[Westheim]

March 12 – The Condors pick up fragile 29-yr old OF Erwin Hooper (.265, 38 HR, 256 RBI) for 2-yr, $880k. Hooper is a former Gold Sock.
March 13 – The Canadiens ink 1B/3B Jesus Galindo (.252, 72 HR, 460 RBI), last with the Blue Sox. Galindo will pocket $1.465M over three years.
March 19 – The last big name free agent goes off the table late this year: the Crusaders take on OF Clement Clark (.311, 47 HR, 641 RBI), who gets a 4-yr, $2.64M contract. Clark was part of those Rebels teams that lost the FL East to the Capitals the last two years.

We didn’t do a lot down the road. Much of the team is the same as it was in 1992-93 (even Vázquez coming back), when we clicked. It worked before, maybe it will work once more.

We will have so many contracts up in the next two years, the roster may be much revamped over this time frame, mainly because we still have so many youngsters under team control that we won’t be able to feed with a below-average budget.

By the way, Mark Allen went unsigned.

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1995 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set shows 1994 numbers, second set overall; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Kisho Saito, 34, B:L, T:L (12-7, 3.35 ERA | 185-133, 3.11 ERA) – workhorse and strikeout machine doing his job at the top of the rotation, entering his 11th full season with the Raccoons, and this year he tries to nail down that 200th win. Saito seems to let up a bit, surrendering more hits as a result of losing some momentum.
SP Jason Turner, 29, B:R, T:R (12-12, 4.54 ERA | 75-53, 3.51 ERA) – suffered through a horrendous season, being constantly battered. His walks were way up, his hits were up, and especially in the first half of the season, he was torn open every five days. Little reminds of that shy little boy who no-hit the Thunder six years ago.
SP Miguel Lopez, 26, B:S, T:L (5-5, 3.57 ERA | 27-17, 3.09 ERA) – killer stuff, but that didn’t help his shoulder last season, with inflammation in there limiting him to just 13 starts. If healthy, he knows how to hold his ground on the field.
SP Robert Vázquez *, 32, B:L, T:L (13-11, 3.76 ERA | 122-80, 3.04 ERA) – returns to the Coons as a free agent, after he spent the last year between Salem and Cincy. Vázquez continues to do his thing, which also means occasionally walking more batters than necessary.
SP Scott Wade, 32, B:R, T:R (10-7, 3.53 ERA | 124-76, 3.36 ERA) – for the second year in a row, he was very much struggling in the first few months of the season. He got his stuff together past the All Star Game and in the last game of the year managed to extend his streak of double digit win seasons to nine. Not bad for a 2-pitch guy.

MR Juan Martinez, 28, B:R, T:R (6-4, 3.01 ERA, 4 SV | 33-19, 2.70 ERA, 14 SV) – very good stuff and strong control, who can also close games in emergencies.
MR Daniel Miller, 26, B:S, T:R (3-4, 6.43 ERA | 13-9, 4.05 ERA, 2 SV) – imploded on contact the whole year, bounced back to AAA a couple of times. Didn’t get anything together, but we know he has been better in the past.
MR Tony Vela, 24, B:R, T:R (5-7, 2.56 ERA | 8-7, 2.51 ERA) – had a pretty big year, starting out in a somewhat shaded 6th inning role, but came through to pitch even late innings with consistent good performances.
MR Grant West, 38, B:L, T:L (5-5, 2.85 ERA, 9 SV | 38-33, 2.12 ERA, 520 SV) – Portland’s Own Legend. Lost the closer job last year, though, in a process of losing both stuff and command. Was brought back in on a one year deal as expert left-hander for wherever you need a guy like that.
SU Jackie Lagarde, 31, B:R, T:R (0-6, 3.70 ERA, 29 SV | 24-26, 2.48 ERA, 44 SV) – while Lagarde has been one of the most amazing setup men we have ever had on the roster with killing stuff, he fell apart in the closer’s role last year. Bad command, on-and-off movement got the better of him, and he is back where he is most amazing, setting things up.
SU Ken Burnett, 32, B:L, T:L (4-1, 3.16 ERA | 22-16, 3.33 ERA, 3 SV) – very serviceable left-hander that can do just about everything from closing out games in emergencies to long relief. Mainstay in the bullpen, on the Opening Day roster for the seventh year now.
CL Gabriel De La Rosa, 24, B:R, T:R (6-2, 1.46 ERA, 1 SV | 10-2, 1.36 ERA, 1 SV) – goes from swingman to closer in a move that will not be without controversy (especially if the gamble backfires). His stuff is electric, he is hardly hittable, and only his low stamina prevents him from starting games in the rotation.

C David Vinson, 29, B:S, T:R (.263, 5 HR, 44 RBI | .251, 60 HR, 303 RBI) – remains an above-average batter unable to replicate a shining 1990 season (.912 OPS), and also remains plagued at times by an inability to keep runners from stealing, with a success rate of 77% common for runners.
C Jose Rodriguez, 26, B:R, T:R (.262, 2 HR, 19 RBI | .281, 6 HR, 71 RBI) – will be the backup to Vinson for the fourth consecutive season. It’s a deal that just works. Rodriguez provides superior defense.

1B Esteban Baldivía, 26, B:R, T:R (.289, 7 HR, 56 RBI | .291, 9 HR, 71 RBI) – Baldy delivered a solid, but not exciting season. He also brings lots of walks to the plate, but we really need more power from his position and he will have to deliver now in his second full season.
1B/2B David Brewer *, 27, B:L, T:R (.333, 9 HR, 76 RBI | .346, 46 HR, 469 RBI) – signed the richest contract (6-yr, $9M) in ABL history with the Raccoons after spending his career with the Canadiens so far. He may be one of the best hitters in the league, and the small confines of Raccoons Ballpark may even have him hit double digit dinger in addition to his career .418 OBP and already 1,086 hits. Injuries are a topic for him, so you have to be careful to keep him on the field.
SS/3B/2B/1B Jorge Salazar, 34, B:L, T:R (.291, 1 HR, 53 RBI | .285, 21 HR, 502 RBI) – remains a rock on our infield, although we worry that age may make him less effective down the road. Also remained a productive leadoff hitter, although that spot will be taken over by Brewer for obvious reasons.
1B/3B Ben O’Morrissey, 29, B:R, T:R (.260, 12 HR, 69 RBI | .279, 59 HR, 350 RBI) – defense remains strong despite many errors (regularly approaching or exceeding 20 on the year), while he struggled at the plate last season.
1B/3B/2B/SS Matt Higgins, 30, B:S, T:R (.267, 2 HR, 54 RBI | .259, 30 HR, 319 RBI) – will again start out in an extended utility role, spelling some player or other almost every day. He also is a base stealing thread so he can even be your pick to pinch-run.
1B/2B/3B/SS Marvin Ingall, 26, B:R, T:R (.240, 0 HR, 5 RBI | .256, 0 HR, 7 RBI) – utility infielder with strong defense, but only 121 AB to his name so far between the Coons (1993-94) and Wolves (1990). Also, he always had *some* power in the minors, but not in the Bigs so far.

LF Vern Kinnear, 26, B:L, T:R (.269, 13 HR, 69 RBI | .274, 34 HR, 194 RBI) – limited to 124 games due to injuries and some platoon work late in the year. His defense in left is great, and he took home his first Gold Glove for it in 1994.
CF/LF Neil Reece, 28, B:R, T:R (.329, 9 HR, 37 RBI | .330, 65 HR, 316 RBI) – fantastic defense in center, fantastic at the plate – you can’t help yourself but love him. Sadly, he missed half the season due to breaking his hand in April and was never quite right once he came back. He had a winter to heal, he will be fine.
LF/CF/RF Royce Green, 25, B:R, T:R (.280, 38 HR, 101 RBI | .274, 74 HR, 235 RBI) – was not even a starter beginning last season, but at some point broke through and out of the blew shattered Tetsu Osanai’s franchise record for home runs in a season. That will get you noticed. Now hope he can repeat.
LF/RF/1B Bobby Quinn, 30, B:R, T:R (.290, 6 HR, 47 RBI | .281, 37 HR, 311 RBI) – since being claimed off waivers from the Capitals in 1989, he has more or less always been a backup player (except in 1991), and continues to excel in that capacity.
LF/RF Chih-tui Jin, 25, B:S, T:R (.288, 0 HR, 14 RBI | .268, 0 HR, 16 RBI) – backup for our big cannons, also emergency backup for centerfield. Only 153 career AB.

On disabled list: Nobody.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement: MR Albert Matthews was waived and designated for assignment.
MR Albert Matthews, 25, B:R, T:R (3-1, 3.86 ERA | 11-9, 3.23 ERA, 1 SV) – bounced around between here and there in 1994 and came unglued in September again.

Opening day lineups:
Vs. RHP: 2B Brewer – 1B Baldivía – RF Green – CF Reece – LF Kinnear – 3B O’Morrissey – SS Salazar – C Vinson – P Saito
Vs. LHP: 2B Brewer – 1B Baldivía – RF Green – CF Reece – LF Kinnear – SS Higgins – 3B O’Morrissey – C Vinson – P Saito

We gained 6.3 WAR this offseason, which I like to call the Brewer Factor. 6.0 WAR came from right there.

Top 5: Stars (+10.5), Raccoons (+6.3), Wolves (+5.6), Falcons (+3.4), Crusaders (+3.1)
Bottom 5: Scorpions (-4.3), Thunder (-6.9), Pacifics (-7.0), Bayhawks (-7.4), Canadiens (-9.0)

PREDICTION TIME:

Last year I predicted Neil Reece challenging for Hitter of the Year, we would score five runs per game, have two 20-game winners in the rotation and would win 100 games before three-peating in the World Series.

We did ZERO of that. ZERO.

Coming back from a what I still think basically unlucky 81-81 season should not be that hard. I do believe that this team is much better than that, and our division is about the weakest in the league at this point. This team has to challenge for the playoffs and has a damn good shot at that.

We will tone the hysteria done a bit this time. The Raccoons will win 90 to 92 games, take the division, and Kisho Saito will win at least 15 games to reach 200.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Our youth department has been going downhill for a few years now. I blame winning every year. We had the top system around 1990, and still ranked 4th before last season, with ten players on the Top 200, but it is obvious that by now the farm is barren.

Of our ten players on the list last year, one does not qualify anymore (Gabby De La Rosa), and a few others fell off the list, as our farm ranks 9th in the country.

4th (+5) – AAA SP Antonio Donis, 22 – 1990 third round pick by the Raccoons
45th (+30) – AA LF Stephen Buell, 19 – international discovery by Vicente Guerra
73rd (new) – A LF/RF George Wood, 19 – 1994 first round pick by the Raccoons
79th (+36) – AA SS Conceicao Guerin, 21 – international discovery by Vicente Guerra
88th (+91) – AAA SP Jose Rivera, 22 – international discovery by the Condors, acquired in 1989 for Stephen Hall
90th (+69) – AA SP Alonso Lopez, 20 – international discovery by Vicente Guerra
102nd (-80) – AAA 3B Mike Crowe, 24 – 1992 supplemental round pick by the Raccoons
136th (new) – AAA MR Cesar Salcido 23 – international discovery by Jeffrey Anderson
151st (new) – AA SP Esteban Flores, 21 – international discovery by Jeffrey Anderson

20-year old SP Tony “Ratface” Hamlyn, an international discovery from Canada by the Bayhawks, is ranked #1 in the nation for the second straight year. No, he’s STILL not *that* ugly.

Next: first pitch!