[Westheim]

There were two players on the roster with genuine value that the Raccoons were also ready to part with at this junction – Alex Adame and Dave Hils. Adame, because we were all on the Lonzo hype train, and Lonzo could do about all the things Adame could and for a fraction of the cost, and Hils because that contract might become painful later on after all and this looked like a good opportunity to shed it.

There were a few suitors for either or both of them, principally the Gold Sox, Thunder, and Capitals. The Hils salary itself was a bit of a problem, even for a team like the Gold Sox recently flush in money. When combined with the agile Adame, their combined salaries amounted to $7.4M, which wasn’t an easy fit for most rosters, especially given that the Raccoons had A) a lust for prospects, and B) no cash to sweeten a deal.

There was a deal on the table for Adame to Oklahoma for Mike Harmon, straight up, but Harmon was hardly a prospect and even more expensive than Adame. He was an almost 28-year-old corner outfielder that had been traded twice in the preceding 16 months and was playing a power position while hitting about 13 homers a year. His salary was $2.48M and would go up to $3.4M for each of the next three seasons. The Thunder were too cash strapped to trade for Hils, at least to a degree where a trade would stop making sense; it would require the Raccoons to take on no fewer than three dead contracts (including that of ex-Coon Rico Sanchez) for a ridiculous $3.59M in ’50.

The Gold Sox didn’t have much in terms of prospects that interested me, except for 24-year-old future closer Willie Cruz and 21-year-old Bill Ramires, both of which had already been on the Sox roster without doing too great. Ramires was a high-upside switch-hitting power bat with a decent throwing arm even though his first 45 PA in the Bigs had been no bueno (.233/.227/.279). The right-hander Cruz had a devastating curve that would play under any circumstances. But the only dead contract really there that would make a difference in a trade was that of 35-year-old Panamian C/1B Fernando Alba, who *had* hit for a .795 OPS in ’49, but don’t let that position identifier fool you, he was basically unplayable at either of those positions. To make it worse, he had attitude, insisted on being the starter (at whatever position we’d want), and it was a whole can o’ worms. He was due $3.8M in 2050.

With the Capitals I had my eyes on #15 prospect SP Kennedy Adkins, which was a rather impossible ambition, and they had the smallest budget room of all. There was a rotten contract there with Chris Strohm, who was still hitting, but also a defensive liability, and that even in the middle infield area, where we had all our future hopes. His contract came to $3.6M … twice through ’51.

Apart from that? The Stars were awash in dosh, but didn’t have the right prospect(s) for me, while the damn Elks had two lovely prospects in catcher Luis Miranda and closer Ruben Mendez, but no dead contracts to speak of to offset the contracts we sought to transfer. I tried to fool GM Paul Murphy into a stupid deal by telling him over the phone that, *fine!*, I’d take Jerry Outram off his hooves, but he didn’t fall for it.

The Thunder were the most workable team here. They couldn’t take Hils/Adame in tandem, but we reached a point where the Raccoons would send them Adame and Mike Lynn along with a token non-prospect instead, and receive Harmon, right-handed reliever Danny Landeta (probably another Nate Norris disaster waiting to happen), and an interesting outfield prospect, but not the one I actually wanted – guaranteeing that nobody would be happy. Then the plan would be to somehow grab Willie Cruz from the Gold Sox with Hils and whatever was left.

Getting Mike Lynn out was not the worst idea given his salary and him being peeved at not getting the closer job back in ’49 when he had posted better numbers than Nelson Moreno. Lynn was simply a me-first kinda guy, which is alright as long as he led the CL in saves as he did in 2047, but a problem when you were using him in the eighth inning.

This was probably also the right moment to casually add that we had a few players on the roster that we wouldn’t mind trading for a better future (for us, foremost), but that got no enthusiasm on the shop board, including Victor Merino and Julian Ponce.

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November 18 – The Titans deal SP Dave Serio (19-22, 4.30 ERA) and cash to the Indians for a prospect.
November 23 – After two years in Richmond, 3B/1B Ramon Sifuentes (.281, 141 HR, 777 RBI) returns to the Bayhawks on a 3-yr, $6.84M deal.
November 24 – The freshly-anointed champions from Denver acquire catcher Blake Mickle (.252, 6 HR, 31 RBI) from the Warriors for a prospect.
November 29 – The Crusaders ink former division rival OF Danny Rivera (.275, 205 HR, 848 RBI) away from the Indians with a 7-yr, $32.88M offer. Rivera, 30, who is precisely halfway to 1,500 career hits, spent nine years with the Indians.
November 30 – The Raccoons ink Japanese free agent OF Mikio Suzuki, a 26-year-old left-handed batter, to a $500k contract.
November 30 – The Wolves sign ex-RIC CL Josh Rella (31-29, 3.29 ERA, 262 SV) to a 3-yr, $4.86M contract.
December 1 – Rule 5 Draft: 14 players are selected overall. The Raccoons are not affected.
December 2 – The Bayhawks sign up ex-DEN SP Israel Mendoza (156-152, 3.90 ERA) to a 2-yr, $6.08M contract.

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Yeah, we’re all waiting for the big splash…!

These former Raccoons signed new contracts: Jeff Wilson joined the Gold Sox for $700k; the Cyclones gave Wade Gardner $1.18M over two years; Brian Nigro got $1.12M over two years from the Buffaloes; Chris Robinson got a $464k engagement with the Capitals;