Portland Raccoons (ABL)

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Westheim

I have put the tickets for the best seats in the house into the mail now, they should arrive at all dear followers in time for game 3.

I will be checking my mailbox daily. Good luck!

[Westheim]

1993 WORLD SERIES
Portland Raccoons (91-71) @ Washington Capitals (100-62)

Game 1 – Raimundo Beato (11-8, 2.80 ERA) vs. Ramón Ortíz (21-5, 3.16 ERA)

Look at the difference in record and ERA with those two guys. I will say no more.

Ortíz is a left-hander, but with Higgins gone and O’Morrissey needed elsewhere in the lineup, I led off with left-handed Salazar. Then Quinn, Hall, O-Mo, Lopez (who will start all games in center), Baldivía, Allen, and Vinson. Expect only minor variations of this against right-handers.

After the Raccoons put on their first two men in the game, and stranded them, Beato took the ball. The next 41 pitches were the longest inning any Raccoons fan had ever witnessed, it seemed, as he surrendered two hits and three walks for three runs in the first inning. “Pooky” sucked, badly.

Beato loaded the bases in the bottom 2nd with two out, but catcher Gabriel Rivera flew out to right to end that inning, but that didn’t make the pain stop. One on, two out, Beato faced Ortíz in the bottom 3rd, and Ortíz doubled in the runner, ending Beato’s day.

Scott Wade came in. I wouldn’t get a winner, but I needed somebody to get me through the game, as there were still 5.1 innings to pitch. Plus, Wade had the prospect of pitching game 5. If there was one. Beato would NOT pitch there.

Then came the top 4th. The Raccoons loaded the bags with two out, only for Wade to be next to bat. Removing him after retiring one batter would kill my bullpen for game 2, where Saito would almost certainly need a backup, having the season he was having. Wade batted, and struck out.

Mark Allen scored O-Mo in the sixth with a 2-out RBI single, but apart from that Ortíz was having his way with the Furballs, striking out seven until the top 7th, where we actually managed, in a 4-1 game, to get the tying run to the plate. Wade had led off the inning with a double, and Quinn singled with one out, bringing up Hall, who had looked very bad against Ortíz so far. Ortíz struck out Hall again, and then came Chris Nelson, a former Raccoon, to relieve him, and struck out O-Mo.

The Capitals were less choosy about where to score, and burned up Scott Wade in the seventh, where they tacked on four runs against him and Tony Vela.

The game was basically over right there. We scored a balk-assisted run in the eighth, that was it. This one had not even been close.

Capitals 8, Raccoons 2; Quinn 3-5; Baldivia 3-4; Allen 2-3, BB, RBI;

Game 2 – Kisho Saito (10-15, 4.07 ERA) vs. Archie Dye (16-10, 3.06 ERA)

Game 2 started like game 1, with the Raccoons leaving two on in the first inning. The Capitals also took a lead early, but not as decisive as in the series opener. They scored an unearned run in the second inning after a throw from Daniel Hall to the plate was considerably wide, but the runner tagging from third might have scored anyway.

The Raccoons had nothing going offensively, while Dale Cleveland drove in a run with a 2-out double in the bottom 3rd to make it 2-0 Capitals. In double plays hit into, however, it was 2-0 Coons.

Baldivía then led off the fifth inning with a triple to right. Well, that was a neat chance to score, and very hard to hit into a double play in this situation (although I trusted Mark Allen he had the abilities, but, please, don’t…!). Allen would score Baldivía with a sac fly, but that was it for the inning, again, 2-1.

Salazar singled to start the top 6th. That was the fifth time in the game our leadoff man was on base. Quinn made an out and we were hard on the road to not scoring again, until Alejandro Lopez got 100% contact on an 0-2 pitch from Dye and crushed it out of the park. The game had just swung around, we led 3-2.

Well, we led for like two minutes. Cleveland tripled leading off the bottom 6th and was instantly scored.

When Vinson doubled with two down in the top 7th, that ended the day for both starters. Nelson replaced Dye in anticipation of the lefty Saito (and behind him Salazar) batting, but I removed Saito for Glenn Adams. What was golden opportunity to take another lead, became a groundout to short.

The bullpens neutralized each other during the rest of regulation, negating a stupid error by fielders on either side (Allen made the Coons’, dropping a mile high popup), and the game went to extra innings. Juan Martinez got the final out in the ninth, but then felt uncomfortable and left the game instead of pitching the 10th, as intended.

Two out in the top 10th, Salazar on first, Bobby Quinn batted and looped into center. CF Diego Rodriguez misplayed the ball, and it dropped in for a double, but Salazar had not anticipated such a mistake and had not been going full speed from first, and thus couldn’t score. Lopez had to drive him in against closer Domingo Rivera. He shot a double past Cleveland and Rodriguez into the gap in right center, and both runs scored.

Lagarde had already warmed up, not anticipating us holding a lead out of the top 10th, and started pitching in the bottom of the inning. *

He struck out Gabriel Rivera and went from there, registering two fly outs of middling difficulty for the defense to catch. The Raccoons tied it up.

Raccoons 5, Capitals 3 (10) (series tied 1-1); Salazar 2-4; A. Lopez 3-4, BB, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Miller 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; Burnett 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

Homewards!

---

*Actually, I inserted Lagarde as replacement for the injured Martinez to go as long as he could, and you can not replace a pitcher that has not tossed to a batter. Time to revise the game in such way that you only have to nominate a new pitcher once your team actually has to pitch! Also, Lagarde was credited with the win, when actually Martinez logged the last out in the ninth, before the team took a lead.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Time to revise the game in such way that you only have to nominate a new pitcher once your team actually has to pitch!

I agree!

[Westheim]

It could have been much worse. As we flew home, medical staff told me that Juan Martinez was not seriously injured. He had a sore back and was DTD for a few days. However, the pain he suffered in certain motions was about prohibiting him from a proper windup, so he would not see action in the home part of the series, unless our team was out of arms in a 22nd inning.

1993 WORLD SERIES
Portland Raccoons (91-71) vs. Washington Capitals (100-62)

Game 3 – Miguel Lopez (17-8, 2.81 ERA) vs. Parker Montgomery (12-13, 3.77 ERA)

I had Moreno play second base in this game. At least on defense he is an upgrade on Allen, who has nothing but disappointed for 11/12 of the year.

The Capitals knocked Lopez early, for two runs in the first inning. He looked about as bad as Beato in the series opener, and that was not a promising sign.

A hit batter and doubles by Cleveland, Freddy Gonzalez and Marc Shaw plated two more runs for the Capitals in the third inning. At this point, Montgomery was tossing a no-hitter.

While Montgomery’s bid ended on time, Lopez’ start did so, too. Jeffery Brown homered to make it 5-0 in the fourth, and that meant bed time for our youngster. Too bad that I was running out of starters to use. We had the bases loaded in the bottom 4th, with no outs, and PROMPTLY grounded into a double play. This time Hall was the culprit.

You can’t go anywhere like that. Tony Vela was not pitching any better than Lopez, aborting a long relief attempt when he put two in scoring position with nobody out in the sixth. Daniel Miller came in and was lucky enough to surrender three men without the runners scoring, but that would not earn him a place in history in a game his team was losing 6-2.

Hall and Vinson would hit into killing double plays in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, as the Raccoons were losing this one by a mile. Again. They didn’t even get on base in the eighth, and were left to a Hall single in the ninth.

Capitals 7, Raccoons 2 (Capitals lead 2-1); Moreno 2-2, BB; Miller 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K;

Again, not even close. We were out-hit 15-7, which will give you results like these. We were not stinking up to these Capitals, who were well on the road to become the first team with three titles (in four years to make it more impressive) after almost leaving town in the early and mid-80s.

Game 4 – Jason Turner (10-13, 3.16 ERA) vs. Ramón Ortíz

In a way, this was a must-win game. We were looking at either Beato or Wade to start game 5, and neither had been anything but horrible these playoffs. So, how did Turner plan to defeat Ortíz? Well, I don’t know.

Moreno remained in, Kinnear batted third and played instead of Hall, who was one-for-a-zillion in the World Series after striking the Condors with fear a week ago.

Ortíz struck out the first three Coons that dared to encroach the plate, and would be perfect the first time through the lineup. Turner didn’t exactly match him, but held the Capitals to two hits and no runs through the first three frames.

Salazar ended Ortíz’ blossoming bid with a hard liner into center for a leadoff single in the fourth. Quinn followed that with a single to right and Salazar went to third. Prime chance to score! Baldivía made a poor out, and O’Morrissey hit into a groundout, but Salazar scored for a 1-0 score. Lopez came up next and blasted a shot to dead center. HOME RUN!!

Up 3-0, it was Turner’s to lose.

Top 5th: Yoshihito Ito doubled to right and went to third base on a wild pitch. Fred Rodgers lined out to Kinnear, and Ito scored. Then, Turner walked Shaw. Ortíz bunted him over before Rodriguez flew out, but Turner was clearly showing chinks in the armor. Wait, it’s Turner – which armor??

No, Turner wouldn’t make it. The first two men in the sixth got on and the ship was clearly sinking. Jackie Lagarde came in with a bucket to get the water out. He struck out Cleveland and Rivera, but a 2-2 grounder by Ito got through Moreno and one run scored. We held a 3-2 lead.

I needed another inning from Lagarde, unfortunately, with one man missing from the bullpen. He mastered that task, too.

Some more offense would have been nice, so far we had been held to three hits. We got two men on in the bottom 7th with a Moreno single and Vinson getting brushed by Chris Nelson, but Hall, hitting for Lagarde, whiffed, and the inning was over.

Burnett was tasked with the top 8th – and failed. Brown got on, and Cleveland doubled. While Brown was thrown out at home, Cleveland moved to third, and then scored on a single by Ito. The game was tied, and the fans were falling silent, but when Grant West pitched a scoreless top 9th, there was still a chance to walk off.

But Rivera sat down the Coons in order, and we went to overtime again. West put two men on with singles in the top 10th, but nobody scored. Rivera also remained in the game. Kinnear walked, Vinson whiffed, before Allen singled in place of West. 180 feet to make up with one out.

Salazar struck out. Two out. Bobby Quinn came up, not matching up well with the righty Rivera, but here we go. Quinn looped into shallow right, and Kinnear kicked into highest gear from second base, turned third base like it’s in the book and sprinted home – and was safe. Walkoff!

Raccoons 4, Capitals 3 (10) (series tied 2-2); Quinn 2-5, RBI; Allen (PH) 1-1; Lagarde 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K; West 2.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, W (1-0);

We were out-hit 13-6 in this one, so there was little doubt as to which team would have deserved to sweep their opponent at this point.

Game 5 – Scott Wade vs. Carlos Reyes (5-7, 3.59 ERA)

Wade got the start over Beato, as we faced ex-Coon Carlos Reyes, who had made only 20 starts this season due to being the #5 guy and a couple of minor ailments.

I slid Hall and Allen back into the lineup for this game. I had doubts on both moves, but… yeah. This would be Daniel Hall’s final home game. How about a walkoff grand slam with two outs in the ninth? That’d be swell.

The Capitals got going early with a run in the first inning against Wade. They did not stop there. The top 2nd marked the end for Scott Wade, as the Capitals reeled off a barrage that wanted to be matched by any team. Two doubles got past Lopez in center, but Wade was to blame for the most part. Now, in a 4-0 game, Beato came in.

Even against a middling pitcher like Reyes, that was hard to make up in the World Series. Down 4-0, you had to get going, really hard. The Raccoons were 1-hit through three innings.

Actually, they didn’t get anybody on again until Daniel Hall walked in the fifth. Nobody out, a home run or so would be nice. Baldivía singled, which was not bad for starters. Then they made three outs without even being close to scoring a run.

Four innings to go, four runs down. Something about that situation was bound to change, and it was not the innings remaining, as Beato surrendered two more runs in the top 6th. When Salazar got on to start the bottom of the inning, and Lopez doubled to put two runs in scoring position with one out.

That brought up O-Mo, who was batting .200 in the playoffs. He was not cleaning up too well. Here, he faced Reyes with two in scoring position and one out, and his team six runs down in game 5 of the World Series. Bloody hell, get them runners home!

He struck out. Daniel Hall grounded out, no happy end here, either. And when Baldivía got on in the seventh, Allen double played us out of there.

The Capitals didn’t stop. Proctor was blown up in the eighth, Cleveland homered off Miller in the ninth. Everything the Raccoons managed to do was another double play in the ninth.

Capitals 10, Raccoons 0 (Capitals lead 3-2); A. Lopez 2-4, 2 2B; Baldivía 2-4; Kinnear (PH) 1-1;

Oh well. That will probably not work out the way Coon City would have liked.

[Westheim]

1993 WORLD SERIES
Portland Raccoons (91-71) @ Washington Capitals (100-62)

Game 6 – Kisho Saito vs. Archie Dye

Kisho Saito had to ace us into a hypothetical game 7. Well, scoring a run would not be bad, either. Maybe two.

Hall played in left, despite Dye being a right-hander. Kinnear was batting even less than him in the World Series. Moreno was back at second base. Hall even batted cleanup. O-Mo was fifth in the lineup. For the heck of it. We could not do much more.

Continuity was the one thing the Raccoons managed to do best. When they lost, they lost for years on end. When they won, they did that for years. When they grounded into double plays….. Baldivía ended the top 2nd that way.

Saito pitched two good innings, before it went to hell in the third inning. Shimpei Iwamoto drew a leadoff walk, before Marc Shaw sent a 1-2 pitch into center, just under Moreno’s glove. Dye laid down a bunt that O’Morrissey misfielded and everybody was safe. Diego Rodriguez hit a sac fly, before Saito punched out Ito. Then Marc Shaw grounded past Salazar – another grounder missed by inches. Three of those in one inning combined for two runs Saito could not afford to give up.

Two out in the fourth, Lopez doubled his way on, but Hall struck out. O-Mo drew a leadoff walk in the fifth, bringing the tying run to the plate again. Baldivía grounded into ANOTHER double play, which made like four in this World Series for him. And THEN came Moreno, and homered to right.

There is only so much facepalming one can do during one game. It was not enough.

Saito walked the edge of annihilation, 2-1 behind, loading the bags with one out in the bottom 5th, before he somehow got out due to Jeffery Brown grounding into a force at home masterfully played by Saito himself. Cleveland then grounded to Moreno for the final out.

Top 6th, another chance to kill Dye. Salazar walked with one out, then Quinn doubled. The go-ahead runs were in scoring position for Lopez and Hall. Lopez struck out, and Hall grounded the first pitch from Dye up the middle, where Ito made a masterful play to nab him at first base. Inning over again. Instead, the Capitals hit three singles off Saito in the bottom of the inning to get their insurance run back.

Desperation grew. In the top 7th, O-Mo was on first with two down. Vinson was up, but batting .150 in the playoffs. Adams came out to pinch-hit for him, and would then replace Baldivía in the field. Adams flew deep to left, but into Freddy Gonzalez’ glove.

Saito put Ito and Cleveland on in the bottom 7th. With two out, Gonzalez came up. That was Saito’s last batter, already over 110 pitches. He went to 1-2 on Gonzalez, before Gonzalez made contact. A huge fly ball into the gap in left center. It falls in, it’s over. Hall was on the express train out there, launching – AND CAUGHT IT! The inning was over.

Two runs to make up in two innings. It was not over. Salazar took Dye deep with one out in the eighth! A home run cut the gap in half. More, boys! More! Quinn singled his way on. Still only one out, Dye still in the game. Lopez came up and struck out.

Daniel Hall to the plate. Two out. One on. This was the point to make history. He flew out to short center.

Lagarde held the Capitals at bay, bringing us to the top 9th still one run short. Domingo Rivera faced Ben O’Morrissey, Jose Rodriguez (who had to bat with Vinson used up) and Sixto Moreno (but Allen and Kinnear were available).

O’Morrissey singled to left on a 1-0 pitch. Then Rodriguez bunted foul twice, then turned an 0-2 count around to work a walk. Moreno struck out and Adams grounded out, moving up the runners. The pitcher’s spot was up, but Kinnear came out to pat. Vern Kinnear, who had enjoyed a terrible sophomore slump, against Domingo Rivera, 463 career saves including the playoffs. Rivera threw a ball. And the he threw a wild pitch. O-Mo scored. The game was tied. The park gasped.

Kinnear walked, and Rivera punched out Salazar, but the game was tied. Kinnear replaced Hall for defense, and Martinez came out to pitch and 1-2-3 sent the game to extras.

The Coons left Lopez on second base in the top 10th, but Martinez put two men on and managed to wiggle out of the bottom 10th. Ken Burnett pitched a 1-2-3 11th, then was hurt, back pain.*

Movement then in the top 12th, a leadoff double by Salazar off Jeff Hodge! A Quinn single put runners on the corners. Alejandro Lopez flew to left into an out, but deep enough for Salazar to tag and score. A lead!!

Daniel Miller was warmed up to pitch the bottom 12th but Grant West got ready in a hurry. Miller struck out the only left-hander in the Capitals lineup, Rivera. Maybe he could do this? Cleveland grounded out, two outs! Gonzalez singled his way on, bringing up shortstop Nuno Andresen. Grounder to Salazar, to first – OUT!!!

Raccoons 4, Capitals 3 (12) (series tied 3-3); Salazar 2-5, BB, HR, RBI; Quinn 3-6, 2B; Lopez 2-5, 2B, RBI; O’Morrissey 3-5; Moreno 2-5, HR, RBI; Martinez 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K;

---

*Same as game 2. I had to put Miller in, who was to bat fourth in the top 12th.

[Orcin]

Woohoo, a game 7!

[Westheim]

1993 WORLD SERIES
Portland Raccoons (91-71) @ Washington Capitals (100-62)

The Capitals had won games 1, 3, and 5 of the series in a landslide. The Raccoons had stuttered to wins in games 2, 4, and 6. All uneven numbered games had gone very badly. Here comes game 7.

Game 7 – Miguel Lopez vs. Ramón Ortíz

The Capitals sent their ace for the third time. All we could do was to count on him getting tired. Quickly so.

Salazar – Quinn – Baldivía – O’Morrissey – A. Lopez – Hall – Moreno – Vinson – M. Lopez. Music suggestion: “Rock N Roll Dreams Come Through”. Here we go.

Top 1st, Ortíz pitching, and he allowed a single to Salazar, then walked Quinn. Baldivía almost did his thing, but only forced Quinn at second. Ortíz hit O-Mo to load them up. Lopez whiffed, bringing up Hall, who had two strikes on him in a hurry. Then he made contact, and his flyer soared over Diego Rodriguez in center for a 2-run double. DAN THE MAN!!! Ortíz was shaken badly at this point already, and now faced Moreno. 0-2 count. Then a pretty fat pitch down the middle. Moreno didn’t miss it. In left field, Freddy Gonzalez only looked sadly as it went 20 feet over the wall. 5-0 Coons.

HERE WE GO!!!

The Raccoons almost upped the score in the third, but Vinson struck out to leave two men on. Ortíz was still yanked from the game after that inning and Alejandro Pena replaced him to go deep into the game after not pitching at all in the playoffs. He put two on in the fourth, but O-Mo left them on.

And how were the Capitals against Lopez? Opponents had scored more than five runs in only eight games that Miguel Lopez had started all year, but three of those had been in his last four starts and he had not survived the fifth inning in his last two starts. Tell me, Miguel. Are you a future ace of the Raccoons’ staff?

He certainly got off well. After minor hiccups in the first and fourth, he appeared to be in a stellar position, 3-hitting the opposition so far. He came up with two on and two out in the fifth, and popped out. That made for two left on in three consecutive innings. Miguel. Miguel, listen. Don’t let them come back.

The Coons couldn’t get to Pena, but we held a 5-0 lead. For how much more could you ask in game 7 of the World Series?

Perhaps for your pitcher not to fold in the sixth. Ito singled, Brown walked, Cleveland singled and scored Ito, with nobody out. The quick hook got Lopez and Miller came in to keep the damage low, but the runners were in scoring position after an ill-advised throw home by Hall.

To the home team fans’ agony, Miller struck out Gonzalez, then struck out Andresen. Iwamoto next, and we’re out of the inning with only one run in. 2-2 on Iwamoto, the catcher knocked the pitch back, a liner over Miller’s head, and Moreno launched AND CAUGHT IT!!! Inning over, stunning disbelief in the park!!!

5-1, and three frames left. Lefty Marc Shaw led off the seventh for the Capitals. Miller remained in. Burnett was ailing, and I didn’t trust Proctor. Miller struck him out and did the same to left-handed pinch-hitter Manny Espinosa, and while Miller yielded a 2-out single in the inning, he ended it in time.

Bottom 8th, Lagarde, and trouble. He walked Jeffery Brown, and then surrendered a 1-out double to Gonzalez. Our options were limited. He would pitch to Andresen. Vela and West, we didn’t have much more. Andresen doubled to deep left, and both runs scored.

Grant West was brought in. Plus Adams for defense at first. I needed five outs from the “Demon” with the tying run at the plate. Iwamoto singled up the middle, but Andresen held at third. Rivera came up and grounded to O’Morrissey. 5-4-3, out of the inning.

An insurance run would be welcome. Rivera, who had just made the catastrophic outs, put Adams on second base with a throwing error leading off the ninth. O-Mo was put on intentionally, and Lopez grounded out, moving up the runners.

Hall to the plate against Andres Otero. No, the Capitals didn’t take the risk, they put him on with the base open. Moreno came up and hit a sac fly to left. Vinson, having a horribly series. Liner to left, Gonzalez MISSES IT!!! TWO-RUN DOUBLE!!!

West grounded out, making it a 8-3 lead into the bottom 9th. His most horrible of outings ever would probably barely match that gap. First up was pinch-hitter Jim Thompson. First pitch, fly ball to right, Quinn – had it.

We flipped up to the top of the lineup and to Diego Rodriguez. 12-34 in the playoffs, he flew to center – Lopez had it! That brought up Yoshihito Ito to make – hopefully – the final out.

West’s first pitch was a bit wide, and Ito didn’t bite. He bit the second pitch and sent a flyer to shallow center. Quinn hustled in, had time, positioned himself, and made the catch.

THE RACCOONS ARE BACK-TO-BACK WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!!! I DON’T BELIEVE IT!!!!!! ROCK N ROLL DREAMS COME THROUGH!!!!

Raccoons 8, Capitals 3 (Raccoons win 4-3); Salazar 2-4, BB; Hall 1-2, 3 BB, 2B, 2 RBI; Moreno 3-4, HR, 2B, 4 RBI; Vinson 2-5, 2B, 2 RBI; M. Lopez 5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, W (1-1); Miller 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K; West 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, SV (1);

(sinks back and enjoys)

[Westheim]

Forgot this:

1993 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS
PORTLAND RACCOONS
2nd title

---

I actually got a 64 score for this season. You know what? I think the BBWAA is voting on these scores.

In future years, quite a lot of pain is going to come our way again. Here is how our minor league teams finished their seasons:

AAA St. Petersburg Alley Cats: 63-81
AA Ham Lake Panthers: 57-83
A Aumsville Beagles: 53-87

That’s serious trouble. We still have a number of players in the pipeline, but overall our system is getting dry. We may see the effect in the prospect list come spring, but of course I can do some wheeling and dealing before that.

To make things a little bit worse, we do not get a budget increase. It seems like just shy of $16.2M is as far as Carlos Valdes will go with this team. I hope he is not mad that we beat the Mexican team? Nah. However, the budget still ranks fifth behind the Condors, Capitals, Stars, and Rebels. The Loggers will actually spend this winter, increasing their budget to $11M (still second-to-last). The Crusaders remain at $9.5M.

However, salaries may create a problem. Neil Reece, who is arbitration eligible for this and two more years, is due a hefty raise. Several players take a step up in their contracts thanks to escalating agreements (Turner, O-Mo, f.e.) or due to new contracts (Burnett).

We have the following ten arbitration / free agency cases:

MR Albert Matthews (0-2, 5.13 ERA) – first time arbitration eligible
1B Glenn Adams (.252, 8 HR, 36 RBI) * – first time arbitration eligible
INF Matt Higgins (.291, 4 HR, 50 RBI) – last time arbitration eligible
INF Sixto Moreno (.295, 3 HR, 10 RBI)
OF Glenn Johnston (.196, 0 HR, 12 RBI) – last time arbitration eligible
CF/LF Neil Reece (.323, 18 HR, 94 RBI)

*Super 2 case

LF/RF Daniel Hall (.241, 6 HR, 34 RBI) – type A free agent
OF Bobby Quinn (.289, 3 HR, 36 RBI) – no compensation
OF Bob Arnold (.172, 0 HR, 0 RBI) – type A free agent
OF Alejandro Lopez (.272, 18 HR, 56 RBI) – type B free agent

First, how on earth is Arnold a type A free agent and Quinn not eligible!? Second, how am I going to decide whom to keep!?

Will be a very long winter.

October 4 – WAS OF/1B Jeffery Brown (.369, 25 HR, 87 RBI) and MIL RF/LF Cristo Ramirez (.382, 5 HR, 60 RBI) have won the batting titles in their respective leagues.
October 7 – MIL CL Raúl Perez (2-6, 5.00 ERA, 11 SV) is out for all of next season with a torn flexor tendon in his elbow. You don’t speak ill of the injured, but the Loggers can probably do better.
October 11 – WAS SP Ethan Thomas (14-10, 3.59 ERA) is done for the year with a torn rotator cuff.

[Questdog]

!!

Unbelievable comeback victory in the Series! This team had some heart after all!

How 'bout a Tetsu update? (for oldtimes sake).....

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Questdog

!!

Unbelievable comeback victory in the Series! This team had some heart after all!

How 'bout a Tetsu update? (for oldtimes sake).....

The team got stepped on the tails so often, after game 5 I was sure we were done. The team obviously has more heart than me.

Of course, the next goal is clear: become the first three-peat team.

Tetsu - after being traded on June 16 - was on the roster for the Pacifics all the way to the end of the season. He had 11 AB's. No hits. Four K's. They will pay $1M+ per year until 1996 for this. I still can not believe it.

[blazertaz13]

Congrats on the World Series win. Outside of game 7, I probably would have had a stroke managing out the other three Raccoon victories. A very exciting series. Now time for the AA meetings as I started drinking while watching Portland hang on. :-)

Now it is on to the Off Season.

[Orcin]

Congratulations! Back-to-back championships... hard for even you to complain about that.

I want to add that you write it very well. The suspense of this whole series was great. I felt like I was playing the games. Well done!

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by blazertaz13

Congrats on the World Series win. Outside of game 7, I probably would have had a stroke managing out the other three Raccoon victories. A very exciting series. Now time for the AA meetings as I started drinking while watching Portland hang on. :-)

To say that I came pretty close to drinking AND a stroke would be an understatement. This series was an emotional rollercoaster between weeping for mercy and grinding for a run in extra innings.

And to be fair, the Capitals defeated themselves. If that wild pitch doesn't score the tying run in game 6, we do not score and lose. So, there was a mountain of luck involved here.

I still can not believe it.

Originally Posted by Orcin

Congratulations! Back-to-back championships... hard for even you to complain about that.

I want to add that you write it very well. The suspense of this whole series was great. I felt like I was playing the games. Well done!

Thanks, I enjoy writing a ton. Glad you liked it. If I wouldn't enjoy messing with people just as much, I would do a dynasty just reporting what happened in a fictional league, without being actually involved.


---


The Portland Agitator ran our repeat World Championship on page 1 (including a giant blown up photo of Bobby Quinn making the final catch) as well as in the sports section on pages 28 and 29. It included the usual polemic bite for that paper, not missing a few shots at certain managerial decisions during the series, like who started which game, and who played left field at which point.

They had one point. I started Daniel Hall against right-handers, and Vern Kinnear against Ortíz more than was prudent, but to be honest, neither of them batted .200 for the series, and neither of them would have made a difference, if switched their starts, in the blowouts of games 1, 3, and 5. Those games were not lost on who played left field, but on who pitched. The starts of Beato in game 1 and Wade in game 5 were especially awful. While Wade would have taken the loss in game 5 anyway due to us being shut out forcefully, neither of them exactly sparkled in the line of fire.

Who played left field was another interesting question for the offseason. If Vern Kinnear would have been born one year later, had played his rookie season this year, and had won ROTY this year, Daniel Hall would have been handed a bunch of flowers and a cigar and would have been sent into retirement without much thought.

But Kinnear’s OPS this season was .684 – not only one far cry removed from his .920 rookie campaign. Those are about opposite ends of the spectrum. The Loggers would probably be glad to have a 24-year old left-handed left fielder batting that. But we are not the Loggers (anymore).

Daniel Hall’s OPS was .712. His defense was that of a 38-year old, and all added together gave +0.1 WAR. Kinnear’s? Zero. Last year, both had phenomenal years with 5.0 (Kinnear) and 4.2 (Hall) WAR gained.

What are our options, because, really, outfield decisions will be the most significant to make this offseason. I don’t see us doing any major upsetting trades this offseason. I will check the free agent market carefully, of course.

We have a centerfielder in Neil Reece, who has been so fantastic at the plate, in the field, and in the clubhouse, a such high and noble personality, how – if everything combined – there are about two or three centerfielders born in a generation. We won’t discuss this position for years to come, as long as we can pay him, and he will be subject to salary arbitration three more times.

Either wing is up in the air. We have a colorful cast of characters here. Bobby Quinn had a splash first few seasons after being selected off waivers (from the Capitals!) in 1989, then struggled last year, and came back this year. Alejandro Lopez was a former Raccoon first round draft pick, was traded away, had success, then was a leftover free agent this season, walked onto the team two months in and almost led the team in home runs. Hall and Kinnear, too. Then there is Glenn Johnston, who has been the odd man out after two cancerous years.

And there will be free agents and trades that can be done.

But the foremost thing to consider is the following: will we give a new contract to Daniel Hall (who drove in the winning runs in game 7)? The fans love him a mountain, Hall wants to continue, and I want a lot of things, but I don’t want him to play anywhere but for the Raccoons.

Oh yeah, and if I want to keep Hall AND Quinn AND Lopez, all three of which are free agents, I need to make this work with just $718k of budget space available until we can clear another contract off the books. Combined they made over $800k this year, and that includes Lopez being on a minimum contract after signing a minor league contract initially. And it’s only three weeks until free agent will file for freedom.

(cue dramatic music)

[Westheim]

The first decision to make was between first basemen. Glenn Adams hit for more power and had better D than Esteban Baldivía, plus his name was less of a pain to type. But Adams was arbitration eligible and was estimated at $220k. Baldivía would not be arbitration eligible until next year. He had better contact making abilities, and didn’t strike out as much. Double plays are different story. Neither of them (both are 25) projected to be an All Star at this point. Between two first basemen of similar abilities, a team that is encroaching the limit of it’s budget chooses the cheaper one. Adams was put up for sale. He will be forever in our hearts for ridding us of Tetsu Osanai’s contract.

In the middle infield, we have Salazar, Higgins, Allen, Moreno, and an assortment of AAA players. Salazar is a perennial Gold Glover capable of batting well over .300, and I think Higgins can reach that plateau as well. Allen, as it stands now, has the biggest contract for next season at $970k, which he won us 0.4 WAR for this year. Moreno came up big in September and October.

Now, Higgins may miss the start of next season due to his torn labrum. (I don’t even want to think about worse outcomes) Salazar doesn’t go anywhere. If we could flip Allen for a quality second baseman or allrounder who can play the outfield well (like we had in Steve Walker in the mid-to-late 80s, or in Mark Dawson, who played all four corners on the field, but mostly 3B and RF), I would be tempted.

Ben O’Morrissey made 20 errors at third base last year, but his batting excuses him from a lot of those. He doesn’t need to be discussed in too much depth. The left side of the infield is set.

David Vinson had a bad year, again. Rodriguez was good for a backup. I still don’t see reason to fiddle with these two.

The rotation had rough patches last season. We may have to consider moving Scott Wade to the bullpen at some point, but he was just .12 ERA over the league average after a horrendous April. Kisho Saito struggled badly, too, and nobody wants to put him into the pen.

We need a left-hander since Christian Proctor will be banished. One option might be to make Grant West one of the two left-handers and look for a new closer, either from within or from the outside. Jackie Lagarde has certainly made a case for himself, although he walks a lot of people. In a way, he is like Wally Gaston, when Gaston was at his best. Everybody still remembers Wally warmly, right?

That still didn’t solve the outfield problem, as the remaining days of October began to tick down.

---

I sat down with all three of my departing outfielders (excluding Bob Arnold, the most infamous signing I have ever made) to talk about extensions. Against my expectations, I had the biggest issues with Daniel Hall. It almost appeared as if he didn’t really know what he wanted, actually. First he wanted a 4-year deal. “Dan, you’ll be 43 then.” “Yeah, so what, then I want a million next year.” Which I couldn’t do.

I was also working on a deal with the Aces for their outfielder Royce Green. They had been caught in the trap when I shopped Glenn Adams around, but one average first baseman couldn’t buy Green, who was 24 and awesome, batting .270 with 36 HR in his young career (268 games).

October 28 – The Raccoons announce new 2-year deals with OF Bobby Quinn (for $520k) and Alejandro Lopez (for $600k).
November 5 – DAL INF Markus Robertson (.321, 11 HR, 62 RBI) and BOS C Luis Lopez (.281, 4 HR, 48 RBI) are named Rookies of the Year.
November 7 – WAS SP Ramón Ortíz (21-5, 3.16 ERA) and TIJ SP Woody Roberts (17-6, 2.46 ERA) win the awards for Pitcher of the Year.
November 8 – WAS OF/1B Jeffery Brown (.369, 25 HR, 87 RBI) and MIL RF/LF Cristo Ramirez (.382, 5 HR, 60 RBI) are the Hitters of the Year.
November 9 – The Canadiens acquire 34-yr old SP Kevin Williams (148-142, 3.76 ERA) for INF Kelly Carpenter (.252, 42 HR, 185 RBI), who is sent to the Gold Sox.
November 10 – The Raccoons acquire OF Royce Green (.270, 36 HR, 134 RBI) from the Aces for 1B Glenn Adams (.261, 17 HR, 73 RBI), MR Christian Proctor (3.48 ERA in 129 G) and MR Qi-zhen Geng (3.75 ERA in 29 G).

Has there really been no rookie better than Lopez!? We were also shunned on Gold Gloves. Maybe Salazar missed out because of injuries costing him about a month of the season, but how can you shun Neil Reece, who played for THREE WAR on defense alone!!?? I can not understand this!

By the way, I did win “Manager of the Year”. ;-)

Then, salary arbitrations. (dramatic music)

From the ten players on our arbitration screen, three were off before the hearings. Adams was traded, and Quinn and Lopez signed their 2-year deals. Arbitration went in favor of us in the cases of Matthews ($129k), Moreno ($150k), and Higgins ($210k). Neil Reece was awarded $481k (offer: $450k; estimate: $420k!), and Glenn Johnston $275k (offer: $250k; he got the estimate). How on earth is Glenn Johnston’s year worth more than half of Neil Reece’s?

All this presses our salaries over $10M for 1994. We may have to make a few cuts in scouting.

Sadly, Daniel Hall did not agree to a reasonable 1-yr, $400k offer. In the wake of this emotional blow, I resigned to sobbing. If he signed anywhere else, I’d cry myself to death.

Then on November 17, as free agents filed, the salary arbitrator called the office.

Daniel Hall had accepted salary arbitration. He was awarded 656,000 dead presidents. Ha-ha, I’m forked.

(dramatic music gets even louder)

[pjh5165]

Congrats on the back-to-back championships!

Looking forward to seeing who gets shipped off to Siberia this offseason.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by pjh5165

Congrats on the back-to-back championships!

Looking forward to seeing who gets shipped off to Siberia this offseason.

This update should give you some insight.

---

November 18, 1993. The Raccoons awoke realizing that they now had six outfielders for the 1994 season. Vern Kinnear, Neil Reece, Alejandro Lopez, Bobby Quinn, Royce Green – and Daniel Hall, who had not signed a new contract, had been thought to leave or retire, but instead had accepted salary arbitration for being awarded the princely sum of $656k. I had been greedy and wanted the compensation pick. As far as roster management goes, the 1993 season may go down as the one I messed up the most.

Now, whom do we get rid of? I could write a very detailed paragraph for each of these six players, but actually we can’t get rid of any of them. The least damage would be done by trading on Royce Green. But still, I just shipped him in for three borderline players in Glenn Adams, Qi-zhen Geng, and Christian Proctor.

Now, I am aware that some consider the game to be too easy to betray in deals which have multiple players on one side, like these 3-for-1 trades. However, this is no steal. Geng and Proctor are highly-rated relievers. Geng is rated with 4 stars actually. That he has no room on the roster only shows you how loaded the Raccoons are with relievers, especially from the right side. Proctor his highly rated, but disappointed badly this season, but who hasn’t ever disappointed on this team? And Adams can be a very useful first baseman if you don’t happen to have two of them. Green will have a hard time playing on the first team here, actually. So the Aces get three players that could in theory help them immediately. We get another outfielder.

Bobby Quinn could be the odd man out, too. His skill set faints compared to Reece’s and Kinnear’s. But he can play first base effectively, too. So will we play with six outfielders next year? Holy goat, I don’t know. I just seem to know that I fudged up royally once again.

We need a left-handed reliever or a closer. The main point of interest here is whether Grant West can still reliably close games.

Another thing to take care of is the 40-man roster heading towards the rule 5 draft, and also our minor league system, which even after minor league free agency has an average 30 players on each level. We have to axe into that.

Lots of stuff to do.

---

Grant West can be solved quickest. He will be 37 at season’s start, in the final year of the 5-year, $2.625M contract he signed with us in 1988 (but it didn’t kick into effect until the 1990 season). Overall we will have paid $4,689,000 for his services over his career. It will not have been too much for 500+ saves. But he will not be our closer in 1994, and here is why:

As recently as 1991, West was rated 16/18/16 and kicked ass. He took a major hit to his stuff rating in 1993, losing seven points. For his whole career, West was between 7.5 and 9 K/9. Last season, he struck out 3.9 per nine innings. He posted career worsts in almost all categories you can measure: ERA (3.34), WHIP (1.28), OAVG (.247), ERA+ (119), L (6), BS (8, a tie with ’87), and the list continues. He will become a free agent at year’s end. I will not trade him, because basically, I don’t want to him to go anywhere else. A first round pick like Daniel Hall he belongs here, and nowhere else. Plus, contrary to Hall, he was born and raised in Portland. He is perhaps even more Raccoon than Hall.

We could try and start the season with him in the closer’s role. I just have a hunch that it will not end well. Better look for a badass closer now than having to watch him blow 12 saves next year. We want to finish in first place, and it will be hard with a closer letting up more than he has already in ’93.

So, we will take a close look at the free agent closers. Whom do we have here? Give your name, age, career ERA, career saves, and your salary wishes!

Matt Sims, 31, 2.38 ERA, 311 SV, $490k
Ricardo Medina, 30, 2.57 ERA, 167 SV, $700k
Rick Evans, 33, 2.83 ERA, 464 SV, $650k
Artie Saunders, 31, 2.95 ERA, 137 SV, $290k
Dennis Columpton, 33, 2.51 ERA, 119 SV, $370k

Medina goes off the list immediately. He is recovering from Tommy John surgery, and he will not do that on our books. Off the other four, Saunders and Columpton are jokes for closers. They also capitally lack in terms of stuff.

Sims would fit us best with a 72% groundball percentage and our rock solid infield defense. He has been a closer for the last eight years, with the Aces, Blue Sox, and Stars. His worst year was last year with a 3.82 ERA, and also 8 BS. His conversion was actually inferior to West’s: 37/45 to 45/53.

But both Vicente Guerra and OSA give him a 20 on his stuff. You are allowed to have a bad year. Sims, who throws right-handed, also is only a type B free agent, so we would not forfeit our #22 draft pick.

So let’s assume we go after Matt Sims. It may not be possible to get him for $490k, so let’s assume we get him for $600k per year. Our current budget room is $1.19M. This does not include players on the 40-man roster, which even before filling the roster for the rule 5 draft adds $860k to our expenses. So we don’t have the salary space necessary.

This raises the next question. Where to we cut salaries? Our current top 10 money drains are the following players:

2B/3B Mark Allen - $970k (will be free agent)
INF Jorge Salazar - $900k ($2.7M through 1996)
SP Kisho Saito - $850K ($4.65M through 1998)
SP Raimundo Beato - $670k (1.34M through 1995)
LF/RF Daniel Hall - $656k (will be free agent)
CL Grant West - $525k (will be free agent)
OF Neil Reece - $481k (will be arbitration eligible)
SP Jason Turner - $475k ($1.55M through 1996)
3B/1B Ben O’Morrissey - $450k ($1.5M through 1996)
C David Vinson - $375k ($1.65M through 1997)

You have to cut one of these to make any reasonable room on the budget.

If you ask me, there is only one sensible option.

Mark “Icon” Allen.

[Westheim]

Mark Allen will be hard to move. He has now batted .220-ish in consecutive seasons, his OPS both times a tad below .700. Due to injuries or embenchments (take that, Oxford dictionary), he has not played more than 112 games in four years. And for all of this, he’s making almost a million bucks.

What about other options? If you want to scrape by on five infielders, you need to be flexible. Baldivía takes most of that away by only playing first base, and O-Mo goes only on the corners. Allen can’t play short at all, so you are quickly down to two guys (Salazar and Higgins, or rather Moreno to start the season) who can play all over the place. It’s going to get tight very quickly.

Can you move Baldivía? He’s 25, and his previous showings do not hint at him being a masher that will hit 20 dingers from first base. Allen could play there.

But Baldivía makes the minimum. And now we are back with the problem that we do not have enough salary space to take on Matt Sims. Let’s go back to the ten biggest earners on the team, and expand that list to the top 19 – all players that are NOT on a minimum contract this year.

2B/3B Mark Allen - $970k (will be free agent)
INF Jorge Salazar - $900k ($2.7M through 1996)
SP Kisho Saito - $850K ($4.65M through 1998)
SP Raimundo Beato - $670k (1.34M through 1995)
LF/RF Daniel Hall - $656k (will be free agent)
-
CL Grant West - $525k (will be free agent)
OF Neil Reece - $481k (will be arbitration eligible)
SP Jason Turner - $475k ($1.55M through 1996)
3B/1B Ben O’Morrissey - $450k ($1.5M through 1996)
C David Vinson - $375k ($1.65M through 1997)
-
OF Alejandro Lopez - $300k ($600k through 1995)
OF Glenn Johnston - $275k (will be arbitration eligible) *
MR Jackie Lagarde - $275k ($575k through 1995)
MR Juan Martinez - $275k ($825k through 1996)
LF/RF Bobby Quinn - $260k ($520k through 1995)
-
SP Scott Wade - $250k (will be free agent)
INF Matt Higgins - $210k (will be arbitration eligible) *
INF Sixto Moreno - $150k (will be arbitration eligible)
MR Albert Matthews - $129k (will be arbitration eligible)

*arbitration eligible as long as he does not complete his sixth year of major league service this season. Service times (y.d): Johnston 5.79 – Higgins 5.19;

Now I will have to read up on this, but Higgins could find himself on the 60-day DL before long. If he starts the season on the 60-day DL, he does not count against the 40-man roster, so he should not be able to accrue major league service time. He may well fall short of six full years due to his torn labrum and recovery and very likely the maximum rehab allotment for position players.

But if you study this list closely, you will find at least one body on this list that is only warm on paper. Glenn Johnston. It breaks my heart, but at 27 he looks so washed up. In 1989, he played a full season on the Raccoons, when HE (two years ahead of Neil Reece) looked like THE THING in centerfield. To refresh your memory, that year he had 619 AB and batted .310/.359/.425 with 9 HR and 63 RBI. His last season with a reasonable number of AB’s was 1992, when he batted .214/.282/.298 in 252 AB. Last year he was even worse, but didn’t get even 100 AB. It’s not like his AAA production would be uplifting. He barely batted above league average in AAA and did not play full time.

Now, Johnston alone does not advance us very far. But if you pair him with a right-handed reliever, say … Martinez? That would be $550k off the books instantly, with Johnston ranking about eighth on our outfield depth chart, and Martinez being comfortably replaced by Gabriel De La Rosa, who is on a minimum contract anyway.

There are also a few other places where I will need to look at, like depth in starting pitching. When I look at my AAA staff from last year, I see *this*:

Jose Rivera 29 GS, 11-13, 4.77 ERA
Carlos De Los Angeles, 32 GS, 11-14, 6.97 ERA
Gerardo Ramirez, 27 GS, 7-15, 5.28 ERA
Brendon Bell, 13 GS, 4-5, 6.15 ERA (plus injured all the time)
Yasushi Suto, 20 GS, 6-10, 7.44 ERA

No wonder that team finished in Neverworld in it’s division! The baseball gods be praised for keeping or major league starters healthy! We definitely need a guy with options we can stick in there.

Our system is dying anyway. If you look at my minor league teams for top prospects, and take 3.5 stars potential as a qualifier, I find four players in AAA (all relievers: LHPs Tim Mallandain and Cesar Salcido, RHPs Gabriel De La Rosa, Albert Matthews), three in AA (SP Antonio Donis, 3B Mike Crowe, OF Luke Newton), and four in A (C Brad Gray, 1B/RF/LF/3B Mark Kowalchuk, SS Conceicao Guerin, OF Stephen Buell). **

The immediate advent of any rookie sensations is not to be expected. None of these relievers have closer potential. Donis is perhaps two years away from being a September callup. Crowe is on a good way. Newton had it hard in AA after being moved up there mid-season. In A, Buell’s .239 average ranked top among our quartet of un-prospects. Kowalchuk is a sure bust. Our second round pick from last year, he batted .211 in his rookie year, and regressed to .194 this year. He struck out 136 times in 422 AB. That boy has bust written all over him. The other three are not far off.

So, basically, we can live on our relief corps for a while, but any other position will be hard to replace from within.

** Included on the AAA list are players that were on the major league team in September, but had to be sent down to get Neil Reece off the DL after the playoffs. Roster management remains bitchy in this game.

I have never written this much without advancing one single day. And to make it worse, I have not even been enlightened by the experience. I still don’t know whether:

a) make Lagarde the closer, West a common southpaw, drop Sims, and move on
b) pursue Sims, make him the closer, West a common southpaw, then cut salary wherever possible
c) pursue Sims, make him the closer, West a common southpaw, severely cut scouting and development, and ride the big league team as long as possible, then rebuild from the ground up
d) don’t change anything, maybe move Allen for prospects, and move on

The Yankees would probably choose Option C. The Mets would probably choose Options A or D. What will the Raccoons do? It’s about as hard to tell as what the Fox says …

[Westheim]

Trades I do, Episode #Umpteenthousand:

We acquired Mark Allen (and Marvin Ingall) from Salem for SP Robert Vázquez and MR Roberto Carrillo, who had had a very down year in 1992. While Vázquez was injured and only started 16 games, Carrillo recovered to his former level. For that, we ate “Icon” Allen’s salary and little production.

Also, Matt Brown. He batted .200 in his Raccoon days, never getting into the starting lineup for any period of time. Last year, he batted for 2.6 WAR for the Indians. Yes, positive WAR. We got Sixto Moreno for him, who was invisible for five months, but I will admit he had some big hits in September and October.

I got both Carrillo and Brown offered back when I shopped Juan Martinez. Glenn Johnston does not yield positive results.

When I shopped Mark Allen, I was offered back a total of FOUR players, fascinatingly including ex-Coon Cameron Green, who is now 37 and will make $600k next year. I also was offered soon-to-be-37-years-old Luis Barrera, who batted .208 between Atlanta and Sioux Falls last season and will make $1.1M in ’94. (The Warriors probably took him back for emotional reasons, since he started his career there, and was very successful for them in the mid-80s) The Capitals offered another ex-Coon in Alejandro Venegas and a starting pitcher in Alejandro Pena.

Pena is 24 and throws right-handed. He has made one start for the Capitals in the Bigs, taking a W for allowing three runs in seven innings. His stuff is run of the mill. He has two option years. He would fit that job description for depth in SP’s stunningly well. But am I giving up too much if I trade Allen for him?

And what if Allen recovers and hits .310 with 28 dingers for the Capitals, leads them to the World Series, which will be a quadruple-rematch between us and them, and he walks off the Capitals with a grand slam off Jackie Lagarde in game 7?

THE HORROR!

You don’t trade such a high-profile player to the team that you faced in three straight World Series. You could describe the Capitals as our worst enemies (after the Canadiens, of course), although personally I don’t have any negative emotions against them. They have never done me harm. The 1991 Series, which we lost, they were a so much better team, winning against them was utopic. But you don’t usually do big trades with your biggest enemies. (And I know that I violated this principle at least once, in 1984, when I traded Matt Workman and two scrubs to the Canadiens for Tetsu Osanai!)

I made an offer to CL Matt Sims on November 19. His demands were actually very reasonable, a 4-yr escalating deal starting in the $300k-ish range! I got him down to three years, and $1.2M in total, escalating. Unless some other team jumps in, he will be a steal for that price!!

November 22 – The Aces find a replacement for recently-departed Royce Green and trade for the Indians’ Carlos Quintela (.288, 33 HR, 212 RBI), who is 27, and a minor leaguer. The Indians receive 36-yr old MR Joe Roberts (63-57, 2.50 ERA, 230 SV).
November 25 – Former Indian RF/LF Raúl Vázquez (.279, 157 HR, 553 RBI) signs a 4-yr, $3.4M contract with the Rebels. Not a bad deal for a 27-year old. Vázquez’ career year so far was 1992, when he set a new record for home runs with 42 and hit for 1.037 OPS.
November 30 – The Warriors secure the services of 34-yr old SP Ricardo Torres (153-146, 3.78 ERA) for 2-yr, $1.44M.
November 30 – OF Antonio Rodriguez (.294, 62 HR, 695 RBI), last with the Aces, gets his pay day. The 28-yr old will make $4.83M over six years.
December 1 – Rule 5 draft: 15 players are taken over three rounds. The Raccoons are not affected.

After the rule 5 draft, for which we added two players to the 40-man roster, and with our outstanding offer to Matt Sims, we are now some $170k over-budget once you add the minor league 40-man roster players. That can be compensated with a 10% cut to scouting. The question is, are we set with the signing of Sims and the addition of Royce Green?

[Westheim]

I tried to make this update a bit more lively, but it has become another monologue of self-pity. I apologize

Little happened up to the start of the Winter Meetings in Vancouver:
December 7 – The Miners acquire INF Pedro Hernandez (.272, 40 HR, 415 RBI) from the Stars for MR Wilbert Rodgers (45-29, 3.75 ERA) and a prospect.

I made a quick calculation how we are spending our money. The budget is $16,176,000. Of that, almost equal amounts go into staff, scouting, and development:

Staff: $1,555,000
Scouting: $2,110,000
Development: $2,000,000

That’s $5,665,000 spent *not* on players, and leaves $10,511,000 for player salaries. That is quite a bit less than what other teams are spending on their players, foremost our playoff opponents from last year. The Capitals have a $13.1M payroll, the Condors are at $12.8M. You could add not just one top level first baseman for the $2M difference.

We spent comparably more on scouting and development. With our terrible draft picks (I don’t complain, I like to finish first!) we get less and less player material worth pouring these amounts of money into. Since I will try to extend this dynasty for as long as possible, without the possibility to increase our salary by a lot, I will not trade any asset off this roster for prospects. (Well until we are ten games out in July, at least)

No ABL team – in 17 seasons – has ever managed to win three rings. Not even in a row, but at all. We want to be the first team to do that. It looks like this will plunge us far below .500 at one point until the end of the decade, with quite a few of our players in the 30s now: Daniel Hall (38), Grant West (36), Kisho Saito (33), Jorge Salazar (33), Mark Allen (32), Raimundo Beato (32), Scott Wade (31), Ken Burnett (30), Jackie Lagarde (30); how many of these will be productive in let’s say 1997? I’d guess that very few of them will be. Hall and West will be retired. The others will be old and expensive. They are still in their prime now (Salazar certainly isn’t playing like 33) and are the backbone of a team trying to win three straight. A good bunch of the roster is 28/29.

If you look at it, closely, few of our key assets are younger than 30 years. Neil Reece and Ben O’Morrissey are both 27. I’d not call anybody else a key asset at this point. Miguel Lopez has to prove he can pitch at your first half level for two halves of a season. Kinnear had a horrible sophomore year. Alejandro Lopez came from unemployed to a very impressive four months, but can he repeat? Matt Higgins has to get his shoulder bolted back together and nobody knows how that will affect his play.

No, three years from now, we will have Reece, O-Mo, and lots and lots of old men.

[Westheim]

Heading into Winter Meetings, Matt Sims’ agent informed me that the Thunder had made a better offer that Sims was inclined to take, and that I should not be so predictable and spice things up a bit.

My empty coffers were a sad sight to see, but I would make a better offer, but only marginally, going from $1.2M to $1.3M over three years. On the third day of the meetings, the Aces jumped in, reportedly offering a 3-yr contract for $1,328,000. Come on, Matt. Don’t be that bitchy. I made one final, FINAL, offer, and made sure that Sims knew it would be FINAL. It had the word FINAL scrawled right over it. Three years, $380k this season, and $480k in each of the next two. Take it or leave it.

Sims in the end decided not to take it, instead pointing at the Blue Sox having made a better offer. Yeah, well, so be it. Our new plan centers on Jackie Lagarde closing games in 1994. Or will Grant West continue to …..?

I should make up my mind rather quickly. If West does close for us, we need a second lefty in the pen. Tim Mallandain failed in his September callup (badly), and Cesar Salcido, our other option at AAA, is walking almost six per nine innings. I am not confident with either option.

Overall, there was not much action during the meetings. I wouldn’t call them snoozer, with BNN-top-ranked free agent Jou Hara going off the boards, but well, he re-signed with the Aces for 4-yr, $3.59M, so … well, maybe they really were a snoozer. The Aces also resigned their closer, Vicente Rúbio, so there was little movement. The Aces were not going to make huge moves if they didn’t sign somebody else. As a reminder, the Aces are one of three teams that in 17 seasons have never made it into the playoffs. The others are the Loggers and Titans, of course.

The rest of December was quiet in Coon City. I had a trade worked out for a southpaw for the bullpen (Rafael Negrón from the Buffaloes), but then didn’t pull the trigger. The trade would have sent over A level un-prospect Conceicao Guerín. To be honest, I don’t know what I am doing at all.

December 8 – The Loggers improve their bullpen in a trade with the Blue Sox, getting 27-yr old MR Roberto Martinez (5-7, 3.75 ERA, 3 SV) for 2B Armando Fernandez, 25 and batting .287 with 1 HR and 40 RBI, and a minor league catcher.
December 10 – The Miners unload 34-yr old SP David Castillo (107-88, 3.65 ERA) on the Bayhawks for 1B Pedro Lugo, who at age 29 has 19 career AB’s to his credit. Castillo pitched 0.2 innings last season before rupturing his triceps tendon. He will make $950k this season, the final year of his contract. It could still be a steal for the Bayhawks.
December 14 – The Loggers and Blue Sox trade again. 28-yr old MR Raúl Ramirez (6-7, 4.04 ERA, 51 SV) goes to Nashville, for the Loggers receiving two prospects.
December 17 – SP Craig Hansen, 35, returns to the Miners, for whom he pitched from 1981-88, for 2-yr, $1.74M. For his career, Hansen, who last pitched for the Rebels, is 204-137 with a 3.14 ERA.
December 17 – Ex-SFW SS Art Garrett (.271, 106 HR, 633 RBI) signs a 3-yr, $2.4M deal with the Scorpions.
December 21 – 1B Hector Atilano will be 43 years old by Opening Day. The Warriors give him a 1-yr, $850k contract anyway. Atilano (.314, 191 HR, 1,284 RBI) and with 2,647 career hits, still had a respectable age 42 season, batting .297 with 5 HR and 58 RBI for the Scorpions as a semi-regular, appearing in 124 games. His defense however has eroded about completely by now.
December 26 – The Gold Sox sign ex-IND (and former Raccoon) INF Antonio Gonzalez (.263, 47 HR, 326 RBI) for 5-yr, $3.11M.
December 28 – Ex-Coon 3B Cameron Green (.247, 124 HR, 728 RBI) is traded from the Stars to the Scorpions in exchange for MR Ramon Morales (12-16, 4.51 ERA, 3 SV) and a minor leaguer.

By the way, I have not said anything about retirements after the 1993 season, and there really is only one significant one, 37-yr old OF Sean Bergeron. Debuting with the Capitals in 1980, he was traded to the Knights before the 1983 season, where for several years he was a part of a feared offense as the Knights had their best years in the mid-80s. Bergeron never hit for average (topping out at .264 in 1984), or may home runs (most: 19 for the ’87 Condors), but due to a high OBP (.372 for his career) had nine consecutive seasons of OPS+ over 100, and most of those were significantly over. Overall, he played for six teams, most prominently the Knights and Condors, the latter of which he had two stints and finished his career with. Career stats: .241/.372/.391 with 151 HR and 779 RBI. He also drew 1,041 walks.

It has become 1994, happy new year and so. Matt Sims has yet to sign anywhere.