[Westheim]

2057 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set in parenthesis shows 2056 stats, second set career stats; players with an * are off season acquisitions; ^ denotes Kyle Brobeck as a two-way player, who will be listed twice on the roster below):

SP Kennedy Adkins, 32, B:L, T:L (0-2, 4.50 ERA | 86-51, 2.74 ERA) – Good stuff, steady control, keeps it in the ballpark. Won Pitcher of the Year award in 2055, same year he shredded his elbow in September and then missed most of the next (the previous) season, making only two cameos in September of 2056. Will TOTALLY be awesome again now.
SP Seisaku Taki, 29, B:R, T:R (11-15, 3.57 ERA | 61-54, 3.29 ERA) – right-handed groundballer that was imported from Japan to some success, like, uh, winning both Rookie of the Year and Pitcher of the Year in his debut season (like He Shui!), PLUS a Gold Glove. Taki has three very good pitches, throws 95, and should continue to be a delight, even though his ERA keeps creeping up every year. The good news is that he’s in a contract year. The bad news is… that he’s *again* in a contract year and while he’s always had ups and downs, they have been getting upper and downer; f.e. he led the CL in losses in ’56, and he hasn’t pitched a winning season post-2053.
SP Sean Sweeton, 31, B:R, T:R (13-12, 3.28 ERA | 88-69, 3.51 ERA, 1 SV) – acquired from the Scorpions in the sweeping Danny Munn trade, Sweeton brings four good pitches, a solid track record for a slumbering team, and good behavior to the plate. Pitched a silently strong season in his first year in Portland.
SP Craig Kniep, 25, B:R, T:L (9-13, 3.48 ERA | 11-13, 3.68 ERA) – was acquired from the Capitals as a prospect a few years back and arrived as injury replacement for since discarded (sniff!) Raffy de la Cruz, and stuck it out to the end in ’56. Despite not being overly flashy and walking eight in a game at one point, he somehow led the CL in K/9 with a rather modest 8.3 mark.
SP Roberto Oyola *, 32, B:R, T:R (3-11, 5.63 ERA | 49-61, 4.30 ERA, 1 SV) – signed as free agent in March, because his stats in recent times were *that* attractive. I don’t know whether I should boldly proclaim that he’ll totally last the season in the rotation or whether I should just not bother and keep our AAA pitchers sorted out instead.

P/3B Kyle Brobeck, 29, B:S, T:R (7-7, 4.34 ERA, 1 SV | 43-39, 4.34 ERA, 2 SV) – what *is* Kyle Brobeck, for real, though? He’s not a very good starter (though he’s had his moments), and hasn’t been able to hold down a spot in the rotation for very long, ever, and he has been swinging a rather impressive bat at least in limited capacity as a third baseman, but he doesn’t have a very good glove at all. The Raccoons would try to get more of the stick and less of the tossing out of him this year, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not in the cards that Brobeck could start a game at third base and be the first guy in line to take the mound if the starter is knocked out in the third inning. Somehow I feel that none of this is thought out very well.
SP/MR Ivan Ornelas *, 27, B:R, T:R (8-4, 4.53 ERA, 18 SV | 15-10, 4.37 ERA, 20 SV) – acquired from the Condors for Harry Ramsay, Ornelas is a swingman that had limited success as a closer due to a lack of raw stuff, but is very much at the front of the line to replace Oyola in the rotation once that plan inevitably goes up in smoke.
MR Ricky Herrera, 25, B:L, T:L (0-0, 1.69 ERA | 0-0, 1.69 ERA) – former second-rounder with a fastball/slider combo that pitched very nicely in limited action in 2056 and will now have no smaller task than to replace Brett Lillis jr.
MR Takenori Tanizaki, 29, B:R, T:R (4-5, 2.75 ERA | 4-12, 2.85 ERA, 1 SV) – did his work in the pen rather silently, much as that splitter rather silently passes my raking bats.
MR Alex Mancilla *, 33, B:R, T:R (8-9, 5.02 ERA, 3 SV | 32-37, 4.14 ERA, 82 SV) – signed as free agent after being grossly overworked to 89.2 innings by the Crusaders last year, which worsened pretty much all of his stats; should do much better with more careful use.
SU Eloy Sencion, 30, B:L, T:L (4-5, 2.75 ERA | 24-7, 3.11 ERA, 8 SV) – fastball, vicious slider, and by now has firmly established himself in the majors after apparently forgetting how to pitch in 2052 and taking a nosedive all the way to Ham Lake as a 25-year-old. Pitched without many complaints for a few years in a row, although he has to be applied rather carefully against right-handed power hitters…
SU Mike Lane, 29, B:R, T:R (5-2, 2.90 ERA, 3 SV | 21-12, 3.26 ERA, 13 SV) – right-hander with a fastball and curve and quite variable results as far as his K/9 goes, which has been all over the place between 5.7 and 9.3 in his five seasons as a regular with three different teams; Lane was awesome for most of his first year in Portland before foundering late, but who didn’t founder late…?
CL Matt Walters, 26, B:L, T:L (0-2, 1.26 ERA, 45 SV | 6-4, 1.43 ERA, 51 SV) – Rookie of the Year, Reliever of the Year without even being the regular closer in 2055, and while he didn’t win any awards in 2056, he still co-led the CL in saves in his first full season as the stop sign in the ninth inning. Who even cares anymore whether this former #8 pick is technically a failed starter? Unhittable curve and a 94mph heater; more than five strikeouts to every walk in his 126.2 innings over the last two years. I will take that sort of failed starter every day of the week!

C Marcos Chavez, 24, B:R, T:R (.200, 6 HR, 19 RBI | .200, 6 HR, 19 RBI) – nobody likes to pitch to him, quite clumsy, and a free swinger, too, but he hit a pair of dramatic home runs against the damn Elks last July, and that virtually assures him a job on the team as long as he likes.
C Ruben Zamora *, 33, B:R, T:R (.322, 5 HR, 45 RBI | .270, 26 HR, 170 RBI) – career backup catcher with a lot of AAA experience. You never know what you get from his stick (he hit .175 for the 2054 Cyclones), and then there is the trauma that we traded away Raffy for him attached to his persona, too…

1B/RF/LF Gaudencio Callaia, 30, B:L, T:L (.299, 8 HR, 55 RBI | .298, 60 HR, 405 RBI) – excellent defensive first baseman and quality corner outfielder that was acquired at the deadline from the Loggers, when the Raccoons still thought they might go somewhere. Tanked his batting average by 72 points compared to Milwaukee, but who doesn’t? Surplus to requirements in the outfield, and the removal of Harry Ramsay freed up this position for Callaia, although we have multiple outfielders that can also hold down first base without issue.
2B Ryan Allred, 25, B:L, T:R (.311, 1 HR, 17 RBI | .277, 1 HR, 17 RBI) – Year I past Matt Waters sees the Raccoons with a bit of a clusterheck at second base; Ryan Allred certainly hit well enough to claim at least a platoon job at the position on the Opening Day roster, but he’s basically blind against lefty pitching, so that’s that. Average defender at best, but nominally should have some decent speed, although he stole bases at a 25% success rate last season.
SS/3B Lorenzo Lavorano, 29, B:R, T:R (.275, 6 HR, 44 RBI | .286, 30 HR, 389 RBI) – Everybody loves Lonzo! If you don’t love Lonzo, you can’t be my friend…! Has won five stolen base titles in six full (as in: not-injured) seasons, a Gold Glove at least once… and he keeps being a delight in the field and on the career steals list, which he’s racing up at the moment. He came close enough to the single season steals record in ’55 to call it a close miss, and starts the season with 450 bags taken and sitting 16th on the career leaderboard. The chances that he breaks into the top 10 before his 30th birthday (May 3) are not something to bet your house on, but it should happen in the first half this year regardless!
P/3B Kyle Brobeck, 29, B:S, T:R (.287, 5 HR, 22 RBI | .308, 13 HR, 75 RBI) – what *is* Kyle Brobeck, for real, though? He’s not a very good starter (though he’s had his moments), and hasn’t been able to hold down a spot in the rotation for very long, ever, and he has been swinging a rather impressive bat at least in limited capacity as a third baseman, but he doesn’t have a very good glove at all. The Raccoons would try to get more of the stick and less of the tossing out of him this year, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not in the cards that Brobeck could start a game at third base and be the first guy in line to take the mound if the starter is knocked out in the third inning. Somehow I feel that none of this is thought out very well.
3B/RF/SS Daniel Espinoza, 28, B:R, T:R (.248, 1 HR, 15 RBI | .260, 2 HR, 22 RBI) – mostly a defensive backup for the left side of the infield, although this could yet turn into a starting opportunity depending on how quick we’re tiring of Kyle Brobeck’s everyday defense.
2B/3B/SS/RF/CF Arturo Bribiesca, 25, B:R, T:R (.231, 0 HR, 9 RBI | .231, 0 HR, 9 RBI) – Cuban exile that is glove-first and didn’t get many chances to hit in the first place, with only 53 PA to his name in the majors. Also considers ball four a personal insult, and yes, the Raccoons had six months to figure something out about second base, and Bribiesca is the best they could come up with…

LF/RF/1B Trent Brassfield, 24, B:R, T:R (.304, 1 HR, 3 RBI | .278, 16 HR, 72 RBI) – shredded his shoulder two weeks into the 2056 season and didn’t start throwing again until this January; was planned in as rightfield starter previously but with the recurring arm problems gets moved back to leftfield and I will put on a concerned look with curled eyebrows whenever he has to make a throw.
LF/CF/RF Josh Abercrombie *, 30, B:L, T:L (.348, 9 HR, 103 RBI | .317, 33 HR, 412 RBI) – the big trade acquisition from the Miners this winter, Abercrombie is the reigning FL batting champ and poked out 226 hits last season. His best position would be leftfield, but somebody from the starting three needs to play center and it better be Abercrombie, who wants to bat in the middle of the lineup, although I’d rather have him lead off, so somebody is already guaranteed to be cranky and it better be Abercrombie!
LF/RF/1B/CF Alan Puckeridge, 28, B:L, T:R (.302, 16 HR, 78 RBI | .296, 79 HR, 435 RBI) – the Aussie recovered from an awful 2054 season by posting his fourth OPS+ of 130 or better in five full seasons, and reached double digits in each sort of extra-base hit. Also valuable on defense, and luckily signed on the cheap for another three seasons.
LF/RF/CF Oscar Caballero, 33, B:S, T:R (.258, 6 HR, 38 RBI | .267, 65 HR, 564 RBI) – was a free agent for about four months this winter before crawling back in through the back door, but still offers decent hitting and strong defense at all three outfield positions, and can be expected to play regularly against lefty pitchers.
CF/RF/LF/1B Steve Royer, 31, B:S, T:R (.269, 3 HR, 34 RBI | .277, 53 HR, 443 RBI) – spent quite some time batting leadoff last season before completely crashing in the final two months, but was still retained as a (rather luxuriously paid) outfield bat.

On disabled list: Nobody.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement:
SP Ryan Wade, 24, B:R, T:R (2-0, 4.19 ERA | 2-0, 4.19 ERA) – optioned to AAA; former ninth-rounder that was signed as minor league free agent a while back; impressive curveball, but that’s about it.
MR Reynaldo Bravo, 25, B:R, T:R (1-2, 4.09 ERA | 1-2, 5.28 ERA) – waived and DFA’ed; good fastball/curveball, not such a great rotator cuff. Missed most of 2055 and made only a few token appearances in the Bigs over the last two seasons (11.1 IP total), and as a whole seems to get whacked around quite a bit.
MR Adam Harris, 22, B:R, T:L (0-0, 8.10 ERA | 0-0, 8.10 ERA) – optioned to AAA; pitched just a pawful of innings, but could still turn into something with more seasoning.
MR Alex Rios, 23, B:R, T:R (0-0, 4.76 ERA | 0-0, 4.76 ERA) – optioned to AAA; pitched at three different levels and overall walked too many guys, especially with the Raccoons, but the fastball/slider combo could still play up for something.
C Matt Stanton, 26, B:R, T:R (.229, 0 HR, 3 RBI | 229, 0 HR, 3 RBI) – optioned to AAA; average behind the plate, quite below average with the stick, but I had a hunch that we’d see more of him at some point not for his own merits but for a lack of merits by guys that actually made the roster.
2B/RF/LF/CF Daniel Amburn *, 25, B:R, T:R (.185, 0 HR, 6 RBI | .185, 0 HR, 6 RBI) – optioned to AAA; from straight salary dump return (Anton Venegas) to straight dump to AAA. Good defensive second baseman, but little else to write home about.
3B/2B Richard Anderson, 24, B:R, T:R (.111, 0 HR, 1 RBI | .111, 0 HR, 1 RBI) – optioned to AAA; very good defensive third baseman that couldn’t hit, couldn’t run, and couldn’t get more than 20 PA with the Coons late last year.
LF/CF/RF Carlos Solorzano, 25, B:L, T:L (.242, 1 HR, 20 RBI | .232, 1 HR, 29 RBI) – optioned to AAA; solid defender, blistering speed, but he’s never hit much in the majors with 225 PA between the last two seasons.

Everybody not mentioned by now has already been waived, reassigned, or disappeared in a landfill during the offseason.

OPENING DAY LINEUP:

Vs. RHP: 1B Callaia – SS Lavorano – CF Abercrombie – LF Brassfield – RF Puckeridge – 3B Brobeck – 2B Allred – C Chavez – P
(Vs. LHP: LF Abercrombie – SS Lavorano – 1B Brassfield – RF Caballero – 3B Brobeck – CF Royer – C Chavez – 2B Bribiesca – P)

Is it me, or are these lineups getting even mouthier with every year? Anyway, Callaia leading off and Abercrombie third is the version of the lineup that will keep the players happier, even though them switched around might have a better run production. We’ll play it by ear for the first few weeks. Caballero and Royer are switch-hitters on the bench in this setup, while the only right-hander they can get subbed in for would be Brass.

I am not sure whether that hypothetical lefty lineup ever sees the light of day, but it keeps the left-handed batters in the lineup to a minimum. Rather than Brassfield at first, you could have Pucks at first and Abercrombie out, and Royer could bat leadoff again against left-handers, too.

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

BNN gave the Raccoons a -1.0 WAR for the offseason, 13th among all teams. Dumping Venegas’ salary cost 2 WAR as well, and if you claim that the 2.5 WAR contributed by Matt Waters and Brett Lillis jr. last year were not replaced in any way, you’d be correct. The Abercrombie trade added 1.1 WAR.

Top 5: Crusaders (+9.9), Buffaloes (+9.5), Gold Sox (+6.5), Thunder (+4.9), Cyclones (+4.3)
Bottom 5: Falcons (-5.0), Aces (-6.2), Indians (-8.2), Rebels (-11.1), Knights (-11.1)

The rest of the North ranks 9th (BOS, +1.8), 14th (VAN, -1.1), and 16h (MIL, -1.7).

PREDICTION TIME:

The Coons won 102 games in 2055. I was full of apprehension going into last year, expecting them to shed 12 wins. They shed 26. Few things worked out, many players missed much time, the prospects were mostly unsatisfying (exception certainly being Kniep), and it was always “oh well, but next year…!”

Next year has arrived now, we have a mess at three positions in the lineup, no fifth starter to speak of, and few rookies in positions where they shouldn’t be in, plus two key players that missed virtually all of last year and have to piece themselves together again in the first place.

No, the Raccoons are not going to win the division this year. But the roster should still be good enough to win 85 games and build towards better days.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Better days (slightly) in the farm system, where we were moving up four spots from 16th to 12th this year, despite shedding the number of ranked prospects from twelve to eight. However, the number of top 100 prospects was unchanged (four), and those were on average higher ranked than last year.

It didn’t help, of course, that some of the highly ranked prospects from last year graduated to the majors, foremost #42 Marcos Chavez, who was the top prospect in the system last year, but also #155 Ricky Herrera and #170 Alex Rios. Former #135 prospect SP John Blevins, our 2052 third-rounder, exceeded age limits for the prospect rankings, while #186 Jose Villegas was still in the team’s top 10, but no longer in the league’s top 200.

21st (new) – AA CL Elijah LaBat, 23 – 2056 supplemental-round pick by Raccoons
35th (+15) – AAA CL Adam Harris, 22 – 2055 first-round pick by Raccoons
61st (-17) – AAA SP Chance Fox, 22 – 2053 first-round pick by Raccoons
76th (+35) – AAA LF/RF David Flores, 25 – 2052 second-round pick by Raccoons

116th (-24) – AAA SP Ramon Carreno, 21 – 2051 international free agent signed by Raccoons
124th (-2) – AA 1B Forbes Tomlin, 21 – 2054 first-round pick by Raccoons
144th (-32) – AA OF Jose Estrada, 22 – 2051 international free agent signed by Raccoons
186th (-49) – AAA OF Todd Oley, 24 – 2051 second-round pick by Capitals, acquired with Craig Kniep for Tommy Gardner, Brent Cramer, Brian Moore

Completing the franchise top 10 were AAA 3B/2B Richard Anderson (2050 supp. round) and AA SP Jose Villegas (2050 scouting discovery), both 24 years old.

Finally, the top 10 overall prospects this year are:

1st (new) – DAL A OF Tyler Wharton, 19
2nd (-1) – BOS AA SP Jason Brenize, 20
3rd (new) – TIJ A SP Ben Caldwell, 19
4th (new) – BOS A OF Eddie Marcotte, 19
5th (+4) – SFW AAA CL Alex Flores, 22

6th (-3) – DAL AAA SP Ray Walker, 22
7th (+33) – BOS ML C Jorge Arviso, 22
8th (+49) – DAL AAA SP Alex Quevedo, 21
9th (+7) – DAL AAA CL Jon Dominguez, 21
10th (-2) – IND AA INF Matt Kilday, 20

Yes, the Boston and Dallas farms are ranked #1 and #2, respectively, which should not be a surprise for them hogging seven of the top 10 players on the list. They had another ten top 100 players between them.

Wharton was taken #1 in the 2056 draft, where Marcotte was taken at #2, and Caldwell was taken at #5.

That still left six top 10 prospects from last season that were no longer ranked in there this time around. This included some success stories of promotion to the majors, like the Loggers’ Steve Valenzano playing 84 games with the team while batting .231 with one homer after entering last year as the #10 prospect at age 21. Former #4 prospect Josh Elling was promoted by the Wolves as well, and while the right-hander is projected as a starter, he made only 33 bullpen appearances for a 3-1 record and 4.50 ERA.

OF Jose Ambriz slid from #2 to #15 this year, but made the Aces’ Opening Day roster despite not making an appearance for the team so far.

Not in the majors now and perhaps not any time soon: Condors OF Chad Cardwell remains in AA for this Opening Day and slipped from #5 to #17. Similarly, Crusaders outfielder Javier Acuna didn’t make it out of single-A last year and went from #6 to #19 on the list. And Capitals SP Jon Reyes made 27 starts in AA, but remains at the level, slipping four positions from #7 to #11.

Next: first pitch.