We started the offseason business by talking to Ben O’Morrissey and Neil Reece about mid-to-long term contracts. Super-2 case Reece was not interested in such an arrangement yet, preferring to test his value in arbitration. O’Morrissey (who has about a year more service time) was ready to talk. By the time we drank some coffee in the office on the Wednesday after winning it all, the Blue Sox had already swapped eight players around, so we were late comers to the frenzy for sure.
I was looking at the potential top free agents as far as first base was concerned. Baldivia is ready, I think, but throwing a rookie into the hot water can backfire quickly. However, no prime-rate best-age first basemen were available. NYC Douglas Donaldson was to become a free agent, but while he had home run power (10 HR in 1992, but that should be magnified in Portland’s park), I found him not to hit any doubles or triples at all, with barely over 20% of ALL his hits being for extra bases. That was not what I was looking for.
Projecting our lineup (which would not see too many changes) I found myself wishing to lead off with Salazar again. Behind that O’Morrissey can bat either second or third. Preferably second, and then you have Kinnear, Hall, and Reece in the heart of the lineup. Higgins probably bats sixth especially with Baldivia on first, since he has about zero speed (240 lbs getting moved very slowly). The catcher’s spot is in eighth. This lineup assumes similar production to 1992. If Daniel Hall is batting .245 in his farewell year, he will probably not bat higher than sixth. If Matt Higgins bats .300 with a reasonable number of walks, he will lead off since his speed is nice to have unimpaired by casual walkers like Salazar.
At this point, I was really, really certain, to have Baldivia come up. He batted .328/.424/.507 with 20 HR and 106 RBI in 144 games in AAA last year. We can probably expect him to bat .270 with 15+ dingers here.
AAA INF Ben Nash was put on the 40-man roster since he was slated for minor league free agency. He’s our fourth round pick from 1986. Many injuries (most small, but there’s always something with him), batting .252 in AAA last year, but I was calculating with him as #7 or #8 on the infield depth chart. Of the other six players on the farm heading into free agency, I’m fairly sure that I never mentioned them after the initial draft or taking them on as free agents in the last one or two years. None of them appeared in the Bigs for us.
Interesting fact: which player that just won the World Series with the Raccoons has accumulated the most rings in his career? The answer could be really surprising: Mauro Morales. He was on three World Series-winning teams, the 1992 Raccoons, the 1989 Wolves, and the 1985 Gold Sox.
Kisho Saito and Tetsu Osanai have two, for example, both winning with the 1982 Canadiens.
October 31 – The Raccoons announced a 4-year contract being signed with their young 1B/3B Ben O’Morrissey, which will pay the 26-year old $1.88M and buys out his arbitration years and one year of free agency.
November 2 – The Raccoons and MR Juan Martinez agree to a 4-year, $1.1M contract extension. Martinez was heading for salary arbitration for the final time this month, but the Coons were convinced by his 3.25 K/BB and 2.58 career ERA and moved quickly.
November 4 – Among Gold Glove winners is POR SS Jorge Salazar, who wins his fourth total Glove, and the CL SS glove for the third year in a row.
November 5 – Along with WAS CL Jesus Longoria (6-5, 2.55 ERA, 23 SV), POR LF Vern Kinnear (.311, 16 HR, 82 RBI) is named Rookie of the Year!
November 7 – SAL SP Rafael Serrano (16-6, 2.49 ERA) and LVA SP Jou Hara (19-3, 3.19 ERA) are named Pitchers of the Year.
November 8 – DEN INF Jesus Garcia (.288, 20 HR, 95 RBI) and IND LF/RF Raúl Vázquez (.331, 42 HR, 122 RBI) win Batter of the Year honors. Vázquez broke Michael Root’s single-season home run record of 41 home runs – just barely.
November 11 – The Buffaloes announce having signed SP Dragoljub Djukic (105-94, 3.89 ERA) to a 2-yr, $720k deal. Djukic, 33, last appeared in 1991 for the Indians, and went unsigned through all of 1992 after an injury to his pitching hand.
I was also named Manager of the Year for the Continental League.
I always knew I was something special.
There were a few minor deals being made around the league, but really nothing worth mentioning, involving obscure players like the Loggers acquiring outfielder Serafim Laborinhos from the Titans. He had 33 AB last year in the major leagues. So much for trading.
Juan Martinez probably has closer potential for a team not going to the World Series. With West, Lagarde, and Burnett he forms the core of a fantastic bullpen. I had to extend him long-term.
With Reece not wanting to sign, and Higgins and Vinson not really catching fire, that was the last piece removed from the salary arbitration table, as we went in with five guys (those three plus Burnett and Martin).
Reece, Higgins, and Burnett got offers slightly over the estimate. We stayed below with Vinson ($325k vs. $343k) and Martin ($200k), whose $240k estimate was a joke, and not a good one. Should have released him right here on the spot. The guy has appeared in five seasons and has never been able to stay and make himself worth the worries. He was really high on that trade-out list.
We came up 3-2 in the hearings. You may be able to guess which players got rulings in their favors. Vinson got $350k (well, big deal… he would have deserved that two years ago), while Martin got $300k!!! What!!?? ARE YOU BAT**** CRAZY!!???
That’s it for Mr. Martin. I’m not gonna pay for that. If I’m gonna have my way, I’ll trade him and the marble column up cross the border for a bag o’ baseballs.
Wanna hear the bad news? Shopping Tetsu Osanai yielded zero results.