[Westheim]

November 2 – Raccoons leave bare-handed as Gold Gloves are dished out.
November 3 – Topeka SS Mitsuzuka Ohara (.255, 8 HR, 69 RBI) and Boston 1B Isto Grönholm (.324, 11 HR, 63 RBI) are Rookies of the Year.
November 4 – The Raccoons’ Justin Westfield is Continental League Manager of the Year.*
November 5 – Pitchers of the Year: SFW SP David Castillo (20-3, 3.23 ERA) and POR SP Kinji Kan (17-11, 2.02 ERA)! Castillo is a former minor leaguer of our organization.
November 6 – DEN 1B Francisco Lopez (.327, 27 HR, 111 RBI) and TIJ 1B Wayne Baxter (.302, 28 HR, 125 RBI) are MVP’s.

*Justin Westfield is my in-game name for about every game. In actuality Jim Alexander ought to be Manager of the Year, but I play out every game, so I think this is fair.

Ohara was an international free agent prior to this season. I looked at him, but didn’t like his defense to play short. With a healthy number of infielders (and counting on Edgardo Gonzalez) I passed.

One of the most important tasks was to extend the contracts with Mark Dawson (who provided the most oomph in ’83 and led the ABL in career homers) and Kinji Kan, who was Pitcher of the Year. Both contracts were up after 1984 and this was where my budget would cry rivers after all. But neither wanted to negotiate at this point, so I could not lock ‘em up yet.

Cameron Green was a stubborn little boy, who deserved a good slapping, and tried everything to get traded away. I tried to negotiate a contract with him, and he demanded a flat 4-yr, $1.2M contract, which is hard for me to fit in this (and especially next) year. I (flinchingly) offered an escalating contract for $1.1M – which he declined. So we went to arbitration.

It were good hearings for the team. All our offers were accepted, even that for Green, which was lower than his estimate, but his demands were found to be outrageous even by the arbitrators. Carlos Moran received $99k, Spencer Dicks $110k, and Green $175k.

Chris Smith and Jason Short refused arbitration and became free agents (what I had hoped for, of course). Both are type B free agents, and with the Raccoons bound to pick second-to-last this year, I can use every supplemental pick there is…

With players spilling on the market on November 16, there was certainly no shortage of talent: ATL CL Jon Butler, ATL OF Engjell Vulaj, BOS SP Ruben Lopez, CHA 1B Riley Simon, CHA INF Cordell Atkins, CIN C Rod Fields, CIN 1B/2B Max Reynolds, CIN INF Jeremiah Carrell, DAL C Angel Potter, IND OF Francis Bell, IND SP Billy Robinson, IND CL Domingo Alonso, IND SP Miguel Sanchez, LAP SP David Burke, LAP SP Bill Smith, NAS INF Pedro Hermundo, NAS INF David Hicks, OCT CL Seung-ook Yi, PIT INF Davis Rigsby, SAC SP Ray Lynch, SFB SP Jose Gonzalez, SFB SP Claudio Sanchez, SFB OF Tim Simmons, SFW 1B Carlos Sandoval, TIJ OF Mitsuharu Yamada, TOP INF Beau Horn, TOP OF Harry Beauman, WAS OF Jesse Whiteaway, and WAS SP Eduardo Jimenez – those were merely the cream of the crop (note a few former Raccoons in there).

The Raccoons also lost a score of 16 or so minor league players (but nobody who’d be missed too much).

Of course, the Raccoons needed only very specific additions to their strong core:

- Possibly a fifth starter to replace Jerry Ackerman
- Possibly an upgrade at 2B, but only if with some pop
- In any case: a top notch centerfielder
- A backup outfielder

It seems like the last two points are on the laundry list every year… the moment we signed Tim Anderson to a huge contract prior to 1977 we started a long list of miserable additions there.

Of course, this leads to another question: what to do with Alex White? In the long run, it goes Alex White vs. Cameron Green, with Dawson playing where there’s room. Both were big disappointments last season. Neither performed as expected. White’s contract is four times bigger than Green’s.

On the minor leagues: they need to be filled up, but maybe I could trade White for a bunch of prospects? Interesting idea.

Anyway, here’s a little update on our troubled kids in the minors. Top picks Orlando Lantán and Alejandro Lopez are in AA and have not performed well last year. Scott Wade mowed down A level batters and already moved up to AA as well, where he’s been used as reliever, but I’d like him to become a starter.

Then there’s Carlos Gonzalez and a ray (a glimmer) of hope. After going 8-9 with a 3.64 ERA in AA last year, he was moved up to AAA in September, and in six games went 5-1 with a 1.94 ERA! He’s been rated down by our new scout (not so new, but he wasn’t around when Gonzalez was drafted in 1980). The word “Cy Young” doesn’t appear in his resume about “Deranged” Gonzalez, but he still attests him front line rotation qualities. So, if we get a #2 guy out of him, I’ll still be happy.

We had a couple of good right-handed relievers in the system, but no place on the major league roster. I don’t know whether trading Fletcher Kelley would help any. Kelley’s posted ERA’s over 4 every season. I think he has it in him, but he doesn’t deliver, so maybe he doesn’t have it after all and we should cut our losses now. We have righties Gilberto Soto, Pedro Vazquez, and Emerson MacDonald, as well as lefty Justin Neubauer, waiting at AAA. They will be joined by Jason Bentley this year, who’s racing through the minors. He was our 1982 round 2 pick (but then our fourth pick due to two picks in the supplemental round).

So, now, November 17, the hot part of the winter begins.