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Westheim · 07-14-2021, 03:18 PM

Maud, the good old girl, knew what to do. As usual, we sent a thank you telegram to the CL South team that had humped the Canadiens out of the CLCS, complete with a fruit basket, and we also sent a plush toy raccoon to the Canadiens with a note reading “so sorry”.

As usual, the raccoon was sent back with both ears cut off its head and a miniature Elks hat with wiggling antlers glued on top.

Nothing like a good, old-fashioned rivalry!

Which brought us right to Nick Valdes, who stopped over in Portland on his return from the Easter Islands, where he had overseen all the giant stone heads being tossed into the ocean and the island planed for an amusement park. He brought the budget allowance with him an took a couple of millions out of the sack with dollar notes we kept under the sink in the bathroom, citing various costs he incurred year round with this team. None of this went by without the two of us haggling over the numbers and hissing at each other.

All the haggling was for nothing in the end. The Raccoons’ budget stayed the same at $39.5M, which we hadn’t even spent all last year, and which would have been $41.5M if Valdes hadn’t bet two million on the Pacifics to win the World Series in the Owners’ Raffle. So in the end, the team would suffer for it again, but he still went home with $500 bills poking out of every pocket of his clothes when he left the ballpark and was promptly mugged and thrown into the dumpster when he reached the street. That wasn’t my problem though. I hadn’t replaced the city police force with a community discussion board – which promptly convened, condemned the violence, and then nothing happened anymore and everybody went home to bake artisanal muffins.

Despite the stagnating budget, the Raccoons moved from being tied for 18th in the league to being tied for 15th in the league, although the difference was marginal.

The five richest teams were the Blue Sox ($53M), damn Elks ($51M), Miners ($51M), Stars ($50M), and Pacifics ($48.5M), with the defending champs, the Bayhawks, in sixth place ($47M).

The bottom five were comprised of the Condors ($36M), Buffaloes ($36M), Warriors ($34.5M), Aces ($32.5M), and Indians ($28M). The missing CL North teams were t-8th (NYC, $44.5M), t-12th (BOS, $42M), and 17th (MIL, $39M).

The average budget for a team in the league rose to $42.07M, rising $280k compared to 2043. The median budget was $42M, up $250k from last season.

+++

There were other things to sort out – the Raccoons did not renew the contract with hitting coach David Holman, and Scout Guy – what, Maud? – “Jorge Perez”? – Never heard of him. … Scout Guy retired to coach his grandkids, 3-year-old twin girls. So these were holes that needed filling.

No hole was allowed to be created by Manny Fernandez’ $2.5M team option. We picked that up without hesitation. And while we reached out to professional personnel to fill the other positions around the team, the team itself deserved some observation, too, especially as far as free agency, salary arbitration and numerous fringe cases were concerned.

The Raccoons had six players heading for arbitration, five of them pitchers, and one of them Steve Nickas. There were also four free agents, none of them eligible for compensation. [full panel below]

Most of our bullpen was on the list, and we might want to retain at least a few of the bums. Although there was something to be said for cutting loose Travis Sims and Steve Nickas, persistent harbingers of a last place finish waiting to happen. Seth Green had also not exactly pitched great… Jose Castro had always been intended to be a one-year filler, but was Matt Waters ready? Chuck Jones was somebody we’d perhaps like to retain!

Decisions, decisions. And then there was the question with what to do with rightfield. Our production there had been sort of atrocious, and we needed a big bat in there to liven up the lineup. In-house production had failed us here, and the free agent market didn’t look too great, either. Troy Greenway had burned us once before. Mike Hall of the Bayhawks was not a power batter. Jose Platero of the Crusaders was, but also struck out like no tomorrow, an while he had hit 22 homers this year, he had also batted only .222, so there was that…

Again, decisions, decisions…

07-14-2021, 03:18 PM	#3659
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,982	Maud, the good old girl, knew what to do. As usual, we sent a thank you telegram to the CL South team that had humped the Canadiens out of the CLCS, complete with a fruit basket, and we also sent a plush toy raccoon to the Canadiens with a note reading “so sorry”. As usual, the raccoon was sent back with both ears cut off its head and a miniature Elks hat with wiggling antlers glued on top. Nothing like a good, old-fashioned rivalry! Which brought us right to Nick Valdes, who stopped over in Portland on his return from the Easter Islands, where he had overseen all the giant stone heads being tossed into the ocean and the island planed for an amusement park. He brought the budget allowance with him an took a couple of millions out of the sack with dollar notes we kept under the sink in the bathroom, citing various costs he incurred year round with this team. None of this went by without the two of us haggling over the numbers and hissing at each other. All the haggling was for nothing in the end. The Raccoons’ budget stayed the same at $39.5M, which we hadn’t even spent all last year, and which would have been $41.5M if Valdes hadn’t bet two million on the Pacifics to win the World Series in the Owners’ Raffle. So in the end, the team would suffer for it again, but he still went home with $500 bills poking out of every pocket of his clothes when he left the ballpark and was promptly mugged and thrown into the dumpster when he reached the street. That wasn’t my problem though. I hadn’t replaced the city police force with a community discussion board – which promptly convened, condemned the violence, and then nothing happened anymore and everybody went home to bake artisanal muffins. Despite the stagnating budget, the Raccoons moved from being tied for 18th in the league to being tied for 15th in the league, although the difference was marginal. The five richest teams were the Blue Sox ($53M), damn Elks ($51M), Miners ($51M), Stars ($50M), and Pacifics ($48.5M), with the defending champs, the Bayhawks, in sixth place ($47M). The bottom five were comprised of the Condors ($36M), Buffaloes ($36M), Warriors ($34.5M), Aces ($32.5M), and Indians ($28M). The missing CL North teams were t-8th (NYC, $44.5M), t-12th (BOS, $42M), and 17th (MIL, $39M). The average budget for a team in the league rose to $42.07M, rising $280k compared to 2043. The median budget was $42M, up $250k from last season. +++ There were other things to sort out – the Raccoons did not renew the contract with hitting coach David Holman, and Scout Guy – what, Maud? – “Jorge Perez”? – Never heard of him. … Scout Guy retired to coach his grandkids, 3-year-old twin girls. So these were holes that needed filling. No hole was allowed to be created by Manny Fernandez’ $2.5M team option. We picked that up without hesitation. And while we reached out to professional personnel to fill the other positions around the team, the team itself deserved some observation, too, especially as far as free agency, salary arbitration and numerous fringe cases were concerned. The Raccoons had six players heading for arbitration, five of them pitchers, and one of them Steve Nickas. There were also four free agents, none of them eligible for compensation. [full panel below] Most of our bullpen was on the list, and we might want to retain at least a few of the bums. Although there was something to be said for cutting loose Travis Sims and Steve Nickas, persistent harbingers of a last place finish waiting to happen. Seth Green had also not exactly pitched great… Jose Castro had always been intended to be a one-year filler, but was Matt Waters ready? Chuck Jones was somebody we’d perhaps like to retain! Decisions, decisions. And then there was the question with what to do with rightfield. Our production there had been sort of atrocious, and we needed a big bat in there to liven up the lineup. In-house production had failed us here, and the free agent market didn’t look too great, either. Troy Greenway had burned us once before. Mike Hall of the Bayhawks was not a power batter. Jose Platero of the Crusaders was, but also struck out like no tomorrow, an while he had hit 22 homers this year, he had also batted only .222, so there was that… Again, decisions, decisions… Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 94 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 * 2071 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.