[Westheim]

There was – despite all the injuries – something very attractive about Daniel Dickerson. Maud attested him to a have a wonderful butt in those uniform pants, while I was a bit more into his pitch arsenal and stats.

Although … that IS a very nice apple shape …! My!

Well, back to ERA’s and … things. Entering the offseason, and with their inability to achieve a meaningful trade with a suffering team for a first-line starter, the Raccoons had the choice between a select few starting pitchers that were free agents.

One of those was William Raven, the Thunder’s 29-year old right-hander, who might be overlooked by the competition, because the Thunder used him as a swingman so regularly. He made 11 relief appearances between the last two seasons, but also made 55 starts, and overall went 26-12 with a 3.54 ERA. His stuff is not too overwhelming and he had yet to reach 120 strikeouts in a season. In turn, since a few wild years with the Rebels in the late 2000’s, he had gotten better with the control and wasn’t walking too many. He was also a groundball pitcher, but he also had not too much stamina, comparable with Hector Santos perhaps. So there were drawbacks to Raven.

Then there was Toshiro Uenohara, a 33-year old former Blue Sock. Good news, he had cracked 120 strikeouts a number of times in his career. The bad news, he never had beaten 130. He was also a groundballer with a 94mph fastball (Raven’s was 92), and a splitter/curve combo, plus a slider that was more of a desperate measure than anything else. He was very similar to Raven in many aspects, including similar walk numbers, but his ERA’s in recent years had been much higher, with a 5.26 ERA mark in ’09 and 4’s in the following two years. How much of those was to blame on the Blue Sox’ BABIP’s they subjected him to in those years (.340, .330, .312 in order), was anybody’s guess, but he was really not prone to home runs, allowing 15 home runs TOTAL in the last three years. Bad news: his stamina was no greater than Raven’s, maybe even a bit lower.

So, Dickerson, huh? Mr. Applecheeks was 35, right-handed, and was also allowing few home runs and his K/BB was usually around 3.5, but it was 4.5 in ’12, although he hadn’t beaten 150 K in five years (although: injuries…). All those injuries had made his arm a bit dull, but he had a phenomenal sinker (better than Nick Brown’s, but it wasn’t Brownie’s primary pitch, who also had a mostly straight fireball which was what most of his home runs came from; it was Dickerson’s primary, though) and could generate a massive amount of groundballs. He could strike a fly in the eye with utmost precision, but the secondary stuff had suffered greatly over the years, as his arm was held together mostly my surgery scarring, and he was perhaps best described as a 2.5-pitch pitcher with a good changeup, a so-so slider, and a curve that was out of his control by now. No stamina problems though, at least until his next DL stint. He was the ONE pitcher whom you trusted with suffering a torn windpipe while winding up for a pitch…

There was a fourth interesting right-hander available, 31-year old Jim Pennington, also a former Blue Sock. He had also been victimized by the Blue Sox defense the last three years since arriving there from Las Vegas (where the situation had hardly been better), and was mostly putting up consistent year-to-year numbers, which unfortunately included a K/BB barely exceeding 2.

All of those four, except for Raven, were type A free agents. Raven was not eligible for compensation. Technically, there was also Ralph Ford on the market, who certainly still had very good stuff at 35, but was also still prone to juice balls that ended up crashed to the next county, plus command issues, and I wasn’t willing to run out four left-handed starters, to be honest.

Bwah, decisions!

Going for a right-handed outfield bat was no pleasure, either. Well, there were candidates available of course, but I was looking for a real home run threat, and things were … complicated.

For example, I really like Mike Bednarski of the Aces (and he likes our pitchers a lot…), but the Aces were so poor and so strapped for money, they couldn’t even afford the most basic castoffs on the Raccoons’ roster, even when trading Bednarski’s (not huge) contract. I also tried to trade for the Aces’ right-handed reliever Zack Entwistle, but even that deal fell through. They weren’t happy with Matt Pruitt, or with Keith Ayers (well, who would be happy with Keith Ayers?), and they just wouldn’t greenlight such a trade. The Condors had Ryan Feldmann, who was less of a raw power guy, but the Condors were just as broken as the Aces and no trade was forthcoming.

Of course, trades would be possible with those teams for any of the players mentioned. IF the Raccoons were willing to part with one of: Ricardo Carmona, Sandy Sambrano, Hector Santos, maybe Rich Hood. Our recent acquisition Jonathan Toner also had the Aces interested, but that was not a deal I was looking forward to do.

The Titans were interested in Jason Seeley in a trade for Toki Hayashi, who was not much of a glove man, but had drilled 27 homers in ’12, and the Raccoons hadn’t beaten 22 in three years. My home run obsession might be a bit of a problem, but I have reason, I claim. We are lined up to have THREE high-OBP guys atop the order in ’13. Carmona, Sambrano, Yoshi. That’s three guys who either have achieved a .390 OBP or are totally expected to it in their first full season. But we need someone to drive them in behind them. Adrian Quebell is doing what he does, mixing double plays and home runs at a 1:1 ratio more or less, and then we’re down to Dylan Alexander, who was really streaky in 2012 with two hot months in the summer, but little in the four other months. Another home run bat in the third outfield slot is needed, with Palmer and Merritt, whoever that may be, to round out the bottom of the order.

… unless we shake things up and trade Michael Palmer along with Tom McNeela to the Titans for Toki Hayashi. They would actually do that. Lacking a replacement shortstop (Dave Roudabush sure ain’t it!), however, we have to consider the market. Oh look, Rob Howell is available!

There were actually a lot of ex-Raccoons available. Vic Flores was on the market as was Kuni Sato, but both were in their mid-30s, and mid-30s shortstops don’t mix well with my chronic depressions.

Let me see the Aces once more. They also want a centerfielder. They really want prospects, I hear. Can we somehow…?

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November 23 – The Raccoons strike a deal with the Aces, acquiring 26-year old RF/LF Mike Bednarski (.278, 56 HR, 244 RBI) for 22-yr old AAA OF Mike Cook.
November 23 – The Thunder sign 36-yr old ex-CIN RF/LF/1B Will Bailey (.328, 308 HR, 1,397 RBI) for 3-yr, $8.52M.
November 23 – Meanwhile the Thunder’s former closer Arturo Lopez (35-41, 2.45 ERA, 221 SV) hooks up with the Warriors for 3-yr, $4.32M.
November 26 – The Cyclones add ex-LAP CL Francisco Rodriguez (63-61, 2.71 ERA, 213 SV). The 32-year old lefty will make $4.02M over three years.
November 27 – Next addition for the Warriors, who spend $5.28M over two years on 35-year old ex-IND C Jose Paraz (.269, 232 HR, 889 RBI).
November 27 – After Arturo Lopez went north, ex-SFW INF Oliver Torres (.313, 36 HR, 611 RBI) goes south. The 35-year old signs a 2-yr, $5.68M contract with the Thunder.
November 30 – The Blue Sox sign ex-MIL INF Antonio Luján (.267, 84 HR, 625 RBI) to a 2-yr, $3.04M deal.
December 1 – Ex-BOS MR Chikara “Dodo” Iwase (34-23, 2.76 ERA, 64 SV), who comes with type A compensation attached, signs a 2-yr, $1.46M deal with the Capitals.
December 1 – Rule 5 draft: nine players are selected. The Raccoons are not affected.
December 2 – The Crusaders restack their bullpen with the addition of ex-SAC CL Johnny Smith (73-58, 2.19 ERA, 425 SV) for 3-yr, $1.42M.
December 3 – The Loggers spend most of their money on 31-yr old ex-NAS SP Jim Pennington (90-106, 4.31 ERA), agreeing to pay him $9.1M over five years.
December 3 – The Stars sign ex-NAS SP Ralph Ford (144-169, 4.04 ERA) for 2-yr, $2.36M.
December 3 – Meanwhile the Pacifics find a closer replacement and sign 34-yr old Jeff Paul (55-43, 2.69 ERA, 101 SV) for 3-yr, $3.3M. Paul was with the Capitals the last two years.

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There was one unprotected right-handed reliever in the rule 5 draft that I was perhaps interested in, the Warriors’ Steve Rob, but the Blue Sox picked him before the Raccoons had a chance to even do so.

For the Blue Sox, the 2013 Amateur Draft will be the kind of draft that can rebuild a franchise. They have a protected first round pick, and FOUR type A free agents. Ford and Pennington have already signed, giving them the #22 pick by the Stars, and the first pick in the second round the Loggers held, plus two supplemental round picks. When the Raccoons had six combined first round picks (incl. supplemental round picks) in 1998, they drafted a bucket half full of water, a box with old people’s nail clippings, a pile of bile, a blunt fruit knife, a pack of broken bathroom tiles, and an endless chewing gum with rhubarb flavor. The first one is Chris Roberson, a semi-serviceable outfielder if your expectations happen be really low who’s still around somewhere, I guess*, and the last one is Sergio Vega, who will probably still be in St. Petersburg by the time he’s 50.

Whenever the Warriors’ closer du jour is the topic of some conversation or other, I get a bit nostalgic. That’s where Dan Nordahl went, who just couldn’t close games in Portland, but did so very well in Sioux Falls (must be the hostile media…), and they also signed Andres Ramirez, the Hall of Famer closer, who did the biggest chunk of his grisly work (770 SV!) for them. Ramirez was “the other guy” when the Raccoons had to make their choice for their first ever draft pick, besides “Dan The Man” Hall.

How much I would love to be engulfed in flames of love for an outfielder again. Hall, then Neil Reece, then I was into Royce Green hard for a bit before a grisly shoulder injury and our shrinking pockets removed him from the roster, and there were brief flickers for Duke Smack and for Ron Alston, before they unraveled and betrayed us, respectively. They don’t count. Hall, Reece, who’s the next one?

It won’t be Mike Cook, that’s for sure.

The ceiling of Cook (who was one of four prospects sent back by the Capitals for Jose Morales last year) is as of yet undetermined, but might be “high”. He has a power stroke, but he also hasn’t hit for much average above the A-level, with A LOT of strikeouts. Bednarski only has three seasons in the majors under his belt, and was a regular only for the last two, but in those he stayed under 100 K/year while smacking 48 homers and running an OPS of almost .810. He has a murder throwing arm, making him ultimately suited for rightfield, which fits well with Carmona and Sambrano. The only thing he really doesn’t have is speed, and also range. There will be doubles past his tiny glove, and lots of them. Batting him behind Quebell might make him the most dangerous #5 hitter in the league. (Don’t understate the abilities of B.J. Manfull! Don’t tease him!)

Bednarski will make $650k this year and is under team control through 2014 only with three years and three days of service time. (hmpf!)

Then it wasn’t even rule 5 draft day, and we were already better than before!

The next day Craig Bowen was hospitalized after getting involved in a mugging on the streets of Portland, but the offseason would be long enough to heal out that quad strain…

Funny bit: the Warriors and Thunder have now exchanged the #21 pick twice. It went from the Warriors to the Thunder when the former signed Arturo Lopez, but was forfeited back to the Warriors when the Thunder signed Oliver Torres.

The Raccoons have offers out there and are currently about to lose their #19 pick to the Thunder.

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*728 career hits, and the 139 he had for the ’02 Coons a lonely record; he had three hits in nine games for the Miners in ’12 and for reasons unknown was not on the postseason roster.