Committee members David Holian and Rich Bentel dropped in to observe from time-to-time.

A full report of the Expansion Draft, along with the resulting rosters for the expansion teams is available in the Draft Histories section.

The CFCL today released the schedule of events that will culminate with Draft Day and Opening Day during the first weekend in April.  The scheduled dates are as follows:

Roster Cut Sheets Mailed Out Completed Roster Cut Sheets Should Be Mailed Back   Roster Freeze Day (for cuts submitted via e-mail) Roster Freeze Day (for cuts submitted via snail-mail) Keeper List Mailed Out Cubs vs Mets Opening Day in Tokyo Draft Day NL Opening Day

Monday, March 13 Tuesday, March 21 Wednesday, March 22 Friday, March 24 Monday, March 27 Tuesday, March 28 Sunday, April 2 Monday, April 3

The Administrative Pre-Season will kick off on March 13 when Roster Cut Sheets will be mailed to CFCL owners.  Unless otherwise requested, owners who typically receive standings reports via e-mail will also receive their Roster Cut Sheets via e-mail.

Owners will have the option of returning the completed forms via e-mail or via snail-mail.  If forms are e-mailed back to the Head Office, they must be received by the morning of Wednesday March 22.  Forms from owners who will be using the US Postal Service will not be due until Friday, March 24.  Whichever delivery system is used, the completed forms should be in the mail by March 21 to ensure they'll arrive on time.

If there are any questions about how the process works, check the relevant portions of the Constitution (which will be updated soon), or contact me.

Aside from the administrative buzz brought on by the addition of four new teams, it's been a relatively quiet CFCL off-season.  First, the Winter Waiver period was rather subdued, and things have been absolutely silent on the trade front.  Until now.

The Lambchops and Rebels have broken through with a bang, completing the first trade of the off-season.  The Lambchops sent slugger Sammy Sosa and their 3rd and 4th Round Rotation Draft picks to the Rebels for Jose Lima, Randall Simon, and their 2nd Round Rotation Draft pick.

After losing Mark McGwire to free agency after the 1999 season, there were concerns about the Rebels' power potential for the 2000 season.  Looks like the Head Rebel has laid those to rest.

Following hot on the heels of the Lambchop/Rebel deal the Ruffins and DoorMatts have put together a trade of their own.

The Ruffins put together a package of Russ Ortiz, Preston Wilson, and their 15th Round Rotation Draft pick in order to snag Kevin Millwood and the Matt's 1st, 3rd, and 13th Round Rotation Draft pick.

Millwood's entering the final year of a long-term contract, after which the Ruffins will lose him to free agency.  

DoorMatts Strike Again With 2nd Trade in Two Days 03/10/00

After a quiet off-season, things have certainly heated up.  Today, the DoorMatt and Rebel front offices have announced each team's second trade of the week.

In this deal, the DoorMatts send Marvin Benard, Pokey Reese, and their 4th and 5th Round Rotation Draft picks to the Rebels for Jeromy Burnitz, Steve Avery, Armando Reynoso, and their 15th Round Rotation Draft pick.  

The Rebel's recent acquisition of Sammy Sosa apparently made the dealing of Burnitz possible, or, given the salaries involved, necessary.

The Rotation Draft should be very interesting for the DoorMatts.  Between the two trades they just made and a mid-season deal with the Copperfields in 1999, the Matts have traded away most of their early round draft picks.  They now have no picks in the first five rounds of the Rotation Draft, and only one pick in the first seven rounds.  They'll be all set in the 15th round, though, where the now own 1/4 of all the picks.

The CFCL Executive Committee never rests. Over the last week or so, they've clarified some rules and put some other new ones in place. Here are the details of what they've been up to:

Daily Transactions. Typically, transactions can be made only on Tuesday each week. For this season, however, there will be certain situations when you can make a transaction effective on any day of the week. Those situations are:

CFCL trades can be effective any day -- no more trading for a guy on Thursday and having to wait until Tuesday before he starts playing for your team.

If, after the Noon transaction deadline on Tuesday, one of your players is put on or activated from the DL, promoted from or demoted to the minor leagues, or traded to the American League, you will be able to make a transaction involving that player on any day of the week.

Note that if your player goes on the DL on Sunday and you do not reserve him before Noon on the following Tuesday, you're out of luck. This rule is not intended to give you leeway if you miss the normal deadline for making your weekly transactions.

Likewise, the daily transactions cannot be used to randomly tinker with your roster. Players can only be activated or reserved if they've been involved in a major league transaction since the last CFCL transaction deadline.

Daily transactions can only be used for Reserve List moves or trades. All other transactions, including free agent bids and waiver claims, are still limited to Tuesdays.

NL Realignment. As you may have heard, Bud Selig has made it his sworn mission to move the Arizona Diamondbacks to the American League following the 2000 season. Now, there is the chance that his proposal will be voted down, but we thought it would be best to have a plan in place so everyone can take it into account when making their cuts, etc.

If the Diamondbacks are the only team moved to the American League, all Arizona players will be lost to their CFCL teams, just as if the player had been traded to the AL. There will be no compensation for players lost if the Diamondbacks are the only team moved.

If two or more teams are moved from the NL to the AL, the players on those teams will be removed from the CFCL rosters. However, owners who lose players WILL be compensated for the players they lose. We'll use the Topper plan we had come up with a few years ago when radical realignment was being proposed. I won't get into the details now, but in general, teams losing players to the AL will get special considerations for acquiring players that came over to the NL in realignment.

Transaction Fees. Those of you who have read the Constitution recently may recall that it includes a list of transactions and the fees that are associated with them. A few years ago, however, we had moved to the straight $15 charge to cover all salaries/transactions/signing bonuses/penalties/etc. The Constitution will be updated to reflect this -- instead of a separate charge for transactions, the yearly entrance fee will be changed from $27 to $42 ($27+$15). Nothing's really changing in terms of league fees -- we're just updating the Constitution to reflect the way we've been doing things.

If there are any questions, please give me a call (312-693-7238) or write. Remember, according to our 1999 Draft Speed rules, we will NOT spend a lot of time discussing rules, etc. prior to the Draft.

Hard Hats Complete First Trade 03/14/00

Matt's Hard Hats have been officially initiated into the CFCL, completing the first trade in franchise history.  They sent slugging catcher Ed Taubensee and their 8th round pick in the 2000 Reserve List Draft to Eric's Lambchops in exchange for the Lambchops' 7th, 10th, and 13th round picks in the Reserve List Draft.

Ramirez Dealt for 2001 Draft Picks 03/15/00

The CFCL is used to seeing all kinds of bizarre trades in the days before roster cuts are due -- as teams try to reduce their roster to the magic cut-down level, players are often traded for Rotation Draft picks.  However, this one's a first.  

Finding themselves with more than 16 keepers, but also with more Rotation Draft picks than they know what to do with, the Ruffins today dealt 3B prospect Aramis Ramirez to the Six Packs in exchange for the Packs' 5th, 7th, and 13th round Rotation Draft picks in the 2001 Draft.

I guess this wild Rotation Draft pick swapping that takes place prior to each season's Draft is the CFCL's own version of March Madness...

Stones/Hard Hats in Expansion Team Deal 03/18/00

In the first trade between two of the expansion teams, Steve Stones traded second baseman Marlon Anderson and their 11th Round Rotation Draft pick to Matt's Hard Hats for pitcher Steve Parris and their 17th Round Rotation Draft pick.

The deal is the first trade in Stone history, and the 2nd for the Hard Hats in the last week.

Picts Sign Rocker Long-Term 03/29/00

A CFCL Front Office mix-up has allowed Nick's Picts to sign their first round expansion pick, John Rocker, to a long term contract one year earlier than anticipated.  When the Picts made the controversial closer the 2nd pick overall in the 2000 CFCL Expansion Draft, they were under the impression that he was currently in the first year of a standard 2-year (D) contract.  However, Rocker's former owner, David Holian pointed out that Rocker was actually entering his option year, and this was verified in the CFCL records.

The Picts were given the option of signing Rocker for his option year only, or extending his contract long-term.  They seized the opportunity and locked Rocker up for 3 years (through 2002) on an F contract.  Rocker's salary increases from .05 to .15 for each year of the contract.

Copperfields Acquire Greene 05/10/00

David's Copperfields, faced with the possibly devastating loss of 3B Fernando Tatis for as long as three months, today dealt 4-category stud prospect Julio Ramirez to David's Ruffins for Willie Greene.

Greene, originally a product of the Copperfield farm system many years ago, has been stuck on the Ruffins' reserve list, blocked by third basemen Scott Rolen and Mike Lowell, and first basemen Todd Helton and Euribel Durazo.  The Copperfields hope Greene can supply a little offensive support during Tatis' absence. Tatis had been leading the team with 28 RBI at the time of his injury.

In Ramirez, the Ruffins acquire an intriguing combination of power and speed.  The only skill Ramirez has yet to consistently demonstrate is strike zone judgment, but if he can cut down on his strike outs, Ramirez will be a potential all-star.  He joins an already impressive cadre of minor league talent that should keep the Ruffins contending for years to come.

Picts Trade Kendall and Williams to Ruffins 05/15/00

The Ruffins and Picts have finally put the finishing touches on a trade, and have re-written the CFCL Constitution to boot.  In the deal, the Picts sent top-tier catcher Jason Kendall and closer Mike Williams to the Ruffins for a package of three (so far) disappointing, but very promising youngsters.  

In Kendall, the Ruffins nab one of the top few catchers in the league, and he seems to be fully recovered from the season-ending injury that may have cost the Copperfields the 1999 CFCL Championship.  Mike Williams, another 1999 Copperfield alum, has been dominant this season, and as a .05 closer, figures to be a bargain next year as well.  The Ruffins acquired both players without trading a player from their active roster.

The Picts acquire pitcher Octavio Dotel, outfielder Chad Hermansen, and minor league OF prospect Milton Bradley.  Dotel and Hermansen have struggled early this year, but the fore-thinking Pict management was able to look past their current stats and see the dominant major league starter and 30-HR outfielder that scouts have predicted in those two players.  Bradley has struggled with attitude problems in the minors, but has demonstrated a hot bat to go along with his temper.  Add in his base stealing speed, and he could be a dominant force in a few years. 

The Picts and Ruffins had been trying to complete a deal involving Hermansen and Kendall for several weeks, but were thwarted by a series of Constitutional snafus that held the deal up until now.  As an M-contract player who was still in major league camp at the time of the CFCL Draft, the Hermansen was retained at M-contract status on the Reserve List by the Ruffins, even though he ended up making the major league team.  Since this, in effect, allowed the Ruffins to keep more than the normal number of major league players going into the Draft, the Ruffins had to link Hermansen with one of their other keepers.  If the Ruffins wanted to activate Hermansen prior to May 15, they would have had to release the player they had linked to him.

The Picts and Ruffins had completed a trade involving Hermansen a few weeks ago, however it was disallowed by the Executive Committee.  While the current Constitution does not explicitly outlaw the trading of linked M-contract players, the spirit behind the linking rule is definitely that no team should benefit from keeping more than the allowed number of major league players until the linking deadline (May 15) had passed.  If the Ruffins had been permitted to trade Hermansen, they would have been benefiting from being allowed to retain his rights.  Finally, it was decided that no M-contract linked players could be traded until the May 15 deadline had passed.

The Executive Committee will be releasing a revised version of the Constitution which reflects new changes in the retention of M-contract players who are still in the majors on Opening Day.

Executive Committee Does Away With Pre-Draft Linking 05/16/00

The Executive Committee recently approved changes to the rules concerning the protection of M-contract players on CFCL Reserve Lists prior to the Draft.  The changes came as a result of issues raised by the recent trade between the Ruffins and Pics involving M-contract major leaguer Chad Hermansen.

When the CFCL Draft is held prior to Major League Opening Day, some National League rosters have not been finalized by the time of the Draft.  In this case, there are often players on CFCL rosters who have M-contract status but are still on Major League rosters when we draft.  This presents a potential problem, since a CFCL team could conceivably keep one or more of these M-contract players on their Reserve List through the Draft.  If the player subsequently makes his National League team, the CFCL team will in effect have been allowed to keep more than the maximum 15 major league players.  And also, since the players were on M contracts at the time, the player's salary wouldn't have counted against his team's $2.60 spending limit.

Each team with M-contract players who are still on Major League rosters at the time of the Draft were allowed to keep those players on their Reserve List through the Draft.  However, in order to minimize the benefits the team could receive from this situation,  the team had to 'link' this player with one of their Major League keepers.  Then, if the team wanted to activate the M-contract player before May 15, the team had to release the 'linked' player.  Once May 15 arrived, the link would be broken.

This whole rule came under scrutiny this year when the Ruffins attempted to trade Chad Hermansen, an M-contract player who was linked to one of the Ruffins Major League keepers.  The Executive Committee ruled that allowing the Ruffins to trade Hermansen prior to May 15 would be giving them as much of a benefit as if they had been allowed to activate Hermansen.  While working on the wording of an addition to the Constitution that would disallow the trading of 'linked' players, the Executive Committee decided to make a more sweeping change that simplifies the whole business.

Effective for the 2001 season, teams will still be allowed to protect M-contract players on their Reserve List prior to the Draft.  If these players are sent to the minors by their National League team prior to Opening Day, they may remain on the Reserve List and be activated or traded later, without consequences.  If, however, the players start the season on a Major League roster, they must remain on the Reserve List and may not be activated or traded until after June 30.  

NOTE:  If a CFCL team indicates that a player should be placed on the Reserve List when they submit their cuts, they cannot then move the player to the Active Roster prior to the Draft (even if the player is still on a Major League team).  The ONLY changes that can be made between the time cuts are submitted and the beginning of the Draft is reserving players who were put on the DL or sent to the minors after cuts were due.

Click here to review the Roster Protection article in the CFCL Constitution.

Copperfields Acquire Big Unit and Killer B 05/26/00

In an effort to bolster their Championship hopes, David's Copperfields have acquired Randy Johnson from Steve's Stones.

In a deal announced today, the Stones sent Randy Johnson, Craig Biggio, Hanley Frias, and Chris Stynes to the Copperfields for Ron Belliard, Brad Penny, and minor leaguers Chip Ambres and Austin Kearns.

Johnson is playing out the final months of his current contract and will be a free agent at the end of the year, while Biggio's .47 salary made him expendable to the Stones.  In Belliard, the Stones acquired one of the league's best young second basemen, while Penny gives them a fireballing right-hander who could be a number one starter within a couple years.  Ambres and Kearns are both promising young power/speed outfield prospects.

The Copperfields, who just lost starter Alex Fernandez to injury for up to a month, expect Johnson to contribute significantly in the ERA and Ratio categories, while they hope the change of scenery will help Biggio snap out of his early slump.

Go-Go Make Big Splash with First Trade in Franchise History 05/31/00

A week after dealing Randy Johnson and Craig Biggio to the front-running Copperfields, Steve's Stones continued to trade the present for the future, dumping more of their high-priced talent for potential keepers from Bruce's Witzke a Go-Go.

This time the Stones traded a package consisting of Jay Bell, Barry Larkin, Ugueth Urbina, Dennis Cook, and their 16th and 17th round Rotation Draft picks in 2001 for Moises Alou, Mickey Morandini, minor leaguers Eric Cammack and Jorge Toca, plus the Go-Go's 1st and 2nd round Rotation Draft picks in 2001.

Bell (.20), Larkin (.29), and Urbina (.42), although all in the first year of their contracts,  were apparently considered too expensive to keep in 2001 by the cost-conscious Stones, who picked up a great bargain in Alou (.03).  Cammack has the potential to eventually pair with Brad Penny as a powerful 1-2 punch.

Rebels Pick Up Pitching Help for Championship Drive  06/17/00

Dem Rebels, already owners of the CFCL's top pitching staff (43 points), took steps today to make it even stronger. They sent long-time Rebel favorite, pitcher Kirk Rueter, plus minor leaguers Hee Seop Choi and Travis Dawkins to Matt's Hard Hats for starter Mike Hampton, closer Antonio Alfonseca, and the Hat's 3rd round Rotation Draft pick in 2001.

Alfonseca joins Rebel closer committee members Robb Nen and Bob Wickman, and the Rebels hope he can avoid the 2nd half collapse that he experienced last year. Hampton gives the Rebels an ace starter to head an already-strong rotation that features Jon Lieber, Ryan Dempster, and Rick Ankiel.

The Hard Hats, meanwhile, acquire two top prospects and a solid middle of the rotation starter at a cheap price (.04).

The deal makes the Rebels a perfect-48-point threat in the pitching categories, clear favorites for 2nd place, and give them a solid shot at taking a chunk out of the league-leading Copperfields' current 20-point lead.

Rebels Acquire Offensive Trio        06/20/00

After putting an exclamation point on an already outstanding pitching staff by acquiring Mike Hampton and Antonio Alfonseca earlier in the week, Dem Rebels today addressed their offensive shortcomings by picking up outfielders Gary Sheffield, Ray Lankford, and catcher Jason Kendall from the Ruffins.

In return for the three players and their 10th round Rotation Draft pick in 2001, the Ruffins nabbed young pitching stud Rick Ankiel and the Rebels' 7th round Rotation Pick.

With this deal, the Rebels made it clear that they're not planning on settling for 2nd place this year, having completed their third trade in four  days (the second trade brought over shortstop Neifi Perez from the Six Packs in exchange for a 2001 draft pick).

The Ruffins have joined the Hard Hats, Picts, Stones, and Six Packs as teams to throw in the towel on the 2000 season by dumping their high-priced talent to contenders.  Surprisingly, the Ruffins had been on the receiving end of such a deal earlier in the year when they acquired none other than Jason Kendall from Nick's Picts.  However, a total collapse of their pitching staff has apparently caused the Ruffins to cast their eyes 2001-ward.

Go-Go Acquire Powerful Package of Pitching Potential        06/20/00

The Ruffins continued the dismantling of their 2000 edition, sending Kevin Millwood, Curt Schilling, and Billy Wagner to Bruce's Witzke a Go-Go in exchange for the Go-Go's 3rd, 4th, 7th, and 13th round Rotation Draft picks.

The three pitchers acquired by the Go-Go have struggled so far this year, but both Schilling and Millwood have shown signs of coming around lately.  If they continue that trend the Go-Go will be definite players in this year's pennant race.  Just hours after the trade was announced, however, it was announced that Wagner could potentially miss the rest of the season with an elbow injury.  

Rebels Nab Ventura  07/05/00

Dem Rebels added another piece to their juggernaut today when they picked up Robin Ventura and picks in the 7th and 8th rounds of the 2001 Rotation Draft.  In exchange for Ventura, the Rebels sent Michael Barrett, Calvin Murray, and Ramon Martinez to Nick's Picts.

Ventura is a key pick-up for the Rebels, especially since they didn't have to give up any active players to acquire him.  In addition, Ventura allows the Rebels to move the recently-acquired Phil Nevin behind the plate to catcher, keeping his powerful bat in the line-up. 

Go-Go Acquire Young and Aguilera  07/18/00

The Go-Go continued their never-ending search for bullpen help today, when they acquired closer Rick Aguilera from the Lambchops.  The Go-Go also received outfielder Dmitri Young and sent pitcher John Snyder and outfielders Angel Echevarria and John Roskos.

Aguilera is the third closer the Go-Go have acquired this season via trade.  Earlier in the year, they traded for the injured Ugueth Urbina of the Stones, and later picked up Billy Wagner from the Ruffins.  Neither Urbina nor Wagner has pitched in a game for the Go-Go yet.  Here's hoping the third time's the charm. 

Hard Hats Send Sanders to Go-Go  07/28/00

The Go-Go today acquired struggling outfielder Reggie Sanders and a 4th round Rotation Draft pick in 2001 from the Hard Hats in exchange for Tony Gwynn, Ugueth Urbina, and the Go-Go's 12th and 16th round Rotation Draft picks.

All of the players involved in the deal have been disappointments so far this year, mostly due to various injuries.  The teams obviously hope a change of scenery can turn things around for Sanders and Gwynn, while Urbina was clearly a pick-up for next year as he's expected to miss the rest of the season following surgery. 

Copperfields and Six Packs In Trading Deadline Deal  07/31/00

As the minutes ticked down to the CFCL's Noon, July 31 trading deadline, the Copperfields and Six Packs put the finishing touches on the last trade of the regular season.

The Six Packs sent Jeff Kent, Greg Maddux, Matt Mantei, and their 14th round Rotation Draft pick in 2001 to the Copperfields.  In return, the Six Packs received Julio Lugo, Adam Eaton, John Patterson, and the Copperfields' 8th and 13th round picks in the 2001 Rotation Draft.

The Copperfields finally gave in to the pressure to make a deal in the hopes of retaining their diminishing lead over the 2nd place Rebels.  It is hoped that adding Kent will allow the Copperfields to stay ahead of the Rebels in the HR and RBI categories.  They currently hold what would appear to be a safe lead in those categories, but the recent Rebel acquisitions of Sheffield, Lankford, Kendall, Nevin, and Ventura have put those categories in jeopardy.  While the Copperfields don't need Maddux's Wins, they hope his ERA and Ratio will allow the to compete for second place in those categories.  The acquisition of Mantei should guarantee a second place finish for the Copperfields in Saves. 

The Six Packs retool some for next year, acquiring Lugo, a shortstop with speed and some power potential, and Eaton, a potential ace starter.  Eaton, in particular, has been outstanding, allowing 2 runs or fewer in half of his starts this year.  The Copperfields had signed him from the Free Agent Pool after he had been waived by the Go-Go earlier in the year.  Patterson, currently recovering from arm surgery, was a throw-in. 

Now that the July 31 trade deadline has passed, no trades can be completed until the completion of the first round of Winter Waivers in the fall. 

After losing the CFCL Championship in the last game of the season (wild card playoff games) in both 1998 and 1999, David's Copperfields were finally able to put it all together and finish in First Place, the 9th CFCL Championship in franchise history.  Along the way, the Copperfields set new CFCL records for HR, RBI, and Batting Average, as well as total point, offensive points, and pitching points (although these last three were as much a result of the expansion to 12 teams as anything else).

Dem Rebels put together an incredible run at the championship, but fell just a bit short.  Trailing by as much as 20 points in June, they nevertheless went to work bolstering their offense and pitching staff, and by August 21 had pulled within 2 points of the lead.  Following a late-season slump and injuries to a couple key hitters the Rebels fell off the pace a bit, and the race was probably closer than the 9.5 point spread would indicate.

The third place finishers were the shocking Bruce's Witzke a Go-Go, who became the first expansion team in CFCL history to finish in the money in their first year of existence.  Run by Bruce Ellman and Harry Witzke, the CFCL's first co-ownership team, the Go-Go built an excellent foundation in the Expansion Draft during the off-season, followed it up with an impressive rookie auction draft on Draft Day (with Ellman representing the team and co-owner Witzke checking in via cell-phone), and then filled in the missing pieces with trades during the season.  They ended up coming within just a few HR and SB of stealing second place from the Rebels.

Fourth place went to the defending 1999 CFCL Champion Six Packs.  The Packs had lost a great deal of talent to free agency following their championship run, so repeating was bound to be a challenge.  The final money spot went to the CFCL Champions from 1998, David's Ruffins.  The Ruffins were heavily favored to run away with the 2000 title, going into the Draft with an unprecedented combination of huge talent and low salaries.  Early struggles with their pitching staff, however, led the Ruffins to throw in the towel by mid-June.  Despite trading away several all-star caliber players during the season, the Ruffins were still able to finish within one point of 4th place, a fact that bodes well for Ruffin fortunes in 2001, when the Ruffins will once again enter the season as clear favorites.

Da Paul Meisters finished in 6th place, and for the second straight season came away with the coveted #1 draft pick in each round of the 2001 Rotation Draft.  On the basis of some savvy late-season roster moves, including a couple of September free agent acquisitions, the Doormatts made a late drive to finish in 7th place by a convincing margin.  

The ForGoetz Me Nots offense put of a strong showing in the season's first half, but fell apart following season-ending injuries to Larry Walker and Mark McGwire and the Nots limped to an 8th place finish.  They were followed by the Lambchops, possibly the CFCL's most jinxed team.  It seemed every trade the Lambchops made ended in disaster (Jose Lima, Randall Simon, Ed Taubensee), but with a core of up-and-comers like Pat Burrell, Corey Patterson, Eric Valent, Tony Armas, and Chad Hutchinson, the Chops won't be down for long.

The last three spots in the standings were filled by the other three expansion teams, Nick's Picts, Steve's Stones, and Matt's Hard Hats.  While they proved to be the rule for expansion teams (as opposed to the exception of the Go-Go), all three teams worked to improve their teams for 2001 via trades and free agent acquisitions, and it wouldn't be surprising to see any of these teams competing for the money next year.

The winners of the 2000 CFCL awards were announced tonight at the annual CFCL Awards Banquet.  The first order of business (after ordering the pizza, of course) was to award certificates and prize money to 2000's top teams.  In presenting the Championship Trophy to Copperfield GM David Mahlan, 1999 CFCL Champion Kelly Barone said, "Going into the season, I thought the Ruffins were sitting in the catbird seat.  But then they totally f**ked up in the Draft, and Dave was there to take advantage."  

Next, the winners of the 2000 CFCL balloting were announced.  Ryan Dempster, drafted by Dem Rebels for .02, took home the Steal of the Year Award.  Derek Lee of Matt's Hard Hats and Garrett Stephenson of the Six Packs were runners up.  At the other end of the spectrum, the Hard Hats' Mike Jackson (.29) became the 8th closer in 11 years to be awarded the Nick Esasky Award.

Jeff D'Amico and John VanderWal, both of David's Copperfields, took home the Best Free Agent Acquisition and Best Reserve List Pick respectively.  Moises Alou, who was selected by Bruce's Witzke a Go-Go in the expansion draft last off-season, was named the Best Expansion Draft Pick.  The only unanimously-elected award winner was Jeffery Hammonds of Dem Rebels, who was named the Best Waiver Claim of the year.  In one of the two closest races, David's Copperfields narrowly edged Dem Rebels for having the Most Productive Farm System (Lance Berkman, Ben Petrick, and Brad Penny).

Todd Helton of David's Ruffins was voted Most Valuable Player, Randy Johnson of the Copperfields took home the Cy Young Award, and David Mahlan of the Copperfields narrowly edged the rookie owners of Bruce's Witzke a Go-Go, Bruce Ellman and Harry Witzke, to be named General Manager of the Year.

The other very close contest was for the Rookie of the Year Award, with Rick Ankiel of David's Ruffins battling it out with the Hard Hats' Rafael Furcal.  In the four years this award has been given, the Ruffins have walked away with it every year.  This year, however, Furcal and the Hard Hats took home the honor.

Finally, a new award was presented tonight for the first time.  Named in honor of an inaugural member of the CFCL, the Paul Mahlan Award will be presented to by the CFCL Executive Committee each year to the team that best overcomes adversity during the season.  This year, the award was given to David's Copperfields, who were able to post a successful season despite losing several players to long-term injuries.