[Westheim]

2048 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set in parenthesis shows 2047 stats, second set career stats; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Jason Wheatley, 27, B:R, T:R (13-8, 2.82 ERA | 68-42, 3.26 ERA) – 2045 Pitcher of the Year! Wheats roared from #5 starter in April of 2045 to the highest honor the CL had to dole out to pitchers (at least regularly), doing it with a perfectly balanced approach, keeping things on the ground and walks to a minimum (2.3 BB/9 last season). He has five pitches, some very good, and sort of broke the old Opening Day Curse in 2047; while his record regressed, and his K/9 went down a bit, his ERA improved and I felt no need to go after him verbally or with a bat.
SP Victor Merino, 26, B:L, T:L (14-10, 3.34 ERA | 44-26, 3.04 ERA) – lefty groundballer, and very much more of a control pitcher, lacking the big stuff for high strikeout totals, but at least that mixes well with the Raccoons’ plus infield defense. Actually stayed in one piece in 2047 after going down to late injuries the prior two seasons. In a perfect world, he’d squeeze the walks and/or homers down a bit, but it’s not like he’s not a perfectly good option for the top half of a rotation.
SP Jake Jackson, 35, B:R, T:R (12-4, 3.01 ERA | 107-101, 3.65 ERA) – groundballer with three good pitches, including a 95mph fastball, who keeps having injury issues big and small now, but is also in the final year of a contract signed before the current dynasty came together.
SP Sadaharu Okuda, 32, B:L, T:L (14-8, 2.91 ERA | 49-39, 3.65 ERA) – Japanese import signed on the cheap before 2044 and throwing three pitches, including a 92mph fastball and a neat curve. He can be really on and he can be really off, and sometimes be alternatingly one or the other from start to start. Very good control, but he is routinely near the top in home runs allowed, and not just because he likes to pitch deep into games.
SP Jeremy Baker, 26, B:L, T:L (4-4, 3.32 ERA | 4-4, 3.41 ERA) – the groundballer with a rather pedestrian pitch arsenal filled in respectably for Bubba Wolinsky in the second half of last year, and will be expected to do so again for the first half of this season at least.

MR Joy-shan Kuo *, 28, B:R, T:L (5-5, 2.14 ERA, 16 SV | 5-5, 2.14 ERA, 16 SV) – acquired from the Miners, Kuo will be on his third ABL team in 12 months after signing with the Scorpions out of Taiwan before the 2047 season. Devastating changeup and a fastball with natural sink generate lots of weak contact … if he finds the zone.
MR Jake Bonnie, 33, B:L, T:L (3-0, 3.95 ERA, 2 SV | 43-49, 3.70 ERA, 86 SV) – groundballer had a horrendous first half in his first year with the Critters, and even though he recovered a bit in the second half, he still ended up with 6.8 BB/9 for the full year. Is paid princely for that kind of output and will surely not return after this season…
MR Kevin Hitchcock, 25, B:R, T:R (1-1, 4.08 ERA | 1-2, 3.69 ERA) – the German right-hander saw a brief cup of coffee with the 2046 Raccoons, then became an injury replacement for Bob Ibold last year, holding the spot down well enough. Might be used as the long relief option where necessary.
MR Bob Ibold, 27, B:L, T:R (4-0, 3.86 ERA, 2 SV | 14-2, 3.78 ERA, 5 SV) – very competent young right-hander that was cooked for dinner in his 2043 cup of coffee, but was only 22 then. 93mph heater, curve, and some natural sink to that fastball that keeps the infielders busy; could also be a spot starter with a crummy changeup to at least keep it interesting for the hitters (and he made three starts in AAA as recently as ‘45).
MR Preston Porter, 26, B:R, T:R (5-3, 2.29 ERA, 3 SV | 13-6, 2.58 ERA, 3 SV) – keeps it on the ground and has a very nice curve; also exceptional control – he walked *three* batters in 28.2 innings in the majors in ’44, and while that number went up to a more reasonable 2.0/9 or so ever since, he doesn’t unnecessarily create a traffic jam on the basepaths, which we much appreciate.
SU Nelson Moreno, 29, B:R, T:R (5-3, 2.82 ERA, 6 SV | 47-43, 3.75 ERA, 17 SV) – that starting thing never worked out for Nelson Moreno, but in his fourth full season as a setup reliever he continued to be sturdy and to quell threat after threat. An alternative to Mike Lynn in the ninth inning for sure, depending on how the opposing batting order lines up for them.
CL Mike Lynn, 30, B:L, T:L (5-2, 1.54 ERA, 44 SV | 28-23, 2.62 ERA, 117 SV) – this time, he signed that longer deal with the Raccoons (and it ended up being expensive), but leading the league in saves always leaves the closer in the driver’s seat for those negotiations… Has four straight years of whiffing 10+ per nine innings, and while he has occasional wildness, it was not bad enough to make us regret the trade.

C/1B Ruben Gonzalez, 26, B:R, T:R (.282, 11 HR, 47 RBI | .257, 20 HR, 85 RBI) – pretty good defense and a fine throwing arm, and he hit for a .781 OPS and stole MVP honors in the World Series in his first full season in the majors. He improved more or less for an .802 OPS and CLCS MVP honors in ’47, and this year will be the no-doubt first-string catcher for the first time, the timeshare arrangement with Tony Morales being terminated by granting Morales free agency. Amazing what you can get for $18k in the July IFA slave boy market …!
C Kevin Prow *, 31, B:R, T:R (.277, 1 HR, 11 RBI | .283, 27 HR, 194 RBI) – acquired from the Rebels, Prow brings a lot of experience of being a backup catcher, and he is also without complaints when it comes to his work with the pitchers and his throwing arm. Good guy to have!

RF/LF/1B Bryce Toohey, 32, B:R, T:R (.279, 24 HR, 91 RBI | .272, 155 HR, 567 RBI) – decent defense at multiple corner positions, and a massive power stroke that can conquer any fence in the league. After winning a home run title in ’46, he unfortunately went down to injury late in ’47 and missed the playoffs, but there is no reason to expect him to having suffered permanent paw damage and he should continue to slug like before; 141 OPS+ last year, and 133 for his career.
SS/2B Matt Waters, 27, B:S, T:R (.265, 19 HR, 80 RBI | .250, 68 HR, 277 RBI) – good defensive shortstop that that can both hit 20 homers and steal 20 (and probably 30 bases) in a season, but was moved to second base with the arrival of Alex Adame, and that is actually the position where he might end up winning a Gold Glove, too; kid can really do it all rather well, and his offensive numbers improve a bit every year. 92 career steals in 133 tries.
SS Alex Adame, 26, B:R, T:R (.320, 3 HR, 41 RBI | .282, 30 HR, 380 RBI) – twice a Gold Glover at short, Alex Adame was signed as free agent at the tender age of 25 last winter, having made his debut with the Crusaders at 18. He has a habit of alternating weak offensive seasons with pretty impressive runs at the .300 mark – for bookkeeping purposes: 2047 was the expected good year, and now we brace for a .187 campaign culminating in broken legs by mid-June…
1B/3B/RF/LF Jesus Maldonado, 34, B:R, T:R (.307, 24 HR, 90 RBI | .297, 167 HR, 873 RBI) – A World Series winner (three times!) and a World Series MVP (not in the same seasons, though), Maldo holds the biggest contract ever doled out by the team ($38.5M over 7 years, or roughly half the annual GDP of his home country of Venezuela). The contract has to turn sour yet, with him bagging the Platinum Stick at third base in both of his first two years as one of the league’s top earners, the first ones he actually won, because early in his career being able to play six positions kinda robbed him of the opportunity to win those awards. A Gold Glove is probably not in the cards anymore as his defense has entered the slow decline phase; for example, Pat Degenhardt no longer rates him at shortstop – only the corners left for Maldo.
1B/RF/2B/LF Pat Gurney, 30, B:L, T:R (.243, 7 HR, 38 RBI | .279, 90 HR, 426 RBI) – one of the best players in either league that does not have a starting spot in sight, Gurney is a surprisingly speedy corner guy that figures to get most of his playing time against right-handed pitching. Also has double-digit power when employed as a regular. Was tried some at third base during Maldonado absences at one point, but the reviews were stark. Might get more playing time at first, with Toohey moving to the corner outfield from time to time.
2B/3B/SS Al Martell, 32, B:L, T:R (.326, 4 HR, 27 RBI | .261, 59 HR, 422 RBI) – versatile infielder with solid defense and a lefty stick that was a Thunder regular at 21, then fell by the wayside by age 26. We picked him up for basically nothing prior to ’45 and have basically found a sometimes offensively potent, but always defensively reliable infielder. What more do you need?

LF/CF Derek Baskins, 32, B:L, T:R (.288, 1 HR, 28 RBI | .297, 56 HR, 547 RBI) – strong defender, quick enough to steal a few bases, and hit .300 quite a few times for the Buffos (in qualifying seasons) and Raccoons (not). Was the leadoff batter for a while, but ultimately doesn’t walk enough; and also isn’t around to play enough – injuries have reduced him to 104 games or less in three of his four seasons in Portland. How much he ultimately plays this year is complicated to gauge right now, but he’s in a weird non-platoon with Manny Fernandez (again) and Matt Watt for those corner outfield positions…
CF Armando Herrera, 34, B:R, T:R (.320, 3 HR, 47 RBI | .314, 29 HR, 685 RBI) – the Raccoons’ eye-wateringly expensive star acquisition from the 2044-45 offseason won eight Gold Gloves in nine seasons with the Wolves, and while he kept that string going in 2045, he didn’t win the award the last two seasons, and he’s also getting up there in age, which is a recurring topic on this team now... At least he keeps challenging for the batting title (he won one in the FL). Signed for three more years so we might want to look into giving him semi-regular off days to conserve his body.
LF/RF Manny Fernandez, 38, B:L, T:L (.237, 6 HR, 32 RBI | .280, 195 HR, 1,092 RBI) – former #5 pick and 2036 Player of the Year, and has won almost everything that there is to win in the ABL, Manny had a trying year in 2046, smitten with a terrible BABIP luck that never got better all year long. He did take the franchise RBI lead from Matt Nunley. The 2048 Manny, brought back on a cheap 1-year deal, is old, slow, and tired, regularly hurting, and likes to sleep a lot between eating these days. But he can still whack one if alert and drugged to the gills at the right time!
LF/CF/RF Matt Watt *, 29, B:S, T:R (.288, 3 HR, 52 RBI | .253, 5 HR, 133 RBI) – acquired from the Aces on the cheap, Watt *could* be a leadoff hitter with his career .384 OBP (.419 in ’47) if only the Raccoons could accept that he’s slow, not a base stealer, and that it will be fine anyway. Not sure whether we’re at that point, emotionally, however.
RF/LF/CF Gene Pellicano, 28, B:R, T:R (.287, 5 HR, 37 RBI | .283, 16 HR, 96 RBI) – good defensive outfielder that has mostly been used against left-handed pitching for his career, and is probably not a 115 OPS+ for his career after all. Interesting bit player, though.

On disabled list:
SP Bubba Wolinsky, 25, B:L, T:L (12-3, 3.47 ERA | 19-7, 3.29 ERA) – the Coons’ #12 pick from 2041 swooped in when Ryan Person went down midway through the 2046 season and pitched extremely respectably, although the walks were quite up there. In 2047, first the walks went down, and then the whole Wolinsky went down with a torn rotator cuff that will keep him off the mound until at least June.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement:
MR Adam Bates, 25, B:R, T:R (0-1, 6.00 ERA | 0-1, 6.00 ERA) – optioned to AAA; righty groundballer with two pitches that saw some late action last year and walked nine batters in 12 innings. Best classified as “depth”.
C Jimmy Dalton, 31, B:R, T:R (.214, 0 HR, 2 RBI | .225, 8 HR, 75 RBI) – waived and DFA’ed; signed as third-string catcher on the cheap two years ago, Dalton got into eight games each in the last two regular seasons, and into one CLCS game against the Thunder. Doesn’t hit a lot, runs like a catcher…
3B Ben Coen, 27, B:R, T:R (.286, 1 HR, 10 RBI | .257, 4 HR, 24 RBI) – optioned to AAA; good defensive third baseman with a decent contact stick that would be a starter on a non-dynasty team, maybe, but with the Raccoons only gets injury replacement playing time.
LF/RF Roberto Medina, 26, B:S, T:R (.226, 2 HR, 14 RBI | .226, 2 HR, 14 RBI) – optioned to AAA; speedy corner outfielder that can't really hit a lot, but somehow spent half of a season rotting at the far end of the bench to the tune of 112 plate appearances because of the constant injuries.

Everybody not mentioned by now has already been waived, reassigned, or turned into a roast during the offseason.

OPENING DAY LINEUP:

We will try Adame as the leadoff man to begin the season; there is surprisingly little lefty action going on in the lineup against righty pitchers, but then again, that middle of the order has shown that they can hurt everybody, left-handers, right-handers, and even the amphibious pitchers that throw from both sides!

Vs. RHP: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – RF Fernandez – C Gonzalez – LF Baskins – P
(Vs. LHP: SS Adame – CF Herrera – 3B Maldonado – 1B Toohey – 2B Waters – C Gonzalez – RF Pellicano – LF Watt – P)

How much playing time Manny Fernandez ultimately gets will be probably determined by his body. Watt is certainly an option to be in the lineup against anybody, and will need to get semi-regular starts for sure in April to see whether he might be an option at the top of the order.

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

Four years, four pennants, three rings, and for only the second time in franchise history, 100+ wins! The Raccoons have been fairly steady (in a good way) recently, and the offseason was clearly under that banner. We kept together what had worked well, and made punctual improvements were necessary.

Of course, the Roman Empire stagnated before its downfall, too. In fact, we are so much stuck in the ruts driven in the path now that this is basically the same text as last year…

Our sort of lame offseason netted us -1.5 WAR according to BNN, 14th in the rankings.

Top 5: Thunder (+9.4), Rebels (+8.4), Indians (+7.2), Stars (+6.4), Warriors (+3.4)
Bottom 5: Knights (-4.8), Scorpions (-6.9), Condors (-8.4), Canadiens (-8.6), Aces (-8.9)

The other CL North teams (who were so far away that one offseason can impossibly fix them), are ranked 7th (BOS, +2.2), 17th (MIL, -3.1), and 18th (NYC, -3.8).

PREDICTION TIME:

The team is great! … was great, for the last few years at least.

Age has been mentioned a few times above, and it is true that with the exception of Waters, all our key batters are (well) over 30. In fact, half the team (12) is 30+, and only five players are under 27, and only Hitchcock is still 25 (not including Wolinsky, who will be 25 until early August)

The pitching staff as a whole remains rather juicy with a good mix in ages, but the hitting corps for sure has some scuff marks all over. Of course, once the Maldos and Herreras no longer produce, they will drag the team down like a rock tied around the neck – those are immovable contracts, and the Raccoons can find the 2029-32 phase of the most recent demi-dynasty (only two rings! Suckers!) at any time now.

But I think there’s at least another division title in the boys, and the Thunder are apparently unable to withstand our fuzzy charm in the CLCS, so there’s that!

The Raccoons will continue to struggle with old-man injuries, but will win another 96 games and hold off the Indians once more. And everything can happen in October!

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Although we have made no efforts to bring in fresh talent in trades, with the exception of 3B Ed Crispin, who is not ranked, our standing in the farm rankings improved a bit from 16th to 9th this year, which is mainly down to a very expensive July IFA addition. So, that makes for only two years in the bottom half of the table after being ranked top 3 from 2039 through 2045.

We had a total of ten ranked prospects last year, that number going up to eleven this time. We had three top 100 prospects, but that number also goes up to four this year.

4th (new) – A SP Rafael de la Cruz, 17 – 2047 international free agent signed by Raccoons
51st (-10) – AAA SP Victor Salcido, 22 – 2042 international free agent signed by Raccoons
57th (0) – AA CL Polibio O’Higgins, 21 – 2043 international free agent signed by Raccoons
59th (+49) – AA SP Brett Lillis jr., 22 – 2044 first-round pick by Raccoons

118th (+12) – AA 1B/LF/RF Alan Puckeridge, 20 – 2044 international free agent signed by Raccoons
125th (new) – AA SS/3B Lorenzo Lavorano, 20 – 2043 scouting discovery by Raccoons
142nd (new) – AAA MR Adam Bates, 25 – 2041 supplemental-round pick by Raccoons
151st (new) – AA MR Mike Snyder, 21 – 2047 first-round pick by Raccoons
170th (new) – A 3B/2B Joe Boese, 19 – 2047 fourth-round pick by Raccoons
179th (new) – A RF/LF/1B Adam Samples, 19 – 2046 first-round pick by Raccoons
191st (-18) – A C Dario Medina, 21 – 2043 international free agent signed by Raccoons

Not all the ranked prospects from last year made it to the new list. SP Alejandro Gutierrez crashed from #37 to nothing after a horrendous year in Aumsville (5.61 ERA). #148 Carlton Harman and #186 Jeremy Baker exceeded rookie limits (and the former then was traded). #154 3B Seth Lyon remains stuck in AA and is no longer ranked. And #123 C Matt Hardy was granted free agency, signed with the Falcons as AAA depth, and is no longer ranked either.

Finally, the top 10 overall prospects this year are:

1st (new) – SAL A SP Blake Sparks, 20
2nd (-1) – TIJ AA LF/RF Tim Duncan, 21
3rd (+19) – PIT AAA INF Victor Corrales, 21
4th (new) – POR A SP Rafael de la Cruz, 17
5th (-3) – WAS ML SP Cory Ellis, 22

6th (new) – WAS AA SP Kennedy Adkins, 23
7th (+38) – DEN AA RF Oscar Rivera, 22
8th (+20) – SFW AAA SS Carmem Barrento, 22
9th (new) – LVA AA 1B/RF/LF Aubrey Austin, 22
10th (-7) – MIL AAA SP Angelo Munoz, 21

Only the top three from last years 10 highest-ranked prospects return to this year’s top 10, and all of them dropped; of the four new additions, three were signed in the 2047 draft, and one (de la Cruz) as international free agents, while the three risers from outside the top 10 are all scouting discoveries from 2043 or even earlier, with Barrento having been signed by the Gold Sox and traded to the Warriors.

Of the seven players shed from last year’s top 10, quite a few did so by establishing themselves in the majors, two of them taking the two ROTY crowns in 2047: #4 Bobby Anderson won Rookie of the Year honors in the CL with the Indians, hitting .262 with nine homers in 112 games, while the FL title went to #5 Brett Banks on the Buffaloes, hitting .300 with 27 homers.

Former #7 prospect Oscar Juarez made 24 appearances for the Scorpions last year, mostly out of the bullpen, to lose eligibility. Ex-#10 OF Danny Ramirez has yet to appear in a major league game, but made the Warriors 2048 Opening Day roster after sliding to #29 in the prospect rankings. The same is the case for the Condors’ 3B Reed Ottinger, who was the #8 prospect, and now has been pegged to skip AAA entirely. He is ranked #13 this year.

Downwards it also went for Denver’s SP James Powell, sliding from #9 to #30 after missing half the season with an injury and remaining in AA ball. Injury time also dropped L.A. pitching prospect Jim Reynolds, from #6 to #17; he had Tommy John surgery in mid-2046 and missed the first half of 2047 as a result, although he was very impressive in AA on his return.

Next: first pitch.