"Every manager in baseball could benefit from playing a few hundred games of Strat-O-Matic"
Quote from 2003 Edition of the Baseball Prospectus
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Thursday Friday Saturday




Dec 4




Email address: dr4sight@hvi.net
The Capital Baseball League is a Strat-O-Matic play-by-mail league, with a limited amount of face-to-face play. The league was founded in 1975 and has managers throughout the country, from California to New York. We currently have 20 members.

If you are interested in joining us, contact our commissioner Mark

at:

CBL Commissioner

RECENTLY ADDED
Thursday:  Lighter Side
Wednesday: Lighter Side;  Stepping to the Plate;  Mitt Section
Tuesday:  Lighter Side
Monday:  Lighter Side; Mitt Section
SOM news from multiple sources

Carl and Matt sent this info to us

We will start taking pre-orders for the
2008 ratings guides on Friday 12/5.

2008 Baseball Range Ratings Preview
will be posted on Monday 12/15.
We will start taking pre-orders for the
2008 baseball products on Friday 12/19.







PROPOSALS - SOME PASS,  MOST DON'T

here's the summary from Jordan

Proposals which passed:

3)  Mandatory closer proposal

9)  set, 29-day playoff schedule

10) Best Interests Committee empowered to fine draft picks

11) Each division to be represented on Best Interest Committee

15) All computer managers unlocked

I'm sure the league joins me in thanking Jordan once again for running an efficient rules-change ballotting.  In a few weeks he will provide us with an updated copy of the CBL Rulebook, the Magna Carta of the league.




Table of contents for this page:

About MY Team

What A Game!

Stepping to the Plate

Capital Ideas

The Lighter Side

The MITT Section

Connections --CBL and Others




CBL LINKS

Complete CBL Draft 11/9/08

postdraft CBL ROSTERS

2009 DRAFT PICK GRID



CBL RULEBOOK - as pdf file 

Article: The Unwritten Rules of the CBL

Article: Rebuild or Reload (by Matt)







MY POLICY  REGARDING TRADE CONFIRMATIONS
I believe I have been in charge of the rosters for six or more years.
I don't recall a single instance in the CBL where a trade was announced and then found to be counter to what both parties had agreed upon.
For this reason I have never compelled members to "confirm" trade announcements.
I realize that most other leagues require this and given the idiosyncrasies of those organizations it is probably an advisable maneuver.
But I still don't see the necessity for a CBL member to announce to me, or to the whole league for that matter, that they confirm a trade that has been announced.
A trade, in my opinion, becomes official when notification has come to me and I have posted the trade on the webpage.  I try to not post the trade until I've updated the database and adjusted the draft pick grid (even though I do not usually upload the draft pick grid to the webpage link at that time).









Suggestions for submitting results:
(1) start off with the team nickname "at" other team's nickname. Don't use the city in the top line.
(2) Keep it short - one or two sentences per game  OR one paragraph for the series.
(3) PLEASE USE  " at " rather than the ampersand  " @ "










We play for this prize


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Managers may trade draft picks for the next free agent draft only.  As soon as the free agent draft begins, picks for the subsequent draft may be traded.  A manager may trade as many of his draft picks as he wishes, but must have at least six draft picks at all times, two of which must be in the fourth round or higher. 


Guys. Please submit your trades in the following format. Make it easier for your old webmaster.
Team nickname (not city) trades player X, player Y to Team for Player Z + Team's #whatever pick.

=======================================================================
POST DRAFT TRADES

Ponies trade Dan Wheeler + Ben Francisco + Ponies #8 to Bombers for Jeremy Guthrie + Bombers #5.
Dream trades Barry Zito to Comets for Zach Miner

Mavs trade Jose Valverde to Dream for Dream #1

Cubs trade Coco Crisp to the Comets for Ty Wigginton

Mitts trade Tim Byrdak + Mitts #8  to the Revival for Dontrelle Willis + Revival #7

Dream trades Justin Masterson +  Dennys Reyes to the Mitts for John Lannan + J.C. Romero

DRAFT DAY TRADES
Dream trades 2009 #6 to Zips for pick 118

Ungulates trade Joe Crede and pick #146 to Mitts for picks #78 and #125.

Ungulates trade Bobby Abreu and pick #153 to Cubs for Cubs 2009 #1 and  Cubs 2009 #6.

Ungulates trade Mike Pelfrey and pick #78 to Bombers for Bombers 2009 #1 and  Bombers 2009 #4

Ungulates trade pick #21 to A's for A's #1 in 2009

Ungulates trade pick #24 to Zips for Zips #1  in 2009

Ungulates trade Ungulates #5 in 2009 to Zips for pick 106.

Sluggers trade Sluggers 2009 #6  to the Zips for pick #133

PREDRAFT TRADES
Ungulates trade A's #1, Titans #1, and Titans # 2 to Sluggers for Justin Upton, Aaron Harang, and Corey Hart

Cubs trade Yorvit Torrealba to the Mitts for Bobby Crosby

Comets trade Milton Bradley + Mark Grudzielanek to Cubs for Cesar Izturis + Bombers #1

Cubs trade Ponies #1 to Dream for Hunter Pence

Icons trade Ramon Hernandez to Ungulates for Mavericks #3

Whiz Kids trade Whiz Kids #4 and Alex Cora to Blackjacks for Kelly Johnson

Icons trade Icons #8 to Blackjacks for Blackjacks #8




 

 A's have SP available:  Willing to trade Sean Gallagher, Collin Balester or Joel Pineiro.  Interested in RH OF or DH.  If interested make offer. 

 Revival not aiming for a playoff spot until 2010 CBL season.  Want to be competitive in 2009, however.   We plan to hold former mainstays Hafner, Cuddyer and Francoeur, but will take offers for them if others care to bet on them coming back.  Kotsay is a decent CF for those in need of one - he's my RF at the moment with McLouth entrenched in CF. Finally, Jose Contreras is available as a serviceable RH starter.

Huskers have a muliple outfielders available including Josh Willingham, M. Cabrera, M. Diaz, and L. Gonzalez also young pitchers B. Bannister and J Reyes could be available looking for picks in next years draft also young 3b/ catcher are a need for the Huskers.

Available:  Manny Ramirez, Mike Mussina, Andy LaRoche, Nick Johnson, Ramon Hernandez, John Bowker, Corey Patterson.  Lefty killers John Buck, Jose Bautista, and Richie Sexson.  Young starters Edwin Jackson, Kyle Davies, Homer Bailey, Jeff Francis, and Rick VandenHurk.  Lefty relievers Mike Gonzalez and Bill Bray.  Looking for picks next year.    We drafted Pablo Sandoval as a future C or !B, but Giants plan to move him to 3B, a deep position for us.  Besides his prospect value, his pinch hitting value and catcher eligibility make him a valuable piece to a contender.  Jed Lowrie could also be available for a future pick.






....articles written or found by Eric "the Comet" Johns...










 

 


articles by Mark L

 






Here's where you can tell us what is going on with your team.  
Please feel free to pen us a paragraph or two telling us how  your season is going, what are its prospects for next season etc.




                                                                                                                   

STEPPING TO THE PLATE


CITIFIELD AND SHEA STADIUM PHOTOS
Here's a link that shows six photos of the Mets'
new ballpark.  The last two photos show the progress
of Shea Stadium demolition

CitiField photos





BILL MADDEN ARTICLE

The 10 Biggest Turkeys of 2008


(The Mitts' Andruw Jones was #3 on the writer's list.)






If you'd care to write an article about baseball, strat, and/or the CBL please send it to me and I'll put it up in this section.







2008 Capital Baseball Draft Review

by Matt
 

            To get a head start on things, I’m going to delve in early this year.  It may not be as organized, but I wanted to write a few things while they were fresh in my head.   I thought this was one of the weakest and thinnest draft pools in a long time.  There were six typical first round picks, who went accordingly.  From there, I only liked Cueto as a true first rounder and the next twenty guys or so were pretty even as second round talent.  The pool was very deep in pitching, especially lefties and bullpen, with few good offensive cards to help out now.  There will be less criticism in the analysis this year, because many of the picks were based on needs and debatable futures.

Ungulates:  Not wanting to draft at the top of the pool of twenty or so second round talents, I traded picks #8 and 10 for Justin Upton and Corey Hart, who I liked better than the potential talent I could draft here.   I had plenty of starter innings and generally dislike using #1’s on prospect-only pitchers or low ceiling usable pitching cards.  I also received Aaron Harang for pick #29 the way I see it.  I’ll take a proven veteran who I hope can come back over the likes of Max Scherzer and Jorge Campillo, who were the next starters selected after that pick.   I also turned two #2 picks into #1’s for next year.  Although I had a solid core, I had glaring weaknesses that the draft could not fill well enough to challenge the Norristown Zips, in my opinion.  Few great cards were available in the trade market, either.  Rather than take a shot at some one year cards, I continued to build franchise.    I needed long term help at 3B, C, 1B, LH power, an infielder, and bullpen.

 

After drafting Evan Longoria, the consensus #1 who I think deserves a 1 at third base this year, I finally picked at #36.  Catcher represents my weakest short term position.  First base, especially from the right side, needs a longer term solution.   With nothing available early to satisfy those needs, I spoke to Jordan about Conor Jackson but was pleasantly surprised to see Pablo Sandoval still available at #36.   Sandoval could be this year’s Geovany Soto or something much less.   Either way I get a great pinch hitter off the bench for catcher and 1B in the persona of a 22-year-old who hits for great average.  We’ll see if he develops power, but a friend of mine scores many Bay area games and called Sandoval’s bat “among the quickest I’ve ever seen.”  So at this point of the draft, I was ecstatic to find a perfect fit for now and the future.  At pick #41, I took the best available player, Jed Lowrie, who I had projected to be gone a round earlier.   With a full roster, I kept in mind versatility this draft.   I needed some infield help, including a guy who could play third.   I’m not sure Lowrie will ever be a superstar, but John Sickels rated him the tenth best hitter in the minors last year, second best available in the draft.   He has great plate patience, decent defense and power, so he should be a usable infielder for a long, long time.  He may start at SS in beantown this year.   The last SS I picked at the beginning of the third round was named Tulowitzki.   Let’s hope I’ve struck gold again. 

 

I patiently waited until pick #74 and selected Jorge de la Rosa.   Another high risk/high reward selection, de la Rosa gave me 130 IP in the bullpen, which will save me a roster spot.  Jorge still struck out nearly a batter an inning and had an ERA of 2.44 the final two months of the season.   After desperately attempting to trade up for two rounds, I finally acquired pick #106 to select JR Towles.   Towles was a top 50 prospect on most lists last year.    While he struggled in his first taste of the bigs, it’s hard to find .300 hitting catchers with all the tools who will only turn 25 soon.   In the sixth round, I’ll take my chance.  With picks #125 and 126, I selected longtime Terror Mike Gonzalez as a LH closer.  His high risk/high reward card (low OBP with lots of diamonds) will fit right in my bullpen with similar hurlers Morrow and Petit.  I felt Kendry Morales was one of the steals of the draft.   With Teixeira a free agent, he could take over at first.  More likely, he’ll get some DH or OF at-bats in an aging lineup.   This guy is 25 and hit .341 in AAA last year with a career .337 minor league batting average and .546 slugging. In the seventh round on a team with Mike Jacobs and Richie Sexson at first base… ‘nuff said.  In the last round I handcuffed Sandoval with John Bowker, who at 25 has shown the ability to both hit for average and power in the minors.   If Sandoval needs more seasoning or spends some time behind the plate (let’s hope!), Bowker should do a decent job.  Finally, I drafted a power lefty reliever I’ve always liked Bill Bray for additional bullpen innings.  Not sure how much stuff Bray has since surgery, but he struck out 10.7 guys per nine innings last year.  He also gave me over 330 bullpen innings for the year for those of you keeping score.  Best Pick:  Kendry Morales.  Worst Pick:  Bowker.

 

Bombers: The Beast of the East, Mitch was short in picks due to his recent playoff runs.    Finally able to select at pick #43, he took a great OF bench card in Daniel Murphy.  Murphy’s stock rose this year when he suddenly developed some power.   His card will be great, but it remains to be seen how his transition from 3B to the OF will progress.   In a pick acquired in a predraft trade, Will Ohman became a Bomber.   Ohman seems underrated and should have a solid card out of the bullpen.  Two picks later, Mitch tabbed Willy Aybar from the Rays.   Aybar helps at a few infield positions and hopes for a trade this offseason to nab an everyday position.   Always teasing us with powerful Septembers, Nelson Cruz was a nice longshot in the sixth round.  Cruz is no longer a prospect, but could be a Ryan Ludwick-type late bloomer if given the opportunity  for extended AB’s.  In the seventh, Mitch took Yanks Darrell Rasner and Alfredo Aceves, who has a K/BB ratio over 4 in his minor league career.  In the eighth, Mitch followed the same formula with lefty Eric Stults, who had a K/BB ratio over 3 last year, and former stud prospect Craig Hansen.  Best Value: Cruz   Worst Value:  Rasner.

 

Mitts:  Looking at pitchers, Larry selected John Lannan at pick #18.   A soft tossing lefty with poor command of the strike zone, I felt this was a reach with the abundance of lefty starters out there. I liked Manny Parra (3rd round) and Dana Eveland (4th round) better.  With Justin Masterson and Max Scherzer still on the board, I would have given up the innings and taken the upside.    Masterson went with the next pick to the Dream, and Larry promptly traded for him.  The Mitts needed a closer so Joel Hanrahan was the second round choice.  I had to consult my archives as no prospect books referenced him last year.  He apparently lost his mechanics but developed a slider/cutter that caused a switch to the bullpen.  Apparently it agreed with him, as he has a decent card if he avoids the longball.  I still would rather have had a Grant Balfour, JP Howell, or Frank Francisco card and take my chances with the closer rating in the first and Manny Parra in round 2.  Parra did stay in the family, going to Jordan.  Mike Adams nice card was a steal in Round 5.  Ditto for career utilityman Ramon Vazquez, who may land a starting gig in Arizona.  Jose Veras will provide a nice hard righty in the bullpen.  I’ve liked Wil Ledezma  since his Detroit days, but he always disappoints me.  Aaron Cunningham suddenly added power to his high batting average game in Double-A.  He could end up a Ryan Sweeney-type.  Nice find for the final round.  Best:  Adams.  Worst:  Lannan.

 

Whiz Kids:  I always like Jordan’s drafts but the talent never seems to gel at the same time to provide that breakthrough season.  This year I didn’t love it, so maybe his luck will reverse.  Jordan needed pitching in the worst way.  At the twelfth pick, he selected Clayton Kershaw.  Now all the scouting rankings will reinforce the validity of this pick, so I’m in the minority.   I’ve often said I hate speculating on young pitchers with #1 picks unless they have a great card I know I get to use.   Kershaw’s talent is second to none, but he has to be healthy, effective, and get righties out at an extreme to justify this pick.   I had Clay Bucholz rated one step higher because he has similar talent from the right side.  I wouldn’t have taken either in the first round, but that’s due solely to my philosophy on young starters.  In round 2, Jordan took decent quality innings in Jorge Campillo.   His card will be OK for this year, but I wouldn’t expect much in the future from this 30 year old.  You will see more from Manny Parra, however.  I knew this guy would slide a bit, but he’s nearly as talented as any pitcher in the draft.  Fernando Tatis had a great year for the Mets, and his card lasted a long time in Round 5.  The name Charlie Morton sounds like it belongs to a 50 year old.  He’s actually half that age and finally discovered some minor league success when he decided to throw the ball over the plate.  He got ripped in the majors, however, with an ERA over 6.  Everyday Eddie Guardado will get some lefties out for the Kids.  Lance Cormier has yet to control the strike zone at the major league level.  He does keep the ball in the park, though.    Best Value:  Manny Parra   Worst Value:  Jorge Campillo

 

Zips:  In the prime of his juggernaut, Mike got his fifth starter in veteran Todd Wellemeyer.   He has low on base but will struggle with dingers.  I might have taken Chris Volstad for a better future and part time card and taken my chances with Daniel Cabrera or a later pick for a few starts.  Mike then traded next year’s #1 for Grant Balfour, arguably the best bullpen card in the draft.  When you have a shot at the top, these are the kinds of moves that make the difference.   Rod Barajas was an extreme need pick based on Randy’s earlier selection of Jason Kendall.  I saw this shortage before the draft and traded a pick in this area for Ramon Hernandez, a starter with the equivalent card of Barajas on both sides instead of only versus righthanders.  Octavio Dotel was a nice value at pick 81.  He will have a ton of strikeouts on his card and few on base chances if he can avoid the diamonds.  These type of cards actually yield success but few of us have the guts to use them.  JA Happ has a nice card for a fellow fifth rounder, and a future.  Fernando Perez could emerge as a good speed/good glove OF if the Rays fail to improve their RF position.  Best Value: JA Happ    Worst Value:  Rod Barajas.






RESULTS OF DRAFT DAY SWITCH POLL:  10 would vote yes to moving the draft day to 11 days before Thanksgiving each year.   5 would vote no.   And 1 would abstain (doesn't have a preference).

HERE'S OUR DIVISION STRUCTURE FOR

CBL 2009











                                                                                         



AND IN THE CBL HE'D BE PLAN D or E
(from MLBtraderumors.com)
Pirates Get Last Crack At Mientkiewicz
By Tim Dierkes [December 3 at 11:52pm CST]

Dejan Kovacevic talked to free agent first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz recently.  Mientkiewicz seeks a starting job, even while admitting, "I'm everybody's B and C plan.  If the two guys they want to sign get hit by a truck, then they think about me."








FROM THE ONION

Cubs, Absence From World Series Agree To 4-Year Extension


CHICAGO—At a press conference Wednesday, the Chicago Cubs and their absence from the World Series announced an agreement to a four-year contract extension, with an option for another six years.

"The relationship between the Cubs and their absence from the World Series is strong, as both sides have shown loyalty to each other for the past 63 years," Cubs chairman Crane Kenney said. "It's something the fans have come to expect. Why, I remember sitting around the fire as a boy, talking with my grandfather about how the Cubs would never make it to another World Series. I only hope my children and their children and their children's children have the same opportunity." Despite rumors, absence from the World Series would not admit to holding closed-door talks with the Mets.











Mark recently sent out an email saying that the Mavs might have a blockbuster trade to announce.  But since then - nada.  What up with that?*......With baseball's winter meetings coming up there usually is an uptick in CBL trade talk.  Let's see if that happens....Mitts have been talking about a trade that might give the team more of a legitimate closer......Here's hoping the Rangers trade Salty or one of their many other catchers   (read: G.Laird) so that Saltalamacchia will have a clear shot at some playing time.....Sports is just a specialized form of life.  You have your major A-holes like Plaxico Burress,  Stephon Marbury,  Sean Avery, just to name a few.  And then you have some classy individuals like Greg Maddux and Fernando Tatis.  It sure is easier to root for the latter.....When the range ratings are released on the 15th here's what we'll be looking at first:  is Marlon Byrd a 4 in CF or a 3?,  does Markakis get his rf-1?,  is Ludwick still a 2 in left and 3 in cf?,  do we still have three "1"s in the infield?.....Pretty soon we'll have to discuss as a league whether to continue to use our current chat-room or explore other possiblities including AIM buddy-chats.....It's easy to criticize your major league team's GM but frankly if I were Omar Minaya I'd be pretty confused too as to which closer (K-Rod, Fuentes,  Wood,  or try to trade for Putz or Jenks) to bring in.....Carl points out that every post-draft trade that has been reported involves one of the Chicago division teams.....As the biggest advocate of having six rather than eight playoff teams I still am having trouble getting my head around the fact that our playoff finals involved the bottom two seeds......The Mitts' first season was 1978.  Jordan was a one year old baby.  Now he has his own baby and we head into our 32nd season.  And I enjoy this league and its fine members more now than ever.

*I have been informed that I missed what was supposed to be some leg-pulling and that the Mavs do not have a major deal in the works.



MITTS OFFENSE LOOKS TO BE SOMEWHAT IMPROVED
We've already looked at the starting pitching which appears to be better in the coming CBL season than what it was last season.  The bullpen might not be as good.  Now it's on to a comparison of the offenses.  Here's the table.  As usual I use the player's major league OPS.




It's pretty clear that the offense vs LHP will be improved.  It may be even further enhanced if Keppinger were to get a 2B-3 rating.  This is not probable but it is possible.  If that happens we'd be sorely tempted to stick his potent bat vs lefties in there for Hudson.  Kepp's OPS was a bit over 900 vs the port siders.  That would push our OPS average up about 20 more points.

On the other hand it is a bit deceptive to believe that the attack vs righties will be improved.  Salty has only about 240 AB's available to him and whoever gets the remaining catcher at-bats is certainly not going in with an 876 OPS.  I would expect that the net offense vs RHP will be approximately the same as what the '07 team had.








                
 MITTS TRADES



The members of the CBL will never forget our friend and charter member Mac McConchie


Connections to some useful sites:


CBL CHAT ROOM

Rumors-Pro Sports Daily
MLB Trade Rumors
Strat Fan Forum - the SOM Online Community

Strat-o-Sphere
John Skilton's Baseball Links Page
SOMWORLD
Gary's Strat-o-matic Page
Baseball Reference.com
article on programming SuperHal
Online Ballparks Museum

Lamanna's Baseball Bulletin
USA Today Baseball
Sporting News Baseball

Strat-O-Matic Game Company


Free viewer for Microsoft Excel files
Fox It Reader (reads pdf files)
Adobe Acrobat Reader (reads pdf files)



CBL WEBMASTER CAN BE REACHED AT

dr4sight@hvi.net

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