[Westheim]

The Raccoons were in a swell position as they went into the last week of November. They had also gotten back their slugging catcher from 2006-2008, they had found perhaps an equivalent to Daniel Sharp at third base in Bradley Heathershaw (and Ricardo Martinez was still lurking somewhere), and at the same time hadn’t added a substantial amount of salary at all. The only salary addition had been Javier Cruz accepting arbitration and receiving a $1M contract. That one of course came out of our wallet which I earlier had mentioned containing a bit over $2M. Right now, we have $1.4M available.

With Javier Cruz returning, we *kind of* don’t need to worry about starting pitchers. Things go PITCHER OF THE YEAR Nick Brown, then former ROTY Jong-hoo, Baldwin, and Cruz, and then possibly Watanabe, who is keeping a spot warm for Hector Santos. Watanabe has made double-digit starts only twice, and more than 14 only once (31 in ’06) in the majors, for various reasons. There were injuries, but there were also times where he sucked outright. And if he sucks right away, we still have Cássio Boda and Brendan Teasdale around, so there’s no shortage of spot-warmers.

The bullpen, with the loss of Bruno, loses a bit of its teeth right now. We have Angel, Sims, and Law as the three end-of-game guys, but the rest of our guys for the most part debuted in 2009 and is kinda green and not very good: Fredlund and Reese debuted in 2009, and while Beltran debuted back in 2007, he made more than two thirds of his career appearances in 2009. Then there’s Ray Kelley, acquired in the Bowen trade, who has his own issues, so we wouldn’t go overboard in trying to get another nifty 7th/8th inning reliever or better than that.

Which positions are set? Pretty much all. Pretty much seven positions are set right now. Pruitt, Castro, Alston across the outfield, and Howell, Yoshi, and Quebell on the infield, with Bowen behind the dish. All of this is very bad news for right-handed opposing pitchers: Rob Howell is the only right-handed batter in the group. Then there’s Heathershaw and Martinez at third base. I mean, both could be on the roster at the start of the year, but neither may be the actual third base starter. What we could use is a Daniel Sharp type player at less than his 4/3.2 asking price, but with more leather to him.

Bench composition becomes important, though, because we could have serious issues against left-handed pitching. This is a point that works badly against Santiago Trevino as a defensive backup. We need to have primarily right-handed bench players, I’d say not more than one left-hander outside the five starters (Bowen is a switch hitter). That means that Tom McNeela won’t be a backup catcher, and neither will Ximenes Lopes, who sucked. McNeela should get regular at-bats in AAA, as should Pete Schipper, who had his moments, but I’d like to get him regular play time. Ralph Myers will also not stick around, since he’s a lefty, too and IF you need to carry two first basemen, then they should at least swing from opposite sides of the plate.

So, Keith Ayers and Ricardo Martinez (and potentially Heathershaw) might well be backups, or should Martinez start in AAA? But since third base is reasonably the only position where we can easily add a beast player, we might want to go after Sonny Reece, who is 37, but still rocked it for New York in 2009. He might be on the too expensive end of the market, though, but he does NOT cost a draft pick, being a type B free agent.

So, what’s our shopping list like?
• First-rate third baseman, preferably right-handed
• 7th/8th inning reliever, preferably right-handed
• Outfielder with good CF defense, preferably right-handed (to replace Trevino)
• If Heathershaw ends up the starting 3B, a good defensive middle infielder

***

November 22 – The Bayhawks acquire SP Rodrigo Moreno (8-7, 3.94 ERA) from the Warriors. The 26-year old righty costs them two prospects, including promising, but unranked SP Jimmy Boswell.
November 26 – The Crusaders sign ex-VAN C Gabriel Ortíz (.278, 86 HR, 762 RBI) to a 2-yr, $4.48M deal. The 34-yr old won a ring in 1999 with the Bayhawks.
December 1 – Rule 5 draft: 12 players are taken over three rounds. The Raccoons select 24-yr old AAA MR Pat Slayton from the Stars, but themselves lose 27-yr old AAA MR Claudio Salazar (1-1, 4.29 ERA) to the Gold Sox and 26-yr old AAA MR Matt Cash (2-0, 4.48 ERA) to the Warriors.
December 1 – Ex-OCT LF Victorino Sanchez (.358, 152 HR, 946 RBI), age 31, takes his 2,559 career hits elsewhere and signs a 6-yr, $20.16M contract with the Gold Sox.
December 1 – Funnily, the former Gold Sock SP Antonio Donis (129-79, 3.02 ERA) signs a 2-yr, $5.68M contract with the Thunder.
December 3 – The Thunder pick up 26-yr old ex-SAC CL Arturo Lopez (23-25, 2.67 ERA, 87 SV) for 3-yr, $4.02M.
December 3 – The Loggers send 34-yr old 1B Hugues Cambria (.264, 33 HR, 159 RBI) to the Buffaloes along with a non-prospect for 27-yr old C Tony Avila (.209, 2 HR, 22 RBI).
December 4 – One of the biggest free agents of the year goes off the market, as the Cyclones grab ex-TOP SP Tony Hamlyn (200-122, 2.60 ERA). The 34-year old left-hander has whiffed 2,860 batters in his career, while mostly pitching on losing teams, and receives a 2-yr, $6.16M deal. His countless personal silverware includes five Pitcher of the Year awards.
December 6 – The Blue Sox pick up ex-LVA SP Jim Pennington (57-75, 4.47 ERA) at $2.91M for three years.
December 8 – $4.64M over two years win the Crusaders the favor of ex-DEN Kelvin Yates (117-107, 3.45 ERA).
December 8 – The Pacifics’ former closer, Johnny “Skinny” Smith (60-44, 2.27 ERA, 325 SV) travels upstate to sign a 3-yr, $4.2M deal with the Scorpions.
December 9 – The Raccoons acquire OF Pat White (.325, 7 HR, 78 RBI) from the Capitals for SP Cássio Boda (13-11, 4.44 ERA).
December 9 – The Warriors deal 30-yr old LF/RF Dave Graham (.301, 139 HR, 627 RBI) to the Indians for three prospects, including two unremarkable catchers and #71 prospect MR Jeff Lyon.
December 9 – The Wolves send OF Rudy Garrison (.284, 68 HR, 679 RBI) to the Capitals for C Carlos Ramos (.298, 132 HR, 833 RBI). Both players are best described as veterans.
December 9 – Ex-Condor 1B/2B Juan Diaz (.262, 90 HR, 434 RBI) arrives in Topeka. The 30-year old receives a 4-yr, $5.48M contract.
December 9 – The Scorpions add ex-ATL OF/1B Julio Garcia (.289, 72 HR, 573 RBI) for 2-yr, $2.84M. The 35-year old right-hander made his debut with Sacramento in 1999.
December 9 – 35-year old former Titans INF Takahashi Higashi (.267, 168 HR, 882 RBI) ends up in Washington on a 1-yr, $1.04M contract.
December 10 – For two unremarkable semi-prospects, the Pacifics pick up SP Ricky Mendoza (33-29, 4.34 ERA) from the Warriors.
December 12 – The Raccoons sign the 33-year old ex-SAL INF Jon Merritt (.269, 44 HR, 601 RBI) to a 5-yr, $6.25M contract. Before being with the Wolves in 2009, Merritt spent his entire career with the Buffaloes.

***

I don’t know how you are, but whenever I hear Tony Hamlyn, I think of NASCAR…

I’d love to have a top 5 budget to blow millions at uneducated punks and old bones ripe for retirement, but I don’t have one. I don’t have a top 15 budget. As such, right now, Sonny Reece was well out of reach, asking for around $8M over three years. I mean, even the three years are contentious and I would really prefer one, but at most two, yet $2.7M a year is out of the question for us, not only because we don’t even have as much.

Slayton was drafted as a shortstop in the ninth round in 2005, but was converted into a pitcher right after the draft. He was a starter for a while and pitched a number of shutouts in 2006, but was eventually moved into the bullpen due to the lack of any worthwhile third pitch. He is a 90mph groundballer with quite good control and a mean curveball. He also has high stamina, so he cries out long reliever to anybody who listens. I’m not mad at losing Cash and Salazar. Especially Cash had awful control, and them gone frees up the AAA roster for younger guys, like our own batter-to-pitcher convert Josh Gibson, who arrived in AAA for the first time in September of 2008, and spent most of 2009 there, with not too bad results. He was put on the 40-man roster prior to the rule 5 draft, along with left-hander Ron Thrasher and 3B/SS Walt Canning, who could also be a candidate for a backup infield spot.

The Cássio Boda trade was born out of the reasoning that we had three spot-warmers ahead of Hector Santos, and maybe we can get away with two. Watanabe is perhaps still the most qualified of the three, and Teasdale had no suitors at all, while Cássio Boda brought up some interest, especially in trying to find defensive coverage for all three outfield spots while not having Santiago Trevino keep fooling around with a .192 left-handed bat.

In fact, we even got TWO fits, both offers from FL teams. The Capitals put up Pat White, while the Pacifics offered Manny Perez. The latter had been a ROTY a few years back, had a bit more power, and was not as injury-prone. White in turn was a better defender and base stealer. Neither struck out or walked a lot. White was a switch-hitter, while Perez was a righty. And Perez was already in his arbitration years and thus more expensive than White, but was also batting for a bit more power. But on this team, being less expensive (making the minimum this year AND in 2011) is always a winner and thus we dealt for Pat White, which gave us a well pattified roster.

Boda many moons ago had been part in the deal with the Titans that sent over Al Martin and a useless minor leaguer for J.C. Crespo (currently unemployed), Boda, and Ricardo Martinez.

But of course we want to talk about our biggest move of the offseason (well, perhaps after bringing back Craig Bowen?) and that’s the signing of Jon Merritt. He is technically somewhat adept at all infield spots, but his limited range doesn’t exactly recommend him for a middle infield job. But the price tag and his skill set already hint at his future job: he’s our new third baseman! Yep, it’s one step below Sonny Reece (and a clear step at that), but there are some charming things about him. First, there’s the above average glove and a powerful, precise arm that should limit the error escapades at third base to a minimum as long as he’s on two legs. While he doesn’t hit for home runs, he knows where the gaps are for sure, leading the league in triples a few times, although it has to be said that his average has been volatile even in recent seasons, with a .229 and a .283 campaign both within the last three years. He strikes out his fair share, but he walks just as often, approaching or exceeding 90 walks per season. That even recommends him for a top-of-the-order job, and he should be best used in the #2 slot behind Castro and before the big rippers.

It’s the best signing I could do (unless a coffer with two million dollars would have fallen from the sky and struck me in the skull), and I am very happy with it. We’ve about squeezed the most out of our budget to put together the best lineup, but some work needs to be done with the bench. Trevino and Martinez right now really don’t have a spot on the bench. Both have options. No, 2010 is the last year of Ron Alston we have, and we have to use it; I’m happy with the Merritt signing.

Except, there are two things. The contract is flat at $1.25M a year, with the last year (2014) a player option, which I don’t like. The other thing is that Merritt (despite not being as stellar as Sonny Reece, who was a type B free agent) is a type A free agent. We have thus forfeited our 2010 first round pick to the Wolves.