[Westheim]

October 28 – The Rebels acquire SP Chris “Tuba” Turner (48-48, 3.89 ERA) and $750k in cash from the Buffaloes for a prospect.
October 29 – The Raccoons trade for Pittsburgh’s SP Jose Alaniz (35-24, 3.49 ERA), leaving the Miners with 33-yr old 3B/SS Dave Myers (.280, 50 HR, 454 RBI), 2B Rich Vickers (.270, 26 HR, 176 RBI), age 29, and 22-yr old AAA OF Ivan Cantu.

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The Raccoons resolved their third base dilemma – partially – in the first week of the offseason when they unloaded Dave Myers’ big contract on the Miners. Alaniz was not likely to fix the rotation once and for all (he was not exactly a strikeout artiste and more of a groundballer), and he would also be on his fourth team in two years, being a bit of a wandering trophy in the Federal League up to this point. Let’s just say he was healthy competition for both a spot in the rotation and bullpen. Moving back to the pen might actually help him quite a bit here. Alaniz was arbitration-eligible and would be added to the Raccoons’ homework assignments in that regard. He had made $580k in 2038, and had a $650k estimate for ’39.

Cantu had been signed for $21k in the July IFA period a while back. The book on him was top-notch defensive centerfielder, but he had never hit much at any level and wasn’t expected to break out in the future either. He had been a top 100 prospect at #90 in 2036, but had dropped out of the ranks the year after.

That opened the door for Berto to sign an extension (if he’d be reasonable about the coins involved) and gave a chance to Elijah Williams to start at short every day. There wasn’t going to be a shortstop salvation on the free agent market, and the Raccoons already had a plus-rated defensive shortstop in Williams. And, well, somebody’s gotta hit eighth, right?

That had been the provenance of Jesse Stedham for much of the year. Stedham, almost 32, had been in town for two years, basically hitting league average at .251/.351/.373 with 23 homers and 113 RBI. You could do a lot better for a first baseman, but then again the Raccoons hadn’t had a great first baseman they’d been happy with since… uh… (scratches himself behind fuzzy ear with hindpaw) … Maud? Who was our last good first baseman? – No, I don’t know either.

By early November we cleared some arbitration cases. Ed Hooge was extended for one year for $765k, while Tony Morales got $380k.

The big one was Jesus Maldonado, though. He was a super-2 case, which was unfortunate, but the Raccoons made the most of it, inking him to a 7-year extension worth $12.4M. The first year was $800k, with the salary increasing to $2.2M each for the last four years. This was totally not going to fall on our paws!

A few more dominoes fell into place while the awards were given out in early November. The Raccoons signed a 1-year deal with David Fernandez for $555k. And they also signed a new contract with Alberto Ramos! Nobody’s going to be surprised about that one, right? How could be let Berto go!? The best thing was, Berto didn’t want to go and signed for meal money. Three years at $1.8M – *total*! He’d make only $600k per season through 2041, which would be his age 35 season. Ramos had made almost $24M in his career – where to put any additional money? And that was only salary and bonus payments from the Raccoons. That figure did not include all the dosh he made from toothpaste ads and the promotions for Shiny Fur CritterCare he had made.

Further down the road there was a 2-yr, $1.2M contract signed with Mauricio Garavito, which would keep our three-lefty pen intact, and suddenly narrowed the potential applications for Alaniz.

Who’d back up Berto? Well, Jon Caskey was *a* candidate, never mind that he was a .206 batter in the majors. He didn’t even have 100 plate appearances, though. It was always possible to flick Cosmo to third base late and get a strong defensive second baseman in, but the Raccoons had nobody fitting the latter description either. While the best second base prospect in the high minors next to Jose Brito was Jon Loyola, who would only turn 22 in January. He hit .304/.370/.489 in St. Pete this year, being promoted there in June. He hit 12 homers and 38 extra-base knocks, which was guaranteed to get you noticed. He was also a speed demon; unfortunately he was not nearly as great moving side-to-side, had very limited range, and was also clumsy. A move to first base was not possible, either, since he was of petit size and superfly weight. It was the most wicked skill set for somebody that had signed out of the Dominican for $150k in ’33, had been ranked #77 prospect in 2037, #41 in 2038, and was expected to further rise up the chart, and who was beginning to draw some interest from other teams. The Miners, f.e., would also liked him over Vickers and Cantu in the Alaniz trade.

There was also still Steve Nickas in the minors. He was somehow still only 24, and, oh, also a .216 hitter in the majors (211 PA).

Alaniz was signed for $620k a few days from the arbitration hearings, while Ledford settled for $450k. The only player left over that the Raccoons could not come to terms with was Yeom Soung, who was already 33 and needed to make bucks fast … a bit too fast for my taste. We’d have to go to arbitration with him, because we didn’t think he should make $1.7M at this point.

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November 8 – The Blue Sox pick up outfielder Andy Montes (.286, 56 HR, 380 RBI) from the Buffaloes for two prospects.

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2038 ABL AWARDS

Players of the Year: SAC RF/LF/1B Carlos Cortes (.330, 27 HR, 119 RBI) and VAN OF Jerry Outram (.377, 32 HR, 113 RBI)
Pitchers of the Year: SAL SP Phil Harrington (18-4, 1.96 ERA) and BOS SP Rich Willett (21-7, 2.66 ERA)
Rookies of the Year: SAL 1B Bill Jenkins (.289, 25 HR, 105 RBI) and VAN 2B Glenn Sprague (.300, 14 HR, 69 RBI)
Relievers of the Year: DAL CL Josh Boles (7-6, 2.71 ERA, 41 SV) and TIJ CL Steve Bailey (7-3, 2.17 ERA, 43 SV)
Platinum Sticks (FL): P SAL Eric Peck – C SFW Ethan McCullar – 1B SAL Bill Jenkins – 2B SFW Mario Colon – 3B NAS Jim Allen – SS SAC Jesus Banuelas – LF SAL Jose Rivera – CF SAL Armando Herrera – RF SAC Carlos Cortes
Platinum Sticks (CL): P TIJ Jimmy Driver – C ATL Adam Horner – 1B OCT Danny Cruz – 2B SFB Dan Schneller – 3B IND Dan Hutson – SS MIL Ted Del Vecchio – LF TIJ Justin Williams – CF VAN Jerry Outram – RF POR Troy Greenway
Gold Gloves (FL): P NAS Doug Clifford – C CIN Ricky Rodriguez – 1B SAL Bill Jenkins – 2B TOP Felix Marquez – 3B CIN Bob Cruz – SS SAL Jose Castro – LF LAP Daron Willis – CF SAL Armando Herrera – RF NAS Jon Sullivan
Gold Gloves (CL): P MIL Sal Chavez – C MIL Felipe Gomez – 1B ATL Danny Monge – 2B MIL Victor Acosta – 3B IND Dan Hutson – SS CHA Tony Aparicio – LF BOS Willie Vega – CF ATL Matt Kilgallen – RF VAN Ryan Phillips