[Westheim]

There was no Christmas gift for the fanbase, at least no “ooh! aah!” sort of signing that would light up kids’ eyes like only a pile of presents would. Instead the Raccoons managed to add two pitchers just before everybody else went to be with family and that sort of fluff and left me alone to stare at piles of tables and numbers, trying to find out where it had all gone so horribly wrong.

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December 21 – The Warriors sign former Gold Sox closer Steve Casey (47-70, 3.39 ERA, 264 SV) to a 3-yr, $6M contract.
December 21 – Ex-PIT RF/LF Matt Owen (.290, 98 HR, 513 RBI) hooks up with the Capitals. The 33-year-old right-handed batter will make $4.56M over two years.
December 22 – The Miners console themselves with a corner outfielder of advanced age by signing 35-year-old Cesar Martinez (.266, 259 HR, 917 RBI), who last played with the Bayhawks.
December 25 – The Raccoons sign both 34-year old veteran right-hander and former Falcons SP Ed Hague (105-98, 4.11 ERA, 1 SV), who inks a 2-yr, $1.6M contract, and 28-year-old Cuban exile and right-hander Victor Anaya, who gets a $300k contract.
December 25 – INF Omar Camacho (.265, 47 HR, 404 RBI) inks a 2-yr, $2.8M contract with the Condors after spending three years with the Blue Sox.
December 27 – The Knights announce the addition of ex-POR 1B Kevin Harenberg (.297, 192 HR, 888 RBI) on a 2-yr, $7.76M contract. The Raccoons receive the Knights’ top draft pick and a supplemental round pick in the 2031 draft.

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With the double signing on the 25th we took back the #1 spot in the offseason rankings on BNN. Because that’s ever made a winner…

Hague is another one of those veteran stop-gaps that we will use until our young pitching comes of age. Since we can’t move Roberts (10/5), Gutierrez (albatross contract), or Shumway (at least not for anything crisp), we completed our Opening Day rotation with Hague; Dave Martinez was of course the fifth hurler in the quintet.

Anaya is probably not going to be on the Opening Day roster. We have approximately 15 other pitchers lingering on the extended roster right now, and that does not include a few more guys like Bernie Chavez and Matt Stonecipher in AAA, who are also on the 40-man roster, which by the way is choke full right now. In fact, the Raccoons placed Sean Rigg and Edwin Alvarez on waivers just to accommodate Hague and Anaya. Not letting go of any of those rule 5 picks just yet!

But yeah, we have way more pitching than necessary… at least in numbers… In a first move, Jason Gurney was officially assigned back to the Alley Cats. With the starters and the five relievers nobody had serious doubts about (Boles, Ohl, Fleischer, Wise, Garavito) barring another trade for young, juicy prospects, there were still a pile of leftovers: Eddie Krumm, Nick Derks, Nick Bates, Victor Anaya, Bryan Rabbitt, John Hennessy, and Mike Hugh. Not included is Raffaello Sabre, who was only hanging around the extended roster to not waste an option.* Actually, Hennessy was the only southpaw in that group, so that gave him a nice hand going forward. Krumm and Derks had no options, and Hugh was the other rule 5 pick as far as pitchers were concerned.

However, with Alvarez waived, the Coons had only 14 position players left. Tovias and Leal for catchers; Howden, Stalker, Hereford, Ramos, Nunley, and Baldwin for infielders; and Jamieson, Wallace, Vanatti, Allan, Catella, and Magallanes for outfielders. One of the latter group had to go at some point.

The fans were bemoaning Harenberg’s departure, but it made no sense to hang on to a 33-year-old first baseman who was unlikely to be around for the next contender. Better take the draft picks. And I have said this so often right now because I have to combat my own sadness that way. Everyone around here knows that I was often enough at odds with Harenberg’s lack of clutch, but he *is* a damn fine first baseman.

Maybe the draft pick loot can help us get over the cavernous hole in our stomachs. And hearts. The Knights had held the #15 pick for the 2031 draft, but it was ours now. The only better options for us would have been Harenberg going to the Bayhawks (#14) or the Condors, who held the #13 pick forfeited by the Titans when they signed Adam Potter. Our compensation pick will come between #26 and #28, depending on whether any of the type B free agents of the Aces and Rebels sign. The Cyclones already have a compensation pick ahead of us. The Stars, the only other team picking ahead of us in any round, does not have compensation eligible free agents.

Speaking of Mark Roberts in passing above, did you know he has the lowest career WHIP (1.08) among all active pitchers? In fact, he is also eighth in career WHIP amongst ALL pitchers in ABL history, and that includes a healthy dose of relievers. The lowest career WHIP for a starting pitcher all time? That’s 1.039 and the mark is held by a longtime Raccoon! And it is not who you think it is!

… Hector Santos! (3rd all time behind Angel Casas and Scott Hood)

Jonny Toner (12th), Brownie (23rd), Master Kisho (29th), and “Old Chris” Powell (35th) are all in prominent spots on the list though. And that’s only starters. We also hold claims to the all-time WHIP champ, Angel Casas. Grant West is 13th. And then there is two more starters in the top 10 that dabbled with Portland, but found glory elsewhere. Juan “Mauler” Correa is 4th; he pitched his final season on the way to retirement with the Raccoons in 1990. Antonio Donis is 9th. We could never figure out what to do with him. He is in the Hall of Fame as a Gold Sock, winning three Pitchers of the Year after turning 34.

Honorable mention to Austrian-Korean right-hander Jong-hoo Umberger at the edge of the top 50. His major league career lasted scarcely more than four years, but that was enough to win a Rookie of the Year crown and an ERA title with the Coons, and a World Series ring with the Crusaders.

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2031 HALL OF FAME VOTING RESULTS

To make it quick, for the second straight year nobody was elected to the Hall of Fame. These ballots just haven’t been appealing at all recently…

PIT 1B Steve Butler – 3rd – 57.6
LAP 1B Stanley Murphy – 3rd – 55.8
SAL 1B Alberto Rodriguez – 2nd – 48.0
ATL LF Gil Rockwell – 4th – 20.6
SAC SP Ian Rutter – 1st – 19.6
??? RF Justin Dally – 1st – 18.1
VAN 1B Ray Gilbert – 6th – 14.6
??? SP Bob King – 5th – 9.7
CIN C Jayden Jolley – 2nd – 6.2
POR LF R.J. DeWeese – 1st – 5.6
ATL SP Dave Butler – 2nd – 5.6
RIC RF Tamio Kimura – 1st – 5.0 – DROPPED
SFB 1B Adam Young – 1st – 3.1 – DROPPED
LAP 3B Jens Carroll – 6th – 2.8 – DROPPED
SAL SP Tim Dunn – 1st – 2.2 – DROPPED
TIJ MR Jayden Reed – 1st – 2.2 – DROPPED
LAP SP Ozzie Pereira – 1st – 1.9 – DROPPED
SAC 2B Ricky Luna – 1st – 0.0 – DROPPED

Next year's ballot will be more engaging - it will hold a pair of former Raccoons that have cases to make. Yoshi Nomura. Hugo Mendoza.

The year after that? How about Jonny Toner?? Also: Errol Spears, who also won a pile of stuff in his career, although his career numbers are not all that appealing.

*I am showing my lack of education here, because I am not certain when I can actually assign him back to AAA without consuming an option. Would appreciate a kind hint.