February 19, 2004
Four Teams Left to Fill Rosters
There are now only 4 teams with roster spots to fill.  Five roster spots remain open and the teams have up to $31 to split between those five players, barely even enough to get Scott Rolen for half a season!  The Commissioner has announced that the Free Agent Draft will begin on Monday.

February 18, 2004
Little Action on Board
There has been little movement on the auction board the last couple of days.  Although 2 more players were sold today, no new players were introduced into the auction.  Arizona filled out their 25-man roster, leaving 7 teams with open spots.  14 roster spots are left to fill and there are only 6 bids on the board.

February 17, 2004
"Balk, B-balk, Balk!  Baaalk!!"
That's the sounds you hear from the eight teams left with open roster spots as they play a game of chicken.  Each team seems to be trying to out wait the others in trying to fill their roster spots.  Currently, there are only 8 bids on the board for the remaining 16 roster spots.  Stay tuned to see who will blink first!

February 16, 2004
Half of teams set
Ten of the twenty teams in the FJBL now have their 25-man rosters set.  There are 14 outstanding bids up on the board for the 24 remaining roster spots.  Congratulations to the AL East for being the first division to have their rosters set.

February 15, 2004
Auction Nears End
The FJBL auction for 2004 is nearing an end.  There are only 27 players needed to fill roster spots at the end of today and twelve of them already have bids.  That means 15 new players still need to be brought up for bid.  Eight of the twenty teams already have their 25-man rosters set.  In an effort to speed up the process, Commissioner David Myers has announced that, effective noon (Eastern) tomorrow, bids will be considered final if they are on the board for 24 hours.

February 13, 2004
Shell Game or Bottom of the Barrel
Owners with roster spots left seem to be waiting.  And waiting.  And waiting.  Only a few new players have been introduced on the auction board in the last few days.  There are two theories to this phenomenon.  The first is that owners are waiting each other out in hopes of landing a hidden gem for a cheap price.  The second is that there are no talented players left who don't already have a bid on them.  Either way, the list of players who do have outstanding bids on them is thinning.

February 12, 2004
Auction time limits reduced
In an effort to speed up the auction, which seems to have suddenly stagnated, Commissioner David Myers has adjusted the timeframe for a player to be sold.  Effective tomorrow at noon EST, any player bid on will have a 48 hour window instead of 72 hours before he is sold.  All bids before noon still require the 72 hour waiting period.  There are still 73 roster spots open.

February 11, 2004
Record 27 players sign
The 2004 auction took a large step towards completion today.  27 players signed on with teams, 6 of them going to the expansion Twins.  There are only 86 roster spots left and 22 players who need to be offered contracts before the auction ends.

February 10, 2004
10 more down, 113 to go
The 2004 auction is about half way done, as 111 of the 224 open roster spots have been filled.  78 players have bids out on them and 33 players have yet to be introduced.  Rosters and Cap Cash Board are current through midnight tonight.  The Cap Cash Board does NOT include currently outstanding bids, only players already sold.

February 9, 2004
From worst to first
The Milwaukee Brewers and Baltimore Orioles, two teams who lost a combined 201 games last year, are the first teams to have their 25-man rosters set this year.  101 players have been signed so far and we're down to 38 more players needing to be introduced on the auction board.

February 8, 2004
Rolen signs $62 contract, may not be biggest
The San Francisco Giants have their man.  Scott Rolen signed a $62 contract today to play third base for the Giants.  However, that may not be the highest contract this year.  Tim Hudson is currently holding out with a high bid of $60 at the end of the day.  There's still 141 players to be signed and 95 players currently have outstanding bids.  Rosters and Cap board are updated through midnight.

February 7, 2004
Rolen looking at HUGE contract
There have been 37 contracts signed through midnight last night.  Only 188 contracts are left to be signed.  168 players have been offered contract bids, leaving only 57 players to be posted on the board.  Pedro Martinez has been signed to the highest contract so far this year, at $50, but he has already been eclipsed by Scott Rolen, who is currently pondering a $62 contract offer.  Rosters and cap cash board are updated through midnight last night.  Remember that the cap cash board does not include offers for players still outstanding.

February 4, 2004
Gagne first player signed
Bob Mayhew, fresh off helping the Phillies win last season's championship, is the proud owner of Eric Gagne, the NL Cy Young winner in real life.  Gagne was the first player to be sold, at $37, but there could be nine more players off the board before midnight, barring the dreaded "last second bid" schemes that many owners seem to despise.