[Westheim]

January was really calm in Portland. The Raccoons were trying to find an edge on a small trade here or there, but it would mostly involve spare bullpen pieces that were potentially out of options, and nobody was too keen on those.

No deals were really done, although we did sniff around Tyler Cass for a while. The Stars were paying him $1.42M to be the backup catcher, which was not a role he was happy with and which would be the same role he’d have with us, so we steered clear of that, even though he was a career .308 batter.

Apart from that Taki had food poisoning, Harmer had the flu, and I had still no final design on what the bullpen would *really* look like in 2054. Five spots were taken, but was Terrell, the Rule 5er, gonna make it? Was Bak, the Korean import? Or did we go out once more and get another arm to add to the puzzle that also included Harmer, Medrano, Reese, Baker, and others?

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January 1 – The Pacifics sign 37-yr old ex-PIT SP Brad Blankenship (108-122, 3.80 ERA) to a 2-yr, $7.04M contract.
January 2 – Former Condors middle infielder Chris Navarro (.291, 12 HR, 370 RBI), who has 1,237 career hits at age 27, signs with the Crusaders for four years and $10.56M.
January 10 – A 2-year deal worth $6.64M buys the Knights a left-handed starter in former Stars and Indians pitcher Carlos Malla (57-72, 3.98 ERA).
January 12 – New York comes up with 36-yr old veteran ex-DEN 3B/2B Ronnie Thompson (.282, 12 HR, 691 RBI) on a $1.6M deal for 2054.
January 16 – The Titans grab a new closer in former IND David Williams (55-47, 3.19 ERA, 223 SV), who signs on for $9.36M over three years.
January 20 – NAS MR Dusty Gaddy (17-19, 4.13 ERA, 18 SV) is reported to have been involved in a gnarly domestic violence incident. The bruises on his chest and his swollen-shut left eye should heal in time though to not affect his season preparation.
January 27 – 31-yr old outfielder Pedro Leal (.266, 126 HR, 537 RBI) joins the club of players returning as free agents to their former teams after half a season away, signing a 3-yr, $5.1M contract with the Rebels after briefly being a Scorpion.

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2054 HALL OF FAME VOTING RESULTS

Two new players were added to the Hall of Fame in the most recent round of voting, both of them in their first year on the ballot.

Dan Schneller was a #2 pick in the 2025 draft, and made his debut with the Indians at age 29. A skilled second baseman and slugger, Schneller took home a lot of silverware in his 20 years in the league, the first of which was the CL Rookie of the Year award in 2029. He would take two Gold Gloves, 14 Platinum Sticks, 12 All Star decorations, and the 2037 Player of the Year award, which was also his last season with the Indians. He also had extended stints with the Bayhawks and Canadiens, but never managed to win the World Series with anybody. He did hit double digit homers for 17 straight seasons, though, and won two home run crowns, an RBI title, and led the league in OBP twice and slugging once, so it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Overall he batted .289/.390/.441 with 2,842 hits, 319 homers, 1,314 RBI, and 101 stolen bases.

To a degree, the Blue Sox’ Billy Bouldin is a perfect match with Schneller. Like Schneller, he was a #2 pick in the draft, albeit in 2029, and debuted in the same season with the Blue Sox, and eventually also played the same 20-year string in the ABL, from 2029 through 2048. He never won a home run title though – in fact, Dan Schneller once hit 36 in a season, more than Bouldin’s career total of 24 longballs. Bouldin took two World Series titles with the Blue Sox in 2037 and 2039, however. A speedy guy (at least until his mid-30s), Bouldin would lead the FL in hits twice and triples three times, and stole bases by the dozen for a while, although he ever led the league in stolen bases. He won the 2037 batting title with a .378 clip, and took three Gold Gloves, three Platinum Sticks, and was an All Star three times. He spent all but two of his 20 seasons with the Sox, touring through three cities in two years in his late 30s before a farewell of just four games with the 2048 Blue Sox at the age of 40.

Full results:

IND 2B Dan Schneller – 1st – 98.7 – INDUCTED
NAS SS Billy Bouldin – 1st – 87.0 – INDUCTED
??? CL Josh Boles – 5th – 51.0
??? CL Chris Henry – 3rd – 50.7
POR LF Manny Fernandez – 1st – 49.0
SAL C Morgan Kuhlmann – 3rd – 25.0
PIT SP Roberto Pruneda – 1st – 19.7
LAP CF Justin Fowler – 9th – 15.0
TOP 1B Chris Delagrange – 1st – 10.7
BOS SP Rich Willett – 2nd – 8.7
DAL SS Jon Ramos – 1st – 8.3
DAL SP Eric Weitz – 3rd – 7.7
VAN C Timóteo Clemente – 1st – 7.7
SAC SS Jesus Banuelas – 1st – 6.3
??? C Adam Horner – 2nd – 3.7 – DROPPED
IND 3B Dan Hutson – 1st – 3.7 – DROPPED
BOS LF Willie Vega – 6th – 3.7 – DROPPED
TOP SP David Elliott – 8th – 3.7 – DROPPED
SFW 2B Mario Colon – 4th – 2.7 – DROPPED
SAC CF Mark Vermillion – 2nd – 1.7 – DROPPED
LVA SP Oscar Valdes – 1st – 1.0 – DROPPED
LAP SS Brian Bowman – 1st – 0.7 – DROPPED
ATL RF John Marz – 1st – 0.7 – DROPPED
POR CL Antonio Prieto – 1st – 0.7 – DROPPED
VAN MR Alexander Lewis – 1st – 0.0 – DROPPED
NAS SP Kevin Stice – 1st – 0.0 – DROPPED