[Westheim]

During the latter half of November, the Crusaders resigned INF Sergio Valdez for another six years, so he will remain a mainstay in the opposing lineup. Valdez has been batting .285 with 74 dingers in his career. That wasn’t their only “addition”…

I mostly busied myself with polishing our 1992 and 1993 trophies and wondered where I’d put the third one next year by this time. Do not judge – fall is the time for delusion before reality will grimly swoop in around April 15.

I also tried to acquire a low-profile, cheap, and serviceable right-handed outfielder as a backup to the various crew we already have and to be paired with Zach Graves as reservers on the green part of fair territory. I tried to get the Gold Sox’ … what’s his name again? Steve Rokosky. You have never heard of him, and he’s not really Eddie Jackson material, but what we are looking for here is any kind of upgrade over Greg Borg and/or Dwayne Metts (who was not on the 40-man roster). I even tried to get Man-su Kim from the Buffaloes, who still smelled of Elk from his years in Vancouver, but me trying to not give up anything major in a deal largely led to … no deal.

Before we knew it, the rule 5 draft zoomed up… I had my eyes on two players, a pitcher and a right-handed outfielder, both already past typical prospect age – cough, 28, cough – and merely insurance plans in case our other plans (like Dan Delgadillo) wouldn’t work out.

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November 20 – The Scorpions trade 33-yr old 2B Ricky Luna (.272, 162 HR, 751 RBI) and cash to the Rebels for 29-yr old MR Zhuo-Cheng Li (2-0, 5.40 ERA, 1 SV) and a prospect.
November 27 – The Crusaders sign ex-SAL LF/RF Nate Ellis (.294, 118 HR, 518 RBI) to a 5-yr, $16.4M contract.
December 1 – Rule 5 Draft: 22 players are drafted across three rounds; the Raccoons add 28-year-old SP Kaleb Babcock from the Titans and 27-year-old OF/1B Hector Barcenas (.214, 1 HR, 14 RBI) from the Miners.
December 1 – At it again, the Crusaders ink ex-CIN SS Piet Oosterom (.260, 9 HR, 473 RBI). The 31-year-old signs a 1-yr, $630k deal.
December 1 – The Stars trade 28-year-old righty SP Jay Schimek (54-66, 4.87 ERA) to the Blue Sox for two prospects.

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Like I said, these two rule 5 picks are not serious contenders for Opening Day. Barcenas might have chances if I can’t unearth any sort of non-left-handed outfielder to match with Graves; Babcock’s scouting report sure looks nice, but he’s a stretch to be the #5 even now without signing Delgadillo, who is still weighing his options. Babcock has never pitched in the majors, while Barcenas most recently appeared in 2022 for the Miners.

Come here, Dan, come here, we’ve always been good to players named Dan(iel) in Portland, and we already have a Cuban buddy for you to bond with!

Various Raccoons finding a cushion to fall on: Mike Denny signed a $492k deal with the Miners; Frank Santos got two years, $444k total from the Stars;

Also out: the Hall of Fame ballot!

Anybody on there you like?