[Westheim]

2041 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set in parenthesis shows 2040 stats, second set career stats; players with an * are off season acquisitions):

SP Bernie Chavez, 32, B:R, T:R (9-10, 3.87 ERA | 98-91, 3.71 ERA, 1 SV) – 94mph, curve, slider, and the tendency to hang something from time to time; by now you know full well what to expect of Bernie Chavez, an ERA somewhere between not-good-enough and oh-dear-it-keeps-growing, 50 walks, 150 strikeouts, and 20+ balls disappearing into a sea of reaching arms. Bernie is also the only remnant of 2040 Opening Day’s rotation, and in his final contract year.
SP Nelson Moreno, 22, B:R, T:R (6-7, 3.52 ERA | 6-7, 3.52 ERA) – the most anticipated pitching prospect in some years arrived ahead of schedule due to injuries and other complications, and by and large did pretty fine. Heater (98) and knuckle curve are awesome, still working on the third and fourth pitch, and under live fire. The sky’s the limit for this Venezuelan gem.
SP Josh Brown *, 28, B:L, T:L (14-8, 3.67 ERA | 35-25, 3.59 ERA) – acquired from the Crusaders, Brown has a rich mix of pitches to keep hitters guessing, and them guessing wrong is a key part to success for him, because his 93mph fastball alone is not too overwhelming. Keeps it on the ground; whether that helps him with the arthritic infield defense the Raccoons have lined up remains to be seen.
SP Drew Johnson *, 33, B:S, T:R (7-8, 3.59 ERA | 80-73, 3.93 ERA, 2 SV) – returns after already spending most of 2039 with the Raccoons. The free agent acquisition has a reputation for throwing hard and praying that it doesn’t get hit.
SP Ian Wilson, 33, B:R, T:L (5-5, 3.11 ERA | 15-9, 3.25 ERA, 1 SV) – the career nothing arrived in Portland in the deadline deal that disposed of Scott Daiker (who?), and was plonked into the rotation for *mild* success. His overall package is underwhelming, though, and we wonder how much longer than last year’s oh-shucks-fifth-starter (Jared Ottinger) he’ll last.

LR Angelo Montano, 23, B:L, T:L (5-8, 5.63 ERA | 5-8, 5.63 ERA) – this wildly underdone rookie did not have a good time in 2040, nor had anyone watching him. Pressed into service in the rotation he had more walks than strikeouts, and more beatings than shutouts (but he did have one!). Would not have made the roster, but the Raccoons are still on the phone with a free agent reliever…
MR Chuck Jones, 29, B:L, T:L (5-3, 3.33 ERA, 6 SV | 11-8, 3.31 ERA, 8 SV) – this southpaw should be kept away from right-hadned bats, which his previous employers, the Scorpions, decidedly didn’t do. Very good numbers against lefty bats for Jones, who throws 92 and keeps it on the ground.
MR David Lindstrom, 28, B:R, T:R (4-0, 2.64 ERA, 6 SV | 9-12, 3.59 ERA, 13 SV) – for a ho-hum righty claimed off waivers by Dallas in June, Lindstrom did phenomenally. Yes, it’s a low bar, and yes, the Raccoons were desperate for basic competence. That was what they got. Basic competence.
MR Juan Zabala, 32, B:R, T:R (3-1, 2.04 ERA, 2 SV | 7-7, 3.90 ERA, 4 SV) – right-hander with basic competence that was claimed off waivers from some other icky FL West team last summer, and yes, we also have trouble keeping him and Lindstrom apart.
SU Brent Clark, 26, B:L, T:L (3-7, 4.11 ERA, 8 SV | 4-7, 3.83 ERA, 8 SV) – the fifth-rounder (2036) was one of the more pleasant surprises of 2039 (there weren’t many). Good stuff, could use better control. After sending away Rico Sanchez, Clark was anointed closer in 2040, exploded, and sent the Raccoons back to square one in their bullpen stratagem.
SU Alex Ramirez, 32, B:R, T:R (5-4, 2.17 ERA, 6 SV | 5-4, 2.17 ERA, 6 SV) – was a 31-year-old rookie from Cuba and seemed to be doing strong until he came apart late in the season. Nevertheless would have been the new closer if not for a late-winter trade.
CL Damon DeOrio *, 27, B:S, T:R (6-3, 3.55 ERA, 38 SV | 11-11, 3.84 ERA, 68 SV) – acquired from the Aces, this foulmouthed fireballer is expected to end the Raccoons’ ninth-inning woes. New year, new closer, y’know? Struck out 10.1/9 in 2040 with Vegas, and we just hope that he ends the parade of walk-walk-boom chumps we’ve emploxed in the role for the last few years. Else it could get *really* ugly…

C Jeff Kilmer, 29, B:R, T:R (.269, 16 HR, 61 RBI | .272, 46 HR, 200 RBI) – now here was a kid that we were happy for not having drowned in a barrel when it looked like that was all that could end his misery anymore. Unfortunately he didn’t build on that .949 OPS season from ’39 and instead merely posted his third .800+ season in a row. None of those were qualifying seasons, given the liberal time-sharing agreement with Tony Morales behind the dish, which sees both of them contend roughly half the games.
C Tony Morales, 26, B:L, T:R (.264, 14 HR, 58 RBI | .268, 58 HR, 302 RBI) – keeps turning in just slightly above average seasons, and whenever he looks like he’s about to break out, he gets hurt. Unlike Kilmer, he has never reached the .800 OPS mark despite almost never facing a southpaw, and he probably never will reach it despite upping his homer totals every year.

1B Doug Levis *, 34, B:R, T:R (.261, 13 HR, 46 RBI | .258, 158 HR, 566 RBI) – picked up on the cheap from the Aces for the last year of his contract, Levis is an immobile slugger coming off a difficult season split between two forsaken teams. He hit 35 homers in a full year in Dallas only two years ago, so it’s not outrageous to firmly believe in him hitting three dingers by June and then breaking a tailbone or something…
2B/3B/SS Enrique Trevino, 33, B:S, T:R (.313, 0 HR, 39 RBI | .321, 41 HR, 824 RBI) – Will the Berto-Cosmo double squeeze at the top of the order enter the record books as a great success? No. Success means that you win ANYTHING at some point. Aged defender, but still has that great on base presence and ideally suited for the #2 hole, with Berto already at second base in the best of all scenarios … IF both of them can lay off the DL, which hasn’t worked for either of them for a long time…
SS Tony Hunter, 28, B:S, T:R (.237, 5 HR, 41 RBI | .248, 13 HR, 110 RBI) – slick shortstop acquired from the Gold Sox in a trade, replacing Elijah Williams, who was getting older and slower and less rangier. Was expected to be an alternate to the squirly 1-2 poke we have employed, but didn’t hit much of anything and then disappeared onto the DL.
3B Alberto Ramos, 35, B:L, T:R (.286, 0 HR, 45 RBI | .300, 20 HR, 638 RBI) – while he remains a formidable OBP force, Bero hasn’t hit a home run since ’34, and hasn’t been a 100 OPS+ hitter after ’35. He is by now no longer able to steal bases at will and also can’t handle any position on the diamond anymore. I blame that fat lard *** of his. In fact, it’s admirable that he can still walk with that rotund upper body. Final contract year, and probably final year in baseball, too. Should make a curious Hall of Fame case by the end of the decade. If he can lay off the DL, he should reach 2,400 hits this season and he is a top 5 base stealer of all time.
1B/CF/2B/LF/SS Matt Kilgallen, 29, B:R, T:R (.262, 5 HR, 23 RBI | .260, 9 HR, 153 RBI) – quirky super utility player which I like to have on the roster, who can cover multiple positions adequately. Was on the roster the entire 2040 season, we swear, but you are excused for not noticing him even once.

LF/RF/CF Manny Fernandez, 31, B:L, T:L (.280, 17 HR, 105 RBI | .288, 110 HR, 651 RBI) – as close to a 5-tool player as the Raccoons could ever find, especially in a draft. 2036 Player of the Year! Also won an RBI title in 2040, which totally saved our season (not). A trade for sterling prospects did not materialize this winter, so we’ll see what happens by July. In any case, he’s under contract until 2044, yet readily available for the right price.
CF/RF/3B/SS/LF/1B Jesus Maldonado, 27, B:R, T:R (.324, 13 HR, 54 RBI | .281, 39 HR, 274 RBI) – It’s hard to forget this one: .411/.431/.571 and a 2037 World Series MVP award while playing on the losing team. If you can get THAT together, you must at least make it to the All Star Game at some point, don’t you? So far no luck for Maldonado in that regard, but at least he is now a regular above-average hitter and hit for an .880 OPS in ‘40. Very versatile, which is his undoing, since he could probably win a Gold Glove in centerfield if he wasn’t plugging holes elsewhere all the time. This year there isn’t even a hole for him to plug – he’s just adding to the outfield glut of our own making.
RF/CF/LF Stephon Nettles, 26, B:L, T:R (.305, 0 HR, 23 RBI | .268, 1 HR, 78 RBI) – very good defensive centerfielder who is hitting in a light fashion, but somebody’s gotta bat eighth, right? Was one of the positive surprises of 2040… for 47 games, after which his arm came off. Since Manny and Maldo are set for the outfield, it’s a 4-player scrum for the last spot on the grass, and Nettles doesn’t look like he’s got the nose in the wind.
LF/RF/CF/1B Miguel Reyna *, 30, B:L, T:L (.219, 3 HR, 23 RBI | .256, 50 HR, 356 RBI) – Nicaraguan left-hander that was picked up from the Bayhawks and didn’t merit his $1.48M/year contract he signed with the damn Elks before ’39. The Raccoons have now two years of that and no position to play him at.
LF/RF Bill Balaski, 26, B:L, T:L (.274, 6 HR, 30 RBI | .274, 6 HR, 30 RBI) – pedestrian corner outfielder, defensively, was called up from the minors in the summer and seamlessly took over Brad Ledford’s usual stat line, but while starting. He won’t start now (unless injuries take everything else apart), but he sure put himself on the map with 63 solid games in his rookie season.
RF/LF/CF Rikuto Ito *, 24, B:R, T:R (no stats) – in hindsight, the early addition of Japanese import Ito was probably not a great move, and guaranteeing him $1.4M for three years each was even less so. Best case is he’s a righty version of Bill Balaski. Worst case is he hits .120 in under 40 attempts in April and will never be heard from again.

On disabled list: Nobody.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement:
2B Jose Brito, 26, B:R, T:R (.346, 3 HR, 21 RBI | .301, 6 HR, 34 RBI) – waived and DFA’ed; meager defender that never performs in AAA and somehow abuses small sample sizes to look vaguely competent whenever the Raccoons have a hole at second base to plug.

Everybody not mentioned by now has already been waived or reassigned during the offseason.

OPENING DAY LINEUP:

It’s not a *bad* little lineup! (The holes in the pitching staff are likely much greater)

Vs. RHP: 3B Ramos – 2B Trevino – CF Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 1B Levis – C Morales – RF Nettles (Balaski, Reyna) – SS Hunter – P
(Vs. LHP: SS Hunter – 2B Trevino – 3B Maldonado – LF Fernandez – C Kilmer – 1B Levis – RF Ito – CF Nettles (Reyna) – P)

Kilmer will also get some starts against right-handers. Kilgallen can also sub for Berto against lefties, keeping Maldo in center and reducing the lefty bats to one (Manny). Kilgallen and Maldonado are the defensive replacements for Berto (with lots of options to plug center in lieu of Maldo), and Reyna gets added to the list for Levis. Reyna can slide into the lineup for Levis against righties to add another left-handed bat.

Also, both middle infielders are switch-hitters, so it’s not like it’s gonna be easy for opposing pitchers.

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

The Raccoons came 16th in offseason gains according to the crowd worshipping WAR (which is a useless stat, at least whenever it doesn’t suit my argument). The team never made up the 6 WAR it shed from losing two starters (Sabre, Dominy), and the best acquisition was the Brown trade with the Crusaders that left New York with lots of lottery tickets and the Coons with the second-best option from the Crusaders roster after Julian Ponce got away. The other trades were allegedly all almost even in WAR, and our two free agency additions didn’t exactly provide the swing vote. We ended up with -3.4 WAR for the winter.

At least we turned an infielder glut into an outfielder glut. Yay us.

Top 5: Stars (+7.2), Pacifics (+6.4), Titans (+6.1), Warriors (+5.6), Capitals (+4.2)
Bottom 5: Cyclones (-5.7), Buffaloes (-6.6), Rebels (-6.6), Falcons (-7.4), Loggers (-8.4)

PREDICTION TIME:

Last year’s prediction acknowledged that the Raccoons would not compete and would fall well short, and they surely didn’t disappoint in that regard. The guess was 87 wins (which was +3), but that injuries could well derail them to 90 losses, which didn’t happen, despite plenty of injuries. The pitching was a mess, and given how our pitching staff is built around waiver claims and second comings of half-season surprises, it will probably remain a mess. If 2042 Opening Day starter Nelson Moreno goes something like 15-8 with a low-3 ERA in his sophomore season, that’s probably already the main success…

The Raccoons will not compete. They will be 10 games out by June for sure, and they might trade Manny Fernandez for prospects at the same point. Or Bernie. Or Cosmo. Or all of them. Or none of them. In the end, they probably end up with another “oh man…” season and with 82 wins.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Last year in fourth place, the Raccoons upgraded to the top-rated farm system in the league! This despite shedding three of their nine ranked prospects from last year. #8 Nelson Moreno graduated to the majors (you may have heard of him). #39 Quadir Randle was offloaded on the Crusaders (and dropped 30 spots) in the deal for Josh Brown, and #127 Vince Burke had thrown up so many red flags in the minors that he was left unprotected and taken in the Rule 5 draft by the Buffos, who have yet to give him back.

10th (new) – AAA LF/RF Sandy Casaus, 24 – 2033 scouting discovery by Wolves, acquired from Wolves for Troy Greenway
12th (+50) – A SP Tony Negrete, 18 – 2038 international free agent signed by Raccoons
15th (new) – AA INF Matt Waters, 20 – 2039 first-round pick by Knights, acquired from Knights with Jason Wheatley for Ryan Bedrosian, Rico Sanchez, Brad Ledford, Willie Morales
26th (new) – AA SP Jason Wheatley, 20 – 2038 supplemental round pick by Knights, acquired from Knights with Matt Waters for Ryan Bedrosian, Rico Sanchez, Brad Ledford, Willie Morales
31st (-14) – A SP Jose Arias, 19 – 2038 international free agent signed by Raccoons
45th (+19) – A SP Victor Merino, 19 – 2039 international free agent signed by Raccoons

62nd (new) – AA SP Adam Capone, 21 – 2040 first-round pick by Raccoons
71st (+103) – A C Ruben Gonzalez, 19 – 2038 international free agent by Raccoons
81st (new) – AAA MR Josh Rella, 24 – 2039 fourth-round pick by Raccoons
87th (new) – A INF Mario Coto, 19 – 2038 international free agent signed by Raccoons

106th (+8) – AAA SP Corey Mathers, 22 – 2039 first-round pick by Raccoons
155th (new) – AAA MR Zack Kelly, 25 – 2035 fourth-round pick by Raccoons (was a Rule 5 pick by Scorpions in 2038, but was returned)

That is 12 ranked players, of which 10 are in the top 100, and a whole half-dozen in the top 50!

The only player ranked in 2040 that was not ranked this year, but still in the system was #171 C Jose Ortiz, who graduated to single-A with Ruben Gonzalez for this season, where they will steal at-bats from another.

The top 10 overall prospects this year are:

1st (+4) – RIC ML LF/RF Pablo Gonzalez, 21
2nd (new) – NYC AAA SP Paul Paris, 22
3rd (new) – LAP AA LF/RF Billy Slingluff, 23
4th (-3) – NAS AA 1B Alejandro Ramos, 21
5th (-2) – SFB AA SP Kevin Nolte, 20

6th (+1) – SFW AA LF/RF Mario Villa, 20
7th (+2) – CHA AAA SP Emmanuel Lizarraga, 23
8th (+13) – DEN A INF Ivan Villa, 19
9th (+14) – DAL AA SP Chris Davis, 20
10th (+4) – POR AAA LF/RF Sandy Casaus, 24

Note: I redid this last bit here from before, which always looked ugly and lazy. The difference with Casaus here is that he was the #14 prospect last year, so is a +4 in this list, but he was not in the Coons system last April, so counts as “new” in the list of only our own farm.

Last year’s #2, Eddie Moreno, graduated to the majors mid-season and hit .280 with 13 homers for Sacramento while only turning 22. The #4 rank, Pacifics righty Kevin Clendenen, spent some quality time in their pen (5.95 ERA) and was reassigned to AAA to start this season. He is no longer eligible for exceeding rookie limitations (service time).

Next: first pitch.