[Westheim]

1992 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set shows 1991 numbers, second set overall; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Kisho Saito, 31, B:L, T:L (19-7, 2.98 ERA | 151-101, 3.03 ERA) – workhorse and strikeout machine doing his job at the top of the rotation, although he was less than stellar in the 1991 World Series.
SP Jason Turner, 26, B:R, T:R (16-9, 2.55 ERA | 37-21, 3.11 ERA) – if not hurt (1990), he is an amazing pitcher, who can zero out opposing teams regularly; was under 2 in ERA last season until three bad starts in September got to him; has a no-hitter (1989 against OCT) to his credit.
SP Robert Vázquez, 29, B:L, T:L (17-7, 3.58 ERA | 87-53, 2.80 ERA) – has four pitches that he mixes well, but he also eroded at the end of the 1991 season and had horrible playoffs; has not struck out more than 114 in three years due to injury and struggles.
SP Scott Wade, 29, B:R, T:R (14-11, 3.68 ERA | 91-55, 3.33 ERA) – very consistent starter; struggles often against heavy left-handed lineups, but has won 12 games in six consecutive seasons now.
SP Raimundo Beato *, 30, B:R, T:R (12-16, 4.45 ERA | 104-92, 3.72 ERA) – well balanced pitcher with five more or less well developed pitches, who should not embarrass himself more than necessary; acquired in trade from New York for Raul Castillo and a prospect.

MR Ken Burnett, 29, B:L, T:L (2-4, 2.52 ERA | 9-13, 4.21 ERA, 1 SV) – excelled in a variety of roles last season, from situational left-hander to setup man after Antonio Cordero came apart; easily had his best season in the Bigs.
MR Juan Martinez, 25, B:R, T:R (4-2, 1.93 ERA, 3 SV | 14-10, 2.82 ERA, 8 SV) – very good stuff and strong control, could possibly be a closer somewhere else; has almost 4 K/BB.
MR Roberto Carrillo, 31, B:R, T:R (3-2, 2.22 ERA, 1 SV | 34-25, 3.12 ERA, 38 SV) – can be used in a variety of ways, as a strong 7th inning guy, long man, time killer in extra innings, or possibly even as emergency starter, although all of his 391 appearances came in relief.
MR Albert Matthews, 22, B:R, T:R (1-1, 3.13 ERA | 6-5, 2.52 ERA, 1 SV) – was badly lit up at times early last year and sent back to AAA, from where he came back much stronger; still has some control issues to iron out, though.
SU Jackie Lagarde, 28, B:R, T:R (8-5, 1.80 ERA, 2 SV | 14-12, 2.23 ERA, 9 SV) – has won back the setup role from a sluggish Albert Matthews last season and was excellent last season, while regularly thrown into tight games as evidenced by his record.
SU Chris Nelson *, 34, B:L, T:L (1-3, 4.09 ERA, 1 SV | 42-50, 2.54 ERA, 165 SV) – acquired from San Francisco for Antonio Gonzalez; was a closer for various teams in six seasons; suffered from an abnormal .339 BABIP last season.
CL Grant West, 35, B:L, T:L (0-0, 1.15 ERA, 46 SV | 31-19, 1.93 ERA, 417 SV) – the “Demon” was virtually untouchable last season, blowing only one save all year long in the regular season (and one in the World Series, unfortunately); his ERA is a full-season career best, his SV tied a career high, and his WHIP was second to 1982 only. There is hope that he will go for a few more years before falling to the youngsters.

C David Vinson, 26, B:S, T:R (.243, 10 HR, 57 RBI | .258, 41 HR, 176 RBI) – came back lame from his 1990 breakout season, including horrible defense, especially early in the season; here’s to him rebounding this year.
C Shimpei Iwamoto *, 32, B:R, T:R (.236, 3 HR, 30 RBI | .277, 32 HR, 535 RBI) – backup for this year, he has excellent defense, but his offense last year with Dallas was not thrilling.

1B Tetsu Osanai, 33, B:L, T:L (.309, 14 HR, 104 RBI | .325, 213 HR, 1,023 RBI) – former offensive monster with former big punch; has three batting titles and is still chasing after the all time home run lead held by Mark Dawson (304 HR); has started 1,030 consecutive games for the Raccoons at first base – every single one since being acquired from Vancouver; his defense has let up badly in the recent years, and he has not had a blow-away season in the 90s yet;
1B/3B/2B/SS Matt Higgins, 27, B:S, T:R (.246, 4 HR, 52 RBI | .245, 19 HR, 160 RBI) – stole 30 bases and showed excellent defense, but his hitting is not thrilling despite showing great promise a few years ago; penciled in as second base starter.
SS/3B/2B/1B Jorge Salazar, 31, B:L, T:R (.317, 4 HR, 51 RBI | .281, 16 HR, 365 RBI) – excellent defense and a surprisingly productive bat with back-to-back .300+ seasons, he has the shortstop starting job nailed down hard.
1B/3B Ben O’Morrissey, 26, B:R, T:R (.259, 5 HR, 74 RBI | .268, 13 HR, 119 RBI) – chased Mark Dawson out of Portland last season and is currently set in stone at third base.
1B/2B/3B/SS/LF Matt Duncan, 25, B:L, T:R (.303, 0 HR, 2 RBI | .229, 2 HR, 19 RBI) – versatile defensive backup with an agonizing bat.
1B/3B Matt Brown, 23, B:L, T:R (.175, 0 HR, 6 RBI | .175, 0 HR, 6 RBI) – he is merely holding this roster spot warm until we can find a better backup; his 1991 showing would not have warranted a comeback under normal circumstances.

LF/RF Daniel Hall, 36, B:R, T:R (.261, 7 HR, 35 RBI | .263, 193 HR, 795 RBI) – pretty complete player, first ever Coons draft pick; missed 96 games last season after suffering a concussion, but came back very Hallesque in September; still our starting leftfielder, although he could be rotated out more frequently than before (along with the other two starters) to get Glenn Johnston into games, especially against right-handers.
CF/LF Neil Reece, 25, B:R, T:R (.357, 13 HR, 60 RBI | .329, 17 HR, 95 RBI) – blew everybody away last season, going from fifth outfielder to third place in the batting title race; was it a once-in-a-lifetime season or can he come up with such heroics again? His awesome defense is certainly no reason not to play him..
LF/RF/1B Bobby Quinn, 27, B:R, T:R (.302, 10 HR, 80 RBI | .284, 25 HR, 200 RBI) – has been a great pickup on waivers in ’89, and combines quite a bit of everything in average, power, defense, and speed.
CF/RF/LF Glenn Johnston, 25, B:L, T:R (.279, 2 HR, 29 RBI | .288, 15 HR, 157 RBI) – very complete player, almost like a younger Daniel Hall, but with great defense in all three outfield positions and less home run power; lost his CF starting spot to Reece last season, but should get ample playing time at least against right-handed starters, spelling the three starters.
LF/CF/RF Jeff Martin, 25, B:L, T:R (.257, 1 HR, 7 RBI | .269, 7 HR, 66 RBI) – only appeared as backup last season, spending most of the year in the minors; will have a hard time again this year as fifth outfielder.

On disabled list: Nobody

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody

Other roster movement: None

Opening day lineups:
Vs. RHP: CF Reece – SS Salazar – LF Hall – 1B Osanai – RF Quinn – 2B Higgins – C Vinson – 3B O’Morrissey – P Saito
Vs. LHP: CF Reece – 3B O’Morrissey – LF Hall – 1B Osanai – RF Quinn – 2B Higgins – SS Salazar – C Vinson – P Saito

We gained 2.0 WAR this off season and rank 7th in the ABL.

Top 5: Warriors (+9.8), Wolves (+9.5), Scorpions (+4.4), Condors (+3.5), Aces (+3.4)
Bottom 5: Knights (-7.3), Loggers (-8.6), Canadiens (-9.5), Titans (-10.1), Rebels (-10.2)

PREDICTION TIME:

Last year, I predicted a 94-68 season if we stayed injury-free, and we finished 96-66 despite injuries. This was done mostly on pitching, and you can’t count on getting such awesome hurling every year. This year, the offense has to come around again. With a serious downgrade on Tetsu Osanai’s scouting report, and the fact that we didn’t even manage to play properly in our own power-friendly park last season, spell more trouble at the plate this season.

Meanwhile, the key personnel that went to the World Series to be obliterated by the 113-49 Capitals is still here, and has been improved in a spot or two. Our infield backups are very weak however, and will remain at the focus for improvements.

Still, with the Canadiens and Titans losing feathers, the Loggers and Crusaders hampered by shoestring budgets, and the Indians still lacking any meaningful slugger beyond Raul Vazquez, the goal can only be the division title again. Something in the 95-wins vicinity should be attainable. After that, it is everybody’s guess, and if the Capitals keep going, they could be locked in for more titles and lay down the first three-peat in the ABL.

The Raccoons will repeat their 96-66 season from last year and rematch the Bayhawks in the CLCS. From there? I don’t know.

Player development:

Our system dropped from 3rd place to 14th last season for us draining out a few players, who were no longer eligible then (although only Neil Reece became stuck in the majors). This year, there is a huge bounce back to 4th place!

Last year, we had five players in the Top 100, one of which is no longer eligible (Matt Brown), and six more in the Top 200, with two of those being no longer eligible (Miguel Lopez, Daniel Miller). Only ten players are ranked this year, but among those are three in the Top 20.

9th (+38) – AA SP Antonio Donis, 19 – 1990 third round pick by the Raccoons
14th (+14) – AAA OF Vern Kinnear, 23 – international discovery by Nathan Bruce
17th (+36) – AAA CL Gabriel De La Rosa, 21 – 1989 supplemental round pick by the Raccoons
66th – A SS Conceicao Guerin, 18 – international discovery by Vicente Guerra
81st (-22) – AAA MR Tony Vela, 21 – international discovery by Charles Hutchinson
150th (+41) – AAA SP Eduardo Salazar, 25 – 1989 first round pick by the Raccoons
152nd – AAA LF Chih-tui Jin, 22 – 1988 fifth round pick by the Raccoons
156th (-25) – AAA SP Jose Rivera, 19 – international discovery by the Condors, acquired in 1989 for Stephen Hall
159th – A LF/RF Kevin Savary, 18 – international discovery by Wolves, released, signed in 1992 by the Raccoons
199th – AAA 1B Esteban Baldivia, 23 – international free agent signing

The Stars’ C Rob James, 4th overall pick in 1990, is the #1 ranked prospect in the sport.

Next: first pitch!