[Westheim]

Rin Nomura was very open to sign an extension while his arm was still oozing from surgery. To be precise, he sought a 6-year contract. And while his terms were friendly for the Raccoons, he was two days removed from having his elbow scratched out and cleaned of debris and puss, and that was not always something players seamlessly came back from. The Raccoons could not agree to a 6-year contract under those circumstances.

Dan Delgadillo meanwhile did not seek a 6-year deal, but was content driving me nuts with a demand for $2.5M for 2029. If he got that contract, he would tie Rich Hereford for the second-highest salary in 2029, behind only Mark Roberts. Did his output merit that? Surely not, but get that into a temperamental Cuban’s head, however old he is…

In the end we signed 1-year deals with both to stave off arbitration. Nomura signed for $1.1M, while Delgadillo would pocket $2.15M without much in terms of justification, but that is what the world had come to … less reward for more effort… back then, in my days, there would have … (rabbles on incoherently)

… (sigh)

That left Tim Stalker to have a painful talk with. Tim by now was convinced that he was worth 8-yr, $27M, which made me weep inside. That was not a contract the Raccoons could agree to here. And I probably wasn’t going to get him to sign a 5-yr, $10M deal, either. There was A LOT of gap to cover here…

+++

October 21 – The Condors trade LF/RF/INF Tom Fitzsimmons (.307, 10 HR, 100 RBI) to the Falcons for OF Juan Camps (.273, 10 HR, 63 RBI).

+++

In early November, the Raccoons and Tim Stalker actually announced a contract extension …! Stalker would make $17M over six years as part of the deal, including $2.8M in 2029, then $3M for the next two seasons before the contract value would slowly recede to $2.6M in 2034. That last year was a player option.

Yes, we had to make plenty of concessions here, but it was the only way to keep Stalker around, and even then there was plenty of growling and hissing and we came close to burying our fangs in each other’s necks during negotiations …

But that’s it, the Raccoons keep all the hurting parts of their lineup together for not just one, but actually two more seasons. They were all signed through 2030 at least; Tim Stalker through 2034 (obviously), Hereford and Tovias through 2031 (yes, Elias counts for this purpose, too); and Harenberg, Gomez, and Mora through 2030; in addition to that, Alberto Ramos is under team control through 2031.

With Stalker staying, he will continue to pair with Ramos up the middle. Rich Hereford would swing back and forth between third base and leftfield … or maybe not. Matt Nunley would share time with *somebody* at third base, and I wanted to split him with a right-handed bat. With Hereford’s versatility, that somebody could also be a corner outfielder. Danny Morales was technically fitting the description, but his defense was horrendous. The Raccoons would have to find somebody else.

Also, a starting pitcher for behind Roberts, Rico, and Rin, and … well… Delgadillo.

In the week before the actual salary arbitration we also avoided that nasty spectacle with all other eligible players. Alberto Ramos signed for 1-yr, $900k; Josh Boles signed for 1-yr, $560k; the interesting ones were Surginer and Ohl though – Kevin signed for 2-yr, $900k while we got Ricky for 3-yr, $1.875M. Surginer’s deal was flat, while Ohl’s was escalating slightly, but for both of them we took out their remaining year(s) of team control, plus one year of free agency.

Arbitration was offered to Jon Correa for the draft pick compensation attachment, which was a bit of a gamble, but Correa probably felt snubbed for having ridden the bench for much of August and September, and gracefully made his way out the door with a brand new ring.

With salary arbitration and roster cleansing behind us, it was on to the offseason proper. The Raccoons had roughly $3M to go shopping with.

+++

2028 ABL AWARDS

Players of the Year: PIT 1B Danny Santillano (.367, 22 HR, 109 RBI) and TIJ 3B/SS Shane Sanks (.302, 32 HR, 111 RBI)
Pitchers of the Year: WAS SP Jorge Beltran (16-8, 2.67 ERA) and NYC SP Mike Rutkowski (17-8, 2.70 ERA)
Rookies of the Year: SAL SP Steve Younts (15-6, 2.80 ERA) and VAN 1B David Fisher (.282, 13 HR, 50 RBI)
Relievers of the Year: SAL CL Phil Harrington (3-5, 1.89 ERA, 42 SV) and NYC CL Travis Giordano (10-5, 1.57 ERA, 37 SV)
Platinum Sticks (FL): P LAP Dave Christiansen – C PIT J.J. Henley – 1B PIT Danny Santillano – 2B SFW Ricky Tello – 3B SAL Guillermo Obando – SS WAS Dave Menth – LF SAC Doug Stross – CF DEN Abel Madsen – RF SAC Pablo Sanchez
Platinum Sticks (CL): P OCT Jeff Dykstra – C OCT Mike Burgess – 1B TIJ Kevin McGrath – 2B ATL John Johnson – 3B TIJ Shane Sanks – SS OCT Alex Serrato – LF VAN Alex Torres – CF CHA Nate Nelson – RF SFB Cesar Martinez
Gold Gloves (FL): P SFW John Rucker – C TOP Giovanni James – 1B DEN Brad Gore – 2B WAS Pat Pick – 3B CIN Ricardo Rangel – SS DAL Silvio Clooken – LF SFW Jeff Wadley – CF TOP Ian Coleman – RF DAL Ryan Collins
Gold Gloves (CL): P OCT Jeff Dykstra – C LVA Josh Motley – 1B POR Kevin Harenberg – 2B BOS Rhett West – 3B OCT Lorenzo Rivera – SS IND Mario Pizano – LF BOS Willie Vega – CF BOS Adrian Reichardt – RF IND Zachary Ryder

OUTRAGE!! OUTRAGE!! How dare they not give the Player of the Year to Rich Hereford?? OUTRAGE!! OUTRAGE!!

(waves arms, screaming)

No, Maud, I don’t want to calm down! – No, we will write an angry letter to the league office right now! – No, the red paper! The RED paper! RED WITH RAGE!!