[Westheim]

2011 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set shows 2010 numbers, second set overall; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Nick Brown, 33, B:L, T:L (20-6, 2.70 ERA | 134-81, 2.92 ERA) – the 2010 Pitcher of the Year started like a swarm of bees and won his first eight games before he retreated into a more or less average four months. At least he laid claim to two World Series wins. His stuff remains blistering, the control at times an issue. His quest to 3,000 strikeouts will begin anew on Opening Day, with the counter resting at 2,072 right now.
SP Jong-hoo Umberger, 33, B:R, T:R (18-8, 3.28 ERA | 50-21, 2.93 ERA) – very good #2 starter that will not cause too much trouble and remains under team control until he will reach the “best before” date.
SP Colin Baldwin, 28, B:L, T:L (8-7, 3.83 ERA | 29-32, 3.62 ERA) – more or less the definition of average, Baldwin will sometimes amaze you, sometimes upset you, but mostly will do his job more or less well.
SP Bill Conway *, 25, B:R, T:R (8-13, 4.37 ERA | 10-19, 4.40 ERA, 2 SV) – acquired in trade from the Rebels, Conway doesn’t possess supreme command and will sometimes struggle to throw his breaking balls for strikes or something other than the batters’ feet at all, but at least he keeps the ball on the ground.
SP Gil McDonald, 27, B:L, T:R (8-3, 3.07 ERA | 8-3, 3.07 ERA) – McDonald made his major league debut at 27 in a tight spot for the team around the All Star break and did well enough to stay aboard in the bottom slot despite getting shelled in the World Series; could use some more movement on his fastball.

MU Pat Slayton, 25, B:R, T:R (2-0, 2.59 ERA | 2-0, 2.59 ERA) – taken as a rule 5 pick in December of 2009, Slayton’s rookie season saw him in long relief for four months before he vanished onto the DL; control could be a lot better.
MR Ted Reese, 27, B:R, T:R (3-3, 3.00 ERA | 4-6, 3.46 ERA, 1 SV) – this run-of-the mill right-hander spent his first full season in the majors in 2010 and did a solid job.
MR Ricardo Huerta *, 37, B:R, T:R (4-1, 2.06 ERA | 42-36, 3.21 ERA, 44 SV) – Huerta starts his third tour of duty with the Raccoons after 2002-05 and the latter half of 2009; he remains a rock solid right-handed reliever that will do the dirty work around the seventh inning.
MR Luis Beltran, 31, B:L, T:L (5-1, 2.73 ERA | 5-2, 2.80 ERA, 1 SV) – another pitcher to not make his major league debut until age 27, Beltran pitched his first full season in the majors in ’10. Mostly utilized as a left-handed specialist, Beltran often struggled against right-handers and immediately took a step back compared to Ron Thrasher, when the latter made his debut.
SU Lawrence Rockburn, 30, B:R, T:R (4-3, 3.68 ERA, 4 SV | 33-14, 2.75 ERA, 15 SV) – Law was slapped around brutally in April, so badly that his ERA never recovered; but overall he remains a strong setup guy with impeccable control and a K/BB of almost four for his career.
SU Ron Thrasher, 23, B:L, T:L (1-3, 1.86 ERA, 1 SV | 1-3, 1.86 ERA, 1 SV) – Thrasher replaced the veteran Sims mid-season and immediately made himself liked well; struck out 38 in 29 innings in his rookie season, and the Canadiens will probably regret the 2009 trade that brought him into our system.
CL Angel Casas, 28, B:S, T:R (0-3, 1.37 ERA, 54 SV | 14-13, 1.62 ERA, 266 SV) – Angel broke the single season saves record in 2010, although the memory will probably be tarnished by the Dave Fletcher homer forever; will be in the first year of a new 3-year deal.

C Craig Bowen, 30, B:S, T:R (.232, 11 HR, 63 RBI | .235, 89 HR, 353 RBI) – Craig Bowen’s return was not all wonderful, and he struggled not only with the batting average (which was to be expected) but also with the power in his age 29 season, while the Raccoons are stuck with his luxurious contract through 2015.
C Travis Owens, 32, B:R, T:R (.262, 7 HR, 31 RBI | .275, 11 HR, 54 RBI) – did a thoroughly solid job as a backup for Craig Bowen and we didn’T feel like making any changes to this roster spot.

1B Adrian Quebell, 28, B:L, T:L (.325, 14 HR, 82 RBI | .299, 69 HR, 371 RBI) – Gold Glove defense and a very good OBP netted him a 6-year contract starting in 2011, despite lacking in home run power. He did lead the league in doubles in 2010, though, smacking 49 of those.
2B Ieyoshi Nomura, 27, B:L, T:R (.291, 4 HR, 63 RBI | .273, 13 HR, 240 RBI) – hit over 20 doubles for the first time since 2006, when he smacked 35; but his main qualification is a good singles bat with enough walks to reach a .350 OBP and really honest defensive work.
2B/SS/1B Michael Palmer *, 28, B:R, T:R (.311, 6 HR, 55 RBI | .299, 15 HR, 171 RBI) – acquired from the Scorpions, Palmer is a strong defensive middle infielder who will slap a whole lot of singles; extra base hits and walks are not quite his strength…
1B/3B/2B Jon Merritt, 34, B:R, T:R (.280, 3 HR, 40 RBI | .270, 47 HR, 641 RBI) – contributed an .807 OPS and led the league with 18 triples in his first season in Portland, while walking more than he struck out and playing strong defense. His career OBP remains over .380, but he has never been a home run hitter, and will never be.
1B/3B/2B/SS Manuel Gutierrez, 30, B:L, T:R (.225, 0 HR, 8 RBI | .258, 9 HR, 62 RBI) – his main qualification is defensive adeptness all around the infield; in a pinch, he can also pinch-run; he was a waiver claim in 2007, and so far has passed through waivers several times while in the Raccoons organization.
SS/1B Rob Howell, 26, B:R, T:R (.237, 2 HR, 26 RBI | .272, 10 HR, 100 RBI) – Rob Howell didn’t do a whole lot to follow up his productive 2009 season, and we soon enough set in motion a carousel of new attempts to fill the shortstop position; he remains aboard as a backup mainly because Walt Canning had options and Howell doesn’t.

LF/1B Matt Pruitt, 27, B:L, T:R (.317, 10 HR, 75 RBI | .301, 36 HR, 245 RBI) – Matt Pruitt was in the batting title race for a while despite missing a few weeks early in the season, but completely fell dry in the last six weeks of 2010, and the playoffs; he has never consistently shown the desired corner outfield power.
LF/CF Tomas Castro, 27, B:S, T:R (.253, 8 HR, 41 RBI | .302, 62 HR, 345 RBI) – Castro had a horrible season, struggling to hit, struggling to steal bases, and struggling to stay healthy, eventually missing 61 games plus the entire playoff run; he needs to show something or we will try to find a better solution for centerfield sooner rather than later, although he remains under contract through 2012.
LF/RF Logan Taylor *, 32, B:L, T:L (.275, 16 HR, 57 RBI | .302, 80 HR, 410 RBI) – nobody can quite replace Ron Alston in the sense of matching his (pre-2010) productivity, but Logan Taylor nevertheless gets thrown into rightfield with little more than the task to make us forget about Alston as soon as possible. His defense is nothing special, either.
LF/RF/CF Pat White, 28, B:S, T:R (.263, 5 HR, 54 RBI | .301, 12 HR, 132 RBI) – White remains the primary outfield backup for pretty much everybody, but we lack a true defensive beast in centerfield.
RF/LF Keith Ayers, 28, B:R, T:R (.255, 9 HR, 42 RBI | .266, 16 HR, 87 RBI) – has some pop, but isn’t overly reliable, and frequently out at home; he will start pretty much every game against left-handed pitchers, though.

On disabled list:
SP Hector Santos, 22, B:S, T:R (1-4, 6.17 ERA | 1-4, 6.17 ERA) – had a horrible debut in 2010, then headed for Tommy John surgery and is not expected back before August

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement:
CF Santiago Trevino, 28, B:L, T:L (.225, 2 HR, 18 RBI | .232, 5 HR, 72 RBI) – waived and DFA’ed; definitely a terrific defensive centerfielder, but that is his only skill…

Opening day lineup:
Vs. RHP: 3B Merritt – CF Castro – 1B Quebell – RF Taylor – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – 2B Nomura – SS Palmer – P Brown
Vs. LHP: 3B Merritt – SS Palmer – 1B Quebell – RF Ayers – LF Pruitt – CF White – C Bowen – 2B Nomura – P Brown

We still have only two right-handed batters in our primary lineup, and we really can’t load our lineup against left-handers to satisfaction, with three left-handed-batters remaining unless you substitute for Quebell with Howell, which will usually not be desirable.

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

The Raccoons began the offseason quickly with the deals that brought in Logan Taylor and Bill Conway, and then rapidly fell asleep. They couldn’t sign Ricardo Garcia, they couldn’t sign Takeru Sato, they couldn’t deal for Juichi Fujita or “Midnight” Martin. Somehow, they still have money, and nothing to do with it. They finish a flummoxing offseason in eighth place in BNN’s team ranking, gaining 1.2 WAR.

Top 5: Pacifics (+8.9), Bayhawks (+7.5), Crusaders (+6.2), Titans (+5.5), Falcons (+3.7)
Bottom 5: Canadiens (-5.5), Thunder (-5.9), Gold Sox (-6.2), Capitals (-6.9), Aces (-8.3)

PREDICTION TIME:

My string of missing by five games and alternating over/under has now run for three straight years. But hey, at least the Raccoons finally made the playoffs for the first time in 14 years! They didn’t win 101 games, finishing 96-66, but they made it to where it counts.

Since then, the Raccoons have lost Javier Cruz and Ron Alston, mainly. Cruz was a solid #3 starter in his three years in Portland, but Bill Conway doesn’t look like an equal replacement at all. Our AAA depth in terms of starting pitching consists largely of tried failed personnel like Brendan Teasdale.

Ron Alston had his worst season since being a sophomore at age 21 and we still managed to stave off the Crusaders. “Monti” Alston flipped us off in the offseason, and the Raccoons had to look elsewhere, but there’s no doubt that Logan Taylor is a downgrade. There are pretty big question marks when it comes to both the second half of the rotation and whether the lineup can this time overcome runners on second and third and one out for more than a sad face.

The Crusaders aren’t letting up, and the Titans have improved quite well, and we might have a 3-way battle at the top of the division, but who will come out on top?

Prediction: the Raccoons continue to be less than the sum of all their parts, will finish 92-70 and miss the playoffs by less than a handful of games.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

After a number of years around of being around the bottom end of the top 10 systems, the Raccoons exploded mid-air and crashed into the ocean with a biting scream. This year, our minor league system is officially shot and ranked dead-last.

Compared to the 2009 list, most of our then ranked players migrated off the list for various reasons: #3 Hector Santos (service time), #28 Ron Thrasher (service time), #69 Walt Canning (service time), #117 Pat Slayton (service time) all don’t qualify anymore. Kevin Denton and Dave Roudabush dropped out of the top 200. And there is only one addition for THREE top 200 prospects… (gasp!)

123rd (-33) – AAA SP Rich Hood, 24 – 2009 first round pick by the Raccoons
177th (-9) – A INF Ricky Moya, 20 – international discovery by Whitebread
178th (new) – A OF Martin Sorto, 20 – international discovery by Whitebread

The farm top 10 are completed by AAA SS/3B Dave Roudabush, A SP Dan Moon, AAA LF/RF Jason Seeley, AA RF/LF/1B Jimmy Fucito, AAA CL Mike Cole, A SP Francisquo Bocanegra, INT SP Juan Mendoza, and AA SP Lance Meyer.

Atlanta’s Devin Hibbard migrated from last year’s #1 prospect to CL Rookie of the Year, but it’s perhaps a bit early for Dallas’ 20-year old OF/1B Hugo Mendoza, who was an international discovery in 2008 and takes over the top rank. PIT OF/3B Dave Carter and SAC SS Gabriel Sauceda round out the top 3. The northern California teams in Sacramento and San Francisco combine for five of the top 10 prospects.

Next: first pitch!