[Westheim]

Oh what to do, what to do? A terrible offseason was ahead. We were just at the start of it, but right now the Critters didn’t figure to have much pitching for 2018. Sure, we had a tremendous 1-2-3 punch in Toner, Santos, and Abe, and probably there were 23 other teams that would give arms and legs to have those three on their roster, but to be fair we had nobody who was even a potential #4 starter in the system – I have no clue what ever happened to Chris Munroe – and the bullpen consisted of about three guys.

That’s where the Young-for-a-reliever idea comes from. Nobody needs Adam Young around here anymore. I am thoroughly full of him. Even odd William Waggoner soundly out-hit him in 2017, and when “Tiger” Mendoza wandered over mid-season, he normally got the short end of the stick compared to Waggoner. Now, Waggoner will be a free agent, but that doesn’t mean that first base is Young’s to come. I can’t stand his awful presence anymore.

And I know I won’t get a starting pitcher with all ten fingers for him, so I will not even try.

That trade would likely also reduce costs a bit, which was something that would be important, since we had under $2M available even without resigning either Thrasher, or Reed, or – heck! – Brownie. Starting pitching doesn’t come cheap.

Talking about positive things now, we have a damn fine lineup right now! Even with Waggoner departing and Young getting shunted, we still have this pretty thing:

CF Carmona – 2B Walter – RF/1B Mendoza – LF DeWeese – 3B Nunley – SS McKnight – [insert RF/1B here] – C Denny – P

A beauty! Mendoza gives us the flexibility to either sign a first baseman or a rightfielder, or even something different, a defensive centerfielder. We could get Cookie off his legs in center and move him to right, which could extend his longevity. Mendoza would play first then.

Backups are a different beast, admittedly, but we technically have the following players still available: Petracek, Johnson, Margolis, Bergquist, Duarte, Moya, Ochoa, and a few that are even lesser than those. Well, Petracek is that dirt-cheap super utility I dig so hard, so he will remain, and Johnson might have its uses. Margolis will not make the minimum anymore, and there is the shame of being the final out in the CLCS. We need to add at least one right-handed bat on the bench, and if we replace Margolis we’ll need two. The lineup was just not very impressive against left-handed pitching…

So do we continue to blow money on Margolis and Bergquist? They probably will not make more than $550k between them, and neither is very helpful in the big picture. However, we need a backup catcher anyway, and there is just no replacement for Margolis in the system. Tom McNeela will probably retire a Raccoon, which makes me sad, but he is not more than a hole filler. But we have really no particular use for Bergquist. That saves a quarter million bucks at least…

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Speaking of left-handed pitching, the first news that leaked out of our fridge was a contract extension signed with a certain Nicholas F. Brown. The Raccoons-Brownie Alliance would continue for a 24th season, coming at the modest price of $500k. Brownie had initially pretended to still wanting a 4-year contract, but that was a ruse, and he quickly signed a 1-year deal.

Having said that, I have no clue how to use him. Since starting pitchers don’t usually grow on trees, we might try him in the #5 slot, but I guess that this will turn ugly quickly. He could fill a combined role of a left-handed specialist and long man / spot starter, whatever is desired. In reality, his role might be dictated by what players we can sign otherwise.

Among the five other pitchers headed for free agency, we only made a move for two. Jayden Reed had outlandish demands after having rebuilt his value for merely $390k, but Ron Thrasher was willing to talk about a reasonable contract. Reed had requested $6.5M over five years, and you COULD think about him being worth that, but we already had a reliever making about that much per year (Ramirez), and weren’t too happy with him. Also, Reed was 33 already. Thrasher was 30 and we narrowed it down to a 3-yr, $2.25M contract, but I had to concede a player option for the third year in 2020 to him to get that much out of him.

Of course we still had a whole flock of arbitration casas that had to be taken care of. Most signed 1-year deals because we had to watch out to not blow out the 2019 budget (which will see the final raise for Cookie’s and Abe’s salaries). Matt Nunley signed for $660k; Mike Denny for $535k: Ronnie McKnight for $560k; and Shane Walter for $555k;

Not signed for one year, but for three was Chris Mathis, which would buy out one year of free agency. We could secure his services for $1M total, slightly escalating.

There were also some greater news. Last year, Jonathan Toner had wanted to sign a long-term contract, but the Raccoons had been unable to get his contract requests into our budget. This year was better. Jonny Toner was the best pitcher since … the invention of pitchers? … and we were able to lock him up through the 2023 season, which amounted to the last two years of team control and four years of free agency. He would make $1.2M in 2018, $1.5M in 2019, and then $2.5M to $3M for the last four years of the deal. In total, the contract was worth $13.5M. I consider that cheap. $2.25M per year for Jonny Toner? Talk about cheap.

Regardless of how cheap Toner comes, the Raccoons had used up their budget room almost completely with the various extensions. Adam Young getting moved was the only way to add pitching now.

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2017 ABL AWARDS

Players of the Year: SFW LF/RF Jose Morales (.333, 27 HR, 106 RBI) and SFB OF Dave Garcia (.294, 36 HR, 103 RBI)
Pitchers of the Year: RIC SP Ian Van Meter (16-7, 2.70 ERA) and POR SP Jonathan Toner (18-9, 1.94 ERA)
Rookies of the Year: SAC C Chris Ramirez (.267, 2 HR, 68 RBI) and LVA LF/RF/1B Matt Hamilton (.266, 17 HR, 76 RBI)
Relievers of the Year: LAP CL Arturo Lopez (7-5, 1.89 ERA, 46 SV) and NYC CL Helio Maggessi (3-2, 1.68 ERA, 42 SV)
Platinum Sticks (FL): P SAC Tim Winston, C LAP Errol Spears, 1B RIC Alberto Rodriguez, 2B DAL Hector Garcia, 3B SAC Jason LaCombe, SS PIT Tom McWhorter, LF SFW Jose Morales, CF LAP Jimmy Roberts, RF SAC Pablo Sanchez
Platinum Sticks (CL): P LVA William Hinkley, C SFB Dylan Alexander, 1B ATL Mike Rucker, 2B LVA Rich Walsh, 3B POR Matt Nunley, SS ATL Devin Hibbard, LF ATL Gil Rockwell, CF SFB Dave Garcia, RF NYC Winston Jones
Gold Gloves (FL): P NAS Matt McCabe, C SAC Chris Ramirez, 1B SAL Tony Avalos, 2B RIC Bobby Torres, 3B NAS Antonio Esquivel, SS PIT Tom McWhorter, LF LAP Garrett Amundson, CF SAC Ray Meade, RF DEN Julio Candela
Gold Gloves (CL): P BOS Jose Fuentes, C ATL Ruben Luna, 1B TIJ Adrian Quebell, 2B SFB Zach Ingraham, 3B NYC Miguel Salinas, SS ATL Devin Hibbard, LF MIL Chris LeMoine, CF IND John Wilson, RF TIJ Craig Abraham

Jonny wins his second Pitcher of the Year award after 2015. He has also in the last four years led the league in ERA and K/9 three times and in WHIP twice.

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The “F” stands for Furbush.

I have been told.

That may not actually be true. He is secretive about it.