[Westheim]

I am embarrassed to announce that the St. Petersburg Alley Cats won the AAA championship despite being ravaged for players, beating the Anaheim Nautilus in seven games for the title while we here were kind of occupied with other things. Ham Lake (.500) and Aumsville (woeful) were nowhere the playoffs in their leagues. The Alley Cats win the title for the third time after 1992 and 2021.

The first big-league players signed 1-year extensions at the end of October. Marsingill got the aforementioned $310k, and Kurt Wall inked for $925k. The next were Manny Fernandez ($665k) and John Hennessy ($490k).

The big news came as November broke and the Raccoons announced a 5-year deal with Jimmy Wallace. The whole shebang was worth $5.8M only, which was rather cheap for a consistent above-average hitter, but of course everybody knew where his shortcomings were. That horse had been beaten to death and beyond by now. Wallace would make $800k in ’36, then $1.25M each for the four years after that while we would continue to watch his defense deteriorate from what it already was… and I’m also not gonna lie, that Nick Valdes wanted to see a different player in leftfield made me want to resign Wallace even more!

At the same time the Agitator reported that the Coons had offered Chris Wise a 4-year deal – which was actually true. He signed it in early November, and would be paid $1.1M each of the next four years. Sabre was the last guy that got an offer to sign it, getting $800k for 2036.

Consequently, Hugo Salgado, Philip Scheffer, and Nick Bates were all non-tendered and thus reached free agency along with regularly eligible players Travis Zitzner, Bob Zeltser, and Steve Gowan, plus finally Ed Blair, who wanted outta here badly enough to void his player option for 2036. As far as minor leaguers were concerned, only C David Tinnin became a free agent. He made nine appearances with the Raccoons (eight in ’33, one in ’34) and hit .100 (2-for-20) with 1 RBI.

Once free agency arrived one of my potential additions that I had pencilled down immediately fell through. Robbie Peel, 30-year-old lefty of the Miners, had become a free agent. He had saved 44 games and won *14* (!!!) in 2035, casually grabbing more wins than all of the Raccoons’ starters sans Gilberto Rendon (15, phew!). Alas, Peel was a type A free agent, and I didn’t feel like signing away our #16 pick for him. Chris Wise had a 1.92 ERA in ’35. Maybe he can click as closer this time…

Oh well, there were more players out there to blow millions on. The Raccoons had to figure out what to do with Josh Livingston, too, who had nothing but a shrug and excuse for a third pitch and after the initial flash had trended towards mediocrity. Livingston aside, we still have four tried and proven starters (Rendon, Willes, Sabre, Chavez), plus whatever the heck Darren Brown counted for. There were also still a steady five core relievers from ’35 around (Wise, David Fernandez, Prieto, Kulp, Garavito), with Hennessy, Citriniti, and Thomson also still on the extended roster.

The batting half of the roster had melted down to 13 players, but with holes. We had our catchers for ’36 in Morales and Wall – that was just final. In the outfield, Fowler was in center, Wallace and Manny Fernandez were certainly starters against right-handed pitching, but the supporting cast was not exciting: Preston Pinkerton and Ed Hooge would make for an *okay* backup pair. Jesus Maldonado we saw more as going back to AAA to start the year and then perhaps promoting in May or June or in case of injury – he was too precious to rot on the bench or platoon with Wallace. Of course, first base was an actual option with Maldonado, and we didn’t have any other half-decent first baseman. Topping our depth chart there was Chiyosaku Maruyama, and I’d rather not…

On the infield, five players remained. Berto was the only guaranteed starter at short. The odd couple of right-handed second baseman, Stalker (in a contract year again) and Vickers completed the middle infield, although Justin Marsingill, the only current option for the hot corner, could also fill in there. Matt Triolo was not likely to make the Opening Day roster, but could also play second, short, and third.

There were no hot and ready prospects on the AAA infield, either. 22-year-old 1B/C Jeff Wilson (the #33 pick in 2034) had split time between all three minor league levels in ’35, but had only hit 10 homers in 132 games. 21-year old 2B Jose Brito (2030 July IFA signing) had batted .295 with 12 homers in 78 games in AAA (after starting the year in Ham Lake), but needed more seasoning, too. The rest was broken garbage heap pick-ups of the Edgar Barrios mold.

So there was definitely room for one or two corner infield signings, and I already had at least one candidate in mind…

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November 10 – The Scorpions send CL Jorge Villegas jr. (3-4, 2.79 ERA, 29 SV)* to the Bayhawks for three prospects. The package includes #48 prospect CL Mario Benavides.
November 16 – The Rebels acquire utility player Adam Mitchell (.282, 5 HR, 52 RBI) from the Gold Sox, parting with 1B Gastao Rosado (.270, 14 HR, 90 RBI).
November 16 – The Aces pick up C Paul Kuehn (.254, 5 HR, 45 RBI) from the Knights, who receive two players in MR Shinsaburo Matsubara (11-17, 4.54 ERA, 13 SV) and a prospect.

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2035 AWARDS

Player of the Year – SFW C Ethan McCullar (.301, 26 HR, 93 RBI) and TIJ 3B Shane Sanks (.269, 29 HR, 107 RBI)
Pitchers of the Year – SAL SP Phil Harrington (22-6, 1.93 ERA) and LVA SP Chris Crowell (20-7, 2.77 ERA)
Rookies of the Year – NAS OF Sean Ashley (.281, 15 HR, 55 RBI) and NYC 1B Johnny Lopez (.274, 12 HR, 54 RBI)
Relievers of the Year – DEN CL Josh Boles (8-7, 2.59 ERA, 41 SV) and TIJ MR Josh Heckman (4-4, 1.78 ERA, 3 SV)
Platinum Sticks (FL) – P DEN Mike Hodge – C SFW Ethan McCullar – 1B PIT Danny Santillano – 2B RIC Ben Freeman – 3B PIT Omar Lastrade – SS SAL Jose Castro – LF CIN Ken Gibbs – CF SAC Mark Vermillion – RF DEN Kyle Beard
Platinum Sticks (CL) – P TIJ Jimmy Driver – C CHA Ernesto Huichapa – 1B OCT Danny Cruz – 2B IND Dan Schneller – 3B TIJ Shane Sanks – SS POR Alberto Ramos – LF OCT Luis Sagredo – CF POR Justin Fowler – RF ATL Roy Pincus
Gold Gloves (FL) – P SAL Brandon Nickerson – C WAS Nate Evans – 1B CIN Chris Delagrange – 2B DEN Wayne Morris – 3B CIN Kyle Lusk – SS SAL Jose Castro – LF PIT Ozzie Burgos – CF SAC Mark Vermillion – RF DEN Kyle Beard
Gold Gloves (CL) – P MIL William Stockwell – C CHA Ernesto Huichapa – 1B LVA Jesse Stedham – 2B TIJ Jason Bensinger – 3B BOS Antonio Gil – SS IND Juan Benito – LF ATL Luis Inoa – CF MIL Tyler Prestwood – RF BOS Moises Avila

Two Platinum Sticks is better than nothing, they say where I come from. And, “if you steal my chicken, I will shoot you in the face”.

Berto previously won Sticks in 2030 and 2031, then while pushing an .800 OPS. It’s weird seeing him win with a .283/.380/.332 slash. Fowler won his fourth Stick, taking one in every year Ramos won one, plus 2032, all of those in the FL for the Pacifics.

Of course none of this can overcome the stomach bleed I have from the skunk weasel taking his fifth POTY award.

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*in 2035. All others were after the free agency filing date and thus show career stats.