[Westheim]

What the Raccoons needed, besides a mascot that was actually likable, was also a defensive shortstop. We were bidding for the services of Rico Sanchez, who was the rare breed of finesse closer that needed some sort of D behind him or else it would all fall apart. Berto and Monge were serviceable defenders on the corners, Cosmo wasn’t exactly a Gold Glover up the middle (his defense was best described as mediocre), and somebody had to hold it all together with his four paws. Elijah Williams had done that well initially, but was getting long in the tooth and had been granted free agency.

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November 19 – The Raccoons acquire left-handed MR Chuck Jones (6-5, 3.30 ERA, 2 SV) from the Scorpions in exchange for 24-yr old AAA SP Fiorenzo DeSanctis.
November 25 – The Raccoons sign former Wolves CL Rico Sanchez (33-30, 3.34 ERA, 123 SV) to a 3-yr, $3.6M contract. Sanchez, 28, did not save any games in 2039 while pitching to a 2.61 ERA.
November 25 – Former Wolves SP Dylan Channel (56-49, 3.72 ERA, 2 SV), age 30, signs with the Rebels for 4-yr, $8.94M.
November 26 – The Cyclones win the favor of ex-WAS SP Jeff Horstmeier (68-59, 3.86 ERA), who signs a 7-year deal worth $20.72M.
November 28 – The Raccoons acquire switch-hitting 27-yr old SS Tony Hunter (.256, 8 HR, 69 RBI) from the Gold Sox, who would receive 28-yr old SP Steve Fidler (15-13, 3.64 ERA, 1 SV) and 21-yr old AA SP Matt Kaplan.

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While the Raccoons got Sanchez, the Wolves signed themselves Joel Hernandez to a 2-yr, $634k contract, but I was pretty content with that turn of events. Sanchez is really a weird guy in that his stuff is not overwhelming, but he could hit a fly in the left eye with it at any day of the week. He had been the Wolves’ closer until ’38, but was displaced when they added Chris Henry from the Warriors as a free agent last winter. Henry was more of a stuff pitcher (but also a groundballer) with less in the control department.

The addition of the finesse closer made a strong defensive shortstop even more important. The free agent market didn’t hold a high-leather shortstop that could be expected to break .200 in the batting column. And, well, the guy was gonna bat eighth most of the time, so a thick stick wasn’t exactly a requirement. We needed that glove, though. The Gold Sox had two players that would fit the mold, in Tony Hunter (27), and Lopo Malfati (23). Hunter was the better overall player, although Malfati could play other positions as well (though that was not exactly a high bullet point on our list of requirements).

The Sox insisted on some form of prospect. They wanted Nelson Moreno (well, don’t we all?), but could be negotiated down to Matt Kaplan, our 2037 second-rounder, whose scouting report had already taken a beating. Fidler was almost a throw-in. Steve Fidler had been branded to have broken out in ’38, his age 27 season (yellow light goes off right here), pitching to a 2.61 ERA with a .271 BABIP behind him. This year, he got an even *better* BABIP – and yet his ERA doubled. I enthusiastically stamped him a [ONE HIT WONDER], then wrapped him up with another failed high draft pick and shipped them off for Tony Hunter, who was the better player between himself and Malfati, but the Sox wouldn’t trade the younger Malfati for this package. Fine, we’ll take the better one then.

This move also left us with really only three starting pitchers, not that Fidler would have been any help, dead or alive. Behind Bedrosian, Bernie, and Sabre was a gaping void. Ottinger?? … And no, Nelson Moreno would not be the answer quite yet. Missing half the year in Ham Lake was unfortunate, and he was not ready for prime time. He would start the new season in St. Petersburg, but we didn’t expect the finished product to arrive before September for a cameo at the earliest. Various other young starters were even further behind. These were your Vince Burkes, Corey Mathers (both older than the 20-year-old Moreno), and Victor Merino, who had done very well in Aumsville at age 18, but was still years away from the majors.

The Raccoons’ depth chart for starters outside of the fixed top three was now pretty much Ottie (4.39 career ERA; 5.68 in RELIEF in ’39), Jose de Leon (6.51; 10.13), and Nelson Fonseca (6.10).

The rest of the starting troupe in AAA had little to offer. There was 22-year old Angelo Montano, a $235k left-hander signed in the July 2034 IFA period. He had made it to AAA only at the end of the season, going 2-1 with a 2.63 ERA in three starts in which he walked 13 compared to 14 K. In Ham Lake, he had gone 12-10 with a 3.40 ERA and 139 K against 81 walks.

Apart from that there was only a pair of 30-year-old no-good-for-nothings, also both left-handers. Ernesto Rivera was a career AAA player who had erred into two games with the Raccoons this season and had pitched two thirds of an inning for five earned runs on his ledger. Jon Hass had been a trash heap pickup a few years back and now refused to leave for the food and shelter being on the Alley Cats offered. He had pitched to a 4.04 ERA in a swingman role in AAA this year, walking seven per nine innings. Rivera had walked 6.1/9.

So we had nothing. An argument could be made to hide Ottinger in the #5 hole and skip him as often as feasible, but we needed at least one decent starting pitcher to even get to that patchwork solution.

Most of the type A free agents on the market were starting pitchers, which didn’t exactly help with this task…

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December 1 – Rule 5 Draft: Ten players are taken across two rounds. The Raccoons select 23-yr old SP Will Cormack from the Crusaders.
December 1 – The Crusaders sign 2B/1B Mario Briones (.278, 59 HR, 444 RBI) to a 6-year contract worth $20.72M. Briones spent his major league career so far with the Aces.
December 1 – The Gold Sox add 29-year-old ex-SAC/TIJ SP Ignacio del Rio (94-101, 4.01 ERA) for three years and $4.86M.
December 1 – 27-year-old left-hander Sal Lozano, fresh out of Cuba, signs for $300k with the Raccoons.

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No, Cormack’s not the answer. He’s gonna get lit up. But drafting him made me feel better and made me eat less cookies, so I did it.