[Westheim]

1999 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set shows 1998 numbers, second set overall; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Kisho Saito, 38, B:L, T:L (6-14, 3.20 ERA | 232-180, 3.17 ERA) – our unbreakable workhorse (entering his 19th season, and 16th with the Coons) suffered through another long season of getting zero run support. Saito’s stuff is slowly dying down, and although he has signed for two more years, he will have a hard time reaching 250 career wins with this team behind him.
SP Jose Rivera, 26, B:L, T:R (14-8, 2.44 ERA | 30-18, 2.91 ERA) – won the ERA title in his first full season without getting hurt, and that despite walking more batters (82) than he struck out (78). Strange stats for a strange pitcher, but it seems to work out for him.
SP Miguel Lopez, 30, B:S, T:L (10-13, 3.84 ERA | 68-47, 3.36 ERA) – in the first year of a 5-year deal, Lopez had about the worst season of his career, struggling badly in the first few months, and never finding that zing to strike batters out in scores. 105 K’s were a low for him in injury-free seasons.
SP Randy Farley, 25, B:R, T:R (12-6, 3.10 ERA | 12-6, 3.10 ERA) – acquired in the David Brewer trade, Farley matched and exceeded expectations in his rookie campaign, although he didn’t win ROTY honors for whatever reason. If he can get rid of the occasional wildness that plagued him (75 BB), he will be a fine keystone of this rotation for years to come.
SP Bob Joly, 23, B:R, T:R (4-1, 2.17 ERA | 4-1, 2.17 ERA) – acquired as throw-in in the Werner Turner trade prior to the 1998 season, Joly made his debut last season and stunned the batters as much as his own management, pitching 37.1 innings with a 1.02 WHIP and only nine earned runs against him. Now he has to triple the innings and keep the other numbers the same...

MU Kelly Fairchild, 26, B:R, T:R (3-3, 3.66 ERA | 3-4, 3.88 ERA) – for a midseason replacement of whom nobody expected anything, Fairchild did fairly well, although we should probably not get cocky and have him pitch beyond the seventh inning...
MR Daniel Miller, 30, B:S, T:R (3-2, 1.88 ERA, 2 SV | 30-24, 3.20 ERA, 22 SV) – walks continue to be a grave issue for him, but despite a 1.42 WHIP last season, the barrel full of TNT never really exploded under him. More dependable than most in the pen.
MR Juan Martinez *, 32, B:R, T:R (did not play | 44-23, 2.94 ERA, 26 SV) – returns home to his team for ten years after being with the Loggers in 1997 and no team at all in 1998. We will have to see what the rust has left of his arm. Will probably not be assigned high-leverage duties.
MR Christian Proctor *, 31, B:R, T:L (did not play | 4-3, 3.62 ERA) – another pitcher returning to the Coons, he last pitched in the Bigs in 1995, but was active since then. Stuff is still there, and I have more confidence in him than in the sucker Donis.
MR Antonio Donis, 26, B:L, T:L (2-6, 4.29 ERA | 15-24, 4.10 ERA) – he was outright awful for the second straight year, and if we had any money to spend, we would have improved the roster in this slot. 31 walks in 42 innings says it all.
SU Brad Tamburrino, 29, B:R, T:R (5-2, 2.50 ERA, 1 SV | 19-12, 3.32 ERA, 17 SV) – was solid in an eighth inning role last season, and is the last remaining Australian on the team. Good arm, good head, hopefully a good bridge to Scotty in the ninth.
CL Scott Wade, 36, B:R, T:R (1-9, 3.02 ERA, 33 SV | 155-113, 3.51 ERA, 39 SV) – had his issues with closing, especially early in the season, but settled in better after the All Star break. If we had any money, we would upgrade the closer spot, but the point is moot. In a pinch, Wade would return to the rotation and Tamburrino take over closing. Enters his 15th season in Portland.

C Lance Branch *, 30, B:L, T:R (.298, 16 HR, 87 RBI | .308, 72 HR, 417 RBI) – acquired in trade from the Pacifics for three relievers nobody cared too much about in Portland anymore. Branch has a strong bat, strong defense, and is going to be a cornerstone to a lineup that didn’t have many of those last season.
C/1B Ricardo Castillo, 32, B:R, T:R (.237, 2 HR, 8 RBI | .232, 20 HR, 104 RBI) – came up late last season and stayed for a lack of better options, a state that is still valid.

1B/3B/LF Cesar Gonzalez *, 26, B:S, T:R (.297, 24 HR, 97 RBI | .289, 67 HR, 249 RBI) – acquired from the Stars for Gabriel De La Rosa; Gonzalez is an adequate fielder on the corners, has a powering bat that will teach pitchers fear, and has to fail abysmally to lose the first base job. He should also make some starts at third against right-handers to get Michel into games.
1B/2B/3B/SS Marvin Ingall, 30, B:R, T:R (.304, 10 HR, 36 RBI | .298, 27 HR, 175 RBI) – was due to break out big and started the season phenomenally, until injuries knocked him over and limited him to 90 games and 372 AB. A .370 OBP will him bat leadoff and start at second as often as feasible.
SS Conceicao Guerin, 25, B:R, T:R (.278, 4 HR, 56 RBI | .273, 4 HR, 82 RBI) – starting shortstop with very good defense, who was one of the most pleasant surprises in the lineup last year, batting .278 while appearing in 147 games. As long as he doesn’t drop out of the .200s, he will start as many games as feasible this year.
3B Mike Crowe, 28, B:R, T:R (.260, 6 HR, 44 RBI | .253, 10 HR, 73 RBI) – his full time takeover from Ben O’Morrissey at third base was nothing to write odes about, but he held his ground, and that’s more than most of the lineup did last year. He also appeared in all but six games and showed good defense.
1B/2B Samy Michel, 22, B:S, T:R (.230, 4 HR, 14 RBI | .238, 4 HR, 16 RBI) – while the scouting report shows clear upsides, he wasn’t able to show them so far in his career, but then he only got 147 AB so far. He may make one or two starts a week at first, moving Gonzalez elsewhere, but the question remains whether he wouldn’t be better accounted for in AAA to possibly start at second there.
1B/2B/3B/SS/LF Steve Caddock, 29, B:L, T:R (.232, 4 HR, 40 RBI | .212, 5 HR, 46 RBI) – retains a job for being defensively versatile, batting left-handed, and not raising his voice without being asked for his opinion, which never happens.

LF/RF Stephen Buell, 23, B:R, T:R (.283, 3 HR, 27 RBI | .286, 7 HR, 91 RBI) – between four trips to the disable list, this youngster was scarcely able to play last year, appearing only in 73 games. He has yet to flash his power potential in the Bigs, but then again he has never been able to play a full season yet.
CF/LF Neil Reece, 32, B:R, T:R (.278, 17 HR, 67 RBI | .309, 123 HR, 595 RBI) – fantastic defense in center, fantastic at the plate – you can’t help yourself but love him. One of the few outfielders on the staff not crippled by injuries last year (although he missed 17 games), Reece led the power department last season after a gruesome April and May. Starting center, batting third, won’t change that quickly.
LF/RF Clyde Brady, 22, B:L, T:L (.253, 10 HR, 33 RBI | .252, 10 HR, 33 RBI) – made his debut as an injury replacement and never went away with solid, but not overwhelming play. He is starting in right, but his spot is shaking the most out of all three outfield starters. His main luck is that Cesar Gonzalez doesn’t have enough arm strength for right field...
LF/RF/CF Luke Newton, 27, B:S, T:R (.198, 3 HR, 25 RBI | .233, 7 HR, 85 RBI) – great defender, who managed to collect 333 AB while batting sub-.200 and still wasn’t purged from the roster, because there were so many more suckers sucking more than him. His defense keeps him alive ‘round here.
LF/RF Chris Parker, 23, B:L, T:R (.241, 2 HR, 29 RBI | .241, 2 HR, 29 RBI) – came up as injury replacement without being 100% ready, and it showed, although he did a better job than some people with a proper contract. However, his bat has to pick up juice (2 HR in 191 AB) if he wants to get a starting role.

On disabled list: Nobody.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement: None.

Opening day lineups:
Vs. RHP: 2B Ingall – RF Brady – CF Reece – 1B Gonzalez – C Branch – LF Buell – SS Guerin – 3B Crowe – P Saito
Vs. LHP: 2B Ingall – SS Guerin – CF Reece – 1B Gonzalez – C Branch – LF Buell – RF Brady – 3B Crowe – P Saito

After crashing completely apart last winter, the Raccoons still lost Manuel Movonda and Werner Turner to free agency, but at least WAR-wise replaced them more than adequately with Cesar Gonzalez and Lance Branch. We came out in third place in total WAR gains.

Top 5: Buffaloes (+4.9), Gold Sox (+4.1), Raccoons (+3.7), Loggers (+3.0), Titans (+2.7)
Bottom 5: Aces (-3.4), Cyclones (-3.5), Bayhawks (-5.4), Stars (-9.9), Pacifics (-10.6)

PREDICTION TIME:

Last year sucked. This was the fault of the offense, who failed to score even 3.7 runs per game. The pitching led the Continental League, but we had to shake things up. Gone are Movonda and De La Rosa, but now we have more offense and if injuries don’t cut our best people again, we should still be better off than last year, where we ended up 79-83 after a late surge, winning nine of our last ten games.

Predicting the success of this team is still hard. Key offensive pieces have been added. It will be on them to keep being key pieces. The rotation that was so stellar last year could be under a bit more pressure with Saito yet another year older, Movonda gone, and Lopez getting worse every year. However, Farley and Rivera have grown in experience and could be even better than last year.

This will be a trying season for the Raccoons, but I predict offensive contributions from all key players at their career level, and a solid pitching staff to go with that. The Coons will score soundly more than four runs a game, and will finish 85-77, but well off first place.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Last year, we had 17 players in the top 200, and our farm was ranked 8th overall in the majors. Of the 17 players then ranked, #57 Chris Parker, #67 Randy Farley, and #114 Samy Michel are no longer eligible. #185 Tom Goodchild and #200 Ray Conner also dropped out of the top 200.

Although we have two less players in the top 200 this year (15 in total), we managed to get some of them much higher in the prospect list, and our system is now ranked fourth in the ABL.

12th (+28) – AA SP Nick Brown, 21 – 1995 11th round pick by the Raccoons
18th (+83) – AAA C Julio Mata, 23 – 1997 first round pick by the Raccoons
42nd (+12) – AAA SP Ralph Ford, 21 – 1995 first round pick by the Condors, acquired in trade for Ben O’Morrissey
46th (+4) – AAA MR Manuel Martinez, 20 – 1996 first round pick by the Raccoons
57th (new) – AA OF Chris Roberson, 22 – 1998 first round pick by the Raccoons
79th (+94) – AA INF/RF Miguel Ramirez, 20 – international discovery by the Crusaders, signed as minor league free agent
81st (-54) – AAA CL Dan Nordahl, 20 – 1997 first round pick by the Raccoons
87th (+97) – AAA 1B Albert Martin, 22 – 1996 fourth round pick by the Raccoons
94th (+1) – AAA LF/RF George Wood, 23 – 1994 first round pick by the Raccoons
97th (+21) – AAA SP Anthony Mosher, 24 – 1993 first round pick by the Bayhawks, acquired in trade for Tim Mallandain
131st (-10) – AA OF/1B Edgardo Torrez, 22 – international discovery by Vicente Guerra
137th (-12) – AAA OF Jesus Taramillo, 23 – international discovery by Vicente Guerra
164th (new) – A SP Aurelio Hernandez, 19 – international discovery by Vicente Guerra
169th (-13) – AAA INF/RF Eisuke Sato, 24 – international discovery by the Thunder, signed as minor league free agent
175th (new) – A CL Sergio Vega, 18 – 1998 supplemental round pick by the Raccoons

Lots of young talent here. The roster could be revamped even more radically in the next few years.

19-year old SP Luis Hernandez, recently discovered by the Falcons in Mexico, is ranked as the #1 prospect. The kid has yet to toss a single pitch as a professional.

Next: first pitch!