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Westheim · 02-25-2016, 01:47 AM

November 20 – The Raccoons reacquire their former C Craig Bowen (.236, 78 HR, 290 RBI), 29, from the Blue Sox, along with 28-year old MR Ray Kelley (17-23, 3.42 ERA, 3 SV), for 30-yr old INF Jose Correa (.298, 19 HR, 391 RBI).

This tickles so many itches, BNN called it the best fit of the offseason before it even began. Bowen and the Sox had a pretty bad fallout over whatever and he wanted outta there. The Blue Sox also wanted him outta there for his luxurious contract and their desire to rebuild after a disastrous 2009 campaign. Then there were the Raccoons, who had banked on Jose Correa to do a bit more than a .662 OPS and 84 OPS+, which was such a steep drop from his former production that everybody in town was still numb two months after the end of the regular season. The Raccoons needed a new catcher direly (with or without De La Pumpkin, who, it turned out, had gotten relocated first), and were willing to fall back to good memories of 2006-08. Bowen broke out there, giving the Raccoons powerful, if inconsistent and strikeout-laden, production from behind the plate, and production hadn’t been something the Raccoons had received from behind the plate in … a long time.

Bowen missed most of the last two months of the 2009 season with a broken wrist, batting .249 with 12 dingers for the Sox. Right-hander Ray Kelley is a bit of a bag of wonders, usually throwing a lot of innings in a low-key role in the pen, first for the Rebels, then for the Blue Sox, for whom he had struck out 123 batters in 89 innings in 2008, while also walking 69. Control was his one downside. He had precious little. He is not quite a Marcos Bruno replacement and we gotta keep looking, but he sure mixes up the load of right-handed rookies we could have been forced to field in 2010.

Absorbing Craig Bowen's remaining six years at almost $2M is nothing the Raccoons can take lightly, but with Yoshi Nomura's resurgence at second base and Rob Howell's steady and pleasant appearances on base, we at least get the full value out of that money, whereas Jose Correa's presence on the roster was in no way welcome and he had clearly been relegated to the short end of a platoon with Yoshi at the end of the 2009 season. You shouldn't fork over $1.7M a year for a guy at the short end of a platoon...

CRAIG BOWEN'S BACK, GUYS!! ALL WILL BE WELL!!!

***

Dang, I'm gonna be so late for work after this...!

02-25-2016, 01:47 AM	#1723
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 11,905	November 20 – The Raccoons reacquire their former C Craig Bowen (.236, 78 HR, 290 RBI), 29, from the Blue Sox, along with 28-year old MR Ray Kelley (17-23, 3.42 ERA, 3 SV), for 30-yr old INF Jose Correa (.298, 19 HR, 391 RBI). This tickles so many itches, BNN called it the best fit of the offseason before it even began. Bowen and the Sox had a pretty bad fallout over whatever and he wanted outta there. The Blue Sox also wanted him outta there for his luxurious contract and their desire to rebuild after a disastrous 2009 campaign. Then there were the Raccoons, who had banked on Jose Correa to do a bit more than a .662 OPS and 84 OPS+, which was such a steep drop from his former production that everybody in town was still numb two months after the end of the regular season. The Raccoons needed a new catcher direly (with or without De La Pumpkin, who, it turned out, had gotten relocated first), and were willing to fall back to good memories of 2006-08. Bowen broke out there, giving the Raccoons powerful, if inconsistent and strikeout-laden, production from behind the plate, and production hadn’t been something the Raccoons had received from behind the plate in … a long time. Bowen missed most of the last two months of the 2009 season with a broken wrist, batting .249 with 12 dingers for the Sox. Right-hander Ray Kelley is a bit of a bag of wonders, usually throwing a lot of innings in a low-key role in the pen, first for the Rebels, then for the Blue Sox, for whom he had struck out 123 batters in 89 innings in 2008, while also walking 69. Control was his one downside. He had precious little. He is not quite a Marcos Bruno replacement and we gotta keep looking, but he sure mixes up the load of right-handed rookies we could have been forced to field in 2010. Absorbing Craig Bowen's remaining six years at almost $2M is nothing the Raccoons can take lightly, but with Yoshi Nomura's resurgence at second base and Rob Howell's steady and pleasant appearances on base, we at least get the full value out of that money, whereas Jose Correa's presence on the roster was in no way welcome and he had clearly been relegated to the short end of a platoon with Yoshi at the end of the 2009 season. You shouldn't fork over $1.7M a year for a guy at the short end of a platoon... CRAIG BOWEN'S BACK, GUYS!! ALL WILL BE WELL!!! *** Dang, I'm gonna be so late for work after this...! Attached Images __________________ Portland Raccoons, 83 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.