[Westheim]

2008 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set shows 2007 numbers, second set overall; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Nick Brown, 30, B:L, T:L (14-9, 2.68 ERA | 82-58, 2.97 ERA) – the left-handed part of our pair of co-aces had some struggles with command one year after missing significant time with a shoulder injury, but led the league with a 9.7 K/9 and set a new franchise mark for strikeouts with 243. He set the record for the fourth time in his career.
SP Kelvin Yates, 30, B:L, T:R (21-3, 2.37 ERA | 92-89, 3.43 ERA, 1 SV) – electric right-handed co-ace, who led the league in wins and ERA and still didn’t get Pitcher of the Year honors; reached almost 200 more strikeouts than walks in ’07; you rarely ever have to worry about him.
SP Javier Cruz *, 35, B:L, T:R (12-4, 3.28 ERA | 194-122, 3.73 ERA, 1 SV) – free agent fireballer with diverse pitch arsenal and pretty consistent career numbers; home runs might be a challenge for him, though.
SP Jong-hoo Umberger *, 30, B:R, T:R (rookie) – international free agent of South Korean and Austrian descent; mixes above-average fastball and cutter with evil sliders and changeups
SP Kenichi Watanabe, 31, B:R, T:R (5-5, 2.90 ERA | 17-29, 3.53 ERA) – Watanabe nibbles the corners, which sometimes works, and sometimes doesn’t. Missed more than half of 2007 with an injury, but came back well in late September.

MU Kazuhiko Kichida, 28, B:L, T:R (5-5, 3.86 ERA | 12-13, 3.75 ERA) – there’s always that point somewhere in the season where you think Kaz has turned the corner, and then some violent outing happens in which he gets torn to shreds. Just not a reliable guy you can’t trust with a lead. He might snip walkoff singles in long marathon games from time to time, though.
MR Tom Watkins *, 32, B:R, T:R (5-3, 3.27 ERA, 2 SV | 14-34, 3.82 ERA, 58 SV) – free agent addition; you can certainly do a whole lot worse for your fourth-best right-handed reliever.
MR Lawrence Rockburn, 27, B:R, T:R (5-2, 2.18 ERA, 3 SV | 12-5, 2.49 ERA, 7 SV) – Raw Lockburn is consistently great in a seventh inning role, but can also be thrown into close situations. He has elite control, walking only 51 batters in 220 1/3 innings in his career.
MR Ed Bryan, 27, B:L, T:L (6-2, 2.73 ERA, 3 SV | 14-7, 2.50 ERA, 4 SV) – his numbers look pretty good, if you want to glance over the seven home runs he allowed, which were mostly big and all too often costly. He is demoted from the setup role in favor of addition Donald Sims.
MR Donald Sims *, 32, B:L, T:L (4-4, 4.19 ERA, 3 SV | 32-38, 4.00 ERA, 36 SV) – free agent addition designated for a left-handed setup role;
SU Marcos Bruno, 32, B:R, T:R (7-1, 1.44 ERA, 2 SV | 28-25, 2.88 ERA, 58 SV) – struck out 70+ for the fourth straight year, while never walking more than 20, and posting a .84 WHIP. Could be a closer for just about anybody.
CL Angel Casas, 25, B:S, T:R (6-1, 1.04 ERA, 48 SV | 10-6, 1.76 ERA, 120 SV) – as Angel is maturing, he gets more and more elite, nailing opposing lineups into the ground in the 2007 season; he would have broken Grant West’s mark of 49 SV in a year if not for the Coons’ collapse in September. His K/BB in 2007 was 8.2 – utter dominance.

C Craig Bowen, 27, B:S, T:R (.253, 21 HR, 74 RBI | .231, 46 HR, 168 RBI) – leading the team in moustache and posting the best catching performance we’ve had in a decade, Bowen had a fantastic breakout season and we can’t wait for more.
C Sergio Esquivel, 24, B:S, T:R (.264, 2 HR, 11 RBI | .254, 2 HR, 17 RBI) – once we dumped Bob Wood, Esquivel played a competent backup to Bowen, although he is not even a defensive upgrade over our primary.

1B Adrian Quebell, 25, B:L, T:L (.290, 5 HR, 42 RBI | .282, 17 HR, 120 RBI) – Quebell gives a good presence in the field and regularly appears on base, although he doesn’t quite generate a threat when there due to a lack of speed. His power is most disappointing for playing a traditional power position.
1B/2B Ieyoshi Nomura, 23, B:L, T:R (.242, 1 HR, 37 RBI | .271, 5 HR, 112 RBI) – Yoshi never got going and fell far off from his torrid 2006 campaign; his ceiling, we believe, is closer to the .745 OPS he hit for then than to the .617 he produced in ’07. His defense is at best average, though.
2B/SS Juan Barrón *, 35, B:R, T:R (.342, 1 HR, 33 RBI | .307, 32 HR, 853 RBI) – highly experienced and quite elite starting shortstop that arrived in trade with the Capitals; Barrón is excellent at getting on base as well as with the glove, winning four golden ones in his career, including the CL SS gloves in 2004 and 2005. Depending on the success of Yoshi, he might start at second base against left-handed pitchers.
3B Ricardo Martinez, 22, B:R, T:R (rookie) – showed prodigious power in AAA, but is not much of a defender, although he has some remarkable speed. He will be the third base starter to begin the year; if he struggles, we can still revert to Nelson Chavez.
SS Ryan Miller, 23, B:R, T:R (.238, 2 HR, 20 RBI | .227, 2 HR, 20 RBI) – labeled as the future after a January 2005 trade with the Titans added him when he was a prospect, Miller has yet to live up to the billing.
3B/2B/1B Nelson Chavez *, 31, B:S, T:R (.253, 9 HR, 61 RBI | .259, 48 HR, 304 RBI) – excellent defensive third baseman that was signed as a free agent, who might more play a backup role to Ricardo Martinez.

LF/1B Matt Pruitt, 24, B:L, T:R (.297, 11 HR, 61 RBI | .302, 14 HR, 77 RBI) – missed the first half of the year with injuries, but made his presence known in the second half. Not much of a defender, though, and there is still the possibility of moving him to first base at the expense of Quebell.
LF/CF Tomas Castro, 24, B:S, T:R (.321, 19 HR, 87 RBI | .309, 37 HR, 189 RBI) – another player who had quite the breakout year and currently has the longest guaranteed contract on the team, having been signed through 2012 at rather team-friendly terms; while he is not much of a defensive centerfielder due to an arm grading out as poor, he more than made up for his in-field shortcomings by wielding a pretty lumber in ‘07.
RF/LF/CF Luke Black, 34, B:R, T:R (.239, 31 HR, 107 RBI | .236, 105 HR, 432 RBI) – Duke Smack became the first Raccoon to hit 30 dingers or drive in 100 runs in a number of years, drawing profit from an excellent OBP bunch ahead of him, which should not grade out much worse in 2008. He also won the Gold Glove in right field. He has $1M vesting options for 2009 and 2010, requiring an appearance in 120 games to trigger.
CF/RF/LF Santiago Trevino, 25, B:L, T:L (.253, 1 HR, 16 RBI | .250, 1 HR, 30 RBI) – excellent defensive centerfielder with an uninspiring bat.
RF/LF/CF Jose Carlos Crespo, 27, B:S, T:R (.256, 9 HR, 35 RBI | .262, 17 HR, 93 RBI) – Crespo filled out every hole he was stuck in, playing all over the place, even in center, but produced more pleasant surprises with the bat than with the glove.

On disabled list: Nobody.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement:
MR Dan Parker *, 25, B:L, T:L (0-0, 4.64 ERA | 1-0, 6.29 ERA) – DFA. Was acquired from the Pacifics in early December, but ultimately we added a better guy in Donald Sims. He has a good slider and generates ground balls, so we would love to keep him in AAA as a backup, but he will most likely be claimed.

Opening day lineups:
SS Barrón – 1B Quebell – CF Castro – RF Black – LF Pruitt – C Bowen – 3B R. Martinez – 2B Nomura – P Brown
2B Barrón – 1B Quebell – CF Castro – RF Black – C Bowen – LF Pruitt – 3B R. Martinez – SS R. Miller – P Brown

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

We lost an incredible producer in Vic Flores (but added perhaps an almost as good player in Juan Barrón) and the longest-tenured Raccoon, Daniel Sharp, to free agency, tearing a hole into the left side on the infield. We will have to see how well Ricardo Martinez replaces Sharp, on whom we admittedly soured the last two years. The rotation should be much better at the softer bottom with the additions of Cruz and Umberger, who admittedly is a bit of a question mark. Overall, the Raccoons finished a flat zero in WAR gains, 13th overall.

Top 5: Thunder (+12.4), Wolves (+7.5), Blue Sox (+5.3), Scorpions (+4.2), Canadiens (+3.4)
Bottom 5: Bayhawks (-4.3), Rebels (-4.9), Falcons (-7.0), Stars (-7.9), Warriors (-11.2)

PREDICTION TIME:

The Raccoons smashed their way through the competition the first half of last season to race out to a 10 1/2 game lead in late June, sitting at 55-21 … and then played .500 ball from there and lost out on their first playoff appearance since 1996.

Their 2008 chances depend on how well they have patched their own weaknesses as well as what the Crusaders and Canadiens did. The Raccoons suffered from abysmal starting pitching outside of their co-aces and Watanabe (when healthy), which was addressed to satisfaction prior to first pitch. Other holes were stuffed as well.

The Canadiens dealt away a strong young CF Jose Gonzalez for what seems to be spare parts, and will try to plug the gap with an almost 38-year old Dan Morris. That could well turn out to be a folly.

The Crusaders’ biggest addition is 3B Sonny Reece, and the left side of the infield has been a sore for them for a few years. The other additions are mostly bits, and any team that signs Greg Grams (6.33 ERA in 2007) raises eyebrows about their seriousness. But they only lost one significant player in SP Jesus Bautista, too, and assuming Stanton Martin isn’t hurt most of the year again (thanks to Cássio Boda pitching too far in…), they remain serious contenders.

The race might be between the Coons and the Crusaders this season, the former holding the edge in pitching and the latter in offense. It’s too close to call up front, but either team might be good enough for 95 to 100 wins. Best guess: the Raccoons repeat their 98-64 season from 2007 and this time fare batter in head-to-head competition and beat the Crusaders by two games.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

While the Raccoons’ system improved from 13th to 10th this season, their number of ranked prospects decreased again, from ten to only eight, but this is due to a large part of the ranked prospects from last year migrating to the Bigs.

The following ranked players from last year are no longer eligible: #58 Ryan Miller (service time), #120 Jose Gutierrez (service time), #138 Cássio Boda (service time); we also traded #18 Dave Self (who dropped to #41). No other ranked players dropped off this year.

5th (+14) – AA SP Hector Santos, 19 – international discovery by Vince Guerra
29th (+38) – AAA CL Pedro Delgado, 23 – 2002 first round pick by the Titans, acquired in trade with Bill Corkum and Rémy Lucas for Manny Gabriel and Dale Moore
67th (-30) – AA OF Jimmy Eichelkraut, 19 – 2006 first round pick by the Raccoons
75th (+113) – AAA SP Cesar Lopez, 25 – international discovery by Knights, acquired in trade with Jesus Palacios, Manny Gabriel, and Butch Kaustrop for Marvin Ingall and Manuel Reyes
84th (new) – A SP Kevin Denton, 20 – 2007 first round pick by the Raccoons
93rd (-6) – ML 3B Ricardo Martinez, 22 – international discovery by Pacifics, acquired in trade from Titans with Jose Carlos Crespo and Cássio Boda for Albert Martin and Glen Barnes
133rd (new) – AA SS Dave Roudabush, 22 – 2004 eighth round pick by the Condors, signed as minor league free agent
154th (-26) – AAA SP Brendan Teasdale, 23 – 2005 first round pick by the Raccoons

The #1 prospect in the country remains 19-year old SS Tom McWhorter, the second overall pick by the Miners in 2006.

Next: first pitch!