[Westheim]

Additional housekeeping notes from the beginning of offseason proper with the filing of free agents included that Antonio Alfaro was now firmly ours after spending the entire season on the roster as a Rule 5 pick after having been selected from Sacramento. He pitched 80.1 innings doing mostly long relief and some spot starts, appearing in 48 games (3 starts), and going a steep 9-2 with 3.47 ERA and a save. He was not a candidate for the back end of the rotation – his stamina was on the very low side and you could not expect him to pitch more than five innings, although he went seven against the Indians in one of his three starts, but that game saw him face 25 batters on just 82 pitches, with a staggering 14 groundouts. Alfaro was rewarded with a new uniform number, being assigned #41 after previously wearing “you’re going to extended training camp” #84.

At the same time, Polibio O’Higgins remained with the Warriors after having been taken from us in the Rule 5 draft. He went 0-3 with a 1.97 ERA in 23 games, being used sparingly.

Besides the major league free agents (Scott, Flores, Malkus, Cornejo, Marroguin), the Raccoons also shed a number of minor league free agents, including some try-and-try-again recurring guests like Rich Seymour, a .205 batter in the majors. Steve Richardson, Shane Honig, Matt Dixon, Bryan Lenderink elected minor league free agency as well, as did 31-year-old running gag Roberto Medina, .235 with 2 HR, 21 RBI in the majors. Somebody had awarded him a ring for that 2047 championship. He had collected roughly half of his 214 major league plate appearances in ’47, and both homers, but had been back every year from 2048 through 2052 after that, sometimes for as few as three at-bats.

Only 28 players (including Raffy) remained on the extended roster, with 17 in AAA initially, although a few Ham Lake players were going to advance for next year, including Trent Brassfield.

Then, to get the juices flowing in everybody’s snout, here’s a first look at the likely Coons lineup against right-handed pitching – probably needs some work against left-handers – with their 2053 production and their career numbers:

3B Venegas – .303, 3 HR, 44 RBI – .313, 26 HR, 465 RBI
SS Lavorano – .309, 2 HR, 46 RBI – .284, 12 HR, 206 RBI
2B Waters – .281, 28 HR, 110 RBI – .264, 207 HR, 782 RBI
RF Puckeridge – .312, 26 HR, 107 RBI – .305, 53 HR, 301 RBI
1B Ramsay – .291, 20 HR, 72 RBI – .284, 24 HR, 86 RBI
LF Crum – .254, 17 HR, 87 RBI – .283, 116 HR, 632 RBI
CF Cox – .266, 21 HR, 81 RBI – .258, 82 HR, 341 RBI
C Gowin – .282, 11 HR, 60 RBI – .260, 22 HR, 185 RBI

Crum ahead of Cox, because we don’t want three left-handers in a row. Although Pucks and Waters could also be flipped to achieve that goal, each time moving a switch-hitter into the all-lefty sequence of Pucks, Ramsay, and Cox.

Ramsay? “Rams”? He rams balls outta here for sure.

Another look? Here’s the 2053 and career OPS+ values for the bunch.

3B Venegas – 109 – 118
SS Lavorano – 104 – 94
2B Waters – 130 – 119
RF Puckeridge – 145 – 128
1B Ramsay – 130 – 128
LF Crum – 104 – 123
CF Cox – 139 – 119
C Gowin – 114 – 95

That should do for offense! (It better would – that lineup would cost well north of $16M)

Just gotta twist that bench into shape. Crispin (99 career OPS+) and Suzuki (73) will probably be there (Suzuki being a late-inning CF replacement with that lineup especially), and maybe Blackshire, but after that we really need a right-handed centerfielder, and then there’s the question of what to do with the backup catcher spot. Philipps and Raczka basically failed their way through the 2053 season. They had a combined 111 OPS+ … if you added up their 59 and 52 values, respectively.

Never mind that we have glaring holes in the rotation, so the additional bench pieces better don’t cost substantial money.

What about the bullpen actually? Not as stacked as you’d think. The Raccoons had only a dozen healthy pitchers on the extended roster: Baker, Brobeck, Taki, and Wheats in the rotation. Then Daley and Hitchcock at the back end of the pen, with the lefty pair of Sencion and Lillis, and Alfaro. … and then? The leftovers: Harmer, Reese, Medrano. The Raccoons probably also needed to find one or two right-handed relievers that wouldn’t cost any money. Shoutout though to AAA right-hander Reynaldo Bravo, 22, who had gone 6-3 with a 2.82 ERA and 39 SV for the Alley Cats this year, but had walked 5.5 per nine innings. He was surely on the radar. Same for Matt Walters, the failed starter mentioned before.

Trade chips? None. It’s a top-heavy team, and we’ve been lean on prospects for a few years now. I mean, Trent Brassfield is always popular. Wheats, Daley, Crum were all free agents after 2054. Was this an all-in effort for an eighth ring?

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He Shui had just won his third Pitcher of the Year award in the Taiwan League, and had also just turned 28 while getting himself out of his contract and making himself a rookie free agent for the ABL. Eric Hartwig filed a scouting report that contained none of the usual “sucks”, “can’t do anything”, “miserable”, and “kill with fire” rhetoric, so I was naturally interested. Rated 13/13/15 with four good or very good pitches, the righty groundballer was perhaps the best available starting pitcher that would not cost a draft pick. The price was rumored to be steep, and the Coons had only about $7.3M to begin the offseason. And the starting bids to Shui and Arthur Pickett alone would come to $4.7M.

Those tack-on relievers and centerfielders and what-not better be content with soup and plain white bread…

Unrelated – the Miners had more things to give away. They had already dumped Venegas and Cox on the Coons – thanks guys! (waves) – and were now trying to rid themselves of CF Jayden Ward, too. They’d give him away for (sorta) free, much like Venegas, but he had two years of $1.78M left and while being a switch-hitter, he was very much better against right-handers, which he wouldn’t get to see a lot, so this was a freebie the Raccoons had to pass on.

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November 22 – The Titans trade LF Josh Spath (.300, 1 HR, 16 RBI) to the Scorpions for two prospects including #46 SP Will Glaude.
November 25 – The Falcons snatch ex-OCT C Kevin Weese (.305, 75 HR, 530 RBI), committing $16.36M over four years to the 31-year-old backstop.
November 25 – The Blue Sox sign another former Thunder, CL Gustavo Chapa (22-21, 3.29 ERA, 74 SV), to a 2-yr, $4.56M contract.
November 25 – The Titans take on ex-TIJ/POR OF/2B Jordan Marroguin (.263, 83 HR, 440 RBI) to a 3-yr, $4.86M contract.
November 27 – 32-year-old 2B/3B Lance Harrison (.303, 145 HR, 711 RBI), who split time between the Rebels and Knights in 2053, signs a 2-yr, $6.48M contract with the Stars.
November 29 – Dallas also signs ex-RIC/SFB CL Sam Gibson (48-49, 2.51 ERA, 287 SV) to a 3-yr, $8.96M contract.
November 30 – The Raccoons sign 28-year-old Taiwanese free agent SP He Shui to a 6-yr, $18M contract.
December 1 – Rule 5 Draft: 18 players are taken in the draft. The Raccoons draft 25-yr old MR Jason Terrell (2-3, 3.99 ERA, 2 SV) off the Pacifics.

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Yeah, if Shui’s not gonna pan out, it’s gonna suck!

Terrell is another shot at somebody to eat innings when innings need to be eaten, but I was considerably less confident in that one turning the corner, despite him having some major league experience. He had been in a total of 31 games with the Pacifics since 2050, but we wouldn’t have made that pick if we had any confidence in the likes of Harmer and Medrano to turn the ship, either… With the addition of a Rule 5 pick, there was still a bullpen spot open.