[Westheim]

Jesse Jeffries retired after the season. The Raccoons had not offered him a new contract, he had just not fulfilled expectations, at all. The only other certain player to leave was minor league pitcher Luis Marin, who was not made for AAA play, and I wasn’t willing to keep a 29 year old slacker around in AA. We would take Angel Costa to arbitration.

October 25 – The Canadiens deal starter Marcos Ramos (15-14, 3.92) to Topeka for two prospects, including 2B Melvin Greene.
October 31 – Gold Glove awards are dished out, and the Raccoons take home three! P Christopher Powell, 1B Wyatt Johnston, and 2B Ben Simon are the recipients. For Johnston it is the second award, and for Powell … well, a pitcher that can’t pitch but can at least field is not as terrible to have as a pitcher that can’t pitch AND can’t drive a riding lawn mower.
November 1 – The Titans trade 3B Lino Zagallo to Las Vegas for 2B Brandon Patterson. Both have good contact, but little power.
November 3 – Scorpion Juan Correa (20-11, 2.61) and Falcon Sergio Salazar (23-8, 2.20) are the outstanding pitchers of the year.
November 4 – Rebel Juan Medine (.366, 25 HR, 107 RBI) and Crusader Ralph Nixon (.340, 21 HR, 136 RBI) are MVPs for the leagues. Nixon missed the triple crown by a single home run.
November 10 – The Raccoons trade SS Greg Swift, who batted .245 and was beriddled with injuries in 1978, and a minor leaguer to the Pittsburgh Miners getting outfield wizard Gustavo Zuniga (.277, 4 HR, 30 RBI in 155 AB in 1978) and a minor league pitcher in return.

Swift was a solid shortstop despite a low rating, which always surprised me. The signing of Jesse Jeffries prior to last season did not move him out of the lineup due to Jeffries’ poor hitting. But with Angel Costa it is different. Costa played most of the games in September and while his .426 hitting there will certainly go down, he seems to be more usable and could start the season at 2B, moving Simon over to SS again.

November 11 saw the arbitration hearings, where the Raccoons got an 0-1 record. We had offered Angel Costa $70,000 but he was awarded $88,500.

November 12 – The Pacifics send Ethan Gittens, who batted .351 in 154 AB, to the Falcons for reliever Javier Martinez.
November 14 – Eligible players file for free agency.

Don Sullivan had become a free agent after hitting 31 homers for the Gold Sox in ’78. He was a corner infielder or could play in rightfield. We entered negotiations, but it was hard to make him smile. He demanded a contract worth over $5M over seven years. Some choking there. Our budget for ’79 is $6.4M, so it’s hard to squeeze him in there, although I may have found some retard to take on Tim Anderson.

I also made a move towards Félix Aguilar. He had caught for the Rebels the last two years and combined a great arm with remarkable power (for a catcher), but he also was demanding more than his fair share. We could not come to terms.

The deal I had lined up in regard to Anderson with the Indians for starter Jose Perez fell through – not because they didn’t want to take Anderson, but because the Indians couldn’t squeeze him into their budget. Back to the drawing board – I’m not gonna pay that guy’s contract, which will be in his last year anyway.

I also cleaned up the 40-man roster for the upcoming rule 5 draft.

November 30 – Don Sullivan joins the reigning champions Sioux Falls Warriors for $3.35M over five years. Talk about some seriously heavy artillery assembled there.
November 30 – The Titans land former Cyclones slugger 3B Jorge Velazquez, whose 33 career homers should get Boston’s offense ahead just a wee bit.
December 1 – Rule 5 draft: two players are drafted, the Raccoons not being involved. We had taken a long look at 1B Ed Peters from the Cyclones system, but he was another Hoyt Cook and one Hoyt Cook was enough. The Pacifics eventually picked him.
December 4 – The Cyclones sign LF slugger Juan Diaz, formerly with the Thunder, to shore up their outfield.
December 7 – The Raccoons send outfielder Tim Anderson, a lifetime .224 hitter, to Cincinnati for pitching prospect Orlando Gomez.
December 8 – And then the Raccoons make winter meetings end with a bang for themselves, acquiring Titans starter Jerry Morris (11-15, 3.47) and outfield power prospect Ben Cox for 21 year old reliever Bruce Wright.

The Titans deal seems to be bad for the Raccoons at first glance, although BNN gives it as a 2.3 WAR gain, however both OSA and my scouts give Wright not a very promising outlook for future development. Cox has a huge glove and an even bigger bat and could be ready for the majors by ’81. Morris finally gives me a fifth starter worthy of the designation. When Berrios and Evans will be back healthy I will have a choice to bench either Powell or Morris going into the season. Ray will go down to AAA again, if he wants to or not. The deal also trades away one of my three lefties from the pen, which were just a tad too much. Nobody wanted Justice after a year on the DL, although his comeback was quite good, and I see a lot in Bill Baker, although he’s botched his share of games last year.

At the moment I’m thinking Romero – Berrios – Evans – Morris for the rotation, but that could change. The bullpen currently holds Powell, Gaston, Hatfield, Baker, Justice, and Lopez for sure. The other spot is open to consideration with Vazquez and Jenkins going against each other. Coleman also pitched for us in September, but I’m not fond of him, and never have been. Ray also doesn’t have a spot on the roster.

December 18 – 2B Alfredo Soriano, a .308 hitter and regarded as “clubhouse cancer”, joins the Pacifics.