[Westheim]

The week of the free agency deadline, the Raccoons made their first offers of the offseason. A couple all at once, actually. Three hundred grand here, four hundred grand there… looking for the bits and pieces, nuts and bolts. Don’t commit to nothing, but don’t necessarily lose a hundred games. Losing a hundred games sucked. We hadn’t done it in over half a century, and there was no point in starting with that kinda crap now.

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November 19 – The Raccoons trade for the Gold Sox’ 32-year-old OF/1B Joe Vanatti (.277, 61 HR, 425 RBI), parting with AA OF Edgar Espinosa, age 22.
November 19 – Ex-DEN SP/MR Rin Nomura (58-38, 3.48 ERA, 1 SV) resurfaces with the Wolves on a 3-yr, $2.58 contract.
November 23 – The Cyclones sign ex-OCT 3B Dave Garcia (.293, 319 HR, 1,224 RBI) to a 3-yr, $11.88M contract. It will be the 35-year-old, 2-time Player of the Year’s first foray into the Federal League.
November 25 – Former Crusaders closer Travis Giordano (54-39, 2.88 ERA, 186 SV) signs a 1-yr, $1.82M deal with the Miners.
November 28 – The Titans snatch up ex-Condors SP Adam Potter (75-73, 3.64 ERA) for seven years and merely $26.32M.
[b]November 28 – The Raccoons sign ex-SAC SP Eddie Krumm (27-56, 5.07 ERA, 4 SV) to a 1-yr, $360k deal.

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The Vanatti trade brings in a qualified bat/glove combo that would not embarrass himself on even a winning team. He is under contract for two more years at $940k each, with a player option for the second year in ’32. This is a very lopsided deal, because Espinosa offers not much at all. He was our sixth-rounder in ’27 but isn’t hitting anything.

There is some sort of backstory to this. Vanatti was of course part of the Pacifics when we met them (and beat them!) in the 2026 World Series. He then signed on with the Aces prior to 2030, but was dealt to the Gold Sox in June in the trade that sent Ted Schlegelmilch to the Aces. Some thing or other went wrong over there immediately, because Vanatti made very clear signals in the last few months that he absolutely wanted outta there. Seems like Denver’s clubhouse is in turmoil, and the front office was trying to get rid of somebody, anybody, to make it go away.

Truth be told, Vanatti hasn’t hit a lot in a while. He will probably not suddenly be 25 again and hit 16 dingers and bat .284. But the Raccoons might be content just with having a decent centerfielder……

Meanwhile, Eddie Krumm led the Federal League in losses last year despite a *tolerable* 4.93 ERA. This without a doubt means he has all the bad luck out of his system! Depending on what happens with my other offers, he might even be the #5 starter, but I’m currently having him penciled in more for a swingman / long relief role. It might also help him to have some semblance of a defense behind him for the first time in his career. And yes, he pitched against the Critters in ’30, and no, he did not beat them. We dropped him to 0-6 when we encountered him in May. Would you believe he actually had consecutive winning decisions in late August / early September?

That’s the sort of players we’re after though. Just plugging holes here.

What else? Omar Alfaro signed with the Knights for $400k. That's about it to the end of November.