Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Westheim]

Ah, the air of the offseason. Kick open the windows - … I mean, open the windows, and let the old, breathed air of last season’s failure out, and bring in … despair? If I look into our coffers, I can feel an existential crisis building up.

The offseason always starts with financial stuff and staff stuff.

The Raccoons had three players with options of various kinds on the roster last season. The Duke of Smack had signed a 4-yr, $4M deal before the 2007 season, with the last two years both vesting options requiring him to appear in 120 games. He achieved that easily in 2008, and so the first of those options, for 2009, triggered successfully, adding a million bucks to our books (and hopefully another 33 homers). The other vesting option belonged to Jerry Fletcher, acquired in the middle of the season from the dying Loggers, and his $860k option for 2009 would have required 550 plate appearances. Let’s just say I was careful not to trigger that. He will be 38 in late April. Fletcher never was a regular starter until the Tomas Castro injury late in the year, and fell over 100 PA short of the trigger requirement. So he is added to the free agent list.

Then there was Marcos Bruno. He had signed a 2-yr, $1.53M deal before last season, with $700k in ’08 and a $830k player option for ’09. I was not certain whether he would execute that option, because Bruno is 32 now and he has to know that his chances for a big contract (for a top notch reliever) are not going to get better from here. He executed the option nevertheless, so his $830k get added to the pile as well. (I might have mentioned this before, but with Daniel Sharp gone, then returning, then going again, Marcos Bruno is the longest-tenured Raccoon on the roster, being added to the 25-man squad on Opening Day in 2001, beating out Nick Brown, who debuted during that rotten season. Brownie however has been *in the organization* longer than Bruno, being drafted a whopping four years earlier.)

The last staff matter was really a staff matter, as manager Lance Cox retired. He had chased after a winning record with us for the longest time, and his hair had turned gray trying to chase after the Crusaders now. Have fun fishing, Lance.

And then, money talks. The Mexican Prick sent another one of those long lists of things he didn’t like about me (foremost my inability and/or refusal to sign a hometown player, which ties in to our poor beer and bratwurst sales; also my face, although that is a two-way thing), and then wrote that he had been ready to dig deep into his pockets, but he was not able to see any returns and I was not accepting his guidance either. I almost threw up right there.

Last year’s budget had sat at a flat $20M, 21st in the league. We got a small adjustment upwards to $21.4M, 18th in the league.

That doesn’t even fit Ron Alston’s contract for a year!

The median budget in the ABL is $25M, the average budget is $24.8M. The Crusaders and Stars, recent World Series fixtures, lead the way with $34.5M apiece, with the Titans, Cyclones, and Canadiens rounding out the top 5, while the Rebels, Knights, Wolves, Aces, and Loggers bring up the rear. The latter two will have less than $17M to work with.

Anyway, that brings us to the Arbitration and Free Agency round of the offseason, the real crying starts now!

The Raccoons have six players eligible for arbitration and three free agents. The former group will be made up of the following players (listed with 2008 contributions, service time, 2008 salary, and 2009 estimate):

SP Kenichi Watanabe, 32 (0-5, 8.06 ERA) – 2.163 - $200k - $230k
MR Ed Bryan, 27 (3-2, 3.92 ERA) – 3.148 - $240k - $270k
MR Kazuhiko Kichida, 28 (0-2, 4.08 ERA) – 4.025 - $240k - $270k
1B Adrian Quebell, 26 (.312, 19 HR, 77 RBI) – 3.027 – minimum - $577k
2B Ieyoshi Nomura, 24 (.251, 1 HR, 33 RBI) – 4.044 - $250k - $280k
OF Jose Carlos Crespo, 28 (.167, 1 HR, 4 RBI) – 3.099 - $250k - $280k

The only two on this list that didn’t get dumped to AAA during the 2008 season are Quebell and Nomura. Only Bryan and Kaz were ever recalled. With all four of them, it’s really a matter of depth. Well, you always have some grunts in AAA that can be put to long relief duty in the Bigs, but Kichida couldn’t even do that consistently in 2008. Bryan is chronically unreliable. Since they are both cheap, we might keep them around.

Watanabe plucked away steadily in AAA after his (early) demotion, and put up semi-decent, but unspectacular numbers. The walks were really low for him, which helped with a K/BB over four, but the ERA was a pedestrian 3.47 in AAA. Since he’s still available for cheap, we might keep him around as well.

Crespo never stopped sucking even in AAA, which is flustering since he was quite good for the Raccoons in the limited, three-and-a-halfth man role in 2006 and 2007. Well, he’s cheap, we might –

And just like that you add a million bucks to your strained budget for players you never hope you’re going to be using. Honestly, whom do we need? Outside of Bryan, probably none of the four. We have Donald Sims signed to a longer deal, but we need a second left-hander anyway. Never pitch Bryan with the tying run at the plate (or worse) and you’re good? That’s a crappy solution. Starting pitching depth is not to be taken too lightly. We still don’t *really* need Crespo and Kichida. Our five outfielders for 2009 are set quite hard, and the first choice for a callup would be Jerry Saenz anyway. And right-handed relievers have to be as good as Bruno or at least Rockburn to be a true commodity.

So we’re going to make offers to Watanabe and Bryan, and we will try to avoid arbitration altogether with Quebell and Nomura and try to sign 1-year deals. Signing Yoshi to a longer deal is tempting. He keeps not hitting a lot, but I feel like he still has a breakout in him. It’s true that he has 1,742 at-bats of below-average hitting, but then he will only be 25 on Opening Day. (Yes, I rushed him, and no, it didn’t do him any good.)

Then there are three free agents, who are quickly dealt with:

C Craig Bowen, 28 (.239, 20 HR, 68 RBI) - $410k – type A free agent
SS/2B Juan Barrón, 36 (.287, 3 HR, 64 RBI) - $910k – type B free agent
OF Jerry Fletcher, 37 (.273, 2 HR, 40 RBI) - $810k

None of the three will be back. Barrón will be almost 37 on Opening Day, and I don’t want a 37-year old shortstop, even though his defense was still quite good last season. His bat was not much of a difference maker, however, with a paltry .673 OPS, surely not what we had hoped for when trading for him with the Capitals (who got Adam Riddle, who was silently efficient in their pen, and a scum still in A ball). Craig Bowen already communicated his salary imaginations, and they are well outside our capabilities ($2M a year and up, for a long time), and Fletcher is way too old and way too expensive for a backup.

Plus, yummy compensation picks.

So that helps us in shaping our offseason shopping list. Clearly we need a catcher. Esquivel is not the answer, and Juan Rios is not a good backup, either. Esquivel is a bit of a contact batter who could certainly hit for a higher average than Bowen (although .239 is not hard to top), but his defense is really not that juicy.

You could also make an argument for an upgrade being needed at second base. Yoshi Nomura batted for a .635 OPS the last two years combined. His defense is about average. You know … (taps on the table with the fingers) … it’s quite hard to make a convincing case for him to KEEP his job. Maybe money helps him out, because he is the only qualified middle infielder left once Barrón is cleared off the roster. Yes, we have a flock of Gutierrezes, but c’mon, whom are we kidding? Outside of the corners (Quebell, Martinez) the infield is in a state of flux this offseason.

We don’t need another starting pitcher as it stands. Brenda gets sent back to AAA, and then we have Brownie, Yates, Umberger, Cruz, and Baldwin. The bullpen has no obvious holes (except maybe Bryan?), and we have a full complement of outfielders with Alston, Pruitt, Castro, Trevino, and Black.

Ron Alston is under contract for two more years (through 2010) for $1.94M per season. The Duke is on for cheap at $1M and has another vesting options. Between those two, the corners are covered, and Quebell covers first after finally breaking out with the power. This actually is all bad news for Matt Pruitt, who might even become trade bait after all. There is just no room for him anywhere. Also, the more AB he gets in a season, the worse he becomes. Maybe it’s time to sell high?

So, foremost we need a catcher and at least a shortstop, perhaps also a second baseman. If we could win a 25-year old Neil Reece in the lottery to put in centerfield, we wouldn’t be too sad, but it seems unlikely, and we will stick with Tomas Castro and his ghastly defense in exchange for another .300+ bat and a threat on the base paths. All four corner spots are hard to impossible to upgrade.

Oh, while we’re making fluffy plans and it’s all sugar in our heads – did I mention that we are overbudget as the offseason commences? We’re currently $272k short of being merely broken.

(puts on a well-worn Raccoons hat and picks up a scuffed alms box and ventures into the parking lot) BUY SEASON TICKETS! EVERY 10-GAME-PLAN HELPS!! WE NEED YOUR HELP … TO … FEED YOUNG PEOPLE! (voice cracks) SAVE THE CHILDREN!!

[Questdog]

Pruitt had a very disappointing season. I thought he looked like the new teacher's pet a year or so ago.

On the other hand, I think you are glad you bent to the fan pressure and kept Quebell around! He had an awesome year!

I am glad you are thinking of keeping Watanabe; I have a soft spot for him for some reason.

I like Bowen, too, but 2 million is a lot of money. But with his power, he will certainly find someone willing to pay.

And do not forget that even though I was wrong on the Black Hole last year, I will be right sometime and sometime soon. If you want to sell high, then it may be too late with Pruitt, but maybe not with Black.....

[Westheim]

I appreciate your awareness of the Duke’s position on the age curve, and as we all know I tend to hold on so dearly to my toys, usually until I’m cuddling a corpse. Anybody remember Neil Reece’s last two years? Right.

Last year, I need to remark, the Duke ranked second on the team in $/WAR among players not on a minimum deal, ranking behind Bowen, who was signed to a team-friendly $410k allowance. The most cost efficient guy was suddenly-slugging Adrian Quebell, by far. As a team, the Raccoons ranked 2nd in $/WAR. You can’t squeeze a lemon much harder.

At the moment, we sit in a terrible hole in terms of money. We *have* to move a big contract to do *anything* this off season, so we need a trade partner for a seven-figure deal. Well, tough choices for sure. We have Ron Alston ($1.94M), Nick Brown ($1.8M), Kel Yates ($1.8M), the Duke of Smack ($1M), and Jong-hoo Umberger ($1M) in that category. That’s it. Pick your poison. And even if you move a $1M contract, that still only gives the team a $700k-some budget space, and we need a quality player in return.

2009 was supposed to be the last year of our “window”, but as the offseason towards it begins, we find out that we have our fat, hairy butts stuck in that window. The Raccoons began the season with a monetary shortfall of almost $300k, and two, maybe three obvious holes in the lineup.

Maybe the way to go is to try to trade for a catcher (I like the Aces’ Eduardo Durango with a killer arm and 61 XBH last year, but he makes $1.22M in 2009 and it only goes up from there), and use a defensive wizard at short at minimum cost. For the moment we will ignore that we don’t have a defensive wizard at short in the organization with whom there would be reasonable hope to even hit .200 in the Bigs. This could be a job for someone like Manuel Gutierrez, but shortstop is his weakest position, perhaps best described as “a bit above average”. Regardless, this is an emergency plan that could well become reality.

Our 2006 third-rounder, SS Pat Whitehouse, moved up to AAA late last year, but only played ten games there. Defensively he would perhaps be worthwhile, but he hit for a .627 OPS in 553 PA … in DOUBLE-A. And wouldn’t you know that Yoshi Yamada’s charred bones are still around with the Alley Cats? He batted .187 for them in 2008.

Next biggest contracts: Bruno ($830k), Cruz ($800k), Castro ($700k), Quebell (assumedly somewhere over $550k), Casas ($520k), and Sims ($500k).

This figures to be a gruesome offseason.

+++

By the way, management takes requests about specific numbers, stats, metrics and what-not-else, if you inquire politely and leave a bag with one of the following: (1) a bottle of Capt'n Coma (2) a box of chocolate cookies (3) a million dollars

[Westheim]

2008 AWARDS
Player of the Year: DAL 2B/3B Hector Garcia (.321, 13 HR, 110 RBI) and NYC LF Martin Ortíz (.303, 26 HR, 109 RBI)
Pitcher of the Year: TOP SP Tony Hamlyn (15-11, 2.52 ERA) and Greg Connor (22-7, 2.29 ERA)
Reliever of the Year: CIN CL Ian Johnson (2-2, 1.43 ERA, 38 SV) and NYC CL Iemitsu Rin (7-6, 1.68 ERA, 41 SV)
Rookie of the Year: LAP RF/LF Eddie Jackson (.321, 3 HR, 42 RBI) and POR SP Jong-hoo Umberger (18-7, 2.20 ERA)
Platinum Sticks (FL): P NAS Varsik Deyrmenjian, C PIT Bartholomeu Pino, 1B SFW Raúl Bovane, 2B DAL Hector Garcia, 3B WAS César Gonzalez, SS DEN Dave Hutchinson, LF SFW Dave Graham, CF CIN Earl Clark, RF DEN Pedro Pujols
Platinum Sticks (CL): P SFB Harry Wentz, C CHA Fernando Chavez, 1B IND Mun-wah Tsung, 2B TIJ Juan Diaz, 3B SFB David Lopez, SS VAN Gary Rice, LF POR Ron Alston, CF NYC Roberto Pena, RF POR Luke Black
Gold Gloves (FL): P TOP Paul Kirkland, C LAP Antonio Ramirez, 1B RIC Luis Soto, 2B RIC Todd Moultrie, 3B TOP Alex Rivas, SS LAP Adriano Lulli, LF DAL John Alexander, CF DAL César Morán, RF DAL Daniel Richardson
Gold Gloves (CL): P IND Ramón Jimenez, C LVA Eduardo Durango, 1B BOS Roberto Vargas, 2B LVA Tom Dahlke, 3B ATL Carlos Martinez, SS BOS Daniel Silva, LF NYC Martin Ortíz, CF VAN Ross Holland, RF NYC Stanton Martin

I am shocked - *shocked* - that not only Angel Casas didn’t win the Reliever of the Year crown, he wasn’t even in the top 3! But Charlie Deacon was …! Charlie Deacon!

****ING CHARLIE DEACON!!

Ah. In turn we got two Sticks I was sure would go to the Martin Brothers (although we have to send half of one to the Indians). I was fairly certain about Rookie honors for Jong-hoo. Initially I worried about Ross Holland, but he was not a rookie anymore this season, exhausting his eligibility last year with 218 AB. Jong-hoo’s horrid September cost the more than realistic shot at beating out Connor for the pitching title. He finished second. How Ortíz had a better year than Ron Alston needs to be explained to me.

Ah.

+++

Among players retiring after the 2008 season are Bob Grant, who held down mostly second base for the Thunder for a decade, and Angel Romero, the 1995 FL Pitcher of the Year, who had four appearances as a Raccoon in 2006 that we don’t want to talk about anymore.

Before arbitration could begin, the Raccoons signed 1-year deals with Adrian Quebell ($550k), Yoshi Nomura ($280k), and Ed Bryan ($270k). Kenichi Watanabe demanded well more than he deserved, which the arbitrators saw the same way and awarded him our offer of $230k. J.C. Crespo and Kaz Kichida were not tendered. Juan Barrón and Craig Bowen refused salary arbitration and became free agents.

When the rosters were finally cleared of free agents, Steve from Accounting got me new numbers. Suddenly we were in the green. Steve, that dork, had counted Jerry Fletcher’s vesting option in the 2009 budget all the time, and who knows what else, because suddenly he claimed we were $816k to the good.

First, we need a new accountant. Chad has nothing to do in the mornings. I have to think about that. Second, that’s not a lot, but it buys some beer and bratwurst. It’s doubtful that we can fill three lacking positions with just $816k, however, so we still need to look at trade opportunities, although it doesn’t HAVE to be one of the five biggest contracts now. It would certainly open some nice opportunities, though.

A look at the top dozen free agents certainly waters the mouth. Earl Clark, Martin Garcia, César Gonzalez (well, not him, we already had the pleasure…), Georg Spinu, Elwood Spurrell, Craig Bowen (do I know you?), Gerardo Rios, Dave Crawford, Victor Bernal, Rodrigo Lopez, Carlos Ramos, Roberto Vargas, Rudy Garrison, and a bit deeper down the list is also Jason O’Halloran and Manuel Martinez. Yes, the Titans got culled by free agency (although Manuel Martinez re-signed with them in late November for 2-yr, $1.28M).

October 30 – In the first trade of the offseason, the Knights flip SP Ralph Ford (94-115, 3.92 ERA) to the Capitals in exchange for a five-pack of prospects, including #38 Steve Arritt and #70 Johnny Krom, both relief pitchers.
November 7 – The Thunder acquire SP William Raven (12-12, 4.92 ERA) from the Rebels for two prospects including #91 SP Shaun Babineau.
November 20 – The Titans get 27-yr old 1B Simon Stevens (.251, 20 HR, 136 RBI) from the Indians in exchange for 30-yr old 1B/3B Juan Gusmán (.318, 1 HR, 13 RBI) and unranked but promising pitching prospect Pedro Murillo.
November 20 – INF Michael Palmer (.283, 5 HR, 65 RBI) is dealt from the Canadiens to the Scorpions. In retun, the Canadiens receive MR Jesus Quinones (8-1, 3.69 ERA, 2 SV) and #58 prospect SP Beau Barnaby.
November 23 – The Loggers send INF Mark Clark (.248, 4 HR, 60 RBI) and a second-rate prospect to the Blue Sox for minor leaguer Joaquin Hernandez. [The Loggers ARE strange…]
November 28 – The first big name free agent signs elsewhere, as 36-yr old ex-MIL Martin Garcia (278-152, 2.80 ERA) hooks up with the Warriors for 3-yr, $8.92M. Garcia’s 278 wins (all with the Loggers) rank third overall behind Aaron Anderson (285) and Woody Roberts (279).
November 29 – The Condors report that OF Rowan Tanner (.302, 7 HR, 55 RBI in 2008) will miss the entire 2009 season after an accident with a frying pan. No details are communicated.
November 30 – Ex-SFB CL Salvadaro Soure (31-29, 2.30 ERA, 82 SV) signs a 3-yr, $4.26M contract with the Indians. As he debuted at age 19, Soure is only 26 years old.
December 1 – Rule 5 draft: 16 players are taken. The Raccoons are not affected.
December 1 – The Titans ink 32-yr old ex-RIC OF/1B Gerardo Rios (.266, 216 HR, 792 RBI) to a 4-yr, $8.96M contract.

Yeees, I traded Soure for a toast back then. I know I suck.

Actually it was Ramiro Cavazos back then, and he would have been a good piece towards leaving the rut back in 2001, but that team was full of zombies, and Cavazos moved on quickly.

[Westheim]

Below is the 2009 Hall of Fame ballot. There are only 17 players on there, and I think I won’t need my full ballot this time.

[Westheim]

In early December I was feeling out the shortstop market. A few years back, we had acquired Craig Bowen as an afterthought and not as the splendid solution for our gaping hole at catcher, and the task now was largely the same: find a player on the fringes that has room to grow. Preferably young, and definitely cheap.

That player had to play very good defense, but the bat shouldn’t be composed entirely of holes, either. A good runner was also something I had in mind, to complement the existing threats of Castro and Martinez.

The first player I came across plate upstate for the Wolves. Rob Howell had just turned 24. The Titans had debuted him at 19, but had only given him four at-bats. He next surfaced with the Wolves in ’06, but hadn’t gotten a sizeable amount of playing time until 2008, batting .359/.401/.470 in 196 AB. That was *probably* a bit over his long-term ceiling, and he readily struck out in that sample size, raising that BABIP even further. He had impressive range, but had problems with accurate throws, producing a few errors, but nothing that couldn’t be covered up with other nice qualities. He had no power whatsoever, but had stolen six bases in his limited exposure this year. Unfortunately, the Wolves had all their money invested into contract offers, and could only accept other minimum salary players at this point, making a trade impossible.

Tom Dahlke, 25, of the Aces was also on my list. He was also still making the minimum. He was a bit like Craig Bowen, hitting for power (15 HR in 2008) while not batting for a high average, and he had struck out 141 times in 2008. He wasn’t much of a runner, going 11/18 this season. The problem here was money, and it was fatal. The Aces were completely broken and laden with bad deals, they were almost $2M overbudget. To get Dahlke from their hands, we could a) trade them Hector Santos (6-11, 4.05 ERA, 142 K in 175.2 IP in AA at age 20), or b) try to work out a deal where we would trade them someone of value and instead take on one of their bad deals.

Then there was 28-year old Adriano Lulli on the always-rebuilding Pacifics. They had picked him up on an insane waiver from the Capitals early in the 2008 season, but weren’t positive on what to do with him while the rest of their roster stunk. He was signed to a team-friendly $720k in 2009, with $1.22M per year from 2010 through 2013 – still a team-friendly deal although his career batting stats didn’t look too friendly at .264/.333/.362 with 49 HR, 388 RBI, and 104 SB. But like the Wolves, the Pacifics had all their money in mango farms in Oxnard at this point and couldn’t make a sane deal.

Then there was 30-year old Jaime Mateo, who was a free agent. Two years ago he had been the pretty complete package at shortstop, but since then he had only appeared in 56 total games after tearing an achilles tendon in 2007 and rupturing a medial collateral ligament in 2008. He was still laboring on the latter injury and wouldn’t start “baseball activities” until the new year. On the other hand he wasn’t looking for much of a contract, probably realizing that nobody would splurge $15M on a potential corpse.

Let me see Dahlke again. The Aces payroll was pretty messed up. They had a million bucks in outfielder Forest Messinger, who had batted .219 in limited exposure in 2008, exactly the kind of contract that kills small market teams. We’ll steer clear of that. They had $720k in SP Jim Pennington, who had turned a 3-9, 4.95 ERA year while spending part of the season in AAA, and over two months on the DL with a small tear in his labrum. They were paying $386k to 33-yr old C Brian Abrams, while having him rot in AAA. They also had Eduardo Durango, that GOOD catcher I was salivating for.

But I think a deal that would net us Dahlke AND Durango would demand a pretty insane return. Like, Quebell, Martinez, and half the farm?

Nah, no matter how you twisted or turned it, that was not a deal that was possible to turn given their financial situation and the fact that there were certain players I didn’t want to give up. Although they were really hot on Santos. We were closing in on at least not total disagreement in a deal of Durango, Francisco Soto (a merely decent defensive shortstop without power), and the dead contract of Abrams in exchange for Santos and a mystery player from our pile, whom I can’t mention right now since he’s nervous and paranoid anyway, but that still wasn’t *enough* for them, but at the same time we couldn’t offer anything else for money reasons.

Man, finding a shortstop is hard work these days!

December 3 – The Blue Sox sign ex-POR C Craig Bowen (.233, 66 HR, 236 RBI) to a 7-yr, $13.16M contract.
December 4 – The Cyclones announce a pair of free agent signings for $10M total. 35-yr old 1B/2B Georg Spinu remains in the FL East after playing with the Buffaloes and Blue Sox. The career .292, 97 HR, 835 RBI player gets a 2-yr, $4.72M deal. The Cyclones also add ex-WAS 1B/3B César Gonzalez (.268, 236 HR, 1,004 RBI) for 2-yr, $5.28M.
December 5 – The Raccoons flip 26-yr old LF/RF Jose Cruz (.412, 0 HR, 1 RBI in 17 AB) to the Blue Sox for 26-yr old 1B Ralph Myers (.356, 1 HR, 16 RBI in 90 AB).
December 5 – 32-yr old ex-BOS OF Rudy Garrison (.283, 63 HR, 599 RBI) will get paid by the Wolves, signing a 4-yr, $6.08M deal.
December 5 – The Titans console themselves with ex-RIC SP Jesus Cabrera (64-67, 4.33 ERA). The 26-year old signs a 3-yr, $1.84M contract.
December 10 – The Titans sign ex-TIJ CL Charlie Deacon (68-74, 2.69 ERA, 333 SV) to a 3-yr, $4.5M contract.
December 10 – Another closer lands a new job, as ex-IND Tommy Wooldridge (33-31, 2.70 ERA, 82 SV) signs a 3-yr, $4.76M contract with the Capitals.
December 10 – The Pacifics trade C Antonio Ramirez (.243, 31 HR, 311 RBI) to the Buffaloes for MR Juan Carlos Bojorquez (18-10, 3.99 ERA, 2 SV) and a third-rate prospect.

Compensation for the loss of Craig Bowen entails not only a supplemental round pick, but also the Blue Sox’ first round pick in the 2009 draft. It’s almost the best possible place for Bowen to fall into: the Blue Sox would have had the #14 pick, the second unprotected pick. It’s now ours. (The Scorpions have the first unprotected pick, but hey, the last time we lost a type A free agent we got a ****ty third round pick out of that).

The Myers deal was just the flipping of quad-A players. We will send him to AAA, he’s not big league roster material. Why the deal? He’s from Hillsboro, OR, right next to Portland, and since I couldn’t make Carlosito shut up over his hometown player crap by pressing a pillow onto his face, I had to make the most pointless trade ever. He is satisfied now, which only shows what kind of idiot he is.

Cruz has no room in my plans. He’s not any good in the first place, and then he plays grisly defense. We will have to look into procuring a good defensive CF/RF with options to keep in AAA in case anything bad happens to Castro (who’s still in a brace with that broken elbow of his) and Black. We have a young backup for leftfield with Jerry Saenz, who came over in a minor trade from the Warriors two years ago (it was the trade where we ridded ourselves of Steve Searcy).

The Rebels signed Jaime Mateo on December 10 for cheap, so he’s off the table in terms of shortstops. But you know who else is a free agent? Conceicao Guerin. He’s 35 by now, but his glove is still sensational. The problem is that he hasn’t hit for more than a .661 OPS in the last five seasons, and that was 2004, his last year in Portland.

[Westheim]

Towards the end of the winter meetings, I got a *really* funny offer from the Indians. They were offering C Jose Paraz, a good, almost major league ready left-handed relief prospect, and a scum pitcher nobody really needed, plus $1.1M in cash, for … Ron Alston.

That was a mean offer. We really need a catcher. Jose Paraz’ batted unleashes worlds of hurt upon opposing pitchers, but there are some obvious hooks to this one, and some that are not quite as obvious.

The obvious hooks include, well, we’d have to give up Ron Alston again. The second obvious hook is Paraz’ horrible defense. Think Ricardo Martinez, just behind the dish. His throwing arm is so weak, against Paraz we run everybody. Not just Castro, no. We send the Duke, we send our own catcher, heck, we send even Chad in the mascot, and Aunt Phyllis, well, at least until she passed away from old age two years ago. He never threw out any of them. Chad even ran in the wrong direction. Paraz’ throw was so poor, Chad was still safe.

The less obvious, but fatal hook is Paraz’ contract. He is owed just over three million squids every year through 2012. While the Indians would cover the difference between Paraz’ and Alston’s contract for 2009, that doesn’t help us a bit beyond that.

It is a trade that is impossible to make for the Raccoons, because we just can’t pay Paraz beyond 2009, but we would have to get actively rid of him, and you try to find a team to take on a $3M contract. The Indians were trying right now. No, it was an impossible deal and we could not do it.

December 10 – The Raccoons deal 24-yr old 2B Jose Gutierrez (.215, 0 HR, 15 RBI) and 26-yr old MR Dan Parker (2-1, 6.45 ERA) to the Wolves for 24-yr old SS/1B Rob Howell (.321, 0 HR, 35 RBI).
December 11 – The Indians acquire SP Jimmy Sjogren (10-10, 3.56 ERA) from the Condors, who receive two prospects, including Jimmy Eichelkraut.
December 11 – The Capitals land ex-LAP LF/RF Ken Potter (.259, 179 HR, 583 RBI). The 30-year old signs a 2-yr, $2.52M contract.
December 13 – The Raccoons and Miners strike a deal that sends 24-yr old C Ximenes Lopes (.200, 0 HR, 0 RBI in 5 AB) to Portland in exchange for 29-yr old AAA SS César Pena (.215, 0 HR, 6 RBI in 65 AB).
December 14 – The Indians send SP Ramiro Gonzalez (137-137, 3.78 ERA), age 34, to Dallas for 29-yr old outfielder Clint Philip (.234, 15 HR, 76 RBI), who hasn’t had more than 18 major league AB in a season since 2006.
December 23 – The Indians pick up 36-yr old 1B/2B Dave Heffer (.293, 52 HR, 814 RBI) on a 1-yr, $540k contract. Heffer was last with the Titans.
December 25 – The Capitals sign 36-yr old ex-NAS C Carlos Ramos (.298, 131 HR, 816 RBI) to a 3-yr, $5.86M contract.
December 26 – The Scorpions shell out $15.86M over seven years for ex-CIN LF/RF Rodrigo Lopez. The 28-year old has batted .305 with 28 HR and 351 RBI over his career.
December 26 – Career Bostonian SP Jason O’Halloran (236-138, 3.30 ERA) gets aboard with the Cyclones. The 37-year old southpaw signs a 2-yr, $3.32M contract.
December 26 – Another ex-Titan lands with the Capitals, who sign 36-yr old 1B Roberto Vargas (.270, 84 HR, 538 RBI) to a 3-yr, $4.66M contract.
December 27 – 36-yr old ex-POR SS/2B Juan Barrón (.306, 35 HR, 917 RBI) joins the Indians on a 1-yr, $550k contract.
December 28 – 37-yr old ex-POR OF/1B Jerry Fletcher (.311, 56 HR, 838 RBI) gets another 2-year deal, worth $2.24M, from the Blue Sox.
December 29 – Ex-DEN SP Victor Bernal (123-59, 3.14 ERA) moves in with the Stars on a 7-yr, $16.26M contract.
December 29 – Ex-TOP C Miguel Torres (.257, 63 HR, 408 RBI) wins a 2-yr, $2.5M deal from the Bayhawks.
December 30 – The Wolves pick up ex-TOP INF Jon Merritt (.268, 39 HR, 551 RBI). The 32-yr old will receive $730k for a year.
January 1 – The Gold Sox console themselves over the loss of Bernal with SP Manny Guzmán (63-95, 4.53 ERA), who signs up for 2-yr, $1.18M. Well…
January 3 – The Thunder pick up ex-NAS SP Takeru Sato (145-133, 4.22 ERA) on a 2-yr, $2.52M deal.
January 4 – $3.2M over two years lands the Titans INF Takahashi Higashi (.268, 156 HR, 821 RBI).

We receive our second supplemental round pick after the Indians signed Barrón. That is all the compensation for us this year, but with #14, #21 and two supplemental round picks, you’re not in a shabby spot in the draft.

I’m quite happy with the Howell trade, which also saves us one minimum salary while not taking away from player substance. I tried to get a deal done with third-rate prospects, but they were pretty much Santos-or-nothing in this regard. The Wolves are looking for left-handed relief, and while Parker is probably not the answer to any pitching-related question, it scratches their itch for the moment. The only other left-handed reliever they had on their 40-man roster was even worse than Parker…

Ximenes Lopes is a good defensive catcher and while there isn’t much data for his bat, since he was never really the primary catcher anywhere, all indications are that it’s not going to be pretty. So far I consider him a backup even to Esquivel. Lopes has options, though, so he can be put away at AAA at the start of the season if we (and I hope we) find a better option. Esquivel as the primary is not something I dig.

We do have an offer out there, however. It is to a catcher that was already at least twice on the table to come to Portland. Once as a free agent two or three years ago, and even a few years before that in a trade, but I can’t remember for whom that would have been.

I’m also working on a trade for one of our high priced players, but Eduardo Durango is off the table, it’s impossible to work out a deal with the rampantly broken Aces.

[Westheim]

The Hall of Fame grows by four players in 2009!

2009 HALL OF FAME VOTING RESULTS

BOS LF Hjalmar Flygt – 94.0% (1st year) - ELECTED
RIC CL Lawson Steward – 88.8% (1st year) - ELECTED
LAP SP Bastyao Caixinha – 81.1% (2nd year) - ELECTED
OCT 2B Dave Browne – 77.5% (4th year) - ELECTED
ATL SP Carlos Asquabal – 69.5% (6th year)
PIT LF Diego Rodriguez – 51.2% (4th year)
WAS C Gabriel Rivera – 48.4% (6th year)
DEN SS Paul Connolly – 46.7% (5th year)
TOP SP Arnold McCray – 28.8% (4th year)
WAS CL Domingo Rivera – 27.0% (6th year)
BOS LF Jose Martinez – 21.8% (2nd year)
MIL SP Neil Stewart – 20.7% (2nd year)
LAP RF Anibal Rodriguez – 15.1% (2nd year)
IND CL Jim Durden – 14.7% (6th year)
LAP RF Yoshinobu Ishizaki – 7.0% (6th year)
DEN 3B Jesus Garcia – 4.9% (2nd year) - DROPPED
VAN SP Vernon Robertson – 3.2% (1st year) - DROPPED

Steward is the first representative for the Rebels, just like Flygt is the first Titan inducted, and Caixinha the first player in the Hall to wear a Pacifics cap. The Thunder already had a Hall member in Alfonso Aranda.

No player has been on the ballot for more than six years. 2004 was the first year of Hall of Fame balloting. Before, players were elected to the Hall of Fame by the entirely invisible Secret Ninja Committee.

Only 11 players are carried forward onto next year’s ballot, but it looks like there will be at least six more players on each of the next four ballots, and there won’t be any clear slam dunks on next year’s ballot, but in 2011 we will f.e. have Dale Wales, and if he doesn’t get in first ballot … 2011 will also hold Neil Reece, Royce Green, and David Brewer, but to be fair only Brewer has a realistic chance.

[Westheim]

What’s new in Portland? Nick Brown grew a silly, slightly gay beard to overcome his five-month struggle that followed his April Pitcher of the Month award. Mid-life crisis alert!

Wow, get that thing shaved, it’s looking at me!

Anyways. We got ourselves a catcher!

January 8 – 30-year old ex-SFB SP Harry Wentz (70-103, 4.37 ERA) signs a 3-yr, $3.72M contract with the Condors.
January 10 – The Raccoons sign 34-yr old ex-ATL C Antonio De La Parra (.289, 74 HR, 671 RBI) to a 3-yr, $2.5M contract.
January 10 – The Raccoons send 23-yr old AA SP Eric Thrift to the Crusaders for 23-yr old AAA 3B/SS Walt Canning.

De La Parra’s contract is almost even, $830k this and next year, $840k in 2011. No options involved, only a few incentives. This is our new primary. He is batting for mid-.700 OPS numbers quite consistently, except for a rotten 2004 season, with an average somewhere between .292 and .317, but he hasn’t hit double digit dingers since 2001, when he was with the Aces. He doesn’t walk much, and he has no speed. He is mostly a singles hitter, not having hit even 20 doubles since 2005, either. What he does bring, however, is dramatically improved defense and a strong arm behind the plate (career CS%: 37.3) when compared to Craig Bowen and even more so when compared with Sergio Esquivel, who looks like he will remain the backup. Ximenes Lopes gets dumped to AAA, but that was the plan all along.

The Thrift/Canning deal mostly just flips failed prospects. Thrift, our 2004 sixth-rounder, is a true mess, who put up a 5.10 ERA in 20 starts in Ham Lake in 2008, while Canning is an excellent defender, who batted in a very humiliating manner in AA and AAA last season. I don’t think either team gains a significant advantage here. Canning will be our third base starter in St. Petersburg to start the season, and we’ll see what he puts up. In the Bigs, we would use him at short rather than at third, but I don’t think you could call him a backup plan in case Rob Howell falls into a hole.

At that point I still tried to somehow convert one of our bigger deals into an upgrade among our middle infielders. Another option was to bring back Concie, although I need to routinely state that 35-year old shortstops are a source of chronic depression, normally. Barrón certainly wasn’t, even though his 2008 season was nothing to write home about, but he got stuff done. Concie still has the glove…

Ah, it wasn’t satisfying at all. Eventually I changed my approach. Rather than a top-notch glove, I began to look for a top-notch bat at shortstop with a palatable glove. I came across the Elks’ Gary Rice, a career .278/.369/.414 batter, but trending upwards except for a horrible 2006 season with the Crusaders, his last with them. His OPS in ’07 with the Elks had been .903 (in 94 games), and .849 in a full season in ’08.

I talked to their GM and I was working on a dangerous deal. Right now it goes like that: the Raccoons send Kelvin Yates to the Elks in exchange for Rice, the completely dead contract of Cal Holbrook, and a swath of cash, but the Elks aren’t happy with that and demand at least some semi-useful second player in the deal.

There are multiple angles by which this can break our neck:
• Gary Rice is owed $1.54M in 2009, and $1.64M a year from 2010 through 2012
• Gary Rice is made out of glass (think Jeremiah Carrell; I still have the dust of his bobblehead in a box somewhere)
• Cal Holbrook, who spent the entire 2008 season as a reliever in AAA, is owed $1.22M in both 2009 and 2010
• The Elks will cover most of Holbrook’s 2009 salary with cash, but none of his 2010 salary

On the plus side, we get rid of Kelvin Yates’ $1.8M player option for 2010. While he had a good September when admitted back into the rotation, he spent a month in the bullpen last season, and $1.8M in the bullpen is just as bad as $1.22M in the bullpen in AAA. Our bullpen is as luxurious as it gets for a small market team ($2.7M or more in there, depending on whether we make another signing).

Uuuh, my head is hurting quite badly.

Just so you get an impression, we’re talking about THAT:

[Westheim]

Sometimes you find that really sweet treat that looks delicious and sugary. Yet, the longer you chew on it, the more you discover that it is of rubbery consistence, with a hard crust, and when you finally get to the very inside, you discover the really nasty surprise, the garlic filling.

Which is to say, that the Yates/Rice/Holbrook deal was off. It was a horrible deal for the Raccoons. While Gary Rice would certainly improve our efforts (as long as he stayed off the DL), the strings attached to the deal were slung around the Critters’ neck, ready to tighten and strangulate them.

So, if we can’t upgrade at short, what are we gonna do? Upgrade at second base? Give up on Yoshi? Second base is the only spot that can be upgraded for considerable gains right now.

Ultimately I landed with the Aces again. The Aces still had less than no money, and we still couldn’t get a deal done. That wasn’t going to work. Nothing was going to work…

January 13 – 37-year old LF/RF Daniel Richardson (.264, 114 HR, 606 RBI), last with the Stars, signs a 1-yr, $920k deal with the Indians.
January 14 – The Canadiens add ex-SFW SP Dave Crawford (146-140, 3.77 ERA) on a 2-yr, $4.48M contract.
January 21 – A major trade is completed between the Raccoons and the Gold Sox. The Raccoons send 30-yr old SP Kelvin Yates (104-98, 3.50 ERA) and 19-yr old A INF Andy Lannon to the Gold Sox in exchange for 29-yr old INF Jose Correa (.304, 19 HR, 355 RBI).
January 21 – The Cyclones pick up 39-yr old ex-SWF RF/LF Avery Johnson (.273, 264 HR, 1,166 RBI) on a 1-yr, $1.06M contract.
January 26 – The Raccoons announce a long-term extension with 31-year old SP Nick Brown (97-69, 3.03 ERA), keeping the star pitcher aboard for another five years for $11M.
January 28 – The Crusaders trade 36-year old INF/RF Ramón Garza (.280, 58 HR, 896 RBI), a second-rate prospect, and cash to the Capitals and get 33-yr old 1B Paco Batlle (.275, 85 HR, 920 RBI) back.
January 31 – Ex-CIN CF Earl Clark (.305, 65 HR, 496 RBI) hooks up with the Rebels. The 28-year old signs a 6-yr, $17.84M contract.
February 3 – The Raccoons trade 28-yr old INF Melvin Pollack (.254, 11 HR, 56 RBI) to the Falcons for two non-prospects.
February 3 – Former Rebels RF/LF Josh Thomas (.269, 175 HR, 870 RBI) signs a 2-yr, $1.76M contract with the Canadiens.
February 15 – 34-yr old SP Paul Kirkland (100-95, 4.35 ERA), who pitched with the Buffaloes in 2008, signs a 2-yr, $1.88M contract with the Indians.
February 16 – WAS INF Ross Terwilliger (.230, 11 HR, 108 RBI) gets traded to the Gold Sox for MR Joaquín Rivera (4-6, 2.99 ERA, 1 SV) and #9 prospect CL Pablo Sanchez.
February 24 – Another free agent signing is made by the Raccoons, who ink 36-yr old ex-NYC/SAL SP Greg Grams (118-115, 4.51 ERA) to a 1-yr, $500k contract.

Correa was the first overall pick by the Gold Sox in 1997. He has won four Gold Gloves at second base between 2002 and 2006, where he will play most of the time, although Yoshi Nomura will get select starts against right-handed pitching. Correa plays all four infield positions, but is best left on the right side. He is a high-average, high-OBP guy, unfortunately not with enough speed to be a stolen base threat.

I’m undecided where to bat him in the lineup. One idea I have is to have Castro batting leadoff followed by Correa, then Quebell, who combined OBP with power last season, but Alston does that, too. Quebell could bat as low as fifth, since Alston is still a better batter than him, and I want the most complete bat in the #3 hole. The Duke would then separate the left-handers. Then you have the choice between Ricardo Martinez and De La Parra at #6. Rob Howell currently plays short in this system.

And there’s no reason to cry right now for Yoshi, since Correa has a bit of an injury history, and will be our second player (besides Castro) to come off a broken elbow in 2009.

The other bad news is his contract that has him earn $1.7M a year through 2012. That’s steep, especially for the Raccoons.

I said before that our window ends in 2009. That is no longer true. The lines got blurred. We will lose Bruno and Cruz after this season, and the Duke has a vesting option requiring 120 games. The Nick Brown extension eats up a ton of resources. The Duke’s deal ends after ’10 for sure, just like Alston’s. The Duke probably won’t be able to command another big deal, but Alston is going to get crushed by a pile of coins, and the Coons are in no position to be bidders then. Angel Casas could be another departure, being under team control in ’10 for the final time.

So it looks like 2010 might be the last year of our window and after that it will be all about selling everything not nailed down really hard for prospects. But we’re not there yet. We’re still pretending we can beat the Crusaders. This time.

Pollack was traded because he has no options, batted for a .550 OPS after being claimed off waivers from the Aces mid-season, and we want to get rid of as many dollars as possible.

I never had anything nice to say about Greg Grams throughout his career, which includes nine stops, including two teams that he pitched for twice. After trading Kel Yates, we needed a #5 starter. It was between Grams, Boda, and Watanabe. Maybe that half million was worth it. It was most of the our remaining funds in any case.

Nick Brown’s extension (5-yr, $11M) is flat at $2.2M per year, the last year a player option. Five years should be enough time for another 1,100 to 1,200 strikeouts, and then we’ll see about going from there. I’m dead set on making him our personal 3,000 strikeouts guy (Kisho Saito had 2,800 for his career, but 400+ were with the Elks). 200 wins is a different beast, however. That’s going to look bad at the Hall of Fame poll box. (Might be getting a bit ahead of myself here. That’s a problem I can cry over in ten years’ time … or more)

What else? The Titans signed Kaz Kichida, but waived him a few days later. Jerry Fletcher had already signed with the Blue Sox. J.C. Crespo remains unsigned.

The hot part of the offseason is over. Almost all the remaining top free agents are 37 years or older and most of those are done. The Raccoons need to add a few more players to stack at AAA, but I think we’re done as far as trades are concerned as well.

Next project: draft history update. Gonna take a bit.

[Orcin]

Glad to see the extension for Brown.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Orcin

Glad to see the extension for Brown.

Oh, you were sweating and tossing and turning at night, too? Well, good that's over!

This is the biggest contract ever shelled out by the Raccoons, beating the $9M deal signed by David Brewer *14* years ago.

We're kinda cheap, usually. (Just look at Jong-hoo last winter, whom I was quite intrigued with from the start of the offseason, but had to wait until the price dropped to $1M/y )

[Westheim]

RACCOONS DRAFT HISTORY (as of February 25, 2009)

Players in bold = players currently in the Coons' system (majors or minors).
Players underlined = active major leaguers or players that have played in the majors this season.
Listed are the first five rounds from every draft, plus draft picks that made it to the big leagues from later rounds. In very rare cases a player from below the fifth round will be listed that doesn’t qualify under the previous stipulations, like when his call-up to the Raccoons’ roster could come soon.
This is merely an update of the last three draft classes and what else has happened since then. I intend to do a proper write-up at least of the old draft classes at some point, but you know me, heh, yeah … [This sentence is untouched from the last TWO updates and counting…]
Prior to this update, the longest-back draft class that had not retired in entirety had been the 1987 class with Al Matthews and Dennis Fried still active, but they have retired since. 1990’s third-rounder Antonio Donis is now the longest-ago pick still active.

1977 – Whole draft class is retired

Round 1 - LF/RF Daniel Hall – Franchise poster boy! Forever in our hearts! After a career riddled with all kinds of big and small injuries, he retired after 17 major league seasons, all with the Raccoons, and a .263/.366/.437 career slash line, 1,886 hits, 223 home runs, 980 RBI, and 99 steals, as well as two rings. We will never forget you, Daniel! (sobs)
Round 2 - SP Jose Garcia – retired without reaching the majors.
Round 3 - 1B Matt Workman – Played 595 games at 1B for the Raccoons, including 404 straight starts before being traded with prospects for Tetsu Osanai. Never landed another job in the starting lineup elsewhere, and last appeared with the Wolves in 1988. Career stats: .271/.327/.390, 61 HR, 327 RBI in his career.
Round 4 - MR Miguel Bojorquez – Appeared in 39 games for the Raccoons between 1980 and 1985, before being claimed on waivers by the Blue Sox. Bounced around in the Federal League as a third-string lefty reliever until 1990. Career stats: 147 G, 11-7, 2 SV, 4.93 ERA
Round 5 - SP/MR Jorge Rodriguez – Was traded before the '83 season and has been with Boston in '83, L.A. in '85, and Oklahoma in ‘87. Career stats: 67 G, 0-2, 1 SV, 7.02 ERA.
Round 7 - MR Jason White – Was traded after the 1985 season for Marcos Costello, and after pitching for the Wolves and Loggers in ’86, bumbled around in the minors for eight years before retiring. 264 career games with a 4.14 ERA.

1978 – Whole draft class is retired

Round 1 - MR Richard Cunningham – Nasty right-handed setup man that was blocked behind Grant West for almost a decade, but still devastated batters. Traded to Dallas in the 1988 firesale that started a dynasty, Cunningham became closer there for a few years. After 1992, he soldiered on to pitch for five more teams, remaining a reliable and competent pitcher until the very end. 1,072 G, 89-75, 2.86 ERA, 173 SV, 1,257 K.
Round 2 - MR Gary Simmons – Beaten up as a starter with the Raccoons in 1980-81, and was traded to Nashville after the 1982 season. The Blue Sox and later the Knights employed him as reliever exclusively and he remained competent in that role, ending his career after the 1993 season. Career stats: 623 G, 64 GS, 3.44 ERA.
Round 3 - 1B Johnny Snow – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - MR Marvin Large – Retired without reaching the majors despite 15 minor league seasons.
Round 5 - C Eric Gregory – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 7 - LF/RF Fernando Perez –ad four hits in 26 AB’s for the Coons between 1982 and 1984, was claimed by the Pacifics in 1985, but never appeared in the majors again.

1979 – Whole draft class is retired

Round 1 - MR Grant West **HOF**– Forever Portland’s local hero, West spent his whole career as a Raccoon, and being a fail-proof closer for 13 of his 16 seasons. Career stats: 905 G, 43-34, 522 SV, 2.12 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and two rings, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2000.
Round 2 - SP Pepe Acevedo – Was shipped off to Cincinnati in the Jack Pennington trade before the 1981 season, and was in the majors for the Cyclones and Indians between 1984 and 1989 with a 43-37 record and 3.80 ERA, but never made it back after that.
Round 3 - MR Fletcher Kelley – Solid right-handed reliever, who was traded to Nashville in the Raúl Herrera trade, where he won two rings. Bounced between teams after 1987 and after three unsuccessful appearances for the 1990 Thunder, he only reappeared in 1994 with the Condors for 18 games of getting mobbed. Career stats: 433 G, 25-18, 7 SV, 3.80 ERA.
Round 4 - LF/RF Gary Carter – Had nine AB’s for the 1983 Coons, going hitless. Never played anywhere else.
Round 5 - C Dave Stewart – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 6 - MR Gilberto Soto – Pitched for the 1984-85 Coons. Career stats: 59 G, 4-2, 1 SV, 4.81 ERA.

1980 – Whole draft class is retired

Round 1 - SP Carlos Gonzalez – Potentially great career that was derailed by injuries early and often. Gonzalez had to retire at the tender age of 30. Pitched for the Raccoons 1984-89 and the Titans 1990-91. Career stats: 145 G, 143 GS, 48-57, 3.91 ERA.
Round 3 - SP Ray Willis – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - 1B/2B Darren Campbell – Only had 86 AB’s for the Raccoons from 1985 to 1987 and never played for another big league team. Career stats: .209/.253/.244 with 0 HR, 7 RBI.
Round 5 - LF Jose Perez – Was taken by the Scorpions in the 1984 rule 5 draft and played for them from 1985 to 1987. Career stats: .221/.297/.277 with 1 HR, 20 RBI.

1981 – Whole draft class is retired

Round 1 - 3B/2B Orlando Lantán – Hurt his knee shortly after being drafted and spent short stints with the Coons in 1985 and 1986, after which he was claimed off waivers by the Blue Sox, but never played for any other team. Career stats: .200/.261/.248 with 1 HR, 10 RBI.
Round 2 - C Greg Thornburg – Great defense, but never much of a batter. Had his 15 minutes of fame with the 1986 Aces, getting four AB’s with a double.
Round 3 - OF Kelly Weber – Backup outfielder 1984-1988, was traded to the Gold Sox for 1989, but only appeared in six games for them. Career stats: .251/.298/.320 with 5 HR, 112 RBI.
Round 4 - MR Pedro Vazquez – Right-handed fireballer with severe control issues, he made 69 appearances for the Raccoons between 1986 and 1992, before being claimed off waivers by the Wolves. Ended up in Vancouver in ’93 and appeared from them in two last games in ’94 before finishing his career in the minors. Career stats: 108 G, 1 GS, 4-5, 4.60 ERA, 2 SV.
Round 5 - CL Emerson MacDonald – Appeared for the Raccoons in 1986 and 1988, before being traded to the Pacifics in the trade for Jeff Martin. Last pitched for the Indians in 1991. Career stats: 100 G, 8-4, 3.96 ERA.
Round 7 - C Andy Reed – Had limited exposure with the Raccoons and Dallas as backup catcher. Career stats: .267/.341/.371 with 2 HR, 9 RBI.

1982 – Whole draft class is retired

Round 1 - LF/RF Alejandro Lopez – When he didn’t click in the minors, he was traded to the Blue Sox in an 8-player deal in 1985, with whom he debuted the same year. Won two rings with the Blue Sox before being traded to the Condors in ’91, but was unsigned after ’92. He came back to the Raccoons as a scrap heap signing in May of 1993 and was a productive part down the stretch en route to his third World Series title. But he didn’t produce in ’94, was waived and claimed by the Canadiens, didn’t produce there either, and by now has retired. Career stats: .258/.305/.408 with 106 HR, 564 RBI, and 71 SB.
Supp. Round - INF Carlos Miranda – Versatile infielder, with us from 1985 to 1989, but never caught on anywhere else, being limited to 266 career AB. Career stats: .244/.301/.308 with 0 HR, 13 RBI, and 9 SB.
Supp. Round - OF Matt Olson – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 2 - MR Jason Bentley – Another player that only appeared for the Raccoons, from 1985 to 1989. Good right-hander that at one point just lost it. Career stats: 238 G, 5-11, 3 SV, 4.01 ERA, 184 K.
Round 3 - C Odwin Garza – The Aruban’s claim to fame will be that he was included (with SP Manuel Paredes) in the deal that netted the Raccoons David Vinson and Miguel Lopez. Appeared as backup for the Raccoons in 1986-87, and for the Warriors 1988 and 1990. Career stats: .222/.292/.309 with 0 HR, 9 RBI.
Round 4 - 1B Mariano Duarte – Only made the Bigs after leaving as a minor league free agent, accumulating 51 AB for the Thunder in 1989, and one more in 1991. Career stats: .288/.403/.538 with 3 HR, 10 RBI.
Round 5 - RF/LF Paul Blake – Only appeared for the 1986 Raccoons. Career stats: .220/.265/.308 with 1 HR, 5 RBI.

1983 – Whole draft class is retired

Round 1 - SP Scott Wade – Although he lacked a third pitch, Scotty was able to scrape by during a 17-year run in the majors, debuting in 1985 and staying in the rotation until late in 1997, when his diminishing stuff made him a swing man to fill a hole wherever one opened up, although he was a full time starter again in his second-to-last season in 2000. After 582 games (421 starts), he finished with a 170-141 record, 53 saves, and a 3.63 ERA, plus two World Series rings, and retired as the third meaningful always-Coon after Daniel Hall and Grant West.
Supp. Round - C Miguel Carrasco – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 5 - LF Wilson Martinez – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 8 - 1B/3B Jose Lopez –Was released in 1985, but eventually bounced into a small cup of coffee with the 1991 and 1993 Knights for 18 career AB. Career stats: .111/.105/.222 with 0 HR, 3 RBI.

1984 – Whole draft class is retired

Round 1 - MR Juan Santos – Shipped out for the in Portland short-lived Jose Sanchez after 1987, he didn’t make his debut until 1989 with the Scorpions, but was demoted and never heard from again in 1990, retiring after seven seasons in the minors. Career stats: 64 G, 2-6, 5.23 ERA.
Supp. Round - 1B Billy Mitchell – Blocked by the Hall of Famer Tetsu Osanai, he was traded after the 1988 season, and appeared for the Capitals and Falcons until 1994. Career stats: .296/.371/.466, 75 HR, 399 RBI.
Round 2 - OF Hector Medina – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 3 - RF Jose Correa – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - MR Jorge Cavazos – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 5 - LF/RF Jose Vega – Retired without reaching the majors.

1985 – Whole draft class is retired

Round 1 – 1B/3B Joe Jackson – debuted in 1988, but was traded to the Falcons after that season for Justin Reader. On the Falcons he was infrequently their starter and then back to the minors, and a starter again. He was traded to the Knights in 1998, but returned for the 1999 season. He last appeared in 2001. Career stats: .244/.315/.355, 51 HR, 485 RBI, 78 SB.
Supp. Round - 1B Gabriel Ramirez – Retired without reaching the majors. Was at one point traded to Cincinnati for Glenn Johnston, which is a story in itself.
Round 2 - MR Jose Mendoza – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 3 - LF/RF Antonio Morín – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - 1B/2B Dennis Gray – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - SP/MR Gerald Hickman – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 5 - 3B/2B Bartolo Ayala – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 6 - MR Mike Shaw – Control-challenged lefty reliever that appeared for the 1986 and 1988 Coons. Career stats: 37 G, 0-1, 5.40 ERA.

1986 – Whole draft class is retired

Round 1 - SP Miguel Martinez – Retired. He was included in the deal for Neil Reece in the 1988 sales, which was another big W for the Coons. Was traded a few more times, pitching for the Thunder 1989-91, and then only resurfaced with the 1995 Warriors, was traded to the Gold Sox the same year, but didn’t appear in the Bigs after 1996 and retired two years later. Career stats: 72 G, 61 GS, 14-23, 4.71 ERA.
Round 2 - SP/MR Eugene Scott – Retired without reaching the majors. He held out in the minor leagues until 2000, hoping to finally break into the big leagues, but never made it.
Round 3 - 1B Vincente Rodriguez –Was a part of the deal for Jorge Salazar before the 1990 season, and played for the Indians from 1990-1993. Career stats: .257/.327/.362 with 16 HR, 106 RBI, and 14 SB.
Round 4 - RF/INF Ben Nash – Managed one hit in 12 AB for the 1995 Raccoons.
Round 5 - MR Keith Jefferson – Retired without reaching the majors.

1987 – Whole draft class is retired

Round 1 - 2B/3B Hector Gonzalez – was a part of the Neil Reece deal in the 1988 sales, and made his debut for the Buffaloes the same year. He appeared for them until 1993, then for the 1994 Gold Sox, but was left unsigned after that. Career stats: .233/.302/.334 with 38 HR, 360 RBI, and 15 SB.
Supp. Round - MR Albert Matthews – after his 1989 debut with the Coons it soon became apparent that consistency was not in his vocabulary. Was demoted and recalled frequently and alternated between mop-up and setup duties regularly. He was claimed off waivers by the Canadiens in 1995 and while he bounced frequently after that, and had three stints with the Canadiens, he stayed employed until 2007, after which he retired. Career stats: 814 G, 36-54, 60 SV, 3.97 ERA.
Round 2 - C Bob Armstrong – Primarily a defensive catcher, he spotted 26 AB (7 hits) for the Coons between 1992 and 1994, before being traded to the Falcons in 1996, but didn’t get another chance in the majors.
Round 3 - INF/LF/CF Terry Miller – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - SP Dennis Fried – appeared in 16 games for the Coons in 1990 and pitched so-so, before being included in the ill-fated Raul Castillo deal in 1991 (Castillo only played in three games for Portland due to injury). He went on to pitch 17 years for the Blue Sox, leading the Federal League in WHIP four times. Career stats: 549 G (509 GS), 240-167, 3.61 ERA, 2,455 K.
Round 5 - MR Walter Weber – Retired without reaching the majors.

1988 – Whole draft class is retired

Round 1 - LF Edgar Morris – Constantly hurt and struggled in our system and eventually became a free agent. He made sporadic appearances for the Knights from 1995, appearing in at most 93 games in a season (1997), but his last four games came in 1998. Career stats: .290/.357/.406, 4 HR, 41 RBI in 276 AB.
Round 2 - INF Steve Caddock – Caddock’s only nice quality was his able glove, but that was enough to have him appear frequently with the Raccoons between 1995 and 2000, with at most 298 AB in a season (1998). Once let go, he never caught on elsewhere. Career stats: .199/.271/.303, 11 HR, 69 RBI.
Round 3 - MR John Smith – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - C Freddy Lambert – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 5 - LF/RF Chih-tui Jin – Made his debut in 1993 with the Coons, but never got past backup status, but broke out when he was traded to the Gold Sox with Esteban Baldivía to attain the services of Liam Wedemeyer and Tzu-jao Ban. Always hampered by injuries, he nevertheless put up a few wildly successful seasons with the Gold Sox, yet never made an All Star game. He had to retire in 2002 at age 32 after he tore his labrum in Titans service. Career stats: .295/.406/.445, 74 HR, 487 RBI, 25 SB.
Round 8 – SP Jesse Novak – After being released in 1989, he eventually caught on with the Blue Sox, debuting for them in 1993 with a single relief appearance. He spent a full season in their rotation in 1996 before being demoted to (rare) relief apperances and was traded to the Rebels, for whom he appeared a few more times until 1999. Career stats: 94 G, 36 GS, 14-18, 4.58 ERA, 3 SV.

1989 – Whole draft class is retired

Round 1 - SP Eduardo Salazar – Always riddled with injuries, Salazar was traded after the 1992 season for the Miners’ Christian Proctor (didn’t work…). After making 17 starts for them in 1993, he saw limited use from the bullpen the next two years, and never appeared in the majors again. Career stats: 26 G, 22 GS, 10-7, 3.67 ERA.
Supp. Round - CL Gabriel De La Rosa – powerful right-handed pitcher that debuted in 1993 and soon carved out a permanent spot in our bullpen. He was traded to the Stars after 1998 to bring in Cesar Gonzalez, and was their closer from 1999 through 2003, never missing a beat, but faded after 2004. He also pitched for the Titans and Thunder before retiring after the 2006 season. 734 G (17 GS), 48-57, 209 SV, 2.51 ERA, 771 K.
Round 2 - 1B Ruben De La Rosa – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 3 - OF/1B Rodrigo Correa – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - SP Brendon Bell – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 5 - MR Rafael Vazquez – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 8 – C Ron McDonald – never won a starting job and made sporadic backup service cameos with the 1994-1998 Raccoons and 1999-2000 Knights before fading into obscurity completely. Career stats: .242/.279/.342, 5 HR, 39 RBI.

1990 (note: this was the first draft over 12 rounds)

Round 1 - MR Daniel Miller – Retired. Shot through the minor leagues to make his debut in 1991, which he started with 15 innings without an earned run allowed. He was a constant in the Raccoons’ bullpen from then until 2002, despite some control issues that never went away, with intermittent attempts at having him close in the post-Grant West era, but nothing good ever came of that. Lost it completely in 2002 and became a free agent, and spent one more season with the Blue Sox’ AAA team before going fishing. Career stats: 698 G, 39-35, 56 SV, 3.61 ERA.
Supp. Round - SS/2B Jayson Kelley – Retired without reaching the majors.
Supp. Round - C Marcos Lozano – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 2 - MR Leon Wright – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 2 - LF/CF Francisco Reyes – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 3 - SP António Donís – A stunning groundball pitcher with high strikeout ability, Donis was hampered by his short stamina in his time with the Raccoons, making 43 starts between 1995 and 1997, going 13-16 with a 4.26 ERA, but was then converted to a reliever due to his frequent struggles to go even five innings efficiently. He found his place in the pen by 1999, and was trade to the Gold Sox after 2000 in a package for Carl Bean. The Gold Sox made an attempt at bringing him back to the rotation in 2002, which didn’t work, but he has been a starter again since 2005 with dazzling success, and sub-3 ERA’s in all four seasons since then. 610 G (194 GS) with a 113-72 record, 3.06 ERA, 47 SV, and 1,610 K.
Round 4 - 1B Mark Logan – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 5 - 1B/2B/LF Michael Martin – Retired without reaching the majors.
All others from this year are retired.

1991 – Whole draft class is retired

Round 1 - SP Gerárdo Ramirez – Severe control issues derailed his career. Was limited to 12 appearances for the 1994 Raccoons. Career stats: 12 G, 11 GS, 3-4, 5.34 ERA.
Supp. Round - LF/RF Paco Martinez – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 2 - 2B Pat Parker – After getting into only 32 games for the 1993-94 Raccoons, he was traded to the Condors for Mike Dye, but bounced from there to Cincy, where he was the second base starter in 1996, and on to Denver, where he had another three seasons before falling out of favor. Career stats: .292/.372/.422, 34 HR, 243 RBI, 23 SB.
Round 2 - INF Michael Lloyd – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 3 - MR Fred Carlton – Had cups of coffee with the Furballs in 1998 and 1999, but awful control had him achieve nothing whatsoever in his brief career. Career stats: 19 G, 0-0, 7.11 ERA.
Round 4 - 1B Steve Stevens – The Curacaoan Stevens was released in 1994 for hacking madly and getting done little. The Indians picked him up and he got into the briefest stint in the majors, but never had a hit. Career stats: .000/.200/.000 in 4 AB.
Round 5 - MR Pancho Padilla – Control was never in his vocabulary and so he never held down an assignment for long. Spent 1996-98 with the Raccoons, 1999 with the Miners, and started 2000 with them before being sent to the Capitals, posting a 7.22 ERA in his final season in the majors. Career stats: 171 G, 9-6, 5.35 ERA, 2 SV.
Round 6 – LF/RF Kenny Crockett – When injuries culled down the Raccoons outfielders in scores in 1997, he was called upon to help, but mostly didn’t. Had one more appearance in 1998 and was later released. Career stats: 46 G, .287/.313/.404, 2 HR, 15 RBI.

1992

Round 1 - OF Luke Newton – Retired. Although given ample chances after his 1995 debut, Newton never gained a starting job if not for injuries, and when he gained one, got hurt himself. Was let go after 2000 and never signed by anybody. Career stats: .221/.309/.316 with 10 HR, 137 RBI, 41 SB in 1,350 AB.
Supp. Round - 3B Mike Crowe – inheriting third base from Ben O’Morrissey wasn’t the easiest of tasks, but Crowe failed rather spectacularly. After barely decent seasons in 1997 and 1998, he was wholly ineffective and eventually banned to the bench in 1999. After he became a free agent in 2000, he was picked up by the Knights, then the Warriors, and later the Knights again. He spent time in the majors and AAA every year through 2007, and was a minor leaguer in 2008. So far .247/.361/.317 with 26 HR, 221 RBI in 2,052 AB.
Supp. Round - SP Clinton Kennedy – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 2 - 1B/3B/RF/LF Mark Kowalchuk – Retired. Reminded us of Mark Dawson before the draft, but never lived up to that and was out of baseball by 2001. Had a wildly unsuccessful stint with the 1998 Coons. Career stats: .088/.205/.088 with 0 HR, 2 RBI, 1 SB in 34 AB.
Round 3 - MR Kokei Kondo – Retired. Claimed by the Wolves as rule 5 pick, he spent the 1998 season with them, then was dropped quicker than hot coal due to insisting on walking batters. It was his only major league exposure. Career stats: 43 G, 6-1, 6.30 ERA, 1 SV.
Round 4 - C Jorge Chavez – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 5 - OF Joseph MacKellachie – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 7 - SP Jose Cervantes – Retired. Released in 1996 after pitching poorly in AA for us, the Wolves picked him up and even used him as full time starter from 1998 to 1999, but quickly got tired of his act. He never made another big league team. Career stats: 63 G, 14-29, 5.07 ERA.
All others from this year are retired.

1993

Round 2 - INF Brent McLaughlin – Retired. Despite a lack of nice abilities, he appeared all too regularly for the Raccoons from 1997 through 2003, but never got another major league gig. Career stats: .225/.297/.311, 1 HR, 21 RBI in 289 AB.
Round 3 - RF/LF Marvin Gregory – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - C Brad Gray – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 5 - 1B Santiago Rodriguez – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 6 - SP Ray Conner – Became a minor league free agent before hooking up with the Indians and made sporadic appearances for them, then was traded to the Titans after 2001. He suddenly broke out as starter in his age 30 season in 2005, and he hasn’t left their rotation yet. For his career, he’s 53-59 with a 4.36 ERA, one save, and 476 K.
Round 12 - MR Pedro Perez – Retired. Sporadically appeared as a left-handed reliever for the Raccoons from 1999 through 2002 without any success. Career stats: 38 G, 0-4, 8.57 ERA.
All others from this year are retired.

1994

Round 1 - LF/RF George Wood – was traded as a struggling AAA player in the Daniel Richardson deal with the Buffaloes, bounced on twice more, but then debuted with the 2002 Thunder, appearing with them through 2005, but never for more than 19 games in a season. He has been toiling in the minor leagues since then. Batting .269 with 3 HR and 14 RBI in 93 AB.
Round 2 - 1B Carlos Salazar – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 3 - OF Cal Lyon – Retired. Appeared as injury replacement for the Raccoons between 2000 and 2003. Last played in our system in 2004, and retired in 2006. Career stats: .156/.183/.211, 2 HR, 13 RBI.
Round 4 - SP Joe Key – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 5 - 1B Harry Jackson – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 6 - SP/MR Manuel Diaz – Retired. While he debuted in 1997, he only made it into six games with the Raccoons, and although he bounced around in the minors for a few more years after that, that was all that was to his major league career. Career stats: 6 G, 0-0, 9.00 ERA.
All other from this year are retired.

1995

Round 1 - LF Manuel Villa – Retired without reaching the majors. Bust #1 from this draft went down with a concussion in 1996 and never quite came back the same. Retired after failing in A and AA in 2002.
Round 2 - RF/LF Cory Stanford – Retired without reaching the majors. Bust #2 from this draft, just worse. Released soon, and played across all three minor league levels in all years from 1999 to 2001 with the Miners before getting dumped for good.
Round 3 - MR Bill Coles – Retired without reaching the majors. Bust #3, never made it out of AA ball.
Round 4 - SP Julio Romero – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 5 - 1B/2B George Morris – it took him four years to do anything with his bat in the minors, and he appeared very briefly for the 1999 and 2001 Coons before being let go after ’02. Eventually signed on with the Blue Sox and appeared as pinch-hitter for them in 2004-2005, before sinking back into the minors. Appeared then in 33 games for the Buffaloes, batting .167. He’s batting .227 with 1 HR and 21 RBI in 181 AB for his career.
Round 8 - OF Jason Kent – Retired. Sporadically appeared as injury replacement between 1997 and 2001, after which he bounced throughout the wide world of the minors for another seven years without landing another major league at-bat. Career stats: .243/.312/.332 bat, 4 HR, 26 RBI in 325 AB.
Round 11 - SP Nick Brown – Brownie!!! The 11th round gift that keeps on giving has gone from 293rd overall in the 1995 draft to the #12 prospect in the ABL by the late 90s and from there onto a quest to strike out every batter in the country! His stuff is blistering, and very occasionally he will lose control over it for a few weeks … or months. After a slow debut late in 2001, he battled himself into the ace role and casually broke the franchise mark for strikeouts three years in a row and four times in total. 97-69 with a 3.03 ERA and 1,598 K, and thankfully signed for five or six more years!
All others from this year are retired.

1996

Round 1 - MR Manuel Martinez – highly efficient strikeout guy with little stamina; debuted in 1999 for the Raccoons and quickly hurled himself into a key role in the bullpen before being traded to the Titans after 2004 for Christian Greenman and prospect Ryan Miller, grabbing the closer’s job for Boston by 2006. 568 games, 32-27, 2.90 ERA, 119 SV.
Supp. Round - SP Dwight Williams – Retired without reaching the majors. Throwing dead straight had him surrender up to 50 home runs a year in the minors, and no team has ever dared to entrust him with a big league ball.
Supp. Round - INF/RF/LF Carlos Gomes – Retired without reaching the majors. Broke his elbow a month after the draft, and then tore his labrum the next September, forcing him to quit baseball.
Round 2 - 2B/SS Sergio Tirado – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 3 - MR Juan Diaz – Retired. After his 2000 debut he spent the entire 2001 campaign with the Critters, but walked more than he struck out. A horrendous 2002 campaign, during which he achieved three-wild-ones-in-one-at-bat notoriety had him banished to the minors and dumped at year’s end, and his career fizzled out in the minors rather quickly after that. Career stats: 155 G, 6-7, 4.85 ERA, 1 SV.
Round 4 - 1B Albert Martin – was raking around 30 homers a year with reliability for the Raccoons in the early 2000s, but his career imploded after being dealt to the Titans for a package containing Ricardo Martinez and others. The prototype fielding-challenged slugging first baseman ended up bouncing between AAA and the majors for three different teams since 2006, and hit only three home runs in that time. Signed to his fourth post-Portland team for 2009, the Condors. .284/.343/.456 with 145 HR and 542 RBI.
Round 5 - SP Ralph Warren – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 9 - C/1B Jorge Defrese – received a callup in 2001 after more mixed results in the minors, and didn’t manage to impress in his 25 games with the Critters before being traded to the Knights for Ramón Meza. Made sporadic apperances for the Knights from 2003 through 2005, but has been swamped in the minor leagues since then. .245/.301/.339 with 6 HR, 35 RBI.
All others from this year are retired.

1997

Round 1 - MR Dan Nordahl – fireballer, who never could work out how to successfully and regularly save games, until he was traded to the Warriors with Randy Farley for Adrian Quebell before the 2005 season. Still there, still closing. Career: 591 G, 37-35, 3.48 ERA, 242 SV, 693 K.
Round 1 - C Julio Mata – when he debuted late in 1999 and batted .311 in 206 AB we sung praise for our new franchise catcher. Two years later he was dumped onto the Scorpions for Kaz Kichida, and he’s still there seven years later, being somewhat of a frequent guest. 2006 was the only year he was a primary catcher in Sacramento. Career: .248/.313/.360, 24 HR, 189 RBI.
Supp. Round - LF/RF Jochen Funck – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 2 - 1B Don Irvin – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 3 - SP Craig Rhodes – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - MR Mauro Rodriguez – Retired. Was a not-working left-handed reliever for the 2002 Raccoons, was dumped and dingled through the minors until retiring in 2006. Career stats: 27 G, 0-1, 7.13 ERA.
Round 5 - SP/MR Antonio Toro – Retired without reaching the majors.
All others from this year are retired.

1998

Round 1 - LF/CF Chris Roberson – his bat never was quite what we hoped for and his Gold Glove defense wasn’t enough to keep him around, either – overall he was just not the second coming of Daniel Hall, or at least Vern Kinnear, or a league-average batter even. He went to the Buffaloes in the dismal Pablo Ledesma trade before the 2003 season, and remained on their roster in a semi-regular role through the 2008 season, but is now an unsigned free agent. Bats .267 with 52 HR and 308 RBI for his career, also 36 SB.
Supp. Round - SP Frank McGeraghty – always struggled badly with the long ball, and became a minor league free agent, and since then has been on four different AAA teams without ever getting a callup.
Supp. Round – CL Scott Boone – since getting a sniff at closing in AA at age 18, it was all gone down the hill for Boone, first with injuries, then with confidence. During a callup to the Raccoons in 2003 he was beaten to a 7.36 ERA tune and didn’t resurface until he rather suddenly appeared in the Loggers bullpen in 2008, where he did a remarkably good job. 3-1 with 1 SV and a 3.21 ERA in 63 career games, 49 of those with the Loggers.
Supp. Round - LF/RF Jesus Valle – Retired without reaching the majors. We knew beforehand he couldn’t hit a lick.
Supp. Round - OF Herb Rose – Retired without reaching the majors. Same as with Valle.
Supp. Round - MR Sergio Vega – made an unspectacular debut with the Raccoons in 2001, appearing in seven games, and despite not possessing any remarkable ability, has been back to the majors with them every year except 2005. Has probably been waived more often than any other Coon without getting claimed. 83 G (3 GS), 2-5, 4.74 ERA.
Round 2 - C Pat McClellan – Retired without reaching the majors. Defensive catcher that couldn’t hit for his dear life.
Round 3 - 1B John Morris – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - OF Bryan Forrest – was released within a year, signed by a team, released, signed, released, and signed, and released. This has been going on for 11 years and countless teams. He made it into one single-A game in 2008. No skills worth noting and currently a free agent.
Round 5 - 1B/2B/LF/RF Reed Shaw – Retired without reaching the majors.
All others from this year are retired.

1999

Round 1 - OF/1B Darwin Tyler – had 108 poor AB with the 2004 Raccoons and eventually elected minor league free agency. Despite all signs pointing at retirement, he somehow made it back with the 2007 Buffaloes, landing another 105 AB between 2007 and 2008. His career line of .197/.259/.277 speaks volumes, though. 4 HR and 19 RBI, but he always points out that he once hit three home runs in a AAA game.
Round 1 - CL Marcos Bruno – after a debut in AA, he rose a level each year and was on the 2001 Opening Day roster, never leaving. Nasty strikeout rates, and whoever doesn’t whiff hits a grounder. A true beast that doesn’t get to close for Angel reasons. 516 career games, 37-25, 2.69 ERA, 60 SV, 549 K.
Supp. Round - 1B/2B Matt Love – Retired. Although he made it to AAA quickly, his luck soon ran out. He got a poor cup of coffee with the 2003 Raccoons, and made it into two games in 2004, but never couldn’t impress anybody. Career stats: .235/.286/.255, 0 HR, 2 RBI.
Supp. Round - MR Mike Harvey – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 2 - MR Bob Evans – traded to the Crusaders for Cipriano Miranda, he made his debut with them in 2001 and has been a fixed piece in the pen since 2003, managing a 3.91 ERA in 266 games while carefully trying not to walk too many. 10-11 with four saves.
Round 2 - LF/RF Jorge Rodriguez – Retired. Adept with the glove, but not with the stick, he got some 100 AB’s with the Raccoons between 2003 and 2006. After being released in 2007 he couldn’t find another gig. Career stats: .240/.288/.413, 3 HR, 12 RBI.
Round 3 - C Bob Wood – was the catcher of the future for about three weeks in an unremarkable 2005 campaign as a primary. Eventually was scuttled to Los Angeles in the Colin Baldwin deal, but didn’t appear in a game in 2008 for them. .202 with 5 HR and 51 RBI.
Round 4 - SP Ed Bryan – debuted in 2004 with decent results, since then he’s gotten a bit worse every year and has become known for his ability to give up 3-run homers. 17-9 with a 2.80 ERA and 4 SV.
Round 5 - SP Giuseppe Loffredo – Retired without reaching the majors.
All others from this year are retired.

2000

Round 1 - 1B/3B Daniel Sharp – put right at AAA after the draft, he only appeared in 30 minor league games before it was clear that he had his youth wasted there, was promoted to the Bigs, and stayed our starting third baseman for better or worse through the 2007 season, after which he became a free agent. Claimed off waivers from the Miners in mid-2008 he appeared in 32 more games for the Raccoons, but was soon traded to Indy in the Ron Alston deal. For a long time he had a very steady bat, but he kind of lost it around 2006, while his defense as regular third baseman has always been best described as a nuisance. Career .279/.355/.377 batter with 45 HR, 383 RBI.
Supp. Round - OF Rich Mason – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 2 - MR Matt Cash – it was a long, stony road for Matt “The Professor” Cash, with two seasons almost completely wiped out by injuries, but he finally made his major league debut in September of ’05, appearing in 10 games to a 0.96 ERA. His stuff was marveled about when he was drafted, although his shoulder woes took some bite off his fastball, and after disastrous tryouts in 2006-07, he has been on the backburner. 5.95 ERA in 44 career games.
Round 3 - MR David Sutherland – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 4 - INF Alan Williams – Retired without reaching the majors. Could have been a utility guy with a versatile shiny glove, but couldn’t even hit .200 in AAA.
Round 5 - LF Mike Willard – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 8 - 3B Steve Searcy – there is really nothing special about Searcy, who has a decent glove, ordinary speed, and a thoroughly meager bat. Debuted in 2005 but found no way past Daniel Sharp, and was shipped off to Sioux Falls after the 2006 season for Jerry Saenz. Has not appeared in a major league game for the Warriors and became a free agent after 2008. Career .221/.274/.309 batter with 2 HR, 18 RBI.
Round 9 - MR Claudio Salazar – late bloomer that pitched in A ball in 2005 and suddenly rose to the Coons in late 2006. Well, he hasn’t impressed there with a high walk rate and all, but he made it into 20 games since 2006 and remains in the organization. 1-1 with a 3.79 ERA.
Except for seventh rounder C Don Sharp, all others from this year are retired.

2001

Round 1 - LF/RF/1B Chris Beairsto – we expected a pretty complete player with a decisive impact bat, and we got a half campaign of .241, 17 HR, 42 RBI in 2003, and that was about where the fairytale ended. Pain and grief were resolved in the 2005 trade with the Bayhawks that brought Victor Flores to Portland. Also played with the Buffaloes a bit in 2008, but is currently a free agent. .237 with 49 HR, 171 RBI for his career.
Round 2 - MR Cody Bryant – non-existent control led to his trade for another failed pitching prospect. Currently with the Buffaloes organization, but got into 10 games as a Raccoon with a 3.24 ERA, but 11 walks and four strikeouts in 8.1 innings.
Round 3 - 2B Cedric Chateau – Retired without reaching the majors. Complete bust, no abilities, whatsoever, released in 2004.
Round 4 - MR Stu Sharp – his good curve alone didn’t get him to the Bigs and he has gone on to see other minor league system after becoming a free agent in 2007.
Round 5 - SP Tim Webster – called a marginal southpaw from the beginning, he made 27 marginal starts for the Raccoons between 2005 and 2007. Dumpster Boy acquired a 7-11 record with a 4.80 ERA.
Round 6 - LF/RF Jose Cruz – atrocious defender with a powerless bat. .412 batter in the majors in 22 AB. Was traded to the Blue Sox this December for obscure reasons.
Round 7 - MR Luis Beltran – run-of-the-mill left-handed reliever that slowly worked his way up the ladder and made 25 appearances for the Raccoons between 2007 and 2008, posting an 0-1 record and 3.50 ERA.

2002

Round 1 - SS Ieyoshi Nomura – with limited range, he was converted to second base right away, and then rushed to the big leagues well ahead of time, debuting at age 20. Average defense, not even average bat, he made nothing out of four years in the starter’s role. .266/.345/.337 with 6 HR, 145 RBI for his career.
Round 2 - MR Adam Riddle – throws the heat and after a brief 2005 debut was a regular in our 2006-07 bullpen editions before being traded to the Capitals for Juan Barrón. Posted his best season yet with them in 2008. 8-3 with 2.77 ERA and 3 SV.
Round 3 - LF Joe Spivey – spent six years with our AAA team without getting a callup. The bat just isn’t there. Free agent.
Round 4 - MR Tony Rodriguez – awful control, free agent.
Round 5 - OF Mathew Page – played a filler role in AAA in 2005, in A in 2007, and in all three tiers in 2008 before becoming a free agent.
Round 9 - INF Tom Ingram – made a few injury replacement appearances in 2005-06 for us, batting .181 with no homers. Still in AAA for no apparent reason.

2003

Round 1 - CL Angel Casas – this god-sent sinker/slider righty ended the Coons closer conundrum that persisted in the decade since Grant West’s retirement. Debuted just over 12 months after being drafted, and won the closer’s job out of camp in 2005. If not for occasional nagging injuries, the ball is his. 12-7 with 1.70 ERA, 166 SV, and 303 K.
Round 2 - OF Santiago Trevino – half Neil Reece, half Luke Newton in that he is an excellent defensive centerfielder that just can’t hit for his life. Continues to make sporadic appearances, occasionally of the ninth-inning-defensive sort, since 2006. .252/.290/.334 with 3 HR, 44 RBI and 15 SB.
Round 3 - MR Matt Valentine – struck out 144 in single-A, but walked 69, as a swing man. His control has only gotten worse and he remains stuck in AA.
Round 4 - 3B/1B Jerry Lawson – his best asset is his arm, so he can play third base well, but he never managed to bat anything and was released in 2007. Played with the Bayhawks’ AA team in 2008 before being released again. Free agent.
Round 5 - SP Salvador Cardona – received beating for most of his minor league career, which has been moved upstate to the Wolves’ organization after his 2008 release from the Coons’ system.
Round 9 - C Juan Rios – no particularly pleasing abilities, and bad defense that is even worse for a catcher. He still got into 14 games for the 2008 Raccoons, batting .265 with 3 RBI. Also stole a base, because why not?

2004 (note: this was the first draft in OOTP16)

Round 1 - C/1B Erik Ruff – we once envisioned him to hit “tons of doubles and homers”, but that never happened. His defense is shaky, and he racks up strikeouts like no tomorrow, rarely homering ever. Is somewhat of an organizational reserve right now in AA.
Round 2 - 2B A.J. Altheide – always struggled with the bat. Was a throw-in in the mid-’08 deal for John Richardson with the Rebels, but was released by them after the season and has yet to appear in AAA. Or get signed again.
Round 3 - SP G.G. Williams – We were always convinced he’d become a starting pitcher, but we needed one sooner and flipped him to the Bayhawks with Rémy Lucas for Raúl Fuentes after the ’06 season. Well, he made that major league start (and 11 relief appearances) for the 2008 Bayhawks, posting a 5.14 ERA and 1-0 record. His repertoire is largely mediocre except for a mean slider.
Round 4 - CF/RF Zaire Collins – good on defense and running, but bad at hitting, he continues to linger in the low minors.
Round 5 - INF/RF Kevin Rex – frequently injured, but had a stellar half-season in AA in 2007. The other half season was horrible, though, and he has yet to see AAA.

2005

Round 1 - SP Brendan Teasdale – tore his UCL early in his professional career and maybe that cut his potential into pieces, but his late-2008 debut was horrendous (0-3, 9.15 ERA). Pretty lame run-of-the-mill pitcher with no big future.
Round 2 - SP Pat Composto – started out well in A ball, but struggled in AA, eventually ending in the bullpen.
Round 3 - LF/CF Ed Caldwell – galactic bust that was shipped off in a hurry to the Titans in the 2007 John Bennett deal, and has since bounced on twice.
Round 4 - INF Jamie Orr – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 5 - INF Jamie Spicer – Retired without reaching the majors.
Round 8 - MR Josh Gibson – drafted as a shortstop (or rightfielder), he was converted into a pitcher right away, and has slowly climbed through the system to appear in AAA for the first time in late 2008. He’s not magnificent, but he still has a shot at a middle reliever career at age 22.

2006

Round 1 - LF/RF Jimmy Eichelkraut – was supposed to be the end of all pitching when drafted, and by now looks like the biggest bust since the top end of our 1995 draft. Was included in the Ron Alston trade to the Indians in mid-2008, but the Indians soon gave up and flipped him to Tijuana for Jimmy Sjogren. Can hit neither A, nor AA pitching.
Supp. Round - SP Dave Self – traded to the Pacifics in the Colin Baldwin trade before 2008, he shows severe control issues. The Pacifics try him in a closer’s role in AA. The stuff is there for sure.
Round 2 - OF Dave Green – looked like the complete package at first, but has trouble seeing the ball, posting 131 strikeouts in A-ball in 2007. Now at AA, but not exactly raking.
Round 3 - SS Pat Whitehouse – good defensive shortstop, good walk rate; if he could just up his average a bit…
Round 4 - SP Marco Gomez – mix of five so-so pitches and mediocre control that was good for a 10-13 record with a 3.80 ERA in AA in his age 21 season. There’s still some potential here.
Round 5 - LF/RF/1B Santiago Celis – his best skill is a deadly throwing arm, suiting him for rightfield, but he has no power to be a gain there. Had three hits in his first 32 AAA at-bats in late 2008.

2007

Round 1 - SP Kevin Denton – promoted to AA for 2009, despite a so-so 2008 campaign in A ball. K/BB isn’t pretty, although he was also hurt by bad defense early in his professional career.
Supp. Round - 1B C.J. Vanderwall – doesn’t seem to have much power after all, and also wasn’t batting for much of an average in AA.
Supp. Round - SP Mike Cole – still hasn’t done much with the changeup, which won’t help him in the long run. Still in A ball, posting meagre numbers.
Round 2 - C Brian Hammond – promoted to AA in 2008, he struck out six times for every walk he drew, and the rest of his numbers was also mediocre.
Round 3 - LF Josh Turzak – power potential is still there according to our scout, and he also has a good eye, but he’s still in A ball.
Round 3 - INF Nick Robinson – mainly a defensive player with versatility, his bat produced less than a .500 OPS in a month in AA ball in ’08.
Round 4 - RF/SS Shane Lea – this looks like a pretty bad pick, not doing much of anything well
Round 5 - NF Mark Lydic – more of a defensive middle infielder, gruesome batting.

2008

Round 1 - OF Jason Seeley – killed A level pitching, was killed by AA pitching in his professional debut season. Too early to cry, he’s still got time.
Supp. Round - 3B Mark Abraham – so-so defense and troubled batting with a .190 average in AA in 2008
Round 2 - 1B Matt LaVoie – a bit of a defensive nightmare, and didn’t hit for power either in A ball, with 14 extra base hits in 63 games.
Round 3 - INF/LF Chris Poole – good defensive infielder who hit fairly well in A ball, but put up a .398 OPS after a promotion to AA.
Round 4 - C Alexis Crespin – calls a good game, but can’t hit a ball for his life
Round 5 - SP Chad Royston – his numbers weren’t too awesome, but he was also hampered by bad fielding in both A and AA in his debut season, but also walked as many as he struck out in AA late in the season.

+++

Few notes. I can't draft hitters. Not even Jimmy Oatmeal turned into something.

And all errors are copyrighted and trademarked.

[Westheim]

Well, the thick part of the offseason was really over.

Concie Guerin signed a 1-year deal with the Capitals on February 25, netting $256k to keep the fridge stocked. I always liked Concie, and Sharpie, and Brady, and Farley, and Beanie, despite them being chronic losers. That generation of players will soon be phased out of major league baseball; they’re all in their mid-to-late 30s now.

Chris Roberson also picked up a 1-yr, $212k gig with the Condors in early March, so we might see him rob the Duke of some doubles this year.

There was one roster spot where I would have liked an improvement, which is Matt Cash’s bullpen spot. But we were out of money and couldn’t even bid for the ancient scraps left over in March. I wasn’t going to trade any prospects, not even third-rate ones, to upgrade the seventh pen slot, so in the end we stuck with Cash, who doesn’t have much stamina, so isn’t even a good long relief option. We will watch Pedro Delgado in AAA closely early in the year, maybe he can be the upgrade to Cash.

Does anybody remember Esteban Flores? He made 23 starts for the Raccoons between 1997 and 1999, playing a big part in the horrendous records then. His career numbers are 72-121 with a 5.30 ERA and 674 walks against 884 strikeouts in 257 starts. Yet he keeps getting paid and has appeared in 24 or more games (mostly starts) in all but season since 2000, with ERA’s as high as 6.53 (2003), and he has gotten a new 1-year deal from the Warriors at age 35, worth $232k, on the eve of the new season.

Our outfield depth had been eaten up by minor league free agency (except for Jerry Saenz, basically we started the winter with two AAA outfielders). Guess whom we signed to a minor league deal! A 30-year old Chris Beairsto. I am not ****ting you. But that was in early March, and most players that aren’t completely worthless to the sport still held out hope for a major league contract then.

We also signed a 23-year old named Josh Hare, who will be assigned to AA, whom Whitebread liked. Also we gave a minor league deal with a major league option worth $200k to 28-year old Armando Chavez, who batted .215 with the Wolves over multiple seasons with some 800 total at-bats. Late in March we also picked up an abandoned prospect in SP Ian Cumins, 21, a fifth-rounder in 2006, whom the Rebels had dumped in the summer. His walk numbers were horrendous, but Whitebread liked the rest of the guy. He was assigned to Aumsville.

No greatness to be found in those late signings for sure.

[Westheim]

2009 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set shows 2008 numbers, second set overall; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Nick Brown, 31, B:L, T:L (15-11, 3.40 ERA | 97-69, 3.03 ERA) – Portland’s favorite late-round wonder signed a 5-year extension starting in 2010 in the offseason, bringing joy to all Furball followers in the land, despite 2009 being a bit of a testing year for Brown, who aced his way to a Pitcher of the Month title in April and then had control issues the rest of the year, which he finished with the second-highest ERA of his career for a full season. Remains on a quest to strike out 3,000 batters. He has chalked up 1,598.
SP Jong-hoo Umberger, 31, B:R, T:R (18-7, 2.20 ERA | 18-7, 2.20 ERA) – 2008 Rookie of the Year, also won the CL ERA title with consistent corner nibbling and a well-mixed arsenal that drove batters crazy. This one tastes like more!
SP Javier Cruz, 36, B:L, T:R (12-8, 3.81 ERA | 206-130, 3.74 ERA, 1 SV) – 2008 was a roller coaster for Cruz, who often alternated brilliant outings with 8-run shellings, and gave up 26 homers along the way. Final year of his 2-year deal.
SP Colin Baldwin, 26, B:L, T:L (8-12, 3.70 ERA | 10-15, 3.71 ERA) – pretty much an average guy starting pitcher, no glaring weaknesses or brilliant strengths to be found here.
SP Greg Grams *, 36, B:S, T:R (14-9, 3.62 ERA | 118-115, 4.51 ERA, 2 SV) – deemed worthy the investment over enduring more of Cássio Boda, Grams signed a 1-year deal that won’t kill the team if it doesn’t work out with him to maybe help bridge the gap to the advent of Hector Santos.

MU Matt Cash, 26, B:R, T:R (0-0, 2.45 ERA | 0-0, 5.95 ERA) – after pitching in bits and pieces in the last four seasons, never appearing in more than 14 games, and never without a sliver of success, Cash gets an Opening Day assignment as the seventh man in the bullpen despite an inability to pitch multiple innings.
MR John Richardson, 26, B:R, T:R (1-0, 3.63 ERA, 1 SV | 3-9, 5.52 ERA, 2 SV) – mid-season trade import with the Rebels that was supposed to be a bridging solution for a few weeks, but never left the roster, pitching in silent middle relief competence. Every roster needs a guy like him.
MR Lawrence Rockburn, 28, B:R, T:R (8-3, 2.53 ERA, 2 SV | 20-8, 2.50 ERA, 9 SV) – Raw Lockburn is consistently great in a seventh inning role, but can also be thrown into close situations. Produces favorable K/BB numbers. If he’s the third-best right-hander in your bullpen, you’re blessed.
MR Ed Bryan, 28, B:L, T:L (3-2, 3.92 ERA | 17-9, 2.80 ERA, 4 SV) – prone to the 3-run homer and blowing up other people’s leads, Bryan remains on board mainly because he’s cheap and better pitchers aren’t.
SU Donald Sims, 33, B:L, T:L (3-3, 3.02 ERA | 35-41, 3.91 ERA, 36 SV) – had only minor meltdowns in a left-handed setup role, also walked only five batters in 50.2 innings against 49 strikeouts.
SU Marcos Bruno, 33, B:R, T:R (9-0, 1.63 ERA, 2 SV | 37-25, 2.69 ERA, 60 SV) – struck out a record 97 batters in a career-high 72 innings in 2008, electric stuff and command, could close for pretty much anybody.
CL Angel Casas, 26, B:S, T:R (2-1, 1.53 ERA, 46 SV | 12-7, 1.70 ERA, 166 SV) – as Angel is maturing, he gets more and more elite, nailing opposing lineups into the ground; he kills batters outright.

C Antonio De La Parra *, 34, B:R, T:R (.298, 8 HR, 53 RBI | .289, 74 HR, 671 RBI) – free agent signing that replaces the clumsy but powerful Craig Bowen (the first guy to hit four homers in a game!) with a bit more of an OBP bat with select extra-base capabilities, but very good defensive skills and a deadly throwing arm.
C Sergio Esquivel, 25, B:S, T:R (.326, 2 HR, 12 RBI | .290, 4 HR, 29 RBI) – played a competent backup the last two years, and we think it should stay that way.

1B Adrian Quebell, 26, B:L, T:L (.312, 19 HR, 77 RBI | .292, 36 HR, 197 RBI) – Quebell gives a good presence in the field and regularly appears on base, and in 2008 he finally broke out big with the power, too, hitting for 59 extra base hits, which generated a juicy .879 OPS. Not quite Tetsu-esque, but then his defense isn’t either.
1B/2B/SS/3B Jose Correa *, 29, B:R, T:R (.285, 0 HR, 20 RBI | .304, 19 HR, 355 RBI) – excellent defender on the right side of the infield, with a bit of a weak arm when playing on the left side, Correa takes over as the second base starter after arriving from Denver in trade for Kelvin Yates. 2008 was his worst offensive season since 2003; he batted for a .334/.426/.445 line in ’06 for example.
SS/1B Rob Howell *, 24, B:R, T:R (.359, 0 HR, 29 RBI | .321, 0 HR, 35 RBI) – our new starting shortstop arrived by trade from Salem, and is somewhat of a mixed bag, doing nothing particularly well, but maybe the overall package is good enough to hold back the tears.
3B Ricardo Martinez, 23, B:R, T:R (.280, 13 HR, 65 RBI | .280, 13 HR, 65 RBI) – was Rookie of the Month twice in the first half of the year, but his bat cooled off after the All Star Game. His glove also grew some additional holes by then, as his atrocious defense (including 33 errors) ate up almost two thirds of his batting WAR gains, leaving over a sad 1.4 mark.
1B/2B Ieyoshi Nomura, 24, B:L, T:R (.251, 1 HR, 33 RBI | .266, 6 HR, 145 RBI) – his offensive struggles and his merely average defense have Yoshi take a step back into a bench role in 2009. He just hasn’t shown that huge potential he was advertised with years ago.
1B/3B/2B/SS Manuel Gutierrez, 28, B:L, T:R (.250, 0 HR, 1 RBI | .271, 8 HR, 45 RBI) – Salvador’s pride offers excellent defensive backup capabilities, for example for our third base starter.

LF/RF Ron Alston, 29, B:L, T:L (.335, 33 HR, 102 RBI | .291, 241 HR, 769 RBI) – one of the best batters of his generation, including two Player of the Year titles, came in mid-season in a deal with Indy, and quietly kept slugging. A full season in Raccoons Ballpark could pose a serious challenge to some home run records, and home runs he has many. At age 29 he has already hit more than Daniel Hall hit in his entire career.
LF/CF Tomas Castro, 25, B:S, T:R (.303, 10 HR, 65 RBI | .307, 47 HR, 254 RBI) – didn’t follow up on his breakout 2007 season, and keeps being played at his worst defensive position in centerfield, but the overall package also includes 100 career stolen bases at a tender age, and overall he is a net gain; but caution is advised, as he comes off a broken elbow suffered in September.
RF/LF/CF Luke Black, 35, B:R, T:R (.266, 33 HR, 120 RBI | .241, 138 HR, 552 RBI) – an insane grab into the scrap pile two offseasons ago netted us 64 homers and 227 RBI, as well as strong defense with a killer arm (and a Gold Glove in ’07) from a mid-30s afterthought at a reasonably priced $1M per year. He has another vesting option like that, requiring 120 games played in 2009.
LF/1B Matt Pruitt, 25, B:L, T:R (.291, 4 HR, 49 RBI | .296, 18 HR, 126 RBI) – calling his 2008 season unimpressive would be overly kind; his stale bat was one of the driving forces behind the Ron Alston deal which swiftly cost him the starter’s job. Also has the worst glove of all our outfielders.
CF/RF/LF Santiago Trevino, 26, B:L, T:L (.255, 2 HR, 14 RBI | .252, 3 HR, 44 RBI) – excellent defensive centerfielder with an uninspiring bat.

On disabled list: Nobody.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement: None.

Opening day lineup:
CF Castro – 2B Correa – LF Alston – RF Black – 1B Quebell – 3B Martinez – C De La Parra – SS Howell – P Brown

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

Ultimately the Raccoons’ additions were not overwhelming. Jose Correa figures to be the biggest addition, although De La Parra was worth more WAR. In the loss column Bowen and Barrón hurt pretty well, and we didn’t adequately replace Juan Barrón at all, but the second base upgrade could offset that over the season. Overall, the Raccoons finished the offseason in 18th place, losing 3.4 WAR.

Top 5: Indians (+12.3), Capitals (+6.9), Titans (+6.1), Wolves (+6.0), Crusaders (+5.0)
Bottom 5: Warriors (-4.4), Knights (-4.5), Aces (-4.8), Condors (-6.0), Loggers (-8.3)

PREDICTION TIME:

The 2008 Raccoons trailed from the beginning of the year and never seriously challenged the Crusaders until getting swept in a 4-game set on an August weekend that sealed up the division quite well for the other team. The Raccoons fell five games short of the 98-64 preseason prediction and 14 games short of “beat(ing) the Crusaders by two games”.

Another sentence from last year: “any team that signs Greg Grams (6.33 ERA in 2007) raises eyebrows about their seriousness.” He’s the replacement to Kel Yates, for crying out loud.

While Ron Alston is a tremendous addition to any lineup, in a way his advent hurt the Raccoons because of his rich contract, which we have to pay in full this and next season. Thus other offseason additions like Grams came either cheap, or required switching out another big contract (the Yates/Correa deal).

The Crusaders only significant loss was SP David Estrada, and they should do much better with Elwood Spurrell as his replacement.

All this makes things look bleak for the Raccoons. Having Alston for a full year and improved production from Correa, as well as a more steady bat from De La Parra should help the offense, but … Grams…

The Raccoons will repeat their 93-69 record, but finish safely out of playoff range, perhaps more than 12 games behind the Crusaders, and maybe behind either the Canadiens or Indians as well.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

The recent trend of a slightly improving farm overall (10th to 9th this year) with a diminishing amount of actually ranked prospect continues, as we only have six (down from eight) ranked prospects to start the 2009 season.

The following ranked players from last year are no longer eligible: #67 Jimmy Eichelkraut (traded), #75 Cesar Lopez (age), #93 Ricardo Martinez (service time); #133 Dave Roudabush dropped out of the top 200

8th (-3) – AA SP Hector Santos, 20 – international discovery by Vince Guerra
21st (+8) – AAA MR Pedro Delgado, 24 – 2002 first round pick by the Titans, acquired in trade with Bill Corkum and Rémy Lucas for Manny Gabriel and Dale Moore
105th (new) – AAA 3B Walt Canning, 23 – 2004 supplemental round pick by the Indians, acquired in trade from the Crusaders for Eric Thrift
115th (-31) – AA SP Kevin Denton, 21 – 2007 first round pick by the Raccoons
138th (new) – A SP Mike Cole, 20 – 2007 supplemental round pick by the Raccoons
148th (+6) – AAA SP Brendan Teasdale, 24 – 2005 first round pick by the Raccoons

Our farm top 10 are completed by AAA CL Ted Reese, AAA SS Dave Roudabush, AA LF Jason Seeley, and AAA C Mike Wilson.

The #1 prospect in the country remains for the third straight year 20-year old SS Tom McWhorter, the second overall pick by the Miners in 2006.

Next: first pitch!

[Westheim]

Raccoons (0-0) vs. Canadiens (0-0) – April 7-8, 2009

We start the season with a 2-week homestand, which in turn starts with a 2-game series against the stinking Elks.

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (0-0) vs. Juichi Fujita (0-0)
Jong-hoo Umberger (0-0) vs. Rod Taylor (0-0)

Game 1
VAN: CF Holland – LF E. Garcia – 3B Suzuki – RF D. Morris – C G. Ortíz – SS Rice – 2B Dobson – 1B F. Jones – P Fujita
POR: CF Castro – 2B Correa – LF Alston – RF Black – 1B Quebell – 3B R. Martinez – C De La Parra – SS Howell – P Brown

To start the 2009 season, the Raccoons loaded the bases without ever getting a base hit. After Castro grounded out in the bottom 1st, Correa reached on an error and Alston and Black both walked to set up Adrian Quebell, who flew out to left, where Enrique Garcia caught the ball, then threw out Jose Correa at home. The Elks actually scored in the second inning without having gotten a hit off Brownie, who walked two in the inning and was scored upon on a groundout. He had entered the season with 1,598 strikeouts and had whiffed Enrique Garcia in the first, but then didn’t hit his locations. Ross Holland eventually became victim #1,600 in the third inning, but by then Brown also had three walks on his ledger, before becoming the first Raccoon to actually hit safely in the season with a single to right to start the third inning. Brown eventually scored on a wild pitch in that inning, but that was on the other side of a 46-minute rain delay. We’re in Oregon after all.

The left side of the infield had been a nerve-wrecking sore for Brown the entire last season (mainly Martinez), but in the fourth inning it was Rob Howell to set up the Canadiens for another run with an error, but he made up for it with a 1-out RBI single plating Martinez in the bottom of the same inning, tying the game again. The Raccoons then took their first lead of the year in the next inning on a 2-out RBI double by the Duke that scored Ron Alston from first base. But the early rain and control issues cut Brown’s Opening Day outing rather short. Despite striking out four in a row between the fifth and sixth innings, a 2-out single by not-Raccoon Gary Rice ended his day in the top 6th. Law Rockburn struck out Jerry Dobson to preserve Brownie’s chance for an Opening Day win. Meanwhile the Elks were slacking to remove their starter Fujita when it got hairy for him in the same inning. The Raccoons had Ricardo Martinez on third base with one out, but Fujita struck out Howell to get closer to ending the inning. Matt Pruitt batted for Rockburn, a left-hander to oppose Fujita, but the Elks remained with their starter, even after Pruitt doubled, even after he walked Castro, even after Correa’s single, and after he walked Alston, but when the Duke plated two more with a single, they finally considered making a move to the pen. Avtandil Tarakhanov starved the two Coons that were still on base, but the score had been blown open into a 5-run lead that the Raccoons wouldn’t relinquish. There was a minor bullpen hiccup in the eighth inning when Bryan and Cash put on a man each, but Marcos Bruno came in and struck out all three batters he faced into the ninth inning to suffocate the Elks for good in this season opener. 7-2 Brownies! Black 2-4, BB, 2B, 3 RBI; Martinez 2-4, 2B; Pruitt (PH) 1-1, 2B, RBI; Brown 5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W (1-0) and 1-2;

Normally I wouldn’t list Brown’s outing under the honorable mentions at the end of the game, but the rain shortened his outing some and I might have been a bit overly cautious after the Rice single. Two more wins to a hundred, which is the next interesting countable.

Game 2
VAN: CF Holland – C G. Ortíz – RF D. Morris – LF J. Thomas – 3B Suzuki – SS Rice – 1B F. Jones – 2B Dobson – P R. Taylor
POR: CF Castro – 2B Correa – LF Alston – RF Black – 1B Quebell – 3B R. Martinez – C De La Parra – SS Howell – P Umberger

And here we had our first wicked game of the season. Jong-hoo Umberger didn’t strike out anybody in his first start of the season, but hit an RBI single that brought the score to 3-0 in the bottom 5th, and pitched a shutout for 8.1 innings before he ran out of juice and loaded the bases. At that point, the run factory had churned out seven markers again, which included a pair of 2-run homers by Quebell sandwiching Umberger’s offensive prowess, striking Taylor in the second and sixth innings. The Raccoons added another pair of runs in the seventh in which both Howell and Correa hit triples to keep the line moving. But Umberger ran out of gas and left Donald Sims to dissect a bases loaded, one out situation in the ninth with Gary Rice, a switch hitter at the plate and lefty Freddie Jones behind him. Rice fouled out, Jones grounded out to Correa, and the Raccoons opened the year with a (shortened) sweep of the Elks. 7-0 Coons! 2-4, 3B, RBI; Black 2-4; Quebell 2-3, 2 HR, 4 RBI; Umberger 8.1 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 0 K, W (1-0) and 1-3, RBI;

Against the Elks, even a shortened sweep is a sweet sweep.

Raccoons (2-0) vs. Knights (1-2) – April 10-12, 2009

The Knights had won their opener against the Falcons, but had been routed in the next two games, and their starters’ ERA was an ugly 7.80 after three games. But we wouldn’t see the two roadkills in this series, and instead get two fresh guys and their Opening Day hurler, 25-year old Kurt Doyle, a former ninth rounder by the Buffaloes that the Knights had signed last April to a minor league deal. He had struck out a total of 32 batters in consecutive AAA starts later in the same month and had debuted in the Bigs immediately after that, but went 10-13 with a 4.72 ERA in his rookie campaign, not nearly averaging 16 strikeouts per game, or even six per nine innings.

Projected matchups:
Javier Cruz (0-0) vs. Chris Lamb (0-0)
Colin Baldwin (0-0) vs. Sadakuno Imamura (0-0)
Greg Grams (0-0) vs. Kurt Doyle (1-0, 3.00 ERA)

Lamb will be our first left-handed opponent in this season.

Game 1
ATL: CF Kelsey – SS Kester – LF J. Morales – 1B Jo. Garcia – 2B C. Martinez – RF Ju. Garcia – 3B Younger – C Delgado – P Lamb
POR: CF Castro – 2B Correa – LF Alston – RF Black – 1B Quebell – 3B R. Martinez – C De La Parra – SS Howell – P Cruz

Chris Lamb retired the first ten Critters he faced before Jose Correa took a walk in the bottom 4th, just a half inning after Javier Cruz had allowed his first run of the season on a Carlos Martinez RBI single. The Raccoons’ first hit of the day would be a score-flipping 2-run home run by the Duke of Smack, and that hit sat lonely in the Raccoons’ ledger for a while. Cruz didn’t get into danger until the seventh inning, when the Knights had two singles by Julio Garcia and Kenneth Younger and then a productive groundout to put pressure on the Raccoons, but Gonzalo Munoz, hitting for John Kelsey, grounded out to first to end the inning. Cruz’ day ended with a leadoff single by Jaime Kester in the eighth. Donald Sims didn’t greatly help in diffusing the difficult situation with the tying run on base, giving a single to Jose Morales before Jorge Garcia thankfully hit into a double play. That left the tying run on third base with two outs and Carlos Martinez batting, but when Bruno came out to face the right-hander, the Knights went to left-hander Kevin Bond, who drew a full count walk, before Bruno threw a wild pitch to tie the game just before he struck out Julio Garcia. Chris Lamb then promptly fell apart, allowing a single to Yoshi Nomura, walked Castro, and then allowed a tie-breaking RBI double to Correa. Another run scored on Alston’s sac fly before Enrique Meneces shut down the offense. It was enough, though, with Angel Casas posting his first save of the season on two strikeouts and Lou Urban’s foul pop. 4-2 Critters. Black 1-2, 2 BB, HR, 2 RBI; Nomura (PH) 1-1; Cruz 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K;

So Bruno grabbed his first win of the season, but I’m not happy about this one.

And you’d think that 3-0 has you pretty high up in the division, but no. The Titans and Crusaders are both 4-0.

Game 2
ATL: C Delgado – 1B Bond – LF J. Morales – 3B C. Martinez – SS Kester – CF Ju. Garcia – RF Jo. Garcia – 2B Olvero – P Imamura
POR: CF Castro – SS Correa – LF Alston – RF Black – 1B Quebell – 3B R. Martinez – 2B Nomura – C Esquivel – P Baldwin

At some point, a Raccoons starter had to get into a rough inning and get raked for multiple runs, and Baldwin had picked the shortest match. Right after a 2-out RBI single by Black gave him a 1-0 lead after three innings, Baldwin ran into a Morales homer and a Kester triple in a 3-run fourth inning that sent him spinning for a while, but the Raccoons would put up a crooked number of their own in the bottom 4th. It was the second time in the game that Castro and Correa got on with no outs. The first time Alston had killed the effort mostly with a double play (but Black had that 2-out hit), and this time he limited himself to a groundout to first. Black scored one run again with another single, getting the team to 3-2, before Carlos Martinez’ throwing error tied the score on Quebell’s grounder. After Ricardo Martinez fouled out, Yoshi Nomura had his third hit of the game, this one a liner into shallow left that scored a pair and gave Baldwin a 5-3 lead that was promptly threatened with dismantlement, but a double play dug out Baldwin in the sixth and he was hit for in the bottom of the inning before he could do more damage to the cause.

Imamura entered the bottom 6th on five walks and jumped that number to seven with free passes to Pruitt (batting for Baldwin) and Castro. Correa flew out for the first out before Imamura threw two wild pitches to Alston before walking him as well. That was finally enough damage for his manager, who sent lefty Patrick Mercier to face the Duke of Smack, oddly resulting in a strikeout, and Quebell whiffed as well, but at least we had tacked on that gift run. But gifts weren’t over yet: Quebell made an error to start the top 7th that snowballed into two unearned runs on Law Rockburn and a much closer 6-5 game. Soon enough, everything eroded for the Raccoons. Ed Bryan put on Kester to start the eighth inning and was yanked for Bruno, who allowed the tying run to score on Jorge Garcia’s single, before Black made a grievous error that gave the Knights the lead on an Antonio Olvero fly. Errors galore continued in the ninth, when Correa made one at short that actually didn’t lead to a bazillion runs, and Olvero made one for the Knights that put Martinez on base in addition to Quebell with one out and Paco Leoniedas pitching. When Nomura popped out, we had to either bat an 0-4 Sergio Esquivel and hope for something, or send Trevino to pinch-hit and then have some nut catch if we went to extras, since De La Parra had already pinch-hit somewhere else to no effect. Esquivel stood no chance, so we rolled the dice, and Trevino came out to bat in a crazy move, but lined out to Olvero. 7-6 Knights. Black 2-5, 2 RBI; Nomura 3-5, 2 RBI; Pruitt (PH) 1-1, BB;

We made FOUR errors in that game. Martinez didn’t make any. So I think that qualifies as a wicked game. Not a good one, though. We had no extra base hits, and seven singles (for six runs). We had scored four runs with four hits the day before but that had been with the help of the oomph.

Ya, wicked game.

Game 3
ATL: CF Kelsey – SS Kester – LF J. Morales – RF G. Munoz – 2B C. Martinez – 3B Bond – 1B Ju. Garcia – C Delgado – P Doyle
POR: 2B Correa – 1B Quebell – LF Alston – RF Black – C De La Parra – 3B R. Martinez – CF Trevino – SS Howell – P Grams

Errors galore didn’t seem over yet with a throwing error by Quebell right in the first inning, but Gonzalo Munoz hit into a double play before things could get ugly on Grams, who had spent a number of years in the Knights’ dress, but they surely weren’t here to shower him with presents. Unless home runs counted, in which case Kevin Bond made him a present, a size 1 one, in the fifth inning. That was the first run off Grams in a Coons uniform, and it set his team back 1-0.

Through four innings, the Raccoons had had three singles, and their entire lineup held three players with a batting average of .215 or better: Correa, Black, and … Grams. Everybody else had not seen a single ball well in the entire series, and Ron Alston was perhaps worst of all, coming to the plate with a .396 OPS in the bottom 5th with two men on. Maybe the resulting 3-run homer, the 242nd of his career (13th all time), could be a spark to the whole outfit? At least the Duke followed up with a homer of his own, and was batting .500 at that point.

Grams got a second present from Carlos Delgado that ended his day in the seventh inning, but also counted for only one run. Yet when Bryan was taken deep by Morales in the eighth, things got dicey with a 4-3 score, but the bottom 8th started well for sure with an Alston single and a Black double off Mercier. Ultimately the Coons let themselves be held to a sac fly, despite loading the bases, upon which Rob Howell hit into a double play. Casas issued a leadoff walk to Carlos Martinez in the ninth, but retired the next three batters without issues. 5-3 Coons. Alston 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Black 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI; Grams 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (1-0) and 1-2;

The Titans remained undefeated in the first week, 6-0, but the Crusaders lost a game on Sunday. The Loggers, probably a lock for last place, started the year 0-6.

Raccoons (4-1) vs. Aces (5-2) – April 13-15, 2009

The Aces were the only winning team in the South after the first week, with everybody else at 2-4 or 2-5. It was early, but they ranked t-3rd (with the Coons) in runs scored and in starters’ ERA in the CL, and sixth in runs allowed. The Raccoons had allowed the least runs so far (only 14!).

Projected matchups:
Nick Brown (1-0, 1.59 ERA) vs. Jack Thomas (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Jimmy Young (0-1, 6.43 ERA)
Javier Cruz (0-0, 2.57 ERA) vs. Bob Bowden (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

Jack Thomas will face off in a duel of left-handers, while the other two games have pairs of right-handers ready to go.

Game 1
LVA: 1B McDermott – 3B F. Soto – LF Cameron – RF R. Garcia – SS Dahlke – C T. Turner – CF Sambrano – 2B H. Jones – P J. Thomas
POR: CF Castro – 2B Correa – LF Alston – RF Black – 1B Quebell – 3B R. Martinez – C De La Parra – SS Howell – P Brown

Tom Dahlke, whom we twisted and turned to get this winter, and just couldn’t, homered off Nick Brown to give the Aces a 1-0 lead in the second inning. The lead was short-lived, however, with Black scoring on a Martinez sac fly right before De La Parra hit a solo homer to put Portland ahead, and Black hit into a run-scoring double play in the third inning that brought the score to 3-1.

This was a wicked game, too. Consideration should be given to the fact that Howell and Brown put the first countables into our saves column – by pulling off a 2-out double steal in the fourth inning. This was after Nick Brown’s SECOND infield hit of the day. Castro struck out to call off the parade, though. Second point in this case: again rain held Nick Brown away from the seventh inning. This time a heavy shower went down in the sixth just as Brown strolled to bat with two out and nobody on. We kinda hoped for the game to be called, but the delay lasted just under an hour. The game resumed with Brown grounding out, then getting replaced by Rockburn in a 3-1 game in which the Raccoons led in hits, 11-2. Third point that this was a wicked game: Rockburn blew the game in a hurry. Ricardo Garcia hit a leadoff triple, Tom Dahlke singled him in, stole second, and eventually scored on a horrendous 2-out bloop into no man’s land by Howard Jones that tied the score. Brownie sat in the dugout, not happy.

Although Dave Hughes started the bottom 8th by striking out the Duke, the Raccoons quickly developed a threat on Quebell’s walk and the following single by Pruitt, hitting for Martinez. Quebell went to third aggressively, was safe, and Pruitt pulled up to second as Quebell drew the throw from Ricardo Garcia. We got the lead on a wild pitch, but while walks to De La Parra and Nomura loaded the bases, Trevino and Castro balked out of the chance with pathetic outs. But at least we were up 4-3 and could send Angel to do away with the Aces. Again, a batter reached base, but Casas soon ended the game with a strikeout to Sandy Sambrano. 4-3 Critters. Alston 2-4; Black 2-4, 2B; Pruitt (PH) 1-1; Howell 2-3; Brown 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K and 2-3, SB;

Tom Dahlke ties for the league lead in home runs with three. Hmz.

Game 2
LVA: 1B McDermott – C Durango – CF Cameron – RF R. Garcia – LF L. Taylor – SS Dahlke – 3B F. Soto – 2B H. Jones – P Young
POR: CF Castro – 2B Correa – LF Alston – RF Black – 1B Quebell – C De La Parra – SS Howell – 3B M. Gutierrez – P Umberger

Something was wrong with Jong-hoo. The first four Aces all reached base on a single by McDermott, who got thrown out stealing, walks to Eduardo Durango and Don Cameron, and then a Garcia single. Logan Taylor hit a huge fly to center, that came down just at the edge of the warning track for a sac fly, and Howell somehow played Dahlke’s quick bouncer into the third out to avoid major damage, but something was WAY off here.

Young sported impressive black sideburns, but not many pitching credentials and got burned for two runs in the bottom 1st, which the Aces reclaimed in the third on Ron Alston having a ball dropping out of his glove. Instead of the third out, an error was logged and Durango and Cameron scored from third and second, respectively. Earlier in the inning, Umberger had struck out Sean McDermott for his first K after 11 innings of work. He then struck out the 7-8-9 batters in order in the fourth, which was only a brief respite before his complete implosion in the fifth inning in which the Aces never stopped hitting him for three runs and a 6-2 lead. The Raccoons completely stopped getting on base along with Umberger’s timely departure. The daily rain delay took place in the eighth inning, after which the Aces took apart John Richardson for two runs. 8-3 Aces. Castro 2-4; Alston 3-4, 2B, RBI; Cash 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

This was not a wicked game. This was just an awful game.

Game 3
LVA: 1B McDermott – C Durango – CF Cameron – RF R. Garcia – LF L. Taylor – SS Dahlke – 3B F. Soto – 2B H. Jones – P Bowden
POR: CF Castro – 3B Correa – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – LF Pruitt – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – C Esquivel – P Cruz

The Aces kept going with Cameron drawing a 2-out walk in the first, bringing up Ricardo Garcia and a 2-run homer for instant frustration. They added a third run in the third inning, while the Raccoons were glaring bleakly. The 27-year old Bowden, who hadn’t started a game at the major league level at all in 2008, was completely befuddling the Critters, who couldn’t get their heads out of the cavity beneath their tails. While Cruz wasn’t all that bad for himself, the rest of the team certainly was and they weren’t a threat until Tomas Castro suddenly hit a gapper with two outs in the bottom 7th that scored Esquivel (who had reached on a bloop single) and brought the score to 3-1. Correa fouled out to waste the scoring chance, just before the daily shower moved in. Cruz was chased by Bob Bowden’s leadoff single on a 1-2 pitch in the eighth rather than actual nature, and Bryan barely kept the runner on base. When Alston hit a leadoff single in the bottom 8th, the tying run came to the plate and we were looking for a clever spot to insert the Duke on his off day, although probably not before the Aces would send a left-handed reliever. They didn’t, not even after Pruitt’s single, with Yoshi coming up. Granted, he was not the most fearsome batter, but he ripped a double just fair to deep left that plated both Alston and Pruitt and tied the game at three. Bowden was still in there, and the .167 Howell was begging to be batted for with a runner in scoring position. The Duke of Smack fell to two strikes before upping the score by two runs with a no-doubt-at-all home run to left. In good tradition, Angel pitched with the leadoff man on base in the ninth inning, but pulled through before the weather could drown the attendance. 5-3 Furballs! Alston 2-4; Pruitt 2-4; Black (PH) 1-1, HR, 2 RBI; Cruz 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K;

I admit, emotionally I had this one in the loss column by the third inning. But you can’t beat the Duke! Not even on his off day.

Raccoons (6-2) vs. Titans (8-1) – April 16-19, 2009

The Titans tied the Crusaders for the division lead with identical 8-1 records, while the Raccoons were third, 1.5 games out. They were second in runs scored (POR: sixth) and led the CL in the least runs allowed, with one less run over the plate against them as against the Raccoons. Their rotation had put up a league-dominating 2.10 ERA so far, but their pen, when even needed, had been shaky with a mark more than twice that.

Projected matchups:
Colin Baldwin (0-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. Ray Conner (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Greg Grams (1-0, 2.70 ERA) vs. Jorge Chapa (1-0, 2.57 ERA)
Nick Brown (1-0, 1.54 ERA) vs. Jesus Cabrera (1-0, 1.32 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (1-1, 2.70 ERA) vs. Jesus Elmore (2-0, 3.18 ERA)

We get two left-handers first, then two right-handers later in this series. I was still trying to give everybody a day off in this first longer set of games, and so far Alston, Quebell, and Correa had played every game. The two left-handers up front offered a chance to sit them in shifts, first Alston, then Quebell on Friday, and Correa on Saturday against the right-hander.

Game 1
BOS: CF J. Gusmán – SS Sato – C Suda – LF Hayashi – 2B Higashi – 3B M. Austin – RF Britton – 1B M. Berry – P Conner
POR: LF Castro – 2B Correa – 1B Quebell – RF Black – C De La Parra – 3B R. Martinez – CF Trevino – SS Howell – P Baldwin

Nobody could remember seeing four Japanese batters in order in a lineup before, but the Titans fielded them from the #2 through #5 slots on Thursday. The entire Titans lineup hit singles with little effort against Baldwin in the early innings, leading to two early runs, while the Raccoons’ order continued to not do much at all against Ray Conner. Their first chance only came up when Conner encountered a sudden bout of wildness in the fifth inning, issuing three walks, including one to Black with the bases loaded and two outs. De La Parra then quickly flew out to left where Tokimune Hayashi, an international free agent, didn’t have to move more than two feet to catch the ball. Baldwin went seven, allowing a solo homer to Mark Berry for three runs total in this mediocre outing, while the Raccoons continued to tread water until Matt Pruitt scored on Jose Correa’s 1-out double in the bottom of the inning. That brought the tying run into scoring position with the biggest bats next, and Quebell promptly homered after making nothing but poor outs for a week, flipping the score in the Coons’ favor, 4-3. Bruno pitched a quick eighth, and Hayashi was injured in the bottom of the inning, catching a Trevino fly. With Angel Casas having pitched three of the last four days and his history of getting hurt in April, AND three left-handers up in the top 9th, Donald Sims was assigned the inning. He struck out Gerardo Rios and got a pop from Apasyu Britton before the Titans threw right-handers at him. He walked Julio Silva, with Luis Alonso next. He dumped a clunker that couldn’t be played by anybody between third and home, and two Titans were on after the infield single. The Titans did NOT hit for Javier Gusmán, leaving Law Rockburn in the pen, but Sims really had to get him. Howell had his 2-2 pop. 4-3 Raccoons. Quebell 2-3, BB, HR, 2 RBI; Baldwin 7.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, W (1-0);

Game 2
BOS: CF J. Gusmán – 3B M. Austin – C Suda – RF G. Rios – LF Britton – 1B M. Berry – 2B Sato – SS D. Silva – P Chapa
POR: CF Castro – 2B Correa – LF Alston – RF Black – C De La Parra – 1B Pruitt – 3B R. Martinez – SS Howell – P Grams

Black put the Coons up 1-0 with a sac fly in the bottom 1st, but Grams was wildly adrift from the start. A double play saved him in the first, we pitched around Daniel Silva to somehow get the third out from Chapa in the second, and in the third he had the bags full with one out when Britton bounced one right into his glove to get a force out at home. All that dumb luck had to run out at some point, and it did in the most horrendous manner. Just when the Raccoons left Castro dying at third base in the fifth inning, Grams shoveled himself another hole in the top 6th. Silva was walked intentionally for the second time in the game to get to Chapa with two outs, and Chapa lined a fat pitch into the gap to score two runs and give the Titans – and himself – the lead. He sure didn’t hold it for long, though: the Duke led off the bottom 6th with a homer, knotting the score at two. With one out in the top 7th, Grams put Suda on with a single, and when we sent Bryan to deal with left-handers, the Titans threw right-handed pinch-hitters at him, who of course all reached. Rockburn had to pitch to Luis Alonso with the sacks full and still only one out, struck him out, then got a groundout to Howell from Kunimatsu Sato to end the inning. When Howell hit a double to start the bottom 7th, Rockburn’s bunt was crap enough to get Howell tagged out, and then Castro hit into a double play. Against Manuel Martinez in the bottom 8th we loaded the bags in hitless fashion with two walks and Nomura taking one to the ribs, putting up Martinez with two out and batting .179. Quebell was still on the bench, and this was as good a spot as any. Quebell came in, the count ran full, and Quebell drew a walk to break the tie! We couldn’t hit for Howell, who grounded out. Again it was a 1-run lead for Angel Casas, who had “Quasimodo” Suda, Jim Brulhart, and Takahashi Higashi on his plate. Suda grounded out on 3-1, Brulhart popped out at 0-2, and Higashi went down blinking. 3-2 Furballs. Martinez 2-3; Rockburn 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, W (1-0);

Between the top 8th and top 9th, seven of the nine defensive positions changed occupation for the Raccoons in this game, as Trevino, Nomura, Quebell, and Esquivel entered the game, and a few guys moved positions, plus a new pitcher. Only the Duke and Howell remained at their spots.

Game 3
BOS: CF J. Gusmán – SS Sato – C Suda – RF G. Rios – LF Brulhart – 2B Higashi – 3B M. Austin – 1B M. Berry – P Cabrera
POR: CF Castro – 1B Quebell – LF Alston – RF Black – 3B R. Martinez – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – C Esquivel – P Brown

Full count walks would be the bane of Brownie in this start. He issued four of those in the first three innings, casually shooting his pitch count to almost 80, and also walked in a run in the third inning. By then the Raccoons had lost Tomas Castro to injury and had displayed much agony at the plate. Oh, and the rain came in the fourth inning today, forcing a 70-minute delay, and got Brown out of the game after … four innings. It was outrageous.

The Raccoons had to at least get him off the hook, and they had Alston and Black on first and second with no outs during the delay. Three ****ty outs later, John Richardson took over on the mound, almost was blown up by Jim Brulhart, and then became the second reliever in two days to be unable to lay down a bunt without getting the man on base killed off. With Trevino playing for Castro in the leadoff spot, no prizes could be won, either, and the entire lineups’ rank ineptitude was baffling. Mark Berry eventually homered off Richardson to put the Titans ahead 2-0. A Martinez double went unexploited in the sixth, and in the seventh Pruitt hit a 2-out triple. Trevino walked, deferring the matter to Quebell, who took a few wild hacks before happening to meet a ball. He drilled that one almost 450 feet, however, and the score was flipped in the Critters’ favor, 3-2.

We had entered the wicked phase of the game. Marcos Bruno came out, struck out Suda and Rios, then walked Brulhart and Higashi. What the heck was it NOW!? Off Bruno and Bryan, the Titans would then hit four consecutive RBI singles to completely kill off the will to live in at least one GM in attendance. The Raccoons had the tying run at the plate in the eighth, but – ugh… 6-3 Titans. Martinez 2-4, 2B; Pruitt (PH) 1-1, 3B;

What the heck is wrong with this offense … and what the ****ing **** is wrong with Marcos Bruno …!!??

Meanwhile Tomas Castro had some mild back spasms and was listed as DTD for two days. Since he wasn’t hitting the ball anyway, we could just leave him on the bench for Trevino, who wasn’t hitting the ball either.

Or maybe we wouldn’t play at all. The despicable Portland April that had cut short all of Brownie’s starts and had messed with a bunch of other games on this homestand completely went to **** on Sunday, drowning the city in a torrent storm. Baseball could not be played, our matchup with the Titans was postponed and rescheduled as a double header for August 21, the next time they’re in town. This will be in the middle of a 6-day homestand with the Miners coming in first, with a 3-game set in New York following the Titans series before another off day.

In other news

April 6 – The Federal League’s great season opener between the Stars and Gold Sox takes five minutes to get ugly, with the Stars hitting a couple of extra base hits off DEN Antonio Donis, who then drills DAL Hector Garcia in the shoulder. Garcia storms to the mound swinging his bat, and both are ejected and suspended for three games.
April 15 – VAN 1B Tony Ramos (.286, 0 HR, 3 RBI in 7 AB) has a 22-game hitting streak dating back to 2008 snapped by the Condors.
April 15 – LAP SP Raúl Fuentes (1-0, 4.80 ERA) 3-hits the Miners in a 1-0 Pacifics win.
April 17 – NYC RF/LF Stanton “Clockwork” Martin (.476, 6 HR, 18 RBI) ravages the Loggers all by himself in an 8-2 Crusaders win, nailing five base hits with two homers, a double, and 5 RBI. He takes over the lead in all CL triple crown categories with this performance.
April 17 – A mild hamstring strain will keep CIN RF/LF/1B Will Bailey (.280, 2 HR, 7 RBI) off the field for two weeks.

Complaints and stuff

The Duke was The Man in Opening Week, batting .526 with 2 HR and 8 RBI to be chosen as the CL’s foremost hero.

De La Parra sucks, Howell sucks, Trevino sucks, Martinez sucks, Esquivel sucks, Bruno sucks, Baldwin sucks, Bryan sucks, the entire lineup sucks, the weather sucks, and we still don’t get proper bratwurst done at the park, which sucks. Outside of Black and a bit of Alston and Correa the entire lineup is dead.

You should stock up on Rob Howell merchandise now, since I have a hunch we won't sell that for very long.

The funny Elks sent a trade proposal on the 14th, offering Gary Rice for Nick Brown and Law Rockburn. I had a good laugh.

Randy Farley, now 35, spun a 5-hitter in his first game of the season, beating the Gold Sox in a Capitals uni.

[Questdog]

Looks like a good start to me, but what do I know? I see that the Boss says it's horrible, so it must be......

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Questdog

Looks like a good start to me, but what do I know? I see that the Boss says it's horrible, so it must be......

The fact that I was soaked after two weeks of constant biblical flooding in Raccoons Ballpark might have made my judgements a bit harsher than necessary. A bit.

There are minnows swimming in our 1993 World Series trophy, for crying out loud!

Raccoons (8-3) @ Crusaders (10-2) – April 21-23, 2009

The Crusaders ranked second in runs scored and runs allowed in the CL after two weeks of baseball, with the bullpen posting a hardly visible 0.69 ERA. The Raccoons had actually allowed one run less and led the league, but that was on the least games of all teams as this series began. Offensively, the Critters were a challenged t-8th.

Projected matchups:
Jong-hoo Umberger (1-1, 2.70 ERA) vs. Greg Connor (1-0, 1.15 ERA)
Javier Cruz (0-0, 3.21 ERA) vs. Whit Reeves (2-0, 4.09 ERA)
Nick Brown (1-0, 1.72 ERA) vs. Pancho Trevino (3-0, 2.25 ERA)

Their entire rotation is right-handed. They also had just put their closer Iemitsu Rin on the DL, but there was a bit of a waiting list for that job, with Scott Hood moving up and Robbie Wills ready to replace him as well.

We had two days off after the Titans rainout on Sunday, and a proper off day on Monday, before starting play in New York on Tuesday, the opening act of a 12-game, 4-city trip around the continent. How do you arrange your pitching for that? Well, Jong-hoo’s start had been rained out, and despite his rather odd struggles in the first two games, we’d move him to the series opener. Despite the four walks in his third swimming contest, Nick Brown had been the most consistent of our guys so far and I would like to maintain his rhythm. If we pitch everybody in order, he will go on six days’ rest. Nah. Greg Grams is an easy pick for a skip, and Baldwin also lost the equivalent in days of a start.

I sat it up like that: Umberger (6 days’ rest), Cruz (6), Brown (4), Baldwin (7), Grams (7), Umberger (4). It’s a mess, but it’s the best possible mess right now.

Game 1
POR: CF Castro – 1B Quebell – LF Alston – RF Black – 2B Correa – 3B R. Martinez – C De La Parra – SS M. Gutierrez – P Umberger
NYC: CF R. Pena – SS J. Hernandez – LF M. Ortíz – RF S. Martin – 2B Caraballo – 3B Reece – 1B Batlle – C D. Anderson – P Connor

Two innings were enough for the Raccoons to more than double Pitcher of the Year Greg Connor’s ERA, with two runs in the first that were RBI triple-charged by Ron Alston, and another run in the second, driven in by Castro with two outs. Meanwhile Umberger pitched in more full counts than Brownie on a really bad day, and Francisco Caraballo hit a solo jack in the bottom 2nd to get the Crusaders back to 3-1. That would not be the only home run on the day. Alston hit one to start the top 3rd, knocking off the harder half of the cycle already, and the Raccoons added a run on a Castro RBI triple in the fourth. Daryl Anderson in turn knocked one over the fence in the fifth, then running the score to 5-2 Critters, with Connor – Pitcher of the Year – already out of the game. That sat well with the Coons, too, who scored two 2-out runs off Nobuyoshi Matsui in the seventh inning, an uprising that didn’t begin until Luke Black was hit by a pitch with nobody on and two outs, but provoked three straight singles afterwards. Ron Alston wasn’t getting that cycle, but he got another home run, picking Matsui for a 2-piece in the eighth. Umberger was far from dominant, but lived to see the eighth inning and didn’t allow any more runs, but the Crusaders burst out over Matt Cash in the bottom 9th, with Paco Batlle’s 3-run homer closing the score considerably. 9-5 Raccoons. Castro 3-5, 3B, 2 RBI; Alston 3-5, 2 HR, 3B, 4 RBI; Correa 2-5, RBI; Gutierrez 2-3, BB; Umberger 7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (2-1);

None of the Martin Brothers reached base against Umberger, but Stanton would start that evil ninth with a single off Cash. The Martin Brothers had fared quite differently so far, with Ortíz coming in with a .200 average and one homer, and Stanton batting almost .450 with seven long ones.

After managing to assign our first eight wins to eight different pitchers, Umberger was the first guy to win a second game.

Game 2
POR: CF Castro – 2B Correa – LF Alston – RF Black – 1B Quebell – C De La Parra – 3B M. Gutierrez – SS Howell – P Cruz
NYC: CF R. Pena – SS J. Hernandez – LF M. Ortíz – RF S. Martin – 2B Caraballo – 3B Reece – 1B Batlle – C D. Anderson – P Reeves

Whit Reeves had walked nine against five strikeouts early in this season, although you wouldn’t necessarily guess it from this start. Could thing we had that in written form supplied by the league office. Yet Cruz was the one that insisted on walking Ortíz, which was not the advised way of dealing with the Martin Brothers. Stanton Martin promptly drove his buddy in for a first inning 1-0 Crusaders lead, but soon enough Whit Reeves got eaten up by the power division that was in town. Ron Alston hit a 2-run homer to flip the score in the third inning, with another run being produced behind him and scored by Gutierrez on a sac fly, while in the fifth Alston led off with a double and Quebell drew a walk (not one of many) before De La Parra launched a 3-piece that just managed to cough itself over the edge of the wall in left center. That 6-1 knell removed Reeves from the game.

Cruz managed to strike out Ortíz the third time through instead of giving the monster “Clockwork” Martin more fodder, then was drilled by Sammy Davis as his turn to bat was up at the beginning of the sixth inning. Singles by Castro and Correa soon loaded the bases with no outs for Ron Alston, whose recent hot outburst had him radiate with a white glow at the plate. But here he fell to the left-hander Davis, and shockingly the Duke did, too, and the only run the Raccoons got out of three on, no outs came onto the board on Quebell’s bases-loaded walk. Cruz went six and a third, allowing only two hits, but all those long counts eventually shoved his pitch count over 100 before the desired time. But the bullpen held up this time (although Richardson walked Hernandez and Ortíz to start the eighth inning and almost got whacked), while the Crusaders’ kept crumbling, allowing two more runs in the ninth inning. This one looked like a rout. 9-1 Raccoons! Correa 3-5, 2B; Alston 2-4, BB, HR, 2B, 2 RBI; Quebell 1-2, 3 BB, HR, 2 RBI; De La Parra 3-5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Pruitt (PH) 1-1, 3B, RBI; Cruz 6.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, W (1-0);

Not only did this look like a rout (13-3 hits, too!), but the Raccoons took the place in the sun with this win, sitting at 10-3 ahead of the 10-4 Crusaders and 10-5 Titans.

Without a doubt, we will score no runs for Brownie in game 3.* By the way, there’s rain in the forecast.

Game 3
POR: CF Castro – 3B Correa – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – LF Pruitt – 2B Nomura – SS Howell – C Esquivel – P Brown
NYC: CF R. Pena – SS J. Hernandez – LF M. Ortíz – RF S. Martin – 2B Caraballo – 3B Reece – 1B M. Williams – C D. Anderson – P P. Trevino

Both pitchers faced the minimum through three innings, although neither was even close to perfect. Double plays played a big role, two turned for Brown, and one for Trevino (that Brown hit into). There was not a lot of offense going on the second time through the order, either. The neat three up, three (somehow) down cycle ended for Trevino in the fourth on a Marc Williams error that allowed Alston to reach before Quebell popped out. Brown managed to remain on pace for a 27-man game longer, but didn’t do it with stuff, hardly striking out anybody, but by generating poor contact. Well aside from Caraballo’s rocket in the fifth at least. Pruitt made a circus catch in mid-air over the warning track on that one. Williams’ leadoff single in the bottom 6th got erased instantly when Daryl Anderson’s hard grounder was turned into two by Correa at the hot corner, and Jose Correa would also lead off the top 7th with a looper that fell into shallow center for our second hit of the game (Esquivel had had the first), and that right in front of a row of left-handed big bats. Alston popped out, Quebell flew out to right, and Pruitt lobbed out to center.

At that point the rain came down, making Brown 4-for-4 in doused games on the season, and this outing was ruined as well. It was ruined so thoroughly, that the game was sent to a delay and never emerged, being postponed after 6 1/2 innings with a score of zip-zip. It is scheduled to be concluded on July 21.

For crying out loud!

Raccoons (10-3) @ Falcons (6-10) – April 24-26, 2009

Offense had been the Falcons’ problem so far, as they ranked in the bottom 3 in runs scored, while giving up a league-average number of runs. By ERA both their rotation and their bullpen ranked sixth. They were trying to rally from a really bad start after winning the division for four straight years.

Projected matchups:
Colin Baldwin (1-0, 4.15 ERA) vs. David Estrada (2-1, 3.81 ERA)
Greg Grams (1-0, 2.77 ERA) vs. Manuel Ortíz (0-0, 4.50 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (2-1, 2.57 ERA) vs. Steve Rogers (2-2, 3.16 ERA)

Left-handers are book-ending this series for the Falcons, although they might also skip Ortíz again, which would move a third left-hander into the series in Larry Cutts (1-2, 3.14 ERA).

Game 1
POR: CF Castro – 2B Correa – LF Alston – RF Black – C De La Parra – 1B Quebell – 3B R. Martinez – SS Howell – P Baldwin
CHA: SS J. Rodriguez – LF P. Flores – C F. Chavez – 3B J. Lopez – RF Reya – CF P. Estrada – 1B Mendoza – 2B H. Green – P D. Estrada

Baldwin sucked. A Castro double and Alston single gave him the lead in the first inning, and he gave it right back. Doubles by Quebell and Howell and his own single gave him a 3-1 lead in the second, and he managed to give it back with a 2-out single by the opposing pitcher, on an 0-2 pitch no less. By the fifth inning, Jose Lopez doubled the Falcons into a 4-3 lead, and Baldwin was hit for with Pruitt in the top 6th with runners on the corners and one out. Quebell, who had reached on an error to start the inning, tagged and ran when Pruitt’s fly to right ended in Luis Reya’s glove, and was thrown out. The game blew out for good in the bottom 7th, just after the Raccoons killed a chance in the top of the inning to come back. Donald Sims faced five batters, four reached, and two scored outright on a Chavez homer. When Marcos Bruno replaced him, he walked Pedro Estrada on four pitches and then allowed a deep drive to Jose Mendoza that Alston somehow caught, but now that ball was a sac fly. And even then the Coons weren’t quite dead yet. Singles by Esquivel and Correa brought Ron Alston to the plate as the tying run with two outs in the ninth, against Javier Navarro, who had entered with an ERA over 12. But Alston rolled out to first, and the Raccoons lost a really ****ty game, in which they out-hit the Falcons, 13-12. 7-4 Falcons. Castro 3-5, 2B; Quebell 2-3, 2B, RBI; Esquivel (PH) 1-1;

Ugh.

Game 2
POR: CF Castro – 2B Correa – LF Alston – RF Black – 1B Quebell – C De La Parra – 3B R. Martinez – SS Howell – P Grams
CHA: 3B J. Rodriguez – 1B Mendoza – C F. Chavez – 2B J. Lopez – RF Reya – CF P. Estrada – LF Burke – SS Pollack – P M. Ortíz

Adrian Quebell took over the team RBI lead when the Duke struck out with two on in the first inning, but Quebell rocked a 3-run homer to right for an early lead. For the young Ortíz the pain would intensify once Martinez led off the second inning with a triple, scored on Grams’ double to right, and Castro also brought that pitcher home for a 5-0 lead. Of course, Greg Grams was at best as good as your defense, and at worst would fall apart regardless of it. After three shaky shutout innings, Jake Burke hit an RBI single with one out in the fourth to get the Falcons on the board. Pollack popped out, but Grams then balked on the 0-1 pitch to Ortíz, who wasn’t hit for. When Grams finally managed to deliver a legal pitch, Ortíz lined it into right for a single, Burke turned third base, but was thrown out at home to end the inning by the Duke of Smack. While Quebell hit another home run in the top 6th, Grams didn’t survive the bottom of the inning, leaving after Domingo Nieves’ pinch-hit RBI single with two on and two out. Sims appeared in a double switch that removed Ricardo Martinez from the game and got Javy Rodriguez to pop out to short to get out of the frame. But that 6-2 lead was not in the books as a win yet. Ed Bryan took care of getting the Falcons closer, allowing a homer to the first batter he saw in the eighth, Luis Reya. Jake Burke reached on a Nomura error, but Bruno managed to end the inning. Angel Casas was sent out to defend a 6-3 lead in the ninth, but Rodriguez and Mendoza singled to bring up the tying run with nobody out. After Chavez fouled out on the first pitch, Jose Lopez, last season’s home run king, also raked at the first pitch, grounding it to Howell for a rather tailor-made double play. 6-3 Critters. Correa 2-4, RBI; Quebell 3-3, BB, 2 HR, 4 RBI;

Game 3
POR: CF Castro – 2B Correa – LF Alston – RF Black – C De La Parra – 1B Quebell – 3B R. Martinez – SS Howell – P Umberger
CHA: 3B J. Rodriguez – LF P. Flores – C F. Chavez – 2B J. Lopez – RF Reya – CF P. Estrada – 1B H. Green – SS Pollack – P Rogers

When Jong-hoo struck out Fernando Chavez to end the bottom 1st, he finally managed to raise his strikeouts (10) above his walks (9) for the year. Did he even walk nine in total in 2008??

Regardless of K/BB musings, Umberger got hit pretty hard pretty often in the game. Jose Lopez opened the second with a double and ultimately scored on two deep flies to center. Castro sucked up a lot of drives in this game, and while Ron Alston tied the score with his fifth homer of the year in the fourth inning, things didn’t look too bright, and they also didn’t look right. Jong-hoo lumbered on for five innings, and the Falcons threatened badly in the bottom 5th, having two men on with one out when Steve Rogers’ terrible bunt was taken to third base for a force out by Umberger. While he managed to retire Rodriguez on a pop, he looked broken by now and was limping. On the replay we eventually saw that he had twisted his ankle already when he played the bunt, and he had to be removed from the game.

Offensively, the Raccoons broke out as soon as their starter was gone. Business as usual. Quebell plated Alston in the sixth to take a 2-1 lead, and while Howell was killed off by a bad Rockburn bunt in the seventh, Castro doubled and Correa singled to score both Law and Castro, 4-1. That was not all. Black drew a walk that brought up De La Parra with two outs, and our newly minted catcher doubled into the right corner to score two additional runs. Rockburn had struck out the side in the sixth and got three easy grounders in the seventh. In an ideal world Matt Cash would have pitched the final two innings without allowing six runs, but his eighth inning performance was already too cringeworthy to employ him further. Melvin Pollack singled to get the inning started, after which Cash drilled Steve Moore. Rodriguez’ grounder next to the mound was barely played into an out at first by the slick-gloved Jose Correa. Pedro Flores hit a ball hard to right, which Black caught on the run and then shot down Pollack, who was trying to score, at the plate, ending the inning. That was nothing against Ed Bryan in the ninth, however. He faced three, and the result was three on and no outs. There were more left-handers up and Sims needed a break, so GODDAMNIT BRYAN!! GET SOME ****ING OUTS BEFORE THEY BRING UP THE TYING RUN!!

Yelling sometimes helps a bit, but with Bryan it was a difficult thing. While he technically did retire the next three … well. The defense retired them. Mendoza flew out to Black, Burke flew out to Trevino, and Pollack flew out to Black again. Burke hit a sac fly. Technically, shmecknically. 7-2 Coons. Castro 3-5, 2B, RBI; Alston 1-3, 2 BB, HR, RBI; Quebell 3-4, RBI; Howell 2-3, BB; Rockburn 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (2-0)**

In other news

April 20 – IND SP Paul Kirkland (1-1, 3.15 ERA) is out for the next year, having suffered a damaged elbow ligament that will take up to 12 months to heal. Kirkland is only three starts into a 2-yr, $1.88M deal with the Indians.
April 20 – Another free agent acquisition is out for a long time: MIL SP Fabien Armand (0-1, 3.86 ERA) has torn his UCL and could miss most of next season, too, with a recovery time table of 15 months.
April 21 – The Crusaders place CL Iemitsu Rin (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 SV) on the DL with acute elbow soreness. The 30-year old left-hander is expected to miss three months.
April 23 – SAC LF/RF Rodrigo Lopez (.310, 1 HR, 6 RBI) might miss a month with a sprained ankle.
April 24 – NAS RF Juan Ortíz (.290, 2 HR, 8 RBI) is placed on the DL with knee inflammation. The Blue Sox hope that they can recall him by mid-May.
April 25 – TOP SP Juan Ortega (3-1, 2.64 ERA) 2-hits the Scorpions in a 7-0 shutout.
April 25 – A sore knee will put NYC 3B Sonny Reece (.339, 2 HR, 13 RBI) on the DL for most likely only the minimum 15 days.

Complaints and stuff

First, we top the power rankings and the division.

Second, Umberger’s ankle isn’t seriously jerked, and he might not even miss a start. The jury is out on whether that’s a good thing. By the way, Kel Yates is 3-1 with a 2.67 ERA and 32 K for the Gold Sox.

Third, on Sunday, the Duke batted for three strikeouts with a walk and a double play hit into. That tied in nicely with his .143/.222/.238, 0 RBI, 9 K week he had. By contrast, Alston went .333/.440/1.046, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 5 BB, 4 K and Quebell didn’t exactly stink either with his .473/.583/1.000, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 5 BB, 3 K week. Quebell won the Player of the Week laurels.***

So perhaps an adequate description for our batting is the much written about box of wonders. Next week the Duke might whack three bombs and drive in ten again.

Or maybe it rains at the west coast and the Pacific spills into the Baybirds’ park and drowns everybody (except the Baybirds. They’d fly away, I guess?). Perhaps Brownie would welcome death by drowning as an end to all his pains.

*I wrote that on a napkin at lunch before the game. I knew it. I just KNEW it.
**Wrongly assigned again, of course.
***Due to a bug, perhaps.

[Westheim]

Raccoons (12-4) @ Bayhawks (10-8) – April 28-30, 2009

Despite the best batting average in the CL (.282), the Bayhawks were only scoring the eighth-most runs. They combined that with the fourth-best defensive program to nab the lead in the chronically underpowered CL South.

Projected matchups:
Javier Cruz (1-0, 2.66 ERA) vs. Joe Hollow (1-1, 6.75 ERA)
Nick Brown (1-0, 1.25 ERA) vs. Tyler Sullivan (2-1, 1.10 ERA)
Colin Baldwin (1-1, 5.00 ERA) vs. Shawn White (1-1, 2.18 ERA)

We had our two left-handers to close this series, they would open the series with theirs.

Game 1
POR: CF Castro – 2B Correa – LF Alston – RF Black – 1B Quebell – C De La Parra – 3B R. Martinez – SS Howell – P Cruz
SFB: 1B Catalo – RF Walters – C M. Torres – 3B D. Lopez – LF Covington – CF Talamante – 2B J. Perez – SS McCullough – P Hollow

The Coons had three hits in the first, and Cruz walked the first two Baybirds, and neither team scored. In the second we had the bases loaded with no outs and Cruz batting, resulting in a fly out to shallow right, and the Critters only scored on Castro’s groundout, their only run in the inning. The Bayhawks threatened quite severely by the bottom 4th. David Lopez hit a single, Martin Covington hit a double, and with one out they were both in scoring position. Then Cruz struck out Carlos Talamante and Martinez made a strong play on Jose Perez’ groundball to end the inning. Perez would strand runners on second and third – and the same runners, too – the next time he was up, ending the sixth inning with a fly out to Castro. The Raccoons were still up by a tender 1-0 margin, and thanks to poor RISP hitting of their own, like Luke Black hitting into an inning-ending double play with two on in the seventh, didn’t improve on that, either. When David Lopez doubled off Cruz with two outs in the bottom 8th, we didn’t wait for Talamante to reach base again as well and instead sent Donald Sims, which prompted the Bayhawks to counter with right-handed batting Antonio Luján, who struck out looking anyway. Top 9th, Hollow still in, and Matt Pruitt tripled when hitting for Sims with one out. Castro singled past Catalo into right, and finally we added that insurance run! Turned out, Angel Casas didn’t need it. 2-0 Raccoons. Castro 3-5, 2 RBI; De La Parra 2-3, BB; Pruitt (PH) 1-1, 3B; Cruz 7.2 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, W (2-0);

While that game was in progress, Brownie was not in the dugout. He was looking at the skies, concernedly checked weather forecasts on the internets, and called Dr. Steve, the weatherman on channel 74, three times. Would it be raining tomorrow, when the two best pitchers (by ERA) in the CL would square off? Would it? Would it dare to?

Game 2
POR: CF Castro – 2B Correa – LF Alston – RF Black – 1B Quebell – C De La Parra – 3B R. Martinez – SS Howell – P Brown
SFB: 1B Catalo – LF Covington – C M. Torres – 3B D. Lopez – CF Talamante – SS Irvin – 2B McCullough – RF Walters – P Sullivan

The skies were gray, the temperature low, but the game went underway at least. Brownie struck out five in a row the first time through the order, then stopped doing that and instead issued walks. He also allowed a home run to David Lopez in the fourth, and a leadoff double to McCullough that led to a second run in the bottom 5th. Sullivan was casually no-hitting the Raccoons at that point, and that didn’t stop until Brown was done with his start. Seven uninterrupted innings of 2-run ball. Could be better, could be worse, but at the moment the lineup displayed a fatal case of not-hitting, as usual in Brown’s support. Sullivan had struck out eight and walked two through seven innings, and added another K on Howell while also sitting down De La Parra and Pruitt in the eighth. The ninth started with Yoshi Nomura in the #9 hole. Nomura and his arms as thin as matches fell 2-2 behind against Sullivan before shockingly ripping a home run to left that broke up the no-hit bid, and also got Sullivan removed instantly. Tomas Castro tripled off Javier Montes-Ortíz, and Bayhawks fans feared the ultimate worst before Correa rolled out to the third baseman, Alston walked, and Black hit into a double play to end the game. 2-1 Bayhawks. Nomura 1-1, HR, RBI; Brown 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, L (1-1);

Like I said, our batting is a box of wonders. I don’t need to elaborate on that, I guess.

Game 3
POR: CF Castro – 2B Correa – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – LF Pruitt – C Esquivel – SS Howell – 3B M. Gutierrez – P Baldwin
SFB: 1B Catalo – 2B J. Perez – C M. Torres – 3B D. Lopez – CF Talamante – SS Irvin – LF Covington – RF Walters – P S. White

While the serious state of non-hitting continued for the Raccoons, at least their defense worked in this game. Colin Baldwin needed the support bitterly, giving up hard balls to every area of the park. Both teams scored a run through five innings, with Esquivel driving in the Coons’ in the fourth, when Correa and Alston got on base with no outs, and Esquivel was the only batter among the next four to not strike out and instead doubled past the limited range of Leborio Catalo. Both starters went seven innings, with David Lopez powering a solo shot in the sixth to give his team the lead for the second straight day. After stranding Correa on third base with the tying run in the eighth inning we faced Montes-Ortíz again in the ninth inning and stranded the tying run on base again, even though it was only a 2-out walk by Nomura. 2-1 Bayhawks. Correa 2-4, 2B;

Well, that was a horrendous **** series. It can hardly get - … oh, do we really have to go THERE?

Raccoons (13-6) @ Canadiens (11-10) – May 1-3, 2009

Fifth in offense, t-7th in defense, and 0-2 against the Raccoons, those were the fifth place Canadiens one month into the season. Their rotation was in the bottom 3 with a 4.85 ERA, maybe the right jump starters for the Raccoons?

Projected matchups:
Greg Grams (2-0, 2.89 ERA) vs. Dave Crawford (0-1, 8.71 ERA)
Jong-hoo Umberger (2-1, 2.42 ERA) vs. Rod Taylor (3-1, 3.23 ERA)
Javier Cruz (2-0, 1.93 ERA) vs. David Peterson (2-2, 6.66 ERA)

That’s three right-handers. With the way the Duke is batting, a demotion to Count and a start or two more for Pruitt are in the cards. As for the rest of the lineup, maybe glasses will help. And I will consult a gypsy on Friday morning.

Game 1
POR: CF Castro – 1B Quebell – RF Alston – LF Pruitt – C De La Parra – 2B Nomura – 3B R. Martinez – SS M. Gutierrez – P Grams
VAN: CF Holland – C G. Ortíz – 1B T. Ramos – RF D. Morris – LF E. Garcia – 3B Suzuki – SS Rice – 2B Rodgers – P Crawford

For a change, the Raccoons scored two runs in the first inning before Nomura killed a still-going inning with a double play. Unfortunately, Greg Grams was pretty much the dull pushover we feared he would be for his half million and was in a hurry to put on Elks. They tied the game and left the bases loaded when Castro barely shagged Ken Rodgers’ drive to center to end the frame. For a while it looked like neither pitcher would see the sixth inning, but in the end both did – somehow. The Elks took a 4-3 lead in the bottom 3rd on another parade of runners, but the Coons scored two runs of their own in the top 4th and in the sixth it would be Pruitt’s 2-out, 2-run double that finally knocked out Crawford in a 7-4 game. Grams was lifted for Bryan after five innings when an Elks double switch made the first three batters in the bottom 6th all left-handers. In fact, they had six left-handers in their lineup, and Bryan pitched two innings with only one runner in that situation. Sims and Casas were tasked with the last two innings, both allowed a runner on an infield single, but the Elks scored upon neither. 7-4 Critters. Castro 3-5, 2B, RBI; Quebell 2-4, BB, RBI; Alston 3-5, RBI; Pruitt 2-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI; De La Parra 2-5, 2 RBI; Bryan 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K;

How in hell is Greg Grams 3-0 and Nick Brown is 1-1???

Game 2
POR: CF Castro – 2B Nomura – LF Alston – RF Black – 1B Pruitt – 3B Correa – C De La Parra – SS Howell – P Umberger
VAN: CF Holland – C G. Ortíz – 1B T. Ramos – RF D. Morris – LF J. Thomas – 3B Suzuki – SS Rice – 2B Dobson – P R. Taylor

With two on and one out, Luke Black almost killed our third inning with another double play, but Nomura crashed into Gary Rice to break up their 4-6-3. Matt Pruitt homered to right center and the Coons were 3-0 ahead. Jong-hoo didn’t have problems to get to two strikes, but he really had trouble getting the third strike. The Elks got a run off him in the bottom 4th, but Rod Taylor remained on the losing side, although he was not to blame except for that one bad pitch to Pruitt. He struck out a full dozen in seven innings and still remained trailing 3-1. Umberger was run out for the bottom of the eighth, which was a grave mistake, as Ross Holland singled and then he walked Ortíz. And the next mistake was to bring in Donald Sims, who allowed a 3-run bomb to Dan Morris to lose the game. 4-3 Canadiens. Nomura 2-3; Pruitt 2-4, HR, 3 RBI; Quebell (PH) 1-1;

(has the face buried in the hands)

(sobs)

Game 3
POR: CF Castro – 2B Correa – RF Alston – 1B Quebell – LF Pruitt – C De La Parra – 3B R. Martinez – SS Howell – P Cruz
VAN: CF Holland – C G. Ortíz – 1B T. Ramos – RF D. Morris – LF J. Thomas – 3B Suzuki – SS Rice – 2B Dobson – P D. Peterson

After three scoreless innings, and Cruz sitting down everybody except the pitcher the first time through the order, three homers were hit in the fourth inning, all solo jobs, with Alston and Quebell giving Cruz a 2-0 lead that Dan Morris with his 10th shot of the year cut in half right away. Quebell came up again in the fifth inning, batting with two out and the bases loaded. He narrowly missed a slam, but still beat out Morris for a bases-clearing double to run the score to 5-1.

But what had looked like a secure lead for Cruz and an easy fifth inning, led to a 2-out, 4-pitch walk to Jerry Dobson and an instant scoreboard explosion. Rodgers batted for Peterson and singled, and every Elk that turned up to bat, also got on base. 5-4 game, runners on second and third, Morris was walked intentionally to get to Josh Thomas, whom Cruz walked to tie the game, and when Rockburn replaced Cruz, his first pitch was wild to give the Elks the lead. He drilled Suzuki with a 2-2 pitch before Gary Rice popped out. The Elks put up another 3-spot in the bottom 6th on ****ty pitching by Richardson and Bryan as well as a capital throwing error by Ron Alston. The rout continued merrily from here, with a run in the seventh and two more in the eighth. The Raccoons were in the process of dissolving completely and nothing stopped them.

There was one additional note to the game however. Ron Alston was on base in the ninth when Quebell came up. He was 3-4 on the day, lacking a triple for the cycle. He sent a looper to shallow right center that Gold Glover Ross Holland tried to snag, but fell short, and the ball hopped into the gap where Holland had to chase it down, and Quebell slid in at third base. The excitement was minor, although some Elks fans looked slightly dismayed, at least until Quebell was stranded there by Pruitt and De La Parra as this game mercifully ended after all. 12-6 Canadiens. Alston 2-4, BB, HR, 2B, RBI; Quebell 4-5, HR, 3B, 2B, 5 RBI, Howell 2-3; Nomura (PH) 1-1;

This was the 43rd cycle in ABL history, and the third in Raccoons history. And not only have the Elks never had a no-hitter or cycle to their credit, so far they also had never been on the receiving end of either feat. Well, that’s over.

In other news

April 28 – DEN RF/LF Pedro Pujols (.392, 2 HR, 11 RBI) lands five hits in a 10-7 win over the Cyclones, including two home runs for 4 RBI.
April 29 – CIN 1B/2B Georg Spinu (.361, 0 HR, 10 RBI) will miss three weeks with a separated shoulder.
May 3 – SFW 1B Raúl Bovane (.286, 3 HR, 14 RBI) might be on the DL for three to four weeks with a strained back muscle.
May 3 – CHA SP Larry Cutts (2-3, 3.54 ERA) 3-hits his former team, the Knights, in an 8-0 shutout.

Complaints and stuff

That was an entirely ****ty week. The Crusaders matched us every day to keep our half game lead in place – until Sunday. Sunday was the worst.

There are grave roster issues. Like Bryan and Sims not helping much. Or Bruno. Bruno!

But the worst of all might be Ricardo Martinez. Somebody with his defense shouldn’t bat .180 for a month. But potential replacement Walt Canning is batting .149 in AAA, so that’s that.

Ugh! I need booze! BOOZE!!!

[Westheim]

Last night, I knew something was missing, but I couldn't point my finger on it. Now I remember.

The rather mute excitement about Quebell's cycle was also owed to it being about 2:30am.

Bonus cookies with wet coon hair stuck on them for everybody remembering that Mark Dawson (1989) and Vic Flores (2007) had the other cycles for the Raccoons.