John: Well it is quite an honor to get to make the first pick, and a little intimidating to stare at a blank draft board! Many good choices all of which will be long gone by the time I pick again. RJ worked for Levent last year and I can't see a good reason why he shouldn't get the top spot yet again.

Round 1 - Toby takes Barry Bonds, SF - OF

Round 1 - Levent takes V Guerrero, Mon - OF

John: BTW - Last year James had the self described goal of getting fewer steals than Winona. As much as I enjoyed the daily picture of Winona in the 'news', I never did get a final steal count. Who won?

Round 1 - Mike takes Schilling, Ari - P

Mike: When Ben said starting right away, I did not know it would be this quick. I got back from picking my dad up from the airport and according to my email it was my turn to pick twice!! Talk about pressure.

Round 1 - Ladd takes Sosa, Chi - OF

Ben: Cool, it actually works. By the way, what will appear on the "draft roster" page is the last word (white-space separated) that is typed into the "Player name" field. So "Bonds, Barry" will appear as Barry, "Guerrero, V" will appear as V. In contrast, "Winona Ryder" will appear as Ryder, and "Schilling" will appear as Schilling. You get the idea.

Round 1 - Tom takes Albert Pujols, StL - OF

Mike: I obviously missed something. I Ladd not drafting at all?

Mike: OK - So I missed it twice, somehow Ladd's pick did not register for me but Tom's did - all clear now.

James: So how long do I wait for Onder before I Sixto Lezcano him?

Ben: good question, James. Why don't you wait as long as you can today (Thursday) and make your pick at the end of your day. This might cost us a round, but it's basically the deciding factor in whether Onder participates or not, since once he's lost his first round pick, he's basically done for.

James: Roger that, I'll wait til about 9 PM PST before I pick. As for my team vs Winona, I think I in fact got more steals than she did, at least during the baseball season.

Onder: Sorry I'm late. I'll pick in a few minutes (Thu 11:31am Central).

John: Onder - glad you will be able to join us this year. I think James's comment raises Sixto Lezcano into to the elite ranks of people whose name has become a verb.

Round 1 - Onder takes Berkman, Hou - OF

Onder: Thanks John... I have a friend who may be able to pick for me while I'm away. He knows nothing about baseball (not unlike me) but is good in statistics. I told him that there was nothing he could do to make things worse. :)

Round 1 - James takes Helton, Col - 1B

Round 1 - Ben takes Roy Oswalt, Hou - P

Round 2 - Ben takes Bobby Abreu, Phi - OF

Ben: I already hate my team, and it's 15 more picks before I go again. Sigh.

John: Hmm. I still like mine, but I only have 7 more picks to wait for!

Round 2 - James takes Kent, Hou - 2B

Round 2 - Onder takes Gagne, LA - P

Round 2 - Tom takes Thome, Phi - 1B

Round 2 - Ladd takes Smoltz, Atl - P

Round 2 - Mike takes Matt Morris, StL - P

Ben: Looks like Mike is going for wins. I spent a good five minutes agonizing between Thome and Abreu and finally went with the SB over the HR. Hope I won't regret it. Toby, those Phillies look like real competition for you this year, especially after the incredible Millwood trade. I suspect the Braves division championship run may be over.

Mike: I know this is a little sick, but I agonized over Madduz and Morris - every Brave pitcher I pick, I at least ruin their season if not their career (anyone remember Avery?), but the last St. L pitcher I picked was Kile.

John: Levent - I am curious as to the mood in Turkey as we move toward war with Iraq. Things in DC are a little tense with lots of talk about possible retaliatory terrorism. Between 9/11, the anthrax attacks, and the Sniper we are getting a little weary of being the center of attention for all the psychos. For that matter how does the rest of the US feel? When I travel there seems to be much less personal concern although plenty of general concern about the war.

James: Hey John, as you might imagine out here in sunny Santa Barbara its hard to get too worried about anything. The kids got to cut class for one day last week to protest the war, which they were happy to do, but other than that things are pretty normal.

Toby: I'm not sure what normal in NY is. I think that more than half the people I talk to on a regular basis in NY are actually in favor of the war, so that reduces the anxiety associated with the prospects of going to war for them. And then people around here are so stressed out all the time anyway.... On a more serious subject, I would be surprised if the Braves managed to extend their streak this year. We just suck. Smoltz ain't gonna get 50 saves this year, I'm afraid.

Round 2 - Levent takes Millwood, Phi - P

Round 2 - Toby takes Maddux, Atl - P

Round 2 - John takes Giles, Pit - OF

Round 3 - Levent takes Green, LA - OF

Round 3 - Mike takes Renteria, StL - SS

John: It was kind of a toss up between Giles and Green, but I knew Levent wanted him so I took Giles ;)

John: My home ISP has demolished my account, so I won't be able to pick again until Monday. Enjoy your weekends!

James: Great, I say we Sixto Lezcano John. Acually that will be nice, I can enjoy my weekend without sweating out more picks.

Round 3 - Ladd takes Piazza, NY - C

Round 3 - Tom takes Kerry Wood, Chi - P

Round 3 - Onder takes Perez, LA - P

Round 3 - James takes Prior, Chi - P

James: Ok, its the third round and I'm already bitter. First I thought if I took Helton in the first round, Ben would take J.D. Drew and Morris and I'd be able to get Oswalt. Then I thought for sure I'd be able to get Kerry Wood in the third round.

Toby: Wow, James, that's a lot of planning. I don't even know who *I'm* gonna pick, not to mention Ben.

James: I know, I'd probably be better off picking Ben's team.

Levent: First my wife, then John... How can people know what I want before I even had the chance to think about it :-))

Ben: J.D. Drew....hm, interesting idea.

Round 3 - Ben takes CJones, Atl - OF

Ben: Lar-ry ... Lar-ry ...

James: The thing is Ben, every year you've taken Drew a round earlier than you did the year before and last year you picked him in the third round.

Mike: It is interesting all the thought going into picks. I am still trying to catch up to the fact that we are drafting. And to respond to earlier comments on tension, we were thrilled to learn that Disneyland is very high on the terrorist's lists. Though it hasn't seemd to impact the Southern CA attitude much.

Ben: Drew's drafting history: 1999 Ben (4), 2000 Ben (9), 2001 Tom (5), 2002 Ben (3). Tom got him in his only decent season so far. Fool me once, twice, three times... wait, that sounds like a Lionel Ritchie song.

Round 3 - John takes Pat Burrell, Phi - OF

Toby: My goal for this draft was to only draft players older than me. I'm dipping a bit below that limit now, but not by much

Round 3 - Toby takes Sheffield, Atl - OF

James: Sorry Ben, 2000 and 2001 were pretty forgettable years I guess.

Round 4 - Mike takes Bagwell, Hou - 1B

Mike: Toby - It is important to have goals in a draft. My goal is to pick only players that are actually in the NL and not already out for the season due to injuries.

Round 4 - Ladd takes Gonzalez, Ari - OF

Round 4 - Tom takes Rolen, StL - 3B

Toby: Hey, "Draft Board" is kind of a play on words, isn't it? I just noticed. Hee hee.

Round 4 - Onder takes Walker, Col - OF

James: I'd call it more of a double entendre, but yeah its kinda cute. Just like you Tob.

Round 4 - James takes Wagner, Hou - P

Toby: Hey, right back at ya, big guy ;-)

Round 4 - Ben takes Wade Miller, Hou - P

Ben: I can't believe I drafted Houston's top two pitchers. Well, either my Roto team will be good or the Cardinals will win the division.

Round 4 - John takes Rob Nen, SF - P

Round 4 - Toby takes Benitez, NY - P

Toby: Looks like it's that time.....

Toby: hey, nice hedging, ben!

Ben: Damn, I missed the run on relievers. I thought James might be triggering it, and I looked long and hard at Nen and Benitez. Oh well.

Round 4 - Levent takes Wilson, Col - OF

Round 5 - Ladd takes Schmidt, SF - P

Round 5 - Tom takes Mesa, Phi - P

Round 5 - Onder takes Glavine, NY - P

Onder: This is it for me. I don't think I'll get another chance to pick before I leave tomorrow. Ben, is it possible to direct my "It's your turn to pick" email to revlioglu@transsolutions.com? This is Rahmi's email address. He kindly accepted to pick the rest of my team. He does have a two year old and a three month old at home so I'm guessing his life is a little more complicated than mine as it is, so go ahead and Sixto Lezcano him if he takes too long to draft. Especially over the weekend... Good luck everyone!

Ben: Okay, Onder, I can re-direct the email to Rahmi. I think in cases where he takes longer than a day to draft, we can have someone make a pick for him. Probably shouldn't be me, since I'm only two picks after Onder - best choices would be Mike, Ladd, or Tom, who would be less likely to get the player they pick for Onder anyway. We'll see if it's necessary.

Tom: I can chip in to help out with Onder's picks if needed -- it is very simple since Onder comes right after me. Perhaps if Rahmi knows that he is going to be away from the computer for a while and won't be able to make a pick, he can post a message to the board and we can spell him temporarily. Onder: do you have any general preferences for the kind of players that you like -- young, risky players with high upsides? Established and safe veterans? A mix?

Round 5 - James takes Griffey, Cin - OF

Round 5 - Ben takes AJones, Atl - OF

Ben: I didn't want anyone to get confused keeping up with the Joneses, so I took them both.

Onder: Thanks Tom, that would be great... As my preferences go I'm pretty much with Mike. Uninjured NL players would be perfect. However I have lately realized that I usually get tempted to draft players whose names I can pronounce and remember. These usually end up being older AL players who get traded to NL to sit on the bench and pinch hit. That hasn't helped me much. I'm guessing that you won't have that temptation so go ahead and make up a philosophy for my team. Anything should do better than the current one. I like that young and risky thing. That sounds very different from what I'd do so you can try that if you want. Thanks again.

Tom: Got it, Onder. Again, ask Rahmi to post comments to the web about when he thinks he will be able to make picks and when he would like to me do it. Hearing nothing to the contrary, I'll just pick for myself and assume that Rahmi will make your pick.

Ben: What do people think of doing the rolling draft the whole way? I find it pretty convenient (a whole month of procrastination!), but if we go this way we do have one significant issue to sort out: what do we do with players who were drafted healthy, but have gotten injured while the draft is proceeding? Do we have to wait until the draft is finished to be able to replace them? That seems a little unfair, or at least it provides a little incentive to finish the draft sooner. Maybe enough incentive that we should schedule a day to polish it off...

Round 5 - John takes Ray Durham, SF - 2B

James: I'm for going with the rolling draft the whole way. I've got no problem waiting for the draft to end to replace injured players, but another option could be to pause every days or whatever and let people pick replacements.

Round 5 - Toby takes Vidro, Mon - 2B

Ben: A run on second basemen. I'd better grab Vina quick!

Toby: :-) 'cause if you don't have a kick-ass second baseman on your team, you got no chance . . .

Round 5 - Levent takes Castillo, Fla - 2B

Levent: OK, I do as Ben says :-))

Ben: @#$&^! I was sure I would get either Vidro or Castillo. I should withhold my commentary on drafting trends...

Toby: The nice thing is that you'll have your revenge when you draft whoever it is that I was going to pick *next*

Mike: I like the rolling draft because my schedule will be so erratic. The injury issue is a tough one. Remind me - what is the usual rule on drafting an injured player? Though James' idea has merit.

Toby: Apropos the rolling draft: The only thing I fear is that when we get to the later rounds, people aren't going to be quite so quick with their choices (even though we should have been thinking about it for hours :-)), and so without the whip behind us, we may never actually finish the draft, or at least not before the All-Star break.

Levent: I believe I am the problematic one during the rolling draft, but I try to check my mail before I go to bed, so that would be late afternoon for most of you. If it looks like we are not advancing, we can always set aside one hour or so and finish the draft...

Ben: Drafting an injured player isn't really a problematic issue. The usual rule should work fine here, that they player can't be replaced until May (so there's no incentive to draft an injured player unless you're planning to stick with them until they are healthy). The problem is more the players drafted healthy but subsequently injured. They are normally replaceable immediately, or as it played out last year, immediately after the draft. This just becomes a problem if the draft is running into the 3rd week of the season or so. Those with injured players to replace will understandably be in a hurry to finish. We're making pretty good progress, though, so maybe it won't be much of an issue.

Round 5 - Mike takes Alomar, NY - 2B

Mike: Violating religious principles and drafting a Met - this is bound to be a terrible year!

Ben: Oh man, I really might be taking Vina. Ugh. Mike, which religious principles would those be? "Thou shall not covet thy favorite team's neighbor's baseball players"?

Toby: If we check the archives of historical drafts, has there ever been a run of 4 second basemen taken in a row? A fascinating statistic. Ladd? Be part of history?

Mike: The religious principle is "Thou shalt have nothing to do with the evil Mets", but you were close. If you want amusement - check out my new research website, http://www.physics.uci.edu/~dennin It was made by my administrative assistant, and I am not sure how it looks on various platforms and if the links are all still working.

Ben: Ladd could become part of history by being the one who makes the 100th attempt to draft out of order when it's his turn to be skipped.

Toby: Oh, yeah. Tom?

John: Mike- nice site but I was expecting a link to your 10 alternative commandments. I happy to keep rolling. Maybe at the end of the week we can do a reality check on when we will finish. I am free the 29-30th if we need to finish things off. As for injured players I am fine waiting til the end of the draft. It could happen the first week of the season and you would be just as hosed.

Round 6 - Tom takes Randy Wolf, Phi - P

Tom: Does it count if Randy Wolf once played 2B as a 5-year old in little league?

Toby: I really like Wolf, actually (I originally planned to draft him instead of Vidro), but he's not a second baseman, Tom. I think we should let Tom try again, just for the sake of the streak. Don't mess with the streak.

John: Toby is copying me! (and copying from a C student is not the secret to success).

Round 6 - Onder takes Floyd, NY - OF

Onder: (Rahmi for Onder) Hi guys. I'll try to help Onder as much as I can without slowing things down too much for you. I don't think there'll be much delay during the week. I'll try my best for the weekends also, but when you think you waited long enough go ahead and pick for Onder please. you've

Round 6 - James takes Pierre, Fla - OF

Ladd: I'm good with a rolling draft all the way through. We'll just need to keep on top of it. Do you guys realize that opening day is less than two weeks away?! I've got tickets to Royals opening day on March 31st against the White Sox. Yeah I know the Royals suck, but at least it's baseball. The way we've been rolling the last couple of days it shouldn't be a problem - as long as no one other than Onder will be incommunicado for more than a day.

Round 6 - Ben takes Ryan Klesko, SD - 1B

Round 6 - John takes AJ Burnett, Fla - P

James: Hey Ben, my sources (espn.com) indicate Klesko is playing 1B this year.

Ladd: I'm with James. I saw Klesko listed at first base on a separate site. John, I was really hoping to get Burnett this round if that gives you any satisfaction.

Round 6 - Toby takes Vazquez, Mon - P

James: Re: Klesko, with Nevin out for the season I don't see any reason for Klesko to play anywhere except 1B. Re: Burnett, I had his name typed in, then changed it to Pierre, so someone please say they really wanted Pierre this round.

Ben: Thanks for pointing that out about Klesko. I knew he was playing first, but my sheet said OF and so I just typed it in. I'll fix it.

Toby: No, see the point was that Wolf wasn't a second baseman, see . . .

Ben: James, I really wanted Pierre drafted this round.

Toby: ...you see, and there was this streak of second basemen being taken...

Tom: Gosh, I feel really awful now about Wolf. Toby, is there any way that I can make it up to you?

Mike: I forget Levent's schedule - is he possibly drafting tonight? Or are we done until tomorrow. Also - Ben, I took so long trying to decide between Alomar and Klesko - I probably made the wrong choice even if you don't get a second baseman!

Toby: Thanks for offering, Tom. I'm going to be drafting Todd Linden later on (assuming he's still available). A trade for Pujols would be nice. Thanks! And remember: respect the streak!

Round 6 - Levent takes Dunn, Cin - OF

Round 6 - Mike takes Sexson, Mil - 1B

Round 6 - Ladd takes Rodriguez, Fla - C

Round 7 - Onder takes Spivey, Ari - 2B

Round 7 - James takes Nomo, LA - P

Round 7 - Ben takes Jim Edmonds, StL - OF

Round 7 - John takes Rollins, Phi - SS

John: Sorry guys, I just got in. Spent half the night in the ER with Lilly at 105+ degrees. All OK now.

John: Now I see from the 'Its your pick' email that I didn't hold things up. Nevermind.

Round 7 - Toby takes Hernandez, Col - SS

Round 7 - Levent takes Boone, Cin - 3B

Levent: I am online for a few more hours, I can pick again if required...

Ben: Actually, Boone is going to play 2nd this year. Since it's an experiment, I think it's fair to take him at 3rd, i.e. he has a reasonable chance of ending up back there. But since he's slated to start at 2nd, he's also eligible there, in case that's what you prefer, Levent. He was going to be my sleeper 2B pick next round if Hernandez was unavailable. So much for planning...

Round 7 - Mike takes Encarnacion, Fla - OF

Ladd: Sorry Ben. He was my sleeper second base pick this round! Back to the drawing board.

Round 7 - Ladd takes Alfonzo, SF - 3B

Ben: I'm heading home for dinner now - I'll be able to check in a little before 7:00 Eastern and maybe make my pick before my evening lab.

Levent: This year I did not have time to study much, my wife has returned from UK. Tonight I just checked USA Today, and the roster showed him as 3B...

Mike: Study???!!?? Is that my problem, you are suppose to study for a draft?

Round 7 - Tom takes Derrick Lee, Fla - 1B

Round 8 - James takes Beckett, Fla - P

Round 8 - Ben takes Scott Williamson, Cin - P

Ben: Levent, you can still switch him to 2B if you want, but it would be good to decide soon.

Round 8 - John takes Mike Williams, Pit - P

Levent: Dear Mike, I live in a contry where when you say "Baseball" people ask whether that's the game with the weird shaped ball. When I open the newspaper people write about soccer and possibly some basketball. If I do not go out of my way and read some stuff, I will have no clue about baseball.

Round 8 - Toby takes McGriff, LA - 1B

Mike: Levent - Ben needs to add a time stamp of some sort. Does your response mean you will also draft soon? Or, should I just wait to morning? Also, if it wasn't for the Angels winning, I live in a part of the country where people only attend innings 3 - 7 of a baseball game. Almost as strange as no baseball!

Mike: PS - I do use one source to achieve my goal of picking people that are actually in the National League, and it also lists Boone as 3B, which is where I would have drafted him. Hence, my response on studying! We must have been the only two people in the league not planning to secretly pick him at 2B later on!

Round 8 - Levent takes Isringhausen, StL - P

Round 8 - Mike takes Clement, Chi - P

Round 8 - Ladd takes Vaughn, NY - 1B

Round 8 - Tom takes Padilla, Phi - P

Ben: So Ladd's going to try his luck with the leaner, less mean Mo Vaughn. I was trying to decide what I thought of him.

James: So are so obviously not an Angels fan, Ben.

Round 8 - Onder takes Furcal, Atl - SS

Toby: Man, 4 of the last 5 picks were on my (short) list of next few picks. Guess the pickins are getting slim.

Mike: I will probably be the one to mess this up - but even though the rolling draft is going well, is there any reason not to set aside 2 - 3 hours next Sat. (March 29) where everyone agrees to closely monitor the draft and we try to get as many rounds in as we can? This would help keep it dragging once the picks get slim.

Ben: Sorry, it will be a second longer. I finally reached my decision, to draft Clement. Then I noticed....

Round 9 - Ben takes Russ Ortiz, Atl - P

Round 9 - John takes Mike Lowell, Fla - 3B

John: I guess earlier you knew not to get your hopes up, but the last few rounds have been brutal.

Levent: Toby, shall I stay up??

Ben: Tell me about it. After noticing Clement was gone, I was choosing between Lowell, Ortiz, and Player X.

Round 9 - Toby takes Leiter, NY - P

Round 9 - Levent takes Kim, Ari - P

Round 9 - Mike takes Jimenez, Col - P

Round 9 - Ladd takes Brown, LA - P

Round 9 - Tom takes Cabrera, Mon - SS

Round 9 - Onder takes Beltre, LA - 3B

Round 9 - James takes Mantei, Ari - P

Round 10 - John takes Austin Kearns, Cin - OF

John: Knowing 17 players are going before I pick again sure makes this tough.

Round 10 - Toby takes Aurilia, SF - SS

Toby: ...completing my middle infield...Always best to stock up on the quality middle infielders...cough cough....

Ben: Man, these skip rounds are long. The whole NL gets drafted....

Levent: So it was OK to wake up at 4 in the morning to get a glass of water :-))

Round 10 - Levent takes Kendall, Pit - C

Round 10 - Mike takes Cruz, SF - OF

Round 10 - Ladd tries to take Nomo, LA - P

Toby: Hey Ladd, I think James took Nomo back in the 7th round.

Levent: Guys, today I will not be able to pick before about 2 pm eastern time.

Ladd: My bad. James wanna work a trade?

Round 10 - Ladd takes Alfonseca, Chi - P

Mike: I assume Levent is refering to 2 pm eastern time Friday. We are going into the hospital to attempt to have the baby turned - if all goes well, I will easily be back to pick after Levent (the appointment is 7 am PST - so being back by 11 am should be easy). If you do not hear from me, it probably means the baby is on the way and I will be in contact as soon as I can.

Mike: Ben - I noticed that I didn't follow your directions and picked Cruz Jr in such a way that he showed up as Jr on the roster. Don't know if it is worth fixing, but thought I should point it out.

Round 10 - Tom takes LoDuca, LA - C

Round 10 - Onder takes Moss, SF - P

Round 10 - James takes Payton, Col - OF

Round 10 - Ben takes J.D. Drew, StL - OF

James: So Drew made it to round 11, a new record.

Ben: Round 10, but who's counting. He is starting the season injured, but it's because of surgery. I.e., there's a chance he'll be healthy again. And hey, he's a Cardinal.

Round 11 - Toby takes Finley, Ari - OF

Toby: In keeping with my standard...

Mike: I am back from the hospital - the baby turned on its own - so once Levent picks, I will be around to pick.

Round 11 - Levent takes Womack, Ari - SS

Round 11 - Mike takes Ramirez, Pit - 3B

Round 11 - Ladd takes Roberts, LA - OF

Round 11 - Tom takes Kotsay, SD - OF

Round 11 - Onder takes Alou, Chi - OF

Round 11 - James takes Sanders, Pit - OF

Round 11 - Ben takes Woody Williams, StL - P

Round 11 - John takes Brian Lawrence, SD - P

John: I guess I was right to take an OF before I got skipped!

Ben: It looks as though I'm going to depend a lot on some less-than-healthy Cardinals to have good seasons. I wonder if I should take McGwire in the 23rd round, just in case he comes back....

James: Don't stop there Ben, feel free to take Gibson and Musial too.

Ben: Hm, Gibby probably could still get some hitters out. I'll have to think about it.

Round 12 - Levent takes Cedeno, NY - OF

Round 12 - Mike takes DeJean, Mil - P

Mike: By the way Ben, McGwire goes to our church, I could ask if he is planning a come back if you want!

Round 12 - Ladd takes Patterson, Chi - OF

Round 12 - Tom takes Wilkerson, Mon - OF

John: Smooth name drop MIke. That's pretty cool.

Ben: No thanks, I'll just ask STEVE KLINE to ask McGwire for me.

Round 12 - Onder takes Casey, Cin - 1B

Round 12 - James takes Biggio, Hou - OF

Round 12 - Ben takes Eric Young, Mil - 2B

Round 12 - John takes Brian Jordan, LA - OF

Round 12 - Toby takes Hampton, Atl - P

Round 13 - Mike takes Vina, StL - 2B

Mike: I hope my round 13 pick isn't unlucky for Ben's team! (real favorite that is)

Round 13 - Ladd takes Simon, Pit - 1B

Round 13 - Tom takes Looper, Fla - P

Round 13 - Onder takes Stewart, Mon - P

Round 13 - James takes Bell, Phi - 3B

Round 13 - Ben takes Danny Graves, Cin - P

Ben: I really wanted Looper (former Cardinal, you know). I wasn't paying attention and didn't realize DeJean had been drafted, so I thought I could wait another round. Then both Stewart and Looper go. I think this is a good pick, Tom.

Round 13 - John takes Lieberthal, Phi - C

Round 13 - Toby takes Armas, Mon - P

Round 13 - Levent takes Martinez, StL - 1B

Ben: I think it's time to clear the air on Marrero: can he be drafted as catcher? I would suggest "no". He is going to catch some this year, but he's likely to see significantly more playing time in the OF. He is the 4th outfielder (on a team with gimpy Drew and gimpy Edmonds) and the 2nd-3rd catcher. I don't have a strong opinion - if he were to end up catching a third of the time, I think he should be eligible at catcher. I think his catching will be more like 1/4 time, but that's just a guess. More important than what we decide is that we make a decision, so that no one says later "I would have taken him long ago if I thought I could take him at catcher". Thoughts?

Levent: My list shows Marrero as an outfielder... He is even given as a starting RF.

James: I agree with Ben, it looks to me like Marrero is 3rd catcher, 4th outfielder and while he will probably catch a few games he ought to be drafted in the OF.

Toby: Yeah, CNNSI doesn't even list Marrero as one of the 4 catchers on the team....

Ben: Okay, that's close enough for a consensus: Marrero is an OF. Poor decision on La Russa's part, in my opinion, but that's how it is.

James: Yeah, we should get La Russa in the league next year and see how smart he really is. Does he go to anyone's church?

John: Does anyone go to Ladd's church?:-)

John: Does anyone go to Ladd's church?:-)

Mike: We were making such good time on the draft - anyone know what is up?

Ladd: Sorry guys. Forgot to mention I was likely to be incommunicado today. Jury duty! Thankfully I got drawn 30th in a 30 member jury pool and had a 0.001% chance of getting chosen. Anyway, I'm clear for the rest of the week and will review the recent picks and make my selection. Should have mentioned this earlier, but I'm not sure what we could have done to speed it up.

Round 14 - Ladd takes Byrd, Phi - OF

Round 14 - Tom takes Ben Sheets, Mil - P

Round 14 - Onder takes Dotel, Hou - P

Round 14 - James takes Johnson, Col - C

Round 14 - Ben tries to take Dave Roberts, LA - OF

John: Ben - I think Ladd already has Roberts.

Ben: Thanks for pointing that out. Thought it was too good to be true. I'll re-do my pick ...

Round 14 - Ben takes Alex Sanchez, Mil - OF

Ben: So I'll try with "Dave Roberts light"

Round 14 - John takes Kenny Lofton, Pit - OF

John: I knew I was going to regret pointing that out! :-)

Round 14 - Toby takes Lopez, Atl - C

Round 14 - Levent takes Ohka, Mon - P

Round 14 - Mike takes Benson, Pit - P

Round 15 - Tom takes Burnitz, NY - OF

John: Guys, we have 9 rounds to go and aren't looking good for finishing the rolling draft before this weekend. I can keep rolling into next week or finish on Saturday, but we should plan Saturday soon if we are going to do it.

Ben: I don't mind rolling into next week, if we're looking to finish within a week. At this draft this weekend would be difficult for me. Not impossible, but difficult.

Mike: I noticed we lost a lot of momentum this past weekend. We had been doing almost two rounds a day. It might be nice to have some sense of people's schedules and plan on two rounds a day over the weekend if possible. That would get us almost finished, if not completely done if we can get our average up a bit the next couple of days. I know the talent is really thin, but we should try hard not to let that slow us down.

Ladd: My opinion is that we're close enough now that if we can average a round per day we'll only spill into the start of the season by at most three or four days, which is basically meaningless. So I'm all for continuing the rolling draft until we are done. With that said, I'm currently available this weekend with the exception of an hour or two here and there (soccer, church, etc.)

Toby: Mike, are you refering to the talent of the players or the choosers?

Mike: Toby - well certainly the players (except of course for all my secret picks!) The choosers, I can only speak for myself and take the 5th on that. (Well, I really could comment on others, but I am trying out a new policy of only talking trash when I am clearly in a leading position or have no hope of winning.)

James: I'm all for keeping the rolling draft going even if it spills over into the season. There were plenty of years where we did the entire draft after the season started.

Levent: This weekend would be impossible for me, because of reasons totally beyond my control. When I turned my computer on, I was reading a notice from the computer center saying that there will be no Internet access over the weekend because of some repair work. Via the cell phone I can keep the rolling draft going, but nothing more...

Round 15 - Onder takes Barrett, Mon - C

Round 15 - James takes White, SD - OF

John: Aren't the NLers supposed to leave the AL transfers for the ALers to compensate for our lack of NL savvy?

James: Its round 15 and the gloves are off John.

Round 15 - Ben takes Sean Burroughs, SD - 3B

Ben: Oh my, I'm nervous about this one.

Round 15 - John takes OHernandez, Mon - P

John: I guess I talked myself into this one!

Onder: Hi guys. I'm not sure who has been picking my team in the last few rounds since I heard monday night that Rahmi had been hospitalized on Sunday with some stomach pain. It turned out to be a kidney stone which he passed monday night but I just read in an email from another friend that the doctors kept him in the hospital for Pneumonia. Anyway, I can only get on the internet every other day so if you guys can take over from Rahmi it would be great. I guess someone has already been doing that... Thanks. I'll be back on monday 31st and I can take over at that point. Thanks to all who's been helping with my team.

Ben: That's interesting. Did Rahmi do some hospital bed heroics to pick Barrett? If so, there should be some sort of prize for this. Maybe we could award him Toby's next pick.

Round 15 - Toby takes Fick, Atl - 1B

Toby: I've also seen Fick listed as OF, but he's not going to be taking time away from Jones Jones or Sheffield. ESPN lists him as the starting 1st baseman.

Round 15 - Levent takes Wells, Pit - P

Round 15 - Mike takes Jenkins, Mil - OF

Mike: Just to clarify ealier conversations - since he is NOT on the DL when I pick him, if he goes on the DL I can replace him at anytime.

Levent: Onder, sorry to hear about Rahmi's problem. We'll take care of the team, don't worry. Also give me a call before you go back (0532 551 2477)

Tom: So, as far as Onder's picks are concerned ... I had volunteered to help out earlier (but never actually had to because Rahmi stepped right in), but I'm going to be out of touch from 3-9 today, when Onder's next pick will be coming up. Could someone else make the pick for him today? (Maybe whoever happens to be looking at the board first when Onder is listed as next up.)

Round 15 - Ladd takes Hollandsworth, Fla - OF

Ladd: Okay, it's Onder's turn to pick. My opinion is that someone should select on OF for me. I would be willing to do it or have James or Ben do it ( we have all filled our OF spots ). If anyone has a dissenting opinion please speak up. If I don't see any posts by 3:00 CST I will go ahead and pick for him then ( or sooner if we can reach a consensus ).

Ladd: The previous comment should read "for him". Doh!

Round 16 - Onder takes Grissom, SF - OF

Ladd: Just so it's clear, I made that last selection for Onder ( in case anyone wants to bash me ).

Round 16 - James takes Larkin, Cin - SS

James: I for applaud Ladd's initiative.

Round 16 - Ben takes Ramon Vazquez, SD - SS

Round 16 - John takes Mark Bellhorn, Chi - 3B

John: He played more at 2B last year, but I think they are starting him at 3B.

Round 16 - Toby takes Trachsel, NY - P

Mike: Just so I know how often to check - what time is it where Levent is - will he draft today or not?

Ben: If I remember right, Turkey is an hour ahead of Germany, which is 6 hours ahead of the east coast, which is 3 hours ahead of the west coast. So it's pretty late there. We had actually planned the draft order (Levent following Toby) on the assumption that Toby would make the last pick in a day, and Levent would start the next day. This was back when Toby was worried about not surfing the web during his workday.

Mike: Ben (or anyone) - so given that arrangment, and the fact that surfing the web during work should not be a problem on the weekends, is there a way to time it so everyone takes two picks on Sat and Sun? My brain is two tired to figure this out - besides for this quarter only, I am a part time administrator, so we all know that this means I can no longer understand simple math.

James: Levent says he will be sans internet (without internet) so I thinking we will be making at most one pick over the weekend.

Mike: It just seems that if he can make one pick a day by cell phone, if we get the timing right, he could make two picks - basically early morning his time and late evening his time. Since I am right after him, I think that converts to mid day and late night my time? But, maybe I have this wrong - and maybe everyone in between messes this up. Basically, instead of setting aside a block of time when everyone sits down together - I am wondering if we can't set windows of time for people to expect to make their pick in? Again, the time zone issue may prevent this, but not even knowing where everyone is - I can't go much beyond suggesting it.

Mike: "he" in that last message is Levent - as we seem to be the two that need to coordinate more than TOby and Levent - but maybe both need to work just right.

Toby: I don't know that we particularly need to rush to finish at this point. I mean, in the past we've even done complete drafts after the season has already started. If we poke a couple of days after the start it's no biggie. IMHO.

Mike: ok - I will give up on the two picks a day over the weekend -

Levent: As I have said, I can keep the rolling draft going (using the cell phone I can connect for a few minutes every six hours or so) but a regular draft would be tough without a regular connection.

Round 16 - Levent takes Hidalgo, Hou - OF

Levent: Which means, if you are around your computer all weekend long, I will not be the one to hault the process :-))

Round 16 - Mike takes Wilson, Pit - C

Mike: I am drafting Craig Wilson as a catcher because this weeks Sports Weekly lists him as the back up catcher for Pit.. I will check first thing in the morning. If this is overruled, I will make a different pick.

Mike: I was not expecting Levent to halt the process - I am expecting me to halt the process by having no idea what are the potential times Levent might draft (in PST) !! Or, by having Jeni go into labor! :-}

Ben: I'm with the others who don't really see the urgency here. We probably will run a little into the start of the season, but originally I was worried it would take a lot longer. As for Craig Wilson, I was skeptical about the catching, but then the ESPN page said the same thing, that he's Kendall's backup. Heads up pick for Mike, because Wilson will probably get a lot of 1B at bats as well, and he can hit.

John: Is Mike the guy who said he wasn't studying?

Round 16 - Ladd takes Patterson, Ari - P

Ben: Yeah, I'm kind of ticked about the Wilson thing. This is the kind of late round move that I fantasize about, and here Mike "I'm just trying to pick living NL players" Dennin pulls it off, while the rest of us are gaping. Wilson a catcher! Who knew?

Mike: This is the payoff for having extra United Airlines miles - last year they expired and turned into a Baseball Weekly Subscription. This showed up yesterday, and there is was in print! My students wish studying was this easy!

Round 16 - Tom takes Hammonds, Mil - OF

Round 17 - James takes Perez, SD - P

Levent: As far as I know, nobody is going into labor in our household this weekend. My only preset plans for the weekend to watch a football game (I am the academic advisor for the team) between 6am - 9am ET Saturday, dinner at a friends' house between 11am - 4pm ET. If the others can tell me when they will be able to pick I can adjust my sleep accordingly and pick whenever necessary :-))

Levent: I was checking the draft page for last year: The six pitchers I chose got 45 wins and the three pitchers Toby chose for me in the last three rounds got 34 wins. I am impressed, thanks Toby :-)) I owe you ...

Round 17 - Ben takes Brandon Villafuerte, SD - P

Round 17 - John takes Kirk Rueter, SF - P

Mike: John - I was wondering how long I could wait before taking Rueter - I guess not this long!

Ben: I just want to point out that I already have 4 pitchers who fit the pattern _ill*, and the _ in each case is either M, W, or V, which have obvious geometric similarities. Spooky, no?

Ben: To make the point more striking, there are only two other players in the draft who fit this same pattern. Schilling gets an honorable mention, but obviously an 'Sch' has no particular connection to the M, W, or V.

Mike: Ben - I am starting to wonder if you have too much time on your hands if you notice these things!

Ben: Mike, observing trivial patterns is a lifelong occupation of mine. Did you know that if you use the 2-digit DD/MM/YY format, that today's date equals the month raised to the year?

Ben: Did you know that an anagram for "Mike Dennin" is "Emend in ink"?

Ben: An anagram for Toby Falk is "Bat K-O fly" (okay, that's weak, but there isn't much to work with. "Talky Fob" just doesn't make sense).

Round 17 - Toby takes Marrero, StL - OF

Toby: Ben, you might want to see "A Beautiful Mind", if you haven't already. Then you'll see the dangers . . .

John: How about "Flaky Bot". There is a website for this you know. -"Wow No Hodad Jr"

Round 17 - Levent takes Byrd, Atl - P

Round 17 - Mike takes Dessens, Ari - P

Ben: hmmm, didn't know "bot" was a word. Good one, John. And Toby, don't worry, my penchant for patterns won't turn me into a raving anti-Semite (though I've heard they mostly left that part out of the movie). On a related topic, I actually know what "hodad" means: someone who can't actually surf, but who hangs around at the beach acting like a surfer. It's my favorite English word.

Round 17 - Ladd takes Gonzalez, Chi - SS

Ben: Layover Bellmen. This used to be really boring before I changed my name. I'll stop now.

James: Do you have tenure yet Ben? If not you might consider x-nay on the attern-pay until then. Just a thought.

Ben: I'd like to retract as fully as I can the "anti-Semite" comment about John Nash. It occurred to me that I ought to at least Google the claim to see the basis of it. According to the author of the book (on which the movie as based), the entire case for the charges are a line in a letter that was "written eight years after John Nash was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia at a time when he not only believed that he was being threatened by Jews, but thought he was the emperor of Antarctica, the Messiah, Job, a Japanese shogun, thought that he wasn't living with his mother in Virginia, but believes that he was in hell, in a prison, in a refugee camp." And now I'll stick to baseball.

Ladd: Since Ben is filling up this board with his inane ramblings today, I nominate him to make Onder's next selection. With the qualification that he MUST select the exact player that Ben was thinking of selecting for himself with his next pick!

Round 17 - Tom takes Thurston, LA - 2B

Toby: How about "En blee", for the francophiles among you. If any still exist.

James: I think we call them freedomphiles now, Tody.

Round 17 - Onder takes Astacio, NY - P

Ben: Onder's pick was made by Tom.

Round 18 - Ben takes Brandon Larson, Cin - 3B

Tom: An anagram for T. Solomon is "Lost Moon" which is how I feel trying to find an acceptable outfielder in these late rounds.

Ben: I could pick for Onder in the next round, since I'm getting skipped anyway.

Ben: An anagram for freedom fries is "feed is reform"

Ladd: Darn you Ben. I should have picked for Onder - I would have picked Larson for him ( really )! I've been ruing my pick of Simon for a few rounds now.

Round 18 - John takes Polanco, Phi - 2B

John: I go to get a snack and half a round goes by! Interesting typo(?) on Toby's name James.

Toby: He's made that "mistake" before . . .

James: Oops, sorry about that Toby. I know how sensitive you franophiles are.

Round 18 - Toby takes Ramirez, Atl - P

Ben: I'd like to know just who these people are that think Franco was so lovable....oh, never mind! (SNL reference, hopefully obvious). Re Ladd's comment, we probably should have an agreement about who is picking for Onder each round. Tom was kind of the obvious choice this round, but we should spread it around, and it seems to make sense for me to make his next pick.

James: I'm in favor of Ben making Onder's pick.

Round 18 - Levent takes Eaton, SD - P

Round 18 - Mike takes Santiago, SF - C

Mike: Siiting here with too much to do and all this talk of patterns, I was curious about any patterns in victories in our league. Going back in the web archives (the only record available to me), it might be interesting to note: Levent and Toby are the only repeat winners Levent, Ben and Toby are the only current members to never finish in the bottom two spots. John, Ladd, and myself are the only members who have the same number of finishes in the top two spots as we do in the bottom two spots. I don't know what any of this means, but as an administrator now I know it is very important to count things - so I am practicing counting!

Round 18 - Ladd takes Peavy, SD - P

Round 18 - Tom takes Zambrano, Chi - P

Round 18 - Onder takes Danny Bautista, Ari - OF

Ben: I think Bautista has been overlooked because he was injured much of 2002. He's supposed to be healthy again, and I would have taken him a few rounds ago if I could.

John: Nice pick Ben. I am already regreting taking Polanco when I could have had Santiago or Bautista (although both have burned me in the past).

Round 18 - James takes Dreifort, LA - P

James: Funny how people think. I thought getting Polanco in the 18th round was a great pick. Of course I'm picking Dreifort so what the hell do I know?

Round 19 - John takes Felix Rodriguez, SF - P

Ben: I would have given Polanco serious consideration in my next pick, if he were still around.

John: Toby- you have Ginger stumped with 'en blee' and she considers herself both a freedom- and a francophile.

Round 19 - Toby takes Veres, Chi - P

Toby: My freedom is a little rusty. I'm thinking en="in", and blee = "wheat".

Ben: To complete the task, using the computer service: "klutz ran even", "didn't allot", "not solo mom", "no craven kid", "inseam jowls"

Round 19 - Levent takes Giles, Atl - 2B

Round 19 - Mike takes Tomko, StL - P

Mike: Ben - I guess I will be right there with you this year cheering on Stl!

Round 19 - Ladd takes Loretta, SD - 2B

Round 19 - Tom takes Brad Penny, Fla - P

Ben: Who is picking for Onder this round? I don't have my sheets with me at the moment... could Mike or Levent make the pick?

Round 19 - Onder takes Lugo, Hou - SS

Round 19 - James takes LeRue, Cin - C

James: Will I live to LeRue this pick?

Levent: My connection is a bit slow, but I am still online...

Tom: Wasn't Bobby Hill just sent down a couple of days ago?

James: Yes, Bobby Hill was sent down.

Levent: Then I should change that pick... How about Lugo, SS Hou??

Ben: I'll change the pick to Lugo...I'm caught at home without my sheets - I was planning to take either Tomko or Penny. I'll try to get to campus soon (by 11:30 eastern) to make my pick.

Round 19 - Ben takes Pokey Reese, Cin - 2B

Levent: I have to leave... I will be back in three hours (3:00 pm ET)

Round 20 - Toby takes Wigginton, NY - 3B

John: Toby, Ginger tells me 'wheat' is 'ble'. I was going to let this slide but Ginger didn't want anyone thinking she didn't know wheat.

Round 20 - Levent takes Miller, Chi - C

Toby: ok, mea culpa.

Round 20 - Mike takes Buchanan, SD - OF

Mike: Toby - Looks like you and I are the main shoppers left for outfielders. I don't know if I like competing against a two time champ!

Toby: Now Mike, I'm not going to be foxed out by your sneaky tricks. I remind you that you've won this thing more recently than I have, so *I'm* the one that should be living in sleepless terror. Anyway, I ain't expecting much out of my 21st, 22nd and 23rd round picks . . .

Round 20 - Ladd takes Redman, Fla - P

Round 20 - Tom takes Ausmus, Hou - C

Tom: By the way, who is picking for Onder this round?

Tom: Okay, I'm going to answer my own question -- I was looking through ESPN and saw that no one had picked their pick for the National League ROY -- H. Choi of Chicago. And Onder said that he liked the idea of young-with-high-upside, and he has an opening at "out", so I'm going to sign him up for Choi. (Is there a reason why he hasn't been picked yet? I don't want to saddle Onder with the guy if there is a reason why he has been avoided.)

Round 20 - Onder takes Choi, Chi - 1B

Round 20 - James takes Spooneybarger, Fla - P

James: FWIW I was going to take Choi.

Round 20 - Ben tries to take Mike Hampton, Atl - P

Round 20 - Ben takes Jason Simontacchi, StL - P

Ben: I'll bite.

Levent: Isn't Hampton on the DL??

Toby: Plus, I drafted Hampton back in the 12th round . . .

Levent: Or, even better, wasn't he drafted by Toby in the 12th?? :-))

Toby: So BACK OFF, Ben.

Round 20 - John takes Overbay, Ari - 1B

John: Ben's infield is complete so I am going to go ahead and pick because I need to go away for a while.

Levent: I need to wait for Ben's decision, as most probably I will be picking a pitcher...

Ben: Knew it was too good to be true. Hmmmm, give me a second.

Ben: Okay, I'll take Jason Simontacchi, P, StL. I'll go back and edit the Hampton pick.

Round 21 - Levent takes Rusch, Mil - P

Mike: As Levent took my pick, it will be a few minutes here, but I am thinking.

Round 21 - Mike takes Remlinger, Chi - P

Round 21 - Ladd takes Ishii, LA - P

Round 21 - Tom takes Brett Myers, Phi - P

Tom: Okay, I think I'm going to be presumptious again -- I gather that Onder won't be back until tomorrow, and it is clear that he needs some pitchers. I was debating long and hard between Myers and Fogg for my last pitcher, and since I'm now done with pitchers, I'll go ahead and sign Onder up for Fogg. Again, if anyone knows of a reason why I shouldn't saddle Onder with Fogg, then make a post and perhaps we can switch it.

Round 21 - Onder takes Josh Fogg, Pit - P

Round 21 - James takes Counsell, Ari - 2B

James: Does anyone have a problem with me taking Counsell as an inner infielder?

Toby: FWIW, ESPN has Counsel listed as the projected starting 3rd baseman for AZ. Do you anticipate him sharing time with Womack at SS?

James: He is indeed the openning day 3rd baseman, but I anticipate him playing both SS and 2B as he has the last couple years. I'm thinking if Mike can get away with Wilson as a catcher I ought to be able to take Counsell as a 2B/SS.

John: I wanted Fogg. Can someone else pick for Onder:-)

James: Well I wanted Myers so if we get rid of Tom that will kill two birds with one stone.

Ladd: For my part, I have no problem with Counsell as a middle infielder. And I wanted Fogg too!

Mike: I think applying our strict eligibility rules, if James can quote a source (any source) that claims Counsell playing 2B or SS at some point, then it is clearly ok. The Sports Weekly used at the beginning of the draft clearly lists him at S and 3rd. This has often been good enough - and if James slips me the name of some key outfielder without telling Toby, I will certainly support his pick.

Toby: I don't really care one way or the other. Knock yourself out. Don't worry, Mike, there's nobody good left.

Round 21 - Ben takes Garrett Stephenson, StL - P

Ladd: Ben, I'm so proud of you for sucking it up and taking those Cardinals. I was really worried about you a few rounds ago when you had more Padres than Cards! Everyone lay off Mike Matheny, Ben's got first dibs.

Round 21 - John takes Jose Macias, Mon - OF

Mike: Toby - this is why I usually leave catchers for last - there are almost no good ones to begin with!

Round 21 - Toby takes Perez, NY - OF

Toby: Too true.

Ben: I'm not so attached to Matheny, or Girardi for that matter. I wasn't really after Stephenson, but then when I studied the pitchers, well, it was pretty bleak. Not as bad as outfielders, but bad enough.

Toby: Who's it gonna be, Mike? I've got the *perfect* OF in mind. I can't *believe* he's still available. Can you think of him? He's going to get at least 70 RBI, and maybe 20 HR. I'm thinking 15 SB, to go along with it. No, really.

Round 22 - Mike takes Kapler, Col - OF

Mike: Its 7 am here! How am I suppose to think! But, inspired by the early morning, I realized the entire Col. outfield is old and will be injured soon. Kapler will play BOTH LF and CF and get 40 HR!! (After all, it is COL)

Mike: Of - course - I did also read that he was hospitalized for violent vomiting. Now that is an interesting injury.

Toby: Damn.

Round 22 - Ladd takes Dempster, Cin - P

Ben: While Mike, Ladd and Tom have been doing their share of picking for Onder, I would suggest that the 3 finish the draft for him, since he only needs pitchers and catchers, and none of them need any. I would say whichever of the 3 first notices it's Onders pick can simply pick. The software won't let someone pick twice for Onder, so there's no risk of that.

Round 22 - Tom takes Nady, SD - OF

Round 22 - Onder takes Haynes, Cin - P

Ladd: Just so it's clear, I made that last selection for Onder.

Round 22 - James takes Quantrill, LA - P

Round 22 - Ben takes Bobby Estalella, Col - C

Mike: I am in my new office as acting associate dean today, and as such have no information handy. So, I do not think I will be able to select for Onder. I figured that since I am the LAST pick of the draft, I would just do that when I got home from work today.

Mike: You can tell that I have SOO much work to do that I have no time to check the draft board either! :)

Ladd: I will be incommunicado until at least 6 pm CST tonight. If my pick should happen to come up before then, someone can plug in my next pick as Belliard, 2B Col for me. Thanks. Going to opening day and its 70 degrees outside! All is good with the world momentarily.

Ben: I always had the impression that deans worked without information. Thanks for confirming that, Mike.

Round 22 - John takes Kurt Ainsworth, SF - P

Round 22 - Toby takes Goodwin, Chi - OF

Round 22 - Levent takes LHernandez, Mon - P

Round 23 - Ladd takes Belliard, Col - 2B

Levent: I made the pick for Ladd...

James: Just FYI both Maddux and Glavine gave up 4 runs in the first inning.

Toby: Maddux has settled down now. His ERA is down to 9.0 for the season.l

John: Levent - I think Livan Hernandez got traded to the Expos.

Ben: Indeed, L. Hernandez, like O. Hernandez, is an Expos now. If that makes a difference to you, Levent, you can quickly announce your intention to re-pick before Tom picks.

Toby: Madux's season ERA is already down to 6. At this rate it will be negative by the end of the game!!

Levent: I am OK.

Ben: I see that entering the world of finance screws up one's extrapolation capabilities. I always suspected this was the case...

Toby: Damn, Ben, you're just slamming on everyone today. I'd always suspected that physicists were a bunch of arrogant S.O.B.'s. Oh, wait . . .

Ben: True, I'm kinda grouchy today. Though I thought Mike set up the dean comment pretty well (for what it's worth, I've had very good experiences with the deans at Bucknell). Martin woke up early this morning. That's my official excuse.

Ben: I went to check on Tom's schedule, and there's a note on his door saying that he will be back around 3:30 to 4:00 (eastern, of course).

Round 23 - Tom takes Fox, Fla - SS

Ben: Anyone but John, Toby, or me should pick a catcher for Onder now.

Round 23 - Onder takes Machado, Mil - C

Onder: I expect a rousing round of "Aw, I wanted Machado" - James for Onder

Round 23 - James takes Tatis, Mon - 3B

Round 23 - Ben takes Brian Schneider, Mon - C

Ben: I was thinking about Machado.

Round 23 - John takes Moeller, Ari - C

John: 'Wanted' is a strong word in round 23, but I would have prefered Machado.

John: Half my pitching staff is fron California and have my offense is from Pennsylvania. What was I thinking?

Round 23 - Toby takes Torrealba, SF - C

Tom: We're done, right? As always, it has been a pleasure. And great work on the web site, Ben.

James: John, your problem is your pitchers are from *northern* California. Ben, this was even awesomer than usual. Even though I'm none too pleased with my team, I really like rolling draft. And to all the rest of you guys, see ya in the box scores.

Mike: Hey - we're not "done" Levent and have yet to make our brillant last picks!!

John: Yeah, not only are 4 from SF, but several are "not quite ready to pitch in a game yet" including Hernandez who got put on the DL. Which brings me to the question of the supplemental draft. What did we decide to do?

Toby: Oh, yeah, I also have someone on the DL. What did we decide to do?

Toby: And thanks again to Ben for his efforts for the draft and the web site and all that. This is only as smooth as it is because of all this technology you've created. Thanks to the NSF for funding it :-).

Ben: Thanks. A few notes: (1) ignore the "round 24" in the "next picks" line. (2) as soon as everyone has drafted, you can replace players who were DRAFTED HEALTHY but who are on the DL now. Basically, it's a first-come first-serve basis via email announcements. The stats are on Fridays, as usual, so Friday noon or so is the deadline for the transaction to be effective this week.

Ben: PS This was payback year as far as the programming goes. It took me literally about 10 minutes to set up the draft page. And proper acknowledgment would be NASA, who were foolish enough to fund my sabbatical last year.

Toby: Um, NASA?? Nice job of grant-writing Ben!

Mike: Ben - ok, this is always a confusion for me. If by Friday noon I make a replacement, then I get the new persons stats for the previous friday to thursday?

Mike: Maybe if Ben lets us in on his secret, I can get funding to work on my golf game?

Round 23 - Levent takes Snow, SF - 1B

Levent: And also, as Mike does not need a pitcher, I would like to put Byrd on the DL and replace him with Worrell, P, SF.

Round 23 - Mike takes Mackowiak, Pit - OF

Mike: And now the draft is over - let the DL madness begin!

Ben: Mike, replacements are never retroactive. If by Friday noon you make a replacement, you get the new person's stats from the current Friday onward. If you instead make the replacement Friday evening, after some games have been played on Friday, then you get the new person's stats starting the NEXT Friday, almost a week later.