[Westheim]

Off season drama: January

We started the 1991 calendar year with two offers on the table, one to a starting pitcher (not Sasaki) and one to a catcher that should be familiar to readers. We were also in third-to-last place in the BNN offseason center in WAR gains (or rather: losses).

January 2 – The Crusaders get outfield help in 35-year old veteran Sean Bergeron, who signs for 2-yr, $1.54M. Bergeron has 128 career home runs, yet he is only a .243 batter.
January 3 – The Raccoons improve their rotation by signing SP Robert Vázquez, a former Indian, to a 4-yr, $2.5M contract. The 28-year old Vázquez has a 70-46 career record and a stellar 2.65 ERA. The left-hander was injured between 1989 and 1990 and only pitched ten games for the Indians last year.
January 4 – Big money shelled out in Dallas, as the Stars add OF Sakutaro Ine, formerly with the Knights, for 6-yr, $5.52M. Ine, 28, has hit .308, 48 HR, 352 RBI so far in his career. He also hit .308 in 1990.
January 11 – The Raccoons sign their former catcher Gustavo Flores to a 1-yr, $128k deal.
January 11 – The Knights still have money to throw around, signing 31-year old SP Jim Harrington (141-125, 3.51 ERA) to a 4-yr, $2.48M deal.
January 13 – The Indians dig deep to sign 31-year old SP Jesus Lopez (87-64, 3.68 ERA) for 4-yr, $3.15M. Lopez was an exceptional 18-2 for the Capitals last year with a 3.10 ERA – while making only 25 starts!
January 18 – The Aces announce the addition of C Marc Leach, a career .257 hitter, for 2-yr, $1.14M.

Amazingly, Vázquez was not compensation-eligible, but this could be related to the fact that he came back from a torn rotator cuff. It did not bother him a lot. He was 5-2 with a 2.79 ERA down the stretch for the Indians. He fits in nicely in the #3 spot in the rotation, pushing Scott Wade all the way down to #4. Berry remains in #5 unless we find someplace to ship him to, and Fried is the odd man out.

Gustavo Flores was available among catchers. His demands were very reasonable. He had a few good season with us as backup catcher (then behind Dadswell) before being shipped to L.A. in 1988 after batting 4-31 at the start of the year. Overall, he is a .258 hitter. Of course, David Vinson will get as many starts as possible, maybe as many as 135. Having Flores in every sixth game seems more than enough.

With a full 40-man roster, we had to start exposing players to waivers. Between Travis Brown, Elmer Hawley, Daniel Dumont, and Jose Fernandez, it hit the left-hander Brown, who cleared waivers. I’m still looking for a trade for Berry here, but nothing substantial comes our way. We could possibly deal for prospects.

One such prospect I liked was Dallas’ LF Akinori Fukushima, who is 22 and in AAA. The Stars wouldn’t take Berry, though, and they wouldn’t take Martin either. They were keen on our prospects, including AAA OF Vern Kinnear, but that is not what I am having in mind here.

It’s early February. Left-handed relievers don’t grow in trees, as I have learned. Head scout Jeffrey Anderson recommends keeping Ken Burnett nevertheless. He thinks, he’s a great 7th inning or situational reliever. So far, his career ERA is still over five, though.

Our two type A free agents are still unsigned by the way. While Leo Smith asks for a little, Antonio Lopez is still asking for 900k/y, which will keep him on the table and greatly infuriate me.