Notes from the League Office

Rules Voting Ends

The deadline for casting your vote on the 2006 rules proposals has passed. Thanks to the fourteen owners that took a couple of minutes to vote. No proposal passed, so we will use the same rules in 2007 that we did this year.

Overuse Committee Rules

The Overuse Committee has recommended that all 2006 and probationary 2005 penalties be enforced. As we move forward, here are a few hints to avoid trouble in 2007:

• Plan your use at 90-95% to allow for some flexibility should something happen like a late injury. Remember, there is no rule stating a player must appear in 100% of his allowable games or at bats.
  
• Roster a few unlimited players to fill in as necessary when you run out of at bats.
• Farm any players in danger of being used by the automanager in a manner that could push that player past his limit.
• If you are going to be out of town for an extended period, get one owner to act in your stead monitoring use. Note that you will still bear ultimate responsibility for any penalties.
• The league office is lenient when one of your starting pitchers is forced into relief duty by the automanager even though they aren't listed in the relief table, but asks that you contact the Commissioner as soon as you note the issue. Normally, this would make that pitcher GS- and IP-limited.
  

Twins Make Moves

The Minnesota Twins today protected rookies Matt Garza and Boof Bonser. The Twins released William Bergola, Craig Biggio, Shane Costa, Bill Mueller, Brayan Pena, Andy Phillips, Reggie Sanders, Eddie Guardado, Ryan Madson, and Sergio Mitre.

Overuse Penalties Announced

On 24 December 2005, the Commissioner's Office waived considerable 2005 season overuse penalties against a few teams conditional upon a clean record in 2006. Specifically, the White Sox, Marlins, and Athletics had a $1 million penalty waived; the Astros, Cardinals, and Senators $500,000; and the Diamondbacks, Braves, Red Sox, Indians, and Padres $250,000 each.

The Commissioner's Office has reviewed the final 2006 season statistics and is fining these teams for overuse. Any owner wishing to appeal their fines is encouraged to do so to the Overuse Committee--Bob Bierman, Pat Barry, and Steve Sargent. These fines apply against each team's 2007 salary cap.

Arizona Diamondbacks ($250,000 + $56,152=$306,152)
Scott Hairston, 1 AB. This player was ineligible for 2006, but was used even though he had his real-life statistics zeroed out. Because his overuse is 4%, the fine is $56,152, equal to 40% of that player's $140,375 salary.

Chicago White Sox ($1 million + $124,594=$1,124,594)
Dave Roberts, 1 AB. Overuse < 1%, fine is $94,594.
Craig Breslow, .1 IP. Overuse 2-3%, fine is $30,000.

Florida Marlins ($1 million + $60,000=$1,060,000)
Jeremy Hermida, 2 AB. Overuse 4-5%, fine is $50,000.
Will Ohman, .1 IP. Overuse < 1%, fine is $10,000.

Houston Astros ($500,000 + $25,866=$525,866)
Scott Munter, .1 IP. Overuse < 1%, fine is $25,866.

Oakland Athletics ($1,000,000 + $848,260=$1,848,260)
Rod Barajas, 11 AB. Overuse is 2-3%, fine is $191,145.
Gary Matthews, Jr. 7 Games. Overuse is 5-6%, fine is $570,313.
J.C. Romero, 1 IP. Overuse is 1-2%, fine is $21,040.
Julio Santana, .2 IP. Overuse is 1-2%, fine is $20,000.
Chris Spurling, .2 IP. Overuse is <1%, fine is $45,762.

San Diego Padres ($250,000 + $566,527 = $816,527)
Damaso Marte, 3.2 IP. Overuse is 7-8%, fine is $199,988.
Akinori Otsuka, 5.2 IP. Overuse is 9-10%, fine is $366,539.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays ($81,905, to be applied against the New York Yankees)
Joe Crede, 4 ABs. Overuse is < 1%, fine is $81,905.

Toronto Blue Jays ($120,366)
Kelvim Escobar, 1 IP. Overuse is 1-2%, fine is $120,366.

Washington Nationals ($69,211)
Steve Kline, .2 IP. Overuse is 1-2%, fine is $69,211.

If you plan to appeal, please notify the Overuse Committee before December 28. All fines will be final as of January 6, two weeks ahead of the roster deadline.

Astros Sign Jason Hirsh, Fernando Nieve

HOUSTON, TX- The Houston Astros today added Jason Hirsh and Fernando Nieve to their roster. Houston has released Rick White, Lew Ford, Carl Pavano, Jason Lane, and Scott Munter.

Marlins Make Moves

Florida Adds Three

MIAMI, FL- The Florida Marlins announced today they are adding rookies Dan Uggla, Josh Johnson, and Hanley Ramirez to their 35-Man Roster. Danny Ardoin, Ricky Ledee, Juan Dominguez, and Jason Vargas were released.

2007 Salaries Released

Oakland, Detroit Bound Team Totals

ANNANDALE, VA- The Molson Baseball League home office this afternoon released player salaries for the 2007 MBL season. Each team is entitled to spend $23 million on salaries, but a few will have their cap reduced as a result of overuse in 2006. The League is expected to announce those penalties later this week.

The top five earners in 2007 will be Oakland's Johann Santana ($2.08 million), St. Louis's Albert Pujols ($2.07 million), the Dodgers' Chris Carpenter ($1.81 million), World Series champion Cleveland's Travis Hafner ($1.76 million), and Houston's Roy Oswalt ($1.73 million). The highest-salaried rookie is reliever Cla Meredith ($995,500).

Roughly half of the MBL teams are over the salary cap, led by Oakland's $26,700,000 payroll. The Detroit Tigers will be looking to add players, sitting at $18,600,000 before any releases.

2007 MBL Draft Order Released

Newly-Relocated Tigers Get First Selection

Baseball fans on Florida's left coast suffered through the worst season of any team in the league last year, but they will not benefit from seeing the first player selected in the 2007 Molson Baseball League draft now that the Devil Rays are back in Michigan. The Tigers will select first in February's draft.

Will Justin Verlander stay in Detroit?

Here is the official draft order. As a reminder, teams in Group A are allowed to protect three rookies without forfeiting their first-round draft picks; Groups B and C, can protect two and one, respectively. Because the Nationals and Diamondbacks tied for the fifth-worst record, both are categorized as Group B.

Group A
1. Detroit Tigers, 2. Atlanta Braves, 3. San Diego Padres, 4. Houston Astros,
Group B
5. Washington Nationals, 6. Arizona Diamondbacks, 7. Minnesota Twins, 8. Chicago White Sox, 9. Los Angeles Angels, 10. Toronto Blue Jays
Group C
11. New York Mets, 12. Saint Louis Cardinals, 13. Washington Senators, 14. Florida Marlins, 15. Oakland Athletics
Group D
16. Los Angeles Dodgers, 17. Boston Red Sox, 18. Seattle Mariners, 19. Cleveland Indians, 20. New York Yankees.

* Teams tied. Teams will flip priority in each round.

League Transactions

New York Yankees- Announced the team has been sold to Massachusetts-based investor, David Yamin.

San Francisco Giants- Announced the team has been sold to St. Louis-based investor Pat Manis, who announced the team will be relocated to southern California as the Los Angeles Angels.

Seattle Mariners- Protected Emiliano Fruto.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays- Announced the team has been purchased by Germany-based investor Nat Bailey who, in turn, announced the franchise will return to Detroit and be known as the Tigers.

Something Old, Something New, Something Used

Two New Owners Join the MBL

This week marked a transition in the history of the League with the departures of Peter Spellos and Mark Hetterich. As a result, David Yamin sold his Devil Rays and has assumed the abandoned New York Yankees franchise effective immediately.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays, which relocated to Florida last season after several years in Detroit, are headed back home to Comerica Park under the ownership of Nat Bailey. Nat owned the Tigers for a few years in the early 2000s and will steward the kitties from his home in Cologne, Germany. Jack Buchanan will act as General Manager on his behalf. The Tigers will not use the designater hitter in their home games.

The storied San Francisco Giants will meet the same fate as the Devil Rays. Under the ownership of Pat Manis, the Giants will relocate to Los Angeles and assume control of the Angels. The Los Angeles Angels will relocate to the National League's Gateway Division, and will not use the DH rule; the Detroit Tigers will move to the American League's Rivals Division. The ghost of Dennis Nicholsen beckons!

Under terms of the relocation, Detroit and Los Angeles will assume control of the 2006 Tampa Bay and San Francisco rookie classes, and then take control of their new franchise's rookies in 2007.

League Transactions

From the MBL mailbag, transactions posted since the end of the season.

LOS ANGELES- Added Matt Kemp, James Loney, and Takashi Saito to their roster. Released Sandy Alomar, Oscar Robles, and Chris Woodward.

SEATTLE- Added Adam Jones to their roster. Released Ugueth Urbina, Joe Randa, Rondell White, and Eric Bruntlett.

WASHINGTON SENATORS- Released Jeff Nelson. Added Jon Danks to their roster.

Cleveland Wins Their First MBL World Series

The Indians defeated the Florida Marlins in a six game series to win their first MBL World Series title. Owner Walter Bick had sent three other teams to the fall classic over the last 22 years but had never won.

The Tribe’s Season in Review
The Indians finished the regular season with 102 wins, second in the league to the Yankees 107 wins. The Indians dominance against RHP, a league leading .660 winning percentage in games started by RHP, meant that they would also lead the league with 59 games of opponents starting LHP against them. The team managed a .576 winning percentage in those games. Notable team stats:

• ERA – 2nd lowest in MBL – no small feat for a team that uses the DH at home
• Walks allowed – 2nd lowest in MBL
• Run scored – 1st in MBL
• OBP – 1st in MBL
• SLP – 2nd in MBL
• Fielding % - 2nd in MBL

The season was a real team effort with no one winning any individual hitting or pitching honors. Travis Hafner finished 2nd in the MBL in the following categories: batting average, OBP, SLP, and runs scored. Surprisingly, Hafner was only issued two intentional walks during the season. The top starters were Bartolo Colon 18-6 and Cliff Lee 16-7, but both pitchers lead the league in run support, 7.0.

Divisional Playoffs
The Tribe sweeps the Red Sox in the Divisional Playoff of the 2005 MBL Season Replay.

Highlights:
Game 1 – The series opens at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. The Tribe scores 5 runs in the 7th after trailing 3-0, and hold on to win 5-3.

Game 2 – After falling behind 5-0 in the 2nd, the Indians score 7 runs in the 5th and go on to win 9-6.

Game 3 – The series continues at Fenway and the wind is blowing out to left at 15mph. A high scoring game was about to happen, but not the way you might think. Red Sox starter, Astacio, cannot get out of the 1st. After giving up 5 hits, 4 walks, and 8 earned runs on 52 pitches, Astacio is sent in for an early shower. Mesa relieves the starter and gets the first batter to pop up ending the top half of the inning.

The fireworks continue in the bottom of the 1st, Indians starter Kim gives 4 runs right back on a walk, 2 doubles, and a 3-run homer to Matt Stairs.

In the top of the second, a managerial nightmare happens to Boston (as if having to pull your starter in the 1st inning was not bad enough). Mesa walks the first 3 batters and is pulled in favor of Sisco. Sisco then walks 3 of next 4 batters. The batter he did not walk in that sequence had a run scoring single. The Tribes scores a total of 6 runs in the 2nd.

The only other run in the game is an unearned run scored by the Red Sox in the 7th. The final score is 14-5. The game only had 5 extra base hits, 4 doubles and Stair’s HR. The Red Sox walked a total of 11 batters, 10 in the first two innings.

Game 4 – The Indians scored 2 runs in the 1st and never looked back winning 4-1.

Series MVP – Indian Bullpen – The bullpen had a Win and 2 Saves, while only allowing 1 earned run on 3 hits in 12.2 innings of relief.

Series Goat – ARod – The possible league MVP of the season was dismal for the Red Sox in the Divisional Playoffs. Alex was 1 for 15, a double, with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. He stranded 10 runners and hit into a double play.

American League Championship Series
The Indians lose the first game of the series, but take the next four to win the series 4-1 against the Oakland A’s. In three home games, the Athletics score a total of 5 runs and 4 are unearned.

Highlights:
Game 1 – The A’s score 2 in the 1st, never fall behind, and win 7-4.

Game 2 – The Indians return the favor and win 7-4. After falling behind early the Tribes scored 5 unanswered runs and take a one run lead into the bottom of the 8th. Ellis hits a two out 2-run homer to provide the insurance runs.

Game 3 – The series moves to Oakland and the A’s score 3 unearned runs in the 1st and then see the Tribe pound out 22 hits in a 21-3 Indians victory.

Game 4 – The Indians win 4-1. The Indians have runners on base in every inning and strand 14 runners. This leaves the door open for an A’s come back, but the Tribe relievers only allow one base runner over the last 3 innings.

Game 5 – For the fourth time in five games the A’s score first, but the single unearned run they get in the fifth is the only run they score. The Indians score 3 runs in the 6th and win the game 3-1, clinching the series. Tribe relievers are again dominating, retiring the last 9 batters they face.

Series MVP – Indian Bullpen – For the second series the bullpen is dominate only allowing 2 runs in 16.1 innings.

World Series
The Indians face the Marlins in the MBL World Series (WS) to complete the replay of the 2005 season. The Marlins (90-72) were a wildcard team, finishing 7 games back of the Gateway division winning Mariners. The Fish got to the WS by first defeating the Dodgers, winners of the Gateway division with a record of 91-71, in the Divisional Series 4 games to 1. In the National League Championship, the Marlins fell behind the Washington Senators 3 games to 1, before winning the last 3 games of the series to earn their birth into the WS. Both WS owners have sent three teams to the fall classic in previous seasons, but have never won.

This would be the third team the Indians faced in the playoffs that does not use the DH in their home ballpark. This meant that the powerful one-two punch of Hafner/Sexson would again be reduced to a firstbase platoon in away games. The Marlins have the edge in the starting pitching being able to put three potent left handed starters on the mound, Willis, Washburn, and Zito.

The Indians win the first three games of the series, but have to go six games to win their first World Series title. The Marlins out score the Indians during the series with two lopsided victories.

Highlights:
Game 1 – Jacobs Field, Cleveland, OH: Willis vs. Colon. Ritchie Sexson opens the 2nd with a deep HR down the left field line off Willis. The score would remain 1-0 until the bottom of the 6th. With two on and no one out, Willis again faces Sexson. The result is a 3 run blast to deep left center. Omar Vizuel adds the fourth run of the inning, with a two out RBI single following a Hafner double. With the score now 5-0, the Marlins start their comeback. In the top of the 7th, Miguel Cabrera homers off Bartolo Colon to start the inning. After back to back hits with one out puts runners on the corners, Qualls relieves Colon. Qualls hits Piazza to load the bases. Kotsay grounds into a force out at home, two gone. Michael Young singles up the middle for one run and Giles walks to force in the third run of the inning. LHP John Foster comes into face Manny Ramirez and strikes him out to end the threat. Piazza hits a solo homerun off Duchscherer in the 9th to complete all the scoring. The Indians win Game 1 of the WS 5-4.

Game 2 – Jacobs Field, Cleveland, OH: Washburn vs. Chacon. Both teams score a run in the 1st. The Marlin’s run comes on a long homerun to left by Ramirez. The Indians add a run in the 3rd to make the score 2-1. In the 7th the Marlins load the bases with one out off Chacon. Qualls relieves him and gets Piazza to fly out to shallow right and Kotsay to ground out. In the top of the 8th, Foster again relieves Qualls to face Ramirez with two outs and no one on base. Ramirez grounds out to short. For the second game in a row, Vizquel has a two out RBI single making the score 3-1. The Tribe takes a 2-0 series lead as Duchscherer pitches a perfect 9th inning.

Game 3 – Dolphins Stadium, Miami, FL: Byung-Hyun Kim vs. Loaiza. Both teams again score one run each in the first inning. Coco Crisp leads off the game with a HR to right and Miguel Cabrera answers with an RBI single. 1-1 after one. Kim gives the Tribe a 2-1 lead in the 2nd with an RBI double. The Marlins tie the score 2-2 in the bottom of the 7th on a Mike Piazza sacrifice fly. Speier relieves Loaiza to start the 8th and gives up a 2 run homer to Felipe Lopez and a run scoring single to Ryan Church to give the Indians a 5-2 lead. Betancourt starts the bottom of the 8th for the Tribe and walks Giles with one out. Ramirez steps to the plate and eyes the Indian’s bullpen. With a three run lead, Foster stays in the pen and Ramirez promptly hits a 2 run homer to make the score 5-4. The Indians hold on to win 5-4 on a game ending double play after an infield error. The Tribe has a 3-0 series lead while only out scoring the Fish by 4 runs.

Game 4 – Dolphins Stadium, Miami, FL: Colon vs. Zito. The Indians decide to start Colon on only 3 days rest and he lasts only four innings. The Marlins score 3 runs off Colon in the 4th. For the first time in the playoffs the Indians bullpen falters and allows 4 runs over the next four innings. Zito is masterful and allows no runs in eight innings. The Fish take a 7-0 lead into the 9th. Brad Penny starts the 9th, but Riske has to finish it. The final score Marlins win 7-3.

Game 5 – Dolphins Stadium, Miami, FL: Arroyo vs. Willis. The Indians added Bronson Arroyo to their WS roster in favor of LHP Cliff Lee, because the Marlins had a .636 winning percentage against lefty starters during the season. Arroyo gives up 9 runs in 3.1 innings. The Indian’s bullpen for the second straight game allows 4 runs. The Marlins win easily 13-2. Willis scatters 10 hits in 8 innings, allowing 2 runs, only 1 earned. Manny Ramirez hits two more homeruns. The WS moves back to Cleveland, with the Indians winning 3-2.

Game 6 – Jacobs Field, Cleveland, OH: Penny vs. Chacon. The Indians are surprised by the Marlins who start RHP Brad Penny instead of LHP Washburn. Both teams score a run in second. Cabrera hits his 3rd homerun of the series for the Fish and Mark Ellis ties the score at 1-1 with an RBI single. The score would remain tied until the bottom of the 7th. With one out Viquel walked and Crisp doubled down the third base line, Ohman relieves Penny. Michaels, pinch hitting for Sizemore, walks to load the bases. Victor Martinez lines a single up the middle to plate two runners. The Marlins come to bat in the top of 8th trailing 3-1. Duchscherer starts the 8th for the Indians and the Fish load the bases with one out courtesy of a single and two walks. Manny Ramirez steps to the plate. Foster is called from the bullpen to face Ramirez for the third time in the series. On a two ball, no strike pitch Ramirez grounds into an inning ending double play ball to second. Felipe Lopez homers off Speier to lead off the bottom of the 8th. The Marlins put a runner on with two outs in the 9th, but Qualls closes the door on the season. The Indians win the game 4-1, and the World Series 4-2.

Series MVP – Shawn Chacon – He won both of this World Series starts. Chacon won all four of his post-season starts and compiled a 2.49 ERA in those starts. An honorable mention has to go to John Foster for efforts against Manny Ramirez.