[Westheim]

Arbitration netted Justin DeRose $680k, the offer of the team, rather than the very meticulously calculated $802,785 he wanted. Actually, to be precise, I had offered $680k and a good strangling with my own paws, but that somehow didn’t make it into the document.

After that we were left with 31 players on the extended roster and a thoroughly underwhelming free agent class with only six type A free agents, and that somehow included Ben Lussier, who had yet again managed to ruin an entire team’s postseason almost on his own. How that guy was still getting contracts was very much beyond me.

But who needs free agents – we don’t have money anyway! With all the savings from non-tendering and lowballing Joel Starr for this year etc. factored in, we had about $4.5M of budget room available, which these days barely bought an All Star bat anyway. No, we’d have to find better personnel in a different way – with my wits! (Cristiano Carmona raises an eyebrow)

But where *do* you go about and tweak and turn this roster to make it better? On paper, all the positions were already filled with average or above-average personnel AND WE’RE NOT TALKING ABOUT LONZO NOW. (Cristiano closes snout) Well, except for third base, which the Raccoons hadn’t been able to fill confidently and/or competently for the better part of a decade now. Quick – who was the last Raccoons third baseman to make the most starts at the position for consecutive seasons? You’re never gonna guess it. Ed ******* Crispin, from 2050 to 2052. Since then it was nightmare after nightmare, peppered with some Anton Venegas in the mid-50s (but his two seasons of making the most lineup appearances at third base were interrupted by more … Ed Crispin). I’m not saying I want Matt Nunley back (3B fixture from 2014 through 2031 minus an injury-addled 2028 season). But I want Matt Nunley back.

There was currently hope in the minors in shape of 20-year-old Mexican 3B Victor Morales, who batted .261/.338/.398 for Ham Lake this year with at least ten of each extra-base hit. Raw power was perhaps not so much his thing in the end, but he looked like a doubles machine with a *very* fine glove at third base. Alas, he was at least two years away at this point and we had to put a warm body there somehow. This also made Morales, the #58 prospect, non-negotiable in trade discussions, the first of which I had in mid-November with some CL South teams for their versatile infielders. Not looking for a starter so much (except to cover perhaps two months of Nick Nye absence to begin ’62 to avoid more Bean/Ortega), but somebody that could spell the middle infielders and hold down third base as well. Omar Lira was one such option; the Thunder were drifting dead in the water, face down, and nothing was safe from getting traded away. Lira was a very good second baseman, but lacked a bit of arm to be a permanent (well, two years at least) solution at third base. As a lefty batter, it was a bit like copy-pasting Nick Fowler onto the roster once more. Another option in the same vein was Tijuana’s Bob Palmieri, a career backup that had hit .322 (with a .371 BABIP) in 66 games this past season. He wasn’t gonna hit that over two consecutive months; he was a better defensive option, especially at third base, was good at short, and could also fill in at most other positions, super-utility style. He also made the minimum at age 29.

Wait. Don’t we already have six 29-year-old middle infielders unable to hit their weight in pounds?

Ahead of the Rule 5 Draft, the Raccoons went ahead and protected 22-year-old AAA SP Daniel Benitez, whose future was probably more in the bullpen than the first inning, but a near-2 ERA in a (swingman) season got my attention anyway. Brad Loveless was lovelessly waived and DFA’ed in turn.

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November 20 – The Stars sign ex-POR MR Ruben Mendez (56-51, 3.40 ERA, 176 SV) to a 2-yr, $2.84M contract.
November 22 – The Scorpions sign former Buffaloes infielder Zach Suggs (.302, 298 HR, 1,223 RBI) to a 2-year contract that will pay $13.2M to the 35-year-old shortstop.
November 23 – Sacramento deals 2B/SS Nick Kelly (.275, 8 HR, 135 RBI) to the Blue Sox for LF/CF J.P. Sheridan (.249, 5 HR, 54 RBI).
November 24 – Three-time CL Player of the Year, ex-ATL 2B/SS Willie Acosta (.289, 94 HR, 603 RBI) signs a 2-yr, $15.2M deal with the Capitals.
November 24 – The Knights boldly add former Capitals CL Ben Lussier (63-70, 3.69 ERA, 352 SV) on a 3-yr, $10.36M contract.
November 27 – The Crusaders flip SP Jose Ortega (72-55, 3.63 ERA) to the Wolves for INF Tom Crist (.261, 11 HR, 180 RBI) and #132 prospect SP Justin Coban.
November 27 – Washington presents new addition, former Thunder C Burce Burkart (.247, 60 HR, 271 RBI), signed on a 5-year, $18.16M deal.
December 1 – Rule 5 Draft: 18 players are taken. The Raccoons are not affected.

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I spent the second half of November principally sneaking around the Scorpions and swinging a deal that was probably unexpected but not indefensible. The deal required the Stingers to be able to take on a chunky contract, which they persistently refused to do by putting offers for as much as $20M at a time out there. The Raccoons were not bidding on ANY free agents at that point. Since no deal ever materialized with the Scorpions, that part of the offseason was really just wasted.

Other former Furballs with new employment: the Loggers paid Tony Benitez $392k; the Thunder threw $1.02M over two years at Reynaldo Bravo;