[Westheim]

2070 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set in parenthesis shows 2069 stats, second set career stats; players with an * are off season acquisitions;

SP Nick Walla, 29, B:R, T:R (11-18, 3.80 ERA | 55-62, 3.50 ERA) – Walla has five good pitches, and came close to an ERA title in 2068 before a late fade derailed the campaign, and he would be even better if he had a wipeout pitch in his arsenal. Too many homers allowed (though not remotely close to Gaytan), and last year he couldn’t buy himself a run if he needed one, so he came pretty close to leading the league in losses. He’s signed to a long, team-friendly deal so he better abandon all hope now.
SP Vinny Morales, 28, B:S, T:R (10-9, 3.92 ERA | 19-19, 3.78 ERA) – returned from the list of busted prospects as a midseason replacement in 2068 and suddenly managed to pitch competently at the major league level, even though his strikeouts were rather few and far between. Good control, but tends to give up dingers and doesn’t have a lot of stamina.
SP Tony Gaytan, 26, B:R, T:R (11-16, 3.99 ERA | 33-50, 4.17 ERA) – “Bombs Away!” Gaytan gave up almost as many homers (36) as walks (38) in 2069, which is already almost all that you need to know about him. We also signed him to a cheap 4-year deal just a month earlier, so that act and the accompanying funny music will keep playing in Portland a while longer.
SP Jimmy Wharton, 23, B:L, T:L (7-5, 4.41 ERA | 7-5, 4.41 ERA) – former #4 pick debuted ahead of schedule in the middle of last year and was beaten around quite a bit; command is not where it needs to be, and he’s still honing the curve/slider combo that should make him an effective weapon. Maybe by the end of this year?
SP Ian Lowry *, 30, B:R, T:R (8-12, 4.36 ERA | 49-89, 4.56 ERA) – this year’s rental on the cheap spent most of his career on the Wolves, partially explaining that record, and I can’t make any promises that it’s gonna get better yet. Lowry at least has a good cutter and slider to generate groundballs, so some actual defense should help him.

SP/MR Javy Carpio *, 32, B:R, T:R (5-4, 3.08 ERA, 3 SV | 17-13, 3.89 ERA, 5 SV) – four-pitch pitcher from Cuba that hung around the Rebels for the last seven years, but repeatedly passed through waivers untouched. When he started he was rather ineffective, but maybe he can present value in a multiple-inning role.
SP/MR Gabriel Rios, 28, B:L, T:L (4-1, 2.35 ERA, 1 SV | 18-20, 3.68 ERA, 2 SV) – Rios wants to start, and we always muse that Rios could start, but whenever Rios does start, it’s usually a disaster. While he reigned in the terrible control and 5.8 BB/9 he showed when he *did* start for most of the 2067 season, we’re not necessarily dying to get back to that unhappy place.
MR Edgar Gutierrez *, 27, B:L, T:R (no stats) – free agent signing out of Mexico with a good circle change and a curve that’s not curving very well. Control should be good, and maybe we can have a good seventh-inning option here.
MR Victor Ramirez *, 38, B:R, T:R (2-12, 5.98 ERA, 17 SV | 52-55, 4.27 ERA, 35 SV) – free agent signing that got NO defense from the Loggers’ lumber department last season (.377 BABIP) and should do better with an infield with a full set of paws behind him. If no, then he was at least relatively cheap.
SU Danny Nava, 28, B:R, T:R (3-1, 1.92 ERA | 41-30, 3.43 ERA, 50 SV) – this four-pitch righty that led the FL in saves in 2065 and then started 28 games the year after that came over from the Thunder in July 2068 and managed to pitch 22.2 innings for the Critters with ZERO walks (!!), which didn’t mean he didn’t give up some runs through other means. The flyball pitcher’s stats were more reasonable, but he struck out 5.4 batters for every walk and wasn’t constantly being taken over the fence, so that alone makes him a strong eighth-inning option on this team.
SU Ricky McMahan, 28, B:L, T:L (3-3, 2.91 ERA | 17-13, 3.38 ERA, 10 SV) – steady work from this left-hander who shook off his awful control issues a few years ago and is now usually not a reason for concern.
CL Pedro Valentin, 30, B:S, T:R (3-1, 1.62 ERA, 39 SV | 23-16, 2.69 ERA, 108 SV) – led the FL in saves in his first Coons year in 2068 after being acquired in that mixed-bag deal with the Cyclones along with Jared Duhe and “Rated-R” Rautenstrauch, and is the last piece of that deal still actually with the team (which also means he missed out on two rings in Cincy while trying to keep this pig stye together, hey-ho). He brings a GORGEOUS curveball and a 96mph heater and I don’t really have any complaints about anything right now (!) …

C Jake Flowe, 27, B:L, T:R (.303, 6 HR, 37 RBI | .278, 21 HR, 116 RBI) – Flowe’s second season as primary catcher saw him hit .303, which was barely enough for an above-average OPS. Not that power we hoped we were gonna get, and he’s *fine* but not *great* behind the dish. An upgrade was not in the wallet, though.
C/3B Willie Jalomo, 23, B:S, T:R (.250, 0 HR, 2 RBI | .250, 0 HR, 2 RBI) – a decently defensive young catcher that didn’t really hit a lot and somehow wiggled into a roster spot with the peculiar ability to play third base, also symptomatic of a team that has 40% of its budget invested in just four players and has to cut corners with everything else. Then again, we were not exactly thrilled by any of our 1-year rentals those last couple of years.

1B Jerry Morejon *, 28, B:L, T:L (.281, 15 HR, 64 RBI | .277, 81 HR, 358 RBI) – somehow, in January, the answer to “what’s next after 11 years of Joel Starr at first?” became Morejon, who split 2069 between the Rebs and Warriors, and came over in a trade with the latter. He’s weird in that he is speedy on the bases, but does not do a lot with the glove and his power is not extraordinary, so I don’t think he’ll last as long as Starr.
1B/LF/RF/2B/3B/CF/SS Carlos Fumero, 28, B:R, T:R (.285, 7 HR, 48 RBI | .305, 29 HR, 422 RBI) – former Rookie of the Year and defensive Swiss Army knife that was acquired from the Knights a year ago for Jaden Wilson and started a lot at second base, but we kinda evolved past that and now he figures to platoon with Morejon when he’s not subbing elsewhere or we fill the DL again.
2B/SS/3B Adam Yocum *, 29, B:R, T:R (.298, 0 HR, 41 RBI | .325, 6 HR, 492 RBI) – acquired from the Warriors in a different deal than Morejon, Yocum brings elite on-base, single-slapper skills and combines it with a steady glove and a positive attitude. He’ll need it.
3B/LF/RF J.P. Gallo, 31, B:S, T:R (.232, 18 HR, 82 RBI | .247, 155 HR, 653 RBI) – Gallo returns as third baseman after a productive first half and a second half where we kept looking for a pulse and never found one. His defense also seems to be breaking up, but the good news is that he’ll be a free agent after the season.
2B/3B/SS/CF John Katzman *, 25, B:R, T:R (.287, 11 HR, 72 RBI | .283, 48 HR, 316 RBI) – the Raccoons paid dearly and a lot to get Katzman away from the Wolves where his talents were largely wasted; while short is not his best position, it’s better this way round than with Yocum at short. Katzman can hit for a high average with power and brings speed and nimble paws to turn the double play, and he’s somehow only 25 and signed to a *relatively* friendly contract given his offensive output!
2B/SS/3B/RF Josh Mireles, 24, B:R, T:R (.195, 1 HR, 9 RBI | .195, 1 HR, 9 RBI) – the Raccoons ran out of money before they could get another proper backup infielder, so we’ll have to make do with Mireles, who hit NOTHING in 128 at-bats as a rookie. At least he’s a good gloveman, and he might enter quite a few games as defensive replacement.

LF/RF/CF Steve Humphries *, 33, B:R, T:R (.299, 14 HR, 63 RBI | .277, 77 HR, 518 RBI) – the Raccoons shoveled $36M into the oven to sign the former Titans outfielder as free agent, making him the chronologically first big addition to the roster before the trades for infielders were made. Humphries is a 5-time Gold Glover that still roams leftfield like a young one, and he brings some experience in how you win a title, or don’t suck in general, which this team needs. He is also an elite OBP hitter, and will bat leadoff for the team.
CF Tyler Wharton, 32, B:R, T:R (.308, 29 HR, 82 RBI | .327, 304 HR, 1,215 RBI) – TYLER WHARTON!! Okay, the start in Portland was slow for the 7-time FL Player of the Year, and then he went on the DL, at which point the team simply collapsed. Had a strong second half though, up to standards almost, and if he got a good start this year I wasn’t sure why he shouldn’t bop more homers than Gaytan was giving up on the other end.
RF Jose Corral, 29, B:L, T:L (.241, 12 HR, 58 RBI | .265, 92 HR, 407 RBI) – horrendous 2069 season that we don’t really want to talk about again, where he somehow managed to post a negative WAR and that’s how he’s now fallen into a platoon with van Otterdijk.
RF/LF George van Otterdijk, 25, B:R, T:R (.299, 11 HR, 43 RBI | .284, 12 HR, 48 RBI) – here’s a secret: we don’t really know what to do with the young Dutch Antillean, who suddenly slugged in the second half, but who is also rather dim on defense and is royally offended by the idea of ball four.
LF/CF/RF Benito Otal, 25, B:L, T:L (.263, 6 HR, 42 RBI | .266, 8 HR, 61 RBI) – quirky and speedy defensive outfielder, including competence in center, who hit for more than expected during his rookie half-season, but in 2069 went from bench to starting lineup to sucking and back to the bench. One of the many filler players on this team.

On disabled list: Nobody.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement:
MR Mike Davis, 26, B:R, T:R (0-0, 0.82 ERA | 0-0, 0.82 ERA) – optioned to AAA; right-hander with a sinker and slider that didn’t perform well at all in St. Pete last season, and somehow escaped damage in Portland where he walked seven guys in 11 innings.
MR Jason Holzmeister, 25, B:S, T:R (4-1, 3.41 ERA | 9-4, 4.04 ERA) – optioned to AAA; former Rule 5 pick that can only hold onto a job when the only other options are to shoot him in the knee or send him back to the Falcons.
MR Matt Schmieder, 28, B:R, T:R (1-2, 5.36 ERA | 3-5, 5.31 ERA) – waived and DFA’ed; this Alabama righty brings a very good curveball, but he can miss pretty badly both outside the strike zone and inside it, too; gave up eight homers in 47 garbage innings last year.
MR Antonio Pacheco, 23, B:L, T:L (1-0, 1.64 ERA | 1-0, 1.64 ERA) – optioned to AAA; this left-hander did dazzle with the knuckle curve at the end of last season, but we also know what his walk numbers were in AA and AAA that same season (hint: not pretty) and maybe a bit more seasoning will help him.
SP/MR Juan Vega, 27, B:R, T:R (0-0, 1.50 ERA | 0-0, 2.57 ERA) – optioned to AAA; four muddy pitches and a vicious attitude that I can’t bother dealing with.
1B Dan Gomez, 25, B:L, T:L (.278, 4 HR, 17 RBI | .278, 4 HR, 17 RBI) – optioned to AAA; run-of-the-mill first-sacker that would have made the roster in the platoon with Fumero (and more as a placeholder than anybody expected to bring actual value) if we hadn’t somehow tumbled into possession of Jerry Morejon late in the offseason.
1B/LF/RF/3B Jamie Colter, 28, B:L, T:R (.286, 0 HR, 1 RBI | .268, 8 HR, 52 RBI) – waived and DFA’ed; surely not the worst type of contact bat and versatile on defense, but the Raccoons were not interested in spare left-handed bench bats at this point…

Everybody not mentioned by now has already been waived, reassigned, or sacrificed to the baseball gods this offseason.

OPENING DAY LINEUP:

Vs. RHP: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Morejon (Fumero) – 3B Gallo – RF Corral (van Otterdijk) – C Flowe – P
(Vs. LHP: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – RF van Otterdijk – 3B Gallo – 1B Fumero – C Flowe – P)

The lineup has tilted to the right with a completely new 1-2-3 punch, all of whom are right-handed batters. Fumero and van Otterdijk are even additional right-handed options. The boys will probably decide who plays how often in those platoons, and they’re not gonna be broken down just by handedness. The hot paw plays. None of the switch-hitters (Gallo, Jalomo) is particularly *good* against lefty pitching, so they’re not helping as much as they could be.

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

The Raccoons “won” the offseason again according to BNN, and don’t they ever? It just never turns into rings. The Coons gained +12.1 WAR, of which the Humphries signing was half. While the Yocum deal was almost WAR-neutral, we gained another +5.3 WAR on Katzman, and then +2.4 more on the Morejon trade. The Caprio trade with the Rebs was +1.5 WAR, partially just by getting rid of Rated-R. Starr and Leggett (going out) and Lowry (coming in) were all worth north of 1 WAR in one direction or another.

Top 5: Raccoons (+12.1), Crusaders (+11.8), Buffaloes (+9.1), Warriors (+5.2), Thunder (+5.0)
Bottom 5: Rebels (-7.6), Miners (-7.7), Wolves (-8.5), Falcons (-8.8), Cyclones (-8.9)

The remaining CL North teams were all over the map. The Indians came seventh with +4.7 WAR, followed by the damn Elks in eighth with +4.0 WAR. The Loggers might as well have stayed home (12th, -0.1 WAR), and the Titans took quite the beating, 19th with -7.2 WAR.

PREDICTION TIME:

Last year I thought the team might win 90 and they didn’t come bloody close. The perspective has changed a bit now, with all the contracts that we have accumulated for an actual lineup that might actually score runs. Big Wharton, Yocum, Humphries, and Katzman are all signed through 2074 (2075 for Katzman), and that’s gonna be our window now. If we don’t ignite immediately, and with the rickety pitching I don’t think we will, then the window might be closer to three years, because good luck trading Humphries and Wharton once they’re 35.

But yeah, the team should be a lot better now, and I will make two predictions actually. One is that we’re at least competitive and win 86 games, and the other is that we actually score 4.4 runs per game. That would be 713 runs for a full season.

(despaired smile)

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Of course the flurry of trades in the winter had costs. The Raccoons had the best ranked minor league system a year ago, but for various reasons then took the axe to it, and now are left with the fifth-worst ranked farm in the league.

Last year we had 11 ranked prospects, of which eight were in the top 100, and four even in the top 20. No top 20 prospect remains, we barely have a top 50 prospect, and only three top 100 and eight ranked prospects in total are still on the books.

For removals from the list we had a pair that matured to the majors in #5 Jimmy Wharton and #92 Josh Mireles, where they did so and so. But the big wrecking ball to the farm came in the offseason, where we traded away all of #2 Nelson Aguilar, #20 Oscar Gaitan, #79 Phil Townsend, and #163 Adam Quebbeman. On top of that, injury reduced the #66 rating of Val Centeno to nothing, and #188 Jack Hamel quietly slipped out.

50th (-35) – AA CL Noah Newhard, 21 – 2068 supplemental round pick by Raccoons
57th (+92) – A SS/3B Danny Reyes, 18 – 2067 scouting discovery by Raccoons
89th (new) – A LF/INF/CF Rob Robinson, 19 – 2069 fourth-round pick by Raccoons
138th (new) – AA RF/LF Isaac Bishop, 22 – 2069 first-round pick by Raccoons
142nd (-48) – AAA OF Jesus Guerrero, 23 – 2063 July IFA signing by Raccoons
151st (new) – AA SP/MR Mike Pavan, 23 – 2069 supplemental round pick by Raccoons
157th (new) – A 2B/SS Ismael Tenorio, 19 – 2067 scouting discovery by Raccoons
160th (new) – A INF Omar Vigil, 19 – 2067 scouting discovery by Raccoons

The franchise top 10 were completed by AAA SP Val Centeno (23, 2065 July IFA) and A RF/LF Kory Steiner (19, 2068 fifth round).

Finally, the top 10 overall prospects this year are:

#1 (new) – TOP AA CL Brent Shaw, 19
#2 (+1) – SFB ML OF/1B Ryan Redding, 20
#3 (+1) – TOP AAA OF Javier Velazquez, 22
#4 (-2) – SAL A OF/1B Nelson Aguilar, 19
#5 (+2) – OCT AA RF/INF/CF Jay Moore, 21

#6 (+3) – DAL AA INF Carlos Saldana, 22
#7 (+6) – SFW AAA SP Juan Arreola, 25
#8 (+2) – VAN AA SP Alex Tabares, 21
#9 (-3) – BOS AAA CL Jay Krenek, 22
#10 (+74) – MIL AA SP Danny Ramirez, 21

Shaw was the #1 pick in the 2069 draft – and the only new professional on the list, which was truly a rare occasion. Seven of the ten had already been a top 10 prospect last year. The other three promoted to the majors; last year’s top prospect CL Gustavo Vega reached Sacramento mid-season and made 25 relief appearances for a 3.41 ERA. #5 SP Jimmy Wharton made 14 starts for a 4.41 ERA with the Raccoons. And #8 CL Kelvin Castillo made his debut mid-season with the Gold Sox and pitched to a 4.82 ERA in 35 relief appearances with two saves.

Both #4 Nelson Aguilar (from Portland to Salem) and #8 Alex Tabares (from Richmond to Vancouver) were traded this winter.

Next: first pitch.