"That’s the true harbinger of spring, not crocuses or swallows returning to Capistrano, but the sound of a bat on the ball." - Bill Veeck

Click here for a copy of this report in Word for Windows format

Roster Changes
None.

Click here for updated rosters in Excel format.
Click here for the 2004 Rotation Draft Pick Tracker

It looks like we’ll need to auction off 160 players on Sunday – 26 more than last year.

According to my figures, here's where the Draft Day finances stand.  Let me know if you have something different:

Draft Day Info
Draft Day will be Sunday, April 4 and the Draft is set to begin at 8:00 AM, probably lasting all day. You should plan to stay the entire time scheduled. Experience has shown that Draft Day will last 10-12 hours – you’ll make things a lot easier on yourself if you plan for that length of time. There will be the usual pre-Draft proceedings (Executive Committee elections), so we'd like everyone to make sure to be on time. Please be sure to be there by 8:00 – we plan on starting promptly at 8:00. You can show up any time after 7:30.

REMEMBER: Daylight Savings starts on Sunday, so you need to set your clock ahead an hour before going to bed on Saturday night. Don’t show up an hour late for the Draft!

A note on food and drink for the draft – I will supply the traditional CFCL pretzel rods and licorice (Twizzlers, of course). However, for beverages, it’s every man for himself (and remember, we're in an office, so no alcohol). There's a fridge that has some space we can use for keeping drinks cool (a couple cans or bottles per person – you can rotate others in as you take the cold ones out).  

Remember, you’re also responsible for bringing your own lunch. We will have access to a microwave, so we will have the ability to heat stuff up if necessary.  There are also a couple vending machines where you'll be able to get drinks and snack-type items, so be sure to bring some change if you think you'll need back-up provisions.

Laptop Users: Please be sure to bring an extension cord (or two or three) unless you’ve got enough battery power to last you through the day. Don’t assume there will be an outlet within a foot and a half of your seat – you may need to plug in halfway across the room.

Workplace Considerations: As noted above, we’ll be Drafting in Rich’s office. Even though it’s Sunday, Rich anticipates there WILL be people in the office to do things other than draft a baseball team. Just advance warning that we probably won’t be the only ones there.

NOTE: Since we’re drafting before Opening Day and before official 25-man rosters are set, the list I’ll be providing will consist of my best information as to what the current major league rosters are (you can download an in-progress copy of this list from the Download Center. I've been keeping track of non-roster invitees and demotions to the minors, but there are bound to be some guys I miss. All the obvious people will be listed, but one or two may slip through.  As always, I'm making no guarantees about the accuracy of the list. It should be used only as a supplement to your own research. Note, however, that it will be the OFFICIAL list, so if you try to nominate someone not on the list, you’ll have to convince me he’s still on an NL roster.

Finally, just a couple more notes about the draft. Along with the list of who's available, I will provide worksheets for you with everyone's pre-draft rosters printed on them and with spaces to fill in the roster as the draft progresses. I will also have sheets for everyone to fill in the reserve rosters for each team. Our supplies will otherwise be limited, so if you need extra scratch paper or pencils/pens, you might want to bring them yourself.

I’ll have the big color-coordinated name cards to flip up and down to show who’s in and who’s out of the bidding, though we may not need them if we’re able to project the Bidding Spreadsheet like we did last year. Knowing exactly who is in and who is out of the bidding makes things go a lot more quickly and smoothly. Speaking of smoothly and quickly, please remember to use courtesy in bidding. This does not mean that you can't call Rich a slimy, scum-sucking lizard when he raises your bid on Kerry Wood by a penny. We just don't want you to take a minute and a half to decide if you're going to raise it another cent. Thirty seconds should be enough for an educated owner to decide, and sixty seconds should be enough for Nick, so that's the general rule we'll use. We won't use a timing method to begin with, but if things start to drag we'll have to institute a sixty second rule.

To help move things along, please take a few minutes to review the Draft Speed and Courtesy Guidelines.

Well, that's about it. There's less than a week 'til D-Day. Good luck!

2004 Toppers

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:

Draft Day Kit

Below is a set of links with all the info currently available about Draft Day.  

List of Players Cut (web page) 

List of Players Cut (Word docutment)

Rosters (Excel format)

Directions to the Draft

Draft Speed and Courtesy Guidelines

Other helpful goodies in the Draft Day Prep section of the Download Center