[Westheim]

(has a hissing contest at the desk with Nick Valdes until Maud brings a plate with muffins, which Jason Wheatley is dangling from, and manages to replace the blunt aggression with noisy munching)

Nick Valdes basically kept the Raccoons poor by only granting a marginal increase for the budget from $39M to $39.5M for the 2043 season, but then again the Coons also started out with remarkably few financial commitments and a big budget space, but we’d get to that in time.

Only one team had a budget over $50M for the new season, which was the Wolves, freshly re-ringed, with a $52M allowance from their own scroogey owner. They were followed by the Canadiens ($49M), and Blue Sox, Condors, Capitals (all $46.5M) to complete the top 5. There was a whole host of teams in the $45M range, and the Raccoons dropped from a tie for 15th place to a tie for 18th place with the Warriors (last year: the Buffos), just inches above the red zone. Said red zone with the five poorest teams contained the Loggers ($38M), Gold Sox ($37.5M), Aces ($36M), Rebels ($35M), and Indians ($27M). Thus the gap between the Raccoons and the richest team was just the same as the drop from the Raccoons to the poorest team.

The average budget for a team in the league rose to $41.79M, rising $560k compared to 2042. For the very first time, the 24 teams would have a combined $1B to blow on playing baseball. The median budget was $41.75M, up a hefty $1.5M from last season.

Those muffins are great, Maud! You should do more baking! – What do you mean, Nick, they are barely league average?? – YOU are barely league average!! – (hissing contest restarts, now with bits of muffins being ejected from snouts and all over the room)

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It would be an unusual offseason – the Raccoons would have money, and probably no real opportunity to spend it in a way that would make any sense. And then there was the need to make hard decisions, and make them better than last time, which got us to the free agency and arbitration board right away. [Board in original form below.]

The Raccoons had five upcoming free agents (having traded a few expiring contracts in July already), and would only make a token effort for one of them, and it was neither Berto nor Cosmo. Both were listed as type B free agents, and while we loved ourselves a good draft pick compensation around here, Berto had already used that door to sneak back in once before. And everybody loves Berto, but let’s be honest – he’s washed up. He has no position, he lost his speed, he’s got a huge bum, and the Raccoons had to look towards the future and not – (black googly eyes start to take on water)

Would Cosmo accept an offer of arbitration? That was a tough one. He was 35, and knowing the league, could probably still squeeze out another 4-year deal this time, although his defense was starting to sag and his speed was already diminished. The Raccoons again had to look towards the future – the position was already assigned to Arturo Carreno going forwards, and this time we had to be sure to not take on another not-so-well-aged veteran for another year.

And thus, neither Cosmo nor Berto would be offered arbitration…!

And it broke my little fuzzy heart.

Derek Barker, filler right-hander and 38 years old, and Miguel Reyna, fourth outfielder with a muddled 2-year stint with the team, would not be back, either. The only player we talked to was Tim Hale, but Tim Hale, who had two and a half pitches and had never excelled as a starter, had it in his head that he should be in the rotation and should make starter’s money. While the Raccoons had money to blow it on white elephants and a ******* parade, they also had a farm full of starting pitching prospects, and expected to add from that farm to the big league club at regular intervals in the next year or two or three.

Nope, the money would go towards a fine free agent position player or two (or three).

On the arbitration side there were starters Brent Clark (that still sounded weird) and Jake Jackson, as well as relievers Jon Craig (a special brand of crummy), Chuck Jones (fine specialist), Alex Ramirez (who missed almost all of ’42 on the DL), and Travis Sims (hack!). For position players, only red flag replacement Steve Nickas and the highly erratic and irritating Stephon Nettles were eligible. They would all get offers – while in a year where the Raccoons would try to compete and lack the dosh to do so we’d readily non-tender the last three players here just to save that million bucks and turn it into something actually more useful than a door knob on a cat’s back. We could still try to lose them on waivers later on.

Before October was out, the Raccoons signed 1-year extensions with Jones ($640k), Craig ($365k), Ramirez ($815k), Nettles ($400k), and Nickas ($300k). The exception was Brent Clark, on whom the Raccoons would take a reasonable gamble that the starting pitcher thing would actually work out, and offered him a 4-year deal (buying out one year of free agency) for a flat $4M. Clark accepted – probably reasoning that if the starting pitcher thing actually work out, he’d only be 31 at the end of the deal and could still get a big deal, and if it didn’t, he was one of the better-paid seventh/eighth inning relievers in the league. Even with that modest deal, Clark stood to be the fifth-biggest earner on the roster at the end of October, behind Manny Fernandez ($2.5M), Jesus Maldonado ($2.2M), Jeff Kilmer ($2M), and whatever Jake Jackson would make, which would be just over $1M (his 2042 salary).

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October 27 – The Raccoons acquire 33-yr old right-hander MR Seth Green (12-13, 4.64 ERA, 1 SV) from the Titans in exchange for former top 10 prospect LF/RF Sandy Casaus (.149, 0 HR, 8 RBI).
November 7 – The Crusaders get 30-yr old LF/RF John Davis (.267, 6 HR, 122 RBI) from the Pacifics for 25-yr old 2B Sergio Pena (.286, 3 HR, 62 RBI).
November 12 – The Pacifics add SP Justin Kaiser (38-53, 4.31 ERA) from the Rebels in exchange for five prospects, none of them ranked higher than #133 1B/LF/RF Raul Ramirez.

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Not sure what soured me most on Sandy Casaus. He never hit in AAA, so I never expected him to hit in the majors, either. Was it that he was the return for Troy Greenway, when Greenway had a half-season of The Sucks, then started hitting again as soon as he was outta town? Or was it – most likely – that Casaus told the Agitator that the Coons would better find him a starting spot for next year, because he was totally worth it?

Probably the latter one.

Green was a Raccoon once before, getting rushed for a 9.53 ERA in 2037 after three years in the minors following a highly unsuccessful rookie stint with the Falcons in 2032-33. We dumped him on the Titans after that, funnily enough for Derek Barker. Green was utterly unremarkable, but had a broad arsenal and the stamina to fill in as starting pitcher for a team with no ambitions until our prospects (like Victor Merino, who was probably nearest after the Wheatley promotion) ripened. He was a fantastic return for a busted **** that couldn’t hit anything but the headlines.

Early in November we added 1-year deals with Travis Sims ($355k) and new arrival Seth Green ($425k) to the books – yes, arbitration-eligible 33-year-old right-handers are always such a great delight – before also settling with Jake Jackson.

The Raccoons and Jackson agreed to a 6-yr, $11M contract on November 4. Jackson wanted seven years and around $14M, but the Raccoons shaved some off, but won him over with a wicked hook – while normally contracts were backloaded, Jackson’s contract was frontloaded, making him $2.5M for the next two years, then $1.5M for the remaining four years of the deal. The last year was a team option. Everybody was a winner – Jackson secured comfortable retirement, and the Raccoons where winners in three way: they secured a *fine* #2/#3 starter to play ace for them until Jason Wheatley would totally seize that role with more seasoning (just like Nelson Moreno was going to), they made smart use of their budget space for the lean year(s) to come, and if all their pitching prospects would make an impact (other than fly-on-windshield impact), they would have a trade chip on a very reasonable contract a few years down the road.

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2042 ABL AWARDS

Players of the Year: LAP OF Juan Benavides (.337, 30 HR, 117 RBI) and VAN OF Jerry Outram (.363, 27 HR, 101 RBI)
Pitchers of the Year: SAL SP Ryan Bedrosian (16-7, 2.57 ERA) and CHA SP Oscar Flores (15-7, 3.17 ERA)
Rookies of the Year: RIC C Kyle Duncan (.245, 12 HR, 45 RBI and LVA C Kevin Prow (.290, 9 HR, 65 RBI)
Relievers of the Year: RIC CL Jesse Beggs (8-4, 1.93 ERA, 38 SV) and TIJ CL Phil Harrington (5-4, 1.43 ERA, 44 SV)
Platinum Sticks (FL): P SAL Ryan Bedrosian – C DAL Pacio Torreo – 1B TOP Chris Delagrange – 2B DAL Hugo Acosta – 3B RIC Josh Frazier – SS TOP Felix Marquez – LF WAS Doug Levis – CF CIN Dan Mathes – RF LAP Juan Benavides
Platinum Sticks (CL): P LVA Oscar Valdes – C OCT Jesus Adames – 1B TIJ Willie Ojeda – 2B VAN Dan Schneller – 3B IND Dan Hutson – SS CHA Tony Aparicio – LF CHA Joe Besaw – CF VAN Jerry Outram – RF TIJ Bryce Toohey
Gold Gloves (FL): P WAS Jerry Banda – C PIT Giampaolo Petroni – 1B RIC Manny Liberos – 2B CIN Thomas Gould – 3B NAS Brad Critzer – SS DAL Leo Villacorta – LF TOP Derek Baskins – CF SAL Armando Herrera – RF LAP Juan Benavides
Gold Gloves (CL): P VAN Mike Mihalik – C OCT Jesus Adames – 1B MIL Aaron Brayboy – 2B MIL Victor Acosta – 3B ATL Kyle Lusk – SS OCT Chris O’Keefe – LF POR Manny Fernandez – CF ATL Brian Oliver – RF BOS Moises Avila