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Westheim · 08-18-2014, 02:57 PM

And here comes 1998. On January 2, the Agitator ran a story about how the Knights were rumored to leave Atlanta, and how Chicago was constantly courting teams to come there, and then also asked whether the Raccoons would come out of the doldrums before Chicago got a team.

We had set our catching corps straight with the trade for Werner Turner and the addition of Mario Guerrero. There is no clear #1 between those two. That Turner will make almost twice Guerrero’s salary is no indicator of a ranking. Together they will cost $580k as placeholders. Depending on how Julio Mata does this season, one or none of them may be resigned when their contracts are up.

The trade for Turner sent 3B Gabriel Rodriguez to Sioux Falls. Now, under different circumstances, Rodriguez might have been an option as the 3B starter, but Rodriguez had been through a few teams at age 26, and had never even remotely caught on anywhere. The 98 AB he got between Tijuana and Portland last season are the most he has had in any season. Remember, he was a throw-in in the deal that sent Ben O’Morrissey to Tijuana, while 19-yr old Ralph Ford had been the main prize.

Owner Carlos Valdés, not quite recuperated from last year (and it took A LOT of lying in the sun at the pool in his home in Mexico to even calm him down) – but then neither am I – is unhappy with the current roster composition, notifying me to get the weaknesses at first, third, short, and right fixed. Not trying to offend you, Carly, but no words about our rotation who won a grand total of 25 games last year, or our atomic meltdown of a bullpen? Did you fall asleep at your pool while compiling the list!?

Truth be told, the Coons went 68-94 last year. That’s horrible. Since then, we have dropped 15 WAR. So while I belief that Randy Farley will be reasonably effective and earn his 2 WAR, and Crowe and Guerin, playing a full season, might help as well, we are seriously looking into the abyss of losing a hundred in ’98. I will be looking for a starting pitcher to replace Esteban Flores. If you make five starts and don’t win any, it can be the offense just as well (and the Coons’ was merely average), and Kisho Saito f.e. has a stretch of five games where he doesn’t win any about every year. So it’s not always the pitcher.

If you start 11 games, and go oh-seven, however……

At the moment I have Jose Rivera, who missed most of last year hurting, as the #2 guy. Not that I think Rivera is a #2 guy, but I want someone to split our best two starters, Saito and Lopez, who are both left-handers, and I don’t want the rookie to do that (Farley), and neither do I want the guy who is still looking in every nook and cranny for his first big league win.

Oh, boy. This is getting one of those posts where the mind just wanders aimlessly about …

Well.

It’s January 1. Factoring in all the players on the 40-man roster that are already / still here, we have about $2.16M to spend on a respectable right-handed starter, and a backup infielder. The reason for the first is that Flores in the rotation has no thrill to me. The reason for the latter is that we currently have five infielders aligned with Weeds, Ingall, Guerin, and Crowe around the diamond, and Utting as a super utility man. Crowe and Weeds can’t play up the middle, so we need someone to pluck in there on defense if needed. It would be really helpful to get a left-handed bat for the job, since except for the lefty Wedemeyer, all the others bat right-handed. Among our outfielders, Buell and Reece are right-handers, Kent and Miranda are left-handers. Werner Turner is a right-handed batter. Guerrero and Newton are the only switch-hitters we currently have. Since Kent and Miranda are not that likely to play at the same time (if we don’t sign a replacement for one of them anyway…), that leaves us a bit too weak from the left side of the plate. A left-handed backup could easily spell both middle infielders against a right-handed pitcher. In AAA, Steve Caddock would fit the mold cast here, as long as you don’t mind a .138 batter.

Conceicao Guerin, 24, is a particular case. The stereotype defensive shortstop, he batted .266/.333/.321 last season. In 272 ML AB, he has no home runs and only one triple. Don’t even expect a double (he has 10). Still, batting .266 ain’t shabby, however, his defense was not very good last year. He played 486.2 innings at short, and made 8 errors for a .966 fielding percentage that doesn’t thrill me. His ZR was a nice +5.4, though, so in a full season of some 1,200 innings, he might make 1 to 1.5 WAR from defense. But those errors were a lot, to be honest.

I went back to Jorge Salazar, who manned hell’s corner for seven and a half years for us. Actually, let’s discard 1997 entirely, because he was traded early in the year and the Miners used him mostly at second base. Let’s look at his numbers 1990-96, on defense (his offense was markedly better than Guerin’s, despite no power either) I remembered him to be so much better. Was I mistaken?

Jorge Salazar – Defensive Values at SS for POR, 1990-96
1990: 1,242 IP – 7 E - .990 PCT - +20.3 ZR
1991: 1,114 IP – 8 E - .985 PCT - +15.6 ZR
1992: 1,253 IP – 10 E - .985 PCT - +13.7 ZR
1993: 1,155 IP – 10 E - .983 PCT - +6.3 ZR
1994: 1,266 IP – 14 E - .979 PCT - +3.0 ZR
1995: 1,170 IP – 6 E - .990 PCT - +6.8 ZR
1996: 892 IP – 15 E - .966 PCT - -3.3 ZR

So, yes and no. Salazar’s first three years were nothing but outstanding, and he still held up well in his mid-30s. The last year, meh, not so much. Maybe I am spoiled by the high level of play we got from Salazar for most of the decade.

Like I said, the mind wanders. It is still January 2.

January 2 – The Pacifics have a new closer in 32-yr old ex-TIJ Jared Chaney (42-39, 2.83 ERA, 160 SV), who has agreed with the team on a 2-yr, $842k contract.
January 3 – The Loggers sign ex-SFW CL Ricardo Medina (62-59, 2.45 ERA, 275 SV). The 34-year old signs a 3-yr, $2.57M deal.
January 3 – In turn the Warriors draw away CL North veteran OF Luis Arroyo (.277, 95 HR, 478 RBI). The 28-year old ex-Canadien will earn $4.98M over five years.
January 6 – The Canadiens trade 26-yr old SP Nick Jacobson (2-6, 4.11 ERA) to the Indians for 18-yr old prospect 2B Sixto Garcia.
January 7 – The Condors agree to a 2-yr, $1.32M contract with ex-POR C David Vinson (.246, 88 HR, 457 RBI). The 32-yr old type A free agent gives the Raccoons a supplemental round pick and the Condors’ second round pick.
January 12 – The Warriors get a new closer, signing 28-yr old ex-PIT Lawrence Bentley (36-29, 2.28 ERA, 181 SV) to a 3-yr, $2.7M contract.
January 24 – The Raccoons trade 31-yr old AAA C Nori Kondo (.245, 11 HR, 129 RBI) to the Gold Sox for 26-yr old RF/CF Jorge Villegas (.238, 31 HR, 134 RBI).
January 24 – The Pacifics and 33-yr old ex-CHA SP Fernando Chavez (121-133, 3.88 ERA) agree on a 3-yr, $2.14M contract.
January 27 – Ex-POR LF Vern Kinnear (.263, 72 HR, 397 RBI) signs a 5-yr, $5.3M contract with the Atlanta Knights. The Raccoons receive a supplemental round pick.
January 27 – The Portland Raccoons announce the signing of 26-yr old SP Bryce Hildred (2-0, 3.18 ERA), whose big league career is limited to six relief appearances for the Stars in 1995. He receives a 1-yr, $150k contract.
January 30 – The Crusaders add 30-yr old OF Alejandro Olvera (.265, 49 HR, 312 RBI) on a 2-yr, $1.44M contract. Olvera has bounced around, playing now for his fifth different team since 1994.
February 5 – The Pacifics sign ex-IND CL Javier Navarro (33-40, 2.49 ERA, 204 SV) on a 1-yr, $920k deal.

When David Vinson was taken on by the Condors, I decided to pitch another offer to Vern Kinnear should he still be around mid-February. It may not be wise, it may not be financially prudent, but … but he’s Vern Kinnear, and has 20 Gold Gloves and I love him. Well, the point became moot before the end of the month, but … hmz.

The pick we received for Vinson is the 17th pick in the second round. The Condors had already forfeited their first round pick to the Pacifics earlier, when they signed SP Bastyao Caixinha. That’s unfortunate, but won’t matter if all the other free agents will be washed ashore someplace or other. Ramos, Lara, and Aycock are still unsigned.

Two weeks after the Vinson signing I got a proposal from the Gold Sox. It was Villegas for Kondo right away. I was shopping Kondo anyway, so this was a natural fit. Villegas is going to replace one between Miranda and Kent and I have not decided which one will be sent down yet. Both have several options left.

I had Vince Guerra filter all remaining free agents with good defense up the middle in the infield, and for batting left-handed. The number of results: zero. Steve Caddock’s stock is on the rise.

The Hildred signing is one of those shrewd moves I make occasionally that have not clicked in 15 years. The last one was Winston Thompson, I think. His AAA stats were not very thrilling apart from 208 K last season, but Vince Guerra liked him, so why not. He has no options and he isn’t even a threat to Esteban Flores, so we may waive him regardless to get him onto the AAA team in April.

Draft day forecast: right now the Coons are due to have four of the first 45, six of the first 64, and seven of the first 75 picks. Pick your favorite number. And I still hope to get another pick or two (or three?) for Lara, Ramos, and Aycock. On the other hand, if Lara or Ramos are still around at the end of March ........

With the preseason beginning, and good Vern Kinnear being knighted, fan interest has reached 64, and is falling further.

Anyone still reading?

Anyone?

08-18-2014, 02:57 PM	#983
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 13,478	And here comes 1998. On January 2, the Agitator ran a story about how the Knights were rumored to leave Atlanta, and how Chicago was constantly courting teams to come there, and then also asked whether the Raccoons would come out of the doldrums before Chicago got a team. We had set our catching corps straight with the trade for Werner Turner and the addition of Mario Guerrero. There is no clear #1 between those two. That Turner will make almost twice Guerrero’s salary is no indicator of a ranking. Together they will cost $580k as placeholders. Depending on how Julio Mata does this season, one or none of them may be resigned when their contracts are up. The trade for Turner sent 3B Gabriel Rodriguez to Sioux Falls. Now, under different circumstances, Rodriguez might have been an option as the 3B starter, but Rodriguez had been through a few teams at age 26, and had never even remotely caught on anywhere. The 98 AB he got between Tijuana and Portland last season are the most he has had in any season. Remember, he was a throw-in in the deal that sent Ben O’Morrissey to Tijuana, while 19-yr old Ralph Ford had been the main prize. Owner Carlos Valdés, not quite recuperated from last year (and it took A LOT of lying in the sun at the pool in his home in Mexico to even calm him down) – but then neither am I – is unhappy with the current roster composition, notifying me to get the weaknesses at first, third, short, and right fixed. Not trying to offend you, Carly, but no words about our rotation who won a grand total of 25 games last year, or our atomic meltdown of a bullpen? Did you fall asleep at your pool while compiling the list!? Truth be told, the Coons went 68-94 last year. That’s horrible. Since then, we have dropped 15 WAR. So while I belief that Randy Farley will be reasonably effective and earn his 2 WAR, and Crowe and Guerin, playing a full season, might help as well, we are seriously looking into the abyss of losing a hundred in ’98. I will be looking for a starting pitcher to replace Esteban Flores. If you make five starts and don’t win any, it can be the offense just as well (and the Coons’ was merely average), and Kisho Saito f.e. has a stretch of five games where he doesn’t win any about every year. So it’s not always the pitcher. If you start 11 games, and go oh-seven, however…… At the moment I have Jose Rivera, who missed most of last year hurting, as the #2 guy. Not that I think Rivera is a #2 guy, but I want someone to split our best two starters, Saito and Lopez, who are both left-handers, and I don’t want the rookie to do that (Farley), and neither do I want the guy who is still looking in every nook and cranny for his first big league win. Oh, boy. This is getting one of those posts where the mind just wanders aimlessly about … Well. It’s January 1. Factoring in all the players on the 40-man roster that are already / still here, we have about $2.16M to spend on a respectable right-handed starter, and a backup infielder. The reason for the first is that Flores in the rotation has no thrill to me. The reason for the latter is that we currently have five infielders aligned with Weeds, Ingall, Guerin, and Crowe around the diamond, and Utting as a super utility man. Crowe and Weeds can’t play up the middle, so we need someone to pluck in there on defense if needed. It would be really helpful to get a left-handed bat for the job, since except for the lefty Wedemeyer, all the others bat right-handed. Among our outfielders, Buell and Reece are right-handers, Kent and Miranda are left-handers. Werner Turner is a right-handed batter. Guerrero and Newton are the only switch-hitters we currently have. Since Kent and Miranda are not that likely to play at the same time (if we don’t sign a replacement for one of them anyway…), that leaves us a bit too weak from the left side of the plate. A left-handed backup could easily spell both middle infielders against a right-handed pitcher. In AAA, Steve Caddock would fit the mold cast here, as long as you don’t mind a .138 batter. Conceicao Guerin, 24, is a particular case. The stereotype defensive shortstop, he batted .266/.333/.321 last season. In 272 ML AB, he has no home runs and only one triple. Don’t even expect a double (he has 10). Still, batting .266 ain’t shabby, however, his defense was not very good last year. He played 486.2 innings at short, and made 8 errors for a .966 fielding percentage that doesn’t thrill me. His ZR was a nice +5.4, though, so in a full season of some 1,200 innings, he might make 1 to 1.5 WAR from defense. But those errors were a lot, to be honest. I went back to Jorge Salazar, who manned hell’s corner for seven and a half years for us. Actually, let’s discard 1997 entirely, because he was traded early in the year and the Miners used him mostly at second base. Let’s look at his numbers 1990-96, on defense (his offense was markedly better than Guerin’s, despite no power either) I remembered him to be so much better. Was I mistaken? Jorge Salazar – Defensive Values at SS for POR, 1990-96 1990: 1,242 IP – 7 E - .990 PCT - +20.3 ZR 1991: 1,114 IP – 8 E - .985 PCT - +15.6 ZR 1992: 1,253 IP – 10 E - .985 PCT - +13.7 ZR 1993: 1,155 IP – 10 E - .983 PCT - +6.3 ZR 1994: 1,266 IP – 14 E - .979 PCT - +3.0 ZR 1995: 1,170 IP – 6 E - .990 PCT - +6.8 ZR 1996: 892 IP – 15 E - .966 PCT - -3.3 ZR So, yes and no. Salazar’s first three years were nothing but outstanding, and he still held up well in his mid-30s. The last year, meh, not so much. Maybe I am spoiled by the high level of play we got from Salazar for most of the decade. Like I said, the mind wanders. It is still January 2. January 2 – The Pacifics have a new closer in 32-yr old ex-TIJ Jared Chaney (42-39, 2.83 ERA, 160 SV), who has agreed with the team on a 2-yr, $842k contract. January 3 – The Loggers sign ex-SFW CL Ricardo Medina (62-59, 2.45 ERA, 275 SV). The 34-year old signs a 3-yr, $2.57M deal. January 3 – In turn the Warriors draw away CL North veteran OF Luis Arroyo (.277, 95 HR, 478 RBI). The 28-year old ex-Canadien will earn $4.98M over five years. January 6 – The Canadiens trade 26-yr old SP Nick Jacobson (2-6, 4.11 ERA) to the Indians for 18-yr old prospect 2B Sixto Garcia. January 7 – The Condors agree to a 2-yr, $1.32M contract with ex-POR C David Vinson (.246, 88 HR, 457 RBI). The 32-yr old type A free agent gives the Raccoons a supplemental round pick and the Condors’ second round pick. January 12 – The Warriors get a new closer, signing 28-yr old ex-PIT Lawrence Bentley (36-29, 2.28 ERA, 181 SV) to a 3-yr, $2.7M contract. January 24 – The Raccoons trade 31-yr old AAA C Nori Kondo (.245, 11 HR, 129 RBI) to the Gold Sox for 26-yr old RF/CF Jorge Villegas (.238, 31 HR, 134 RBI). January 24 – The Pacifics and 33-yr old ex-CHA SP Fernando Chavez (121-133, 3.88 ERA) agree on a 3-yr, $2.14M contract. January 27 – Ex-POR LF Vern Kinnear (.263, 72 HR, 397 RBI) signs a 5-yr, $5.3M contract with the Atlanta Knights. The Raccoons receive a supplemental round pick. January 27 – The Portland Raccoons announce the signing of 26-yr old SP Bryce Hildred (2-0, 3.18 ERA), whose big league career is limited to six relief appearances for the Stars in 1995. He receives a 1-yr, $150k contract. January 30 – The Crusaders add 30-yr old OF Alejandro Olvera (.265, 49 HR, 312 RBI) on a 2-yr, $1.44M contract. Olvera has bounced around, playing now for his fifth different team since 1994. February 5 – The Pacifics sign ex-IND CL Javier Navarro (33-40, 2.49 ERA, 204 SV) on a 1-yr, $920k deal. When David Vinson was taken on by the Condors, I decided to pitch another offer to Vern Kinnear should he still be around mid-February. It may not be wise, it may not be financially prudent, but … but he’s Vern Kinnear, and has 20 Gold Gloves and I love him. Well, the point became moot before the end of the month, but … hmz. The pick we received for Vinson is the 17th pick in the second round. The Condors had already forfeited their first round pick to the Pacifics earlier, when they signed SP Bastyao Caixinha. That’s unfortunate, but won’t matter if all the other free agents will be washed ashore someplace or other. Ramos, Lara, and Aycock are still unsigned. Two weeks after the Vinson signing I got a proposal from the Gold Sox. It was Villegas for Kondo right away. I was shopping Kondo anyway, so this was a natural fit. Villegas is going to replace one between Miranda and Kent and I have not decided which one will be sent down yet. Both have several options left. I had Vince Guerra filter all remaining free agents with good defense up the middle in the infield, and for batting left-handed. The number of results: zero. Steve Caddock’s stock is on the rise. The Hildred signing is one of those shrewd moves I make occasionally that have not clicked in 15 years. The last one was Winston Thompson, I think. His AAA stats were not very thrilling apart from 208 K last season, but Vince Guerra liked him, so why not. He has no options and he isn’t even a threat to Esteban Flores, so we may waive him regardless to get him onto the AAA team in April. Draft day forecast: right now the Coons are due to have four of the first 45, six of the first 64, and seven of the first 75 picks. Pick your favorite number. And I still hope to get another pick or two (or three?) for Lara, Ramos, and Aycock. On the other hand, if Lara or Ramos are still around at the end of March ........ With the preseason beginning, and good Vern Kinnear being knighted, fan interest has reached 64, and is falling further. Anyone still reading? Anyone? __________________ Portland Raccoons, 91 years of excell-.... of baseball: Furballs here! 1983 * 1989 * 1991 * 1992 * 1993 * 1995 * 1996 * 2010 * 2017 * 2018 * 2019 * 2026 * 2028 * 2035 * 2037 * 2044 * 2045 * 2046 * 2047 * 2048 * 2051 * 2054 * 2055 * 2061 1 OSANAI : 2 POWELL : 7 NOMURA \| RAMOS : 8 REECE : 10 BROWN : 15 HALL : 27 FERNANDEZ : 28 CASAS : 31 CARMONA : 32 WEST : 39 TONER : 46 SAITO Resident Mets Cynic - The Mets from 1962 onwards, here.