[Westheim]

November 21 – The Raccoons acquire OF Jonathan Dustal (.264, 29 HR, 129 RBI) from the Aces in exchange for AAA SP Jake White (1-7, 5.73 ERA).
November 27 – The Bayhawks sign ex-NYC CL Andy Hyden (77-73, 2.81 ERA, 498 SV) to a 2-yr, $4.88M contract.
November 27 – The Crusaders console themselves with Miners departure SP Rich Willett (157-105, 3.09 ERA), inking the 34-year-old right-hander for two years and $9.28M.
November 29 – The Blue Sox sign right-hander Ricardo Ordas (80-84, 3.89 ERA, 96 SV) to a 3-yr, $6.72M contract. The 32-year-old was last with the Scorpions, and has both started and closed in his career. The Blue Sox are expected to use him as closer.
November 30 – San Francisco tacks on with the addition of ex-SAL SP Eric Weitz (184-129, 3.35 ERA). The 35-year-old righty will make $12.12M over three years.

+++

The two signings on November 27 both affected type A free agents, and both caused the same draft pick, #17, to be moved twice within three hours. The Bayhawks gave it to New York at 2pm. The Crusaders shifted it to Pittsburgh just before dinner; their own top pick in the 2044 draft was #21.

Dustal is a bit of a ho-hum outfielder, but a marked improvement over Misery du Jour (Van Anderson and consorts), and will be the fifth outfielder. Our quest there is done, thus. He is a switch-hitter that has hit both .224 in a full season and .302 in partial seasons in the last three years. He has considerable speed, while his defense is nothing out of the ordinary, but he can handle all the outfield positions.

At first we were after Nick Crocker of the Indians, but they were pretty much giving me three options: Wheats, Waters, or **** off. Well, I ****** off.

Since Sean Sieber seemed set to stick around, that only left the infield to tinker with. Josh Busing opined that Matt Waters was not 100% developed, and would never hit for an award anyway, but he was a very good defensive middle infielder (even though better at second than at short), potential speed demon, and he would draw his walks. For now, somebody had to bat eighth, too. Waters would be better at second, but Carreno threw like a girl and couldn’t possibly fill it at short, so the only orientation possible between the two youngsters up the middle was with Waters at short.

Ricky Jimenez was undisputed at the hot corner after clinching the Rookie of the Year crown, so it was all about the backups. The only personnel on the extended roster that qualified as backup infielders were Omar Gutierrez and Jay de Wit, a left-handed and switch hitter, respectively. Carreno hit righty, and Waters was also a switch-hitter. There was an argument to keep both Gutierrez or de Wit around, or even both of them, or none of them. The latter mainly build on them hitting for a .610 and .548 OPS, respectively, in 2043. De Wit was actually challenging Nick Lando and Yoshi Yamada now for worst Raccoons hitters of all times. Gutierrez being what he was, we’d look for a right-handed bat here.

In the rotation, Busing wasn’t convinced of Merino – yet. We would thus set out for a competent, low-key option that wouldn’t break the bank and could be disposed off after a year, or in July. With the curse on Opening Day starters and #5 starters pretty well alive in this town, we’d try to keep Merino (2 starts to his career) a bit out of harm’s way and in AAA to start the season.

Then there were still another 11 pitchers lingering around the extended roster. There was an argument to be made that our bullpen was already complete with Josh Rella closing, and Alex Ramirez, Nelson Moreno, Jon Craig, Nate Norris relieving from the right, and Zack Kelly and Chuck “Millionaire” Jones doing the same from the left. The remaining bums on the extended roster – besides Merino – were Sean Marucci, Preston Porter (from the right), Steven Johnston, and Angelo Montano (from the left). The first three all made late-season debuts that were degrees of successful. The righties for sure, and while Johnston got shoved around a bit, his numbers were not *that* bad. He pitched only five innings in any case. Those three were all assigned back to AAA in late November, since they were not in the plans for April. Angelo Montano of course was a certified bum and would have to clear waivers at some point or be turned into a bag of baseballs in a last-page deal with a second-division FL team in February. I didn’t particularly care at this point. We were throwing out starting pitchers liberally at this point, and Montano figured into absolutely nobody’s plans.

Speaking of starting pitchers that were in nobody’s plans, besides throwing out Jake White we still had a Cory Lambert in AAA that was not added back to the 40-man roster ahead of the Rule 5 draft. Open spots on the 40-man instead went to SP Adam Capone and 1B Ricardo Bejarano, who was now thoroughly blocked, but would likely be grabbed in the pick parade. Tony Negrete, the only other hot starting pitcher prospect left in AAA, was not yet eligible for the Rule 5 draft and thus remained off the 40-man. Ruben Gonzalez was also not yet eligible.

+++

December 1 – Rule 5 Draft: 14 players are selected in total, while the Raccoons draft 24-year-old AA INF Brad Johnson off the Gold Sox.
December 3 – The Blue Sox add ex-TOP 1B Chris Delagrange (.267, 226 HR, 910 RBI) for $9.16M and two years.
December 3 – The Thunder shore up the bullpen with the addition of right-hander Jesse Allison (50-50, 4.22 ERA, 127 SV), a 33-year-old former Pacific. Allison will make $6M over three years.
December 4 – Ex-PIT SP Roberto Pruneda (152-117, 3.70 ERA) hooks up with the Pacifics on a 2-yr, $8.96M contract.
December 4 – The Bayhawks add ex-NAS/TOP 1B/C Jeff Wilson (.271, 83 HR, 397 RBI) for two years and $3.64M.

+++

Johnson was a quirky switch-hitter that was very agile, and would be aided in his career if he had a stronger arm. He had a keen eye at the plate, but no power to speak of. He had never progressed past the AA level, so it was a bit of a bold pick, but we could always send him back with a box of donuts and a sorry note. He had been a fourth-round pick in the 2040 draft.

He was assigned #35, while Matt Waters, who had worn the number in September, was given #6.

At this stage we had five switch-hitters on the extended roster, although neither Jordan Gonzalez nor Jay de Wit looked like they’d make to April.

What’s left? The Hall of Fame ballot! See whether you can spot the ex-Coons on there…!