[Westheim]

January 1 – Oklahoma City adds Francis Bell, 27, to an already very tough outfield. Bell’s 127 career home runs rank 4th all time. He makes $2.4M over four years.
January 5 – The Knights add former Titans starter Ruben Lopez (63-71, 3.37 ERA), 32, for 4-yr, $1.73M. Lopez suffered from low run support his whole career.
January 6 – Buffaloes and Raccoons complete a trade for outfielders. The Furballs send 33-yr old Ramón Borjón to Topeka for 29-yr old German Serna and a pitching prospect. Neither outfielder batted for much last year although their career averages are rather good: .273 for Serna and .258 for Borjón.
January 7 – The (some say) best free agent pitcher of the winter has found a new home: SP David Burke becomes a Miner for 6-yr, $4.26M. Burke went 113-79 with a 3.18 ERA in his career with the Pacifics.
January 11 – Loggers and Miners exchange first basemen, with Jose Aguilar going to Milwaukee and Alex Garcia to Pittsburgh. Garcia hits for higher average, but Aguilar has a better OBP and more home runs.
January 13 – The Falcons add SP Billy Robinson, a former Indian, for a 5-yr, $3.5M contract. Robinson is 98-60 with a 2.91 ERA for his career.
January 25 – Outfielder George Lynch is forced to retire at age 28 with post-concussion syndrome. In his career with the Warriors and Buffaloes, Lynch has amassed 1,002 hits and 50 home runs.
February 2 – The Miners add another former Pacific with 3B Matt Terry, 31, who comes in at 3-yr, $1.3M for the Miners. Terry is a career .280 batter.
February 2 – The Pacifics in turn add Bob “Butcher” Haines to their bullpen, formerly with Salem. Haines can also be an emergency starter and has a 52-40 record with a 2.52 ERA. He makes $1.1M over three years.
February 8 – SP Miguel Sanchez, 32, becomes a Warrior for a 3-yr, $1.45M contract. He is 76-50 with a 2.74 ERA for his career, spent mostly with the Indians.
February 8 – The Blue Sox improve the backend of their bullpen with the addition of 30-yr old Willis Sims. He has a 2.24 career ERA together with 84 saves, 37 of them for Salem in ’83. He makes $550k for one year.
February 8 – The Gold Sox also add a closer: 29-yr old Seung-ook Yi, formerly with the Bayhawks and Thunder. Yi gets a $378k contract for one year. He has 79 career saves, 39 of those in ’83 for Oklahoma City.
February 10 – The Indians also have a new closer: Lowell “Wacky” Booth. The 28-yr old has spent his career in the Federal League so far, but CL hitters will soon come to fear him. He has 126 saves and a 2.94 ERA, and will earn $540k for one year.
February 11 – The market slowly empties with the Stars adding SP Jose Gonzalez (73-70, 3.80 ERA) for 4-yr, $2.5M. The 26-yr old was with the Bayhawks until 1983.
February 16 – The Aces sign 36-yr old Jon Butler as their new closer for two years at $1.2M. Butler has 249 career saves – 1st overall.
February 27 – The Scorpions upgrade their rotation with SP Mark Lee (84-78, 3.48 ERA). Lee was with the Crusaders since ’77.
March 2 – The Scorpions add outfielder Chris Smith for 1-yr, $278k, which gives the Raccoons a supplemental round pick (currently #15 of 29 there).
March 22 – The Wolves add SP Sergio Salazar for 2-yr, $488k. The 30-yr old is 62-48 with a 2.89 ERA and was played for Charlotte and Milwaukee so far.
March 26 – The Raccoons add Davis Rigsby as backup infielder. Formerly with Cincinnati, Dallas, and Pittsburgh, the career .260 hitter has to rebound from two poor years with the Miners. He is 31 and makes $115k for one year.
March 31 – The Raccoons sign 16-yr old Gustavo Rodriguez, an aspiring outfielder, out of Mexico.

The Borjón/Serna trade was brought forward by the Buffaloes. It cut salary for me, and although Serna can’t play center, I’ve seen enough from Borjón, who batted .199 last year.

With the expensive contracts of White and Borjón gone, we suddenly have money to spend. This year. Next year is a different beast entirely.

Jason Short went unsigned and we did not receive a supplemental draft pick.