[Westheim]

2066 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set in parenthesis shows 2065 stats, second set career stats; players with an * are off season acquisitions;

SP Shoma Nakayama, 28, B:R, T:R (10-18, 3.83 ERA | 10-18, 3.83 ERA) – the Raccoons’ annual attempt to find something big in Japan that would at least hold up reasonably well in the ABL, Nakayama has a well-rounded 4-pitch arsenal with a 94mph heater, good stamina, and fine control. That still made him launch an honest challenge at losing 20+ games for a good chunk of the season before being bailed out by a late winning streak. Getting negative a run and a half of support per game also played a factor.
SP Chance Fox, 31, B:L, T:L (10-8, 3.60 ERA, 1 SV | 87-72, 3.76 ERA, 1 SV) – usually a very competent mid-rotation starter that just happens to insist to get it on the snout really hard at least once a month, Fox came within a 10/5 refusal of a minor league assignment and escaping release mostly by being the longest-serving Raccoon on the roster after a horrendous start of the season, but he turned it around in the second half even though his strikeout numbers were very diminished. Looks like he’s losing the changeup, which might coincide nicely with being granted free agency after this season.
SP Nick Walla, 25, B:R, T:R (7-10, 3.98 ERA | 8-10, 3.84 ERA) – young right-hander throwing 94mph with four complementary pitches, but without a great putaway pitch; Walla had the opposite season trajectory to Fox, being strong early on after replacing an injured Jeff Crowley but progressively imploding towards the end of the season.
SP Juan Sanchez, 31, B:L, T:L (13-13, 4.42 ERA | 97-69, 3.54 ERA) – left-hander acquired in a pointless trade with the Blue Sox in July that is far removed from his early-career excellence which once saw him lead the FL in wins and in fewest homers allowed per nine innings. More of a finesse guy with four well-rounded pitches, and also a free agent after the season.
SP Duarte Damasceno *, 34, B:R, T:R (2-6, 5.36 ERA, 1 SV | 42-44, 4.73 ERA, 7 SV) – just in case you weren’t sure about quite how far away from contention the Raccoons were, they brought back struggling swingman “DD” Damasceno for a second tour of duty and fully intend him to hold up the back end of the rotation.

MR Steven Hudson *, 25, B:R, T:R (no stats) – Rule 5 pick from the Cyclones that brings a sinker/curve arsenal, no ABL experience, and a storied history of being a #58 pick in the draft before being taken off the starter trajectory within 12 months of becoming a pro.
MR Garrett Napolitano *, 23, B:R, T:R (no stats) – Rule 5 pick from the Rebels that was taken in the sixth round of the draft and lasted just over 12 months as a pro starting pitcher. Brings a 90mph fastball and splitter and ill control.
MR Justin Cullum *, 30, B:S, T:R (0-0, 4.30 ERA | 20-13, 4.48 ERA, 18 SV) – budget free agent signing with a fastball/curve combo, some odd saves for three different teams, and a disturbing run of four straight seasons with negative WAR contribution.
MR Ricky McMahan *, 24, B:L, T:L (1-0, 5.23 ERA | 1-0, 5.23 ERA) – the newest attempt to swipe a competent lefty reliever from a CL South team involves McMahan and his erratic cutter and curveball that walked 7.7 per nine innings in his debut season with the Knights. He came over in the Angel Alba deal with Carlos Gutierrez and we can’t wait to find out who gets sent to AAA first.
MR Juan Soriano, 28, B:R, T:R (0-0, 4.35 ERA | 0-1, 3.77 ERA) – since being claimed off waivers from Sacramento in June of ’64, Soriano has only made it into 15 games with the Raccoons, being either hurt or stowed away out of sight in St. Petersburg. Groundballer with a fastball, curve, and (bad) changeup, and a tendency to miss in the dirt.
SU Jesse Dover, 24, B:R, T:R (3-4, 3.55 ERA, 7 SV | 5-7, 2.92 ERA, 12 SV) – the Raccoons four years ago were taken enough by Dover’s fastball and slider that they took him with the #19 pick in the draft and after a cup of coffee in ’63 had themselves a competent if unspectacular reliever in the youngster who aspires to be a closer some day. Maybe he could achieve this dream with some steady pitching in place of some of his loudmouthing.
SU Jeremy Garvey, 33, B:L, T:L (2-2, 2.25 ERA, 7 SV | 22-7, 3.13 ERA, 13 SV) – perhaps the least pointless of the Coons’ pointless midseason acquisitions, being brought in from the damn Elks in May, Garvey did largely steady work in tough spots with his 96mph heater and a sweet curveball.

C Ramon Lopez *, 30, B:R, T:R (.279, 5 HR, 30 RBI | .270, 56 HR, 297 RBI) – the Coons got back a surprisingly competent catcher from the Thunder for the ticking time bomb that was Jeff Crowley. His defense was best described as “serviceable”, and he had a bit of pop, but the most striking feature was his penchant to steal bases. Funnily enough, him and Napolitano were once traded for each other between the Thunder and Rebels.
C Marcos Arellano, 29, B:R, T:R (.275, 4 HR, 26 RBI | .274, 15 HR, 134 RBI) – Arellano mostly tries to curry favor with his defense and was hoping to get the starting catcher’s job back with the departure of Bruce Burkart, but had Lopez plonked in front of his pokey black nose instead.

1B Joel Starr, 33, B:L, T:L (.251, 8 HR, 44 RBI | .277, 117 HR, 516 RBI) – stuck on the roster right now and proven to be untradeable during the winter (leading to Alex Vargas’ demise) after a season of injury and mediocrity, Starr hopefully still has enough juice left to get back on track with churning out extra bases and playing some nice D.
2B/3B/SS/LF Carlos Gutierrez *, 22, B:S, T:R (.286, 0 HR, 4 RBI | .286, 0 HR, 4 RBI) – the next attempt to find a really young contributor in this lineup, Gutierrez was acquired from the Knights along with the lefty McMahan, and brings an exceptional glove at least for a second baseman and the promise that he’ll hit at least .250; power was not guaranteed, but he was at least a tough strikeout and brought *some* speed on the bases
2B/SS/3B Pablo Novelo, 27, B:R, T:R (.290, 3 HR, 44 RBI | .278, 9 HR, 88 RBI) – it took Novelo, a bit of a hotshot acquisition from the Warriors three winters ago, two years to dispatch of Yukio Aoki and Franklin Serrano for the shortstop gig on the crashing Raccoons, which he achieved with heroics like… almost hitting league average. No speed, little flash, but it’ll do for now.
3B/2B/SS Rich Monck, 29, B:L, T:R (.273, 16 HR, 74 RBI | .292, 164 HR, 572 RBI) – like Starr suffered through injury and mediocrity for much of the previous season, and those 16 homers were polished up only with a late rally. For ’66, the CL’s home run champ from two years ago moves back to his best defensive position with the departure of Vic Morales.
1B/2B/3B/SS Jorge Caballero *, 31, B:R, T:R (.208, 0 HR, 0 RBI | .276, 8 HR, 96 RBI) – free agent picked off Poverty Row after a number of lean seasons with the Thunder; he mostly figures as spot guy for lefty sticks on the infield.
2B/3B/SS/RF Joe Gardner, 26, B:S, T:R (.255, 1 HR, 11 RBI | .230, 1 HR, 18 RBI) – defensively versatile, though not excellent at any position, and a switch-hitter, albeit with no power and no interesting splits to speak of, Gardner mostly hung on to the roster because he was out of options and Ryan Bonner very wasn’t…

LF/1B/RF Malcolm Spicer, 21, B:L, T:L (.282, 0 HR, 39 RBI | .288, 1 HR, 45 RBI) – looted from the Thunder in the Nick Nye trade at the deadline in 2062, Spicer won the leftfield gig with a convincing call-up in September of 2064 and went on to win the stolen base title in his rookie season… which is also where the good news end, because he was hitting way under league average while doing so, provoking incessant Yoshi Yamada comparisons, and his defense was flatout garbage even though it was not accentuated with the colossal pie of errors that got Vic Morales outta town. We are entirely not sure where to go with him right now, so he just keeps starting in leftfield and piling up negative WAR (-1.3 in 2065) for the Coons!
RF/CF/LF Jaden Wilson *, 29, B:L, T:L (.279, 9 HR, 60 RBI | .296, 48 HR, 297 RBI) – acquired from the Aces for Vic Morales, Wilson is part of a surprisingly strong intake of talent for a team that lost 91 games last year and was threatening to do so again this season. He was a strong defender, a steady well-above-average batter, and put the cherry on top with some stealing ability, to the point where we were wondering how he cost only $3M this year and then $4.48M through 2069.
RF/LF Jose Corral, 25, B:L, T:L (.232, 10 HR, 34 RBI | .267, 39 HR, 184 RBI) – after two seasons of hitting well above league average and the Coons thinking they had something, Corral crashed and burned prodigiously in 2065. Besides being hurt, he was cursed with a terrible BABIP, but even then dropped his walk rate and struggled to hit for power. Like with Spicer, the Raccoons had but few options but to keep going with him.
LF/RF/CF Tommy Branch *, 31, B:R, T:R (.206, 10 HR, 45 RBI | .224, 123 HR, 538 RBI) – expensive veteran presence in the final year of his contract acquired from the Gold Sox; always a spotty hitter with both power and the zinging speed that made him a league leader in triples in either league at different points in his career, Branch’s all-or-nothing “mourir pour la France” approach at the plate is sure to get some spotlight in him frequently subbing for the left-handed corner boys.
RF/LF/1B/2B/3B/CF/SS Randy Tallent, 29, B:R, T:R (.253, 4 HR, 34 RBI | .217, 17 HR, 87 RBI) – super utility that was never going to hit much of anything, but would still get another 200+ at-bats due to his right-handedness. At least he scrabbled together +1.4 WAR somehow while having neither a lobby nor any friends, without even going into puns involving his name.

On disabled list:
MR Cruz Madrid, 34, B:R, T:R (1-2, 5.04 ERA, 1 SV | 51-43, 4.22 ERA, 109 SV) – much hope was placed on this 2065 veteran free agent signing with a cutter/fork combo, but he was on the struggle bus all year long until blowing out his elbow in August; expected to miss the entire final season on his contract.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement:
MR Josh Carrington, 24, B:L, T:R (0-1, 4.91 ERA | 0-1, 4.91 ERA) – optioned to AAA; the #31 pick from last year’s draft had a speedrun to the majors with 33 games in AAA and 13 more for the Coons in September, culminating in blowing a Closing Day lead with two homers in an Indians walkoff. Sent back for some more seasoning, he is widely expected to rejoin the roster in a few months, perhaps once I stop calling him Josh Cunningham.
MR Rich Read, 28, B:R, T:R (0-0, 3.00 ERA | 2-2, 4.63 ERA, 1 SV) – waived and DFA’ed; his stuff has not played in the majors across a number of short-term assignments, and I no longer have a hunch that he’s ever gonna be claimed off waivers.
C Miguel Guinea, 26, B:L, T:R (.333, 0 HR, 2 RBI | .236, 0 HR, 4 RBI) – waived and DFA’ed; lackluster batter with rather average defense that only slipped into a September call-up because Bruce Burkart was out of commission – for the second season in a row.
2B Ryan Bonner, 23, B:R, T:R (.333, 0 HR, 4 RBI | .333, 0 HR, 4 RBI) – optioned to AAA; shaky defense and a wealth of options made him lose out on the final roster spot compared to Joe Gardner after a solid cameo as young singles slapper late in ’65.
RF/LF/1B John Bentley, 26, B:L, T:L (.301, 4 HR, 19 RBI | .301, 4 HR, 19 RBI) – optioned to AAA; little range as a defender, no way to put him at first base, and little willingness to run with an outfield of all lefty sticks did not only send Bentley to the minors.
CF/RF/LF Carlos Matas, 25, B:L, T:L (.246, 2 HR, 12 RBI | .246, 2 HR, 12 RBI) – optioned to AAA; little hunger for another skilled defensive centerfelder, no way to put him at first base, and little willingness to run with an outfield of all lefty sticks did not only send Matas to the minors.
1B/LF/RF/3B Jamie Colter, 24, B:L, T:R (.315, 1 HR, 13 RBI | .315, 1 HR, 13 RBI) – optioned to AAA; little range as a defender, no way to put him at first base, and little willingness to run with an outfield of all lefty sticks did not only send Colter to the minors.

Everybody not mentioned by now has already been waived, reassigned, or swallowed up by merciful Mother Earth by now.

OPENING DAY LINEUP:

(Vs. RHP: CF Wilson – LF Spicer – C Lopez – 3B Monck – 1B Starr – SS Novelo – RF Corral – 2B Gutierrez (Gardner/Caballero) – P)
Vs. LHP: CF Wilson – SS Novelo – C Lopez – 3B Monck – LF Branch – 1B Starr – 2B Caballero – RF Tallent – P

What a terrifying roster to build a lineup against a southpaw with. Ramon Lopez might not bat third on merit against right-handers but you gotta *somehow* break up the lefty barrage of Wilson, Spicer (or Corral if he can figure out all four of his paws again), Monck, and Starr. Wilson was a strong leadoff man against any pitcher. Both Gutierrez and Gardner were also stronger against right-handers, which gave Caballero an opening to start against southpaws.

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

The Raccoons had a rather meh offseason according to BNN, who ranked them 12th with a -0.5 WAR in total. The biggest L was the departure of Bruce Burkart (-2.8), while the Thunder trade for Ramon Lopez (+2.0) and the Aces trade for Jaden Wilson (+1.2) stood out on the positive side. The Coons *lost* WAR with their limited free agent signings, but I would describe the trades made mostly as savvy, except for the second trade with the Knights for “DD” Damasceno, which cost -0.3 WAR.

Top 5: Capitals (+15.3), Knights (+7.5), Gold Sox (+7.3), Buffaloes (+4.0), Falcons (+4.0)
Bottom 5: Thunder (-5.4), Miners (-6.1), Warriors (-7.4), Rebels (-7.5), Loggers (-11.4)

The poor Loggers suffered almost -12 WAR from losing three starting pitchers, half of that from Tipsy Bobby and the rest split between Adam Lunn and Carlos Rodriguez, who had to retire after his arm came off. Their free agent signings were dull, but at least not worth negative WAR…

The rest of the CL North was found in 6th (NYC, +3.6), 8th (IND, +3.3), 9th (BOS, +2.9), and 16th (VAN, -2.4).

PREDICTION TIME:

I didn’t even really make a prediction last year, perhaps foreseeing nothing good on the horizon. The Raccoons remained a mess on the pitching side – we’re now what, five years into persistent bullpen turmoil? – and then the key pieces in the offense all got hurt for months on end, and that was before we ran out Spicer every day for the vainest of glories, the stolen base title.

The rotation looks uninspiring (and reduced by Elling in July and Alba in the winter), the bullpen is held together entirely with duct tape, and we are banking on three key pieces to get their 2064 form back if we want to score any runs. And that was before we’d run out Spicer every day for the vainest of glories, the stolen base title.

The Coons did not look like they’d win more than 75 games this year.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

After some years of persistently sliding down the rankings, the Coons’ farm system made a big jump from 16th to 3rd over the last 12 months, which was something trading for prospects did in the best cases. This jump even came with several of our top prospects from last year migrating to full time duty on the major league roster, including top prospect (and #37 overall) Nick Walla and #111 Malcolm Spicer. Even #154 Ryan Bonner lost eligibility by a single day.

Only two of the seven Raccoons prospects that were ranked last year (four in the top 100 and two in the top 50) remained ranked this season, with #44 Alexis Barron and #197 Eric Siebert dropping out of the top 200 (and even the franchise top 10).

4th (new) – AA INF A.J. Taylor, 21 – 2064 supplemental round pick by Thunder, acquired with Ricky Baca, George van Otterdijk for Josh Elling, Jack Kozak, Tetsu Kurihara
8th (new) – AAA CL Josh Carrington, 24 – 2065 supplemental round pick by Raccoons
19th (new) – A SS/3B Phil Townsend, 19 – 2065 first-round pick by Raccoons
70th (new) – AAA INF Josh Mireles, 20 – 2061 July IFA signed by Raccoons
87th (-32) – AA INF Brian Hills, 20 – 2064 second-round pick by Raccoons
91th (-22) – A C Andrew Farlow, 20 – 2064 first-round pick by Raccoons
98th (new) – AAA SP Tony Gaytan, 22 – 2059 July IFA signed by Raccoons
171st (new) – A LF/RF George van Otterdijk, 21 – 2061 July IFA signed by Thunder, acquired with A.J. Taylor, Ricky Baca for Josh Elling, Jack Kozak, and Tetsu Kurihara

The top 10 for the franchise were completed by INT SP Crispino D’Urso (2065 July IFA signing), A UT Tony Santiago (2061 scouting discovery), and AA OF Jesus Guerrero (2063 July IFA signing);

Finally, the top 10 overall prospects this year are:

#1 (new) – PIT A SP Brian Jones, 19
#2 (+46) – VAN A INF Roberto Barraza, 19
#3 (new) – TIJ ML MR Matt Guadagno, 24
#4 (-2) – POR AA SS/3B A.J. Taylor, 21
#5 (+12) – RIC AAA OF Juan Licona, 20

#6 (new) – RIC A SP Jayden Beck, 21
#7 (new) – SAC AA SP Eric Stengel, 22
#8 (new) – POR AAA CL Josh Carrington, 24
#9 (+89) – WAS A 1B Armando Curiel, 19
#10 (-6) – WAS AAA C Manuel Rodriguez, 22

For new arrivals to the rankings, Brian Jones had been the #4 pick in the 2065 draft, one spot ahead of Beck, and another spot ahead of Stengel, while Guadagno had been taken at #16, and Carrington at #31 of the 2065 draft. Licona had been the #10 prospect in 2064 before dipping to #17 last year.

This left a whopping eight of last year’s top 10 outside of the scope, as usual for varying reasons, good and bad, although for once there were at least no catastrophic injuries involved.

It could hardly go better for a #1 prospect than Carlos Dominguez’ 2065 season. He made the Opening Day roster for the Loggers and played the full season in rightfield, winning the batting title with a .355 clip and ten homers. The Blue Sox’ Tony Marquez, #8 on last year’s edition of the rankings, also made his team’s Opening Day roster, but had his struggles, pitching to an 8-6 record with 4.56 ERA, and was for a while sent back to AAA, but was back on the Opening Day roster now. #10 prospect, outfielder Ian Streng, promoted to the Bayhawks midseason, batting .260 with five homers in 71 games and remaining on the roster for the new season.

For a mixed case, the #7 prospect Alex Mendez, an Indians first baseman, jumped all the way from AA to the majors midseason, but after hitting .266 with three homers found himself assigned to AAA for the first time in his career as the new season broke. These four players had all run out of eligibility on service time grounds.

The remaining four top 10 boys had all been in single-A 12 months ago. The Aces outfielder Alfredo Rosado moved up to AA on schedule, but slipped from #3 to #13, much like the Titans’ outfielder Manuel Garcia, but Garcia had a bigger struggle in AA and a bigger slip consequently, going from #5 to #28. Buffaloes SP Jaden Kelly did not make it out of single-A last season (but was assigned to AA now), and struggled with command so badly he crashed from #6 to #58. The Cyclones’ SP John Robinson had similar issues with control and only getting to AA to begin the new season, but had struck out almost 11 batters per nine in single-A and went “only” from #9 to #40.

Next: first pitch.