Managers,
 
As I mentioned in the last trade announcement, we are working hard to get the SPB NOW season disk ready.  It involves a bit of work, deleting players, checking player status, etc., so please bear with us.  I want to have the disk to you as quickly as possible, but also with the minimum of errors.
 
Next, some have asked about the status of X-Players.  Remember the rule of thumb is on what season ending roster did a player wind up on.  Let's look at some examples.
 
1.  Carl Pavano ended the season on the roster of an X-Team (Florida) and is not on the current roster of any SPB NOW team.  He apparently has signed with the Yankees and assuming that he ends the 2005 season on the Yankees roster, he will be eligible to be selected in the 2005 Rookie draft (held in January 2006).  In short, he is not eligible to be drafted in the upcoming rookie draft on January 15, 2005.
 
2.  Paul Lo Duca ended the season on the the roster on an X-Team (Florida) but is also on the roster of a current SPB NOW team (Latrobe 33's)..  He may be kept on the roster of Latrobe at the cost of 2 protected player spots in the Phase II draft.  Latrobe can currently protect 18 players for Phase II, so keeping Lo Duca will reduce the number of protected players to 16.
 
3.  Brad Penny ended the season on the roster on a non-X-team (Los Angeles) but began the season on an X-team (Florida).  He also is not on the current roster of any SPB NOW team.  As such, he is eligible in the 2004 rookie draft held on January 15, 2005.
 
4.  Armando Benitez ended the season on the roster of an X-Team (Florida) but is also on the roster of a current SBP NOW team (Rip City Highlanders).  Even thought he has signed with SF, he still ended the season on the roster on an X-Team and may only remain in the league if he is kept as a protected player in Phase II.  Rip City can currently protect 18 players, so if they keep Benitez, they may only protect 16 players in Phase II.
 
IMPORTANT!!!!!.  As you receive the disk from DMB, remember that any player with 400 or more at bats, playing in 10 or fewer defensive games, will have that rating removed and will not be eligible to play at the removed position in SPB NOW.  So even though ARod has a SS rating, he played in 10 or less games and will have that rating removed.
 
Let me know if you have any questions.
 
Jim
 
 

Jim Wheeler
www.seasonspastbaseball.com