[Westheim]

While the Raccoons tried to figure out how to deal with Ricardo "Replacement Level" Carmona (can we shorten that to "Replacie"?), they also sorted through their utter pile of arbitration cases.

The first extensions were signed with Vince D ($450k), Elias Tovias ($410k), and Billy Brotman ($300k), all for just one year. I had recently seen Tovias' non-production with great concern and had thus abstained from a multi-year deal. Vince D had been offered three years, but would only sign for one, insisting to test the free agency waters next fall.

The fanbase was expecting big deals, though, but nothing was coming forward. It was already November when we extended Brett O'Dell for $466k (which would also make him a free agent after the 2026 season). Jonathan Snyder inked for $300k, also for one season, before the big news finally came on November 4, when we announced a 5-year-deal with Jon Gonzalez. It was surely a team-friendly contract, buying out two years of free agency in addition to his remaining arbitration years for a total of $7M, plus incentives, with the contract starting at $1M in '26 and escalating in linear fashion to $1.8M in '30.

The only other player that signed so far is Omar Alfaro ($500k). What is the holdup with the starting pitchers? After all, they are the key to success!

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October 28 – The Knights trade 32-yr old outfielder Jon Correa (.273, 118 HR, 617 RBI) to the Bayhawks for fringe 1B/LF/RF Jon Nieto (.175, 2 HR, 7 RBI) and a prospect.
October 31 – The Aces trade for the Rebels' 26-year-old SP Alex Quintero (13-20, 4.37 ERA), parting with a prospect.
November 5 – The Stars send CL Erik David (7-9, 3.79 ERA, 27 SV) to the Miners in exchange for two prospects.

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Among retirees at the beginning of the offseason was Tamio Kimura, a Japanese outfielder that came over in 2015 and spent almost all of his career in the Federal League, and then foremost for the Rebels. He led the league in home runs twice and in slugging once, but at age 35 his body had betrayed him already and he called it quits, returning to Japan after a futile season in which he appeared in only six games for Richmond and got no base hits. In his career he batted .293/.375/.473 with 212 HR and 778 RBI, but piled up only 1,448 base hits.

A much better Hall of Fame case retired at age 43, with 1B Alberto Rodriguez calling it quits after spending the entire season with Washington's AAA team. Rodriguez, who spent his entire 19-year career in the Federal League, six times led the FL in doubles. He had an OPS+ over 100 in 17 of his seasons, and ended up batting .291/.373/.432 for his career. 191 HR and 1,397 RBI are nothing to sneeze at, but his business card prominently points out his 3,172 career hits, too.

Rodriguez has another claim to fame; he is the player who appeared in 166 regular season games in 2014, a year in which he was traded from the Capitals to the Rebels mid-season. At that time, the Rebels had four fewer games played than the Capitals. Rodriguez never skipped a beat, and thus piled up 166 total games that year, 79 for Washington and 87 for Richmond.

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2025 ABL AWARDS

Players of the Year: SAC LF/RF Doug Stross (.356, 7 HR, 88 RBI) and BOS OF Adam Braun (.289, 25 HR, 101 RBI)
Pitchers of the Year: SAL SP Jorge Beltran (13-15, 2.85 ERA) and POR SP Mark Roberts (21-7, 2.29 ERA)
Rookies of the Year: SAC C David Drews (.313, 24 HR, 119 RBI) and TIJ 1B Kevin McGrath (.303, 12 HR, 56 RBI)
Relievers of the Year: TOP CL Mike Baker (4-9, 2.63 ERA, 48 SV) and TIJ CL John Waker (6-7, 2.60 ERA, 39 SV)
Platinum Sticks (FL): P DEN Chris Sinkhorn, C SAC David Drews, 1B DAL Gus Gasso, 2B RIC Marco Hernandes, 3B LAP John Hansen, SS WAS Guillermo Obando, LF SAC Doug Stross, CF SAC Justin McAllester, RF SAC Pablo Sanchez
Platinum Sticks (CL): P POR Mark Roberts, C ATL Ruben Luna, 1B CHA Pat Fowlkes, 2B ATL Tony Jimenez, 3B NYC Andy Schmit, SS ATL Andrew Showalter, LF VAN Alex Torres, CF OCT Dave Garcia, RF BOS Adam Braun
Gold Gloves (FL): P PIT Mike Lake, C LAP Dylan Allomes, 1B SAL Kevin Harenberg, 2B SFW Trent Pierce, 3B CIN Ricardo Rangel, SS CIN Frank Eisenberg, LF SFW Jeff Wadley, CF PIT Carlos de la Riva, RF RIC Dan Dalton
Gold Gloves (CL): P MIL Jonathan Toner, C IND Tony Perez, 1B VAN Adan Myles, 2B SFB Pat Pick, 3B BOS Adam Corder, SS POR Tim Stalker, LF BOS Adam St. Germaine, CF BOS Adrian Reichardt, RF BOS Adam Braun

Yup, that is a losing pitcher taking home Pitcher of the Year honors!

Did you know that for all our defensive philosophy, Tim Stalker is only the fourth Raccoon to win three Gold Gloves in a row, and the first to do so in this millennium? Also on the list: Mark Dawson (3B, 1986-88), Jorge Salazar (SS, 1990-92), and Neil Reece (CF, 1997-99);

Vern Kinnear won three straight Gold Gloves in leftfield from 1996 through 1998, but he was Knight by '98, so is not included in this list. He won three total Gold Gloves with the Raccoons, but those were not consecutively.