[Westheim]

My first order was to try and lock up some of our players on the arbitration list, and foremost Dan Delgadillo, whom I offered a 5-year deal in the region of $9M, but he had none of it. He also didn't want a 4-year deal. He would not sign for anything but a 1-year deal to stay away from arbitration, and was probably expecting to be in a better negotiating position next year, which would be his last season of arbitration eligibility.

With another player, the problem was more the other way round. The Raccoons would have liked to keep Abel Mora on board, but at a reasonable price and not right up until his kids would be through college, and the youngest of his – according to Maud – adorable boys, Dyllon-Theodore, was only two years old… Mora had other ideas. He had already made $2.08M this year, thought he deserved a hefty raise, and was also looking for a deal straight through his age 37 season. The Raccoons weren't as keen on a 37-year-old centerfielder – and their and Mora's ways would part after four seasons with 543 base hits, 54 homers, and 275 RBI.

In a way, this offered the backdoor for Matt Nunley. Yes, Nunley would be 37 by Opening Day, but the hot corner was not centerfield, he had always been modest in his demands, and while Rich Hereford was also a very good defensive third baseman, if we couldn't keep Mora around, there was definitely an opening in the outfield for Hereford there. We envisioned him as leftfielder in that case, and would have to look for a centerfielder on the market.

Or, well, you know… Greg Borg or Juan Magallanes. I keep saying that somebody's gotta bat eighth, but maybe we should take a gander at the market anyway.

A number of pieces fell into place by the end of October, actually. The Raccoons extended Jeff Kearney for one season and $600k, Ricky Ohl also for one year and $350k, and Dan Delgadillo for the aforementioned one year and $2M.

Two players signed longer deals; Billy Brotman signed a 3-year deal that would pay him $400k next season and $600k each of the next two, for a total of $1.6M, while Elias Tovias inked a 4-yr, $3.5M extension that would pay $650k in '28 and escalate to $1.1M in '31.

2031. That sounds like space age. In fact… Maud? – Maud!! – Wasn't there this … this future show on that channel … - When was that? – So long ago? … Well, Maud confirmed that she watched the show "2031" that premiered in 2021 on CBN. And now we're almost there, and we STILL don't have flying cars…!

Or an offense that can score at least 4.5 runs per game.

During award season in early November, the Raccoons also finalized an extension for Matt Nunley, who would hang around for a 16th and 17th season as a Raccoon, taking a total of $1M for those two years. If he made it to 2029, that would tie him with Daniel Hall as the longest-enduring position players in Raccoons history, with 17 seasons under their belt each. Neil Reece and Cookie Carmona (who did not get an offer…) had lasted 16 seasons each, as had pitchers Kisho Saito and Grant West. Scott Wade had also been on a Raccoons team for 17 seasons, but Nick Brown stood alone with 18 seasons of service for the Raccoons.

Oh dear, how time passes… Matt Nunley was a toddler when Daniel Hall retired…

After Nunley, we took the remaining relievers off the arbitration table, signing 1-year deals with Jonathan Snyder ($750k) and Kevin Surginer ($350k), then finally agreed to a $1M deal with Tim Stalker for his final year of team control.

And that was it. The Raccoons could not get Abel Mora to sign a shorter extension, and they had no interest in resigning the other free agents and arbitration case Adam St. Germaine. We will get back to Jon Gonzalez in a second, but was that ever a disaster of a trade last winter? Gonzalez to Dallas for St. Germaine and Trey Rock. In case you wonder, Trey Rock has not been a Raccoon since July, but at least we flipped him into Rich Hereford. The other free agents to be were Cookie Carmona (too old, too broken), Steve Hollingsworth (nice try, but no cigar), and Daniel Bullock (Cristiano Carmona is very distraught).

+++

November 3 – The Dallas Stars send 1B Jon Gonzalez (.275, 115 HR, 469 RBI) back to the CL North, trading him to Indianapolis along with cash for RF/LF Dave O'Rourke (.263, 48 HR, 194 RBI).
November 5 – The Canadiens acquire SP Leon Hernandez (128-102, 3.66 ERA) from the Knights, parting with RF/LF Chris Mendoza (.256, 48 HR, 278 RBI) and a prospect.

+++

I am *sorta* looking forward to see Jon Gonzalez back in the division. I mean, on one hand this guy can ruin your entire night. On the other hand, he had a terrible season in Dallas, where normally hitters go to blossom. Jon amounted only to 1.7 WAR in his age 30 season there, hitting .265 with 18 homers. Two of his three Portland seasons were better than that, and it was not close. That one will be interesting to see. He is under contract through 2030, too, so the Indians have something to play with here.

+++

2027 ABL AWARDS

Players of the Year: WAS C/1B David Lessman (.317, 30 HR, 96 RBI) and VAN OF Brian Wojnarowski (.327, 20 HR, 79 RBI)
Pitchers of the Year: WAS SP Jorge Beltran (14-3, 2.36 ERA) and BOS SP Dustin Wingo (18-6, 1.97 ERA)
Rookies of the Year: DAL OF/1B Aaron Botzet (.310, 8 HR, 60 RBI) and VAN SP Victor Govea (12-1, 2.23 ERA)
Relievers of the Year: CIN CL Adam Moran (12-6, 2.81 ERA, 22 SV) and POR Josh Boles (5-3, 1.21 ERA, 18 SV)
Platinum Sticks (FL): P LAP Dave Christiansen, C WAS David Lessman, 1B PIT Danny Santillano, 2B TOP Chris Owen, 3B SAL Guillermo Obando, SS WAS Dave Menth, LF SAC Doug Stross, CF PIT Carlos de la Riva, RF WAS Tsuneyoshi Tachibana
Platinum Sticks (CL): P IND Chris Sinkhorn, C TIJ Danny Zarate, 1B SFB Tomas Caraballo, 2B LVA Andres Medina, 3B TIJ Shane Sanks, SS OCT Alex Serrato, LF VAN Alex Torres, CF LVA Danny Serrano, RF POR Rafael Gomez
Gold Gloves (FL): P RIC Joaquin Serrano, C CIN Alex Jaramillo, 1B DEN Brad Gore, 2B SAC Jorge Castro, 3B SAC Jason LaCombe, SS NAS Mike Martin, LF LAP Chris McEwen, CF NAS Khalil Sams, RF CIN Ken Gibbs
Gold Gloves (CL): P TIJ Alex Hichez, C MIL Jim Young, 1B OCT John Elliott, 2B BOS Rhett West, 3B BOS Adam Corder, SS ATL Rich Miller, LF BOS Willie Vega, CF MIL Ian Coleman, RF BOS Adam Braun

Like I needed another argument for Josh Boles to pick up the closer's mantle! I had my mind made up even before he picked up that ghastly bronze bowl for the Reliever of the Year that weighed about 90 pounds for some weird reason.

How Brian Wojnarowski became the Continental League Player of the Year is wholly and entirely beyond me. I wouldn't even name him the best outfielder on the damn Elks!

Never mind that the damn Elks wrapped up two of the major awards and we only got one, and then it was the least major. Stuff like that just riles me up inside. I will not sleep through from here straight through Easter!

…

Any which way, it is November 17. Free agents have departed.

Cookie Carmona is a Raccoon no more. Almost 20 years after signing with the Capitals out of Panama, and 16 years and four months after the July 2011 trade that sent him to Portland along with Jason Bergquist, Mike Cook, Gary Dupes, and Joe O'Brian in a deal for Jose "Dingus" Morales and Luis Beltran. The story of that Morales gamble in April 2011, when the Raccoons signed the leftover slugger to forfeit their first-round pick after the start of the season, then traded him for the best prospect they could have ever gotten when things didn't work out for them three months later, has finally found a conclusion. It was not a bad time by any measure. It gave the Raccoons a new franchise leader in terms of base hits (2,299) and stolen bases (428), and boundless joy for the first decade. The latter, not-quite-a-decade decade was a tough chew…

Good old Cookie Carmona. We will miss him.