[Westheim]

Final note #1: Kenichi Watanabe was a surprise Rookie of the Month in September, pitching to a 4-1 record and 1.50 ERA, with only 13 strikeouts in 30 innings.

Final note #2: The Raccoons had the fewest people at the park since 1981.

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In 2004, the Raccoons had the second-smallest budget ($19.6M) and payroll ($13.8M), both ahead of the Pacifics, while the most affluent teams had a bit over $30M available, with the Buffaloes leading the ABL with $32M.

There have been more words written about the Mexican Prick’s indifference towards the team he inherited from not always easy, but always interested Carlos Valdes than the poor Critters have dollars in their piggy bank, and the point is ultimately moot, since we can’t get rid of him, unless we finally start costing him money, which we can’t unless nobody comes to the park at all anymore. That might take a while, since what else is there to do in Portland all summer long?

However, there is cat puke on your carpet, and there is cat puke in your bed. It’s all awful, but to different degrees.

And the Mexican Prick puked right into my bed. The budget for 2005 has been slashed to $18.2M, $1.4M less than last season, and the smallest budget in the ABL – by far.

At the same time we are supposed to sign a top player, according to the Prick. And with what? Am I supposed to stand on the side of the freeway in high heels and a pink purse to earn the money for that???

And my landlady keeps asking me why I’m crying and screaming all night long, for now 28 years. Dear old Estelle doesn’t get it. She doesn’t follow baseball. Or much of anything except for reruns of The Price is Right.

…

2004 AWARDS
Pitchers of the Year: TOP Tony Hamlyn (21-7, 1.85 ERA) and BOS Jorge Chapa (23-7, 2.14 ERA)
Batters of the Year: WAS OF John Alexander (.330, 31 HR, 123 RBI) and BOS LF/RF Gonzalo Munoz (.342, 25 HR, 118 RBI)
Rookies of the Year: CIN INF Marcos Garza (.316, 10 HR, 61 RBI) and TIJ CF Ramón Perez (.241, 12 HR, 61 RBI)
Relievers of the Year: DEN Scott Hood (5-3, 1.31 ERA, 44 SV) and IND Iemitsu Rin (2-1, 0.80 ERA, 42 SV)
Gold Gloves (FL): P WAS Steve Rogers, C RIC Rob James, 1B NAS Cesar Gonzalez, 2B DAL Hector Garcia, 3B SAC Sonny Reece, SS DEN Armando Rodriguez, LF NAS Alex Samuels, CF DAL Cesar Morán, RF TOP Javier Gusmán
Gold Gloves (CL): P VAN Juichi Fujita, C MIL Ruben Melendez, 1B OCT Luis Soto, 2B MIL Bartolo Hernandez, 3B TIJ Nelson Chavez, SS SFB Juan Barrón, LF NYC Martin Ortíz, CF LVA Carlos Talamante, RF OCT Alberto Flores
Platinum Sticks (FL): P WAS Steve Rogers, C DAL Rafael Garza, 1B WAS Jose Lopez, 2B TOP Georg Spinu, 3B SAC Sonny Reece, SS SAL Dave Hutchinson, LF WAS Victorino Sanchez, CF WAS John Alexander, RF DEN Pedro Pujóls
Platinum Sticks (CL): P CHA Miguel Diaz, C IND Jose Paraz, 1B BOS Masaaki Matsumoto, 2B BOS Mark Austin, 3B OCT Takahashi Higashi, SS ATL Antonio Luján, LF IND Ron Alston, CF BOS Rudy Garrison, RF BOS Gonzalo Munoz

…

Every offseason, no matter how depressing, starts with a look at free agents and salary arbitration.

The following players are headed for arbitration (with stats, 2004 salary, 2005 estimate, service time in y.ddd):
SP Nick Brown (20-7, 2.84 ERA, 240 K) - $440k - $787k – 4.046
MR Ricardo Huerta (6-2, 3.30 ERA in 76.1 IP) - $260k - $290k – 5.091
MR Manuel Martinez (1-2, 2.29 ERA in 51 IP) - $260k - $290k – 5.011
MR Dan Nordahl (4-2, 4.44 ERA in 77 IP) - $250k - §280k – 5.008
MR Dave Williams (2-1, 3.54 ERA in 48.1 IP) - $150k - $230k – 3.049
CL Marcos Bruno (3-5, 3.09 ERA, 29 SV in 58.1 IP) - $220k - $290k – 4.000
C Gary Fifield (.148/.179/.296, 1 HR, 2 RBI in 27 AB) - $230k - $260k – 3.109
C Freddy Rosa (.219/.307/.367, 9 HR, 29 RBI in 256 AB) - $150k - $230k – 2.146
C Mark Thomas (.216/.271/.289, 0 HR, 19 RBI in 232 AB) - $250k - $280k – 3.157
OF Matt King (.268/.317/.343, 0 HR, 24 RBI in 321 AB) - $150k - $230k – 2.144

The following four players figure to be free agents:
SP Dan Barnes (0-1, 3.86 ERA) - $150k
INF Pat Chandler (.167/.333/.167, 0 HR, 0 RBI) - $150k
INF Marvin Ingall (.266/.339/.351, 5 HR, 50 RBI) - $300k
LF Neil Reece (.276/.341/.341, 2 HR, 40 RBI) - $1.4M

Our budget cut amounts exactly to Neil Reece’s salary, so I suspect that the Prick figures that he used to bring us joy and therefore he must go in any case. What an asshole.

But in all sincerity, Neil Reece is done. At 38, he has nothing left, he can’t field, he won’t anything other than singles, and we can’t possibly pay for another year of him slapping singles whenever he’s not hurt. Of course he will not make it to 2,000 hits, but has anybody ever expected the baseball gods to allow that feat to happen? Perhaps some other team will take him on. I doubt it.

We will also severe the ties with Marv now. He is 36, and while he has been a great second baseman whenever not blocked by David Brewer or Jesus Palacios, we have a shiny new toy in Yoshi Nomura, who is supposed to take over at second. Whether Yoshi will be able to avoid drowning over a full season we don’t know, but we gotta find out. At the very least, Yoshi knows how to reach base. Nobody expects home runs from him. Unfortunately he’s slow as a snail, but so has Ingall been.

Nobody ever needed Barnes and Chandler.

Well. We need those pitchers to stay, and will have to see how cheap we can get with them. We don’t know what will be left of Eddie Torrez after he had to get his head and neck realigned with the concussion, so Matt King has to be kept aboard for he is the only defensive centerfield option that won’t make the pitchers revolt. Those catchers, however. How about a clean cut?

While we will of course make offers to them, we will be looking into a trade for one of the right-handed relievers, probably either Martinez or Nordahl. Huerta is a good long man option and pitches 380 innings every year, more or less, and Bruno won’t go anywhere, but of course we have to fit Angel Casas somewhere, and there are more guys in AAA, or even on the expanded roster like Law Rockburn.

You know, we gotta save money, as usual. If we have Rockburn, why bother with Nordahl, especially since Nordahl is prone to give up home runs at the slightest provocation.

In the early days of October, we signed a few of the players to 1-year deals to circumvent arbitration. Dave Williams signed for $225k. Matt King and Marcos Bruno were both offered multi-year deals, but refused. King signed for $230k for one year, Bruno for $300k. Ricardo Huerta refused a multi-year deal and also demanded too much for one year. We did however avoid arbitration with Brownie.

The last week before arbitration hearings I was looking for an excuse to keep Neil Reece around as pinch-hitter and part of a platoon in leftfield. Whom do we have? We have Torrez and his backup King in center. Those aren’t going anywhere. Clyde Brady and his guide dog aren’t going anywhere. And then? Beairsto is not only a free swinger; he creates so much wind he could get a job as a propeller. Tyler and Rodriguez were thoroughly unthrilling. You might find Rodriguez on the roster, but Darwin Tyler might become extinct rather than evolving into a big league player…

Is there room for a right-hander? Or would we rather have something come in in a trade? Reece is old, he can’t field anymore. We might be able to sneak him in for a few games at first base, against left-handers.

…

October 4 – CHA OF Jose Ramirez (.256, 7 HR, 41 RBI) has suffered a torn labrum and is expected to miss about two months at the start of the 2005 season.
November 1 – The Canadiens acquire 37-year old RF/LF Vonne Calzado (.334, 134 HR, 1,151 RBI) from the Miners in exchange for 26-year old OF Tom Wilson (.256, 12 HR, 120 RBI) and a minor leaguer.
November 6 – The Raccoons announce a contract extension with 26-year old SP Nick Brown (41-34, 3.15 ERA, 725 K) over five years, buying out Brown’s remaining two years of arbitration and three years of free agency. Brown will receive a staggered total of $7,000,000 for his services.
November 8 – The Loggers trade LF/RF Dave Graham (.305, 10 HR, 58 RBI) to the Warriors for MR Alan Crowley (8-3, 2.36 ERA, 2 SV).

…

The Brown contract starts at $900k this season, but escalates up to $1.75M in 2009. That’s still not TOO much if he maintains this level for the next five years. At least we can stop bothering about our #1 slot in the rotation for a while.

In late October we had a deal lined up with the Knights for catchers Ricardo Valadez and AA Dan Booth. Valadez is better than anything we have had since Vinson’s sophomore year, and Booth appears on a good way even though he was slow to develop initially. We would have sent Kenichi Watanabe and AAA 1B Alejandro Rojas. We were about done with it, and then I called it off.

Watanabe looks terribly uninspiring on the mound. He walks almost as many as he strikes out. His control is good, but he’s absolutely no Scott Wade. Also, he has poor stamina. He is REALLY no Scott Wade. But past our #1 starter, results have been mixed last season (and a few seasons before that). We will get the Fat Cat back for next season, and we still have Brownie and Garcia under team control, and Farley and Ford signed through ’05 and ’06, respectively. That is already five, but three of them are in constant risk to be shot. Watanabe has options and can be stashed away at AAA if nothing else, and the number of promising SP prospects we have is zero. Watanabe is 28, he won’t get any better, but he doesn’t have to be traded for yet another catcher who comes in and doesn’t do squid, but hits walkoff homers as soon as he’s traded for a pair of used shoes.

It’s going to be one of those Manuel Movonda things, and I will kick myself forever.

…

It’s November 9. We are not yet at arbitration because I am flaying the flesh of my skin over Neil Reece.