CRL NEWS

 

 

January 2, 2025

 

“It was like the Roki film festival.”

·         Joel Wolfe, agent for Roki Sasaki, on 20 MLB teams sending presentations attempting to woo his client into signing with them.

 

And just like Sasaki wading through presentations from potential suitors, this off-season is going to be a blur.

 

I’m kicking things off about a month ahead of schedule (I usually get my initial ramblings out around the Super Bowl). But we’ve got a lot of ground to cover before the season starts and I’d like to get the bulk of it taken care of before Spring Training kicks off on February 20.

 

As you may or may not remember, Jim Fraser and myself are getting a divorce.  He has decided he wants to be with someone younger and better looking.

 

At the draft last year, we voted to allow Jim and his son Caleb to be the owners of a CRL expansion team (Team 11) – team name TBD.  Ironically, Jim was the original Team 10, and when Marcus and Matt entered the league a year or two later, they were Team 11.  Then Jim was going to leave the league and I convinced him that I needed a partner, so AAA All Stars became Team 10.  When something goes on for 35+ years, there will be a few reversals every now and then.

 

So, we’ve got a lot to do between now and Opening Day.

 

I went back through the records to find the last time we did an expansion draft.  Turns out it was 2008 when Steve Spencer re-entered the league with his son Jared.  The rules of expansion presented below are the same ones we used back then.

 

On a side note, I really like this father/son thing – Marcus and Matt, Jim and Caleb, Scott and Trevor, Steve and Jared, Glenn and Craig – hopefully this new generation will keep this league going after we are gone.  Now if I can just interest my 9-year-old grandson to be as geeky as we are.

 

All of the deadlines below will be on Fridays, which will give me the weekend to get the results of each step out to all of you.

 

First things first – cleaning up players that are tied to each other.  As you recall, you can only keep one of the players that are currently tied to each other.  A list of those players is at the end of this newsletter.  Keeping the player now does not require you to keep him on Roster Freeze Day, it merely protects your right to do so.  Please get me your list of those players you would like to protect the rights to by January 17.

 

Once that is complete, we will commence the expansion process.  Here are the steps:

 

·         Each existing team will get to protect seven players.

·         Jim and Caleb will then be able (but not required) to select one player from each CRL team.

·         Each existing CRL team that lost a player will then be able to protect one additional player.

·         Jim and Caleb will then be able (but not required) to select one additional player from each existing CRL team.

·         Farm players may not be selected (and thus, need not be protected) in the expansion process.

 

Some notes on the process:

 

The four of us that can only protect seven players may be wondering why we would want to protect another player after we lose one.  The answer is simple – we may not be completely sure who we want to keep (free agent/contract negotiations, etc.) and/or we can guarantee that at least one guy will be available to be drafted.  Likewise, the Frasers (new team name – Cranes?) – who can protect only 10 on Roster Freeze Day – can employ the same strategy by drafting 20 players to ensure that at least 10 of them are back in the draft pool.

 

So, let’s put a timeline on all of this:

 

·         Jan 17 – Each existing CRL team needs to get me the list of players they would like to protect between tied players.

·         Jan 31 – Each existing CRL team sends me the list of the seven players they would like to protect from the first round of the expansion process.

·         Feb 7 – The Frasers give me their list of their first-round selections.

·         Feb 14 – Each existing CRL team that lost a player gives me the list of the one additional player they would like to protect.

·         Feb 21 – The Frasers give me the list of additional players they are selecting and the expansion process is over.

 

Other important dates:

 

·         March 14 – Each team’s initial buy-in of $250 is due to Glenn.  His address is:

614 Mangrove Thicket Blvd

Ponte Vedra, FL  32081

Note: A list of off-season balances is included at the end of this newsletter.  You are only required to submit whatever it takes to get your season-opening balance to $250.

·         Feb 20 – Spring training begins.

·         March 18 and 19 – Dodgers and Cubs play a 2-game series in Tokyo (more on this below).

·         March 27 – Opening Day.

·         March 28 – Roster Freeze Day.

·         April 4 – Draft Day.

 

Since we just flipped the calendar to 2025, I do not have info on other activities surrounding the draft (golf, pizza, big steak, etc.).  Check this space and I will update everyone as we closer to March/April.

 

On a sad note, our auctioneer for the past few years (and Marcus’ long-time friend), Jim Elrod, passed away.  So, unless one of you has an idea of someone to use to do count-outs, we’re back to doing it ourselves.

 

Related to above – Glenn says our room is supposed to be smaller this year, so there may not be room for extra folks/family members/interested parties.

 

Now back to the LA/Chicago Japan series.

 

I went back and looked to see how we did that last year with the LA/SD series in South Korea.  Here is what I wrote last year:

 

“If a player is on the roster on Opening Day, he is eligible to be drafted.  He is also ineligible to be drafted in the minor-league draft.” 

 

Basically, if a player is on the roster for that series, he is eligible to be drafted even if he is sent down between that series and regular Opening Day (March 27).

 

Since Opening Day for everyone else is a Thursday (and I’m off Fri/Sat/Sun) I should be available to ensure OD rosters are published.  I could use some other sets of eyes to help in this endeavor to make sure I don’t miss anything (especially the players on the rosters for the Japan series), but I would expect to post OD rosters to this space on March 28.

 

Now to the addendum part of our little discussion:

 

Off-season balances:

 

Account

Acct totals

League Expenses

 $         0.31

1

 $              -  

2

 $       61.00

3

 $       58.50

4

 $       59.50

5

 $    437.50

6

 $              -  

7

 $              -  

8

 $    334.50

9

 $    253.00

10

 $    860.43

11

 $    253.00

 

Linked players:

 

Team 1

Brett Wisely/Brett Baty

Nick Yorke/Victor Scott

 

Team 2

Vidal Brujan/Marco Luciano

Andres Chaparro/KeBryan Hayes

Ryne Nelson/Brandon Woodruff

 

Team 3

Jesse Winker/Christian Encarnacion-Strand

 

Team 4

None

 

Team 5

Joey Ortiz/Austin Riley

Bryan Hudson/Trevor Williams/Wade Miley

Colin Rea/Spencer Strider

 

Team 6

Xander Bogaerts/James Outman

Otto Lopez/Christian Yelich

Nick Martinez/Justin Steele

 

Team 7

Miguel Rojas/Nolan Gorman

Jordan Beck/Kris Bryant

Blake Treinen/Matt Waldron/Kodai Senga

Brustar Graterol/Max Meyer

Bobby Miller/Justin Wrobleski

Jack Flaherty/Hayden Wesneski/Abner Uribe

Victor Vodnik/Christian Scott

Fernando Cruz/Shohei Ohtani (pitcher)

Kyle Freeland/Sandy Alcantara

 

Team 8

Jake Fraley/Jeff McNeil/Ronald Acuna

Aroldis Chapman/Andrew Abbott

Dylan Lee/Nick Lodolo

Jake Junis/Calvin Faucher/Tyler Glasnow

 

Team 9

None

 

Team 10

Alec Burleson/Adael Amador

Brendan Rodgers/Matt McLain

Luis Ortiz/Robbie Ray

Landon Knack/Cade Cavelli

Jake Irvin/Spencer Turnbull

 

Get me your list of who to keep between the linked players by Jan. 17.

 

Jim