[Westheim]

2004 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set shows 2003 numbers, second set overall; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Nick Brown, 26, B:L, T:L (10-13, 3.72 ERA | 21-27, 3.31 ERA) – strikeout machine, setting a new single season K mark for the team with 223 in 2003; although the control is still not there and will probably never come – he has walked just shy of 100 batters in each of his two full seasons. The magnificent stuff and the fact that Ralph Ford had the year from hell win him his first Opening Day assignment.
SP Randy Farley, 30, B:R, T:R (13-7, 3.61 ERA | 69-64, 3.75 ERA) – still looks young, although he will already embark on his seventh major league campaign, all with the Coons; has been dubbed Mr. Singles for a problematic H/9 and BABIP development, which the two of course being related in some way. The question is how much influence Randy has over .310 or higher BABIP marks (.351 in 2002) for four consecutive years.
SP Ralph Ford, 26, B:L, T:L (5-11, 5.77 ERA | 38-53, 4.04 ERA) – had the year from hell, struggling furiously in the first half of the season, and then got shut down with a small tear in his rotator cuff after 18 starts. His previous track record shows all facets of a starting pitcher’s life already, so it may not become boring with our #3 guy.
SP Edgar Amador, 22, B:R, T:R (6-6, 3.95 ERA | 6-6, 3.95 ERA) – serious groundball pitcher who was acquired mid-season in the Carl Bean trade and made a total of 21 starts between the Loggers and the Raccoons. His control is not 100% there yet, but he seems too good to be parked in AAA.
SP Felipe Garcia, 26, B:R, T:R (7-6, 4.01 ERA | 11-11, 4.18 ERA) – struggled with injuries for all of his professional career, with last year no exception. On a good day he can spin a fantastic game. But good days have been few and far between.

MR Bill Corkum *, 30, B:R, T:R (6-7, 4.09 ERA, 2 SV | 32-35, 2.55 ERA, 195 SV) – acquired from the Rebels in the Gabriel / Moore trade, Corkum further condenses the options we have available from the right side; should Dan Nordahl’s struggles continue, he is a prime candidate to take over the closer’s role.
MR Ricardo Huerta, 30, B:R, T:R (5-4, 3.30 ERA, 1 SV | 13-16, 3.94 ERA, 3 SV) – continues to impress with rock-solid relief work, running up 153 innings over the last two seasons, and the structure of our bullpen means that he will again be the first guy we go to in long relief situations.
MR Dave Williams *, 29, B:L, T:L (did not appear | 5-2, 3.97 ERA) – rule 5 pick from the Rebels to be used as a left-handed specialist, although his K/9 indicates that he likes to rely on his defense a lot.
MR Manuel Martinez, 25, B:R, T:R (3-3, 2.47 ERA, 1 SV | 8-7, 3.91 ERA, 3 SV) – runner at third, two outs, right-hander at the plate, Martinez is your man; can strike out almost anybody, but might also walk a few in between; very little stamina, and his usage indicates that as well, as he has pitched 165.2 innings in 232 career games.
SU Marcos Bruno, 28, B:R, T:R (5-4, 3.92 ERA, 3 SV | 13-11, 3.74 ERA, 11 SV) – pitched wonderfully for five months before he imploded in September, including a back injury, but he has proven himself to be a reliable late inning piece.
SU Domingo Moreno, 30, B:R, T:L (1-3, 2.80 ERA, 2 SV | 17-10, 2.92 ERA, 14 SV) – while his first year in Portland (2002) was marred by injuries, he was a very steady reliever for us in 2003 and was rewarded with a 3-year extension. Can pitch multiple innings if required, but will mostly be used in the seventh or eighth inning for left-handers.
CL Dan Nordahl, 25, B:R, T:R (4-3, 4.14 ERA, 36 SV | 16-16, 4.05 ERA, 88 SV) – started the season in the most atrocious ways, nursing an ERA over nine for most of April, and never really got into a groove, which is to say that ninth innings were never boring with the Raccoons holding a close lead; has surrendered 10 home runs last year, which is about his biggest problem, because he can strike people out at will if everything clicks for him.

C Pablo Ledesma, 28, B:L, T:R (.216, 12 HR, 61 RBI | .253, 53 HR, 311 RBI) – in the history of the Raccoons, there have been some disappointments, and Ledesma ranks very high on the list, batting an atrocious .216 in his first season on the Willamette, and although he won a Gold Glove, that didn’t save his season. We are still looking for a clever way to move his contract, which somehow ballooned to the fourth-largest on the team.
C Mark Thomas, 27, B:R, T:R (.333, 0 HR, 13 RBI | .249, 11 HR, 71 RBI) – called up late for the atrocious Gary Fifield, and batted well in 102 AB, but his track record keeps us from declaring him any more than a platoon mate to Ledesma.

1B Albert Martin, 27, B:L, T:L (.307, 30 HR, 117 RBI | .286, 105 HR, 370 RBI) – premium home run AND average hitter, and you will buy some shoddy defense with that. Won the first base batting award in the first year the ABL awarded it.
1B/2B/3B/SS Marvin Ingall, 35, B:R, T:R (.266, 5 HR, 31 RBI | .278, 53 HR, 428 RBI) – good all-rounder, playing all infield positions well and delivering those trademark INGALL SINGLES whenever one is needed. Like, when the opposing pitcher has sat down 26 of his teammates without allowing anyone on base. Jesus Palacios’ departure wins him the starting second base job after a few years of utility duties here and in Atlanta, and he’s not bad at second base, having won a pair of Gold Gloves in 1999 and 2000.
SS Conceicao Guerin, 30, B:R, T:R (.280, 3 HR, 44 RBI | .280, 14 HR, 321 RBI) – Concie missed 67 games with injuries, and still stole 24 bases, which just adds to his good on-base bat and the golden defense.
1B/3B Daniel Sharp, 26, B:R, T:R (.284, 5 HR, 38 RBI | .286, 24 HR, 160 RBI) – everyday third baseman, never mind the occasional stupid error, in the field or on the base paths; missed 51 games with a variety of injuries in 2003, like Concie, but when healthy can provide lots of RBI opportunities for the guys behind him.
3B/SS/2B/RF/1B Miguel Ramirez, 25, B:R, T:R (.208, 14 HR, 42 RBI | .189, 15 HR, 55 RBI) – this young Dominican has a hacker’s bat, which illustrates his 1-for-40 futility in 2002 better than anything else; can do damage with power, but he goes not connect near often enough to dislodge anybody around the diamond.
2B/SS/3B/1B Brad Sheehan *, 30, B:R, T:R (did not appaear | .218, 4 HR, 47 RBI) – plays all positions well, was added at the insistence of a certain scouting director who is becoming old and strange.

LF/CF Neil Reece, 37, B:R, T:R (.272, 9 HR, 64 RBI | .303, 169 HR, 865 RBI) – longest-tenured Raccoon, having debuted in 1989, Reece has been eaten up by old age and injuries, although he ironically was injury-free for the first time since 1993 (his 153 appearances in 2003 are a personal best!) in exactly that season in which the sparkle came off; his agility is gone, and he receives the honorary first listing among outfielders despite him being in a platoon with the hotshot Beairsto. Last time at-bat for the last Raccoon to have won a ring with the team, or can he find something and remain viable post-2004?
RF/CF/LF/1B Edgardo Torrez, 27, B:L, T:L (.271, 17 HR, 56 RBI | .268, 20 HR, 67 RBI) – a late bloomer always bitten by injuries, Torrez by surprise took the 2003 CL Rookie Award after striking fear amongst the opposition for 133 games at age 26, tormenting them with power, a good eye to draw walks, and some speed. We don’t see anybody to dislodge him from center in the near future.
LF/RF Clyde Brady, 27, B:L, T:L (.249, 10 HR, 50 RBI | .257, 64 HR, 305 RBI) – fails to deliver on the glimpse of greatness we saw in the injury-shortened 2001 season, now delivering almost the same numbers every season. We tried to trade for Royce Green to keep Brady busy, which didn’t work out, and right now he is quite uncontested in right except for starts against left-handed pitching of which a number will go to King.
LF/RF Chris Beairsto, 25, B:L, T:L (.241, 17 HR, 42 RBI | .212, 21 HR, 50 RBI) – platoon made of Neil Reece in leftfield, Beairsto combines feast and famine more spectacularly than most players the sport has seen: at his best he can hit home runs almost every day, but at his worst, he will strike out three times for many consecutive games. If this kid could learn a sliver of plate discipline, he could become great. Beairsto also was a pitcher in his youth and is a candidate for the most severe mop-up duties.
LF/RF/CF Matt King *, 26, B:R, T:R (.333, 0 HR, 7 RBI | .289, 1 HR, 42 RBI) – acquired in trade from the Falcons, King can provide backup to all three positions and might grab a fair share of starts against left-handed pitching.

On disabled list: Nobody.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement:
C Gary Fifield, 31, B:R, T:R (.145, 4 HR, 14 RBI | .211, 25 HR, 95 RBI) – DFA after we couldn’t move him for a full year.

Opening day lineups:
Vs. RHP: SS Guerin – CF Torrez – RF Brady – 1B Martin – LF Beairsto – 3B Sharp – 2B Ingall – C Ledesma – P Brown
Vs. LHP: SS Guerin – 3B Sharp – 2B Ingall – 1B Martin – LF Reece – RF Brady – CF Torrez – C Thomas – P Brown
However, Neil Reece will get the Opening Day start even against a right-hander.

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

The Raccoons posted their franchise-worst seventh consecutive losing season at 76-86, and that was the best result in five years. The offseason was rather uneventful in Portland. There were a few deals and the odd signing, but the Raccoons did not land a really big name to improve their game, losing 0.7 WAR for a t-13th spot in BNN’s offseason ranking.

Top 5: Bayhawks (+13.3), Crusaders (+6.2), Cyclones (+6.2), Wolves (+3.4), Buffaloes (+2.7)
Bottom 5: Indians (-3.7), Warriors (-4.1), Capitals (-6.3), Condors (-12.7), Loggers (-16.5)

PREDICTION TIME:

Last year I predicted the Raccoons to play along for a while before being decimated by injuries and finishing 71-91. Most of that became true, as we were over .500 into May before reality began to sink in, and Concie and Sharpie missed chunks of the season as well as the rotation getting mauled with Ford, Garcia, and Piquero (who is back in AAA) getting hurt and Carl Bean traded for future glory chances.

The Raccoons are hardly improved this year, but they may have a better balanced roster this time around, the Jolys and McLaughlins having been disposed of. But there are still health concerns over a lot of the players, and we got extraordinary contributions from guys like Eddie Torrez, who have to back up these outputs now.

We failed to land an impact player, old problems continue to persist, and overall there is no hope for significant improvement. The Raccoons will never be a factor and will finish far off, at 72-90.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

For years, the Raccoons’ system was mired in obscurity, even ranking near the bottom a few years ago, and 16th both of the last two seasons. Apparently the weather has changed, because this year BNN puts us – far and away! – at #1 in the country!

Last year we had only six prospects in the top 200, this year we have six in the first 61 selections. And some more! Of the previous six from last year, #62 Chris Beairsto is no longer eligible, #36 Mun-wah Tsung was traded, and #79 Ieyoshi Nomura and #93 Mike Willard fell off the list.

2nd (new) – AAA CL Angel Casas, 21 – 2003 first round pick by the Raccoons
22nd (+119) – AA SP/MR Adam Riddle, 22 – 2002 second round pick by the Raccoons
24th (new) – A MR Pedro Delgado, 19 – 2002 first round pick by the Titans, acquired in trade with Bill Corkum and Rémy Lucas for Manny Gabriel and Dale Moore
37th (new) – AA CL Rémy Lucas, 25 – 2000 fifth round pick by the Crusaders, acquired in trade with Bill Corkum and Pedro Delgado for Manny Gabriel and Dale Moore
52nd (new) – AAA MR Lawrence Rockburn, 23 – international discovery by the Thunder, acquired in trade for Butch Kaustrop
61st (new) – AA OF Santiago Trevino, 21 – 2003 second round pick by the Raccoons
72nd (+113) – AAA 1B Alejandro Rojas, 24 – international discovery by Vicente Guerra
95th (new) – AAA MR Cody Bryant, 21 – 2001 second round pick by the Raccoons
102nd (new) – AAA MR Ed Bryan, 23 – 1999 fourth round pick by the Raccoons
111th (new) – AAA MR Scott Boone, 23 – 1998 supplemental round pick by the Raccoons
112nd (new) – AAA MR Matt Cash, 21 – 2000 second round pick by the Raccoons
120th (new) – AAA C Bob Wood, 23 – 1999 third round pick by the Raccoons
129th (new) – AA MR Luis Beltran, 24 – 2001 seventh round pick by the Raccoons
134th (new) – AAA MR Aurelio Hernandez, 24 – international discovery by Vicente Guerra
156th (new) – A 2B Keegan Crabtree, 20 – 2001 supplemental round pick by the Falcons, acquired in trade with Matt King for Mun-wah Tsung and Jesus Elmore
191st (new) – AA 1B Leonard Wyatt, 20 – 2002 eighth round pick by the Raccoons
199th (new) – A MR Tony Rodriguez, 19 – 2002 fourth round pick by the Raccoons

Attention. This is the newest version of OOTP, and I expect the evaluation to weight things differently than before, which is why I blame bits and bytes more than actual decent development work by me and my staff. Right, Slappy? Slappy nods in agreement as he watches a few of the kids throw balls into a bucket.

22-year old CIN 1B Ray Gilbert is the only player beating out Angel in the rankings, being put at #1. The Cyclones drafted Gilbert sixth overall in the 1999 draft. He was the #4 prospect last season.

Next: first pitch!