Season 23 Draft Review and Report Card

 Please forgive any spelling mistakes, and I didnt intend to be mean with any reviews.  Sometimes I write these late at night and I can get a little spicy :)

Also any errors of mistakes are honest ones...please let me know and I will correct.

Please enjoy

AVERAGE DRAFT GRADE: C, indicating this was not super strong draft all around

Salem Witch Hunters: A-               Tampa Bay Waterdogs: B                              Montreal Smoked Heaters: C-    

Trenton Jake Jokers: A-                  Boise Potatoes: B-                                           Scranton Schrutes: D+

Mexico City Diablos: B+                 Atlanta Mental Patients: C+                         Las Vegas Desert Dogs: D+

Houston Colt 45’s: B+                     Sacramento Stingers: C+                               Chicago Fighting Owls: D

Iowa City Small Bears: B+              Pittsburgh Pilots: C+                                        Richmond Brewers: D

Toronto Bats:B                                  Vancouver Hikers: C+                                     Syracuse Stars: D

Pawtucket Terriers: B                     Helena Roughnecks: C+                                 Baltimore Drydocks: D-

Louisville Horsemen: B                   Indianopolis Swinging Hoosiers: C             Minnesota Millers: D-

Scottsdale Dirtbags: B                     Detroit Hoosiers: C-                                         Anaheim Anteaters: D-

New York Empires: B                       New Orleans Breeze: C-                                 Cincinnati Boom Sticks: F

Philadelphia Penn Quakers: B     Jackson Generals: C-

TOP FIVE BEST PLAYERS TAKEN:

1.HowardRolls (TRE)      2.Ralph Walker (LOU)                     3. Rob Hayes (HOU)          4. Dante Larkin  (SAL)    5.Jamie Mullins (SAL)

TOP FIVE BEST VALUE PICKS :

1.Ryan Blevins (NY) 19th Rnd      2. Ben Sadowski (PAW) 14^th Rnd             3. Stuffy Alfaro (ATL) 11^th Rnd         4.Alan McClure (HEL) 13^th Rnd    5. PaulOgando (MC) 4^th Rnd

 

AL NORTH

Toronto Bats (Rochester Redwings)-jwperry  1^st Rnd Picks (12-21-37) (26 ML Years Total Service)

Draft Grade: B- Some nice picks that held down major league jobs for good stretches, plus one nice late pick.

Jw was an owner from season 1 thru 41 and never really got his team on the right track. With only a handful of winning seasons and even less playoff appearances, he had plenty of chances to draft in a good spot.

1-12 SethMacRae-CF- Broke the bank with a 5 Million signing bonus. A solid player but probably didn’t live up to the money spent on him. 200 career homers but just a .250 career AVG. Nothing special with the glove while playing 2^nd/CF he did win a GG late in his career at 1^st base.

1-21 JayO’Keefe-SS-A nice mid-1^st round pick Jay was a plus defender at SS making almost 200 Career plus plays. Solid pop as he hit double digit homers every season he played in the Bigs (11)

1-37 Bronson Darvill-3^rd- Played 4 seasons in the minors.  Looked like a good power bat that could have handled a COF spot but never got the chance.

9-312 Sal Ross-SP-Signed for just 68K Ross had a few solid seasons. Picking up double digits in wins in 4 of his season in the majors, while also crossing over 200IP three times. A nice steal.

Cincinnati Boom Sticks (Vancouver Vaders)-Kylo_Ren   1^st Rnd Picks (Zero)

Draft Grade: F, First pick came in the 6^th round and no pick ever reached the majors

Kylo used this season to grab every Type A free agent he could giving up all his picks in the first five rounds. It worked out as he won the WS the next season, he dropped to 82 wins after that, left the team in shambles and it took 3 owners and about 12 seasons to rebuild.  Bit of a douche move really

 

Minnesota Millers-dflom2008  1^st Rnd Picks (47^th)   (0 Major League Years Service)

Draft Grade: D-, with only the late pick in the 1^st round Minnesota didn’t really make an impact, they would win the WS two years later so it doesn’t really matter

Dflom has been here for every season up and down like most owners. This draft was at the tale end of a really solid 5 year stretch and he was drafting late and not able to do much in terms of rebuilding.

1-47 RamonKida-3^rd- Never made the majors but did get to AAA for 2 whole seasons. A possible speedy COF type that Minnesota just never really needed.

 

 

Pawtucket Terriers-burk  1^st Rnd Picks (16^th-40^th) (24 years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: B, no superstars but two very good players including a super late pick.

Another long term owner, he was at the start of a 4 year down turn. This draft was a good start in the right direction.

1-16^th Jeromy Espy-2^nd  Would make 1 All-Star team in his career as he was a solid fielder with enough pop and speed to stay in the lineup as an everyday player for about 10 seasons.

1-40^th Russell Shirley-CF   Defense first with some speed. Stole over 20 bases in three of his seasons while also making 28 plus plays in CF

14-476 BenSadowski-2^nd  Nice late pick, winner of two gold gloves and had three straight seasons with 20+ homers.  Not sure why his career ended so suddenly as his last season was a career best .286 AVG with 64 Extra base hits and 14 steals. 

 

AL East

Pittsburgh Pilots-cshake93  1^st Rnd Picks (28^th-65^th) (29 years of Major League Service)

Draft Grade:  C+  All things considered he did pretty will, getting three major leaguers who collectively played almost 30 seasons.

Cshakes 9^th season with the league as he was really putting together a solid franchise. Didn’t hit any homers in this draft but also didn’t swing and miss either.

1-28 Paulie Gibson-CF    Paulie was an Okay player, He didn’t field well enough to Play CF and didn’t hit well enough to play the COF. Was a solid 4^th OF but nothing more.

1-65^th Wilking Cerda- CF   Now this guy could field (72+ plays) even winning 1 Gold Glove in CF. Scored over 100 Runs once and stole over 300 bases. Very good supplemental  pick

7-264^th Howie Reynolds-C Another great fielder (1 Gold Glove) Was a solid DITR who hit almost 100 homers in a part time role.

 

Baltimore Dry Docks-krisr  1^st Rnd Picks (4^th) (2 years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: D-, yes they drafted 4^th but he was awful when he played

After a rare down year Krisr was onto a quick rebuild, this was not the draft that did it for him.

1-4^th- Benito Pineda-Rel  Not sure what happened here, should have been a solid bullpen arm on a solid team. Somehow never figured out how to pitch at the ML level getting shelled every season. A real dud at #4

 

Iowa City Small Bears-rschaitkin  1^st Rnd Picks (15^th-23^rd-32^nd-39^th-51^st) (41 years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: B+, Looks like he got all the comp picks from Cincy. 5 Major league players in one draft is a good year.

This team had been pretty bad for several seasons rschaitkin was in the process of rebuilding that would see him win 96+ games for the next 4 seasons.

1-15^th- Rondell Betemit- RF Big free swinger who popped 145 homers and struck out about 25% of his at bats. Solid fielder at 3^rd but better in RF for his career.

1-23^rd- Joba Connelly-C 3 X AS and a Silver Slugger. While not a HOF catcher he was a full time backstop for ten seasons with solid pop and good game behind the plate

1-32^nd-VictorKuttler-Rel  Once won 12 games as a reliever. Not great but held a major league job for ten years.

1-39^thHarry Terrero-MIF  Good glove guy who barely hit his weight

1-51^st- Houston Pritchett-2^nd  Another solid glove guy, had a promising bat as well winning silver slugger awards as high as AAA. Never put it together in the bigs.

 

Indianapolis Swinging Hoosiers-egide10  1^st Rnd Picks (17^th) (7 years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: C, couple of nice late picks but none of his picks really made an impact

Egide has been with us since season 15, making it to the WS in 37. This draft didn’t really push the pedal or the brake for this team

1-17^th –Will Harris-Utility Played every position besides Catcher, looked the best at 1^st  Not a bad bat .274/343/404 surprising he didn’t get more of a shot to play COF or 2^nd with the offense he could have provided.

15-509^th- Oswaldo Paz-LR Lacked the control needed to be a dominate bullpen arm. A career 3.83 ERA in just over 150IP

17^th-573^rd-MaxCollins-LF another guy who could have been a solid COF/1^st. Ran well played solid defence and hit well enough to play somewhere

 

Al South

Mexico City Diablos-Acerothstein 1^st Rnd Picks (10-30-46-52)  (53 years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: B+, a decent amount of quality. A lot of quantity.

After taking three seasons off Ace returned with a solid draft that would pay dividends for years to come

1-10^th-BretSellers-SP  HE THREW A PERFECT GAME!!!  Beyond that he was a pretty average losing more games then he won (87-95)

1-30^th-ShelleyCatalanotto-SP Better pitcher then Sellers, no perfect games but did make an All-Star team. Carved out a nice little career throwing just over 2000 innings and winning 113 games.

1-46^th Phil Kwon-2^nd  Gold Glove 2^nd baseman also played CF very well. Couldn’t hit a lick but ran like a devil stealing 177 bases over a three year period.

1-52^nd Teodoro Manto-C  Platoon catcher who had two ok seasons with the bat popping off for 11 home runs in about 300 at bats each year.

4-158^th Paulo Ogando-C  6 time Gold Glove winner, not a great hitter but could run into a dozen or so long balls every season. Great pick in the 4^th round.

 

Atlanta Mental Patients-(Oklahoma City Cowboys) rkdixon 1^st Rnd Picks (29-45-66-70-72) (19 Years ML Service)

Draft Grade: C+  A couple of decent picks here but 4 players that didn’t contribute much

Rkdixon’s 1^st of 4 years in the league, he didn’t hurt the team with this draft but he didn’t do much for their future success either

1-29^th-RockyCarasone-2^nd/OF  Dynamic player that couldn’t seem to harness his gifts. Sub 300 OBP hampered his great stealing ability.

1-45^th -Don Parque-3^rd Played 4 games in the majors but about 2600 in the MIL. 1000 Extra base hits and a solid fielder. One of those many players who was too good for AAA but not good enough for the Majors.

1-66^th-JoelAdams-Rel-Never reached the majors but did make one AAA all star game

1-70^th –Fritz Green-LR- Solid LR arm who had some good seasons and some not so good.  800ip and a sub 4 ERA isn’t bad for pick in the 70’s

1-72^nd- Lewis Boyd-Rel-Had one full season in which he was truly awful

11-393^rd- Stuffy Alfaro-2^nd This guy made an All-Star game in season 31. Must have been a down year for the league J  Very good fielder who had okay power, 5 seasons with over 10 homers, but only a 254 AVG

 

 

Tampa Bay Water Dogs-jmaese- 1^st Rnd Picks (19-41) (31 Years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: B-  No one was great, but grabbing 5 players who made the Majors is a solid draft. No stars but nice pieces

Jmaese has been here every season except 2 early on. This season was the start of a long rebuild that would see Tampa play no better then .500 ball for 13 seasons straight.

1-19 -SamLange- SP  Long lanky lefty had trouble finding a grove in the majors. Stuck around long enough to win 105 games but only had 4 seasons with a winning record and never cracked double digits.

1-41 -JamieCharles-C Blew up his rookie year where he hit 12 homers and 16 doubles in just 75 games. After that only had 3 at bats in the majors. Not sure why he didn’t get more chances, hit 280 homers mostly in AAA.

2-95-OrlandoBalboa-Rel Twice cracked the 100 IP plateau, but with a 5.19 Career ERA maybe shouldn’t have

3-124-JavyJulio-SS  Light hitting Infielder played almost 300 games hitting 17 homers and stealing 16 bases. Glove couldn’t help him stay in the majors longer

4-159-LanceTerrell-SS  Great fieder (137+ plays at SS) even winning a Gold Glove. Twice hit double digit homers and three times stole over 10 bases. The 571 OPS was less flashy. Still a nice pick for the 4^th round.

 

Louisville Horsemen/New Orleans-geedub  1^st Rnd Draft Picks (6-55) (17 Seasons Major League Service)

Draft Grade: B, only one player made it to the majors but he was a solid borderline AS for a good chunk of his career

Another long term owner, this draft was part of one of the many rebuilds by geedub. The lack of this teams success was not due to this draft.

1-6- RalphWalker-CF   Played out of position for most of his career (178 Negative plays at SS/CF) Better suited to 2^nd/3^rd. Great hitter (2600 hits-273 HR) stole a few bases (157). All in all not bad pick.

1-55- BillyMoreno-P  Never signed, never played

 

AL West

Salem Witch Hunts-Auggieward  1^st Rnd Picks (3-33-35-54) (43 years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: A- Two very solid SP’s and a top flight closer. The effects of this draft are still in effect today.

This draft would be part of the reason Salem would be one of the stronger teams for its near future.

1-3- DanteLarkin-SP  Won a Gold Glove and 2 Rings, Racked up over 2000 K’s while winning 165 games. Solid mid rotation arm, may have been a bit of a disappointment at #3 but all in all a quality arm.

1-33-MiguelDespaigne-SP- Had some solid seasons as a SP winning 114 games with a 4.20 ERA.  Best season went 16-7 with a 3.32 ERA. Two nice SP’s in one draft.

1-35-Jamie Mullins-Rel This guy is still playing!!! 4 X All-Star and a Fireman winner. Saved 34 games in his rookie year, 14 years later at the age of 37 he saved 37 more. Great bullpen arm.

1-54-TeoscarSandoval-Rel Played two very good seasons to start his career (76 games-203 IP with a 3.80 ERA).  One more season and he was out of the league.

 

Helena Roughnecks/Albuquerque-tomcecil  1^st Rnd Picks (67^th)  (7 years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: C+  a smart late pick but a wasted 1^st round

Toms teams were very good while he was here, I can only imagine he didn’t have much money for scouting. This season he would win the WS (2 in 4 years) so a bad draft can be forgiven.

1-67- Radley Bowes-Very late first round pick. Never made it to the show

13-461-AlanMcClure-SP  Burst on the scene going 15-7 as a part time starter/reliever in his rookie year. Then 15-6 in his second last season while pitching 211 innings with a smart 4.05 ERA,

Boise Potatoes/Fresno-hofstad_c  1^st Rnd Picks (14-60) (19 Years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: B- some solid value early and late. No one that made many headlines

Hofstad was a few seasons away from GM’ing one of the best Franchises this league has ever seen. While this draft was OK, not sure it played a huge role.

1-14-AlcidesJacquez-SS  Just finished his career a few seasons ago. Making 1 All-Star team and winning himself a Gold Glove. Not much of a hitter but did keep his OBP over 300 which isn’t bad for a guy with 130+ plays at SS.

1-60-MikeVarvaro-Rel Only pitched one season in the majors and it was nothing to right home about.

2-77-AddisonHernandez-LR  Bit of a work horse arm pitching 219 innings over his best two season out of the pen. Too bad his ERA was over 5 for the same two seasons

2-86-ValerioCerveza-1^st  Got one short stint in the majors which saw him hit 3 homers in 88 AB’s. Looks like he had a solid stick but no glove to speak of.

14-474-Santo Owen-SP Probably got some ROY love going  13-13 in 204 innings with a 3.96 ERA. Went 19-28 with an ERA closer to 5 for the rest of his career.

Vancouver Hikers-Honolulu-KKrab   1^st Rnd Picks (2)  (14 Years Major League Service time)

Draft Grade: C+  a bit of a misfire with the 2^nd Pick, salvaged slightly with the very late pick.

Kkrab with a .392 winning % is probably one of the worst GM’s ever. He actually wasn’t to bad here but didn’t do much this year to build this team up.

1-2- CarlosMartinez-2^nd  Played 3 of the 4 infield positions for most of his career. Fielded better at 2^nd and 3^rd but bat played better at SS. Had a 20/20 season and finished with 146 Homers and 194 Steals. Would eventually win three Rings with Fresno. A good player but not a great pick at #2

15-495-TomGilheeney-Rel Had a handful of okay seasons picking up 9 wins and 6 saves while keeping his ERA just under 4.50.

 

NL North

Detroit Motors/Chicago-alogman1   1^st Rnd Picks (42-61)  (17 Years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: C- Nothing you couldn’t find in a good Rule 5 Draft

Had been here since season 1 and after being a top team for a few seasons was falling back to .500 alogman had probably checked out by now.

1-42-WarrenJones-Rel  Pretty good bullpen arm Double digit wins and saves 3 times in his career, twice in the same year. Pitched almost 700 games over his 14 year stint.

1-61-PepeQuiononez-3^rd  Okay utility player for a handful of years, but that’s all.

 

Chicago Fighting Owls/Seattle-Gogogiants  1^st Rnd Picks (13-38-59-68)  (8 Years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: D while one pick was pretty good, getting just that out of 4 First round picks isn’t great.

This was gogo’s 1^st of three very uneventful seasons in the league.

1-13 TerryKickham- 2^nd  Solid fielder who was a threat on the bases. Made 53+ plays and second and stole 213 bases. Career OBP of 342 was pretty good for a free swinger that struck out almost twice as much as he walked.

1-38-JackHigginson-SP   Never reached the majors but was a minor league All-Star

1-59 George Morgan-CF   Went unsigned

1-68-DomingoSierra-SP   Had trouble keeping the ball in the park and staying employed

 

Syracuse Stars-hatton98-  1^st Rnd Picks (5)  (8 years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: D  Drafting this high you have to hope for more of an impact player

Hatton just left us this season, and I am sure this will go down as one of his worst drafts

1-5 Billy Brock  LR  Started off his career as a starter, going 12-9 one season, but after that fell out of favour Hatton and spent the most of his next 7 seasons working as a Long Reliever.  Has to count as an almost wasted pick

2-78 Yoslan Mairena SS- Got a cup of coffee in season 24 but failed to make an impact

Montreal Smoked Heaters/Kansas City-urbanwarrior  1^st Rnd Picks (8-57)  (7 Years Major League service)

Draft Grade: C-  Could have been a better player then the stats show

Urbanwarrior found new and inventive ways to make his team worse and worse every year

1-8 Troy Sikorski-C   Was drafted as a SS and actually played almost a 1000 Innings at 3^rd base. Not sure why he was playing Catcher, I guess we know why Urban’s teams were so trash. Did hit over 10 homers 6 times while driving in 62 in his rookie year and 64 in his last, Could have been an Ok corner fielder

1-57 GeraldBaker CF  Never reached the majors

NL East

Trento Jakes Jokers-Louisville-solowke  1^st Rnd Picks (1-18-31-34-49-53) (36 years Major league service)

Draft Grade: A- would love to grade higher as he does get a great player and a solid player but 4 pretty big misses on his other 1^st round picks

This was solos last season with the league, after winning 6 world series he had come upon hard times and was ready to leave, at least he didn’t leave the cupboard bare

1-1   Howard Rolls –RF  A probable Hall of Famer, this is what you want from a #1 pick, still racking up stats today at the age of 40. Has passed 3000 hits-400 homers-and almost 600 doubles all while batting over .300  Was never a great fielder but 6 all star selections and Silver Slugger award are in his trophy case, was traded to Salem a season later. 

1-18  Willis Gibson-SP Lost 90 games while only winning 42, best season saw him go 9-16 in 218 innings while having a solid 3.92 ERA

1-31 Mark Conway – SP didn’t reach majors but did win a minor league Gold Glove

1-34 RickyRichard- REL  Made 675 appearances all but one from the bullpen.  159 saves and 57 wins, 3 All Star teams and a WS ring. Was a solid Bullpen workhorse type of guy.

1-49 TravisPerry 2^nd  1 AAA All Star team but no Major league games

1-53-TyreaceNewson REL- Managed to play 79 games in the bigs, but had an ERA of 6.34

 

New York Empires/Philadelphia-Tommymax  1^st Rnd picks (48) (16 Years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: B  One of the best late picks in any draft

Tommy has been  in and out of the world and almost always had a contender. Maybe these late picks are how he does it.

1-48 JabariSimmons-LF  Speedy guy never reached the majors

19-652 RyanBlevins-RP  What a great late pick. Winner of 3 Rings and 3 All Star games. Maybe 1 of the better pure setup pitchers our wold has ever seen. 1176 games-1768IP-124 Wins-111 Saves and a career 3.30 ERA

Scranton Schrutes/New York-tedwilliams1   1^st Rnd Picks (None)  (2 years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: D+  Happy to get anything with no first round picks

Teds first season, always a winner must have down it with trades and Free agents

3-140 Wilson Dixon- RP Allowed 2 earned runs in 1.1 Innings in his career

15-518 Barry Bumgarner-C Picked up a win as a pitcher by getting 1 out. Also hit 12 homers over three seasons and 517 At Bats.

Philadelphia Penn Quakers/Boston-XtraHits   1^st Rnd Picks (22-43-62) (24 years Major league service)

Draft Grade:B, One good pick and a solid role player

Xtra was starting to put together a solid team here in his 5^th season, but the best part of the draft was trading Torrres for Davey Torres and Kenneth Shumpert

1-22 JoseTorres-Rel  While he was only selected to 1 All Star team he was a solid closer/reliever for many years. 8 Years he saved 20+ games while pitching almost 1000 innings out of the bullpen. Solid pick

1-43  Russell Garko-DH  Popped 18 homers one season but didn’t have the bat to DH  or the glove to Catch.

1-62 DJ Ellis-SS- Smooth middle infielder finished his career with 51+ plays at SS and 23 at 2^nd. Also had surprising power as he finished his career with 129 doubles and 92 Homers for a .380 SLG

11-386 Jarrod Forbes-LR- Forbes made 7 starts as a rookie and went 0-4 with a 6.00 ERA. Next seasons shifted to the bullpen and his ERA more then doubled to 12.29

 

NL South

New Orleans Breeze/Mexico City-feamster   1^st Rnd Picks (20) (16 Years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: C-, Nice steal in round three but a disappointing 1^st rounder

Feamsters 5^th season of about 11 total seasons in the league. Building towards becoming a very well rounded team.

1-20-Stan Boshers-SS  Middle infielder with decent pop (hit 17 Homers one season) But probably was best suited for RF. Also struck out a lot (more then 20% of his at bats).

3-125-Rob Smith-Rel- Set up specialist still pitching in the big leagues. Nothing really amazing in his career but 566 games isn’t bad for a third round pick.

Richmond Brewers-trubrecrew   1^st Rnd Picks (24-44-63-69-71) (6 years of Major League Service)

Draft Grade: D gotta say Trubre must be kicking himself that none of these 5 1^st round picks ever produced much

Trubrecrew was in the middle of a solid run but I kind of think that this missed draft would effect the team around season 28

1-24-DewayneAlexander-LR Pitched 55 games in the majors but could barely keep his ERA under 6

1-44-Ron Butler-Rel Saved 21 games one season but outside that got lit up pretty routinely with a career 5.27 ERA

1-63-Francisco Grandal-Rel Never reached the majors

1-69-Kirk Kingman-1^st BIIIIG Swinger, Broke out in season 30 when he launched 38 homers while striking out 159 times. Was out of the league two seasons later with a .218 AVG

1-71-GlendonOberacker-Another power bat, but never reached the bigs.

Houston Colt 45’s-andyr104   1^st Rnd Ricks (9^th)  (14 Years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: B+,  One of the better players taken with just one 1^st round pick

Solid draft by one of our long time GM’s, Hayes will go down as an all time great in Houston

1-9-RobHayes-RF 6 X All-Star and several Silver Slugger awards. Pooped off for 406 homers while stealing 261 Bases, never once hitting less then 15 or stealing less then 14. I would suggest he is one of the best players taken in this draft.

2-82-Bennie Kandilas-LF Powerful guy hit 30 homers in his 555 career at bats, was not a great fielder but a little surprised he didn’t see more time in the majors.

 

Jackson Generals-Berrysboys  1^st Rnd Picks (11-58) (9 Years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: C-  an okay player but not what you would want for a pick in the top 15

Berrys was just finding his footing in the league. I am sure he has better drafts to come

1-11- Mac Riefenhauser-RF  A solid platoon type player, fielded well enough and had enough power to go deep 21 times one season and 98 times in his career. Just not enough production out of COF type.

1-58-Brendan Ellliot-2^nd Went unsigned

 

NL West

Anaheim Anteaters/Santa Cruz-bigpop34    1^st Rnd Picks (64) (6 Years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: D-, no really good players and left most of the picks unsigned.

Bigpop had some pretty good teams while in the league, I am thinking drafting wasn’t his strong point

1-64-Bernie Blanco-2^nd  Still playing in AAA Hasn’t played in the majors since season 30 when he stole 34 bases. Has almost 600 stolen bases in the minors mostly at AAA, somewhat surprising his major league career wasn’t longer.

2-96-Julian Lemke-Rel  Was okay sometimes and not other times. Finished his career with 193 games and an ERA of 4.39

 

Sacramento Stingers/Omaha-dadaniel1   1^st Rnd Picks (7-26-36-50-56) (21 Years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: C+  A lot wasted picks

Dadaniel was only with us for one season. I don’t think he hurt the team with this draft but he didn’t set them up for future success either

1-7-Yorrick Eyre-3^rd- Not a bad hitter, 206 Homers in his career going over the 20 mark 5 times in his career. Neither a good or a bad fielder.

1-26-Byron Perez-Rel   Won 6 games one season as a starter…but lost 12 games. A career 6.01 ERA wasn’t great in the rotation or the pen

1-36-YamidSanchez-Rel  another less then stellar arm, 10-23 in his career with a 5.30 ERA over 312 Innings.

1-50-TimHill-P  Went unsigned

1-56-MikeDurham-SP  Never reached Majors

2-80-JoaquinManzanillo-2^nd  Hit 12 homers in just under 300 AB’s his rookie season after that had trouble hitting weight   Weight 207-AVG 224

19-628-YangervisHenriquez-3^rd  Didn’t fair too bad considering he was a19th round pick. Hit 236  with a 617 OPS

 

Las Vegas Desert Dogs-jtpsops    1^st Rnd Picks (27) (11 Years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: D+, this wasn’t the draft that Las Vegas fans were looking for.

Jt had left for a bit but was starting to put the team back together again, this draft would go do as pretty uneventful though

1-27-Wilbur Aurilla-Rel Only twice had an ERA under 3.50, but was a fairly serviceable relief pitcher for about 6 years.

2-99-Ed Arnold-RF  Ed struck out about 33% of the time he batted and for a guy who once went 187 at bats in a season with 0 Homers and 1 SB that’s not good

 

Scottsdale Dirtbags-Alexkluge      1^st Rnd Picks (25)   (14 Years Major League Service)

Draft Grade: B Got a pretty solid player….but just the one

Alex always had very solid teams, while this draft netted him a solid player it remains to be seen if drafting was what made his teams so good.

1-25-TommieBanks-Rel   One of the best high leverage relief pitchers the league has ever seen.  Has shifted more into an opener role in the later parts of his career. Sports a 2.96 ERA and a very low WHIP of 1.12

 

 

 

20 year Anniversary Recap-Rule 5 Draft Recap Season 23

 

Decided to look back at the Rule Five Draft from 20 seasons ago to see which teams  got some steals in the draft.

10. LeslieHerndon (Salem-auggieward) Salem made a few smart picks in this draft. Taken 12^th overall Herdon wasn’t all that dazzling but did finish off his career with back two back 60 appearance seasons

9. Artie Sipp (Fresno/Boise-hofstad) The first of two Fresno picks to make the top 10. Sipp played on 2 World Series winning teams. Best season as a platoon he hit 12 homers and .317 in just over 200 at bats

8. AdysCano (Syracuse-Hatton98) Workhorse bullpen arm taken 2^nd overall. Won 76 games in his career while winning over 11 in a season 3 times. Best season out of the pen came when he pitched 96 innings with a 3.08 ERA

7. Antone Prince (Fresno/Boise-hofstad) Nice late pick by Fresno as Prince was the 16^th player taken. Saved 35 games one year and had 7 seasons in which he made more then 50 appearances. Career 4.29 ERA was not great.

6. ChasenSullivan (Omaha/Sacramento-dadaniel1) The first of two Omaha picks that make the top ten, Chasen was a sturdy hitting Catcher, 4 seasons with over 10 homers in a part time role. Also topped an 800 OPS two times.

5. JohnniePalmer (Kansas City/Montreal-urbanwarrior) Short career (571 Games) but won a WS and had a career year when he hit 270 with 12 homers 10 steals and a 270 AVG.

4. JohnCrede (Indiapolis-egide10) Solid all around player, played SS well enough to make 79+ plays, also hit double digit homers twice in his career.  Not a game changer by any means but carved out a solid career of over 1450 games

3. Ron Moss (Omaha/Sacramento-dadaniel1) The second last player taken in the draft. Moss made an All Star game in season 28 when he scored 121 runs while stealing 49 bases. Made 61 + plays in CF for his career. A great pick that late in the draft

2. ChadTatum (Houston-Andyr104)  Picked 5^th overall Tatum was a tremendous fielder (143 Plus plays between SS and CF) winning Gold Gloves at both positions. Finished his career with over 1600 games and 178 steals.

1.WillieCairo (Salem-auggieward) Taken 1^st overall in the Rule 5 draft Cairo was just short of a superstar closer. He pitched in over 1000 games while picking up 331 saves. Was a 3 time All-Star and racked up over 30 saves 6 times. Carried some pens while also pitching over 100 innings in 6 different years.

Who is on my Ballot?

 Once again just my opinion....after hours and hours of research 

The Locks

CharlieAnna-The best hitter on the ballot this season.  Is easily the second best 1^st basemen this world has ever seen. Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers and a handful of MVP’s. Find me a reason why he shouldn’t get your vote?

BillHarper- In a class of his own among this years Starting pitcher Nominees. I have him ranked 8^th among all pitchers in the HOF. The 3000 K’s along with the multiple Cy Youngs make him an easy pick this season.

Should-Be’s

SlimMcGowan- Maybe doesn’t have the acclaim as some other players. But McGowan was a true work horse for many seasons racking up almost 500 saves while making an incredible 1282 appearances. Heck if Pedro Ordonez gets to be in the Hall why not Slim?

EverthHernandez-There are currently 2 catchers in the Hall, EH should be #3, a catcher with over 2000 hits and a .308 AVG while playing solid D (3.88 CERA). Why not vote him in?

WiltSchimpf- Would probably be considered one of the weaker RF’ers in the Hall, none the less had a stellar career. Scored boat loads of runs, solid power and sole over 400 bases with over an 80% success rate.  His defense in the OF would be the only thing holding him back. Played a strong 1^st base

Just on the Outside Looking in

BennyAybar-A lesser version of Wilt at almost every thing he did. A better fielder but not enough to go to the Hall yet.

TomasWong-If he played LF he might look a little better, his horrible fielding at 2^nd will keep out of the Hall for the time being

CarlosBeltre- I know the large amount of losses doesn’t look  great but he is honestly a better SP then about 5 guys who have already been voted in. If he hangs around might get my vote next year

ReggieStauffer-Was a shut down reliever, if not for a handful of crappy years at the end would have a sub 3.00 ERA and would probably be viewed as a lock

Good But Not Hall of Fame Worthy

Not going to spend much time talking about these guys.

Javier Pascual, Jim Fontenot, Alberto James, Reymond Mota, Jhoulys Caminero

Octavio Castillo, Jose Velazquez

All very fine players but putting any of them in the Hall would just make the Hall look worse

 

Shouldn’t be Nominated anymore…please

Willie Ontiveros

Norm Knight

Ken Silva

Jamie Boyd

Ozzie Benjamin

One trick ponies that played with cement gloves by the looks of it

Upperdeck Hall of Fame Review

For the past couple of seasons I have been working on a formula to help figure out who are the most deserving players to get my vote for the Hall.

For batters I take into account Single season highlights like Hits/AVG/Runs/RBI/HR/Doubles/SB and Career Milestones for stats HITS/HR/SB/AVG  as well as Factoring in Plus and Minus plays at their various defensive positions with players at SS/3^rd/2^nd/CF getting a bonus bump for plays at those positions. On top of that players are awarded points for Awards and All-Star games.

For comparison purposes I sort players by the position they played the most in their careers

 

For Pitchers its much the same, separating them into SP and Relievers.  Single season highlights like Wins, K’s, ERA, WHIP and Seasons with High Win %. Career numbers are the same with points for Awards and All-Star games.

Relievers are much the same with Saves and Games/IP’s being counted in their total score.

 

Here are the best and worst players from each position for comparison (season Elected-HOF Score)

DH-Only 1

MiguelJacquez -24-242  Monster Power bat, but not a great Run Producer (One season scored 84 runs while hitting 51 homers) Only two seasons with over 60 walks. No help on the defensive side.

1^st Basemen (7 total)

GeraldNomura-23-674 Name an award and he probably won it. In 16 + seasons he only had 2 that weren't truly incredible.

Billy RayLane-38-262 Workhorse power bat that with nearly 3000 hits and 2000 RBI.  Lackluster fielder with a Plus Minus of -113 at First base

Left Fielders (8 Total)

LanceWirth-18-378   Incredible Power Speed Combo 500 Homers/700 Steals, Bad corner Outfielder who could have been a great 1st baseman

OberGomez-27-163  700 Freaking homers and almost 2000 RBI!!! Also struck out a lot and got caught stealing too often. Also one of the worst fielders in the world 

Right Fielders (5 Total)

RobinFonville-28-482  Another dynamic player who won everything from MVP's to Gold Gloves. Also a great Walk to Strikeout ratio. 

EdTreadway-39-183  Great offensive player with both power and speed. Bad defender

2^nd Basemen (4 Total)

AdamPierce-25-470  Not only the most potent bat to play 2nd base (623 homers) was also an incredible fielder at both 2nd base and CF (213+ Plays)

Dante Sasaki-22-402 Great batter with almost 500 homers and doubles. Also stole 275 bases. Serviceable defender

3^rd Basemen (4 Total)

Emmanuel Gardel-32-470    Could do it all, run, hit and field. One of the better all around players in the HOF

Bart Drese-42-341  Aside from being a little heavy on the strikeouts Drese was a great player. The 273 avg was a little low but he was a 30-30 guy with a good glove so get over it.

Centerfielders (1 Total)

Al Carrasquel-20-477 500 Homers-300 Steals and a Gold Glove CF'er Only CF in the HOF but he is a good one 

Shortstops (2 Total)

Steve Roosevelt-40-380  Maybe the only SS to ever win the HRD.  500 career homers and a very good defender

Alex Cervelli-27-319   

Catchers (2 Total)     Better all around hitter then Roosevelt  but not a great fielder at SS

Wandy Gonzales-26-474   Catcher who could play everyday, Not a great pitch caller or thrower but could hit like a mother

Davey Torres-37-311  Another sweet swinging catcher, a small step below Wandy with the bat but maybe a slightly stronger defender.

Starting Pitchers (17 Total)

Cy Bristow-24-493  Up and down an Amazing Pitcher, even won a Silver Slugger

Bert Bechler-36-224   Power pitcher that barely won more games then he lost. Also gave up almost 500 homers

Relievers (5 Total)

Gil Gibson-39-601 Once saved 46 of 48 while sporting a 0.87 ERA

Pedro Ordonez-37-347   Quality closer whose career numbers dont look as good thanks to a handful of bad seasons towards the end 

When we get our new candidates for the next vote I will give a thorough breakdown of who I feel is the front runners for this years election.

Season 42 Rule V Draft Retrospective

Rule V Retrospective via goldenboy00

Just one mans opinion on the Ten Best Seasons put up by this years class of Rule Five Players

#10.  Mike Wilson  Pawtucket-21st   A late rule 5 pick, Wilson turned in fairly solid season. Ate up 79 innings mostly out of the Pen with good K:BB and K/9 . ERA was a tad high and will probably find himself drifting back and forth between ML and AAA for the rest of his career

#9. Tim Tonkin  Sacramento-1st   First player selected Tonkin had a very good season defensively.  Tossing out 42% of runners and a catchers ERA of 3.93  Didn’t do much with a bat, but should carve out a nice career as a platoon catcher or defensive SUB

#8. Al Crede-Salem-13th   The 23 year old was a nice find for Salem’s bullpen, 42 k’s in 58 IP while sporting a solid 4.37 ERA. Crede projects to be a solid bullpen arm for years to come

#7. Nicholas O’Dowd-Scotsdale-4th   Nick didn’t not have a great season when you look at his ERA (5.32) and WHIP (1.55)  but he did fill up the back end of the rotation for Scotsdale with 182 IP while striking out 143 and only walking 57.  He is a good candidate for a better season to come with a shot at 200 IP and double digit wins

#6. Brian Jacquez-Trenton-12th   35 steals and an solid .285 AVG with a .335 OBP.   Brian doesn’t do much else with the bat but as Pinch runner and defensive sub for COF/1st he should provide some value for a few seasons

#5. Dallas Easley-Pawtucket-10th   Another solid pick by Burk as Easley came through with 13 homers and 22 steals.  He may only end up being a platoon player at COF but grabbing one of those in the Rule 5 is always handy

#4. Alex Wang-Houston-28th   Andyr104 grabbed 5 players in the draft and this was the second best of the bunch.  Taken very late (actually the 2nd last player) Wang smashed 18 homers in just 256AB’s   He will be a bad SS or a solid 3rd baseman. His power will play well at almost any position.

#3. Pat Turner-New Orleans-11th  The best season by a Rule 5 pitcher, Turner threw 115 IP with a solid 1.18 WHIP and 2.90 ERA  Turner could work his way into the starting rotation as early as next season.

#2. Dilson Montanez-Houston-9th  Another solid pick by Andy, Dilson is maybe the most dynamic player taken.  17 homers and 11 steals with a .279 AVG and a 353 OBP.  If he could learn to run the bases a little better would be a truly great player

#1. Sam Aducci-Las Vegas-3rd   Sam didn’t have a crazy good season with the bat 13 homers/21 steals paired with a .227 AVG   He did however have a great season with the Glove. 26 plus plays in CF against 0 Negative plays. He may never hit higher then 9th but a 30 steal Gold Glove CF’er isn’t a bad guy to have in the 9 hole.