[Westheim]

February 4 – 32-yr old Vicente Rúbio (54-54, 2.42 ERA, 218 SV), the Aces’ former closer, inks for 3-yr, $2.28M with the Rebels.
February 7 – The Rebels also add ex-Coon SP Robert Vázquez (136-87, 3.10 ERA), signing him for 2-yr, $1.13M. The Raccoons receive a supplemental round pick.
February 7 – Veteran SP Manuel Garza (113-111, 3.69 ERA) is headed to Cincy, with the Cyclones giving him $1.68M over two years.
February 7 – The Blue Sox take on OF Jesus Arias (.247, 128 HR, 577 RBI) for 2-yr, $1.13M. Arias is a former Warrior.
February 10 – The Raccoons flip AAA INF Ben Nash (.083 in 12 AB) to the Crusaders for 22-year old SP/MR Iván Costa (1-1, 6.91 ERA in 3 G).
February 10 – The Warriors add a new closer in Ricardo Medina (52-54, 2.65 ERA, 241 SV) on a 2-yr, $1.02M contract. Medina spent the last year with Salem.
February 13 – 36-yr old CF/LF Xiao-wei Li (.285, 43 HR, 741 RBI) returns to the Miners, for whom he played 1985-1987, on a 3-yr, $2.6M deal.
February 13 – At age 27, ex-VAN INF/LF Raúl Solís (.276, 90 HR, 446 RBI) signs a 6-yr, $5.5M contract with the Buffaloes.
February 16 – 30-yr old CL Juan Gomez (22-29, 2.88 ERA, 96 SV) gets a 3-yr, $1.56M contract from the Falcons after spending his career with their rivals, the Knights.
February 21 – The Falcons sign ex-POR CL Mike Dye (66-91, 3.17 ERA, 414 SV) to a 1-yr, $201k deal. The Raccoons receive a supplemental round pick.
February 22 – The always injury-prone SP Glenn Ryan (69-77, 4.51 ERA), a former Knight, ends up in Vancouver, getting a 1-yr, $307k contract.
February 28 – Ex-PIT INF Pedro Hernandez (.277, 52 HR, 531 RBI) signs with the Bayhawks. The 31-year old receives a 3-yr, $1.83M contract.
March 4 – The Thunder flip SP Raimundo Beato (147-133, 3.68 ERA) and a prospect to the Aces for OF Lucio Hernandez (.312, 87 HR, 615 RBI).
March 17 – The Crusaders nip 28-yr old Larry Wilson (.278, 21 HR, 304 RBI), who plays every position but catcher, for 3-yr, $1.434M. Looks like overpaying.

Solís is one of those players you are glad when they are out of your division. I am pretty sure half his home runs came off Kisho Saito over the years.

In turn, while we had some bad luck with our compensation eligible free agents being left over in recent years, both were signed this time, Vázquez by the Rebels on February 7, and Mike Dye on February 21 by the Falcons.

Jackie Lagarde and Bobby Quinn were unsigned as of the end of February. Both were asking for $1.5M total contract values, Lagarde over four, Quinn over TWO years. Of course they were not going to get that. Lagarde would have gotten MORE only one year earlier, but his 1995 was hellacious, and Bobby Quinn ain’t worth three quarters of a million per season.

The Canadiens have been bled dry by free agency this year, losing their best two SP’s in McCray and Ramos, perhaps their best position player in Solís, and a few other pieces. They managed to sign very little in return. Can’t say I’m crying.

But the Canadiens eventually picked up Jackie Lagarde, for 3-yr, $724k. Sounds fair. Now I fully expect him to return to form and soil us for three years. Good for him, not so for us? Quinn would sign with the Titans in late March for $366k for one year.

Meanwhile I was still searching for a right-handed reliever. I waited all of February on Nesto Martinez to come around and to Portland, but there was a whole slew of West Coast teams in the mix and he all played one against each other and I dropped out when he refused to sign for $642k over two years (he signed with the Pacifics in early March). I then went forward to Holden Gorman, who spent quite a few years of his 10-year career with the Titans and the Canadiens. He is not setup material, but we need somebody for the 6th/7th, too. However, Gorman also was a virgin with many suitors and knew how to drive up the prize and we dropped out on March 19 at $240k.

I gave up looking there. In a way, I conceded defeat before the first pitch of the year. Day Grandridge was given the final roster spot, and we would come to regret it doubtlessly.