[Westheim]

2062 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set in parenthesis shows 2061 stats, second set career stats; players with an * are off season acquisitions;

SP Tyler Riddle, 30, B:L, T:L (13-5, 2.87 ERA | 79-51, 2.96 ERA, 2 SV) – the Raccoons have gotten a pretty good return for their 5-year deal with Riddle so far, who came on after missing half of ’58 and all of ’59, and it looked bad enough for him at times that he could not get more than a 1-year contract, either. He missed two months after leaving his Opening Day assignment with an injury, but on his return put a very strong 22 starts together and would get another shot at the honor this year.
SP Bobby Herrera, 31, B:R, T:R (14-8, 3.19 ERA | 52-43, 3.25 ERA) – You know what you get from Tipsy Bobby at this point: 12 to 14 wins, low-3 ERA; actually led the CL in fewest BB/9 (1.8) last year. Like clockwork with the 96mph fastball, slider, and changeup.
SP Nick Robinson, 33, B:L, T:L (16-8, 2.93 ERA | 125-84, 3.28 ERA) – truly elite pitcher brought onto the roster in a trade with the Gold Sox the previous winter. Vicious curveball and very impressive stats, and he hasn’t missed a start in nine years while winning an ERA title in the FL in ’58.
SP Chance Fox, 27, B:L, T:L (11-9, 3.04 ERA | 45-33, 3.81 ERA) – former #3 pick and groundballer with iffy control, Fox was promoted from St. Pete in the middle of the 2058 season and got roughed up regularly, but pitched a few nice games as well. Also throws 96 with a nice slider and changeup. Led the team in W’s in 2059 and matched that win total in 2060, and actually made some improvements in BB/9 and K/9 over the last two years, getting the walks down to 2.2/9 last year.
SP Angel Alba, 25, B:R, T:R (5-4, 4.53 ERA | 7-6, 4.74 ERA) – scouting discovery out of Venezuela that was hit around pretty good in cups of coffee in 2060 and early 2061, but appeared to figure himself out in AAA in the summer and then pitched respectably down the stretch, or at least well enough to secure the fifth starter’s spot on a team with no money and with little other options.

SP/MU Justin DeRose, 28, B:S, T:R (10-13, 4.61 ERA | 33-43, 4.24 ERA) – after holding on to a rotation spot for two years and change because the Raccoons didn’t really have many options and/or had plenty of injuries, DeRose came unglued once more in the second half in ’61 and was demoted to the bullpen, and if we could have found an animal shelter that would have taken him, he’d now sit in a cage, banging a food bowl against the metal bars.
SP/MU Adam Middleton *, 38, B:R, T:R (4-4, 3.47 ERA | 131-111, 3.98 ERA, 38 SV) – arrived in the very odd Caswell deal with the Gold Sox and offers us the unique opportunity to have a seventh starting pitcher on the roster, some of whom were highly suspect. Middleton was long past his hey-days and had drifted in and out of rotations for all his career, with just over half of his 619 career games coming in relief.
MR James Murdock *, 32, B:R, T:R (6-7, 4.02 ERA, 17 SV | 45-53, 3.72 ERA, 120 SV) – once-CL saves champion and otherwise a bit unremarkable, Murdock for $900k was the most expensive free agent acquisition in the Raccoons’ largely abortive offseason. Fastball/curveball right-hander, and this system is full of those.
MR Ricky Herrera, 30, B:L, T:L (1-2, 3.43 ERA, 5 SV | 25-12, 2.94 ERA, 7 SV) – former second-rounder with a fastball/slider combo that was Portland’s most notorious wins thief with 19 victories claimed between 2059 and 2060. Very sturdy on the hill, although his walks issued have seen some up and down over the years, and he seemed to lose effectiveness in the second half, which, yes, is a common theme here.
SU Ryan Sullivan, 32, B:L, T:R (0-0, 3.86 ERA | 52-51, 3.07 ERA, 143 SV) – two stints as a Crusaders closer, two years in L.A., and now a 3-year deal with the Raccoons as free agent; also a devious curveball in addition to the 94mph fastball, all of which was on the DL for most of 2061 due to a torn rotator cuff that held him to six games in the regular season and three more in the rough CLCS.
SU Justin Rocco, 31, B:S, T:L (6-3, 2.36 ERA, 19 SV | 16-8, 4.03 ERA, 22 SV) – acquired from the Aces in July, Rocco tries to fool people with the cutter, which often works… but not always. Exceptional control for a left-hander.
CL Matt Walters, 31, B:L, T:L (3-3, 3.07 ERA, 38 SV | 15-17, 1.94 ERA, 252 SV) – three Reliever of the Year titles, three times leading the CL in saves, also setting a new franchise mark for saves in a single season in 2060, erasing Angel Casas’ ancient mark of 54. Deceptive 94mph fastball, wipeout curveball that is guaranteed to corkscrew through swinging batters. Good boy. Loves snacks. Scout has some yellow and red notes in his files about him looking like he’s losing it, which I will entirely ignore, because I can’t cope.

C Angel Perez, 26, B:R, T:R (.292, 7 HR, 47 RBI | .286, 23 HR, 150 RBI) – acquired with Jack Kozak from the Pacifics for mostly Jesus Martinez in July of 2059, Perez immediately made a bit of a splash, not necessarily in the power department, but with good work behind the plate and a steady supply of base hits and keeping the line moving. Did his first full season in ’60 and hit just above league average with a 102 OPS+, although we had hoped for a tad more. Offered a 114 OPS+ last year. Runs like a catcher in any case, so even when he rakes he will probably continue to bat behind all the other big bats that actually have legs.
C Marcos Arellano, 25, B:R, T:R (.421, 1 HR, 6 RBI | .333, 1 HR, 6 RBI) – the young Panamanian accompanied Nick Robinson over from Denver last winter, and outlasted Tim Fuller’s year as backup to Angel Perez to slide into that position when the Raccoons couldn’t upgrade due to a lack of funds; hit .421, but it was really just 8-for-19, in 10 games late last season.

1B Joel Starr, 29, B:L, T:L (.228, 15 HR, 73 RBI | .281, 63 HR, 266 RBI) – while he’s already a bit older than prime prospect porn, he still won a Platinum Stick in his first full season in the majors at age 26 and became the Raccoons’ best hitter for good in 2060, when he not only put up a .901 OPS, but also played all but one game in a season where almost everybody else at one point or another hit the DL. Contrast that with the .234 BABIP for a full season in 2061 and the accompanying terrible stats. When the baseball gods aren’t cross with him in particular, he’s a good steady bat with power, normal defense at first base, and while he’s not Lonzo by any stretch of the imagination, he can time the pitcher up and sneak a few stolen bases.
2B/SS/RF Jim White *, 33, B:R, T:R (.228, 12 HR, 60 RBI | .266, 77 HR, 593 RBI) – acquired from the Gold Sox and will be the second base starter until Nick Nye’s return and then turn into a luxury bench bat, but he’s actually signed for two more seasons. Defensively he is still a premium option at second base, but he has never won a Gold Glove in his career, which was mostly spent with the Aces.
SS Lorenzo Lavorano, 34, B:R, T:R (.274, 4 HR, 50 RBI | .279, 42 HR, 609 RBI) – Everybody loves Lonzo! If you don’t love Lonzo, you can’t be my friend…! Has won seven stolen base titles in his first eight full (as in: not-injured) seasons, a Gold Glove once… and he keeps being a delight in the field and on the career steals list, where he currently sits sixth with 674 career thefts in 940 attempts – keep running, boy! This year, the all-time career record was in reach, with 47 more stolen bases needed to catch up with Pablo Sanchez, coincidentally the same tally he posted in 141 games last season.
3B/1B/2B/SS/RF Nick Fox, 32, B:S, T:R (.252, 0 HR, 34 RBI | .275, 27 HR, 323 RBI) – didn’t make a fool of himself, but also didn’t exactly knock the cover off the baseballs in the first of two seasons he signed for last winter; let’s just say the quest to fill third base with more than soup of the day continues.
SS/3B/2B Nick Fowler, 31, B:L, T:R (.255, 5 HR, 50 RBI | .278, 32 HR, 286 RBI) – played competently wherever he was stuck in the field last season, while with the stick he posted his worst-ever OPS at .673, which is a thing that often happens to players with the Raccoons…
2B/SS/LF/3B/RF Jon Bean, 27, B:L, T:R (.243, 0 HR, 21 RBI | .249, 1 HR, 51 RBI) – part of the Raccoons’ ever-tingling carrousel of unimpressive quad-A middle infield talent, Jon Bean won the final spot on the roster mostly because Nick Nye was injured and he’d make a better-than-nothing option to give both starting middle infielders a breather.

LF/RF/1B Trent Brassfield, 29, B:R, T:R (.286, 12 HR, 75 RBI | .280, 82 HR, 426 RBI) – sketchy defender that made a name with his stick as a 21-year-old before flaying a shoulder, and he’s chased that 151 OPS+ in 48 games ever since without getting remotely close. Still a tough out and a valuable right-handed bat, playing all but one game last year and posting a 121 OPS+.
CF/LF/RF Ben Morris, 24, B:L, T:L (.247, 12 HR, 48 RBI | .256, 15 HR, 80 RBI) – weird player, who just when we thought he’d fit in the leadoff spot started to hit home runs, but still managed to come out on top against Lonzo in stolen bases in ’61, stealing 51 bases to Lonzo’s 47.
RF/LF/CF/1B Joey Christopher, 26, B:L, T:L (.220, 5 HR, 23 RBI | .238, 12 HR, 80 RBI) – yes, that’s our starting rightfielder (again), stop snickering (again). Joe-Chris has a .373 BABIP in the majors in three partial seasons and a full one, he has a murder arm in rightfield, and he … I don’t know, somehow trading Noah Caswell sounded like a smarter idea before all the other boys started to line up; had a horrendous 2061 season anyway, spending much of it on the bench while struggling with both OBP and base stealing.
LF/RF/CF/SS Felix Ayala, 24, B:R, T:R (.241, 3 HR, 25 RBI | .232, 3 HR, 25 RBI) – got just under 200 at-bats last season all over the outfield but was not really batting with much inspiration and was caught stealing more often than he succeeded.
CF/RF/LF Carlos Mata *, 32, B:R, T:R (.263, 2 HR, 22 RBI | .247, 19 HR, 127 RBI) – another casual defender that was acquire from the Pacifics for equally uninspiring Bernie Ortega in January. Only once played a full season’s worth of games with the 2055 Capitals.

On disabled list:
2B/SS/3B Nick Nye, 31, B:R, T:R (.303, 12 HR, 50 RBI | .312, 162 HR, 721 RBI) – THE Addition of the previous offseason! Nick Nye was a former FL Player of the Year and had won a sack full of titles and awards with the Blue Sox in the last few years, including bagging the FL homer crown in 2059. So of course in Portland he shed 42 points of batting average and cut his homer total in half. Portland things, I guess. Proceeded then to shed a knee ligament or two in August ’61, which is still not healed out. He is expected to start rehab in late April, and will likely get the full 20-day regimen with the Alley Cats.

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement:
MR Mike Abrams, 33, B:R, T:R (2-2, 4.18 ERA, 1 SV | 4-4, 4.11 ERA, 2 SV) – waived and DFA’ed; fastball/curveball right-hander that was a waiver claim from the Aces last June, feigned competence for a month or so, and then got increasingly lit up…
MR Paul Barton, 26, B:R, T:R (2-2, 4.74 ERA | 2-2, 4.74 ERA) – optioned to AAA; another fastball/curveball right-hander that was signed as depth before last season and was pretty soon called up to the majors for a 56-game rookie season that yielded thoroughly mixed results and feelings, but 4.4 BB/9 was never a great jump-off point for a right-hander.
MR Bryan Erickson, 27, B:R, T:R (1-0, 7.30 ERA, 1 SV | 3-1, 5.40 ERA, 1 SV) – optioned to AAA; former eighth-rounder and basic flyball pitcher with a curveball that was mostly employed in garbage relief, but also lacked the length to do that on a regular basis and for multiple innings, so he couldn’t even stink up to Justin DeRose for a job at the shallow end of the pen.
MR Adam Harris, 27, B:R, T:L (0-0, 10.00 ERA | 1-0, 4.68 ERA) – waived and DFA’ed; just when we thought he had sorted out the control issues, he made ten big league appearance only to get murdered for a .581 BABIP.
1B Forbes Tomlin, 26, B:R, T:R (.317, 4 HR, 26 RBI | .301, 4 HR, 26 RBI) – waived and DFA’ed; superficially smashed up left-handed pitchers, but then you look at the .370 BABIP and realize it’s all for nothing and Joel Starr was not going to be replaced by him after all.
LF/1B/CF Jack Kozak, 27, B:R, T:R (.194, 3 HR, 10 RBI | .227, 13 HR, 55 RBI) – waived and DFA’ed; at this point the discussion is mainly about which has the bigger holes, his swing or his glove.
LF/CF Malik Crumble *, 29, B:L, T:L (.250, 1 HR, 2 RBI | .265, 36 HR, 159 RBI) – waived and DFA’ed; non-tendered by the Blue Sox, Crumble is a casual defender who had a strong 106 games in ’57 and not a whole lot since.

Everybody not mentioned by now has already been waived, reassigned, or promoted away to run a branch office in Rancho Cucamonga during the winter.

OPENING DAY LINEUP:

Vs. RHP: CF Morris – SS Lavorano (Bean) – 1B Starr – LF Brassfield – C Perez – RF Christopher – 2B White – 3B Fowler – P
(Vs. LHP: CF Morris – SS Lavorano – LF (1B) Brassfield – 1B Starr (OF Ayala) – C Perez – 2B White – 3B N. Fox – LF Ayala (Mata) – P)

No major surprises there except that Brassfield might actually see first base service again to give Starr days off since we no longer have another half-dozen first baseman lingering around the roster.

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

Weird offseason. The Raccoons came 11th with a -0.8 WAR offseason according to BNN, adding just five players, and all of those in January after months of ho-humming. The two trades with Denver and L.A. were pretty neutral WAR-wise, but Jim White added 1.6 WAR. In turn, Tim Fuller and Ruben Mendez each cost just over 1 WAR after leaving in free agency.

Top 5: Scorpions (+9.1), Wolves (+7.3), Knights (+7.1), Capitals (+6.5), Stars (+4.9)
Bottom 5: Falcons (-4.4), Thunder (-4.7), Buffaloes (-5.4), Miners (-5.7), Crusaders (-12.6)

The rest of the CL North ranked 13th (VAN, -1.7), 15th (BOS, -2.2), 16th (IND, -2.4), and 17th (MIL, -2.5). So NOBODY in the division gained anything this winter…!

PREDICTION TIME:

I expected the Crusaders to run away with it and to win 100+ games again last season, but at least got the Raccoons nearly right, who won 94 games and ran away with the division when I guessed 92 games.

The rotation is solid (unless Alba forgets how to pitch again), and the bullpen is bizarre to say the least. We did not really add any punch for the lineup this offseason. I don’t see how it’s getting *better*, but with how little the rest of the division was able to improve we can maybe hope for 88 wins and a division title.

And then get exploded by the Baybirds in the CLCS again.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

Last year the Raccoons ranked sixth in the farm table with ten ranked prospects, six of them in the top 100. Not much remained of that.

In the new rankings, the Raccoons crashed and burned to 20th place among the 24 teams, which had something to do with how their former top 100 prospects fared. #24 Angel Alba exceeded rookie limits and disappeared this way, and #96 Juan Arauz and #199 Joe Agee (who would not have ranked due to old age anymore anyway) were traded to the Gold Sox in the Caswell trade. And while former #5 Jose Corral was carpetbombed all the way out of the top 100, #62 Jon Herbert tumbled out of the rankings entirely, as did #133 Andy Marullo.

38th (+49) – AA LF/RF Roberto Soto, 21 – 2058 scouting discovery by Raccoons
75th (-17) – AA INF/RF/LF Victor Morales, 20 – 2059 international free agent signed by Raccoons
116th (-111) – AAA RF/LF Jose Corral, 21 – 2057 international free agent signed by Raccoons
120th (-10) – AAA MR Rich Read, 24 – 2057 supplemental round pick by Raccoons, taken in 2060 Rule 5 draft by Buffaloes but returned
132nd (+28) – AA LF/RF/1B John Bentley, 22 – 2060 first-round pick by Raccoons
142nd (new) – A C Jake Flowe, 19 – 2061 first-round pick by Raccoons
184th (new) – AA 1B Alex Vargas, 21 – 2058 second-round pick by Raccoons

Finally, the top 10 overall prospects this year are:

1st (new) – MIL AA 1B/LF/RF Cesar Ramirez, 21
2nd (new) – PIT ML SP Mark Fitzthum, 22
3rd (new) – CIN AA CL John Faughnan, 21
4th (-3) – IND AA SP Gabriel Rios, 20
5th (new) – SAL A SP B.J. Butrico, 19

6th (+58) – IND A 1B Alex Mendez, 20
7th (new) – VAN AA OF Rick Atkins, 21
8th (new) – OCT A OF John Barrett, 18
9th (new) – DAL A OF/1B Travis Dockweiler, 19
10th (+10) – BOS AA SP Bryce Wallace, 22

Cesar Ramirez had been a scouting discovery from Venezuela in 2058, but had not registered on the prospect tracker until this year. Fitzthum had been the #1 pick in the 2061 draft and after 17 starts in the minors made the Miners’ Opening Day roster. Faughnan was picked #13 by the Cyclones in the draft, tore his elbow within a month of making his pro debut, and still somehow made it to #3 in the rankings. In between Fitzthum and Faughnan the Elks had taken Rick Atkins with the #2 pick in the most recent draft. Barrett was the #8 pick by the Thunder, and Dockweiler was selected #10 by the Stars.

With only last year’s #1 prospect returned to the top 10 list, there was almost a full set of fates to examine.

More or less successful transitions to the major leagues were made by the #2 prospect Manny Gutierrez, who closed out 36 games for the Falcons in his rookie season, but was also swatted around for a 5.28 ERA. The #4 prospect, Alex Rodriguez, made it into 48 games for the Buffaloes, hitting .317 with 1 HR, 15 RBI. Vancouver got a 10-9, 3.09 ERA season in 28 starts out of the former #6 prospect Ken Nielsen.

The #7 prospect, versatile Dallas Baker, made only nine appearances for the Cyclones, batting .300, but retained his rookie status and made the Opening Day roster, but had plummeted to #86 in the rankings.

Just outside the top 10 were Rebels SP Marc Timmons (#9 to #19), and Boston CL Gil Huerta (#10 to #21). On the other paw, Thunder prospect 1B Andres Valencia plunged from #8 to #98, and that was nothing compared to the Cyclones’ C Ryan Marty, who went from the #3 prospect all the way out of the top 200 and as deep as 16th in the Cyclones own system (which was one of the top-ranked farms).

Next: first pitch.