[Westheim]

There were two interesting outfielders among the international free agents. One of them couldn’t play centerfield well, the other was a 26-yr old Dominican, Carlos Garcia. Defense should not have been a problem for him. He was scouted as above average at the plate, but demanded a hefty sum of money. I did not bite.

The free agent market in centerfield also wasn’t something to be necessarily excited about. You need pitchers? Here, take four for the price of two, but centerfielders? Whoo. Little options.

So, we need to trade for one, and there were of course more options there. The only question was whether we’d be able to ice one off his current team.

I soon discovered an almost perfect fit for the Raccoons. (Said that before, right?) It was 23-yr old Raúl Herrera, currently with the Blue Sox. He batted for high average, but with not much power, and also not for many extra base hits, although he was faster than lightning. He was a top notch base stealer, and thus a prototypical leadoff hitter, although his OBP was not that high at some .350 – but he hardly ever struck out.

The biggest problem? The Blue Sox were severely pinched with their budget and could not take on Alex White’s contract. We’re talking about a $400k gap here. I also talked to the Stars for Pancho Pacheco, but they had a similar problem. Of course this could well be due to offers made to free agents, so we’d have to wait and see for a while.

November 17 – The Bayhawks send utility man Mike White (.280, 11 HR, 317 RBI in his career), age 27, to Cincinnati for SP Tom Harden (26-35, 4.63 ERA) and a prospect.
November 20 – Milwaukee deals C Clifton Greenan (.238, 15 HR, 142 RBI in the majors) to Sacramento for outfielder Ben Cox (.250 career average), who is of course a former Raccoon.
November 24 – Important news for the CL North teams: the Indians are able to re-sign their closer Domingo Alonso for 1-yr, $434k. He saved 42 games last year and has 217 career saves (6th all time).
November 28 – The Gold Sox improve their pen by signing MR Nate Goodman, a former Knight, for 3-yr, $798k. Goodman has a 3.06 ERA.
November 29 – LF/RF Tom Simmons (.287 with 101 HR), 30, signs for 4-yr, $2.72M with the Aces. He hit .328 with 14 homers for the Bayhawks last year.
November 29 – Will the Wolves get enough in return with this signing? They ink 36-yr old Harry Beauman to a 3-yr, $1.86M contract. Beauman is consistently hitting above .300 in his career, but is getting slower every year.
November 29 – The Raccoons and Blue Sox close an eight player deal: the Raccoons send MR Fletcher Kelley and outfield prospect Alejandro Lopez to Nashville in exchange for OF Raúl Herrera, SP prospect Kelvin Quinn, and four other prospects! Herrera is a speedy .290 batter with 128 stolen bases. Kelley has posted a 4.36 ERA in just over two years in the majors. Lopez was the Raccoons’ 1982 first round draft pick.
December 1 – Nine players are taken in the rule 5 draft. The Raccoons are not affected. The main prize was SP Bastyao Caixinha, left unprotected by the Aces and taken by the Titans, who in total drafted three players and lost one.
December 4 – 2B Jeremiah Carrell takes his .365 career average to Atlanta. The 32-yr old received a 4-yr, $2.9M contract. He is 19th in career hits with 1,051 and leads in career average.
December 6 – Winter meetings start with news that the Buffaloes have inked star 2B Cordell Atkins, 28, for 6-yr, $4.4M. Batting .272, the former Falcon has amassed 868 hits and 42 homers in his career.
December 7 – The Canadiens bolster their rotation by adding SP Bill Smith (72-74, 3.52 ERA) for 3-yr, $1.94M. The 26-yr old has pitched for the Pacifics before.
December 8 – The Wolves send 1B Hoyt Cook (.246 career avg.) to Cincinnati for MR Thomas Green and his 3.60 ERA.
December 8 – The Titans send C Marc Leach (.244 hitter) to Tijuana for 29-yr old SP Dave O’Neill and a prospect. O’Neill has never made the cut at the majors.
December 9 – The Thunder acquire 30-yr old SP Shayne Nealon (45-39, 3.72 ERA) from the Miners for corner infielder Chris Scott, 29, and his .282 average with 779 hits. (Nealon was of course our big pitcher acquisition last year that blew up in our face in no time)
December 18 – The Stars add infield free agents Jose Delgado (.268, 43 HR) and Mario Gonzalez (.240, but a great glove) to bolster their infield.
December 19 – The Raccoons deal LF/RF Alex White to Sioux Falls for outfielder Cisco Banda and outfield prospect Bill Stevens. White was a huge disappointment for Portland, batting only .273, down 70 points from his average. Banda can play every outfield position well and has only a .242 career average, but has considerable gap power and with his speed is a triples threat.
December 21 – Feared outfielder Engjell Vulaj, a former Knight, signs a 3-yr, $1.24M contract with the Indians. Vulaj has a .311 career average with pop, yet had a down year with injuries in ’83.
December 25 – The Bayhawks add the Falcons’ former closer Joe Roberts, 27, who has 107 career saves.
December 29 – The Buffaloes add David Carr for the backend of their pen. Carr was the closer for the 1981 and 1982 Indians and has 80 career saves and a 2.35 ERA. He will make $672k over three years.

The Herrera/Kelley trade was necessary to get a good centerfielder. The Blue Sox could not afford White, but they were ready to take Kelley in addition to Alejandro Lopez, who my scout has on the chart to make the majors, but not as the superstar he was branded as when we drafted him (which cost the head of our old scout). If possible, I would have shipped out Lantán as well, but they did not even want him. The collection of minor leaguers taken on from the Blue Sox includes some so-so talents, but some of them actually have interesting capabilities. Kelley’s departure opens a spot for somebody from AAA, possibly Emerson MacDonald. The trade added +2.4 WAR.

Fan interest crashed after Alex White was traded away. But I have made up my mind here. Dawson will play rightfield to start the season, with Hall and Herrera out there as well. Banda and Borjón are the backups, and Green plays third. If Green does not deliver, he’s traded at the deadline on July 31.

I contemplated whether to keep White on or not, but his performance was so shockingly bad compared to what he did in Cincinnati, I was not ready to pay off that contract through 1989.

Trade proposals from other teams that didn’t make the cut:
- Rebels offered elite 1B Ramon Diaz for our SP Logan Evans (18 wins in ’83, t-1st in CL); we already have a very good first baseman in Matt Workman and neither can play anywhere else

What else? David Jones nursed a sore elbow all December, but will be fine. I’m still looking for a possible fifth starter and an upgrade in the middle infield. Steve Walker will play short, but Bowling and Gonzalez were too weak at the plate overall, and Winston Thompson has played stronger than anybody had had the right to hope for, but whether he can repeat is another story.

There are still a number of top notch starters and closers available on the market, too, but many teams already have budget problems.