DA PAUL MEISTERS claim C Floyd on waivers, release T Martinez.

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Surprise, surprise. I didn’t think there was much chance of Cliff Floyd being claimed on his second tour of the waiver wire this winter, but the team that waived him the first time ‘round has decided to bring him back. With Tino Martinez being traded to the AL, the Meisters took the opportunity to replace him with a live body in Floyd. Since Martinez is now an ALer, it means he gets released rather than going through the waiver process, and that means Winter Waivers 2003 is done.

Seven CFCL teams took the opportunity to retool a bit this winter, with a total of 31 players finding new addresses in the past few weeks. To summarize the whole thing, there a break down of who was claimed in the 2003 Winter Waivers:

I regret to announce that with those above words Bruce Ellman withdrew his franchise from the CFCL. Bruce cited a number of reasons for leaving, including concerns about his ability to have fun in the league in the future, not wanting to hinder anyone else’s enjoyment of the league, and philosophical differences with the league as a whole in terms of recent decisions and how they were handled. He also mentioned being personally offended by comments I made to him in e-mails; for which I apologize, both to Bruce (for the offense) and to the league (if my running off at the keyboard was a factor in costing us a good owner). I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say we wish Bruce all the best in his post-CFCL endeavors.

As I wrote last week, we need to know from EVERYONE by December 15 whether they intend to return for the 2004 season. Once we get a final count on ownership for next year, we will decide how (or if) we want to fill the vacancies.

Now that Winter Waivers are done, we’ll move into full off-season mode. That means I’ll post news tidbits on the website (under News Flashes), but won’t post a full Report until I’ve accumulated enough news or there’s some kind of event to warrant it.

In order to be sure you’re keeping up with all CFCL events, be sure to check the website regularly, and don’t forget the Message Board. Feel free to start debates/discussions there any time.

Opening Day next year will be April 4.  That means our target weekend for Draft Day would be April 3 - 4.  Please keep these dates in mind during the off-season.  Since we'll have at least one owner flying in from out of town for the Draft, we'd like to select a firm date by mid-to-late January.  FYI, Palm Sunday is April 4 next year and Passover begins April 6.

Based on the final 2003 standings, here are the teams that will receive Toppers, the number of Toppers the team receives, and the players who are eligible for Topper use.  There was a lot of dumping of B contracts this year and as a result there will only be a maximum of four toppable players in the 2004 Draft.  

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