[Westheim]

It was the new year. The Raccoons had thrown dosh around in December and were down to $2.4M in budget space. That used to feed an entire All Star caliber outfield, but now it was just barely enough for ten weeks of Danny Munn. Worst case – it’d be the ten weeks he’d inevitably spend on the DL!

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January 7 – The Falcons sign ex-RIC SP Austin Wilcox (107-110, 4.01 ERA) to a 2-yr, $11.7M deal.
January 10 – The Rebels instead take in former Miners SP Jerry Cruz (75-90, 4.20 ERA) with an offer of $4.8M over two years.
January 24 – The Miners ink ex-POR SP Jason Wheatley (156-106, 3.38 ERA) to a 2-yr, $7.92M contract. The Raccoons receive a supplemental-round pick in compensation.
January 29 – The Miners also sign former Crusaders starter Jeff Johnson (177-149, 3.49 ERA), who commands a $10.2M deal over two years.

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Oh, Wheats… you could have gotten that deal from us as well………

Needless to say that I was sobbing for the rest of the month. I was inconsolable! Maud tried everything, from brushing my fur, to putting on my favorite cartoons, to cooking the biggest bowls of pudding for me, but I would just put one paw into it, smell it briefly, and then hang the whiskers again, as well as the pudding paw off the couch, pudding dripping on the floor.

Would life ever be filled with joy again…!? – Looking at the news around Portland, no. Lots of people put the head into the oven along with the muffins in that final week of January… All my fault, according to the Agitator.

The #13 pick for the 2055 draft, the highest forfeitable pick possible, changed hands twice in a week in January, from the Falcons to the Rebs to the Miners; and then a third time when the Miners snatched up Jeff Johnson, sending the pick to the Crusaders.

New deals for long-ago Critters: the Caps added Ricky Jimenez for $492k and Shuta Yamamoto for $1.24M;

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The Hall of Fame got a new member in 2055, with Willie Ojeda being elected in his first appearance on the ballot.

Ojeda went from signing with the Condors for food and shelter to making nearly $50M in the ABL, putting together a 20-year career that saw him win two batting titles with the Condors, leading the CL in OPS once and being a serial winner of All Star nominations (11) and Platinum Sticks (7), although he never managed to get his team to win the World Series. Ojeda was consistency, failing to .300 just once in a 14-year span from 2034 to 2047, and would hit double-digits homers *and* triples along with that most of the time. In his 20s, he was also a prolific base stealer, although that ended abruptly after he turned 31 and a few injuries. Ojeda, after 15 seasons with the Condors, managed to play in every other division as well, even though his FL East stint was just nine games with the Buffaloes in his final season in ’49.

TIJ RF Willie Ojeda – 1st – 91.9 – INDUCTED
??? CL Josh Boles – 6th – 69.2
POR LF Manny Fernandez – 2nd – 62.4
??? CL Chris Henry – 4th – 47.8
SAL C Morgan Kuhlmann – 4th – 22.0
LAP CF Justin Fowler – 10th – 14.2 – DROPPED
SAL CL Rico Sanchez – 1st – 12.5
PIT SP Roberto Pruneda – 2nd – 12.2
BOS SP Rich Willett – 3rd – 6.8
DAL SS Jon Ramos – 2nd – 5.8
CHA 2B Oscar Aguirre – 1st – 5.4
DAL SP Eric Weitz – 4th – 5.1
TOP 1B Chris Delagrange – 2nd – 4.7 – DROPPED
VAN C Timóteo Clemente – 2nd – 3.1 – DROPPED
LAP SP Joe Feltman – 1st – 2.7 – DROPPED
??? CL Alex Banderas – 1st – 1.4 – DROPPED
SFW 2B Jesus Matos – 1st – 1.4 – DROPPED
SAC SS Jesus Banuelas – 2nd – 1.4 – DROPPED
ATL SP David Farris – 1st – 0.7 – DROPPED
SFB CF Mike Hall – 1st – 0.0 – DROPPED
TOP CL Ricardo Ordas – 1st – 0.0 – DROPPED