[Westheim]

November 9. We are broken.

The fact that Salazar liked it so much here in Portland – I should switch shortstops more often – has blown our budget all around. Even by the most generous calculation and not signing anybody and not taking any salary on in trades, we are now over $300k overbudget. And this comes with the following things missing:

• Right-handed 6th/7th inning reliever
• Left-handed situational reliever
• Starting outfielder (RF), preferrably left-handed batter
• Backup outfielder (must be CF), preferrably right-handed batter

In this I assume the following guys being on the 25-man roster come April:

SP: Saito, Lopez, Wade, Donis, Rivera
RP: Ban, De La Rosa, Otero, Miller, Santana (2 left)
C: Vinson, Kondo
IF: Wedemeyer, O’Morrissey, Salazar, Brewer, Ingall, Higgins (no room for Guerin)
OF: Kinnear, Reece, Newton (2 left)

There are really two areas where everything is set, and that is starting pitching and the catchers. We won’t even go into discussing those. Let’s start looking at in-house solutions for the bullpen then.

There is still Cesar Salcido around. He is a candidate for the lefty specialist job (with Burnett gone, I expect Santana to handle the 7th/8th inning duties from the left side). Last year, as a callup, he failed, walking 16 batters in 16.1 innings pitched. He also walked about 4.5 per nine in AAA. That was his worst season for control at ages 24/25. We can not put up with a 9 BB/9 guy in our bullpen. We are still shooting for a division title. We can’t allow somebody to walk a batter every inning.

What else do we got? We have two left-handers in AAA in 23-year old Fred Carlton and 25-year old Kokei Kondo (no relation to Nori Kondo), who have the same walk numbers as Salcido had. Kondo lacks stuff, too, so the only sensible option to even consider would be Carlton, who was promoted to AAA early in the 1996 season, posted a 1.11 WHIP and 2.13 ERA in 12 IP at AA Ham Lake, but those numbers rocketed to 1.53 WHIP and 4.47 ERA in 44 IP in AAA St. Petersburg. All the red lights are on. We may still better off with Salcido.

Let’s look at right-handers. At AAA, there is still Day Grandridge, who was dismal on the ’95 Coons and last year in St. Pete. The only semi-decent option would be 26-year old Edgar Matthews, a former 11th-round draft pick. He had a 2.95 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in AAA last year. Since Grandridge has sucked for two straight years, Matthews may be the first choice.

In the infield, we have the issue that there is no place for Conceicao Guerin, who was pencilled in as starter at shortstop whenever Marvin Ingall wouldn’t be playing there (be it for rest or subbing elsewhere on the infield). That won’t happen, since we have Salazar here for another year (and I could kick myself for greeding those compensation picks), unless we can move either Salazar or Higgins, both of which have 10/5 rights.

So it more looks like Weeds – Brewer – Salazar or Ingall – O-Mo again on the infield, from first to third. In other words, like last year, just for more money. Our six infielders (excluding Guerin) are slated to carry home $4,259,000 alone! (For comparison, our rotation will cost us $1,962,000 only, and Kisho Saito will make a clean million alone)

Which leads us to the third are where there is mess, the outfield. Coming out of the expanded roster of September, we still have five outfielders on the roster. These include Vern Kinnear and Neil Reece, who are set for playing left and center every day (more or less). Royce Green would be the rightfielder, but he will labor on his labrum until July or August, and shall not be included in these considerations at all. The other three are Stephen Buell, Luke Newton, and Joe Lacombe.

Short words about our two surviving studs. Kinnear is 27, .265/.363/.431 with 61 HR, 334 RBI and 13.0 WAR for his career. Neil Reece is 30, .319/.376/.466 with 95 HR, 464 RBI and 36.7 WAR for his career (and he didn’t become a regular until 1991). Kinnear has two Gloves, Reece has one. Neither plays right field above beer league level.

So, what do the other three guys bring to the table. Lacombe, 28, was a scrap heap signing last season and only played very rarely. He only got 24 AB. He had an .874 OPS in St. Pete. His big league numbers are stemming from 105 total at-bats: .257/.355/.390 with 1 HR, 10 RBI and 0.4 WAR. His biggest asset is that he fields all three outfield positions very competently. That is not a lot of praise.

Luke Newton has very good defense all around the wide open areas. He played in a backup role, with a bit more exposure late last season once Royce Green went down, both of the last two seasons. The 25-year old Canadian has only 346 career AB. Career numbers at the plate are poor: .240/.330/.327 with 2 HR, 33 RBI and -0.1 WAR. He has more defensive upside, but also more offensive potential than Lacombe. Both will play for the minimum.

And there is Stephen Buell. The 21-year old, also from Canada, was an international signing in 1992. He progressed through our system at a quick pace, and made his debut last season. He has the highest offensive ceiling of all three players, plus speed on the base paths and good range in the outfield. His career numbers at the plate are the most limited, with only 97 AB in 1996: .299/.397/.454 with 1 HR, 11 RBI and 1.1 WAR.

The fatal flaw is the mesh of bones and flesh dangling from Buell’s right shoulder. His throwing arm is very weak. It renders him mostly useless at any position other than left field. And we have a 2-time Gold Glover in left field that is not going anywhere. We would have to put Buell in right. He is scouted a 6 (out of 20) there. You can do A LOT better.

Lacombe bats left-handed, Buell right-handed, and Newton is a switch-hitter.

What is going on at AAA in terms of outfielders? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We don’t need to discuss that area. All guys that are still there had terrible seasons (or a string of such). Kevin Savary, whose name has been thrown around for a few years, batted .181 and was hurt all the time. He was about the best of the bunch.

You would probably get a nice haul by trading Vern Kinnear, getting a good player plus maybe a prospect in return. Then Buell could play left. But this ain’t gonna happen, or it will only happen once my body is cold and dead. Kinnear STAYS. So does Reece. There’s gotta be a way to make this work without trading either.

By the way, Salazar is going to invoke his 10/5 rights on any deal, it seems. Matt Higgins may be moved. That would open a spot for Guerin and remove $234k from the books (still not breaking even though). By the way when I say we are $300k to $400k overbudget, this means we are with 34 players on the secondary roster. We have yet to get past the rule 5 draft. There are at least two, more likely four players I need to protect, instantly shooting us to somewhere around $700k of budgetary deficit. I am not the U.S., I can’t mint my own money.

Do we have to trade David Brewer? (dramatic music)