Season 28 : 92 – 70 record, 1st in the AL West
Lost to the WS winner, the Nashville Catfish 0 – 3 in Divisional Play In Series
IN : Harvey Davidson (2B); Jin Hyun (C); Bill Thomas (CF); Elroy Parker (SS); Odalis Zurbaran (DH/C); Gerardo Rosado (RP - acquired end of season 28) and Tim Newfield (RP - acquired end of season 28).
OUT : Stretch Fogg (RF); Walt Reid (LF); Vicente Perez (DH); Clark Malloy (CF); Benny Barker (MIF); Macbeth Pierce (RP) and Eddie Walsh (SP/RP).
The Royals reached the playoffs for the first time since Season 8 ! This year, the team expects tougher competition from the Rodeo Clowns and the Olmecs, both teams improving with key additions. The Halos won’t be an easy challenge either.
The starting pitching rotation should again be solid with :
Julian Guardado, Cy Young candidate and 18 game winner anchoring;
Harry McEnerney, could be # 1 on some teams;
Ozzie Tamura, 15 game winner on his first full ML season;
Clay Borbon, back from season ending surgery with future ace potential;
Clarence Glanville, one of the best 5th starter in the league.
The bullpen is lead by Cesar Beltre with 35 saves on a so-so year. It is believed that the acquisitions of Gerardo Rosado and Tim Newfield are a step in the right direction. We expect better results from the group.
The acquisition of high price FA Harvey Davidson alone is an improvement of the offense side. He’ll join Bill Adams; Ryan Wright and Christobal Baez to form a difficult line-up to face. The team fells that it can obtain 20 HR from FA Jin Hyun also. Odalis Zurbaran will start the year with the Royals, and is expected to contribute.
Davidson will be moved from SS to 2B, and with the addition of Bill Thomas and Elroy Parker, trigger a domino effect that will transform the team from an average fielding team to an above average one.
The team’s objective is not only to make the playoffs, but go deeper in them. But it won’t be easy, the AL West looks to be one of the tougher divisions in the Yaz world.
Nashville Season 29 Preview
Historically, the Nashville Catfish have not been one of the dominate teams in Yaz. Prior to last season, they had only won the division once, qualified for the playoffs only three times, and had never won more than 89 games in a season. However last season the team was finally able to break through, winning 94 games thanks to a late-season run and grabbed the #5 seed going into the playoffs. The Catfish rolled through the first two rounds, sweeping Kansas City and top ranked Chicago in 3 games. In the ALCS they defeated division rival Charlotte, and it is was on to their first ever World Series, where they met the 101 win Mexico City Jalapenos and their all-world starting rotation. It was a classic series and went the full seven before the Catfish were able to claim their first ever title.
So coming off their best season ever, what can this team do for an encore? The team is young and mostly intact from last season, but it did suffer the loss of the greatest Catfish ever, 3B Frtiz Blackwell. Blackwell hit .328 with a .403 OBP last season with 32 HR and 125 RBI on the way to winning the AL 3B Silver Slugger. Needless to say, he won't be easy to replace, but someone has to. Walt Sirotka was brought in via trade to replace him in the field, but probably not in this number 2 spot in the lineup. That will likely go to one of the free agent first basemen brought in to overhaul the position, Pinky Baez or Juan Rodriguez, although outfielder Vicente Hernandez and DH Tony Carrasco may have something to say about that. Other than at 1B and 3B, everyone else on offense returns, so as long as Blackwell can be replaced and 2B Bartolo Nieto can continue his 40+ HR hitting ways, the lineup is in great shape.
Pitching has never been the strongest aspect of the organization, but the team is getting some help from some rookies this season. Late-season call-ups SP Vance Hines and RP Neifi Diaz are ready for full-time duty after proving their worth during last year's playoff run. Look for Diaz to supplant veteran closer Willy Ginter this season, while Hines tries to transition from the bullpen to the rotation.
Thanks to the second big trade of the off-season, Louis Hill joins the rotation after coming over from Mexico City to replace Cookie Mesa. The rest of the rotation, Rudy Dale, Jason Jameson, Fred Guerrero and Brad Burks all return, with Burks likely the odd-man out and headed for the bullpen.
Given the returning talent on this team and the fact they look to have patched their biggest holes in the line-up, the front-office expects the Catfish to be another 90+ game winner and playoff contender.
So coming off their best season ever, what can this team do for an encore? The team is young and mostly intact from last season, but it did suffer the loss of the greatest Catfish ever, 3B Frtiz Blackwell. Blackwell hit .328 with a .403 OBP last season with 32 HR and 125 RBI on the way to winning the AL 3B Silver Slugger. Needless to say, he won't be easy to replace, but someone has to. Walt Sirotka was brought in via trade to replace him in the field, but probably not in this number 2 spot in the lineup. That will likely go to one of the free agent first basemen brought in to overhaul the position, Pinky Baez or Juan Rodriguez, although outfielder Vicente Hernandez and DH Tony Carrasco may have something to say about that. Other than at 1B and 3B, everyone else on offense returns, so as long as Blackwell can be replaced and 2B Bartolo Nieto can continue his 40+ HR hitting ways, the lineup is in great shape.
Pitching has never been the strongest aspect of the organization, but the team is getting some help from some rookies this season. Late-season call-ups SP Vance Hines and RP Neifi Diaz are ready for full-time duty after proving their worth during last year's playoff run. Look for Diaz to supplant veteran closer Willy Ginter this season, while Hines tries to transition from the bullpen to the rotation.
Thanks to the second big trade of the off-season, Louis Hill joins the rotation after coming over from Mexico City to replace Cookie Mesa. The rest of the rotation, Rudy Dale, Jason Jameson, Fred Guerrero and Brad Burks all return, with Burks likely the odd-man out and headed for the bullpen.
Given the returning talent on this team and the fact they look to have patched their biggest holes in the line-up, the front-office expects the Catfish to be another 90+ game winner and playoff contender.
Detroit Tiger Sharks Season 29 Preview
Felipe Villa grimaced and exhaled into the reporter’s face. He was asked for the hundredth time if he regretted re-signing with the Detroit Tiger Sharks after nine seasons away. Villa left Detroit after winning a World Championship in season 19 and won another with the Hosers after he signed a big-money contract with the Ottawa franchise. He’s not used to losing and he doesn’t like to talk about it. “I have no regrets coming back to Detroit- I really don’t” Villa said…but then he reached forward and whispered “…but I really don’t know if management knows what direction to take”.
Villa is not alone in questioning GM Feamster’s attempts to bring a title back to Detroit. While Montreal and Philadelphia made big off-season moves, Detroit could only show the signing of Oleg Bako as an improvement over last season.
The Tiger Sharks are in flux. As in most seasons, they are good enough to be competitive but not bad enough to improve through the draft. The future lies in the hands of C.C. Lary and Pete Connor, but the two heralded outfielders are several seasons away. A third big-time prospect, Philip Jackson, was recently promoted to take over CF duties, which means that former all-star Sammy Durham will be riding the pine before he gets traded. Bako takes over in LF and fan-favorite Ryan Miller returns as the right fielder. Miller may have the best arm of any right-fielder in the league.
Pitching will once again be a relative strong spot with a rotation headed by Luis Candelaria. Candelaria was once a can’t miss prospect, but his development has leveled off, and the 26 year old Mexican would be a number two or three starter on a good team. Zip Priest follows Villa in the rotation and is a serviceable number three starter. Ed Neal and Eduardo Cruz round out the five starters. Rule V pick Hal Lennon could force his way into the rotation with any kind of injury or poor performance from the aging starters.
The infield is strong up the middle with Delmon Grimsley and a combination of Josh Baker and Carlos Palmeiro at second. Palmeiro looks to have won the starting nod, but Baker has some better offensive potential. First and third are question marks, and are being help down by cast-offs from other teams. Dicky Gleason and his very unfriendly contract of 8.4 million is expected to see most of the action at first- which is good for Gleason, but bad for the Tiger Sharks. The hot corner is weak with 32 year old Albert Smart making the roster. Detroit is desperate for power and if Smart can tally 20 round trippers, he will have met his modest expectations.
Yorvit Gonzalez is back at catcher. Several seasons ago Detroit had an abundance of riches with two big time catching prospects. A decision to trade Zephyr Miles for Candelaria has not been worth the cost to the franchise and is another example of the second-guessing that is heard all through camp. Will Felipe Villa ever belong to another championship team? When asked that very question, the future hall of famer frowned, took the cigarette from his mouth- and gave a heavy sigh. “I don’t know- I’m 42 –er I mean I’m 38 years old- I don’t know how much is left in the tank”. Villa could very well earn another ring- but with another club. Word around the clubhouse is if Detroit sputters in the early going, Villa could be peddled for a pitching prospect. And to the people of Detroit that would only give more reasons to question the ability of Feamster to bring a title back to Motor City.
Villa is not alone in questioning GM Feamster’s attempts to bring a title back to Detroit. While Montreal and Philadelphia made big off-season moves, Detroit could only show the signing of Oleg Bako as an improvement over last season.
The Tiger Sharks are in flux. As in most seasons, they are good enough to be competitive but not bad enough to improve through the draft. The future lies in the hands of C.C. Lary and Pete Connor, but the two heralded outfielders are several seasons away. A third big-time prospect, Philip Jackson, was recently promoted to take over CF duties, which means that former all-star Sammy Durham will be riding the pine before he gets traded. Bako takes over in LF and fan-favorite Ryan Miller returns as the right fielder. Miller may have the best arm of any right-fielder in the league.
Pitching will once again be a relative strong spot with a rotation headed by Luis Candelaria. Candelaria was once a can’t miss prospect, but his development has leveled off, and the 26 year old Mexican would be a number two or three starter on a good team. Zip Priest follows Villa in the rotation and is a serviceable number three starter. Ed Neal and Eduardo Cruz round out the five starters. Rule V pick Hal Lennon could force his way into the rotation with any kind of injury or poor performance from the aging starters.
The infield is strong up the middle with Delmon Grimsley and a combination of Josh Baker and Carlos Palmeiro at second. Palmeiro looks to have won the starting nod, but Baker has some better offensive potential. First and third are question marks, and are being help down by cast-offs from other teams. Dicky Gleason and his very unfriendly contract of 8.4 million is expected to see most of the action at first- which is good for Gleason, but bad for the Tiger Sharks. The hot corner is weak with 32 year old Albert Smart making the roster. Detroit is desperate for power and if Smart can tally 20 round trippers, he will have met his modest expectations.
Yorvit Gonzalez is back at catcher. Several seasons ago Detroit had an abundance of riches with two big time catching prospects. A decision to trade Zephyr Miles for Candelaria has not been worth the cost to the franchise and is another example of the second-guessing that is heard all through camp. Will Felipe Villa ever belong to another championship team? When asked that very question, the future hall of famer frowned, took the cigarette from his mouth- and gave a heavy sigh. “I don’t know- I’m 42 –er I mean I’m 38 years old- I don’t know how much is left in the tank”. Villa could very well earn another ring- but with another club. Word around the clubhouse is if Detroit sputters in the early going, Villa could be peddled for a pitching prospect. And to the people of Detroit that would only give more reasons to question the ability of Feamster to bring a title back to Motor City.
Montreal Maroon Season 29 Preview
Season 28 saw the Maroons finish below .500 for the first time in 20 seasons. Unhappy with this result, management busied themselves this off season with improving the ML on-field product in mind. It was abundantly clear that the main shortcoming of the roster last season was that besides MVP Juan Valenzuela and LF Ernie Jenkins, there was not much by way of hitting.
Prediction:
- 90-72, 2nd in NL North, 2nd wildcard spot, loss in the first or second round of playoffs.
Since there isn't much help coming up from the farm, management decided that it was time to add a boost to the lineup via free agency. With there being a huge crop of high end talent available, the Maroons decided to target a few of the lesser lights in hopes of securing some decent talent without being caught up by any bidding wars. The gambit paid off, as the team signed 3 type A free agents to reasonably priced, short term contracts. The first to sign was former first overall pick Scott McGowan, to man 3rd base. Next up was Toronto's Santo Figureoa, who will play RF. Edgardo Johnson should bolster the back end of the rotation for the franchise that originally signed him as an IFA.
Management did not sit on their hands for long, as it was soon announced that the team had pulled off a blockbuster trade that would bring a great deal more hitting ability to the team without taking anything away from the current roster. By trading Andres Veras, Willie Pena and Willie Miranda for Juan Polanco, Albie Nieto, and Yonder Trevino, they add hitting and fielding in exchange for pitching and youth. Both teams came out of the deal happy, but history will tell which one came out ahead in the end.
This team added a pretty decent amount of talent to the ML level this off-season. It says here that they added enough to earn the 10 more wins necessary to fetch a wildcard spot. We predict that, barring any catastrophic injury troubles, this team should battle it out with Philadelphia all season for the division title, but will ultimately fall short by one or two games.
Prediction:
- 90-72, 2nd in NL North, 2nd wildcard spot, loss in the first or second round of playoffs.
Season 29 preview of The Cincinnati Red Army
by Reginald Van der Sloot
of the Cincinnati Free Press
It was a busy off season for Red Army GM Douche LaRouche. Cincinnati ownership put pressure on the 31 year old Canadian executive to "Cut Salary, and invest in Starting Pitching"
LaRouche followed those orders by shipping out long time reliever Jin Ho Sano to the only other Franchise that Sano had personal ties to, the Ottawa Hosers. The Hosers are the team that signed the native of Yokosuka Japan at the tender age of 18 in Season 18 for $13.9 million. Sano is poised to be a key member of Ottawa's 3-man closer by committee, his career 1.23 WHIP and 3.87 ERA are a welcome addition to the Hosers.
Also taking up residence near the Rideau Canal and robot/Prime Minister Stephen Harper are switch hitters Jean Berkman and MVP candidate Steven Soriano. Red Army defence may struggle in season 29 as both Berkman and Soriano each won the Gold Glove last season at their respective positions. Berkman's defence is slick enough in the eyes of the Ottawa coaching staff that he is pencilled in as the starting 3B for at least the beginning of season 29. Soriano is moving back to 2B -the position that he played from his being incepted into the big leagues until his acquisition by The Red Army- and is slotted in as the number 2 hitter in a very potent Hoser line-up.
LaRouche is "Saddened to have been forced to trade to 2 young stars and a long-term member of the team in Sano but I'm excited to welcome Juan Polanco and Vic Miranda"
Miranda has a wonderful bat from the left side of the plate with the ability to be a thorn in the side of both lefties and righties. He has ample power, and good plate vision. Unfortunately Vic's defensive abilities come up a little short, even for a 1B. He does however have youth on his side and one of the best fielding coaches in Eric Long. Those two factors should work in his favour and as a result we might see some improvement there.
Polanco is one of the most coveted young position players in both leagues. The Cincinnati fans were given another large trade to dissect just days later when in typical Rd Army style, Polanco was immediately shipped out of town,in this case back to Canada. Montreal is where he ended up where young Jaun was packaged with super-sub Albie Nieto and long-time Red Army Starter Yonder Trevino. Like Sano, Trevino is going back to the team that signed him as an IFA way back in season 15 as an 18 year to a $15.1 million signing bonus. Trevino's 148 career wins, 22 complete games, 3.56 ERA and 1.23 WHIP suggest that he was well worth the initial investment. The Maroons are hoping that he is still worth the $7 million dollars left on this, his last year of a 5 year deal.
LaRouche has publicly stated that he dealt Trevino because there was no chance of being able to re-sign the 4 time All Star before he hit Free Agency. It is not because of the disappointing game 7 NLCS performance last season versus Mexico City "Actually I love the guy, my Wife and I named are most recent addition to our family Trevino... our bright red beta-fighting fish. I wanted him to retire a Red Army. He expressed his desire to win a world Series but to not re-negotiate his contract before Free Agency. He'd rather play out this contract and I respect that decision. I felt that with Spike Parris becoming a Free Agent the following season and the price that good SPs are going for in Free Agency, that it was essential for the competitiveness of the Red Army that we bring in some young and controllable arms.
Trevino, Nieto and Polanco were the price that Montreal set in order to bring in 2 very good SPs in Veras and Willie Pena. "We also received Willie Miranda in the deal, and we feel that once he develops fully that he will be an adequate replacement for Berkman in RF"
Veras, one of the top IFA signings of season 26 ($23.7 million bonus) projects to be a very nice number 2 or 3 once he gets promoted from AAA and has the ability to throw close to 300 innings per season. Willie Pena will fight it out with Parris and Veras for the 2-3-4 job. It appears that these 3 will be surrounded by Viciedo as the number 1 and Harold Leach as the number 5.
The unloading of salary by Douche LaRouche allowed Cinci to go out and sign veteran back stops Jesse Newson and Carlos Cervantes to back-up season 27 batting champ Zephyr Miles. Newson and Cervantes might play a little bit of RF this upcoming season and should provide some nice pinch-hitting this season. The Red Army used some of their freed-up cash to re-sign FA Ralph Lambert. Lambert is entering the twilight of his career and it is believed by the Vodka soaked Red Army scouts that a similar performance to last season's 1.18 WHIP and .217 OAV is certainly not out of the question. Lambert will be joined by Miguel Neruda in the pen. The Type A free agent relief pitcher was signed to a 1 year $4.6 million dollar deal.
LaRouche has admitted that he was chasing FA Starters Ciriaco and Padilla between the mega deals with the Hosers and Maroons. "Unfortunately the price got to be too high for our comfort. More unsettling to us was the length of the deals that the agents were demanding. Ultimately I convinced ownership to allow me to make a maximum-deal offer to Fernando Rosado and we luckily won the sweepstakes. We are ecstatic to have Fernando with us and we hope that he can add to his career total of 7 MVPs.
During the short news conference days after signing the 4 year $70 million deal with a 5th year mutual option of $20 million and a $5 million buy-out. Fernando Rosado stated "that he loved his time in Toronto, that the recent ALCS defeat was shocking and devistating. I would trade my personal accomplishments for a World Series Championship... or two or three"
Cincinnati may have overpaid for the now tremendously wealthy 31 year-old Dominican as his overall abilities will most surely be in decline over the net 4-5 seasons. There is no question though that the acquisition of Rosado is what allowed LaRouche to deal Polanco and Nieto and thus improve their pitching. Overall, Cincinnati has lost some depth in the field, and versatility at the plate but their overall pitching depth has gotten stronger and what looked like a 5 year window of competitiveness may have been lengthened by another few seasons with the addition of the 3 very good pre-arbitration eligible players.
The Red Army will be in a dog fight to make the playoffs this season due in large part to the division that they play in and not their own possible in-abilities. The NL North is arguably the toughest division in the World. It is home to the crazy good Dangerous Crew, the always extremely competitive/often dominating Spartan Franchise. Then there is the young and always improving cross-State rivals in Cleveland, the Bad Seeds.
The bookies in Vegas are leaning toward making Cincinnati the odds on favourite to win the division by no more than 2 games, with the last place team in the division finishing a mere 6 games out of first.
The offence is going to be relatively consistant in the match-box that is Great America Ballpark. Despite the hitters, it would not be out of the realm of possibility to witness The Red Army on the sidelines come October for the first time since season 22, especially if they run into injury trouble or the pitching is erratic.
Huntington Preview
The Huntington franchise has spent the majority of the last 29 seasons in the gutter. When I took over the reigns to start in season 28 the franchise had very little to attract a good owner. I took it as a challenge to prove to myself that I can win with any team.
It was quite a task and worse then I initially thought. Coming into it I thought hey a team with Mel Darr, Maicer Calles and Stu Burke cant be to hard to win with. Then I found out Darr was not resigned. SO I had my work cut out for me. Well I used smoke and mirrors and somehow made the playoffs and almost pulled off the huge upset to make the LCS.
Now its season 29. The team is still not as good as I want but in far better shape ( no more bad contracts). I have no one young or great to work with but I have some decent pieces and should be on pace for the same type of season as last season. This franchise will hopefully no longer be thought of as an easy win at least as long as im at the helm. I would expect another 90 win season and with some luck a playoff appearance.
The Show Comes to Wichita
Not sure if you all noticed the construction going on south of the city. You know the one I'm talking about, the huge stadium they've been building for the last 18 months. Well it's finally done and our new Yaz team, the Tomcats, will be residing there this year.
The T'Cats finished in last place in the AL South with a 67-95 record last year. They scored only 690 runs on the season (second lowest in the AL) and gave up 874 (5th most). I haven't seen anyone "in the know" who has projected them over 70 wins this year. So when I drew the assignment to cover them the word that went through my head was not the type of thing my editors would let me print here, but in watching them this spring they may just have turned things in the right direction. They have 5 new faces in this years opening day lineup vs last years. The ball was jumping off their bats this spring, both the big leaguers and the minor leaguers were "crushing" it. They lead all Yaz teams in runs scored (117), Hits (200), BA (.302), OBP (.372), and OPS (.883) while finishing second in 2B (35), HR (34) and SLG (.511). Now I know the list of people who have been let down after getting excited over a big spring training is long, but if nothing else, it points to the fact that they should do much better than their 15th best in scoring last season and with the pitching staff slightly improved and the defense going slightly in the other direction their runs allowed should be near the same. So allowing the same number of runs and scoring more should work out to more wins, and even if it doesn't, it sure is fun to watch the ball fly over the outfield fence.
So let's all get the family together, head down to the corner to catch one of the 20 team buses that run every game day (the ride is free if you have tickets and comes off the price of the tickets if you buy at the stadium) and enjoy a nice summer day supporting our new team, the Wichita Tomcats. Win or lose it should be a fun team to watch, and who knows, we may just surprise some of those "experts".
All Time Franchise Players
Since this world has now been around for 27 seasons, I feel like it's been long enough to say that most franchises have a "all-time" 25 man roster. I'll start it off with the glorious Montreal Maroons, the most storied franchise in the history of the world.
C Michael Phelps
C Domingo Cervantes
1B Enrique Valdes
1B Juan Valenzuela
2B Victor Cairo
3B Fernando Rios
SS Javier James
SS Britt Voigt
LF Ernie Jenkins
LF Steve Guerrero
CF Joe Rollins
CF Artie McDonald
RF Bailey Dykstra
SP Edgard Garces
SP Vic Lopez
SP Willie Pena
SP William Fujiwara
SP Julian Guardado
SP Troy Sewell
SP/RP Alfredo Alicea
SP/RP Clarence Jacobsen
RP Matthew Langerhans
RP Michael Stieb
RP Richard Cho
RP D'Angelo Lopez
Next up is the Charleston Franchise, currently undergoing an ownership switch.
C Eduardo Sanchez
C Clay Wise
1B Juan Rodriguez
1B Jamie Miadich
2B Rickey O'Brien
3B Andrew Meyers
3B Cristobal Gomez
SS Hunter Durbin
SS Albert Santayana
SS Lawrence Roberts
LF Francisco Castro
LF Napoleon Hughes
CF Mendy Song
CF Zeke Rain
RF Joey Swann
RF Freddy Whang
SP Felipe Guillen
SP James Taylor
SP Chris Adams
SP Gus Tanner
SP Mac Lee
SP Brutus Black
RP Lonny Mercado
RP Jayson Levine
RP Vinny Jiang
Then it's Monterrey, currently looking for new ownership.
C Napoleon Gray
1B Paul Gomes
1B Ruben Johnson
2B Herb Wilkerson
2B Norm Lee
2B Frank Yates
3B Skeeter Anderson
3B Eugene Hoover
SS Joe Watson
L:F Rafael Rodriguez
LF Carl McCorley
CF Alex Keller
CF Joseph Kimura
RF Pedro Lee
SP Walter Zoltan
SP James Milone
SP Hector Mateo
SP Manuel Lee
SP Marv Blake
SP Santiago Bearga
SP Marino Villa
RP Paul Kuroda
RP Pablo Barrios
RP Javier Tavarez
Louisville has submitted his own list:
C Anthony Ross
1B Wilt Blair
2B Bert Lee
2B Red Grebeck
3B Iago Todd
SS Jim Dorsey
SS Jerome Owens
LF Walter Taft
CF Morgan Borland
CF Hugh Chase
RF Tyler Cox
RF Fonzie Michaels
DH Tony Mendez
SP Javier Estrada
SP David Pressley
SP Russell Workman
SP Alex Ortiz
SP Tony Silva
SP Joaquin Fernandez
P - Ed Hurst
P - Davey Rosario
P - Andruw Allen
Anaheim:
C Carlos Cervantes
C/DH Bo Murphy
1B Torey Rosario
1B Calvin Martin
2B Tomas Bennett
3B Nate Coolbaugh
SS Mark Kyung
SS Alberto Oliva
LF Jose Fernandez
CF Napoleon Watson
CF Michael Mathews
RF Sam Hodges
SP Vasco Montanez
SP Ricardo Gonzales
SP Samuel Mercedes
SP Trenidad Padilla
RP Victor Nieves
RP Felipe Herrera
RP Edgard Guerrero
C Michael Phelps
C Domingo Cervantes
1B Enrique Valdes
1B Juan Valenzuela
2B Victor Cairo
3B Fernando Rios
SS Javier James
SS Britt Voigt
LF Ernie Jenkins
LF Steve Guerrero
CF Joe Rollins
CF Artie McDonald
RF Bailey Dykstra
SP Edgard Garces
SP Vic Lopez
SP Willie Pena
SP William Fujiwara
SP Julian Guardado
SP Troy Sewell
SP/RP Alfredo Alicea
SP/RP Clarence Jacobsen
RP Matthew Langerhans
RP Michael Stieb
RP Richard Cho
RP D'Angelo Lopez
Next up is the Charleston Franchise, currently undergoing an ownership switch.
C Eduardo Sanchez
C Clay Wise
1B Juan Rodriguez
1B Jamie Miadich
2B Rickey O'Brien
3B Andrew Meyers
3B Cristobal Gomez
SS Hunter Durbin
SS Albert Santayana
SS Lawrence Roberts
LF Francisco Castro
LF Napoleon Hughes
CF Mendy Song
CF Zeke Rain
RF Joey Swann
RF Freddy Whang
SP Felipe Guillen
SP James Taylor
SP Chris Adams
SP Gus Tanner
SP Mac Lee
SP Brutus Black
RP Lonny Mercado
RP Jayson Levine
RP Vinny Jiang
Then it's Monterrey, currently looking for new ownership.
C Napoleon Gray
1B Paul Gomes
1B Ruben Johnson
2B Herb Wilkerson
2B Norm Lee
2B Frank Yates
3B Skeeter Anderson
3B Eugene Hoover
SS Joe Watson
L:F Rafael Rodriguez
LF Carl McCorley
CF Alex Keller
CF Joseph Kimura
RF Pedro Lee
SP Walter Zoltan
SP James Milone
SP Hector Mateo
SP Manuel Lee
SP Marv Blake
SP Santiago Bearga
SP Marino Villa
RP Paul Kuroda
RP Pablo Barrios
RP Javier Tavarez
Louisville has submitted his own list:
C Anthony Ross
1B Wilt Blair
2B Bert Lee
2B Red Grebeck
3B Iago Todd
SS Jim Dorsey
SS Jerome Owens
LF Walter Taft
CF Morgan Borland
CF Hugh Chase
RF Tyler Cox
RF Fonzie Michaels
DH Tony Mendez
SP Javier Estrada
SP David Pressley
SP Russell Workman
SP Alex Ortiz
SP Tony Silva
SP Joaquin Fernandez
P - Ed Hurst
P - Davey Rosario
P - Andruw Allen
Anaheim:
C Carlos Cervantes
C/DH Bo Murphy
1B Torey Rosario
1B Calvin Martin
2B Tomas Bennett
3B Nate Coolbaugh
SS Mark Kyung
SS Alberto Oliva
LF Jose Fernandez
CF Napoleon Watson
CF Michael Mathews
RF Sam Hodges
SP Vasco Montanez
SP Ricardo Gonzales
SP Samuel Mercedes
SP Trenidad Padilla
RP Victor Nieves
RP Felipe Herrera
RP Edgard Guerrero
Season 23 International Free Agent Report
1. Montreal Maroons, $28.2 million
Eliezer Perez
Montreal must either of thought highly of 18 y/o Perez or had little confidence in the upcoming IFA crop. Young Eliezer was the first star IFA pitcher to show up and the Maroons took no chances as they spent $5.1 million more than they have ever spent on one IFA to lock him up. This is the 3rd consecutive season that they have used the overwhelming majority of their prospect cash on a Pitcher. In the past 2 seasons they have elected to shovel buckets of money that they have at their disposal to Relief pitchers. This signing -like the previous seasons signing- seems to have landed the Quebec based franchise an elite arm adept at preserving leads and keeping the team in games that they are behind in. Perez should be able to only contribute 30-35 pitches every other day, though with his projected stuff, that might be good enough for 3+ innings. All of his pitches have progressed nicely during his full season at Low A. His slider and cut FB need some re-fining to be used regularly as a set-up or strikeout pitch in the majors. Perez's money pitch is the 4 seam FB. The only thing that should be able to hurt this athlete is his lack of ability to keep that sphere shaped white thing out of the air, however if his Low A numbers are any indication (2HR allowed in 40+ innings) Maroon fans have yet another stud to cheer for at the stadium less than affectionately referred to as "The Big O"
2. Louisville Sluggers, $27.9 million
Ezequiel `Zeke` Manzanillo
This is the first season in 8 years that the Lobsters have made a significant financial commitment to a position player through IFA, when they shelled out $15.4 million in bonus money to Santo Figureoa. Like Montreal, Louisville spent more this season on one player than they ever have. In fact, Manzanillo's bonus is $9 million more than the previous title holder Oswaldo Rodriguez. The only ballclub representing the moonshine state, like many other clubs, they love what this 4-5 tool Dominican is all about. Though being groomed as a SS at Low A, his 51 Errors in 91 games implores me to go out on a limb to predict that Zeke will play above average defence at either CF, 2B or 3B when he inevitably makes it to "the show" His bat is what should be worth the price of admission at Louisville Slugger Field and visiting ballparks regardless of where he plays. Zeke already has better plate vision than most current major league infielders. This young right-handed hitter will almost without a doubt be a superb contact hitter, capable of facing righties as effectively as south-paws. If that isn't already enough to please a manager, Zeke will make the lives of pitchers and catchers miserable with his speed and baserunning. There may be 2 factors that keep this dude from being a top 10 player in the bigs and that is his lack of durability and power. Manzanillo only managed to hit 10 homers last season and if there isn't significant improvement in his durability, he will only be able to play in approximately 120 games, though to be sure, they will be 120 exciting games.
3. Cincinnati Red Army, $23.1 million
Rigo Sandoval
With the exception of the past 2 seasons, The Red Army Franchise have rarely been able to convince ownership to commit a large portion of their operating budget to IFA spending. In fact, the last time they spent significant money on an IFA was back in season 9 when they snatched up Tony Servet for $16.8 million. Other than Servet, Vin Castillo (now in the twilight of his career) and 3 time Gold Glove CF, 2 time All Star Pedro Cedeno are the only biggish IFA signings by this Title-less Rust-Belt situated Franchise. GM Douch La Rouche has seemingly been taking a risky approach to signing IFAs. Over the past 2 seasons he has waited almost to the end of the signing period, each time lucking out by signing a gem and not being stuck with a huge chunk of prospect cash having nobody worth spending it on. The 19 year old, brother of star Football (Soccer) striker Luis Alonso, from Victoria Mexico grew up idolizing 2 of the best pivots in the history of the game Joe Morgan and Roberto Alomar. Though his bat closely resembles the formers, his defence is not nor will it ever be in the realm of the latter. Sandoval has good range and a decent glove. His arm is his main weakness, especially when it comes to accuracy. The only other blight on his resume might be base-running. Cincinnati will likely take a patient approach with the late season signee's development as he was assigned to Low A for the playoffs where he won a Championship. He is expected to play 2B at High A with a bunch of The Red Army's prospects this season. Cincinnati fans will be looking for improvement from Rigo defensively, though their main concern is likely that his major league ready bat improves leaps and bounds. There is no reason why this guy shouldn't hit at least above .280 in the majors, and stepping up to the plate at the "matchbox" that is The Great American Ballpark, hit easily 30 homeruns and maybe as many as 50.
4. Vancouver Vampire Bats, $22 million
Olmedo `Bob` Villa
The first significant IFA position player to show up in Season 23, Olmedo "Bob" Villa signed for $22 million. Like The Red Army, the V-Bats are relatively new to spending large amounts of prospect money on IFAs. Their only other large purchase was in Season 21 when they laid out $17.5 million in bonus cash for Maicer Reyes. Villa will not blow you away with his defensive abilities from LF, though his right handed bat will make up for those short-comings. He split time between Rookie ball and Low A, hitting over .300 at both levels. He also took advantage of his wheels, victimizing pitchers and catchers for 22 bags in a mere 80 games. Though with a small sample size, it is worth noting that he hit .375 in the Low A playoffs. Not blessed with great power, this pull hitter should improve to the point where he could hit 10-15 homers a season depending on how many ABs he gets. His greatest strength is his ability to make contact, as evidenced by his minor league numbers. He has also shown an above average ability to bunt for an 18 y/o. Scouts like his ability to handle both lefties and righties, and despite his deficiencies as a fielder it looks like Vancouver made a safe and solid investment.
5. Atlanta Spartans, $17.2 million
Jose Delgado
What looks to be possibly the second best relief pitcher in the Season 23 IFA pool signed for a $17.2 million bonus and an invite to spring training. The Spartans will need Jose's control to get significantly better. Delgado spent all of last season at High A throwing 20 innings over 11 appearances. In his limited action, he amassed 12 Strike Outs and 11 Base on Balls giving him an unimpressive WHIP of 1.60 and a 5.66 ERA. The Spartans should take heart in the fact that statistics (especially minor league stats) have little bearing on how someone will perform in "the show" However, they should be concerned that his durability and stamina are low, and that even at the tender age of 18, Jose has had a lot of health troubles. Mr. Delgado was signed near the end of the IFA signing period, Atlanta for that reason is likely pleased to have gotten him as opposed to nobody. Atlanta should have a better than average set-up man in their bullpen of the future if Delgado can stay off the DL and get his control close to his other abilities.
6. Nashville Catfish, $16.3 Million
Bartolo Nieto
Nashville grabbed this 18 y/o CF/2B from Cotui of the Dominican Republic. Nieto is an average defender with potential to be very good. His best attribute is clearly his power, which for a man of his age and who plays in the middle of the field, is off of the charts. His glove and base-running abilities should improve enough to be, at the very least, adequate for the big leagues. Unfortunately, all is not roses in the Music City. Nieto is far from a contact hitter by nature, despite his .349 average in rookie ball. He did wear a couple of golden sombreros last season, striking out 22 times in 109 at bats. Despite this, Nashville has to be happy with the ten doubles, three triples, seven homers and thirty RBI in his 1st professional season. The crystal ball foresees many dented billboards in outfield of Hershel Greer Stadium off of Bartolo's bat.
7. Helena Phantom der Nacht $15.4 million
Jose Infante
Mr. Infante was pleased to see Helena offer him a major league deal at the tender age of 18, almost assuring that he will never sent to the minors once he makes it to the big leagues. Pitching in AAA is not in this kids future as he is almost good enough to throw in the majors right now. Only time will tell, but he looks like he could be as good or better than the richer Jose Delgado. Infante sure can keep the ball down, has very good control, and has a scary 4 seamer. Lefthanded hitters will not look forward to seeing Infante, and it won't be a picnic for righties either. If this guy can improve his average slider, and I don't see why he won't, then he can be an elite set-up guy or closer. His lone weakness is a lack of velocity. Jose kept hitters to a .206 OAV, .283 OBP and rumour has it that he averaged 18 K9 in Cuba's top league despite topping out at 72 MPH on the radar gun. If the birth certificate is correct, Helena scored big time with this Cuban defector. Fidel has to surely be pissed about this one.
8. Charleston Cannons, $13.7 million
Ivan "The Terrible" Suarez
Not far behind Infante and Delgado is this 19 y/o Dominican. Suarez is good enough as I write this to pitch in the majors. Good splits, velocity, the ability to keep the ball down and a devastating 4 seamer are the keys to "Ivan the Terrible's" success. Charleston is taking a patient approach with Ivan. The Cannon's late signing
pitched in 2 regular season and 4 playoff games. He was 7 for 7 in save opportunities giving up 0 runs in 6.1 innings. If there is one thing to criticize about Ivan's game it is his lack of control. During the playoffs he plunked 2 guys, one of which charged half-way to the mound before realizing that the 6ft. 205 lb lefty might rearrange his face like a Picasso. Overall the Cannons are likely pleased to add this guy to their young corps.
9. Las Vegas Numa Numa, $13 million
Junior Molina
No stranger to spending significant money on IFAs, Xavier shelled out $13 million for Junior Molina SR., which should buy a lot of diapers for his young family. He and his wife Penelope have twins Esmeralda and Junior JR. The Numa Numa have to be pleased that their large investment has a young family as it might help keep this young man grounded while in Sin City. Molina possesses 2 very good pitches, a devastating 12-6 curveball and a slider with absolutely sick movement. He has shown an uncanny ability to throw those 2 pitches and his unpolished change-up and cutter with above average accuracy. Junior has good splits for a man of his age, but his velocity leaves a lot to be desired. At High A he had an impressive 110 strike outs a 1.29 WHIP, and a 6-6 record in 25 starts and 127.1 innings.
10. Philadelphia Pheremoniacs, $12.1
Louie "Armstrong" Valentin
Max made Louie "Armstrong" Valentin the second highest paid Cuban defector in Season 23. Valentin hails from Remedios, a hot bed for star ball players in Cuba's top league. "Armstrong" agonized over whether to or not to defect from the beautiful city in the Villa Clara province, fearing what might happen to his family. Like his fellow countryman Infante, Valentin has really good accuracy, unlike Infante, Louie can saw off a lot of bats with his 91 MPH heater. He had some growing pains at Low A, where he had a 5.05 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. He gave up 14 homers while notching 97 K in 98 innings. Max would surely like to see this youngster learn how to keep the ball down a lot more and find away to put away the lefties. This multi-lingual hurler has a ridiculous change-up and a darn good 4 seam fastball. His slider might become good enough to show major league batters, though his forkball and curve likely won't become useful tools. This guy will almost surely make it to Philly as a long reliever. The 3rd highest paid IFA in Philly's history looks to be a good one folks.
11. Oklahoma City Rodeo Clowns, $10.1 million
Melky Matos
Two good, possibly great in the future pitches, a 4 seamer and a slider. The 18 year old is a good groundball reliever with decent splits and excellent control. This late signee would do well to find a way to improve his velocity and ability to send lefthanded hitters back to the dugout with a frown. A gym rat, look for him to improve most aspects of his game.
12. Toronto Trout, $8.2 million
Javier Garza
This portly 18 year old has been asked to shed a few lbs by the Trout, scouts say they think he is onboard as they have seen his conditioning improve and they like his attitude and work ethic. A cousin of Cubs ace Matt, Javier had a tremendous first professional season at Low A. He has 3 good pitches and good splits. Needs to improve his control and would be better if he could find more velocity.
13. Oklahoma City Rodeo Clowns, $8.1 million
Fautino Bastardo
Many GMs were displeased to see OKC pick-up this youngster, especially for this price. Good contact, plate vision, baserunning and power make this outfielder a good prospect. The main flaw of the Clowns slugger would be his splits which should hurt his average. In 377 ABs at Low A he maintained a .294 average while swatting 30 doubles, 28 Home Runs, and 105 RBI. One of the better bargains of Season 23.
14. Mexico City, $7.5 million
Shin-Soo Suzuki
This 24 year old from Japan threw at AA and 2 starts in the big leagues where he performed very well. A good value at $7.5 million, Suzuki has no real deficiencies. The 6 foot 2 inch 211 pound starting pitcher has shown an ability to keep the ball down, has good durability, stamina. He also has very good control, and great velocity to go with his serviceability splits and pitches.
15. Sioux Falls Screw Balls, $5.5 million
Carlos Sardinha
An above average defender as a corner outfielder with good contact. Possesses good speed and baserunning skills yet made no successful attempts at Low A last season. Good bang for the buck, should make an appearance in the big leagues one day.
16. (C) Montgomery Burns, $5 million
Alfredo Rosado
Good control, splits and 4 seamer despite poor velocity. Unfortunately his forkball, and curve generally show up at the plate looking like meatballs. His change may save him if he can improve it by another 15 points or more. A poor combination of durability and stamina will probably keep this fellow from becoming a regular on the 25 man roster Montgomery has a good major league staff and did well when they drafted 20 year old Chad Richard from nearby Homer Louisiana with 30th pick, so they are not fretting this forgettable signing.
17. Oklahoma City Rodeo Clowns, $4.7 million
Victor Garza
OKC grabbed another 18 year old with good control and splits. His virtually non-existent velocity does not seem to diminish the effectiveness of his 4-seam fastball. He also has a substandard curve and forkball. Despite being a flyball pitcher, he managed to not allow any homeruns in Low A last season.
18. Chicago Crushers, $4.6 million
Wilkin Vazquez
This light throwing groundball inducing 18 year old has a good work ethic, good control and splits. He throws three pitches - a mean sinker, an average curve, and his change-up needs some work to be used effectively. He did manage a K per inning while splitting time at the Rookie and Low A levels. Arguably the best signing under $5 million.
19.Boston Red Sox, $4 million
Vic Aguilera
Vic is a 19 year old SS that is fast on the basepaths but lacks the skill to become a true base stealing threat at Fenway. Although he would be a good defender at the hot corner, his bat is severely lacking for that position. His range will never become good enough to become a major league SS or CF. His glove, arm strength and plate discipline must have been what convinced Mike45 to throw 4 bills at him
20. Toronto Trout,$3.6 million
Eli Gandarilla
An un-healthy dwarf with a passion for defence, the Trout may have found a bargain. Though not a threat with the stick, there are a lot of more useless hitters making money playing SS in the majors. Not an ideal bench player due to his lack of speed.
21. Florida Gators, $3.3 million
Joakim Rios
Florida went a slick defending pivot. A nice pick up for a NL team, especially for the price, Rios will be useful off the bench by utilizing his very good speed, baserunning and the ability to lay down a bunt for a base hit. He will put the ball in play a lot, it just won`t leave the infield unless there is an error on the play as he has a 0 rating for power.
22. Boston Red Sox, $3 million
Placido Morales
Rather then throw their prospect money away, Mike45 signed Morales. He will help out the minor league system.
23. Las Vegas Numa Numa, $ 2.8 million
Davey Bennett
As an 18 year old he projects to have excellent major league skills. Sadly for the Numa Numa, he will most likely never throw more than 30 innings in a season. A good value, nice to have on hand in the playoffs where Vegas often ends up after the regular season ends.
Honourable Mentions under $2.5 million go to:
Pat Sasaki
Carlos Santana
Don Tamura
Tony Candelaria
Delino Vincente
Josias Guerrero
Vic Cruz
Jair Alomar
Lorenzo Ayala
Jose Soriano
Mariano Ozuna
1. Montreal Maroons, $28.2 million
Eliezer Perez
Montreal must either of thought highly of 18 y/o Perez or had little confidence in the upcoming IFA crop. Young Eliezer was the first star IFA pitcher to show up and the Maroons took no chances as they spent $5.1 million more than they have ever spent on one IFA to lock him up. This is the 3rd consecutive season that they have used the overwhelming majority of their prospect cash on a Pitcher. In the past 2 seasons they have elected to shovel buckets of money that they have at their disposal to Relief pitchers. This signing -like the previous seasons signing- seems to have landed the Quebec based franchise an elite arm adept at preserving leads and keeping the team in games that they are behind in. Perez should be able to only contribute 30-35 pitches every other day, though with his projected stuff, that might be good enough for 3+ innings. All of his pitches have progressed nicely during his full season at Low A. His slider and cut FB need some re-fining to be used regularly as a set-up or strikeout pitch in the majors. Perez's money pitch is the 4 seam FB. The only thing that should be able to hurt this athlete is his lack of ability to keep that sphere shaped white thing out of the air, however if his Low A numbers are any indication (2HR allowed in 40+ innings) Maroon fans have yet another stud to cheer for at the stadium less than affectionately referred to as "The Big O"
2. Louisville Sluggers, $27.9 million
Ezequiel `Zeke` Manzanillo
This is the first season in 8 years that the Lobsters have made a significant financial commitment to a position player through IFA, when they shelled out $15.4 million in bonus money to Santo Figureoa. Like Montreal, Louisville spent more this season on one player than they ever have. In fact, Manzanillo's bonus is $9 million more than the previous title holder Oswaldo Rodriguez. The only ballclub representing the moonshine state, like many other clubs, they love what this 4-5 tool Dominican is all about. Though being groomed as a SS at Low A, his 51 Errors in 91 games implores me to go out on a limb to predict that Zeke will play above average defence at either CF, 2B or 3B when he inevitably makes it to "the show" His bat is what should be worth the price of admission at Louisville Slugger Field and visiting ballparks regardless of where he plays. Zeke already has better plate vision than most current major league infielders. This young right-handed hitter will almost without a doubt be a superb contact hitter, capable of facing righties as effectively as south-paws. If that isn't already enough to please a manager, Zeke will make the lives of pitchers and catchers miserable with his speed and baserunning. There may be 2 factors that keep this dude from being a top 10 player in the bigs and that is his lack of durability and power. Manzanillo only managed to hit 10 homers last season and if there isn't significant improvement in his durability, he will only be able to play in approximately 120 games, though to be sure, they will be 120 exciting games.
3. Cincinnati Red Army, $23.1 million
Rigo Sandoval
With the exception of the past 2 seasons, The Red Army Franchise have rarely been able to convince ownership to commit a large portion of their operating budget to IFA spending. In fact, the last time they spent significant money on an IFA was back in season 9 when they snatched up Tony Servet for $16.8 million. Other than Servet, Vin Castillo (now in the twilight of his career) and 3 time Gold Glove CF, 2 time All Star Pedro Cedeno are the only biggish IFA signings by this Title-less Rust-Belt situated Franchise. GM Douch La Rouche has seemingly been taking a risky approach to signing IFAs. Over the past 2 seasons he has waited almost to the end of the signing period, each time lucking out by signing a gem and not being stuck with a huge chunk of prospect cash having nobody worth spending it on. The 19 year old, brother of star Football (Soccer) striker Luis Alonso, from Victoria Mexico grew up idolizing 2 of the best pivots in the history of the game Joe Morgan and Roberto Alomar. Though his bat closely resembles the formers, his defence is not nor will it ever be in the realm of the latter. Sandoval has good range and a decent glove. His arm is his main weakness, especially when it comes to accuracy. The only other blight on his resume might be base-running. Cincinnati will likely take a patient approach with the late season signee's development as he was assigned to Low A for the playoffs where he won a Championship. He is expected to play 2B at High A with a bunch of The Red Army's prospects this season. Cincinnati fans will be looking for improvement from Rigo defensively, though their main concern is likely that his major league ready bat improves leaps and bounds. There is no reason why this guy shouldn't hit at least above .280 in the majors, and stepping up to the plate at the "matchbox" that is The Great American Ballpark, hit easily 30 homeruns and maybe as many as 50.
4. Vancouver Vampire Bats, $22 million
Olmedo `Bob` Villa
The first significant IFA position player to show up in Season 23, Olmedo "Bob" Villa signed for $22 million. Like The Red Army, the V-Bats are relatively new to spending large amounts of prospect money on IFAs. Their only other large purchase was in Season 21 when they laid out $17.5 million in bonus cash for Maicer Reyes. Villa will not blow you away with his defensive abilities from LF, though his right handed bat will make up for those short-comings. He split time between Rookie ball and Low A, hitting over .300 at both levels. He also took advantage of his wheels, victimizing pitchers and catchers for 22 bags in a mere 80 games. Though with a small sample size, it is worth noting that he hit .375 in the Low A playoffs. Not blessed with great power, this pull hitter should improve to the point where he could hit 10-15 homers a season depending on how many ABs he gets. His greatest strength is his ability to make contact, as evidenced by his minor league numbers. He has also shown an above average ability to bunt for an 18 y/o. Scouts like his ability to handle both lefties and righties, and despite his deficiencies as a fielder it looks like Vancouver made a safe and solid investment.
5. Atlanta Spartans, $17.2 million
Jose Delgado
What looks to be possibly the second best relief pitcher in the Season 23 IFA pool signed for a $17.2 million bonus and an invite to spring training. The Spartans will need Jose's control to get significantly better. Delgado spent all of last season at High A throwing 20 innings over 11 appearances. In his limited action, he amassed 12 Strike Outs and 11 Base on Balls giving him an unimpressive WHIP of 1.60 and a 5.66 ERA. The Spartans should take heart in the fact that statistics (especially minor league stats) have little bearing on how someone will perform in "the show" However, they should be concerned that his durability and stamina are low, and that even at the tender age of 18, Jose has had a lot of health troubles. Mr. Delgado was signed near the end of the IFA signing period, Atlanta for that reason is likely pleased to have gotten him as opposed to nobody. Atlanta should have a better than average set-up man in their bullpen of the future if Delgado can stay off the DL and get his control close to his other abilities.
6. Nashville Catfish, $16.3 Million
Bartolo Nieto
Nashville grabbed this 18 y/o CF/2B from Cotui of the Dominican Republic. Nieto is an average defender with potential to be very good. His best attribute is clearly his power, which for a man of his age and who plays in the middle of the field, is off of the charts. His glove and base-running abilities should improve enough to be, at the very least, adequate for the big leagues. Unfortunately, all is not roses in the Music City. Nieto is far from a contact hitter by nature, despite his .349 average in rookie ball. He did wear a couple of golden sombreros last season, striking out 22 times in 109 at bats. Despite this, Nashville has to be happy with the ten doubles, three triples, seven homers and thirty RBI in his 1st professional season. The crystal ball foresees many dented billboards in outfield of Hershel Greer Stadium off of Bartolo's bat.
7. Helena Phantom der Nacht $15.4 million
Jose Infante
Mr. Infante was pleased to see Helena offer him a major league deal at the tender age of 18, almost assuring that he will never sent to the minors once he makes it to the big leagues. Pitching in AAA is not in this kids future as he is almost good enough to throw in the majors right now. Only time will tell, but he looks like he could be as good or better than the richer Jose Delgado. Infante sure can keep the ball down, has very good control, and has a scary 4 seamer. Lefthanded hitters will not look forward to seeing Infante, and it won't be a picnic for righties either. If this guy can improve his average slider, and I don't see why he won't, then he can be an elite set-up guy or closer. His lone weakness is a lack of velocity. Jose kept hitters to a .206 OAV, .283 OBP and rumour has it that he averaged 18 K9 in Cuba's top league despite topping out at 72 MPH on the radar gun. If the birth certificate is correct, Helena scored big time with this Cuban defector. Fidel has to surely be pissed about this one.
8. Charleston Cannons, $13.7 million
Ivan "The Terrible" Suarez
Not far behind Infante and Delgado is this 19 y/o Dominican. Suarez is good enough as I write this to pitch in the majors. Good splits, velocity, the ability to keep the ball down and a devastating 4 seamer are the keys to "Ivan the Terrible's" success. Charleston is taking a patient approach with Ivan. The Cannon's late signing
pitched in 2 regular season and 4 playoff games. He was 7 for 7 in save opportunities giving up 0 runs in 6.1 innings. If there is one thing to criticize about Ivan's game it is his lack of control. During the playoffs he plunked 2 guys, one of which charged half-way to the mound before realizing that the 6ft. 205 lb lefty might rearrange his face like a Picasso. Overall the Cannons are likely pleased to add this guy to their young corps.
9. Las Vegas Numa Numa, $13 million
Junior Molina
No stranger to spending significant money on IFAs, Xavier shelled out $13 million for Junior Molina SR., which should buy a lot of diapers for his young family. He and his wife Penelope have twins Esmeralda and Junior JR. The Numa Numa have to be pleased that their large investment has a young family as it might help keep this young man grounded while in Sin City. Molina possesses 2 very good pitches, a devastating 12-6 curveball and a slider with absolutely sick movement. He has shown an uncanny ability to throw those 2 pitches and his unpolished change-up and cutter with above average accuracy. Junior has good splits for a man of his age, but his velocity leaves a lot to be desired. At High A he had an impressive 110 strike outs a 1.29 WHIP, and a 6-6 record in 25 starts and 127.1 innings.
10. Philadelphia Pheremoniacs, $12.1
Louie "Armstrong" Valentin
Max made Louie "Armstrong" Valentin the second highest paid Cuban defector in Season 23. Valentin hails from Remedios, a hot bed for star ball players in Cuba's top league. "Armstrong" agonized over whether to or not to defect from the beautiful city in the Villa Clara province, fearing what might happen to his family. Like his fellow countryman Infante, Valentin has really good accuracy, unlike Infante, Louie can saw off a lot of bats with his 91 MPH heater. He had some growing pains at Low A, where he had a 5.05 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. He gave up 14 homers while notching 97 K in 98 innings. Max would surely like to see this youngster learn how to keep the ball down a lot more and find away to put away the lefties. This multi-lingual hurler has a ridiculous change-up and a darn good 4 seam fastball. His slider might become good enough to show major league batters, though his forkball and curve likely won't become useful tools. This guy will almost surely make it to Philly as a long reliever. The 3rd highest paid IFA in Philly's history looks to be a good one folks.
11. Oklahoma City Rodeo Clowns, $10.1 million
Melky Matos
Two good, possibly great in the future pitches, a 4 seamer and a slider. The 18 year old is a good groundball reliever with decent splits and excellent control. This late signee would do well to find a way to improve his velocity and ability to send lefthanded hitters back to the dugout with a frown. A gym rat, look for him to improve most aspects of his game.
12. Toronto Trout, $8.2 million
Javier Garza
This portly 18 year old has been asked to shed a few lbs by the Trout, scouts say they think he is onboard as they have seen his conditioning improve and they like his attitude and work ethic. A cousin of Cubs ace Matt, Javier had a tremendous first professional season at Low A. He has 3 good pitches and good splits. Needs to improve his control and would be better if he could find more velocity.
13. Oklahoma City Rodeo Clowns, $8.1 million
Fautino Bastardo
Many GMs were displeased to see OKC pick-up this youngster, especially for this price. Good contact, plate vision, baserunning and power make this outfielder a good prospect. The main flaw of the Clowns slugger would be his splits which should hurt his average. In 377 ABs at Low A he maintained a .294 average while swatting 30 doubles, 28 Home Runs, and 105 RBI. One of the better bargains of Season 23.
14. Mexico City, $7.5 million
Shin-Soo Suzuki
This 24 year old from Japan threw at AA and 2 starts in the big leagues where he performed very well. A good value at $7.5 million, Suzuki has no real deficiencies. The 6 foot 2 inch 211 pound starting pitcher has shown an ability to keep the ball down, has good durability, stamina. He also has very good control, and great velocity to go with his serviceability splits and pitches.
15. Sioux Falls Screw Balls, $5.5 million
Carlos Sardinha
An above average defender as a corner outfielder with good contact. Possesses good speed and baserunning skills yet made no successful attempts at Low A last season. Good bang for the buck, should make an appearance in the big leagues one day.
16. (C) Montgomery Burns, $5 million
Alfredo Rosado
Good control, splits and 4 seamer despite poor velocity. Unfortunately his forkball, and curve generally show up at the plate looking like meatballs. His change may save him if he can improve it by another 15 points or more. A poor combination of durability and stamina will probably keep this fellow from becoming a regular on the 25 man roster Montgomery has a good major league staff and did well when they drafted 20 year old Chad Richard from nearby Homer Louisiana with 30th pick, so they are not fretting this forgettable signing.
17. Oklahoma City Rodeo Clowns, $4.7 million
Victor Garza
OKC grabbed another 18 year old with good control and splits. His virtually non-existent velocity does not seem to diminish the effectiveness of his 4-seam fastball. He also has a substandard curve and forkball. Despite being a flyball pitcher, he managed to not allow any homeruns in Low A last season.
18. Chicago Crushers, $4.6 million
Wilkin Vazquez
This light throwing groundball inducing 18 year old has a good work ethic, good control and splits. He throws three pitches - a mean sinker, an average curve, and his change-up needs some work to be used effectively. He did manage a K per inning while splitting time at the Rookie and Low A levels. Arguably the best signing under $5 million.
19.Boston Red Sox, $4 million
Vic Aguilera
Vic is a 19 year old SS that is fast on the basepaths but lacks the skill to become a true base stealing threat at Fenway. Although he would be a good defender at the hot corner, his bat is severely lacking for that position. His range will never become good enough to become a major league SS or CF. His glove, arm strength and plate discipline must have been what convinced Mike45 to throw 4 bills at him
20. Toronto Trout,$3.6 million
Eli Gandarilla
An un-healthy dwarf with a passion for defence, the Trout may have found a bargain. Though not a threat with the stick, there are a lot of more useless hitters making money playing SS in the majors. Not an ideal bench player due to his lack of speed.
21. Florida Gators, $3.3 million
Joakim Rios
Florida went a slick defending pivot. A nice pick up for a NL team, especially for the price, Rios will be useful off the bench by utilizing his very good speed, baserunning and the ability to lay down a bunt for a base hit. He will put the ball in play a lot, it just won`t leave the infield unless there is an error on the play as he has a 0 rating for power.
22. Boston Red Sox, $3 million
Placido Morales
Rather then throw their prospect money away, Mike45 signed Morales. He will help out the minor league system.
23. Las Vegas Numa Numa, $ 2.8 million
Davey Bennett
As an 18 year old he projects to have excellent major league skills. Sadly for the Numa Numa, he will most likely never throw more than 30 innings in a season. A good value, nice to have on hand in the playoffs where Vegas often ends up after the regular season ends.
Honourable Mentions under $2.5 million go to:
Pat Sasaki
Carlos Santana
Don Tamura
Tony Candelaria
Delino Vincente
Josias Guerrero
Vic Cruz
Jair Alomar
Lorenzo Ayala
Jose Soriano
Mariano Ozuna
SEASON 23 DRAFT ANALYSIS
A.L. North
Ottawa Hosers
Choosing not to allocate much time or resources to scouting, the Hosers went into the draft fairly blind. They managed to land stocky right-hander Dwight Venafro with their top selection and he could become a solid pitcher down the road. Mixing up his repertoire with five pitches, Venafro needs to keep hitters off balance to succeed, as he doesn't have over-powering stuff. Time will tell if he'll find a rotation spot or settle into the bullpen, and his long-term value will likely depend on how he responds to his coaches. Not a wasted pick for Ottawa, but as their only “ray of hope” in this year’s draft, the Hosers will likely stay focused on guiding the pro team through another winning season.
Grade: C-
Sioux Falls Screw Balls
Waiting for them at pick #18 was one of the more intriguing players in the draft. Towering lefty Aramis Quixote tests off the charts in some areas, while demonstrating some serious control problems throughout his time at the University of Mississippi. His coaches rave about his conditioning and his ability to pitch to both lefties and righties when his command is working. "He could throw over 250 innings per season if he can stay focused and stop walking hitters!" There is some concern that his fastball won't be a major league calibre "out pitch" and some worries that he could have trouble with the long ball, especially when behind in the count. However, his potential is too great for the Screw Balls not to take a gamble at this stage in the first round. Quixote is a hard worker and will give them everything he's got in the tank - which is quite a bit. Sioux Falls heavily focused on pitching through most of this season's draft, and they came away with a few others who may develop into serviceable arms. If Trent Jay can develop a fastball, or if Thom Glaus or Ed Duffy can learn to pitch to righties they could find a role with "the 'Balls".
Grade: B
Syracuse Blue Sox
Speaking of a pitching-heavy draft approach, the Blue Sox selected pitchers with their first ten selections. Unfortunately, it appears that talented first-rounder Elvis Burks will stay in college leaving a gap at the top of the Syracuse draft board. Hard throwing lefty Ismael Vazquez has many tools to succeed, but doesn't seem to have the stuff to dominate at the pro level. He'll need to work his way through the system. 22 yr old Tony Guerra has a major league change-up, and is tough on left-handed hitters. He's started rookie ball as the team's closer, and could do well in that role if he doesn't get victimized by righties (especially when he reaches the higher levels). With their fourth selection, Andrew Snider might be the best draft value yet, with major league potential
that stems from his above average control and a stand-out curveball. He's been tagged as a fly ball pitcher, however, so long term success with rely on Snider keeping those inside the park.
Grade: B-
Toronto Trout
With the 23rd pick, the Trout chose reliever Henderson Buckley, one of the top few natural relief pitchers in this season's draft. Typically, a reliever's value is slightly lower due to the fact that he'll usually pitch fewer innings than a good starter, so determining exactly when to spend a pick on relief is a point of strategy. Buckley was certainly one of the best pitchers available when Toronto came to pick, and they feel that they've landed an integral part of their future bullpen. A notoriously slow worker, Buckley takes his time walking on and off the field; inches around the mound getting comfortable and takes his time between pitches. As slow-moving as he can be, his pitches are anything but slow, showing an impressive five-pitch repertoire with serious zip and control to keep hitters off balance. Buckley can keep his sinker fast and low to induce ground ball outs, and barring some “delay-of-game” warnings from umpires he should shine when he arrives in Toronto.
Grade: B+
A.L. East
Boston Red Sox
Lanky 18 year old lefty Geraldo Cruz is known for keeping the ball low and achieving ground ball outs. This is an appealing skill in a park like Fenway, where the Redsox would like to see their 6th overall pick join the rotation a few seasons down the road. Cruz has the unlikely combination of low velocity and control trouble, but he should be able to overcome those issues to be a solid major leaguer. He's the only prize asset for Boston in this season's draft, and at #6 overall, while he looks pretty darn good - it's certainly not a slam dunk pick.
Grade: C
Durham County Ramblers
the #3 overall pick was spent on J.P. Dixon, probably the best power hitter among this season's crop. Without a doubt best suited as a DH, Dixon's potential fielding embarrassments will be far overshadowed by his prowess as a slugger that will fit nicely in the Durham Athletic Park. Dixon is going to be a fearsome home run threat once he matures into a pro, and if he can also hit for average he'll grab some serious headlines. 2nd rounder Bret Mordecai is a decent outfielder who could have a role for the Ramblers if he improves his batting eye, while 3rd rounder Ralph Simmons is a versatile fielder with great power who could do some damage for Durham if he can even slightly learn to hit righties.
Grade: A
Jacksonville Sunbirds
With second bagger Johnny Seay joining Dixon in the A.L. East, it promises to be a tough division for flyball-prone pitchers in the years to come! The rangy second baseman is a good athlete with decent wheels and natural power. He has the potential to be an impact player for Jacksonville if they can keep him focused and on track. The main criticism of Seay is his affinity for the nightlife and lack of interest in maintaining an off-field training program. He doesn’t learn about opposing pitchers’ tendencies or work on subtle nuances that could take the talented 22 yr old to the next level. The Sunbirds are hoping that he makes it to AA without being checked into AA, and if he stays on track he could easily become a regular on the home run leader list. The signings of Norm Hutton and Ed Towers put the next Jax draft choice in the 4th round, where they took outfielder Claude Gabriel, who despite home run power will have a tough road to make the pro club.
Grade: B
New York Crunch
This season the Crunch had five picks in the top hundred and chose five hitters with those picks. Their top selection was 21 year old Boone “Bulldog” Dixon, a tenacious infielder who despite being drafted as a shortstop might be better suited at third. At 5’7” the University of Mississippi junior has classic “small dog” syndrome, and one would guess that Dixon sees himself as 6’5” 230. There is no quit in the bulldog, as his efforts on the field can exceed his skill level at times. He has decent power for his stature, and should be a sound defender when he settles into a position. The second “Dixon” in this year’s draft (his younger brother is Durham slugger J.P.) will need work a little harder to grind out a niche as a pro. Max Vasquez, Bernard Adams, Marshall Lowry and Steve Hudson are all quality draft choices: players with some value, but none is a lock for success. Vasquez is a decent fielder who struggles against righties, Adams struggles in the field but has offensive potential (except against lefties), Lowry is a poorer version of Adams (but can’t hit righties instead of lefties), and Hudson’s redeeming quality is his power, though he’s a long-shot to retain anything more than fleeting value. If Dixon and one other become ML regulars (Adams is the most likely) then the Crunch will have squeezed the most value out of their picks.
Grade: B-
A.L. South
Charlotte Designated Drinkers
Few teams can sit back after draft day and feel as confident in the value of their picks as the DD's. Choosing 19th, Charlotte was pleased to see second bagger Stephen Butler still on the board. Butler is a complete ballplayer, offering a great blend of athleticism and baseball intelligence. He has decent power for his small stature, great plate discipline and a high compete level. Time will tell if Butler has the range to be effective at second, but he's demonstrated slick glove-work and should improve as he goes. Many considered him a top ten pick going into draft day, so Charlotte did quite well in round one. Their subsequent picks were as good or better, as starting pitcher Russ Rusch and slugger Jimmy Romano both look like legit draft day steals! Rusch is an 18 year old southpaw with a craftiness that makes up for the lack of blast on his heater. He's very tough on lefthanded hitters, and if he can put righties away with consistency, he should be a solid #1 or #2 starter. Romano is a California boy with a potential all-star bat if he continues on his current trajectory. He has a little trouble with lefties, but his power presence in the heart of the batting order will make him very hard to platoon. His make-up at first base is awkwardly adequate, so there's a chance that a DH role could help him focus on being an offensive leader. Even 80th overall pick Renyel Estrada could become a useful piece of the pitching staff if he gets his control problems figured out. Charlotte did very well this time around, obtaining great value with the picks they had.
Grade: A+
Florida GATORs
Scouts have been watching shortstop Anthony Green since he starred in the little league world series, and he's continued to represent his age group at the national level as one of the slickest up and coming shortstops in the country. His mastery of his position is impressive to be sure, and his professionalism and sportsmanship are without question, but his stock has fallen slightly in the past year or two. At one time Green was seen as an automatic first overall pick, but his ability as a hitter to adjust to major league pitching has come into question. He has a great sense of the strike zone and is an excellent contact hitter, but the former prodigy might not have the build or upper body strength to be a consistent threat at the pro level. The GATORs couldn't pass on Green as he slipped to them in the 8 spot, and time will tell if he can prove doubters wrong about his long term offensive value. Nonetheless, Florida has drafted a marketable and polished shortstop for their future. With pitcher Kendry Martin on the bubble in regard to his effectiveness and worth as a big league starter, the hopes for Green are quite high with management.
Grade: B+
Louisville Lobsters
Before entering into a conversation about the Lobsters’ draft results, we must discuss the Ezeqiuel Manzanillo signing. The 18 year old Dominican shortstop is the real deal, and he’ll be a regular in the Louisville lineup before long. The signing took a great deal of financial resources from other facets of the team’s developmental budget, making them unable to come to terms with their top choice Greg Scott. Scott, another shortstop, might also have taken exception to the 28 million dollar bonus the club gave Manzanillo. Either way, the Lobsters will move on without Scott and need to be happy with their second choice in the draft, lefthander Kirk Taylor who they took four picks after Scott. Fundamentally sound in all areas, Taylor projects as a big part of the future bullpen. Potentially a closer, or at least a pitcher who doesn’t shy away from high pressure situations, Louisville is elated to land a significant pitcher to go along with their International prize.
Grade: B+
Nashville Catfish
Choosing 7th overall, Nashville opted for Vincente Hernandez, an 18 year old center fielder from the Bronx. A patient, healthy, contact hitter, Hernandez displays good instincts in the outfield and despite lacking enough home run power to make him a star slugger, he has a natural blend of speed and athleticism that should make him a solid pro down the road. The Catfish then chose four more players who could prove to be decent value from their position. Not able to handle great defensive responsibilities, outfielder Joel Roth looks to have the power that Hernandez lacks, and if he can round out the rest of his offensive skill set he should provide some punch to the lineup. Pitchers Dustin Worley, Joe Cooke and Quilvio James all look like potential big league starters. Cooke and James have a few more question marks, but Worley looks like he could be a very solid addition.
Grade: A
A.L. West
Las Vegas Numa Numa
Signing Boots Cash, Pedro Rojas and Jesus Astacio meant that Vegas had little chance to make waves with this season’s draft. They did wind up with three supplemental picks (between 43-56), and of those choices, catcher Rolando Silva is worth mentioning. Scouts who saw him play at the University of Miami were quick to notice Silva’s great ability to draw the base on balls. He protects the plate well, does well in clutch situations and hit over .400 against lefties over his four years for the Hurricanes. The questions about Silva are about his ability to be a regular catcher at the pro level. His defense is adequate at best and there have been suggestions that he would do better in a different role – but if he makes his bat indispensable, the Numa Numa will find a way to get him to the plate.
Grade: C+
Oklahoma City Rodeo Clowns
Without much hype around this season’s draft class, the Clowns beat writers have found cause to focus on awkward 18 year old Delino Owen. If nothing else, Owen has fantastic speed which will he struts in the field as well as on the bases. OKC would love to see Owen turn into an important part of their offence, but he really needs to fine tune his approach at the plate to become a high OBP table-setter atop the lineup. He’ll never have great power, so he’ll need to learn to hit consistent line drives and learn to be more selective with his swings. Also inconsistent with his glove-work at second base, Owen will see his value drop if he needs to move to an easier position. Fortunately, he has plenty of time to develop and at this point he’s worth keeping an eye on.
Grade: C
Salem Sanguillens
The Sanguillens came away from the draft with a few head scratchers. Top selection was Bubbles McGraw at #15 and it might appear that there was a bit of a premium because the man’s name is “Bubbles”. He’s a tiny guy with a fantastic glove at shortstop, a unique personality in the locker room and some decent baseball skills in general. His offensive upside, however, does seem a bit limited for a first round pick, and without game-breaking speed he seems one-faceted. Salem then chose three catchers among their next four picks, none of whom will challenge current rookie Wilfredo Martinez behind the plate, or AA catching prospect Reagan Beaulac for his offense. In general, the Sanguillens are already looking forward to next season’s draft.
Grade: D
Scottsdale Fighting Chokes
With the number four overall choice in the draft, Scottsdale played it reasonably safe and chose shortstop Ryan Wright. They didn’t land a future superstar, but Wright should have a steady career as a good hitter who can play responsibly at short or move to other positions if the need arises. Wright should be a very good everyday player, as he really has no glaring flaws in his game aside from a few nagging injuries that the Chokes hope are in his past. Pitcher Bert Kerr and utility man Mark Chang both stand a chance to carve out a role if they develop well.
Grade: B
N.L. North
Chicago Crushers
With yet another high first round choice, the Crushers continue to focus on pitching, selecting stocky 22 year old righty Don Creek. Creek was certainly at the top of many draft boards, with the only red flags arising from the potential for a tired arm. He’s cleanly the most consistent and talented pitcher across the board, with great control, movement and power in his repertoire. Creek is going to be a very, very good pitcher in this league, the only question is whether he has the innings in him to be a starter and whether he can stay healthy. Obviously his value is exponentially higher as a healthy starter than as an injury prone bullpen jockey. If he can throw 7 innings every five days, the Crushers are going to be winning a lot more games a few seasons from now.
Grade: A
Detroit Tiger Sharks
With Josh Baker as their top draft choice, the Tiger Sharks didn’t really take a player who will be a leader for their franchise. Baker is a quiet player on and off the field, giving them a serious second baseman, a spray hitter with some speed and enough gamesmanship to compete hard every day. Baker looks like a quality player, though maybe he was taken ten picks too early. Detroit’s next few picks look like better value for their draft positions, as Graeme Huskey has a great sinker and should be a steady pitcher in the mid-late innings; Neil Redman is a gem of a defensive shortstop, albeit very light- hitting; and slugger “Big Vic” Domingo has crazy major league power if he can learn to hit a little bit smarter. At the end of the day, some interesting bits for the motor city.
Grade: B
Montreal Maroons
The Maroons threw everything they had at scintillating Dominican closer
Eliezer Perez. Perez will be a good pitcher for Montreal in a couple of seasons. The same can’t be said for any of their draft picks, most of whom will grow up to be lawyers and teachers and salesmen and such.
Grade: F
Philadelphia Pheremoniacs
Without a pick until #57, Philly didn’t have high expectations this time around. They were fairly smart with how they used these “secondary” selections and for the most part converted them into something reasonably useful. Esteban Guerrero is a fantastic defender at second base and despite being a bit pedestrian at the dish, might hit lefties well enough to platoon (or at least have decent value off the bench). Charlie Purcell is a hard working relief pitcher who likely already has the stuff to succeed at AAA. If he’s able to take it up a slight notch in the next few seasons, he could find himself with a major league audition. Herm “Sobie” Sobolewski might have the paunch and ‘stache of a seventies detective, but he actually looks to be an above average major league hitter if he can quit smoking colts and his knees let him keep catching. The Pheremoniacs did as well as could be expected with a limited hand in this season’s draft
Grade: B
N.L. East
Baltimore Barons
At pick #25, the Barons were pretty happy to find Jordan Keppel still available. A steady pitcher with a low 90’s fastball, Keppel frequently finds the strike zone and can make hitters miss when he mixes things up. He projects to be at least a mid rotation starter for the Barons, with no real red flags except perhaps that sometimes when he gets hit, he gets hit hard. He should be a good compliment to Mel Darr and Maicer Calles in the Baltimore rotation.
Grade: B+
Cincinnati Red Army
With two picks in the top 30, the Red Army opted to focus on pitching and landed towering 6’5” 18 year old righty Joe Hissey as well as medium-sized southpaw Mark Zhang. Hissey looks like the real deal, though he’s a bit raw and will likely take at least three or four years to develop through the Cincinnati system. Hissey needs to improve against left-handed hitters and would do well to figure out how to induce a few more ground balls. Zhang has a deadly low sinker and a good curve, and frequently surprises radar guns and opposing hitters alike with his varied arsenal and pitching IQ. Zhang needs to throw hard to be successful, but sometimes this results in wildness and he’ll need to avoid meltdowns if he’s to succeed at the major league level. Both pitchers represent good value for their draft slot.
Grade:A
New York New Jerseys
In the twelve slot, the NYNJ’s opted for community college slugger Richie Knight. Knight is only 5’8” but has a strong and compact build, a swift home run swing and a good overall hitter’s mentality. He’s able to make adjustments the second time he sees a pitcher, and is always learning and figuring out ways to improve. He should hit an effortless .280-20-80 and could potentially improve on that in the right environment. The downside to Knight is his defense. While he doesn’t have poor foot-speed, his reaction time to balls-in-play could be problematic in the outfield – it might be safer to get him used to first base.
Grade: B
Atlanta Spartans
With the #29 pick, the Spartans chose slick defensive centerfielder Sparky Wilson. Some scouts don’t like Wilson’s offensive upside, as despite his decent speed and 10-15 home-run potential, he likely won’t be able hit for decent average. His natural defensive ability might make it worth it for Atlanta to find room for him at the bottom of the order. Pitcher Jeff Anderson and shortstop Heinie Leyritz will both struggle to succeed as they ascend towards the pro ranks. A forgettable draft year for the successful franchise.
Grade: D+
N.L. South
Charleston Cannons
Outfielder Ezdra Paredes will strike out a ton. He can’t lay down a bunt to save his life. He’ll also drop a few balls in the outfield. These are likely the reasons that kept Paredes from being a consensus top ten pick, and saw him slip to the Cannons in slot #17. With a good outfield arm and tons of natural hitting ability, Paredes will have a good chance to make a few teams regret passing him over. Though he can hit for power, it isn’t his main offensive strength. Paredes drives the ball well to all fields and can earn a few free passes as well. He’ll need good coaching to reach his maximum potential, but Charleston should be pleased with their first rounder. Relief pitcher Trey Sappelt is a project, but he should flirt with major league success of some sort. Shortstop Wes Weaver can’t really hit, but he’s a special defensive player. The Cannons have some new pieces to work with .
Grade: A-
Mexico City Jalapenos
With six picks in the top 60, the Jalapenos had a chance to add some good youth in this draft. Their top two selections were outfielders, Dusty Rigby and Chad Hernandez. Rigby could be the more well-rounded athlete, bringing some speed, defense and a decent bat, but Hernandez is the better pure hitter of the two. While Rigby has no glaring weaknesses, he doesn’t have star potential and will need to clearly define a role for himself to be successful. Hernandez is small and slow, but he’s an above average contact hitter with surprising power and a strong outfield arm. Both players are worth watching as they progress through the M.C. farm system. Catcher Chili Evans has moderate pop in his bat, but his skill behind the plate is lacking. Groundball pitcher Dan Corder could turn into a good mid-rotation workhorse and possibly better. Shortstop Harry Kaye is a good defender with a fantastic arm, and though he’s light-hitting he shouldn’t embarrass himself at the plate. Overall, a solid showing for the Jalapenos.
Grade: B
Montgomery Burns
Not selecting until pick #30, the Burns were pleased with 20 year old sinker-forkballer Chad Richard, a patient righty with decent control and a five pitch arsenal. Richard has a much better success rate against right-handed hitting, and he could be pressed into bullpen work if he’s not able to pitch six innings every fifth game. Scouts project him to gain another 15 pounds by the time he’s major league ready. Second rounder Louis Redding has great control of his fastball-curveball combo, but despite throwing at a very limited velocity he doesn’t have the stamina to face more than a couple of batters before hitting the showers. He could be an effective role player in the Montgomery bullpen if they have the depth to roster a pitcher who can’t give them many innings. Third rounder Willie Villa could be another long term bullpen option for the Burns in a draft that could have gone better or worse.
Grade: C
San Antonio Banderas es Zorro
The only significant selection for San Antonio this time around was a big one: the #1 overall pick, Steven Soriano out of CCU. Soriano is possibly the most ML-ready player in the draft, showing a great contact bat and the ability to work deep into counts and drive the ball to all fields. The only questions about Soriano’s future might be whether his range will be good enough to stick with his familiar second base position or if he’d be better suited somewhere else. He’s a lock to be a star player in San Antonio, and he gives them not only a marketable face for the fans to get excited about, but also a leader on and off the field. If he can learn better plate discipline, he should be a force to be reckoned with.
Grade: A
N.L. West
Helena Phantom der Nacht
For Helena, taking infielder Al Barber is a bit of a head-scratcher, as the Phantom infield is sewn up quite tightly with great young talent already. Barber brings versatility in the field, as he can play a number of positions. His defense in adequate, but not outstanding, so maybe he’s suited for a utility role? There’s some power in his bat, though he doesn’t have the complete offensive pedigree necessary to be a hitting star. His contact and batting eye could both use some work, but Helena could have done worse at #28.
Grade: C-
L.A. Dead Bunnies
For anyone who didn’t think that Don Creek was the best pitcher in the draft, Kane Neill was likely their choice. The Dead Bunnies have acquired a great young 20 year old lefty who hasn’t even finished growing yet! Boasting five good pitches and pinpoint accuracy, Neill held left-handed college hitters to a paltry .125 batting average. His ultimate success will be determined by the righties, and if he can hit the strike zone with the consistency that he’s capable of, L.A. should have a great work-horse to round out their young rotation. They’re hoping that Neill will be able to throw well over 200 innings per year in his prime.
Grade: A+
San Fransisco Streets
With Murray Posey at #5 in the draft, the Streets have found themselves a great hitter and solid fielder. Posey can play second, but might be better suited at third. He has major league ready power and should develop into a fearsome heart-of-the-order hitter. The strikeouts will be there, but they’ll be countered by his run production. It will be tempting to rush Posey through the system, but the SF brass should be careful to coax the maximum potential out of their newest prospect.
Grade: A
Vancouver Vampire Bats
At pick #21, the V-Bats opted for speedy defensive centerfielder Horacio Valbuena. Despite his lightning legs and gold glove potential, the Vancouver scouts had thought Horacio to have better offensive potential than they now realize. He’ll need to get on base in order to use his world-class “jets” and it remains to be seen if he has that in him. Second selection Elvis Pedersen could help the team as a depth starter or long relief man, but generally not much to look forward to out of this Vancouver crop.
Grade: C-
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