[Westheim]

I was befallen by plague for the last 24 hours or so, but now I feel like I can continue the baseball gods’ good work without keeling ov- (thump! clang!)

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As the preseason approached, the Coons found themselves with a bottom 5 payroll (even after adding on Adrian Reichardt) and still only five players that made seven figures, two of which were the new arrivals Reichardt and Fernando Garcia, who made $2.56M and $1.04M respectively. The other big earners remained Tim Stalker ($2.8M), Alberto Ramos ($2.5M), and Rico Gutierrez ($2.09M). Those three added up to a whisker under $11M… which was 61.5% of the payroll.

…which made sense, because I fully expected those five to also pile up 60% or more of our DL time this season…

Then we got a message from a curious fan, Thorvald-Joe, age 9, from Clackamas, Oregon, who followed our offseason with interest but concern, and who wondered out loud where Manny Fernandez, age 22, fits in our current outfield plans with the addition of Reichardt, because once Manny Fernandez makes the major leagues, he is totally going to be Thorvald-Joe’s favorite player ever. (looks over the edge of the screen) Well, he’s nine, you can’t hold his age against his naivete, or whatever.

Well, Fernandez still has a spot of course. He actually has three because he can play all outfield positions very well. Since Reichardt is probably the starting centerfielder, that would leave him to share the corners with Jimmy Wallace, at least until #5 is struck by a sharply hit fly ball and out for the season. But Fernandez would start in AAA anyway, and for the time being we’d be kept company by Noel Ferrero (probably not a ****ty player in his own right), who could also find employ at first base if he hits whilst Zitz isn’t, and Billy Jennings. And you never know when you need Pinkerton to pitch with this staff…….. I hope this would answer little Thorvald-Joe’s question.

Was there a possibility to improve the team further with a backup infielder that would trump Justin Marsingill and Sam Cass? That was about the last disputed spot on the Opening Day roster, and it looked like the answer would be NO. The free agent market was picked thin, and we really didn’t have anything else to offer.

As the season neared, Cristiano Carmona informed me that Ignacio del Rio was posting in Spanish on Fudgebook about how his team sucked and how he wanted outta here.

That was nothing new of course; del Rio was the last main clubhouse distraction remaining on the roster, and it was on accounts of hope for him to be the third leg of the new Toner-Santos-Abe three-pronged assault on opposing lineups. Yeah, his 4.60 ERA last year (and 4.91 ERA for his career) was nothing to write home about, but he had just turned 23 in the new year. See, if a player is any good at all, you take the toxicity, hoping it will turn into hubris instead and then he’s fighting more himself than his teammates. Getting rid of del Rio would not have been a problem, several teams asked for him in trades, but the Raccoons’ chose not to, even though his scouting report literally reads that he is a cancer to his teammates. The Raccoons still clung on.

We’ll see what it gets them…

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February 13 – The Crusaders sign the final type A free agent of the season, ex-WAS CL Erik David (47-51, 3.57 ERA, 85 SV), who gets a 3-yr, $9.9M contract. The 32-year-old’s ERA looks worse than it is because he was a part-time starter for most of his career, especially with the Miners from 2026 to 2030. 62 of his 470 career games have been starts.
March 14 – The Raccoons sign 29-yr old ex-SFB C Tyler Turner (.261, 1 HR, 5 RBI) to a minor league contract with a $320k major league option.
March 17 – The Falcons ship C Matt Cooper (.247, 23 HR, 169 RBI) to the Scorpions for 2B/3B Gavin Westmoreland (.284, 10 HR, 94 RBI) and a second-rate prospect.
March 20 – The Raccoons announce the late addition of ex-SFW MR Ed Blair (34-25, 3.37 ERA, 36 SV) on a 1-yr, $450k contract.

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Other than almost anybody else, Blair was not added for his good conduct on and off the field, but because we saw a genuinely worthwhile reliever and told ourselves to hold on and consider. This led to Jesse Erickson being sent back to the Titans after we had taken him in the rule 5 draft in December. That Blair was rather cheap didn’t exactly hurt our interest.

Turner is certainly nothing you plan with; he got his old without compiling even 70 major league at-bats, and none in the last two seasons. And no, this sorry scrub did not hit his lone major league dinger off Mark Roberts or some other hapless Critter. It was Zhuo-cheng Li, who – shamed and disgraced – promptly retired. In fact he has one at-bat against an active current or former Critter, and that is Cory Dew.

Further former Furballs finding fruitful … employment – there’s no damn word with F that fits here!! Eh, yeah, Nate Hall jumped to the Cyclones for $432k; Mike Pizzo got on board with the Warriors for $346k; the Scorpions snatched Eddie Krumm for $312k; Billy Brotman was whirled into Oklahoma City by some nasty weather and would make $334k; the Rebels reserved a meager $302k for Dan McLin;