[Westheim]

We reached mid-January without a fifth starter, without a backup catcher, with several holes in the pen, and according to the Agitator, no plan whatsoever.

Talks with the Crusaders about catcher Omar Ramirez – a lefty hitter and thus a commodity – and Prince Gates fell through. Gates was an excellent defender on the left side of the infield with a helpful stick (he hit .284 with 12 homers in ’48). The idea was to put him at third base, move Maldonado to first base, and then feign ignorance about the arising issue of what to do with Gurney and Toohey.

The Crusaders actually had a real interest in Bryce Toohey, also realizing that he had mostly been struck with rotten luck in 2048, hitting .219 with a .245 BABIP… although then there was his power being cut in half, from 24 homers down to 11. It had been his first below-average season ever in terms of OPS+ and it had come so suddenly (141 in 2047, 98 in 2048) that the general consensus seemed to be that Toohey still had plenty of life left. Maybe hang some new drapes around him to break him out of the perpetual jinx.

But Toohey was not enough to cut a deal. The usual suspects were brought forward with Rafael de la Cruz, Cesar Salcido, and Lorenzo Lavorano – who were all in the “over my thoroughly dead body” category. But luckily for us, they’d also take Matt Waters.

Nah.

So that’s how that month was wasted away without a breakthrough trade occurring. When January drew to a close, the Raccoons still didn’t have a full pen, a backup catcher, or a general clue what they were doing according to the Agitator. We did sign a fifth starter, though.

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January 9 – The Stars sign ex-SAL SP Justin Roberts (86-88, 3.79 ERA) to a 2-yr, $8.08M deal.
January 17 – The Thunder acquire SP Ben Lehman (7-18, 4.74 ERA) from the Condors, parting with unranked but promising prospect OF Dustin Ransford.
January 19 – Los Angeles adds ex-DAL SP Brad Blankenship (50-69, 3.79 ERA) on a 2-yr, $4.22M contract.
January 19 – LF/CF Joe Besaw (.302, 122 HR, 728 RBI) returns to the Crusaders on a $1.84M deal for 2049. The 32-year-old, most recently with the Capitals, already played for New York from 2038 through 2042.
January 23 – The Raccoons add former Warriors SP Chris Crowell (131-128, 3.69 ERA, 3 SV) on a 1-year deal worth $750k.

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Crowell’ll be that fifth starter placeholder to begin the season and can then probably be traded for a tenth-rounder should Salcido demand promotion. He is also the third Pitcher of the Year in the rotation after Wheats and Dave Hils, although I have to concede that Crowell, who is 36 and will be 37 in May, won his Pitcher of the Year award in 2035 when Jason Wheatley – a 7-year veteran in his own right by now – was a high school freshman.

Ayden Cobb meanwhile is still out there on the market after having turned down a 3-yr, $12.6M offer from the Coons. Not many eight-figure deals get signed in February.

Ex-Coon relocations? Nelson Mercado got $414k from the Knights; the Gold Sox picked up Jeff Kilmer for $452k;