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Old 04-26-2019, 10:12 AM   #2822
Westheim
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2030 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set in parenthesis shows 2029 numbers, second set career numbers; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Mark Roberts, 35, B:L, T:L (14-11, 3.42 ERA | 130-87, 3.05 ERA) – Mark Roberts led the league once more in home runs allowed, mostly thanks to horrendous April, including seven dingers allowed in his first three starts in ’29. Rallied more or less nicely over the last few months of the season, but remains a launchpad and that will not change during his last three years on the books. Actually led the league in strikeouts with just 187, an abnormally low value, but not in K/9.
SP Tom Shumway, 33, B:L, T:L (7-4, 1.96 ERA | 131-100, 3.26 ERA) – would probably be the ace on many staffs around the league, but it was hard to dislodge Roberts around here, who had seen some stuff in recent years. Shumway was probably a top 10 starter in the league, but had yet to sniff the World Series, having spent all his time with the Indians and Aces before coming aboard before the previous season. But like anything of value in 2029, he went down to injury, and actually stayed on the DL for all of the second half. Here’s to a healthier 2030 – and despite this exclamation being valid for half a dozen more guys down the roster here, we will not repeat it every single time…
SP Rico Gutierrez, 30, B:L, T:L (4-1, 1.98 ERA | 90-62, 3.23 ERA) – I said before, that if he could keep the ball in the park a bit more, he would be a true ace. And if he could stay healthy, he might actually help the team. Made only 11 starts in 2029 and other than that existed largely as a hole after he had won the ERA title in 2028. Has decent control while keeping batters alert with a move-happy 96mph heater.
SP Jose Menendez *, 36, B:S, T:R (11-12, 5.05 ERA, 8 SV | 108-129, 3.75 ERA, 17 SV) – signed two days before Opening Day. His best days were a really long time ago. Little left in terms of stuff, but the Raccoons bank on him delivering innings in a qualified manner.
SP Dave Martinez, 24, B:S, T:R (6-1, 2.51 ERA | 6-3, 3.22 ERA) – came out of nowhere late in the season with his nondescript stuff and so-so control and suddenly flummoxed hitters enough to make himself worth a consideration. And after an offseason’s worth of agony, here he is, having somehow slipped into the #5 spot in the rotation, quite like Billy Ramm last year, and boy did that ever go well…

MR Matt Stonecipher, 25, B:R, T:R (2-2, 3.88 ERA | 2-2, 3.88 ERA) – high voltage.(10.6 K/9) without much control (6.2 BB/9), was mostly used in low-pressure situations or for mopping up last season; this might stay the same.
MR Jonathan Fleischer, 27, B:L, T:R (2-2, 2.78 ERA, 1 SV | 8-5, 3.32 ERA, 2 SV) – right-hander with a 96mph heater and a nasty curveball, but unfortunately also with some significant control issues. Did extensive long relief duty again in ’29 despite us hoping he could be used for nobler causes.
MR Mauricio Garavito, 28, B:L, T:L (4-1, 2.42 ERA | 6-6, 3.02 ERA, 5 SV) – left-hander with balanced splits that was claimed off waivers by the Bayhawks early in the 2029 season when Jeremy Moesker turned out to be a turd. Did little to draw negative or positive attention; but was mostly very reliable.
MR Billy Brotman, 31, B:L, T:L (4-4, 4.41 ERA | 22-21, 2.82 ERA, 17 SV) – this general purpose lefty had a weirdly terrible season in ’29, conceding more home runs and whiffing fewer batters than ever. Things seemed to pile up on him, too. The curveball is still bendy though, so there isn’t a reason for him not to bounce back right away (although we tried to trade him multiple times this winter and nobody was really into the thought of having to deal with his antics AND constant stern letters by Mrs. Sheila Rosenzweig Brotman about how her bubbele was being (ab)used on high holidays).
MR Kevin Surginer, 30, B:R, T:R (1-2, 3.62 ERA, 1 SV | 31-26, 3.17 ERA, 9 SV) – very solid and mostly reliable reliever that goes about his job with so little noise that you sometimes entirely forget he's still there. Has in the past been a popular choice for long relief and extra inning battles, but is also a valid setup option for Josh Boles.
SU Ricky Ohl, 31, B:R, T:R (7-5, 2.89 ERA, 3 SV | 25-17, 2.52 ERA, 31 SV) – aggressive strikeout pitcher who broke through the 13 K/9 mark for the first time in his career in 2028 and continues to serve as auxiliary closer as the Raccoons can mix and match it a bit between three lockdown relievers at the thick end of the bullpen. His K/9 were down a bunch (10.1) in 2029, though, but so were the walks. Transitioning into a control pitcher already?
CL Josh Boles, 26, B:L, T:L (2-0, 1.98 ERA, 40 SV | 11-9, 2.12 ERA, 102 SV) – his dazzling knuckle curve unnerves both left- and right-handed batters and we can not imagine a better closer right now. He did not lose a game at all in ’29, which is a stunning achievement for a closer, and led the CL in saves for the second straight year – or all the years he was anointed closer come Opening Day.

C Elias Tovias, 30, B:S, T:R (.241, 8 HR, 56 RBI | .252, 93 HR, 406 RBI) – Elias Matias Tovias Diaz has good defense, good game calling, a rather strong arm, and if the bat could strike out a little less, he would actually be an impact player, but he posted a sub-100 OPS+ (92) for the fourth time in five seasons in ’29.
C/1B Mike Pizzo *, 33, B:L, T:R (.272, 21 HR, 68 RBI | .246, 150 HR, 530 RBI) – signed to a 1-year deal in March and will go into open confrontation with Tovias come April. These two will determine between another who will be the primary catcher as the season unfolds.

1B Kevin Harenberg, 32, B:L, T:L (.321, 24 HR, 106 RBI | .300, 169 HR, 789 RBI) – rebounded nicely from a mediocre 2028 season (apart from beating the Buffaloes senseless to become 2028 World Series MVP) despite a summer drought, but ended up putting up an .882 OPS, which is generally not a shabby value. One of the key free agents come the end of the season.
2B/SS Tim Stalker, 31, B:R, T:R (.250, 15 HR, 100 RBI | .263, 70 HR, 427 RBI) – very good defensive middle infielder, more than just token speed, and most of the time also a good batter, even though he ended 2029 in a terrible slump that saw him post a sub-.700 OPS for the first time since 2024. Tim can hit for any sort of extra-base hit with ease, though, steal bases, play defense like there’s no tomorrow (4 career Gold Gloves), and driving in a hundred runs for a middle infielder is not an everyday occurrence, either.
SS Alberto Ramos, 24, B:L, T:R (.353, 3 HR, 36 RBI | .324, 8 HR, 152 RBI) – the 2026 Rookie of the Year Ramos was a treat all around, at least when he was able to stay on the field. Led the league in stolen bases for the second time in ’29 despite missing 56+ games for the third straight year. Injuries keep felling him and we struggle to find a way to keep his .452 OBP presence in the batter’s box.
3B/2B/SS/LF/RF Rich Hereford, 32, B:S, T:R (.294, 15 HR, 54 RBI | .283, 165 HR, 686 RBI) – skilled and versatile defender with a bat that can make the ball jump some distance, Hereford came over in a deadline deal with the Gold Sox in 2027 and then made the 2028 season all about himself, tying Tetsu Osanai’s ancient franchise records for RBI in a season as well as leading the league in homers. In 2029 he missed three months due to injury like just about anybody else on the roster. We are counting on some more of that 30-homer juice this season, during Rich might actually play rightfield for a significant amount of time. Has only 104 outfield starts in his career, of which over 70% have come with Portland.
3B Matt Nunley, 39, B:L, T:R (.282, 13 HR, 62 RBI | .278, 158 HR, 938 RBI) – endless Matt Nunley resigned for another season, which will be his 18th overall, tying Nick Brown for Raccoons longevity. He had a batting resurgence last season, swatting for a .772 OPS, his best in more than a decade. Still plays stingy defense, although his range has diminished a bit in the last few seasons.
RF/LF/3B/CF/2B/1B Chris Baldwin, 26, B:R, T:R (.220, 1 HR, 11 RBI | .220, 1 HR, 11 RBI) – super utility player taken in the rule 5 draft off the Pacifics last winter that somehow lasted both the entire season without being send back (or breaking a few legs), and even made it through the following winter, too.

LF/CF Matt Jamieson, 34, B:R, T:R (.291, 14 HR, 72 RBI | .263, 88 HR, 554 RBI) – played a competent leftfield and hit the ball well enough for 44 extra-base hits in a season that started with him sharing time with Matt Nunley, and once Rich Hereford went down they were both in the lineup every single day. Jamieson resigned on a 3-year deal in the offseason and the Coons hope that he will make the most of the time.
LF/CF/RF/1B Abel Mora, 33, B:L, T:R (.262, 9 HR, 49 RBI | .270, 120 HR, 636 RBI) – like so many players, this eccentric centerfielder is a key part of the Raccoons lineup, which didn’t stop him from missing a chunk of time on the DL last year (sigh) or from being a free agent after 2030.
1B/LF/RF/CF Rafael Gomez, 31, B:R, T:L (.229, 8 HR, 42 RBI | .268, 126 HR, 608 RBI) – the mysterious death of Rafael Gomez remains to be investigated; from a .288 clip with 25 homers in 2027 to … whatever that 2029 stat line is supposed to be. Lost his grip on the starting assignment in rightfield at the end of the season and will have to prove he has any value as he enters a contract year at the worst possible time for him.
CF/LF/RF Juan Magallanes, 26, B:S, T:R (.272, 0 HR, 20 RBI | .258, 1 HR, 39 RBI) – the Colombian alumnus of a Jewish high school in Manhattan spent the entire 2029 season on the roster without getting noticed in any way, shape or form, which can either work in your favor or against you these days... it was actually the second straight year for Magallanes to not being sent down at any point, and he did show a penchant for drawing walks and put up a .375 OBP, making for a poor man’s leadoff batter whenever Ramos is laid up in a cast or something.
RF/LF/CF/3B Wilson Rodriguez, 27, B:R, T:R (.256, 4 HR, 24 RBI | .251, 4 HR, 24 RBI) – late bloomer if you want to give him even as much credit. Mostly slaps single, and does that sporadically at best. Solid defensive option across the outfield, but it wouldn’t hurt us to find a lefty outfield bat to replace him with.

On disabled list: Nobody.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement:
SP/MR Allen Reed, 34, B:L, T:L (4-3, 4.26 ERA | 48-60, 4.61 ERA, 20 SV) – waived and DFA’ed – swingman that came along in the Rin Nomura trade born out of sheer disgust last July and went down on the DL before he could pitch even 20 innings.
SP/MR Bobby Reed, 25, B:R, T:R (0-1, 7.47 ERA | 0-1, 7.50 ERA) – waived and DFA’ed – swingman that was a waiver claim off the Stars last winter, but never amounted to anything nice and managed only 2.9 K/9 in the majors last year.
SP/MR Sean Rigg, 29, B:R, T:R (2-1, 3.98 ERA, 1 SV | 22-17, 3.88 ERA, 1 SV) – swingman added in the Jarod Spencer deal with the Condors last winter that was used as a plug for many holes last year.
SS/3B Butch Gerster, 28, B:R, T:R (.237, 2 HR, 15 RBI | .257, 6 HR, 35 RBI) – waived and DFA’ed – did some injury replacement in ’28 and was fairly successful then, slapping singles to a .303 tune, but regressed to no-good when he spent all of 2029 on the major league roster and was being fed at-bats endlessly for injuries to other players.

The remaining players not specifically mentioned in this section were all reassigned to AAA before already. This includes left-hander Billy Ramm, also Shane Ivey and Daniel Rocha, backup catchers, as well as scratch infielders Sam Cass and German Sanchez, plus outfielder Ryan Allan.

OPENING DAY LINEUP:

Vs. RHP: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – RF Hereford – 1B Harenberg – LF Jamieson – CF Mora – 3B Nunley – C Tovias (Pizzo) – P Roberts
(Vs. LHP: SS Ramos – 2B Stalker – RF (3B) Hereford – 1B Harenberg – LF Jamieson – 3B Nunley (RF Gomez/Rodriguez) – CF Magallanes – C Tovias – P Roberts)

Stalker and Jamieson are the only righty bats in the lineup against right-handers. Pizzo would probably start most of these games and Tovias get all the assignments facing lefties, but Opening Day will go to the incumbent when we will face Andy Bressner and the rest of the Arrowheads at home. Nunley and Mora are probably the most likely guys to be switched out against left-handed pitching, but there are quite a few options. Chris Baldwin was super utility will get a bunch of starts against lefties, too.

Note that Pizzo does not really work out as an alternate for Harenberg against southpaws, as both are batting left-handed. Rafael Gomez plays a competent first base and might get starts for Harenberg there during the long spells without an off day.

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

Hibernation did us well, thank you, we feel ten years younger. What might really surprise anybody is that the Raccoons with their entirely sleeptrodden, hemiplegic approach to the offseason actually came out fourth on BNN’s offseason WAR gains chart. Never mind that WAR is a useless stat, I like coming fourth on that, but I wonder how that came about. The only free agent we lost was Kyle Anderson (0.7 WAR in 2019), and the trade for Chris Wise cost us 1.8 WAR. Jose Menendez gave us +1.8, and Mike Pizzo +3.8 when they signed in March.

In March!

Top 5 WAR gains: Buffaloes (+14.6), Pacifics (+14.1), Loggers (+3.4), Raccoons (+3.1), Cyclones (+2.7)
Bottom 5 WAR losses: Miners (-4.8), Canadiens (-4.9), Blue Sox (-5.7), Scorpions (-6.1), Capitals (-13.0)

PREDICTION TIME:

Last year I boldly proclaimed that there was no reason why the Raccoons should not repeat their 2028 title. Then injuries axed Rico Gutierrez, Alberto Ramos (repeatedly), Rich Hereford, Tom Shumway, each for several months, and a number of other players for shorter spells. Every part of the roster except the bullpen was grievously ravaged by ills big and small, and in the end the team came up five games short. So that was what could keep us from repeating! Huh!

The team is still roughly the same. We exchanged Rin Nomura not necessarily with an upgrade, same for Delgadillo, but I think the big three can keep the rotation together (as long as they’re healthy…). The lineup is one to fear and has no significant weakness top to bottom.

If the injuries remain at a reasonable level, the Raccoons will win the North and bid for glory once more. I think 95 wins sounds very reasonable. If we can keep Alberto Ramos on the field, finally, we might even challenge triple digits for the first time since 1996.

Of course, everybody knows that this is the current version of the team’s final hurrah. The list of upcoming free agents is extensive and depressing: Harenberg, Gomez, Mora, Pizzo, Menendez, Brotman, Nunley, and Surginer are all up after the season. Hereford, Ohl, Ramos after ’31. Roberts, Boles, Jamieson after ’32. After that you only have a player option on Tom Shumway, one guaranteed year and a player option on Stalker, and a guaranteed year and two team options on Rico Gutierrez.

The time is now, because there might not be another chance in the near or middle-distant future.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

The Raccoons’ farm system remains stuck at 21st among all ABL teams, the same spot as last year. We also retain our number of two top 100 prospects (the same as last year) and five ranked prospects overall, so the addition of #89 Chris Wise didn’t improve our lot in any way because at the same time he dropped 35 spots in the ranking.

Two of last year’s ranked prospects are no longer ranked. #185 Fernando Solis dropped out even of the franchise top 10, while Chris Baldwin, the rule 5 pick, spent all season on the major league roster, so his #198 status expired accordingly.

52nd (+40) – A C Elliott Thompson, 20 – 2028 sixth-round pick by Raccoons
82nd (-11) – A SP Darren Brown, 20 – 2028 first-round pick by Raccoons
124th (new) – AAA CL Chris Wise, 23 – 2028 first-round pick by Crusaders, acquired in trade for Dan Delgadillo and Jamie O’Leary
145th (new) – A SP Ignacio del Rio, 20 – 2026 international free agent signed by Raccoons
150th (+24) – AA SP Izzy Chavez, 22 – 2025 international free agent signed by Raccoons

Five more to make up the franchise top 10:

AAA SP Raffaello Sabre, 21 (2025 IFA), A SP Bob Thomson, 19 (2029 2nd Rd.), AA SP Bernie Chavez, 21 (2026 4th Rd. (DEN), acq. via Rin Nomura trade), A 1B Ryan St. Pierre, 21 (2029 Supp. Rd.), INT SP Jonathan Galvan, 18 (2028 IFA);

The top 5 overall prospects this year are:

#1 RIC A SP Justin Kaiser (newly drafted)
#2 BOS AAA OF/2B Moises Avila (was #8)
#3 SFW AAA 2B/SS Mario Colon (was #3)
#4 TIJ AA LF/RF/1B Willie Ojeda (was #62)
#5 BOS AA SP Rich Willett (was #26)

Three-time #1 prospect in all the lands Dan Schneller was promoted to the majors in April and won the CL Rookie of the Year title. The #2 prospect from last year’s list, Nashville’s 3B Chance Bossert, was also promoted to the Show in April, but batted only .234 over the last five months. The #4 prospect, MIL SP Josh Long, made his debut a bit later in the season, then was used as swingman by the Loggers and lost eligibility as well, while the #5 prospect from last year, NAS SP Matt Hose, dropped to #15, but is said to be close to promotion to the majors now as well.

Next: first pitch.
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