[Westheim]

2036 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set in parenthesis shows 2035 stats, second set career stats; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Gilberto Rendon, 31, B:R, T:R (15-7, 3.08 ERA | 97-80, 3.83 ERA, 14 SV) – went from highly-paid Opening Day starter right to the new Rico Gutierrez, including a bump to the back end of the rotation, then had a splendid 2035 and bounced right back up in the pecking order.
SP Colt Willes, 29, B:R, T:R (12-10, 3.46 ERA | 52-49, 3.51 ERA) – really steady guy and a big gain for any rotation especially if partnered with a tight defense on the infield, and we can offer that. There is a lot of talent here, and it would be nice to see him win more than 12 games at some point…
SP Bernie Chavez, 27, B:R, T:R (10-11, 4.57 ERA | 46-33, 3.74 ERA) – came off his best career year (3rd in ERA in CL in 2034) by falling apart more or less entirely, despite getting more K/9. His entire 2035 season was a mystery, although we opine that a .352 BABIP behind him at a paw in how things turned out. Not selling him for a bag o’ baseballs yet. 94mph, curve, slider, and the tendency to hang something from time to time with a worst of 24 homers allowed in the 2035 season.
SP Raffaello Sabre, 27, B:L, T:R (9-10, 3.74 ERA | 40-42, 3.83 ERA) – not much remains of the notion that Chavez, Sabre, and since-dumped Ignacio del Rio would lead the Raccoons back to the holy land of the World Series. Sabre was either hurt or crummy in ’35, and hasn’t awed anybody in a while…
SP Darren Brown, 26, B:R, T:R (5-2, 2.71 ERA | 8-7, 3.48 ERA) – injuries, walkfests, glimpsed of solid goodness, and a Game 7 meltdown that ended our season. Brown’s a mixed bag to put it mildly.

MR Dusty Kulp, 33, B:S, T:R (3-5, 4.03 ERA, 1 SV | 47-50, 4.05 ERA, 71 SV) – the one that couldn’t be traded after being vocally unhappy for much of ’35, considering himself the closer. His stats, roughly 3 BB/9, 7 K/9, 5 HR, think it makes us right in not letting him into the ninth inning on a regular basis.
MR Antonio Prieto, 25, B:R, T:R (2-2, 4.13 ERA | 5-7, 3.63 ERA) – struck out more than 10 batters per nine innings but was consistently betrayed by defense (.321 BABIP), so he could be a lot better with some more support.
MR David Fernandez, 29, B:L, T:L (4-2, 2.28 ERA, 4 SV | 19-13, 2.70 ERA, 7 SV) – for getting no love from scouts, Fernandez is a remarkably solid reliever that strikes out roughly a batter per inning and can handle both left- and right-handed batters well. The walks are a bit of a problem, but, eh, lefties, huh?
MR Mauricio Garavito, 34, B:L, T:L (4-3, 4.74 ERA, 3 SV | 24-25, 3.16 ERA, 12 SV) – left-hander with balanced splits that was claimed off waivers by the Bayhawks early in the 2029 season when Jeremy Moesker turned out to be a turd. Has it really been this long??
SU Casey Moore *, 34, B:R, T:R (4-7, 3.15 ERA, 3 SV | 35-43, 3.00 ERA, 129 SV) – long-time in-division rival Casey Moore comes over on a 1-year deal and will hopefully help with retiring the opposition in eighth innings with his splitter.
MR Yeom Soung *, 31, B:L, T:L (rookie) – an established star from Korea, “The Warden” is expected to deny evil teams access to our leads. His elite screwball should do the job.
CL Chris Wise, 29, B:R, T:R (3-3, 1.92 ERA, 3 SV | 22-21, 2.60 ERA, 120 SV) – Wise inherits the closer’s job for a second time following Ed Blair’s unexpected departure to greener pastures. His 2035 season was impressive, especially considering that .312 BABIP he pitched to. Maybe the cutter action will keep him from losing ten games this time as he did in ’34…

C Tony Morales, 21, B:L, T:R (.269, 6 HR, 38 RBI | .269, 6 HR, 38 RBI) – had a solid half-season debut in ’35, doing above-average work at the plate and behind the dish. We totally hope that he can expand on that. Chances are good, given that he doesn’t turn 22 until later in April. He will be in some sort of platoon with Kurt Wall, but both should get roughly equal playing time.
C Kurt Wall, 32, B:R, T:R (.313, 6 HR, 48 RBI | .292, 29 HR, 211 RBI) – was surely an improvement over the turned-stale Elliott Thompson after a deadline deal with the Miners in ‘34, and continued to be rock solid throughout the 2035 season. Whether he will forever reach base with a .346 BABIP is something else entirely...

1B Kevin Harenberg *, 38, B:L, T:L (.292, 16 HR, 62 RBI | .298, 277 HR, 1,287 RBI) – returns to Portland after being a part of the twice-winning teams from 2026 through 2030; the deal is solid, he can still move about at his advanced age, and this will totally not turn into another orgy of watching Chiyosaku Maruyama start six games a week in July.
2B/SS Tim Stalker, 37, B:R, T:R (.263, 7 HR, 57 RBI | .262, 117 HR, 777 RBI) – there is no denying it, Tim Stalker is getting long in the tooth; his defense slipped a bit in ’35, but at least he continued to hit steadily, and besides, what bad thing has ever come off a 37-year-old middle infielder? Will be in his 15th season with the Critters.
SS Alberto Ramos, 30, B:L, T:R (.283, 0 HR, 39 RBI | .310, 20 HR, 441 RBI) – Portland’s goodest boy hopes for another healthy season with less slumps. He missed only five games, the fifth time in six years that he largely held up and stayed on the field after his younger-year growing pains, but his bat has recently slipped a bit towards league-average. That still makes him valuable; with six stolen base titles, including those of the last two seasons, every Ramos walk or single as the potential to really be a double. His mark of 519 career stolen bases has him in third place in league history, and he has yet to play a game as a 30-year-old...!
3B/SS Dave Myers *, 30, B:R, T:R (.271, 5 HR, 52 RBI | .285, 39 HR, 354 RBI) – Bob Zeltser’s replacement joins as free agent and has a knack for getting on base, drawing about 70 walks per season, which is not something the Raccoons have had much of on the roster. Consistent above-average hitter virtually guaranteed to post a 110 OPS+; he’s landed within one point of that mark in four of his seven seasons, and six times was in the 109 to 119 band.
2B Rich Vickers, 26, B:R, T:R (.306, 2 HR, 19 RBI | .292, 7 HR, 56 RBI) – Vickers remains mostly redundant on the roster, but there’s nothing we can do about that right now…
3B/2B/SS/RF Justin Marsingill, 29, B:R, T:R (.291, 2 HR, 16 RBI | .271, 7 HR, 82 RBI) – versatile infielder and quirky bit player that’s been up and down from St. Pete a whole lot over the years. Hit for an .820 OPS in limited action a year ago, and for a .523 OPS two years ago. His truth is probably somewhere in between.

LF/RF Jimmy Wallace, 29, B:L, T:L (.281, 20 HR, 79 RBI | .284, 54 HR, 321 RBI) – slugged a career-high .444 and netted a 5-year deal even though his presence in leftfield becomes a bit harder to defend, but at least the deal was relatively cheap. Might be the most worthless player by WAR with a 5-year deal on the books in the majors; for his 6-year career he has a total of 5.5 WAR.
CF/LF/RF Justin Fowler, 33, B:R, T:R (.309, 26 HR, 113 RBI | .285, 240 HR, 895 RBI) – no regrets about last year’s big acquisition, who failed to make the lineup 40 times due to nagging injuries, but still managed to lead the CL in RBI and slugging (.533). No notes, Justin, keep being yourself!
RF/LF/CF Manny Fernandez, 26, B:L, T:L (.286, 12 HR, 75 RBI | .276, 25 HR, 184 RBI) – the #5 pick in the 2031 draft made his debut when Adrian Reichardt went to the DL early in the 2033 season and never went away again, amassing almost 400 plate appearances in his debut season and then playing close to a full slate last year. Can really play all outfield positions well and often moves to left in the late innings when Wallace gets purged for defense.
LF/RF/CF Ed Hooge, 26, B:L, T:L (.235, 2 HR, 12 RBI | .241, 5 HR, 45 RBI) – one of those perplexingly useless players that somehow wind up stealing a thousand at-bats over eight seasons before they somehow run out of options and grace at the same time.
RF/2B/3B/CF/LF Preston Pinkerton, 30, B:R, T:R (.296, 0 HR, 18 RBI | .267, 2 HR, 46 RBI) – see Hooge, except that he is also the designated emergency pitcher, with a frightening 26 appearances in four years and a 10.06 ERA in 34 innings – the majority of his pitching appearances were in 2032, when the Raccoons couldn’t buy an out if they still had had credit...

On disabled list: Nobody.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement:
SP/MR Josh Livingston, 25, B:R, T:R (6-3, 2.68 ERA | 10-4, 3.01 ERA, 1 SV) – optioned to Alley Cats; in an unanticipated shock move (and one that wasn’t intended either), the Raccoons sent Livingston to AAA despite pitching to a 2.86 ERA mostly as a starter for the Coons after coming over in a trade with Oklahoma. Livingston as only two and a half pitches, and didn’t win a game after mid-August.
MR John Hennessy, 28, B:L, T:L (0-0, 8.10 ERA | 11-8, 3.31 ERA, 2 SV) – optioned to Alley Cats; had an injury-addled season and when he finally came back in September he was royally awful. Will use his last option after sliding to #4 on the lefty reliever depth chart.
CF/RF/3B/SS/LF/1B Jesus Maldonado, 22, B:R, T:R (.271, 0 HR, 6 RBI | .271, 0 HR, 6 RBI) – optioned to Alley Cats; potential future star that was called up on September and just wasn’t quite ready for prime time (though by no means awful). Projects to become an elite batter.

Everybody not mentioned by now has already been waived or reassigned during the offseason.

OPENING DAY LINEUP:

Six lefty bats, seven righty bats on the roster to begin the season, which isn’t all bad, considering that some players are just locks to the lineup anyway and aren’t going to be platooned under any circumstance.

Vs. RHP: SS Ramos – 3B Myers – 1B Harenberg – CF Fowler – LF Wallace – C Morales – RF M. Fernandez – 2B Stalker – P
(Vs. LHP: SS Ramos – 3B Myers – 1B Harenberg – CF Fowler – C Wall – LF M. Fernandez – 2B Stalker – RF Pinkerton – P

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

The winter without a trade still sees the Raccoons vigorously reinforced. They didn’t quite break the top 5 in terms of WAR gained, but that’s deceptive given that Soung comes from Korea and thus has no WAR value assigned to him. We consider him a major gain, though. Overall we ended up 6th with +5.2 WAR gained, almost all of it coming from the Myers and Harenberg signings. In departures, Bob Zeltser (1.6 WAR) was the only significant loss.

Top 5: Crusaders (+9.1), Indians (+9.1), Condors (+7.8), Scorpions (+6.9), Stars (+6.4)
Bottom 5: Wolves (-4.2), Canadiens (-4.7), Knights (-7.1), Rebels (-9.1), Thunder (-12.4)

PREDICTION TIME:

Last year I declared “better offense, more wins, and the playoffs” and that it was “our time”.

It definitely was our time, at least starting from August 4. The pre-August 4 Raccoons were dismal, a 46-62 team that couldn’t find their own arse in the dark without the aid of a flashlight. From August 4 forwards they won 38 of 54 games, rallied from last to first, and eeked out the worst CL North playoff-entering record in league history with 84 wins, just ahead of the damn Elks and Titans. The run differential even then hinted at a team that was much better than 84-78, though…

The team is improved in quite a few ways, and we have more reinforcements potentially waiting in AAA, f.e. Maldonado. Injuries can be relatively well compensated, and maybe someone will pick up a grounder that Bernie Chavez allowed for a change.

The Raccoons are supposed to repeat as division champs (which would be their first successful division crown defense in 17 years) and this time will got out the sucky part. 95 wins is possible!

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

No offseason trades also means no prospects lost to hostile teams, but of course we also didn’t take anybody on. The Raccoons are 11th in the farm ranking, same as 12 months ago. Back then we had 12 ranked prospects, of which only two were in the top 100 (but those were inside the top 30). This year we are down to ten ranked prospects, but of these six rank in the top 100.

Half of last year’s ranked prospects are no longer ranked, but only one of them is no longer in the organization; #160 prospect Sebastian Waddingham was sent to Oklahoma on July 10 in the del Rio for Livingston deal.

10th (-4) – AAA OF/3B/1B Jesus Maldonado, 22 – 2032 international free agent signed by Raccoons
21st (+7) – A SP Lazaro Cavazos, 21 – 2034 first-round pick by Raccoons
62nd (new) – AAA SP Gene Tennis, 22 – 2032 first-round pick by Warriors, acquired in trade from Capitals for Adam Avakian
65th (new) – AAA 1B/C Jeff Wilson, 23 – 2034 supplemental round pick by Raccoons
90th (new) – A OF/1B Ivan Cantu, 19 – 2034 international free agent signed by Raccoons

99th (+6) – AA INF Jon Caskey, 22 – 2034 first-round pick by Raccoons
143rd (-27) – AAA OF/2B Cory Cronk, 22 – 2032 third-round pick by Raccoons
145th (+36) – AA SS/2B Jose Agosto, 22 – 2030 international free agent signed by Raccoons
146th (new) – AAA SP Jared Ottinger, 23 – 2033 supplemental round pick by Raccoons
199th (-40) – AAA INF Vince Lutch, 25 – 2029 second-round pick by Wolves, claimed off waivers from Loggers

Five other ranked prospects from last season are no longer ranked: #144 Travis Sims, #148 Brad Forsch, #184 Angelo Montano, #186 Jose Lopez, #193 Lazaro Salazar

The top 5 overall prospects this year are:

#1 VAN ML CF/RF Jerry Outram (newly drafted)
#2 IND AAA SP Ricky Sanchez (was #5)
#3 DAL AA SP Orlando Leos (was #11)
#4 PIT ML INF Sergio Barcia (was #1 (also in 2033))
#5 MIL A OF/1B Dan Torri (newly drafted)

Two of last year’s top 5 - #3 LVA Mike Hall and #4 CHA Tony Aparicio – saw promotion to the majors and their rookie status expired. The Loggers’ #2 prospect Jared Paul slipped to #13 after getting stuck in single-A Henderson.

Next: first pitch.