"Baseball is still the greatest soap opera in
sports. That's what keeps reviving the game. It has the most
detail, the most vivid characters and, even in the off-season, the
most continuous "action." Counting spring training
and the postseason, baseball can grab your attention more than 250
days a year." -
Thomas Boswell
The
following players were not protected by their CFCL teams, however because they
are now in the American League, they were released outright rather than going
through Winter Waivers:
Alfonzo, E.
Beckett, J.
Bradley, M.
Burroughs,
S.
Cairo, M.
Carrasco, H.
Castillo, L.
Chacon, S.
Colon, R.
Conine, J.
Cruz, Jo.
Dubois, J.
Farnsworth, K.
Glaus, T.
Hawkins, L.
Hernandez, Ra.
Jojima, K.
Jones, T.
Lawton, M.
Leiter, A.
Loaiza, E.
Mackowiak, R.
Marte, A.
Mientkiewicz, D.
Mota, G.
Otsuka, A.
Padilla, V.
Perez, A.
Phillips, J.
Redman, M.
Remlinger, M.
Sanders, R.
Stinnett, K.
Thome, J.
Vazquez, J.
Villone, R.
Witasick, J.
NOTE:This is an unofficial list based on guys I caught – it (the list) may or may not be complete.Just to be clear, if the list of waived players contains any American
Leaguers (or if any of them become ALers between now and the waiver claim
deadline), those players are NOT eligible to be claimed.
NOTE:Since the priority for waiver claims goes in reverse order of
the standings, you might want to give a list of 4-5 players you want, in the order of
preference, in case your first couple picks don't work out.
Remember, you're allowed to attempt to claim as many
players as you like.If you do
claim more than one player, please RANK THEM IN THE ORDER OF PREFERENCE.This ranking may determine which players you do or do not get.For details on what happens if multiple teams claim the same player,
see the Winter Waivers section (Article XVIII) of the Constitution.If you
don't supply an explicit ranking, I'll assume the order that you name them is
the order in which you want them.
All unclaimed (non-AL) players go into the Free Agent Pool for next
year's Draft.Also, remember that
if you want to claim a player on waivers, you mustwaive a player on your 23-man roster to make room for him.All the waived players will go through the second round of
waivers.
Take a good look at the list, particularly you rebuilding
teams -- as always there are likely to be some hidden gems of good talent and cheap potential available.
The salary and contract status that the player will receive if he is
claimed is listed.W contract players will become D contracts on Draft Day,
minor leaguers will keep their M contract status until they lose their rookie
status or you activate them.
The Trading Season
With keeper lists and cuts announced, trading can soon begin.Of course, talks can begin immediately, but nothing can be made official
until after 4:00 PM on January 10.At
that time,
the off-season trading season officially begins and it will last until Roster Freeze
Day, a week or so before the Draft.
Ownership Update
I've got good news! Jason has confirmed that the
Reservoir Dogs will be returning for the 2006 season, which means our line-up is
set for the season. That will give us our third straight season with the
same motley crew. Welcome back, everybody!
Draft Day Target Date
Here's a reminder again that our current target weekend for Draft Day is April
1-2. Please check your calendars, and if you already now of any
conflicts with either of those dates, please let us know. At least three
owners are either planning on traveling in for the Draft or will need to arrange
for a proxy to show up in their place, so the sooner we can set our date, the
better.
Auction Format
There's been quite a discussion raging in the CFCL Forums
lately about the possibility of changing our auction from the around-the-table
format to a true (free-for-all) auction format. Well, the discussion
had been raging and is just smoldering now. If you'd like to contribute
some thoughts to the thread, now's the time. Here's a link:
Earlier this week Rich e-mailed everyone a list of
questions designed to paint a picture of your CFCL franchise and you, as both an
owner and a person. The idea for this was sparked by the profiles of
owners in the Luis
Gomez Memorial League. Reading through the profiles on the LGML site
really gives some personality to the league and its owners, and Lord knows we
geeks could use a boost in the personality department.
Please spend some time pondering the questions, select which
of the optional questions you'd like to answer (total of 25 replies max), and
return your answers to Rich. As he noted, we also encourage everyone to
come up with some kind of graphic or logo - and Nick has generously volunteered
to help out with the technical side.
Although there's no deadline for the project (and lord knows
when I'll have the time to put them all up on the site), we hope everyone will
respond sooner rather than later.
Finally, thanks to Rich for hatching the idea and
coordinating efforts to get it done.
Fantasyland
Fantasyland,
due to be released in mid-February, is a book chronicling the 2004 Tout
Wars season (and documenting fantasy baseball in general) through the eyes of author
Sam Walker. Walker, a Wall Street Journal reporter, had never
played fantasy baseball before joining the Tout Wars AL competition and
didn't do too badly for a rookie, finishing in the middle of the
pack. He should have waited a year and wrote about the 2005 season,
as he took the Tout Wars AL title last year.
I was interviewed for the book (a result of Trading
the Gator, I suppose), and spent maybe 45 minutes on the phone.
I don't recall saying anything noteworthy though, so I doubt neither the CFCL nor I
made the cut.
Of course, I'm sure CFCLer Jason Grey will figure
prominently, as he was one of Walker's Tout Wars AL competitors. In fact,
I think Jason was coming off back-to-back Tour Wars championships in 2004, so he
was the guy everyone was gunning for.
Steve Lombardi has posted a glowing review of the book, which
can be found here:
In 2006, the teams that finished in 5th-12th
place in 2005 will receive a budget of up to .06 to use toward reacquiring
players who had played out their option with the team (B-contract players). The
exact amount each team receives will be based on how far behind the 5th
place team they are at the end of the year, in terms of a percentage of the 5th
place team's point total.
Team
Points
%
of 5th Place
Discount
Budget
DoorMatts
76.5
100.00%
.06
Steve's
Stones
68.0
88.89%
.05
Dem
Rebels
55.5
72.55%
.04
Da
Paul Meisters
52.0
67.97%
.04
Splendid
Splinters
47.0
61.44%
.03
Nick's
Picts
36.0
47.06%
.02
Hot
Sludge Sundae
30.5
39.87%
.02
Eric's
Lambchops
27.5
35.95%
.02
Based on the 2005 standings and point totals, here are the teams that will
receive a Home Town Discount Budget, the amount of their budget, and the players
who are eligible for a discount.
DOORMATTS
(.06) B Lawrence
STONES
(.05) G Jenkins
DEM
REBELS (.04) D Kolb B Wilkerson
(AL)
MEISTERS
(.04) E Gagne
SPLINTERS
(.03) J Wilson
PICTS
(.02)
no B contract players
SLUDGE
(.02) J Williams
LAMBCHOPS
(.02) no B contract players
Record Book
Week Ending 10/02: No new
records were set this week.
