[Westheim]

November 16 – The Raccoons trade LF/CF/1B Mal Phinazee (.234, 72 HR, 317 RBI) back to the Thunder for 1B/RF/LF/2B Pat Gurney (.280, 61 HR, 288 RBI).
November 16 – The Crusaders trade 27-year-old 1B Dan Riley (.271, 73 HR, 265 RBI) to the Bayhawks for 31-yr old SP Garrett Sutherland (49-43, 3.63 ERA), a prospect, and $1.52M in cash.
November 18 – The Indians pick up right-handed swingman Justin Johns (16-29, 5.25 ERA, 6 SV) from the Capitals, parting with a prospect.
November 19 – Sacramento picks up 3B/SS Joe Lockwood (.271, 14 HR, 102 RBI) from the Capitals in a trade for LF/RF Pat Stipp (.135, 1 HR, 4 RBI).
November 23 – The Warriors splash big with the addition of ex-DAL/TIJ 2B Hugo Acosta (.345, 25 HR, 743 RBI), who signs a 6-yr, $21.84M contract.
November 23 – The Gold Sox add 39-year-old veteran closer Yeom Soung (44-44, 2.72 ERA, 259 SV) on a 2-yr, $4.88M deal. Soung was with the Warriors for the last three years.
November 26 – Former Canadiens 2B Dan Schneller (.293, 288 HR, 1,182 RBI) signs a 2-yr, $8.08M contract with the Miners. The 37-year-old had spent four-and-a-half seasons in Vancouver.
November 27 – The Pacifics’ former closer, 28-year-old John Steuer (33-41, 3.62 ERA, 162 SV), signs a 2-yr, $2.44M deal with the Crusaders.
November 28 – The Miners also snatch up ex-ATL SP Jerry Banda (131-105, 3.60 ERA), who signs a 2-yr, $8.8M contract.
November 28 – The Loggers trade OF Adam Borchard (.288, 3 HR, 53 RBI) to the Knights for a prospect.
November 29 – The Aces receive right-hander Andy Pedraza (6-15, 5.81 ERA, 22 SV) from the Condors for MR Pedro Quinonez (0-0, 0.00 ERA in 6 games) and a prospect.
November 30 – Sioux Falls adds ex-VAN C/1B Timóteo Clemente (.265, 128 HR, 585 RBI). The 34-year-old signed a 4-yr, $7.58M contract.
November 30 – The Loggers spend $2.7M over three years on right-handed MR Tim Hale (65-68, 4.01 ERA, 20 SV).
December 1 – Rule 5 Draft: 12 players are taken across two rounds. The Raccoons are not affected.

+++

Divesting ourselves of Mal Phinazee was almost disturbingly easy – the Thunder took him right back after sending him to Portland in the summer, then for a prospect. It was actually the third time the Thunder spun a trade involving Phinazee in this calendar year after picking him up from the Condors in February.

Not that Phinazee had been horrendous – after a slow start he had come around late and he had been clutch in October when he came off the bench – but he wasn’t what the Raccoons were looking for at this stage. The Raccoons were looking for a left-handed batting first baseman to sprinkle in to spot Maldonado and/or Toohey, and Gurney was exactly that. He had arrived in Oklahoma mid-season after years with the Aces. He had a bit of power, hitting 19 bombs, a career-high, in 2044, and he had pretty appealing OPS values as a whole. He also didn’t come with $5M+ in future salaries attached – he had not outgrown arbitration yet and thus wouldn’t eat up budget space by default later on. For mainly a first baseman he was lightning quick, too, stealing 18 bases in ’44, also a career-high. Overall he had batted .283/.344/.450 for Vegas and Oklahoma.

His main counterpart at first base would be Maldonado and not Toohey as previously thought. We had come up with a new scout in Pat Degenhardt, who had been the head scout in New York for a couple of years before house was cleaned there after last season. Degenhardt had written some nasty reports on our infielders once he had arrived, including Toohey, and was not too thrilled of the idea of him as a regular first baseman. No such concerns were raised about Maldonado, and thus Maldo was penciled in at first base going forward, with Toohey remaining in right.

Elsewhere the damn Elks had three type A free agents, but signed one of them (Sebastien Parham) back themselves. Dan Schneller was picked up by Pittsburgh for a second-round pick, while the Warriors hauled in Timóteo Clemente.

Other Critters with new jobs? So far only Alex Ramirez, who signed a 2-yr, $664k deal with the Cyclones;