[Westheim]

There is a few trash heap signings every year, and they are usually conducted in February and later. The Raccoons did sign a few players to minor league deals as spring approached, and this included bringing back two former farmhands, both infielders. INF Justin Chambers, 28 and without big league experience, signed a minor league deal with a $310k major league option, while INF Ismael Pastor, 26, signed a minor league contract only.

Chambers had been a supplemental round pick in 2016, but had never impressed at any level, ending up being released in 2021 before tuckering through the Crusaders', Gold Sox', Cyclones', and Bayhawks' organizations and ending up on the street every November.

Pastor had been a $80k July IFA in 2015, signed straight out of the Dominican Republic. He, too, had never seen action in the majors, but at one point had been the #100 prospect in the nation. The Raccoons included him in the deadline deal in 2021 that sent Michael Foreman back to the Loggers in exchange for Jarod Spencer, Greg Borg, and Evan Carrell.

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January 20 – The Raccoons ink ex-PIT MR Jeff Mudge (34-27, 3.74 ERA, 87 SV) to a 2-yr, $1.4M contract.
January 21 – The Pacifics add experience in ex-LVA SP Samuel McMullen (202-138, 3.45 ERA). The 37-year-old left-hander signs a 2-yr, $7.68M contract.
February 7 – Veteran left-hander SP Tristan Broun (117-131, 3.84 ERA) returns to the Contintental League after a year in Washington. The 38-year-old signed a 1-yr, $1.52M contract with the Aces.
February 8 – The Capitals console themselves with the addition of 34-yr old ex-NYC SP Alejandro "Ant" Mendez (160-130, 3.25 ERA) for 1-yr, $620k.
February 18 – The final type A free agent of the winter falls finally into place, as ex-CIN SP Matt Rosenthal (77-89, 4.60 ERA) signs a 2-yr, $5.12M contract with the Crusaders.
February 27 – 27-year-old Japanese international free agent SP Rin Nomura signs a 3-yr, $2.175M contract with the Raccoons.

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With the 33-year-old veteran Mudge the pitching staff was more or less completed. I hesitate to say "perfected", because you could always add a couple of Nick Brown types via kidnapping, but I was happy with the pitching staff as long as Dan Delgadillo would find back to his 2024 self.

I did keep looking for another bat throughout January. After all, we had only added Rafael Gomez in terms of stick wielders, and wasn't the offense our main concern? Ah yes, you might say, another failed offseason. But I would argue against that; Gomez was a pretty dangerous fourth outfielder, and could fill in for anybody. We would also swallow pride and put Cookie on the bench after three zero-WAR campaigns and run out Kopp, Mora, and Alfaro every day from left to right (Alfaro had the better arm compared to Kopp). Yes, those three started approximately seven games together in 2025, but maybe that was why the offense was such a disaster last year.

With Ramos, Spencer, and Mora on top we have three guys with blistering speed to lead off; Spencer is known to slap singles at high volumes, and Mora can go deep. Mora bats third not because he is the best batter on the team (that would be Jon Gonzalez, I would guess, right now), but because he was the only guy that combined speed and power, and I didn't want to put a Gonzalez-shaped roadblock in front of his black, pointy nose. Then Gonzalez in the cleanup spot, followed by Kopp, Alfaro, Tovias in order of hotness, finally Nunley. Somebody's gotta bat eighth.

We just hope that won't be Ramos. He batted .260/.307/.354 in his two stints with the Coons in 2025, which surely wasn't all bad. We would want him to tune down the strikeouts (24 K in 127 AB) and amp up the walks (8 BB in 137 PA) though. He is totally penciled in as leadoff man. If that falls apart, we might have problems.

Bats I was after during this time were f.e. Brody Folk on the Indians, who had batted .251 with 12 HR, and 68 RBI. He was a super utility that could play most any position except catcher, and was also a right-handed batter and capable defensive third baseman to light fire under Nunley's bum. The Indians were however not inclined to trade him, especially not for our meager selection of prospects. Well, Ramos would do, they guessed, but now I wasn't inclined…

What else? Will West signed a 2-yr, $600k deal with the Capitals; Alex Duarte was turned an Indian for $260k; the Buffaloes grabbed Graham Wasserman for $1.1M; Josh Stevenson joined the Gold Sox for $276k; the Stars added Frank Santos for $234k; Jose Gutierrez (age 41!) got back to the Rebels for $324k;