[Westheim]

The Raccoons slept on Ricardo Montoya and Casey Ramsey, but just ahead of the winter meetings won the services of Shoma Nakayama, who also came without stamina issues. Unbothered by such minisculities, the Crusaders had by then thrown $53M at starters that were a stretch to go six innings at a time.

In other news, Jack Kozak changed his number from an afterthought’s #43 to a more competitive #6, giving the Raccoons a full TWO current players with single-digit numbers, of which only four were available at all at this point. Nakayama in the meantime grabbed #26, which had last been worn by Jeff Applecore.

Further down the pile of shame, Isaac McDaniel suffered a broken nose and chipped tooth stepping on a rake while cleaning up his garden before winter came, which was not expected to impact his readiness for Opening Day, although the chipped tooth meant he could only eat liquids and whatever fit into the blender for a few days, causing him immediate and life-threatening weight loss for sure.



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December 1 – The Crusaders snatch up ex-SFW SP Ricardo Montoya (160-66, 2.71 ERA) for two years and $11.4M.
December 3 – Atlanta secures the services of ex-TIJ SS Casey Ramsey (.299, 73 HR, 548 RBI) for $22.4M over four years.
December 4 – The Raccoons grab 27-year-old right-hander Shoma Nakayama, a free agent from Japan, for $18M over five years.
December 4 – The Crusaders rush to sign another starting pitcher with low stamina, throwing $41.7M over six years at ex-OCT SP Jerry Washington (57-46, 3.00 ERA, 111 SV).
December 4 – Former Knights OF/1B Jesus Martinez (.255, 109 HR, 452 RBI) signs a $2.44M deal for just 2065 with the Falcons.
December 8 – The Crusaders sign former Warriors 2B Mike DeFusco (.273, 102 HR, 731 RBI) to a 2-year deal worth $5.68M. DeFusco and Montoya were teammates in Sioux Falls for 12 years and would continue to do so in New York.
December 9 – The Knights grab ex-BOS 2B/3B Nick Nye (.311, 214 HR, 952 RBI) on a 2-yr, $12.2M contract.
December 10 – Vancouver signs former Rebels and Indians LF/RF Nick Vaughn (.272, 132 HR, 489 RBI) to a $20.8M deal over five years.
December 10 – OF Tony Garcia (.288, 6 HR, 144 RBI) is traded from L.A. to Charlotte along with $900k in cash for INF Adan Yniguez (.264, 9 HR, 98 RBI) and a prospect.
December 10 – The Indians trade C/1B Alex Gomez (.252, 96 HR, 465 RBI) to the Aces for 32-yr old infielder Miguel Falcon (.245, 3 HR, 47 RBI) and #120 prospect SP Jorge Flores.
December 11 – The Thunder sign up ex-DAL SP Jose Ortega (114-89, 3.81 ERA) for four years and $12.48M.
December 11 – The Loggers acquire SP Nick Waldron (7-13, 3.92 ERA) from the Scorpions for two prospects including #180 SP Josh Richardson.
December 12 – The Miners acquire outfielder Sal Andon (.292, 13 HR, 73 RBI) from the Knights for SP Andres Lopez (53-73, 4.33 ERA) and #40 prospect SP Ricky McMahan.
December 12 – In a different move, the Knights deal infielder Ralph Lange (.249, 37 HR, 210 RBI) to the Pacifics for the services of MR Bill Cortez (3-1, 4.37 ERA, 1 SV) and the same unranked prospect that L.A. received from the Falcons two days earlier.
December 13 – Ex-VAN/ATL 1B Jose Campos (.270, 162 HR, 680 RBI) joins the Miners on a 4-yr, $17.6M deal.
December 14 – The Raccoons acquire 2B/SS Franklin Serrano (.288, 26 HR, 193 RBI) from the Cyclones in exchange for OF Rafael Valencia (.249, 6 HR, 42 RBI).

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The Cyclones came up with that minor deal at the end of the winter meetings there. I had no designs for either player, but spicing up the Novelo/Aoki battle for shortstop with another guy struggling to hit league average sounded like a thing I’d do.

We were still sounding out the free agent market for old-age starting pitchers at this point, and were not close to signing any bullpen reinforcements at all, despite not blowing $7M on Montoya to begin with.

Instead the Gold Sox blew $4.62M (over three years) on Justin DeRose, so who was the league’s biggest idiot now??

Please also peruse the Hall of Fame ballot, which at the top included another player spending a few years with the Raccoons, including one ring season at the very end of the five-pennants dynasty, Alex Adame.