[Westheim]

2071 PORTLAND RACCOONS – Opening Day Roster (first set in parenthesis shows 2070 stats, second set career stats; players with an * are off season acquisitions;

SP Nick Walla, 30, B:R, T:R (12-11, 3.77 ERA | 67-73, 3.54 ERA) – Walla has five good pitches, and came close to an ERA title in 2068 before a late fade derailed the campaign, and he would be even better if he had a wipeout pitch in his arsenal. Had an absolutely abysmal first half in 2070, but was then nearly amazing in the last couple of months.
SP Tony Gaytan, 27, B:R, T:R (10-15, 3.89 ERA | 43-65, 4.11 ERA) – “Bombs Away!” Gaytan really cut down on the homers allowed in 2070, going from a staggering 36 bombs allowed to 21, but somehow that didn’t lead in an improvement in fortunes either. He has never posted a winning record in the majors, but at least he’s signed rather cheaply through 2074.
SP/MR Gabriel Rios, 29, B:L, T:L (8-3, 3.31 ERA, 2 SV | 26-23, 3.58 ERA, 4 SV) – Rios wants to start, and we always muse that Rios could start, but whenever Rios does start, it’s usually a disaster. Then he actually did get to start halfway through the 2070 season and was actually really good – and then hit the DL and when he came back he was anything but good. I don’t know, just put him in the catapult and launch him against the leftfield wall, maybe something’ll stick. At least he kept the walks down while in the rotation, posted his lowest ever BB/9 at 2.8 (in a meaningful amount of games at least).
SP Vinny Morales, 29, B:S, T:R (9-12, 3.87 ERA | 28-31, 3.81 ERA) – returned from the list of busted prospects as a midseason replacement in 2068 and suddenly managed to pitch competently at the major league level, even though his strikeouts were rather few and far between. Good control, but tends to give up dingers and doesn’t have a lot of stamina. And there’s never anything interesting to write about him, although he actually did pitch his first complete game last season.
SP Jimmy Wharton, 24, B:L, T:L (10-12, 4.46 ERA | 17-17, 4.44 ERA) – the former #4 pick spent his first full season in the rotation and the results were rather rough, with unimpressive strikeout totals and too many games where he just couldn’t get anybody out. But at least he rivaled Gaytan in giving up the long ones. Great times, and don’t get me started on those other high picks we made in the late 60s…

MR Dan Graham *, 34, B:L, T:L (4-6, 4.60 ERA, 1 SV | 87-85, 3.85 ERA, 67 SV) – left-hander and former starter that has suffered from bad BABIP’s and low bite on the breaking balls for a while now, but somehow ended up with a 2-year deal, half of which was a team option.
MR Todd Sullivan, 24, B:R, T:R (3-0, 2.56 ERA | 3-0, 2.56 ERA) – young right-hander with three good pitches (but short stamina) that had his career ruined with a July trade to the Coons when the Stars took on Jerry Morejon and Carlos Fumero last season. So far hasn’t made me angry.
MR Edgar Gutierrez, 28, B:L, T:R (2-2, 2.52 ERA | 2-2, 2.52 ERA) – free agent signing out of Mexico last year, and wasn’t any good, even though the ERA might make you believe so. Crappy control, and prone to waving in other people’s runners.
MR Jason Holzmeister, 26, B:S, T:R (0-2, 2.17 ERA | 9-6, 3.50 ERA) – not sure why we keep going back to this former Rule 5 pick that can only hold onto a job when the only other options are to shoot him in the knee or send him back to the Falcons. Has been through the AAA Express repeatedly in the past and is walking almost four batters per nine innings for his stop-start major league career.
SU Brad Fales *, 32, B:L, T:R (0-1, 27.00 ERA | 30-37, 3.13 ERA, 156 SV) – reclamation project who missed most of the last two seasons and spun only 19 innings ni the majors after three dominant closing years with the Knights and leading the CL in saves one time. Had no stuff last year, but perhaps that issue was solved in any of several surgeries?
SU Ricky McMahan, 29, B:L, T:L (1-3, 3.74 ERA, 1 SV | 18-16, 3.43 ERA, 11 SV) – steady work from this left-hander who shook off his awful control issues a few years ago and is now usually not a reason for concern.
CL Pedro Valentin, 31, B:S, T:R (3-3, 2.04 ERA, 32 SV | 26-19, 2.60 ERA, 140 SV) – led the FL in saves in his first Coons year in 2068 after being acquired in that mixed-bag deal with the Cyclones along with Jared Duhe and “Rated-R” Rautenstrauch, and is the last piece of that deal still actually with the team (which also means he missed out on three rings in Cincy while trying to keep this pig stye together, hey-ho). He brings a GORGEOUS curveball and a 96mph heater and I have no clue why nobody was biting when we dangled him this winter.

C Gabe Rivas *, 27, B:L, T:R (.395, 0 HR, 7 RBI | .290, 13 HR, 76 RBI) – acquired from the Warriors, a fine defensive catcher with only token exposure to the major leagues in ’70 after two full campaigns as a backup catcher. He has the primary job to begin this year, and I don’t see anybody taking that away from him.
C Sam Brown, 25, B:L, T:R (.221, 0 HR, 13 RBI | .221, 0 HR, 13 RBI) – new year, new catchers, even though Brown had already spent most of the previous season on the roster after replacing Willie Jalomo. He had not done anything memorable, had hit for a 52 OPS+, was defensively meaningless, and somehow had still hung on to a roster spot.

1B Alejandro Olivares *, 34, B:R, T:R (.297, 4 HR, 39 RBI | .289, 117 HR, 708 RBI) – veteran first baseman that was readily surrendered by the Pacifics after 11 years with the team, who was in a contract year. He was persistently hitting for just above the league average and there were hopes that he’d continue to do so while sitting out the remainder of his contract.
2B/SS/3B Adam Yocum, 30, B:R, T:R (.343, 3 HR, 37 RBI | .327, 9 HR, 529 RBI) – the elite singles slapper and OBP personality was a real force at the top of the lineup, stirring for 38 stolen bases and 5.1 WAR while missing 19 games with injury. Wasn’t a close candidate for a Gold Glove or any good with runners in scoring position, but his stick wasn’t killing the team (his salary did though).
2B/3B/SS/CF John Katzman, 26, B:R, T:R (.309, 14 HR, 84 RBI | .288, 62 HR, 400 RBI) – Katz was pawsome in his first season with the Raccoons and thanks to his rather team-friendly contract was almost guaranteed to waste the best years of his career on a losing team, after already wasting the first five years of his career on the Wolves. What could possibly make it even worse, outside of a debilitating injury?
3B/2B/SS Jordan Hernandez *, 33, B:R, T:R (.286, 1 HR, 3 RBI | .268, 47 HR, 432 RBI) – this budget version of a third baseman still had decent defense for his age, but alarmingly had only made 14 games with the Aces while mostly languishing in AAA. 1-year rental if there ever was one.
RF/3B/CF/2B/SS Nick Luebbert *, 26, B:S, T:R (no stats) – super utility and Rule 5 pick that was only weeks away from turning 27, but had never seen the majors in his life.
1B Josh Woodley *, 23, B:L, T:L (no stats) – among the many signs of doom on the roster was this Rule 5 pick that came straight from *AA* and hadn’t even been particularly good there. Had some promising power potential, but even a last-place team hardly had the time to wait on that to materialize.

LF/RF/CF Steve Humphries, 34, B:R, T:R (.260, 1 HR, 10 RBI | .277, 78 HR, 528 RBI) – the Raccoons shoveled $36M into the oven to sign the former Titans outfielder as free agent, for which the 5-time Gold Glover rewarded them with countless injuries and missing 110 games in total. Whenever we could pry him off the stretcher for a couple of weeks, he was decent, but it never lasted very long.
CF Tyler Wharton, 33, B:R, T:R (.284, 22 HR, 83 RBI | .323, 326 HR, 1,298 RBI) – by now the 7-time Player of the Year had shed almost 70 points of batting average and half the homers from his final year in Dallas, where he won a triple crown. In Portland, he wasn’t winning anything, certainly not any games. His 2070 OPS of .823 was by far his worst since his injury-addled age 22 season. Not worth the $9M a year. I wonder why he had no trade market.
RF/LF/CF Jaden Wilson *, 34, B:L, T:L (.241, 2 HR, 24 RBI | .277, 79 HR, 540 RBI) – the Raccoons exchanged longtime Critter Jose Corral for the return of Jaden Wilson from the Buffaloes, who was cheap, but had a contract until he’d be almost 37 1/2 years old, and who also wasn’t hitting a whole lot anymore and who was no longer a smart choice to play centerfield.
RF/LF George van Otterdijk, 26, B:R, T:R (.245, 7 HR, 38 RBI | .266, 19 HR, 86 RBI) – here’s a secret: we don’t really know what to do with the young Dutch Antillean, who plays shoddy defense, doesn’t hit a lot, and frankly doesn’t even smell… well… he smells a bit like a wet otter would smell.
1B/LF/RF/3B Jamie Colter, 29, B:L, T:R (.266, 3 HR, 8 RBI | .268, 11 HR, 60 RBI) – Colter surprisingly made the roster over the younger and more flashy Benito Otal, although neither of them were hitting a whole lot for average or power, and Colter at least had more defensive applications.

On disabled list:
MR Ron Rismiller *, 23, B:R, T:R (no stats) – Rule 5 pick recovering from a torn labrum and expected to return to action in late May with a full rehab assignment. Strong fastball and curve that could maybe turn into something useful – if that bloody shoulder holds together. Claws crossed!

Otherwise unavailable: Nobody.

Other roster movement:
SP Val Centeno, 24, B:S, T:R (2-7, 7.10 ERA | 2-7, 7.10 ERA) – optioned to AAA; there were really high hopes for this right-hander signed as July IFA from Venezuela, but a thrashed elbow in ’69 led to 12 months on the shelf, and when he came back he was bluntly garbage – even in AAA. The Raccoons kept running him out there against all reason, and he got his snout beaten in every single time.
SP/MR Steve George, 24, B:R, T:R (0-2, 5.84 ERA | 0-2, 5.84 ERA) – optioned to AAA; former second-rounder that was mostly used in garbage relief late in the season, and usually pitched like garbage with little stuff and a way worse home run rate than Tony Gaytan, with a dinger per under five innings.
SP Harrison Hunt, 25, B:L, T:L (0-0, 2.70 ERA | 0-1, 5.40 ERA) – optioned to AAA; just a couple of appearances in the majors for the left-hander, who has walked a lot more batters than he has struck out, and who throws six pitches, but none of them being particularly good.
C/3B Willie Jalomo, 24, B:S, T:R (.119, 0 HR, 3 RBI | .161, 0 HR, 5 RBI) – optioned to AAA; a decently defensive young catcher that can’t hit a lick even though he got ample chances last year. Would be great to work him onto a roster with his added ability to play third base, but when you’re hitting .119 and lose 0.8 WAR in just 35 games, you’re indefensible even with his actual defense.
1B Dan Gomez, 26, B:L, T:L (.265, 1 HR, 4 RBI | .273, 5 HR, 21 RBI) – optioned to AAA; run-of-the-mill first-sacker that was a woeful replacement for Jerry Morejon and invited all sorts of further roster shenanigans. Since he had options, he got sent away while we wait for Josh Woodley to hit .140 before axing the latter.
LF/CF/RF Benito Otal, 26, B:L, T:L (.270, 3 HR, 36 RBI | .267, 11 HR, 97 RBI) – optioned to AAA; two lackluster seasons with dreadful offense after a flashy cup of coffee in ’68 saw Otal optioned off the roster to begin the season. If you lose out to Jamie Colter, you might as well start to learn welding.
LF/CF Jesus Guerrero, 24, B:R, T:R (.197, 1 HR, 5 RBI | .197, 1 HR, 5 RBI) – optioned to AAA; was about as useless as you’d expect a guy that spent five summers in Ham Lake to be in his cups of coffee in the majors in 2070… all speed, no stick, and not a defensive gain either.

Everybody not mentioned by now has already been waived, reassigned, or retrained as a hot dog vendor this offseason.

OPENING DAY LINEUP:

(Vs. RHP: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – RF Wilson (van Otterdijk) – 1B Olivares – C Rivas – 3B Hernandez (Luebbert) – P)
(Vs. LHP: LF Humphries – 2B Yocum – SS Katzman – CF T. Wharton – 1B Olivares – RF van Otterdijk – 3B Hernandez – C Rivas – P)

The lineup leans even more to the right than last year with the addition of Olivares, even though there were a couple of left-handed bats on the bench to sub in. We continue to have two left-handed catchers and none that can hit.

OFF SEASON CHANGES:

Last year the Coons had the biggest WAR gain in the offseason and then shed five more games in the standings, never mind even the bitter desolation on the field that was on display for months and months. This year there were no funds for splashes, not even small ones. We started at the bottom and remained there. Overall the Coons dropped -5.1 WAR, and ranked 21st in the league in that.

J.P. Gallo (-2.5 WAR) and Rafael Murcia (-1.8) were the largest free agency losses, although technically Murcia had only played the worst half of his season with Portland. None of the free agents signed (and there weren’t many) did a whole lot. The Olivares trade with L.A. was good for +1.1 WAR, by far the best transaction in that category we did all winter.

Top 5: Capitals (+13.8), Titans (+11.7), Crusaders (+5.2), Knights (+3.0), Pacifics (+2.7)
Bottom 5: Falcons (-4.7), Raccoons (-5.1), Aces (-6.5), Canadiens (-6.7), Stars (-7.2)

For CL North teams, the Loggers were 12th with -1.2 WAR, and the Indians appeared in 14th at -1.4 WAR.

PREDICTION TIME:

For the second year in a row I mused how the team would win 86-90 games and they didn’t come close to breaking even, let alone competing.

This year it’s somehow even worse because we couldn’t even get rid of the big contracts we took on the winter before that got us NOWHERE, and there’s more 1-year rentals and Rule 5 picks. Great! Now we can watch Humphries and Wharton get old and gray while being infuriatingly expensive, and instead of crash landing for a season or two with them, we’re now ****** for another three years with them, and then probably even more without them once they’ll have passed into the great beyond.

There’s nothing but doom to be expected here. 90 losses should be a given. That’s before injuries and without Val Centeno having to play a role.

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT:

If there was anything to take away from this offseason, it was the state of the farm system that shot from 20th in the league to the TOP in all of the ABL! We’d soon find out how many of the newly ranked boys were actually good for anything, but the Raccoons went from eight ranked prospects to *seventeen*, of which six were in the top 50 (before: one) and ten in the top 100 (three). Oh, the riches!

This was even without the former #142 pick Jesus Guerrero, who exceeded rookie limits and was no longer eligible for the rankings. The other seven ranked prospects from last year were all still here, although only six were still ranked, as #151 Mike Pavan had dropped out of the top 200.

#6 (new) – A CL Dan McPartland, 19 – 2070 supplemental round pick by Raccoons
24th (+33) – A SS/3B Danny Reyes, 19 – 2067 scouting discovery by Raccoons
25th (+135) – AA INF Omar Vigil, 20 – 2067 scouting discovery by Raccoons
34th (new) – A SP Jalen McCorkle, 21 – 2070 first-round pick by Raccoons
41st (new) – A SP Tony Trinidad, 18 – 2068 July IFA signing by Raccoons
45th (new) – INT SP Jose Espino, 17 – 2070 July IFA signing by Raccoons

62nd (new) – ML CL Ron Rismiller, 23 – 2067 sixth-round pick by Pacifics, taken in Rule 5 draft by Raccoons
76th (new) – AA MR Phil Beck, 20 – 2069 supplemental round pick by Stars, acquired with Todd Sullivan, Roberto Pena for Carlos Fumero and Jerry Morejon by Raccoons
80th (+77) – A 2B/SS Ismael Tenorio, 20 – 2067 scouting discovery by Raccoons
82nd (+56) – AA RF/LF Isaac Bishop, 23 – 2069 first-round pick by Raccoons

108th (-19) – A INF/LF/CF Rob Robinson, 20 – 2069 fourth-round pick by Raccoons
109th (new) – A SP Roberto Martinez, 18 – 2068 July IFA signing by Raccoons
115th (new) – AA SP Crispino D’Urso, 21 – 2065 July IFA signing by Raccoons
130th (-80) – AAA CL Noah Newhard, 22 – 2068 supplemental round pick by Raccoons
150th (new) – AA SS/2B Ramon Mata, 22 – 2070/71 Winter IFA signing by Raccoons
163rd (new) – A RF/LF Phil Christensen, 19 – 2070 12th-round pick by Raccoons
195th (new) – AA 2B Roberto Pena, 23 - 2069 supplemental round pick by Stars, acquired with Todd Sullivan, Phil Beck for Carlos Fumero and Jerry Morejon by Raccoons

Finally, the top 10 overall prospects this year are:

#1 (0) – TOP AA CL Brent Shaw, 20
#2 (new) – TOP A SP Andy Knight, 19
#3 (+1) – SAL AA OF/1B Nelson Aguilar, 20
#4 (+1) – OCT AAA RF/INF/CF Jay Moore, 22
#5 (+16) – MIL AA LF Josh Field, 19

#6 (new) – POR A CL Dan McPartland, 19
#7 (new) – SFB A INF Chris Sandidge, 20
#8 (+43) – DEN AAA 1B Jon Marrero, 23
#9 (-3) – DAL AA INF Carlos Saldana, 23
#10 (+1) – NAS AA SS Dan Mammen, 22

Knight was the second consecutive #1 pick by the Buffaloes, and the pair of them were now the 1-2 prospects in the country. Also taken in the previous summer’s amateur draft: Sandidge (at #6) and McPartland (at #44).

Six of last year’s top 10 were no longer ranked.

#2 Ryan Redding had been on the Bayhawks’ Opening Day roster and had spent most of the season there (minus a DL stint and rehab), batting .257 with five homers in 118 games. One spot behind him at #3, Topeka’s Javier Velazquez had debuted some months into the season and had ended up batting a paltry .203 with three homers in 87 games.

Juan Arreola made his ABL debut at age 25 after somehow rising to #7 on the prospect board, but had only pitched in 16 games in relief – without allowing an earned run despite mediocre K/BB numbers. He was on the major league roster to begin the new season.

The old #8 prospect CL Alex Tabares had been traded from the Canadiens to the Capitals, but otherwise had remained stuck at the AA level and dropped 34 spots to #42. Boston reliever Jay Krenek went from #9 to #35 after not making his ABL debut in all of last season, but he was on the big league roster on Opening Day. Finally, #10 SP Danny Ramirez was still in AA for the Loggers after 30 mixed starts last season and slipped just outside the top 10 to #11.

Next: first pitch.