[Westheim]

1997 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set shows 1996 numbers, second set overall; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Kisho Saito, 36, B:L, T:L (19-8, 3.59 ERA | 214-153, 3.18 ERA) – workhorse and strikeout machine doing his job at the top of the rotation, entering his 13th full season with the Raccoons. Won #200 last year, and he will have to win 35 more games over the next two years to have won 200 with the Raccoons as well. Could be tight: his stuff is slowly getting away from him.
SP Miguel Lopez, 28, B:S, T:L (4-2, 4.01 ERA | 47-24, 3.18 ERA) – has been disabled for most of the season for the second time in three years (he made only 54 starts in that stretch); when he’s able to pitch he is most often very good.
SP Scott Wade, 34, B:R, T:R (14-7, 3.88 ERA | 149-94, 3.41 ERA) – has won 10 games or more for 11 consecutive years. Control pitcher who can totally dominate a lineup despite merely decent stuff. Not bad a career for somebody with only two pitches.
SP Antonio Donis, 24, B:L, T:L (12-6, 3.43 ERA | 13-9, 3.90 ERA) – he struck out 187 in 170.2 innings last year, which mentions his two most notable traits already: killer stuff and no stamina whatsoever.
SP Jose Rivera, 24, B:L, T:R (14-1, 2.35 ERA | 14-6, 2.92 ERA) – after replacing an injured Miguel Lopez last year, Rivera pitched well beyond belief; this season will be about proving that he can be like this for more than one summer; his general makeup however is unspectacular.

MR Jose Ramos *, 31, B:R, T:R (13-6, 3.98 ERA | 49-39, 4.49 ERA) – has mostly been used as a starter in his career, but also appeared as a reliever in four of his eight big league seasons (including a few September callups); should Donis fail to get his act as a starter together, he could be swapped against Ramos…; acquired in the Matt Higgins trade with the Rebels.
MR Alonso Santana, 29, B:L, T:L (5-3, 2.91 ERA | 8-12, 4.75 ERA) – was acquired in trade from the Indians during the last summer and fared very well; has been used by the Indians as a spot starter 16 times in his career, and it never did him any good; he projects to be our main left-handed reliever this season.
MR Daniel Miller, 28, B:S, T:R (4-7, 2.88 ERA, 12 SV | 21-16, 3.45 ERA, 20 SV) – as we are mowing down hurlers in the lookout for a closer, Miller was tested in early ’96 and didn’t cut it. He remains a decent 7th/8th inning guy, though.
MR Cesar Salcido, 25, B:L, T:L (0-0, 5.51 ERA | 0-0, 5.93 ERA) – has yet to prove that he belongs on a roster; he is out of options.
SU Andres Otero, 35, B:R, T:R (5-4, 1.62 ERA, 5 SV | 28-23, 3.08 ERA, 37 SV) – has a nasty slider, although his strikeout rates have been a bit down in recent years. Filled all kinds of roles for us last season, but seems best put into a setup role.
SU Gabriel De La Rosa, 26, B:R, T:R (4-1, 1.81 ERA, 5 SV | 15-6, 2.02 ERA, 23 SV) – great stuff, enduring, maybe he deserves another shot at closing?
CL Tzu-jao Ban, 29, B:R, T:R (2-3, 2.98 ERA, 33 SV | 10-12, 3.10 ERA, 35 SV) – once put in the closer’s role, he did very well for a few months, only to start struggling at season’s end, and into the playoffs; makes people mad with his knuckle curve, but at times it just won’t knuckle (or curve)...

C David Vinson, 31, B:S, T:R (.263, 13 HR, 67 RBI | .249, 82 HR, 422 RBI) – after a horrible 1995 campaign, Vinson came back up for his second-best season with a .811 OPS last year, and even then had a prolonged slump built in. This is a contract year for him: time to get offense and defense in sync, finally.
C Nori Kondo, 31, B:R, T:R (.224, 1 HR, 21 RBI | .252, 11 HR, 122 RBI) – career backup catcher, didn’t do much to improve his role.

1B Liam Wedemeyer, 27, B:L, T:L (.263, 33 HR, 94 RBI | .281, 105 HR, 345 RBI) – did everything we expected from him last season, including winning the home run title, and striking out almost 30% of his at-bats.
1B/2B David Brewer, 29, B:L, T:R (.322, 3 HR, 73 RBI | .344, 56 HR, 595 RBI) – the perfect leadoff man had a .344/.419/.481 season and that *regressed* his career stats, as he *merely* garnered 5.7 WAR; continue drooling, Daveyboy will bat leadoff again.
SS/3B/2B/1B Jorge Salazar, 36, B:L, T:R (.261, 1 HR, 51 RBI | .284, 22 HR, 608 RBI) – was supposed to exit as type A free agent, but came back in through the back door called mandatory salary arbitration; he wrecked our budget already, let’s just hope he doesn’t wreck the record along with that.
1B/3B Ben O’Morrissey, 31, B:R, T:R (.295, 14 HR, 85 RBI | .282, 85 HR, 507 RBI) – first year of the big 6-year contract he signed last summer; I expect enough integrity from him to not pull a Cam Green on us; well, his defense at times reminds me of Green, as does his home run power; starter at third base.
1B/2B/3B/SS Marvin Ingall, 27, B:R, T:R (.305, 4 HR, 33 RBI | .300, 10 HR, 71 RBI) – utility infielder longing to be much more than that; unfortatunely Salazar did not go away as expected...
SS Conceicao Guerin, 23, B:R, T:R (.259, 0 HR, 5 RBI | .259, 0 HR, 5 RBI) – had only 54 AB last year, and could have been the starting shortstop or at least platoon with Ingall if he hadn’t gotten stuck with Salazar for another year.

LF Vern Kinnear, 28, B:L, T:R (.250, 14 HR, 78 RBI | .265, 61 HR, 334 RBI) – played 150 games for the first time and managed to win his second Gold Glove with excellent defensive work; he is one of our many guys in a contract year, and one of the most important figures among those.
CF/LF Neil Reece, 30, B:R, T:R (.275, 15 HR, 69 RBI | .319, 95 HR, 464 RBI) – fantastic defense in center, fantastic at the plate – you can’t help yourself but love him. Injuries big and small keep on catching up with him, though. He missed 50 games last year, and batted below .306 for the first time since becoming a full time player in 1991.
LF/RF Stephen Buell, 21, B:R, T:R (.299, 1 HR, 11 RBI | .299, 1 HR, 11 RBI) – made his debut last season subbing for Vern Kinnear when he was hurt, but to get him into the lineup every day he has to start in right field, at least until we get Royce Green back from the DL; this could hurt us huge on defense…
LF/RF/CF Luke Newton, 25, B:S, T:R (.237, 1 HR, 13 RBI | .240, 2 HR, 33 RBI) – consider him mainly a defensive backup and to give the three starters rest when they need it.
LF/CF/RF Joe Lacombe, 28, B:L, T:L (.250, 0 HR, 2 RBI | .257, 1 HR, 10 RBI) – can play all three outfield positions, but if not for injuries and financial reasons, he never would have cut this roster. His major league experience is limited to 105 AB so far.

On disabled list:
LF/CF/RF Royce Green, 27, B:R, T:R (.326, 26 HR, 99 RBI | .288, 116 HR, 413 RBI) – shredded pitching in a bid to become Hitter of the Year, until he blew his labrum out in August; his ETA is early-to-mid June, plus 20 days of rehab, and he will also be a free agent; career slash line of .288/.361/.523 tells you all you need to know about him. We miss you, Royce, come back soon!

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement: None.

Opening day lineups:
Vs. RHP: 2B Brewer – 3B O’Morrissey – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – LF Kinnear – RF Buell – SS Salazar – C Vinson – P Saito
Vs. LHP: 2B Brewer – 3B O’Morrissey – CF Reece – 1B Wedemeyer – RF Buell – LF Kinnear – SS Ingall – C Vinson – P Saito

We lost 3.2 WAR this offseason, with the loss of Jason Turner (4.3 WAR) the biggest factor in there. The Higgins/Ramos deal netted us 1.7 WAR, though. The net loss ranks us 15th of 24 teams in the ABL.

Top 5: Rebels (+11.3), Pacifics (+7.1), Warriors (+6.7), Aces (+2.8), Miners (+1.4)
Bottom 5: Wolves (-4.8), Knights (-5.9), Indians (-6.4), Blue Sox (-7.9), Canadiens (-9.6)

PREDICTION TIME:

My predictions have been off for years now. I anticipated a 91-71 year last season, closely taking the division. We actually won a rousing 108 games before falling to the Rebels in six, because most of the little gears in the box worked to perfection.

This won’t be the case this year. We lost Jason Turner to free agency, and whether Rivera can repeat last season, remains doubtful. Royce Green will be missed all across the lineup, and especially on defense with the youngster Buell expected to play right most days. What can Salazar do, another year older?

If everything goes well, no key players get hurt, and Green comes back and hits well, we should win 90 to 92 games again which might be enough for the division. If key players like Brewer, Reece, O-Mo, a pitcher in the rotation, or whatever, goes down, we are in trouble.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Our system has finally died after ranking tops in the early 90s, and still in the top 10 the last few years, but now we are ranked fourth … from the bottom. There isn’t much coming up from down there.

Last season, we had eight players on the list, of which three lost eligibility due to sufficient major league exposure (including #6 Antonio Donis, #45 Stephen Buell, and #157 Jose Rivera), and one player loses eligibility due to age (#60 Mike Crowe), and one player that dropped off for no particular reason (#129 Jose Cervantes). We only have five ranked prospects, one of which was picked off the street just this March…

61st (-18) – ML SS Conceicao Guerin, 23 – international discovery by Vicente Guerra
66th (new) – A CL Manuel Martinez, 18 – 1996 first round pick by the Raccoons
75th (-1) – AAA 1B/2B Samy Michel, 20 – international discovery by Vicente Guerra
81st (0) – AAA LF/RF George Wood, 21 – 1994 first round pick by the Raccoons
118th (new) – A INF/RF Miguel Ramirez, 18 – international discovery by the Crusaders, signed as minor league free agent

Straw of hope: we will have three of the first 43 picks in this year’s amateur draft…

20-year old pitcher Carlos Castro, signed out of the Dominican by the Scorpions this December, is the #1 prospect in the country.

Next: first pitch!