Ruffins and Rebels Open Trading Season 01/25/07

Bulls Get Young 01/29/07

Owners Vote on Proposed Rule Changes 02/16/07

Defending Champs Continue to Retool 03/08/07

Bulls Send Draft Picks to Ransom Sanchez 03/15/07

Rebels Swap Hitting for Pict Pitching 03/15/07

Rebels Acquire Zambrano 03/19/07

Bulls and Red Hots Revise Trade 03/25/07

Copperfields Add Eleventh Hour Offense 03/25/07

Roster Freeze Day  03/26/07

CFCL teams prepared for the year's biggest day by trimming their active rosters to 15 of fewer players prior to the 2007 Draft.  As has been the trend in recent years, there was wide-spread cost cutting, with a number of high-priced players set free, including Carlos Beltran (.47), Pat Burrell (.37), Carlos Delgado (.34), Adam Dunn (.43), Andruw Jones (.43), Chipper Jones (.40), Juan Pierre (.35), Aramis Ramirez (.44), Aaron Rowand (.28), and Billy Wagner (.36).

That's not to say that there wasn't any spending going on.  The following players received raises and long-term commitments from their CFCL owners:

Ryan Howard (Copperfields) signed for 2 years at .15

Brett Myers (Copperfields) signed for 2 years at .06

Lance Berkman (Lambchops) signed for 2 years at .37

Garrett Atkins (DoorMatts) signed for 4 years at .23

Brad Hawpe (DoorMatts) signed for 2 years at .15 (from an X contract)

Josh Willingham (DoorMatts) signed for 3 years at .12

David Wright (Ruffins) signed for 3 years at .20 (from an X contract)

Bill Hall (Stones) signed for 3 years at .11

Felipe Lopez (Stones) signed for 2 years at .06

All of the players who were X-contract eligible received those contracts from their teams:

Zach Duke (Da Paul Meisters) for .07

Chris Burke (DoorMatts) for .12

Brian McCann (Graging Bulls) for .07

Ian Snell (Graging Bulls) for .04

Jeff Francouer (Splinters) for .07

JJ Hardy (Splinters) for .04

The following players who had been claimed on Winter Waivers during the off-season made the final cut and were retained by their new teams:

John Rauch (Lambchops)

Ryan Theriot (DoorMatts)

Andre Ethier (Dem Rebels)

Kerry Wood (Dem Rebels)

Josh Bard (Picts)

Brett Tomko (Red Hots; claimed by Copperfields, acquired in a trade)

Scott Thorman (Stones)

For the first time in recent memory, not a single long-term contract was bought out.  However, the Splendid Splinters did release injured releiver Eddie Guardado who received a guaranteed contract from the Splinters when the signed him as a free agent for .25 last summer.  The buyout penalty on Guardado's contract means the Splinters will have .13 less to spend than the otherwise would have. 

Da Paul Meisters and Mo's Red Hots kept the fewest players, and will enter the Draft needing to fill 16 roster spots each.  The Red Hots will have the most money to spend in the auction - $2.00 for their 16 players needed.  There will be plenty of other big spenders, though -- nine CFCL teams will have more than half of their budget to spend.   

Full details about roster cuts will be posted on the website by the morning of Wednesday March 28.

PLAY BALL!  2007 Season Kicks Off as Teams Set Opening Day Rosters 04/02/07

As the 2007 season gets underway, several teams sine-tuned their post-Draft rosters in time for Opening Day.

The following moves were made immediately following the Draft, prior to that Opening Night's game:

DEM REBELS reserve Brian Wilson, activate Randy Flores.

PICTS reserve Juan Encarnacion, activate So Taguchi.

RUFFINS reserve Hong-Chih Kuo, activate Josh Hancock.

Additional moves were made Monday morning for the full Opening Day games:

COPPERFIELDS reserve Jeremy Hermida, activate Joe Borchard.

DEM REBELS reserve Kerry Wood and Bill Bray, activate Russ Springer and Jamie Moyer.

RUFFINS reserve Josh Hancock, activate Micah Bowie.

LAMBCHOPS reserve Kevin Gregg, activate Livan Hernandez.

DOORMATTS reserve Josh Johnson, activate Brandon Medders.

STONES reserve Pedro Martinez, activate Heath Bell.

GRAGING BULLS reserve Nick Johnson, Dustin Hermanson, Tim Hudson, and Chad Billingsley; activate Jeff Conine, Steve Kline, Matt Morris, and Pedro Feliciano.

Rosters have been entered at the CBS Sportsline site, and Live Scoring seems to be up and running.  Excel rosters will be available in the Download Center later today.  The next transaction deadline will be 6:00 PM on Sunday April 8 (with moves effective for Monday's games).

Kenndoza Line and Stones Break Trade Freeze 07/25/07

Usually when the CFCL goes four months without a trade being made, it's a good bet that Christmas is right around the corner, either that or that we're nearing the end of a particularly quiet off-season.  You'd never guess, though, that the league would be deep in the middle of an incredibly close and tense pennant race.  That race likely became quite a bit less close and tense today when, with less than a week until the mid-season trade deadline, Steve's Stones and Kenndoza Line completed the league's first trade in exactly four months.  

The Stones today sent Carlos Lee (.39B), Pat Burrell (.38D), Carlos Delgado (.41D), Roy Oswalt (.43D), Ryan Dempster (.01B), Tony Graffanino (.07D), David Wells (.01D), and their 8th and 13th round Rotation Draft picks in 2008 to third place Kenndoza Line.  In return, the Stones received Matt Kemp (.05D), Fred Lewis (.02D), Ramon Martinez (.06D), Kip Wells (.15D), Tim Lincecum (.10D), Tony Abreu (.05D), Will Inman (.05M), and their 4th and 7th round Rotation Draft picks in 2008.

FAAB Balances 07/30/07

In preparation for the trading deadline and IFAB Day on August 1, the CFCL Front Office released updated FAAB balances and salary cap levels for each team.  The following numbers are as of 4:00 PM on July 30:

Trading Breaks Out on Deadline Day  08/01/07

After nearly complete silence on the trade front leading up to this day, there was a flurry of activity in the hours leading up to the 2007 trade deadline as the Copperfields and Rebels scrambled to secure help for the stretch run.  There were five deals completed:

The 2007 trade period is over.  The CFCL now moves into a no-trade period which will last until the completion of the first round of Winter Waivers, which will probably be the second week of January 2008.

IFAB Day Results 08/02/06

Seven teams took part in Interleague Free Agent Bidding Day action.  Here are the 2007 IFAB Day results:

COPPERFIELDS sign M Teixeira for .42, reserve him.

STONES sign L Castillo for .24, reserve him, waive K Wells.

GRAGING BULLS sign O Dotel for .24, reserve P Feliciano, waive M Maroth.

COPPERFIELDS sign J Pineiro for .11, reserve him, waive J Borchard. 

DEM REBELS sign R Mahay for .07, reserve him, waive R Cherry.

STONES sign R Mackowiak for .08, reserve him, waive B Watson.

DOORMATTS sign De. Young for .05, reserve C Burke, waive J Johnson.

NOTE:  Players waived for IFAB Day cannot be claimed on waivers until Sunday August 12.

Details on the bidding were as follows:

CFCL Rosters Expand 09/01/07

5 CFCL teams took advantage of September 1 roster expansion and added an extra player to their active roster.  From now until the end of the season, teams may field 24-man active rosters, though they are still limited to 40-man rosters overall.  The in-season salary cap was increased to $3.60 to allow for the additional active player.

The teams that activated players today were:

Team	Player
Copperfields	Ron Belliard
Ruffins	Wily Mo Pena
Kenndoza Line	Willy Taveras
Red Hots	Kevin Correia
Dem Rebels	Ron Mahay

CFCL Season Not Quite Over Yet 09/30/07

The champagne remains on ice in the Kenndoza headquarters as the team must sweat out one last game before being crowned 2007 Champs.

The unofficial totals as of Sunday's scheduled end to the 2007 season showed Kenndoza Line holding a 93 to 90.5 point lead over the second place Ruffins, however any celebrations were put on hold with the announcement of a one-game playoff to decide the NL Wild Card winner.  Kenndoza Line has been clinging to a small lead all week, but will have to hang in there for one more day.

That's not to say that they're in a bad position, though.  To prepare for the game, Kenndoza Line made the following final roster moves:

KENNDOZA LINE reserve T Iguchi, activate M Giles

KENNDOZA LINE reserve N Garciaparra, activate J Lane.

KENNDOZA LINE reserve P Burrell, activate W Taveras.

With those transactions Kenndoza Line will potentially have five hitters active for the final game (Kaz Matsui, Cory Sullivan, and Giles, Lane, and Taveras.  The Ruffins, meanwhile, will have only Adrian Gonzalez.  One the pitching side, the Ruffins will have Jake Peavy and Manuel Corpas hurling for them, while Kenndoza won't have any pitchers involved in the game.

Key categories to watch are:

Runs Scored - Kenndoza Line and the Ruffins are currently tied atop the category.  If the Ruffins edge them out, they could cut the Kenndoza lead down to 1.5 overall.  Given that Kenndoza hitters will outrank the Ruffins 5-to-1, however, odds are that the Line will increase their lead rather than falling back.

On-Base Percentage - The Ruffins trail Mo's Red Hots by .0001. Adrian Gonzalez is certainly capable of stringing together a couple hits to raise the Ruffin OBP enough to gain another point.  The Red Hots, meanwhile, will not have any hitters active, so it is all up to Gonzalez.

Total Bases - Another opportunity for Kenndoza Line to increase their lead.  They are currently tied with the Graging Bulls, and the Line's group of five hitters should be able compile enough bases to outdistance the Bull's lone representative, Rookie of the Year candidate Troy Tulowitzki.

K:BB - If the Ruffin moundsmen, Peavy and Corpas, can combine for at least 6 strikeouts without walking any hitters, the Ruffins will gain a point by leaping over the Graging Bulls in this category.  The Bulls will not have any pitchers active on their behalf.

If the standings end in a tie (and assuming the Ruffins pull into that tie, in part, by moving ahead of Kenndoza Line in RS), the Ruffins would be champions because they would finish ahead of Kenndoza Line in 6 of the 10 categories.

If the Ruffins fail in their endeavor, it's very possible the defending Champions could tumble to a third place finish.  They currently lead the Copperfields by only half a point.  If Kenndoza Line moves ahead of the Ruffins in RS, it would drop the Ruffins into an overall tie with the Copperfields in points and the Coppers would likely win the tie-breakers.

Also watching this final game closely will be the Graging Bulls and DoorMatts.  The Bulls currently lead the Matts by 3.5 points in the race for 5th place, but there are points available to the DoorMatts tomorrow in the SB, ERA, WHIP, and HoSv categories, while the Bulls could lose in Total Bases.  The DoorMatts could see up to three hitters and two pitchers in action tomorrow.

Congratulations Kenndoza! 10/01/07

They don't come any closer than this.  It took a 163rd game lasting 13 innings to declare the 2007 CFCL Champion and when the dust cleared in Colorado it was Kenndoza Line left alone atop the standings, just two points ahead of David's Ruffins.

But things were even closer than that pair of points would suggest.  Only two Runs Scored are all that made the difference between CFCL veteran David Holian securing his second straight Championship and relative newcomer Kenn Ruby achieving his first.  If, over the course of that final game, Ruffin Adrian Gonzalez had crossed the plate a couple more times (he was left stranded after doubling to lead off one inning) or Kenndoza Liner Kaz Matsui had been held in check, the teams would have tied at 92 points apiece.  The resulting tie-breaker would have gone the Ruffins way, denying Kenndoza Line the 2007 CFCL Crown.

As it was though, Kenndoza held on for their first of what could be numerous CFCL Championships.  Indeed, in their short history, they've proven themselves a force to be reckoned with, finishing in the money three out of their four years.

Of course, money finishes are one thing, but its the trophy we play for, and Kenndoza Line made all the right moves in winning their first.  Possibly no move was more important than when they decisively pulled the trigger on the season's first and biggest deal, a 14-player swap with Steve's Stones that brought Carlos Lee, Pat Burrell, Carlos Delgado, Roy Oswalt, Ryan Dempster, and others in the Kendoza fold. 

It took nearly six weeks, but eventually that package of talent, combined with the Kenndoza's already strong roster, and owner Ruby's skill at manipulating his roster around the salary cap, brought Kenndoza Line to First Place in Period 22, where they stayed (despite a number of close calls) until the end of the season.

As for David's Ruffins, they started strong in their follow-up to their Championship season, holding first place for nearly all of the season's first three months.  A bad summer fade, however, saw them drop to 4th place in Period 14 and stay there through Period 22.  They finished strongly, however, creeping into Third Place in Period 26 and by the last game of the final Period 27, had leapt into Second Place, nearly spoiling Kenndoza Line's party.  What was behind the Ruffins' Summer Swoon?  It turns out that Head Ruffin Holian had spent much of the summer traveling.  Not on a scouting trip, scouring the country for young talent, but quaffing Italian fine wine in an apartment off of Piazza (not Mike) Santo Spirito in Florence.  Hmmm.  Perhaps it's tough to claim the Ruffins weren't winners this year after all.

Third Place in 2007 went to CFCL stalwarts, David's Copperfields.  Despite a flurry of deals at the trading deadline and a late push at the season's end, the Coppers finished 3 points back of Kenndoza Line.  More evidence of how close the 2007 race was, though, is the fact that 11 more RS over the course of the season would have given the Copperfields the championship. 

During the second half of the season, the Copperfields spent a number of periods taking turns in First Place with their oldest rivals, Dem Rebels.  The Rebels held first place as late as Period 20 before settling into Fourth Place, where they finished the season to round out the money spots.

The remainder of the first division was completed by two teams who spent the second half of the season in a battle for Fifth Place, which is the first of the non-money spots but carries the reward of the first pick in each of the 2008 Rotation Draft rounds and the largest of the Home Town Discount Budgets.  The Graging Bulls came out on top, and had actually spent the early part of the season contending for a money spot.  The Bulls narrowly edged the DoorMatts, who started the season very slowly but ultimately rose to Fourth Place before fading to end 2007 in Sixth Place.

There was a very clear delineation between the first division and the second division for most of the season, with teams crossing over from the bottom six to the top six only a couple times all year, and then only momentarily.  That doesn't mean there wasn't excitement in the lower half of the standings, though.  Five teams spent the whole season shuffling through the 7th-11th spots in the standings, and in the end only 12 points separated those five spots.

Seventh Place went to Teddy's Splendid Splinters, perhaps the league's most puzzling team this year.  Trying to follow up on a Second Place finish in 2006, the Splinters made their last roster move of the season on May 14, despite experiencing long-term injuries to key players later in the year and owning a full Free Agent Acquisition Budget.  In spite of their inactivity, the Splinters eeked ahead of two teams in the final weeks of the season to squeeze into Seventh Place.  This "success" leads one to wonder whether they could have contended for a money spot with something resembling a normal effort.

Just behind the Splinters were the Stones and Picts.  While neither team contended for a money spot, both of them made an impact on the pennant race in the trade market.  Neither team made it above 7th place and by the end of June Steve's Stones were ready to look toward next year.   Initial trade feelers went nowhere, but about a week from the August 1 trade deadline another posting in the league forum quickly resulted in the season's first deal - a 14-player blockbuster with the Second Place Kenndoza Line.  The deal helped fuel the Line's pennant drive, and the Stones are hopeful their return in the deal, keyed by Matt Kemp and Tim Lincecum, will lead them to better things in 2008.

Nick's Picts also had a tough start to the season, and never quite got it going.  Shortly after the Kenndoza Line-Stone deal was reported, the Picts announced they were ready to build for the future as well.  The Copperfields responded and the morning of the trade the Picts sent Albert Pujols, Rafael Furcal, and Aaron Rowand to the Coppers for a package that included Ryan Howard, Michael Wurtz, and Hometown Discount-eligible Edwin Encarnacion.

After their deals, the Picts and Stones stayed near each other in the standings, with the Picts leading slightly until the season's final period when the Stones snuck into Eighth Place, leaving Ninth Place for the Picts. 

Near the bottom of the 2007 standings, it was veteran franchise Eric's Lambchops battling it out with second-year team Mo's Red Hots.  The Lambchops struggled with consistency all year and at one point went through a performance trough that almost had them dropping past the languishing Da Paul Meisters into last place.  Seemingly resigned to 11th, a late-season push and corresponding drop by the Red Hots took the Chops into 10th place, where they finished their final CFCL season.

Mo's Red Hots had entered 2007 with high hopes after nearly finishing their rookie season in the money.  Things looked good early on, as the Hots spent most of the season's first half at the top of the second division.  A massive slump, however, saw the Red Hots lose 20 points over the final 10 periods and they faded past the Lambchops into 11th Place.

And then there were Da Paul Meisters.  When they finished the Period 1 in Tenth Place, it represented the season's high point for them.  In last place by the season's second period, there they stayed until the end of the campaign.  Though no more inactive than the season's other disappearing team, Teddy's Splendid Splinters, the Meisters did not have the strong squad the Splinters started the season with. By the end of the year, the Meisters were well below the minimum Inning Pitched mark, which meant they received zero points in the ERA, WHIP, and K:BB categories, regardless of their actual ranking.  This was the death blow to the Meisters, who finished 20 points behind the 11th Place Lambchops.

Sportsline Standings Not Quite Correct 12/03/07

A recent close examination of the 2007 CFCL Standings posted at the CBS Sportsline website revealed that a number of previously unnoticed errors.  CFCL rules state that if a team fails to meet the IP minimum of 1000, that team will receive zero points in the "rate" pitching categories (ERA, WHIP, K:BB), but that the team should maintain its place in the standings so teams with worse rate stats do not benefit from the team above them slacking off.

For the first time in CFCL history a team finished below the 1000 IP minimum, and Sportsline got the resulting standings only partially right.  They awarded the Meisters zero points in ERA and WHIP, but did so by dropping them to the bottom of those categories.  That meant the Splinters, Red Hots, Picts, and DoorMatts all had their pitching point totals incorrectly inflated.

The adjustment was most damaging to Nick's Picts.  When the Meisters were returned to their correct ranking in the WHIP category, they ended up just ahead of the Picts (by a mere 0.005).  The adjustment cost the Picts a point, which dropped them past Steve's Stones in the overall standings and into 9th place, trailing the Stones by half a point.

In addition to dropping the Picts in the standings, the adjustment also cost the Red Hots, Splinters, and DoorMatts each a point or two in the standings, which could affect the amounts in their Home Town Discount budgets.

The correct 2007 final standings are posted in the Download Center.

Meisters, Splinters, and Lambchops Call It Quits 12/04/07

In a not-completely-unexpected development, the CFCL lost three owners shortly after the season ended.  Eric Lamb, (19 seasons), Paul Zeledon of Da Paul Meisters (16 seasons), Teddy Scott of Teddy's Splendid Splinters (4 seasons) have all withdrawn their franchises from the league.  

The Splinters and Meisters were called out during the season for lack of participation - going through extended periods with disabled players on their active rosters while suitable replacements rotted on Reserve and full Free Agent Acquisition Budgets gathering dust in the coffers.  Neither team made a transaction of any kind after early May.

Teddy's notice of departure was a breezy "I won't be back next year" and he didn't respond to a follow-up e-mail, so the exact reasons for his inactivity and low-key resignation may remain a mystery.

Paul said he thought long and hard about whether he has/will have the time necessary to fulfill his commitment to the league and his fellow owners, and in the end the answer was no.  He said he leaving had nothing to do with the CFCL and everything to do with his time availability. 

The most surprising withdrawal was that of the Lambchops the fourth-longest tenured franchise in the league, though in retrospect even that could be foreseen.  Eric nearly left the league after finishing in last place in 2001, feeling he no longer had the time to keep up with day-to-day operations of the team.  Instead, however, he brought on John Lemon as assistant GM and took the CFCL championship in both 2002 and 2003.  Following a disappointing 2007 season, Paul Mahlan, Eric's most recent assistant, tendered his resignation and Eric felt the time had finally come to call it quits.   

The Executive Committee has already put out the call to current owners for potential candidates to join the league, and will soon advertise for new owners on some of the better fantasy baseball message boards.  Some potential candidates have already been identified, but any others interested should e-mail [email protected]. 

2007 Award Winners Announced 12/15/07

The results of the 2007 CFCL Awards balloting was announced tonight at the annual season-ending banquet.  The owners of two of the departing franchises (Eric's Lambchops and Da Paul Meisters) joined the owners of Dem Rebels, the Graging Bulls, and David's Copperfields in braving heavy snowfall to gather to share in pizza and the celebrating of this year's award winners.

Matt Holliday of the last-place Da Paul Meisters was named the league's Most Valuable Player, narrowly edging out Graging Bulls' shortstop Hanley Ramirez.  Both players earned four first-place votes, but Holliday had slightly more wide-spread support, accruing two more points than Ramirez in the overall voting.

Things were no where near as close in the voting for the equivalent award on the pitching side of the ledger.  Jake Peavy of David's Ruffins ran away with the Cy Young Award, taking 10 of the 12 first-place votes.  Peavy was the Ruffins' third Cy Young winner in the last four years, following Ben Sheets ins 2004 and Chris Carpenter in 2005.

With the league's MVP award already pocketed, Da Paul Meisters were honored again when their third baseman Ryan Braun was named the league's Rookie of the Year.  Braun beat out Troy Tulowitzki of the Graging Bulls and in the process became the first Rookie of the Year in Meister history.

Tulowitzki and the Bulls got their due, though, when Tulowitzki and Upton won the Most Productive Farm System award for the Bulls.  The Bull-y duo narrowly edged out the Meisters' farm system which included ROY Braun as well as speedsters Michael Bourn and Josh Anderson.  Perhaps the fact that Anderson and Bourn spent the entire season on the Meisters Reserve List had something to do with the final voting, which had the Bulls scoring 29 points (6 first place votes) to the Meisters' 23 (4 first place votes).

The waiver claim awards were a Copperfield sweep, with Copperfield pitchers taking home both the Best Winter Waiver Claim and Best In-Season Waiver Claim awards.  Manny Corpas was deemed the best of the winter picks, while Rudy Seanez led a very weak field of in-season waiver claims.

The candidates for the Best Reserve List Pick award were much stronger than those for the waiver claim categories, but that didn't prevent Heath Bell of Steve's Stones from running away with the honor.  Bell received 11 of the 12 first place votes (second-place finisher, Ronnie Belliard of the Copperfields, received the other one), in what was the closest thing there was to a unanimous vote this year.

The voting for Best Free Agent Acquisition was slightly closer, but David's Ruffins pitcher Brad Hennessey still won by a comfortable margin.  Hennessey picked up 5 first place votes to follow Brandon Phillips as the second straight Ruffin to take home the award.

The results for the Nick Esasky Award saw a historic CFCL first - the award was won by a player from David's Copperfields for the first time in their 24-year history.  The "honor" went to pitcher Chris Capuano, who's disappointing performance for his .25 salary was easily enough to secure him the award.

On the other end of the spectrum, the award for the year's best bargain went to Kevin Gregg of Eric's Lambchops.  Gregg beat out David's Ruffins' Manny Corpas by a single vote to take Steal of the Year honors.   It was nearly a rare double-honor for Corpas -- winning both the Best Winter Waiver Claim award and the Steal of the Year.  As it was, though, Gregg edged Corpas out to become the second straight Lambchop to win the award - Freddy Sanchez won it in 2006 - and the fourth Lambchop in the last six years (Javy Lopez - 2003, Dave Roberts - 2002).

The voting for CFCL General Manager of the Year went much as expected, with 2007 Champion Kenn Ruby taking the honors.  There was something of a surprise in that David Holian, whose Ruffins finished just a couple points behind the champs, came in a distant 5th in the balloting for top GM.  David Mahlan (David's Copperfields), Rich Bentel (Dem Rebels), and Bob Boryca (Mo's Red Hots) all received more votes than Holian, who ended up tied with Steve Olson of Steve's Stones. Perhaps Holian's mid-season jaunt to Europe during which his Ruffins floundered and likely blew their chance for back-to-back championships factored into the voting. 

The honors continued for Kenndoza Line GM Kenn Ruby, as the CFCL Executive Committee honored him with the Paul Mahlan Award, which goes to the team owner who best addressed adversity in the spirit of original CFCL owner Paul Mahlan.  Ruby dealt with numerous injuries and setbacks along the road to his first CFCL Championship, including injuries to Chipper Jones, Nomar Garciaparra, Carlos Beltran, Willy Taveras, Ryan Freel, Marcus Giles, and others.  Ruby has plenty of experience in dealing with this type of adversity, as he took the Paul Mahlan Award in 2006 as well.

In addition to the awards that were voted on by CFCL owners, the following achievements were recognized:

• Best Offense:  David's Copperfields - 50 Points.  The Coppers had the league's best offense for the 15th time in their 24 year history, and the 6th time in the last 10 years.

• Best Pitching:  David's Ruffins and Kenndoza Line - 44 points.  This was the third straight year that the Ruffins have won or shared in this award.

• Largest Increase in Place from Last Season:  Dem Rebels - +8 places.  The Rebels went from a 12th place finish in 2006 to 4th place this year.

• Largest Increase in Points from Last Season:  Dem Rebels - +65 points.  This was the second-highest point increase ever.  The 2005 Kenndoza Line holds the record, which is 67 points.

• Dallas Green Award:  Kenndoza Line - +25.5 points.  Kenndoza Line improved the most from Period 10 to the end of the season, compiling the 5th highest in-season point increase in CFCL history.

Executive Committee Announces Proposed Changes for 2008 12/19/07

Citing increasing outside demands for his time, Co-Commissioner David Mahlan today announced a number of proposed rule/process changes that are being discussed by the Executive Committee.  The announcement was made in a post to the CFCL Forum, which includes links to discussion for each of the proposed changes.

Changes being considered include:

• Require owners to enter their own transactions at CBS Sportsline

• Use online FAAB at Sportsline

• Eliminate in-season waivers

• Eliminate mid-week moves

• Allow free movement between Active and Reserve rosters 2-3 times per week

• Use Sportsline's transaction deadlines

• Allow bidding on all players listed on Sportsline's Free Agent report

• Do not allow players traded to the AL to be kept the following season

• Reduce the size of the Reserve rosters

• Eliminate Home Town Discounts

• Eliminate suspended player rules