[Westheim]

December 2 – A Torres … err… torrid trade: the Scorpions trade for INF Alfonso Torres (.287, 15 HR, 206 RBI at age 27) and send SP Juan Torres, 29 with a 42-77 record and 5.03 ERA, to Oklahoma City.
December 3 – The Aces sign ex-BOS CL Vicente Rubio, who has 123 SV at age 27. He will make $1.14M over two years.
December 4 – The Raccoons send AAA INF Carlos Miranda to the Gold Sox for pitching prospect Tim Mallandain.
December 4 – The Knights grab OF Clement Clark, who just won the World Series with the Capitals, for 4-yr, $3.44M. Clark, 28, is a career .315 batter with 26 HR and 384 RBI. The Knights also part with 1B Marcinek Wodaj, a career .273 hitter with 61 dingers, sending the 27-year old to Las Vegas for 33-year old LF/RF Jim Wood, who has 1,506 hits and a .320 average in his book, plus a pitching prospect. Together with Michael Root and Shoichi Fujino, the Knights have themselves an outfield that is rivaled nowhere in the league.
December 6 – 3B Cameron Green returns to the Raccoons’ division, being traded from the Bayhawks to the Titans. Green, 34 by now, is a career .243 batter and is traded for MR Luis Molina and a prospect.
December 7 – The Canadiens add to their roster with 33-yr old LF/RF Yoshinobu Ishizaki (“Itchy”), a .320 hitter with 2,073 base knocks, who will make $2.65M over three years. Itchy’s defense has badly let up the last few years, though, so he could be a game killer in the field.
December 7 – The Wolves sign ex-MIL SP Neil Stewart (85-86, 3.28 ERA) to a 5-yr, $3.65M contract. Stewart is 27 and hopes to finally get some run support, but even with the terribly 1987 and 1988 Loggers he won 17 games both years.
December 12 – Busted! The Raccoons’ MR Antonio Cordero fails a random drug test and will be suspended for the first ten games of the 1991 season.
December 12 – The Condors improve by signing ex-LVA OF Ira Houston, a career .250 hitter with 75 HR, but he hit .320 last season, netting him a 5-yr, $4.25M contract.
December 13 – The Buffaloes sign ex-BOS INF Manny Mora for 6-yr, $5.07M. The 27-year old is a career .292 hitter, but hit over .300 the last two seasons, and has 33 career home runs.
December 14 – Former Miner CF/RF Jesus Rodriguez, 28, gets his payday from the Titans, $4.62M over six years for the .290, 37 HR, 359 RBI batter.
December 25 – Unmerry Christmas: 22-year old ATL CL Ricardo Zamora announces his retirement due to a torn flexor tendon in his elbow. Zamora appeared in only 17 games for the Knights, posting a 2-1 record and 4.41 ERA, but had been the team’s big hope for a homegrown closer.

Shopping Jeff Martin around, brought an offer from Milwaukee for slugger Jesus Jimenez, who can play all four infield positions. Realistically, he has to play middle infield, which is his weaker side, and he is rather bad at shortstop. So, he has to play second base. But that runs contrary to what I am seeking: it makes the defense much worse, and removes our only threat on the bases, Matt Higgins, from the lineup. The deal ultimately fell through.

I find myself not getting any good offers for Antonio Gonzalez. Well, there are *some* good offers, but those don’t find my team, like the Rebels offering stud MR Marvin Newton. If Newton only threw left-handed! The right side of our bullpen was awesometastic last season. I wouldn’t even know which guy to remove between Matthews, Lagarde, Martinez, and Carrillo.

Of course, if one would move Grant West to setup and have Newton close……. No.

I kept looking for a player with about the following minimum requirements: contact 12, defense 2B/SS 13 each. I found out that I already have two such players: Salazar and Gonzalez. So, Gonzalez will stay put. End of story. The hunt for a backup catcher, a starting pitcher, and a left-handed reliever will continue.

Interesting stat that came up through BNN this month: career extra base hit leaders
1st – Mark Dawson (POR) 800
2nd – Hector Atilano (WAS) 706
3rd – Gabriel Cruz (RIC) 647
4th – Paul Connolly (ATL) 636
5th – Daniel Hall (POR) 635

The suspension to Cordero is … unfortunate. No more apple juice for him. And I’m wondering … is there even a restricted list in the game? Where to put him?