[Westheim]

2038 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set in parenthesis shows 2037 stats, second set career stats; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Bernie Chavez, 29, B:R, T:R (13-10, 3.38 ERA | 71-55, 3.58 ERA) – 94mph, curve, slider, and the tendency to hang something from time to time; by now you know full well what to expect of Bernie Chavez, an ERA somewhere near three, 50 walks, 160 strikeouts, and 20+ balls disappearing into a sea of reaching arms.
SP Bryce Sparkes, 30, B:R, T:R (14-9, 2.99 ERA | 64-58, 3.69 ERA) – the potential Mark Roberts clone had his best season in his first year in Portland and was rewarded with a 4-year deal afterwards. Didn’t even lead the league in homers!
SP Josh Weeks, 35, B:L, T:L (10-6, 3.58 ERA | 126-129, 3.85 ERA, 2 SV) – doesn’t create a lot of traffic on the bases, steady control pitcher. Missed chunks of the season but looks like he could hold up to serve out the two years remaining on his contract.
SP Jared Ottinger, 25, B:R, T:R (11-11, 3.62 ERA | 18-18, 3.81 ERA) – we’re still trying to figure “Ottie” out, to be honest. Sometimes he’s great, sometimes he’s got no control over anything he throws and gets whacked around like he’s in a cartoon. Lack of stuff also hurts him with only a 5.8 K/9 mark in his first full season in the majors.
SP Raffaello Sabre, 29, B:L, T:R (11-8, 4.08 ERA | 60-58, 3.78 ERA) – he won’t ever win a strikeout crown, and by now we’re entirely content with having Sabre being a steady bee working away at the opposition and with a little help from his defense he can be a very good pitcher; and then there’s times where he just can’t get anybody out, like more or less all of last September…

MR Travis Sims, 25, B:R, T:R (3-2, 3.52 ERA | 4-2, 3.61 ERA) – fastball, splitter; really mostly a long man due to major control issues that might see him replaced if trouble arises – 27 walks in 46 innings are not something you can run around with on a hopefully first-place team.
MR Dennis Citriniti, 29, B:R, T:R (4-0, 1.32 ERA, 1 SV | 6-0, 2.34 ERA, 1 SV) – run-of-the-mill right-hander that walked 6.5 batter per nine innings in ’36, then put up an All Star closer’s ERA in ’37 after taking over the roster spot of the released Dusty Kulp. After indicating he’d never reach 100 major league innings with the Raccoons he’s now only 95 outs away from that, and firmly under team control.
MR David Fernandez, 31, B:L, T:L (3-1, 3.88 ERA | 26-15, 2.89 ERA, 8 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, 36, B:L, T:L (2-1, 3.68 ERA, 1 SV | 33-30, 3.17 ERA, 14 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?? Is in a contract year once more and we’ll see whether there’s enough left in him to keep him around after that.
SU Antonio Prieto, 27, B:R, T:R (3-2, 2.29 ERA, 4 SV | 13-11, 3.10 ERA, 4 SV) – his strikeouts were down, but so were the ERA and the homers allowed; barely five years into his career, Prieto is becoming a very reliable reliever!
SU Yeom Soung, 33, B:L, T:L (5-7, 3.46 ERA, 37 SV | 7-9, 1.96 ERA, 64 SV) – the established star from Korea, “The Warden”, came, saw, and locked opposing batters up in eighth, then ninth innings in his maiden ABL season, winning Rookie of the Year honors quite handily. That was 2036. In ’37 he was prone to blow-ups just like every closer we’ve ever taken on past Grant West. The Raccoons went out and got a new closer this time.
CL Jermaine Campbell *, 32, B:L, T:R (4-8, 2.24 ERA, 40 SV | 34-40, 2.70 ERA, 294 SV) – established closer snatched on a 4-year deal, and also once the guy that slammed the door shut whenever we trailed the Titans in the ninth. 254 of his saves came with them, only 40 with the Pacifics, for whom he played last season. Elite stuff, strong control, and he knows how to win rings, having two of them.

C Tony Morales, 23, B:L, T:R (.269, 8 HR, 50 RBI | .270, 22 HR, 148 RBI) – keeps turning in just slightly above average seasons, and whenever he looks like he’s about to break out, he gets hurt. Has yet to break out, or not get hurt.
C Jeff Kilmer, 26, B:R, T:R (.195, 3 HR, 11 RBI | .229, 7 HR, 38 RBI) – now here was a kid that was coming off a horrible, no-good, terrible, dismal season, most of which had been spent in St. Petersburg after an early demotion. He was back now because the Raccoons refused to pay for his replacement going forwards, and because there was still that .217 BABIP that had taken all the oxygen away from Kilmer in ’37 and nobody could be this unlucky twice.

1B/RF/3B/LF Jesse Stedham, 31, B:L, T:R (.239, 14 HR, 67 RBI | .271, 92 HR, 487 RBI) – shed about 50 points of batting average in his first year in Portland, but won a Gold Glove, which is not the first time that has happened…
2B/3B/SS Enrique Trevino, 30, B:S, T:R (.312, 6 HR, 43 RBI | .322, 35 HR, 683 RBI) – the magical second baseman will try to stay injury free in ’38, because every day of him sitting on the DL costs a family van, and I can’t take paying for that. Solid defender, great on base presence and ideally suited for the #2 hole if either Berto or Myers can get on base ahead of him. Took his fourth straight and seventh overall stolen base title last season, and of course the first with Portland. Him and Ramos have 1,132 sacks between them (split almost evenly), and both have significant injury histories.
3B/SS Dave Myers, 32, B:R, T:R (.275, 8 HR, 50 RBI | .283, 49 HR, 425 RBI) – New at short, the old third baseman. Also sat out some on the DL, but who didn’t. Not the greatest defensive shortstop, but he was sure beating Berto in terms of range at this point.
3B Alberto Ramos, 32, B:L, T:R (.270, 0 HR, 46 RBI | .305, 20 HR, 498 RBI) – The story of the offseason was that the Raccoons’ new third baseman was going to be Berto after 13 seasons at short (or on the DL), with diminishing range rendering him mostly useless on defense and we hope that we can “hide” him at third base in his contract season, and who knows what happens after that. Lost the stolen base title to Cosmo Trevino mostly because he spent more time on the DL in ’37…
2B Rich Vickers, 28, B:R, T:R (.240, 4 HR, 28 RBI | .268, 20 HR, 143 RBI) – Vickers remains mostly redundant on the roster, but there’s nothing we can do about that right now…
2B/SS/3B Elijah Williams *, 32, B:R, T:R (.236, 3 HR, 48 RBI | .261, 17 HR, 393 RBI) – versatile infielder and quirky veteran with great defensive capabilities and a matching defensive shortstop’s bat. Was picked up from the Cyclones to shore up the defense on the left side of the infield, being the designated defensive replacement for Berto, who has never played at third base before.

RF/LF/CF Manny Fernandez, 28, B:L, T:L (.287, 21 HR, 99 RBI | .291, 65 HR, 373 RBI) – as close to a 5-tool player as the Raccoons could ever find, especially in a draft. There was no Player of the Year award in for Manny this time, but he was the CLCS MVP, which counted for something. Hit more homers than in his MVP campaign but dropped 40 points of average, which is never good. Is probably really closer to a .290 batter than a .330 batter looking at his career numbers, but if he does *that* and keeps picking up Platinum Sticks while being a borderline Gold Glover, we can’t be mad either.
CF/RF/3B/SS/LF/1B Jesus Maldonado, 24, B:R, T:R (.235, 6 HR, 38 RBI | .247, 9 HR, 79 RBI) – It’s hard to forget this one: .411/.431/.571 and a World Series MVP award while playing on the losing team. If you can get THAT together, you have to be better than a .235 poker if given the chance for a full season, right? Spent considerable time in AAA again last year for simply not hitting, then came up after mounting injuries and still didn’t hit anything. Then that World Series, where he only started because of Myers being out. We even traded Justin Fowler (who had turned into a defensive black hole) to get that bat into the lineup every day. Might even be a Gold Glover in centerfield, and has ample speed. If he can hit *anything* he can be a great everyday player.
RF/LF Troy Greenway, 26, B:L, T:L (.305, 25 HR, 67 RBI | .289, 79 HR, 248 RBI) – not outstanding as a defender, but he had a 1+ OPS after being picked up (with a long-term commitment already signed) from the Scorpions halfway through ’37, so he can use a fat person’s shopping scooter out there, we don’t care. Just keep the homers rolling in.
LF/RF/CF Ed Hooge, 28, B:L, T:L (.257, 11 HR, 50 RBI | .263, 28 HR, 149 RBI) – no matter what Ed Hooge does, it’s never enough for a permanent starting assignment, isn’t it? The one time he reached a qualifying number of plate appearances was in 2036, when *everybody* was on the DL. Solid allrounder that doesn’t really excel at any one thing, and so is permanently branded as fourth outfielder.
LF/RF Brad Ledford *, 27, B:L, T:L (.248, 9 HR, 43 RBI | .275, 20 HR, 91 RBI) – also acquired in the Fowler trade with the Capitals, Ledford is mainly a pinch-hitter but can hold his own in the field. He is surely a major improvement over what he carried on the bench last year…

On disabled list: Nobody.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement:
SP Steve Fidler *, 26, B:L, T:R (0-0, 4.09 ERA, 1 SV | 0-0, 4.09 ERA, 1 SV) – optioned to Alley Cats; versatile swingman picked up in the Justin Fowler trade, not that much stuff, and he also only made his debut with the Capitals at 26, which is usually not a sign that he’ll be an All Star going forward.
SP/MR Gene Tennis, 24, B:L, T:L (2-3, 5.00 ERA | 5-5, 4.14 ERA) – optioned to Alley Cats; had his moments, good and bad, across two seasons of 28 appearances, half of them starts. He surely has been left in the dust by Ottie, who debuted around the same time as him 2036, but Ottie also didn’t have to battle his own defense to a .337 BABIP.
1B Chiyosaku Maruyama, 28, B:R, T:R (.235, 0 HR, 0 RBI | .244, 7 HR, 57 RBI) – waived and DFA’ed; disappointment as a batter, having put up zero WAR in over 600 PA. Had only a token September assignment in ’37. Like last year, we don’t particularly care whether anybody takes him.

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

OPENING DAY LINEUP:

The lineup is going to be a force, and the bench is much better than it used to be. The batting corps is not composed perfectly, with mostly left-handed outfielders and right-handed infielders, but if that’s your biggest complaint about the personnel, you’re pretty well off.

Vs. RHP: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – 1B Stedham – SS Myers – C Morales – CF Maldonado – P
(Vs. LHP: SS Myers – 2B Trevino – LF M. Fernandez – RF Greenway – CF Maldonado – 1B Stedham – C Kilmer – 3B Williams – P)

Williams is not going to replace Berto for all games against lefty pitching, especially if there are several southpaws in a row; same for Kilmer.

Maldonado is the only super utility on the team, but should be found in center virtually all the time, although another late-inning defensive solution might be to put him on the left side of the infield with Hooge or Manny moving to centerfield.

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

BNN isn’t enthused about our offseason and we didn’t make that many moves to begin with. Most of it was admittedly addition by subtraction, which is why the Justin Fowler deal yielded little in return for a guy that just hit 33 homers. We got a fifth outfielder and a pitcher that didn’t make the roster, but we traded half of our commitments with no positional ratings away which might be worth more than Brad Ledford can possible bat for this year. There were only two trades and one significant free agent signing that was not for depth; arguably the biggest move (Greenway) had already been made last July.

The Raccoons gained 0.8 WAR, which ranked them ninth in the eye of BNN.

Top 5: Capitals (+9.9), Thunder (+6.2), Stars (+6.0), Pacifics (+5.9), Buffaloes (+4.9)
Bottom 5: Loggers (-4.3), Scorpions (-6.2), Rebels (-8.8), Indians (-10.0), Titans (-11.1)

Three division rivals in the bottom five, including two that were relevant in 2037. For the rest of the division, the Crusaders and the damn Elks were narrowly ahead of us on the BNN table.

PREDICTION TIME:

The prediction was 102 wins and while that didn’t happen because the team took its sweet time to get into a groove, the Raccoons won the division title and came within three runs in Game 7 of their fifth championship.

This year, the defense looks better compared at least to the late part of the season – although the entire starting infield is 30 or older. That will be an issue going forwards and whether Berto gets another deal here will be contingent on him becoming at least serviceable at third base, which is not guaranteed. He’s the last holdout from our previous championships in 2026 and 2028.

Like I said, if Maldonado can hit at all, and if Stedham and Manny and maybe one or two other guys can pick it back up and perform closer to their 2036 level, then the offense could break into the top 3 in the Continental League. The bench is certainly improved by leaps and bounds – no more Steve Nickas, no more Preston Pinkerton! Some depth has been signed for the inevitable injury. Some of that depth has even played in the Bigs before!

The rotation is not great, but really good, and the bullpen can be totally great. No major concerns about this pitching staff, really.

The Raccoons are going to win the division, again, and this time they WILL make it to triple digits! 102 is still on!

A hundred and two!

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Amazingly, the Raccoons keep climbing the farm rankings despite shedding ranked prospects left and right while trying to stay in first place.

Last year the Raccoons entered the season with a dozen ranked prospects, and they keep climbing despite that number being whittled down to seven, and their top 100 prospects going down from seven to three.

We shed #18 Jeff Wilson, #26 Lazaro Cavazos, and #82 Melvin Lucero in the Troy Greenway trade. #190 Daniel Hernandez was traded for Fernando Garcia. #92 Francisco Pena and #123 Travis Sims exceeded service time restrictions. The only ranked player from last year still in the organization but no longer ranked, yet eligible, was #189 Zack Kelly, who had been reassigned from Ham Lake to Aumsville…

5th (+74) – AA SP Nelson Moreno, 19 – 2035 international free agent signed by Raccoons
41st (+36) – AA 2B/3B Jon Loyola, 21 – 2033 international free agent signed by Raccoons
97th (-36) – AAA INF Jon Caskey, 24 – 2034 first-round pick by Raccoons
125th (new) – A SP Vince Burke, 21 – 2037 first-round pick by Raccoons
138th (+7) – AAA OF/2B Cory Cronk, 24 – 2032 third-round pick by Raccoons
151st (+25) – AA OF/1B Ivan Cantu, 21 – 2034 international free agent signed by Raccoons
173rd (new) – A SP Matt Kaplan, 20 – 2037 second-round pick by Raccoons

The franchise top 10 are completed by INT C Jose Ortiz, 17 (discovery), AA CL Brent Clark, 23 (5th Rd., 2036), and A C Jason Lindblom, 19 (4th Rd., 2037);

The top 5 overall prospects this year are:

#1 OCT AAA SP Sebastian Parham (newly drafted)
#2 SAC A 3B/1B John McDonell (newly drafted)
#3 CHA AA SP Pablo Vazquez (was #1)
#4 OCT ML C Jesus Adames (was #6)
#5 POR AA SP Nelson Moreno (was #79)

From the four guys missing from last year’s top 5, a broken foot and elbow trouble held #2 SFB SS Jorge Gonzalez to 90 games and dropped him to #23. Similarly, a broken foot and other ailments including earache had the Caps’ RF/LF Eduardo Avila sag from #3 to #7. Rebels SP Gabe Blanco struggled in single-A, then sprained an ankle to miss two months, and went from #4 to #18. Finally, IND SP Ricky Sanchez made 23 starts before radial nerve compression ended his season and he plunged from #5 to #93.

What is with all those ankle injuries?? They don’t make young boys anymore like they used to!

Next: first pitch.