[Westheim]

After the Merritt signing, the Coons’ offseason was basically over, at least as far as free agents were concerned. With under half a million in budget space left, there wasn’t much to be done. And so we had to watch as the Crusaders scrambled to reassemble the back end of their badass bullpen, signing at least Scott Hood to a 3-yr deal in mid-December. Hood had been part of all three Crusaders titles since 2007, as well as one with the Gold Sox a few years back. His $1.52M per year rate clearly put the Raccoons out of any race for a top notch reliever.

The Titans tried to get rid of a few expensive pieces, foremost ex-Coon Manuel Martinez, a mean right-hander. He would fit our bullpen really well, but the last year on his contract came at $1.28M, so it wasn’t even possible to compensate the Titans with a prospect or two. We had to deal them substance, and it really wasn’t easy. But maybe the Titans could be dumb enough to add cash to the deal? Ah, too bad, their cash reserves were insufficient at this point.

December 16 – The Cyclones come in sweep up 37-yr old 3B/2B Sonny Reece (.313, 209 HR, 1,370 RBI), who will make $4.48M over the next two years. Reece has won four championships in his career, including back-to-back titles with the Crusaders in 2008-09, and numerous other silverware, like back-to-back Player of the Year awards in 1999 and 2000.
December 19 – The Crusaders sign ex-POR MR Ricardo Huerta (38-35, 3.33 ERA, 44 SV) to a 1-yr, $316k deal.
December 24 – Cincy keeps spending, adding ex-NYC CL Iemitsu Rin (35-30, 1.66 ERA, 253 SV) for $3.72M over two years.
December 27 – Career Logger 2B/SS Bartolo Hernandez (.310, 57 HR, 808 RBI) signs with the Bayhawks. The 34-year old will earn $2.48M over two years.
December 27 – New home for CL Risto Mäkelä (29-32, 2.75 ERA, 77 SV), who goes from Topeka to L.A. on a 2-yr, $3.32M contract.
December 27 – Ex-SFB C Miguel Torres (.258, 71 HR, 488 RBI) inks a 2-yr, $3.02M contract with the Wolves.
December 27 – The Condors deal SP/MR Art Cox (20-24, 4.82 ERA, 2 SV) to the Wolves in exchange for RF Will Wall (.236, 11 HR, 61 RBI). Both players are in their late 20s and on the league minimum.
December 31 – The Indians ink ex-POR MR Marcos Bruno (42-29, 2.65 ERA, 68 SV) for two years at a $1.8M price.
January 3 – Former Capitals INF/RF Ramón Garza (.279, 58 HR, 949 RBI) has a new team, signing a $700k deal for one year with the Bayhawks.
January 5 – The Bayhawks are reunited with 36-yr old OF Luke Black (.240, 148 HR, 586 RBI), who signs a 3-yr, $2.73M deal with them. The Raccoons receive a second round pick and a supplemental round pick.
January 6 – Ex-DAL SP Edgar Amador (69-62, 4.01 ERA) signs a 4-yr, $7.96M contract with the Thunder.

2010 HALL OF FAME VOTING RESULTS

ATL SP Carlos Asquabal – 86.2 – 7th – INDUCTED
WAS C Gabriel Rivera – 72.1 – 7th
DEN SS Paul Connolly – 69.4 – 6th
PIT LF Diego Rodriguez – 64.0 – 5th
TOP SP Arnold McCray – 38.7 – 5th
MIL SP Neil Stewart – 33.3 – 3rd
WAS CL Domingo Rivera – 31.3 – 7th
IND CL Jim Durden – 29.6 – 7th
BOS LF Jose Martinez – 22.9 – 3rd
LAP RF Yoshinobu Ishizaki – 8.4 – 7th
BOS SP Doug Morrow – 6.7 – 1st
LAP RF Anibal Rodriguez – 5.1 – 3rd
VAN 1B Salvador Mendez – 4.7 – 1st – DROPPED
SAC RF Sam Green – 3.4 – 1st – DROPPED
LVA SP Carlos Guillen – 2.4 – 1st – DROPPED
NYC C Ruben Melendez – 0.7 – 1st – DROPPED
VAN SP Manny Ramos – 0.0 – 1st – DROPPED

(No players have been on the HOF ballot for more than seven years, because there has only been HOF voting for seven years. Before that, players were inducted by the totally invisible Secret Ninja Committee)

Carlos Asquabal spent his entire career with the Knights and is their second inductee after Michael Root, and the 22nd Hall of Famer overall. He has also been our manager in A-level Aumsville since 2007.

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Due to unknown circumstances, the Raccoons have received the 10th pick in the 2010 draft from the Bayhawks, which was not supposed to happen, I guess? We’re not the only team this happened to. The Scorpions also lost a top 12 pick to the Pacifics.

Update Feb 29: changed the main text to reflect that the draft order will be reset before the draft; Coons deserve the second round pick, not the first round pick.