[Westheim]

On November 15, 1996, the Raccoons and Matt Higgins parted ways after eight and a half seasons.

I shopped Higgins around, and there were only two teams that showed interest, the Rebels and the Gold Sox. The Rebels actually had a few interesting players they were willing to send over. With an apparent surplus on pitching, they threw in a pair of starters they had pencilled in for relief roles for next season, but offered both of them: 21-yr old Junior Diaz and 31-yr old Jose Ramos. Both were well suited for either role, and both were right-handers. Normally, I would go for the young gun, but Diaz had unsolved control issues, while Ramos (49-39, 4.49 ERA in 122 G / 109 GS) would instantly solve a second issue with our roster, that of the missing right-handed reliever. He was also cheaper than Higgins, and we were going to save (a paltry) $70k with the deal.

That was not enough for me and I managed to smuggle failed prospect Kevin Savary into the deal, in return getting 19-year old A level outfielder Julio Escalante, saving more money, since Savary was on the 40-man roster and was going to make the $106k minimum.

Ramos can also pitch in long relief, or in other words, every fifth day when Antonio Donis has exhausted his 80 effective pitches in four innings.

With Higgins, there goes the franchise leader in stolen bases with 220 bags pilfered. He is also 18th all time in the ABL.