[Westheim]

So, I’ve been felled by the plague for three days, and haven’t been playing, because it’s hard to think straight when you’re convulsing in agony. So that’s why it’s been all silent in Portland for the last five days (which is a lot for this old babbler). Still don’t know whether I can actually think straight now.

I’ll be starting with something I’ve been meaning to do for a few (in game) weeks and didn’t get to do. Below is a list of all players on the 40-man roster (and some select players that were designated off the 40-man roster this season) and where they first signed, and most importantly, how the Raccoons acquired them. Where does (second place) success come from? It’s obviously not that we’re spoiled with riches. So I have to have been doing something right. Right?

Origin of current Raccoons 40-man (plus some odd creatures) roster (a * with a player included in the respective trades indicates the player was a minor leaguer / prospect at the time)

Ron Alston – 1997 first round pick (IND, #15) – acquired in 2008 from IND for Daniel Sharp, Ryan Miller, Jimmy Eichelkraut*
Colin Baldwin – 2004 first round pick (LAP, #4) – acquired in 2007 from LAP for Bob Wood, Dave Self*
Juan Barrón – 1990 first round pick (CHA, #6) – acquired in 2007 from WAS for Adam Riddle, Danny Zigay*
Luis Beltran – 2001 seventh round pick (POR, #186)
Luke Black – 1995 first round pick (SFB, #23) – signed in 2007 for 4-yr, $4M
Cássio Boda – 2001 eleventh round pick (TOP, #296) – acquired in 2006 from BOS with J.C. Crespo, Ricardo Martinez* for Albert Martin, Glen Barnes*
Craig Bowen – 1998 first round pick (IND, #6) – acquired in 2006 from IND for Roberto Pacheco*
Nick Brown – 1995 eleventh round pick (POR, #293)
Marcos Bruno – 1999 first round pick (POR, #16)
Ed Bryan – 1999 fourth round pick (POR, #114)
Angel Casas – 2003 first round pick (POR, #7)
Matt Cash – 2000 second round pick (POR, #70)
Tomas Castro – 2001 second round pick (NYC, #74) – acquired in 2006 from DAL with Angel Romero for Edgar Amador, Christian Greenman
Javier Cruz – 1990 fifth round pick (NYC, #154) – signed in 2008 for 2-yr, $1.6M
Jose Cruz – 2001 sixth round pick (POR, #162)
Pedro Delgado – 2002 third round pick (BOS, #96) – acquired in 2004 from RIC with Bill Corkum, Rémy Lucas* for Dale Moore, Manny Gabriel
Sergio Esquivel – 2002 international discovery (POR)
Jerry Fletcher – 1989 first round pick (MIL, #4) – acquired in 2008 from VAN for Bob Mays, Tom Watkins, D.J. Fulgieri*
Jose Gutierrez – 2002 international discovery (TIJ) – acquired in 2006 from LAP for Curt Cooks
Manuel Gutierrez – 1999 seventh round pick (DEN, #179) – claimed off waivers by SFW in 2007
Kazuhiko Kichida – 1998 third round pick (PIT, #104) – acquired in 2002 from SAC for Julio Mata
Cesar Lopez – 1999 international discovery (ATL) – acquired in 2001 from ATL with Jesus Palacios, Butch Kaustrop*, Manny Gabriel* for Marvin Ingall, Manuel Reyes
Ricardo Martinez – 2002 international discovery (LAP) – acquired in 2006 from BOS with J.C. Crespo, Cássio Boda* for Albert Martin, Glen Barnes*
Ieyoshi Nomura – 2002 first round pick (POR, #7)
Dan Parker – 2000 seventh round pick (ATL, #193) – acquired in 2007 from LAP with Carlos Vazquez for Raúl Fuentes
Melvin Pollack – 1996 second round pick (CHA, #78) – claimed off waivers by LVA in 2008
Matt Pruitt – 2001 supplemental round pick (CIN, #37) – acquired in 2005 from CIN for Pedro Salas*
Adrian Quebell – 2000 supplemental round pick (SFW, #46) – acquired in 2005 from SFW for Randy Farley, Dan Nordahl
Ted Reese – 2004 supplemental round pick (MIL, #46) – acquired in 2005 from MIL for Dave Wheaton and cash
John Richardson – 2000 supplemental round pick (NYC, #49) – acquired in 2008 from RIC for Nelson Chavez, A.J. Altheide*
Juan Rios – 2003 ninth round pick (POR, #241)
Lawrence Rockburn – 1999 international discovery (OCT) – acquired in 2001 from OCT for Butch Kaustrop*
Jerry Saenz – 2004 supplemental round pick (SFW, #47) – acquired in 2006 from SFW for Steve Searcy
Claudio Salazar – 2000 ninth round pick (POR, #238)
Donald Sims – 1996 second round pick (ATL, #69) – signed in 2007 for 1-yr, $300k
Santiago Trevino – 2003 second round pick (POR, #73)
Jong-hoo Umberger – 2007 international free agent – signed in 2008 for 3-yr, $3M
Sergio Vega – 1998 supplemental round pick (POR, #69)
Kenichi Watanabe – 2003 international free agent – signed in 2003 for 1-yr, $200k
Tim Webster – 2001 fifth round pick (POR, #138)
Yoshi Yamada – 2000 international discovery (SAL) – taken in 2004 in rule 5 draft from SAL
Kelvin Yates – 1996 international discovery (TIJ) – acquired in 2006 from TIJ with Ward Jackson for Antonio Ramirez, Edgardo Fernandez

I saw that coming. We forked over actual, hard money … *five* times, excluding the cash in the Wheaton/Reese trade which was to help the other team, for all players on the 40-man roster and some extras.

Yes, Yoshi Yamada is still hanging out here. He’s 30. He’s so inept. I’ve tried everything. I put him outside, with his sad face, and hung a sign around his neck that read “FREE”, and nobody took him.

+++

Related, this:

The following bits were originally written in the offseason 2007-08, when I wanted to make a push for Sonny Reece. I never made the push, settling on the combo of Martinez/Chavez that didn’t last long, didn’t use it then, but had combed hard for the data and kept it. Then I wanted to use it when negotiating the extension with Nick Brown, and that won’t happen until next year, so what the heck, I cut it some and updated it and here it is.

Why did the Raccoons not pursue Sonny Reece? He’d have been offense and defense rolled into one at third base. True, but while we had some money, spending $4.88M of it on a 35-year old free agent would have precluded us from signing most other people we took on, and then most 35-year olds play like they’re 35 years old. I also thought that Sonny would have commanded a longer contract. Instantly I see $12M flash before my eyes. Will he be worth that? Dunno. He failed to produce .798 or more (usually much more) OPS just once in the last nine seasons, in all of which he played more than 140 games.

$12M is a chunk of money the Raccoons have never spent on a free agent, or even in a contract extension. In fact, David Brewer’s $9M contract from 1995 is still the largest single chunk of money we ever agreed to spending, and we didn’t even spend half of that, trading him halfway through.

All our $5M+ contracts signed with the season for which they took effect:

$9,000,000 – David Brewer (1995)
$7,000,000 – Nick Brown (2006)
$6,400,000 – Tetsu Osanai (1991)
$5,800,000 – Neil Reece (1995)
$5,500,000 – Kisho Saito (1993)
$5,200,000 – Neil Reece (2000)

That’s ALL. Neil Reece signed two of only six deals amounting to more than $5M, and was paid in full both times. Master Kisho was paid in full as well (he voided a year of the contract after that, which was for markedly less). We paid less than half of both the Brewer ($4.3M) and Osanai (less than $3M) contracts before trading them for different reasons (1997 collapse, Osanai collapsing without a chair at first base, respectively). Brownie so far has received $5.1M of his escalating 5-year deal. So after all those years, the most money we ever agreed on with a player and actually paid for it, remains $5.8M on Neil Reece, 13 years ago. Yet I have every intention to pay out every single penny of that $7M agreement.

If we want to keep Brownie past 2009, $12M might be cheap.