[Westheim]

November 10. Salary arbitration.

I said this and that about doing such and such – provided we wouldn’t take nasty hits in arbitration.

We took three.

Buell, Newton, and Donis received our offers. The three expensive players got even more expensive. At times, drastically so. Guerin received $475k to our offer of $450k. Gonzalez received $893k rather than our offer of $830k. And Rivera … (chokes) … we offered $600k, and he received $750k.

So! Another quarter million bucks we didn’t have – down the drain! Where do we continue now? Besides opening some good old booze?

Mauro Granados elected free agency, as did Ray Conner, Wayne Lister, and Brad Gray. Fine! Go! Yukenallllg-go!! (throws the empty booze bottle at Granados’ empty locker)

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Attempts to move one of the roster spot-occupying slackers like Tom Goodchild and Brent McLaughlin were fruitless before salary arbitration. The Stars and Crusaders showed some casual interest, but the human junk they offered back had it’s own issues like minimum salary burdens attached, which was something I was trying to reduce as well. That was before and around the arbitration date. A bit later the Titans GM called, and we got rid of one the two, as we traded Goodchild for a reclamation project in 22-year old SP Lawrence Williams, who had missed most of the 1999 season with a torn rotator cuff. He was rule 5 draft eligible, and would not be protected.

At the same time I did some early cleansing in the minor leagues. One of the players released was failed prospect 3B Mark Kowalchuk, who most recently had failed to hit even in Ham Lake. He had not been on the 40-man roster anymore, but still had had a minimum contract attached to him. He was gone now, as were a few others, the only one to be mentioned before might have been outfielder Pacio Neira, also failing to get any better at age 25. This opened a spot on the 40-man roster to protect MR Dan Epps.

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November 16 – The Buffaloes surprisingly part with 28-yr old RF/LF/1B Corey Patel (.280, 144 HR, 570 RBI), who is sent to the Wolves for 27-yr old 3B Alfredo De Jesus (.274, 0 HR, 34 RBI). Sources indicate the Buffaloes GM has recently gone mental.
November 16 – The Crusaders acquire 27-yr old C Mike Olson (.258, 4 HR, 32 RBI) and a prospect from the Titans for 29-yr old 1B/3B Lorenzo Delgado (.228, 27 HR, 140 RBI).
November 18 – The Aces grab 25-yr old C Antonio De La Parra (.285, 16 HR, 220 RBI) from the Scorpions in exchange for 31-yr old OF Russ Cote (.206, 41 HR, 200 RBI).
November 19 – The Raccoons deal 25-yr old AAA INF Tom Goodchild (.063, 0 HR, 0 RBI in 16 AB) to the Titans for 22-yr old AA SP Lawrence Williams.
November 21 – 27-year old SP Steve Rogers (71-61, 3.30 ERA), who had been traded from Sacramento to Washington mid-season, re-signs with the Capitals for 5-yr, $7.4M.
November 22 – 26-yr old ex-IND SP Dan George (65-84, 4.03 ERA) signs with the Buffaloes for 6-yr, $6.16M.
November 23 – The Indians get back at the Buffaloes and sign ex-TOP INF Jesus Garcia for 4-yr, $5.27M. Garcia, 33, is a .252 batter with 160 HR and 884 RBI.
November 25 – The Indians deal 29-yr old MR Brian Morris (5-8, 3.94 ERA, 2 SV) to the Miners for two prospects.
November 26 – The Blue Sox give out the biggest contract in ABL history to ex-SFW CF John Hensley (.282, 120 HR, 576 RBI), who will make $10.68M over the next six years. The 29-year old, the 1994 FL ROTY, is a 4-time All Star and has five Gold Gloves.
November 28 – The Buffaloes win over former Titan 2B/3B Horace Henry (.284, 209 HR, 1,368 RBI). The 38-year old receives a 2-yr, $2.84M deal.
December 1 – Rule 5 draft. 24 players are taken. The Raccoons lose SP Esteban Flores (to Rebels) and MR Christian Proctor (to Gold Sox). Also claimed are ex-Raccoons 1B Esteban Baldivía and MR Day Grandridge.
December 1 – The Warriors sign 30-yr old ex-DEN MR Xavier Herrera (27-25, 2.86 ERA, 43 SV) to a 1-yr, $970k contract.
December 1 – Another reliever is off the table after the Indians and ex-DAL MR Arthur Joplin (33-28, 3.16 ERA, 191 SV) agree to a 2-yr, $1.34M deal for the 26-year old.

Proctor and Flores getting taken removes two of those lingering minimum contracts. Plus, we have better backups available in the three young SP’s we just added to the roster.

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Fixing something that is broken is often best left to experts. I would never dare to touch a broken TV set, or a seeping sink. There are experts for that. Who can help you with fixing a team that is so broken (financially), so broken (personally), and lacks basic ingredients for success?

Is that it? Do we just give up on 2000, play out another 90+ losses season and wait for Carlosito to write a bigger check?