[Westheim]

Monday began in the gutter behind the ballpark, hungover and with banana peels stuck all over in my fur. Scout guy and Dr. Padilla carried me inside and Maud brushed me off, but I refused food and drink and insisted that the end had arrived.

Well, it definitely had arrived for the Raccoons that had attempted to win 93 and would probably not come close to winning even 79 now. By mid-day I assembled the brain trust of Cristiano, Slappy, and Chad to decide whom to give the axe – if another team would take them at all. At Maud’s insistence, Steve from Accounting and scout guy were allowed to join, too, even though we voted 3-1 against that. Maud explained that this was not a matter of democracy, and we had to act like big boys now.

Alright, alright, Maud! *Fine*!

There were few reservations about whom to trade and whom to keep this time. The Raccoons had a pile of free agents in Willett, Hamill, Reyna, Romero, Berto, and Cosmo. Cortes had a player option and if he was any sane at all would skip town, too. There were longer contracts made only with Brown and Kilmer (through 2046) – and nobody would take Kilmer right now – as well as Maldonado (2045) and Manny Fernandez (2044). Everybody else was under team control, including Tony Hunter.

Now, several guys could not be traded – Hamill sucked the cover off the baseballs, Berto was on the DL, and Cosmo immediately showed his red card that identified him as holder of 10/5 rights. But everything not nailed down firmly was very much available – except for whatever young personnel of the future we had of the Arturo Carreno quality.

Trade #1

RF/1B/LF Carlos Cortes (.279, 8 HR, 40 RBI), who had suffered through a wretched first two months before heating up considerably in the last few weeks, was out of town even before the All Star Game. He was dangled to several teams on Monday, and the Bayhawks snatched him up first thing Tuesday morning. The Raccoons made out like robbers with the #26 prospect, RF/1B/LF Jose Casas, a 22-year-old Panamanian switch-hitter currently batting .247 with six homers in AAA.

Casas’ general makeup would also allow for him to shift to third base – except that he was a left-handed thrower, ruling out that option. He *did* have a murder arm, so should be able to handle rightfield just fine, despite limited overall range.

All Star Game

The Federal League beats the Continental League, 8-3, in the 2042 edition of the All Star Game, but the Aces’ Pat Gurney goes 2-for-4 with two solo home runs off Kevin Stice and Rich Kappel to win MVP honors. The suspense is out of the game early, with the Knights’ Brad Santry giving up four runs in the opening inning, and the Elks’ Alexander Lewis conceding three more in the second.

Tony Hunter comes off the bench with a pinch-hit single and scores the only CL run not hit over the fence buy Gurney. Rich Willett pitches a scoreless inning.

It was the last time Willett wore the Coons’ cap.

Trade #2

The Loggers were already in town when the Coons dealt away much of what could be considered a legit major league rotation. The Aces received SP Rich Willett (9-7, 3.19 ERA), SP Josh Brown (7-5, 3.18 ERA), and OF Tony Romero (.238, 9 HR, 33 RBI) in a frontpage news trade. The Raccoons loaded up on more high-minors talent in #40 prospect SP Generos de Leon, RF Justin Waltz, and CL Preston Porter. The two pitchers were 21 years old and in AA (de Leon would be moved to AAA by the Coons), while Waltz was 23 in AAA.

Trade #3

In one final trade before actually playing the Loggers, the Raccoons dumped CL Wyatt Hamill (1-3, 5.02 ERA, 13 SV) on the Buffaloes, but the main piece going over there was SS Tony Hunter (.258, 4 HR, 32 RBI). The Raccoons picked up another two prospects from the AA level, 23-year-old OF Gene Pellicano and 21-year-old right-handed CL Bob Ibold. The latter was the bigger potential here with a 93mph fastball and a scoopy curve, but Pellicano was actually ranked, even though only at #183.

Picking up the pieces

Decimated to the tune of six major league players after last week’s 1-6 massacre, the Raccoons had to make some adjustments and restock from AAA, with only three starters left, no closer, and as the Loggers series began only two healthy outfielders (Manny, Reyna), as Nettles was out with a bout of diarrhea.

No deal for Manny Fernandez materialized, and Maldonado was requested by some teams, but only wrapped into other deals, and not for a top prospect in his own right. They were without a doubt the best two position players left on a windswept, barren roster. On the pitching side there was not much beyond Jake Jackson, the two lefty relievers, and maybe Josh Rella that was worth talking about.

First, there was an off day on Monday after the Loggers series, so we did not need a fifth starter right now, and then would need only one spot start by somebody the rest of the month, with another off day on the 31st.

Cory Lambert was moved to the rotation from the pen to make four starters against the Loggers. Josh Rella was anointed closer for the time being. His career save total so far was zilch.

The Coons then returned Zack Kelly and Ryan van Campenhout from AAA – the former had performed for a 6.75 ERA earlier this season, but was doing fine in AAA. The latter had not pitched for the Coons since 2040, running up a 10.22 ERA, but was still rotting on the 40-man roster. To make a dozen tossers, right-hander Alexis Cortes would be added as extra reliever. The 22-year-old had cost $22k in the 2036 July IFA period. He was absolutely nothing special, so he should fit right in here – it probably wasn’t for long, either, since there was some waiver claim we were working on.

Three position players were called up. Switch-hitting LF/CF Jordan Gonzalez, 26, and lefty-batting OF Van Anderson made returns from prior seasons. Gonzalez got a new number, going from #70 to #29. The last spot went to 1B Shuta Yamamoto, who had been signed out of Japan and had so far hit 16 homers with a .282 clip between AA and AAA, blasting past Art Goetz and Damian Salazar on the depth chart.

Raccoons (42-47) vs. Loggers (54-35) – July 17-20, 2042

The Loggers were second in runs scored, fourth in runs allowed, and could not wait to sweep the Raccoons’ own ground with them. They were up 5-3 in the season series, having taken three of four the prior week in Milwaukee.

Projected roster:
Jake Jackson (6-7, 3.62 ERA) vs. Joe Hicks (7-6, 3.46 ERA)
Corey Mathers (2-6, 5.40 ERA) vs. Sal Chavez (12-6, 3.53 ERA)
Nelson Moreno (5-7, 5.49 ERA) vs. Bobby Freels (8-4, 3.85 ERA)
Cory Lambert (0-2, 4.30 ERA) vs. Sergio Piedra (10-3, 2.89 ERA)

All the Loggers’ righties lined up for this one.

Game 1
MIL: RF Cannizzard – SS McNelis – 1B Brayboy – CF Reeves – 3B Paul – LF Hertenstein – C Sicco – 2B V. Acosta – P Hicks
POR: 2B Trevino – RF Reyna – 3B Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 1B Yamamoto – CF Anderson – C Kilmer – SS Gutierrez – P Jackson

The Loggers went up 2-0 in the first inning, both runs being unearned around a walk drawn by Eric McNelis and a 2-run single by Jared Paul when Shuta Yamamoto introduced himself by bungling the first play coming at him in the majors, an Aaron Brayboy grounder, for an error. It wasn’t the last grim error of the game – with Joe Hicks and Tim Cannizzard on the corners in the second inning, McNelis’ grounder was thrown away for two bases by Jeff Kilmer, and then a disenchanted Jackson, shoulders sagging, threw a wild pitch to get Cannizzard across. He walked Brayboy before Bill Reeves struck out. Four runs in for Milwaukee – ALL unearned. The third inning saw another error by Yamamoto, dropping a Cosmo feed to put Valentino Sicco on base with two outs, and WHAT THE **** WAS GOING ON?? Victor Acosta flew out to right to end the inning, while Omar Gutierrez drew a leadoff walk in the bottom 3rd, then was doubled in by Reyna. Maldonado flew out to keep it 4-1 through three.

More scratching took place in the fourth. Manny opened with a double to right, and Yamamoto walked for his first time on base in the Bigs. Van Anderson whipped an RBI single to center, so the tying runs were on now. Kilmer struck out before a wild pitch advanced the runners, upon which the Loggers used the open base for Gutierrez, pulling up Jackson with three on and one out. Jackson had a homer and six RBI this year, but poked a 2-2 pitch to short for a double play to kill the rally. Jackson lasted 5.2 innings thanks to all the extra pitches needed to compensate for three errors and lots of sadness, with Zack Kelly taking over. He got a first-pitch groundout from Cannizzard, and then Jeff Kilmer took Jackson off a totally undeserved hook with a 2-run homer to left, cashing Yamamoto, who had walked again in the bottom 6th. Kelly struck out the side in the seventh, then got in line for the W when Cosmo doubled and Reyna singled him home in the bottom 7th. Reyna stole second, then came around on a Maldonado single. Craig and Clark combined for the eighth around a Daniel Hertenstein single, while Portland scratched out another run in the bottom of the inning, with Gutierrez, de Wit, and Cosmo all reaching with one out. Reyna scored one with a grounder before Maldonado popped out. Then came Josh Rella’s first save chance – it didn’t go so great. He walked Cannizzard with one out, got McNelis, but then allowed singles to Brayboy and pinch-hitter Jonathan Fleming with two outs, the latter driving in a run and putting them on the corners for Jared Paul. He ended the game with a pop to first. 7-5 Coons. Reyna 2-5, 2B, 3 RBI; Fernandez 2-4, 2B; Gutierrez 2-2, 2 BB; de Wit (PH) 1-1; Jackson 5.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K; Kelly 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, W (2-0);

Oh good. Now they win.

Game 2
MIL: RF Cannizzard – SS Del Vecchio – 1B Brayboy – CF Reeves – 3B Paul – C Sicco – LF Borchard – 2B V. Acosta – P S. Chavez
POR: 2B Trevino – RF Reyna – 3B Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 1B Yamamoto – C Kilmer – CF Gonzalez – SS Gutierrez – P Mathers

Both teams had one hit and no runs through three innings as Corey Mathers held up quite well the first time through… but not the second time through. Leadoff walk to Brayboy, then singles by Reeves and Paul to load the bags with nobody out. I sighed and accepted my fate. The Loggers only got one run, though. Sicco, crucially, struck out, while Adam Borchard hit a sac fly to right. Acosta grounded out. The Raccoons would get leadoff singles twice in the middle innings, Manny in the fourth and Cosmo in the sixth, but Yamamoto and Reyna, respectively, hit into double plays and the team continued to trail 1-0 through six. Mathers held up for seven remarkable innings, allowing only four hits, all in vain, since the Raccoons had yet to reach scoring position.

Yamamoto at least got his first trophy, a 1-out single in the bottom 7th for his first major league hit. He reached second base when Sal Chavez nicked Jordan Gonzalez. With two outs the count ran full on Omar Gutierrez, who then hit a liner into the gap that went all the way to the fence for a score-flipping 2-run triple…! And NOW Mathers was in line for the win! Van Anderson hit for him and singled home Gutierrez for a 3-1 score. Cosmo also singled, but Reyna flew out easily. Chuck Jones came out for the eighth, giving up a leadoff double to right to Cannizzard – except that the Logger was fisted out by the umpire when Yamamoto called for the ball, got it, and tapped first base. The first base ump dutifully punched out Cannizzard, who had never touched first base on his hustle “double”…! Jones put the next three batters on anyway, nailing the repulsive Ted Del Vecchio, before giving up hits to Brayboy and Reeves. That made it 3-2, with runners in scoring position and one stupid out. Travis Sims conceded the lead and the tie by giving up a screamer for two runs to Sicco. Alexis Cortes pitched the ninth for his debut, walking Felipe Gomez before whiffing Cannizzard and without allowing a run or hit. Down 4-3, the Coons had the bottom of the order up against Kurt Crater in their half of the ninth. Gonzalez and Gutierrez grounded out before Anderson, who had remained in the game over Reyna, hit a 2-out single to right. Cosmo ran a full count before swinging over a pitch in the dirt, ending this game. 4-3 Loggers. Trevino 2-5; Fernandez 2-4; Gutierrez 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI; Anderson (PH) 2-2, RBI; Mathers 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K;

Game 3
MIL: RF Cannizzard – SS Del Vecchio – 1B Brayboy – CF Reeves – 3B Paul – C Sicco – LF Fleming – 2B V. Acosta – P Freels
POR: 2B Trevino – RF Reyna – 3B Maldonado – LF Fernandez – 1B Yamamoto – CF Anderson – C Wilson – SS Gutierrez – P Moreno

There were four Loggers runners in the first three innings, two of which Moreno put on base, and two of which Cosmo put on base with a pair of errors. The Coons had only one runner the first time through, Jeff Wilson going yard for the only tally in the first three innings. Paul opened the fourth with a single, was doubled off by Sicco, and then Fleming reached when Moreno dropped the feed from Yamamoto at first base… Say, Maud, did anybody take some of my Capt’n Coma? – Because they play like they’re completely knackered!

Moreno held on to a 1-0 lead longer than one would expect, but straight singles from the 2-3-4 hitters did him in by the fifth inning, as the Loggers tied the game with two outs before Paul rolled over to Maldonado. Wilson answered with a double to right to begin the bottom 5th. Gutierrez walked, both were bunted over, and Cosmo was intentionally walked to get to Reyna, who hit a fly to center for a sac fly. Freels uncorked a wild pitch, which led to Maldonado getting intentionally walked. Manny had none of that crap and singled through the left side for drive in a pair, 4-1, before the inning ended with a Yamamoto grounder to third base.

Moreno squeaked through six innings on 103 pitches, also battling errors, but also his own long counts in the middle innings. Chuck Jones held the fort in the seventh after taking the loss on Friday, and Reyna reached base on an Acosta error with one out in the seventh. When Reyna stole second base, Maldonado was put on intentionally *again*. The Loggers *really* hated pitching to him, preferring Freels to face the left-handed Fernandez *again*. He hit into a fielder’s choice, putting runners on the corners for PH Jay de Wit in a big tack-on spot and with Yamamoto off to a 1-for-9 start to his career. De Wit never saw a pitch, with Manny picked off by Freels without a count, ending the inning, until the eighth, then hit a leadoff single over Del Vecchio. Jeff Wilson continued his big day – a triple shy of the cycle, he instead hit a second home run to left-center. Gutierrez went back-to-back with him, hitting one to right off Adam Giovenco. Zack Kelly had gotten the last out in the top 8th, then was retained to hit for himself, grounded out, then went out and got a wicked 4-out save for himself with a scoreless ninth. 7-1 Raccoons. Maldonado 1-2, 2 BB; de Wit (PH) 1-1; Wilson 4-4, 2 HR, 2B, 3 RBI;

So the Coons got two different relievers to collect their first career save in the same series.

What a wicked bunch.

Interlude: waiver claim

Sunday saw another reliever added in right-hander Derek Barker (1-5, 5.28 ERA, 1 SV), claimed off waivers by the Aces. The 38-year-old was a Raccoon for the second time, having spent half the 2037 season with the team, pitching to a 1.32 ERA then. He was clearly arriving at the end of his career with a loss of velocity and plummeting strikeout ratio, but this was all about getting to the end of the season…

The Raccoons returned Alexis Cortes to AAA after one scoreless inning.

Raccoons (42-47) vs. Loggers (54-35) – July 17-20, 2042

Game 4
MIL: RF Cannizzard – SS Del Vecchio – 1B Brayboy – CF Reeves – 3B Paul – LF Hertenstein – C Sicco – 2B V. Acosta – P Piedra
POR: 2B Trevino – 1B Reyna – 3B Maldonado – LF Fernandez – C Wilson – CF Anderson – RF Nettles – SS Cox – P Lambert

The Coons went up 1-0 in the first, Maldonado bringing in a run with a grounder after Cosmo and Reyna reached the corners with base hits, but the Loggers got two on a shoddy Cory Lambert in the second inning. He had no command, no stuff, put four runners on base, and conceded two of them in the inning, then was lucky enough that Nettles got to a Cannizzard blooper on the run to strand Sicco and Acosta in scoring position. Brayboy took him deep in the third inning, 3-1, and Hertenstein and Acosta roped hits for another run in the fourth. Del Vecchio and Reeves landed more hits in the fifth inning, and Lambert was yanked with two in scoring position and one out in the inning. Derek Barker got a soft liner to left from Paul to get the runners to hold, then conceded them when Hertenstein landed a 2-out blooper for two ****** runs…

The game was well out of paws at that stage, with ten Loggers hits to two measly base knocks for the Raccoons, and none since there were no outs in the bottom 1st. Yamamoto filed a pinch-hit single into the H column in the bottom 6th, but with two outs, and for no greater gains. There was no other Raccoons hit until the eighth, when Omar Gutierrez landed a pinch-hit double, again with two outs. Cosmo singled him home, though, shortening the gap to 6-2, stole second, and came around on Yamamoto’s single to right-center. Maldonado, suddenly pitched to, grounded out to conclude eight. Brent Clark held the Loggers in place, and they sent Kurt Crater to do the same for them in the bottom 9th. Manny, Wilson, and Anderson went down in order. 6-3 Loggers. Trevino 2-4, 2B RBI; Reyna 1-2; Yamamoto (PH) 2-2, RBI; Gutierrez (PH) 1-1, 2B; Van Campenhout 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K;

In other news

July 15 – The Knights will be without 1B Jamie King (.279, 7 HR, 36 RBI) for three weeks. The 27-year-old 2040 Player of the Year is out with a bruised wrist.
July 18 – The Bayhawks score 15 runs on 15 hits as they beat the Knights, 15-8, with SFB 1B Danny Cruz (.201, 5 HR, 22 RBI) chipping in two homers and 4 RBI.
July 18 – SAC OF/1B/3B Phil Rogers (.225, 17 HR, 39 RBI) will miss six weeks with a broken finger.
July 20 – The Titans trade 3B/2B Ben “Nine Fingers” Freeman (.285, 3 HR, 29 RBI) to the Scorpions for 2B/SS Oscar Aguirre (.182, 1 HR, 6 RBI).

FL Player of the Week: DAL C Pacio Torreo (.296, 17 HR, 59 RBI), batting .529 (9-17) with 4 HR, 9 RBI
CL Player of the Week: SFB C John Hill (.277, 4 HR, 42 RBI), whacking .625 (10-16) with 1 HR, 9 RBI

Complaints and stuff

What is there to say? Not “maybe next year”, because not all of the newly acquired young talent will be ready for 2043. This is more of a 2044-ish project now. With most free agents after this season traded away except for Cosmo (10/5 rights exercised), Berto (DL, but probably would have 10/5-ed us too), Reyna (no interest), and technically Barker, who arrived on Sunday and is a free agent after the year too, and some of the other salaried personnel, too, the Raccoons now have all of THREE guaranteed contracts left: Manny for 2-yr, $5M (including a team option), Maldo for 3-yr, $6.6M, and Kilmer for 4-yr, $8M (including a team option). Literally everybody else is arbitration-eligible at most.

We may have as many as 11 top 100 prospects at this point – all but three of them pitchers. So there will be a need for some free agent additions this winter, most notably at second base, where a black hole will open up. The three top 100 position players include Sandy Casaus, who was ranked #30 and even at age 25 isn’t hitting in AAA, so he has to be written off as a bust now, which doesn’t make things easier.

You may wonder why we are now using Cory Lambert to piss away games in the early innings, when we could catch a glimpse of Jason Wheatley instead. He is at a 2.99 ERA with the Alley Cats, but we’re still eyeing those BB/9 and K/9 values and are not quite pleased. However, a September cameo is entirely in the books at this stage.

We will be at home for another week, delivering cringey baseball against the Indians and Thunder, before hitting the road for three series with CL South teams. The only road trip fully contained within August will be a quick weekend trip down I-5 to Sacramento; otherwise we’ll play 16 at home in August. Maybe we’ll even win a few.

The spot start on Saturday probably goes to Brent Clark – there won’t be a need for a fifth starter until August 5, however, so we’re not getting one up until then. Clark has made 198 career appearances so far, all in relief, for a 11-12 record and 3.60 ERA with 9 saves. He does throw three pitches, but has control issues (consistently 5+ BB/9), so we don’t think of him as a valuable starting asset.

We signed our big acquisition target for the July IFA period, 16-year-old right-hander Victor Salcido, for $485k this week. He projects to be a groundballer with four pitches, a fastball currently clocked at 87, plus fine curves and sliders and a complementary changeup. Maybe more of a finesse type, but those are great as long as you have a shortstop with two sound legs.

SP Victor Salcido - $485,000 - SIGNED
SP Israel Chavez - $27,000 - SIGNED
OF Arturo Romero - $21,000 - SIGNED
1B/LF/RF Jaime Sanchez - $12,000 - SIGNED

TOTAL OFFERED: $545,000
TOTAL SIGNED: $545,000
SOFT CAP: $568,000

Fun Fact: Ryan Van Campenhout has his career ERA down to 8.79 …!

(listlessly stirs in his food bowl)