With the 32nd pick in the draft, the defending champion Florida Lockdown chose relief pitcher Todd Ransom.
Out of Troy, Ohio, Ransom was the closer for the Belmont High School Bison in Dayton. Ransom has great control and can take the mound just about every day if necessary. Ransom will most likely move to a setup role as he starts his career with the Lockdown.
One pick after Ransom, the Scranton Apollos selected Tex Keagle with the first supplemental pick and the 33rd pick in the 1st round overall.
Keagle made it all the way through college at the University of San Francisco before being selected in the draft. Keagle was a long relief pitcher for the Dons making the occasional spot start when called upon. Keagle had this to say about playing for the Apollos: "I'm really looking forward to my time in Scranton and can't wait to play for tecwrg. He told me straight up that there ain't no party like a Scranton party."
At pick #43, the Detroit Bad Seeds selected 21-year old starting pitcher Kareem Kelly.
Kelly's a gritty pitcher projected to have great splits vs lefties and righties and he's also expected to develop great control of his pitches. Kareem has a decent breaking ball and can place his 4-seamer pretty well, but the rest of his pitches need work.
The last pick of the 1st round went to the New York Metros who selected O.T. Hartman at pick #46.
Hartman will head across the country to New York from California where he played his college ball at Fresno State. Hartman's a crafty left-handed pitcher who had this to say when he heard he'd been drafted by the Metros: "I'm just a small town boy from Oklahoma who's livin' the dream. I've never been to New York but I hear they've got great pizza and bagels."
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Draft Day Gems - 1st Round
It's a few days after the Season 10 Draft and there are still a good number of 1st round picks that are unsigned by their respective teams. Therefore, we're simply going to focus on those players that have signed and are already preparing for rookie ball or above. We also can't list every player, but instead will randomly select a handful to recap.
Out of the Top 5 picks, only 1 has signed and that player is Jose Morlan of the Chicago Old Style.
Morlan was drafted 2nd overall by the Chicago Old Style and he's already off to a good start in High A ball. As the starting shortstop, Morlan's knocked in 10 runs in 6 games with 3 doubles and a home run.
With the #6 pick, the Rochester Rockets drafted shortstop Stevie Thompson.
Thompson, drafted out of Truett-McConnell College after his freshman year, will get his start in the Rookie League for the Rockets. Thompson is a big-time power hitter and should rise through the farm system fairly quick.
The Syracuse Swingers selected right fielder Allie Perkins with the #7 pick in the draft.
Perkins, who's represented by agent Dennis Bruske, received a $3.4 million signing bonus and was immediately shipped to the Swingers AA club. Perkins is off to a slow start hitting just .214 with 0 rbi's in 14 at bats.
With the #14 pick in the draft, the Texas Long Horns selected starting pitcher Glen Hines.
Hines was spotted by scout Charlie Robertson who had this to say about the first round draft pick. "I watched Glen pitch at Clinton Junior College 3 or 4 times and he never failed to impress. Glen throws a nasty sinker that is devastating to right-handed hitters and he's got a few other pitches to keep hitters off balance as well. When I saw that he was still on the board and it was our turn to pick, I told coach he was a 'must have'".
At pick #19, the Kansas City Monarchs selected catcher Juan Sosa.
Sosa could just be the best hitter in the entire draft and his projections are through the roof. The only knock on the kid, and the reason he may have dropped to this pick, is his durability, which is quite low. Hey, but how often do you see a 5-8, 163 lb. kid with power projected to reach a 95-100 rating?
Chief Brown was selected by the Burlington Blizzard with the #23 pick in the draft.
It's always about pitching in Burlington and the Blizzard had Chief rated 4th on their draft board, 1 slot behind Glen Hines (discussed above). The junior out of the University of Richmond throws his offspeed stuff first and mixes in a decent 4-seamer as well. This guy should be the most famous 'Chief' since this one:
With the 26th pick, the Jacksonville Seminoles selected Patrick Diaz.
Diaz played shortstop for Suffolk County Community College-Grant Campus in Brentwood, New York, but he'll most likely play third base or right field in the pros. Diaz is a solid all-around contributor with great contact and power. Diaz had this to say about his selection. "I couldn't be happier to be heading south to play professional ball in Jacksonville. I always hit better in warmer weather so this works out great."
Out of the Top 5 picks, only 1 has signed and that player is Jose Morlan of the Chicago Old Style.
Morlan was drafted 2nd overall by the Chicago Old Style and he's already off to a good start in High A ball. As the starting shortstop, Morlan's knocked in 10 runs in 6 games with 3 doubles and a home run.
With the #6 pick, the Rochester Rockets drafted shortstop Stevie Thompson.
Thompson, drafted out of Truett-McConnell College after his freshman year, will get his start in the Rookie League for the Rockets. Thompson is a big-time power hitter and should rise through the farm system fairly quick.
The Syracuse Swingers selected right fielder Allie Perkins with the #7 pick in the draft.
Perkins, who's represented by agent Dennis Bruske, received a $3.4 million signing bonus and was immediately shipped to the Swingers AA club. Perkins is off to a slow start hitting just .214 with 0 rbi's in 14 at bats.
With the #14 pick in the draft, the Texas Long Horns selected starting pitcher Glen Hines.
Hines was spotted by scout Charlie Robertson who had this to say about the first round draft pick. "I watched Glen pitch at Clinton Junior College 3 or 4 times and he never failed to impress. Glen throws a nasty sinker that is devastating to right-handed hitters and he's got a few other pitches to keep hitters off balance as well. When I saw that he was still on the board and it was our turn to pick, I told coach he was a 'must have'".
At pick #19, the Kansas City Monarchs selected catcher Juan Sosa.
Sosa could just be the best hitter in the entire draft and his projections are through the roof. The only knock on the kid, and the reason he may have dropped to this pick, is his durability, which is quite low. Hey, but how often do you see a 5-8, 163 lb. kid with power projected to reach a 95-100 rating?
Chief Brown was selected by the Burlington Blizzard with the #23 pick in the draft.
It's always about pitching in Burlington and the Blizzard had Chief rated 4th on their draft board, 1 slot behind Glen Hines (discussed above). The junior out of the University of Richmond throws his offspeed stuff first and mixes in a decent 4-seamer as well. This guy should be the most famous 'Chief' since this one:
With the 26th pick, the Jacksonville Seminoles selected Patrick Diaz.
Diaz played shortstop for Suffolk County Community College-Grant Campus in Brentwood, New York, but he'll most likely play third base or right field in the pros. Diaz is a solid all-around contributor with great contact and power. Diaz had this to say about his selection. "I couldn't be happier to be heading south to play professional ball in Jacksonville. I always hit better in warmer weather so this works out great."
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
N.L. West Division Predictions
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Season 9: 4th Place (82-80)
Season 10 Prediction: 1st Place
The Skinny:
Now, I know why goodtymes was anxious to see my NL West predictions. He probably thinks he has the team to beat in the West this season and, believe it or not, I think he's right. I think the Polish Hammers will go from 4th to 1st Place. It's not as big a shock as some may think. Every team in this division finished above .500 last year so it's gonna be a free-for-all again this season, but I'm going with Oakland.
The Polish Hammers added Dave Sabathia and Micah Turner via free agency, but those guys aren't the big pieces this squad will boast about (although Turner is a nice player). Oakland has the best offense in the division and a couple of these guys (Norm Henry and Marc Wasdin) are still fairly young. There's a reason I desperately tried to acquire Wasdin a few seasons back - the guy's a stud. Combine those guys with Keith Grahe and Steve Burks and this is a pretty potent lineup. The pitching throughout the division is pretty good (well represented by Rex Frederick and Lefty Murphy here in Oakland), but the offense is why I give Oakland the edge in the division.
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Season 9: 1st Place (91-71)
Season 10 Prediction: 2nd Place
The Skinny:
If Tacoma's gonna repeat and win the division again, they're going to ride their pitching all the way. Tacoma plays in a pitcher's park and they have the best pitching staff in the division. Harry Mateo is aging like a fine wine. Each year he gets older, his ERA gets even lower to the point where it was under 2.00 last season (1.95). While Mateo's ERA keeps dropping, Harry Holzemer is as steady as they come. His numbers over the last 3 seasons are almost identical. The only one that keeps increasing is wins and that's what makes dalailama12 happy. In addition to the solid starters, ownership went down to the local social security office and pulled Vinny Clement and Darrell Strange out of line. Retirement can wait, these guys still have plenty of innings left. Offensively, the loss of Geraldo Rios may hurt a little. He was the only 100 RBI guy on the Baymen last year, but the Baymen hope Emmanuel Montanez and Haywood Karl will replace some of that offense.
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Season 9: 2nd Place (90-72)
Season 10 Prediction: 3rd Place
The Skinny:
If Miguel Vazquez and Daniel Womack can stay healthy, this team has a chance to do better than I think. Along with David Santayana, they are the big RBI guys in Fresno and they'll need them all 3 of them to put up big numbers in order to contend this season. The pitching staff added Brian Wakeland from Portland, but they'll rely heavily on Luis Soriano and Ted Chiasson as well. Closer Bono Little is coming off a career year in which he tallied 50 saves.
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Season 9: 3rd Place (84-78)
Season 10 Prediction: 4th Place
The Skinny:
I had a really, really tough time putting San Diego here, but someone's got to be here. Hey, maybe they can use it to motivate the players. One guy who doesn't need any motivation is Al Ramirez. Ramirez is coming off a spectacular season in which he went 21-8 with a 2.95 ERA. He could single-handedly keep this team in the race (and make my predictions look even more foolish).Cy Caruso is another solid starter and I find it hard to believe Darrin Roundtree will struggle like he did last season. The offense needs help as no one hit more than 17 home runs last year and they didn't have a 100 RBI guy either. Rookie Rich Mills was recently called up from AAA ball and if he stays in the lineup, he should easily surpass 17 home runs and make a run at 100 RBI's.
N.L. South Division Predictions
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Season 9: 1st Place (106-56, World Series Champions)
Season 10 Prediction: 1st Place
The Skinny:
I'll be honest, I haven't even looked to see what the other teams did in the offseason. I don't really need to. 8 division titles in 9 seasons, 6 league championships and 3 World Series titles. Enough said. Florida will win the division again. C'mon, someone prove me wrong.
Florida did add a couple free agents in the offseason in 38-year old Buddy Menechino. At this point, Menechino is just touring the U.S. before he retires as he visits his 10th team in as many seasons. And it seems as if Menechino picked up a touring pal as Mike Etherton follows Menechino from Jacksonville to Miami. The real meat and potatoes of this team though is 2-time MVP Elmer Coleman and 20-game winner Ned McInerney. McInerney had a lot of help last season though as 7 pitchers won at least 10 games for the Lockdown. And Coleman has a nice sidekick in Humberto Lima who drove in 100+ runs last season.
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Season 9: 2nd Place (78-84)
Season 10 Prediction: 2nd Place
The Skinny:
If someone's going to contend with Florida, I believe Texas has the best chance. They finished 28 games behind the Lockdown last season, but I don't see that happening again this season. The Longhorns have some future stars on the roster. We're mainly talking about 23-year old Carlos Aguilera, 24-year old Gary Blake and 24-year old Gregory Williams. Let's start with Aguilera. In 2 full seasons, he hit 96 home runs and drove in 281 runs. His projections are off the charts too so he's still getting better. Blake, on the other hand, doesn't pack the punch that Aguilera does, but he's a pure hit machine with a total of 360 over the last 2 seasons. I predict Blake reaches the 200-hit mark this season provided he stays healthy. And last but not least, Texas has a great young arm in Williams. Williams has a great changeup and slider and keeps the ball down. He's also equally tough to hit for lefties and righties. Williams should win around 15 games for the Longhorns this season.
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Season 9: 4th Place (70-92)
Season 10 Prediction: 3rd Place
The Skinny:
Louisville had a very busy offseason and it should pay off for the Beaners. The biggest acquisition has to be J.R. Barkley who leaves Florida with a World Series ring. Barkley still has great ratings and he's very healthy so we expect he'll have another solid season. Louisville also signed a couple nice bats in Brian Tamura, Michael Cortes and Erik Langston. Of the three, I'm highest on Tamura.
With Barkley and Steve Floyd at the top of the rotation, Louisville has a nice 1-2 combo and should make some strides this season, but they've got some elder statesman so they'll need to remain healthy if they expect to move up in the standings.
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Season 9: 3rd Place (76-86)
Season 10 Prediction: 4th Place
The Skinny:
When Louisville signed J.R. Barkley, that made Mateo Estrada expendable and he headed to division rival Oklahoma City. Barkley is better, but Estrada is a nice pick up. He'll join Nicky Hill, a decent young arm, and Sam Guerrero at the top of the Power Failure's rotation. Oklahoma City needs to find another arm if they want to contend in the division though. The offense is led by one of the best names in the game, Chili Chen. Chen has put up strong numbers over the last 2 seasons and he should continue to do so this season. Chen will get help from Grady MacFarlane who had a nice rookie campaign last season and Kip Sosa who has the ability to be a future star.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
N.L. East Division Predictions
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Season 9: 1st Place (86-76)
Season 10 Prediction: 1st Place
The Skinny:
This is the best team in the division, period (so what if they've lost 5 in a row at the time I'm writing this). The pitching staff, led by Carmine Holmes and Jim Aurilia is more than solid and Hector Cordero should have a good rookie campaign whether he starts or comes out of the 'pen also. Offensively, All-Star Erick Hatcher is coming off a monster season in which he hit 42 home runs, drove in a whopping 155 runs and batted .343. Wait, who won the MVP last year? Maybe we need a recount. Hatcher will get plenty of offensive help from the likes of Cookie Holt and Charles Hines.
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Season 9: 2nd Place (77-85)
Season 10 Prediction: 2nd Place
The Skinny:
On paper, New York looks better than last season and I think they've done enough to get to, and maybe surpass, .500 this season. They won't catch Kansas City, but the addition of Rule 5 selection Charlie Carter should certainly get them closer. I also like the Metros improved defense. They acquired Chick Milligan from Minnesota and Kent Finnessey from Jacksonville which will improve their defense up the middle. Now, if they can bump up the team batting average and provide a little help to Russ Feller, they may be ready to contend in a season or two.
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Season 9: 3rd Place (68-94)
Season 10 Prediction: 3rd Place
The Skinny:
Here's another franchise that needs some stability at the ownership level and hopefully the Swingers have found it with dshimoda at the reigns. Syracuse had a pretty active offseason targeting improvements to their bullpen thru free agency. The Swingers came to terms with relief pitchers Guillermo Martinez, Shayne Corsi and the ageless Howie Bryant. The rotation will be led by J.P. McEnroe, but they'll need to find him some additional help before they can become competitive. Ted Hunter is the offensive star here, but they need the Ted Hunter from season 8 to show up, not the one that coasted thru the season last year.
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Season 9: 4th Place (59-103)
Season 10 Prediction: 4th Place
The Skinny:
Chicago will join Syracuse in the rebuilding process, but as I blogged about earlier this season, they got off to a great start via the Rule 5 Draft. The Old Style's best chance this season may be to ride the all-or-nothing swings of Bill Kane and Mitchell Killebrew. Add Erv Ryan to the mix and Chicago could see a lot of balls leaving the yard. The pitching staff needs a lot of work, but guys like Brian Brea and D'Angelo Cruz will eat a lot of innings.
N.L. North Division Predictions
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Season 9: 1st Place (97-65)
Season 10 Prediction: 1st Place
The Skinny:
I spent more time trying to figure out who was going to win this division than any other division I've predicted so far. It's a close call between Minnesota, Rochester and Trenton, but I'm going with the safe bet picking last year's 1st place finisher.
I think the Mighty Men have the deepest pitching staff out of the 3 teams. Minnesota has a couple guys in the bullpen that can easily step in and start if anyone in the rotation gets injured. Guys like Hector Herrera, Octavio Tavarez and Junior Valentin are all capable starters coming out of the bullpen. That could be a big factor as the season wears on. The offense isn't spectacular, but I expect J.J. Taylor to have a big year now that he has a full season under his belt. Domingo Navarro and Pedro Franco will also carry this team at certain points of the season.
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Season 9: 3rd Place (66-96)
Season 10 Prediction: 2nd Place
The Skinny:
The Rockets definitely made an effort to get better this offseason and I think they did. Rochester signed free agentsLyle Quinn, Dann McIntyre and Mark Dong in the offseason. McIntyre's a steady pitcher who will be a positive addition to the rotation. They also promoted Peter Suzuki who was the NL AAA Rookie of the Year last year after going 17-5 with a 3.11 ERA. Suzuki's only 21 so he may struggle out of the gate, but he should also be a great addition to the rotation. Offensively, it may finally be time for Walter Bailey to have his breakout season. It seems like Bailey's spent more time on the trade block than any other player and he hasn't put up numbers like I'd expect, but he still only 24 years old. This could be the campaign when he finally puts it all together.
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Season 9: 2nd Place (84-78)
Season 10 Prediction: 3rd Place
The Skinny:
Trenton added Andrew Dye to a bullpen which is already pretty good with relievers Orlando Ordaz and Enrique Lee so opponents will need to score runs early if they expect to win. And that's the main reason I think Trenton will slide down a spot in the standings - the rotation lacks a true ace although I think Cristian Torres could be that guy. However, when you have 2-time MVP Sherm Roberts leading the offense, maybe you don't need as much help from the pitching staff as one might think. Roberts and Cam DeRosa are a pretty impressive tandem and add Woody McPherson (once he comes off the DL) and the Titans should put up a lot of runs to compensate for the rotation.
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Season 9: 4th Place (65-97)
Season 10: Prediction: 4th Place
The Skinny:
Say goodbye to Cleveland (and that horrible name "Mistakes By The Lake") and say hello to the Sioux Falls Canaries. While the team name is much better, the team probably won't be just yet, but it's not for a lack of effort. The Canaries did more in the offseason than any other team in the division and that should make them a little more competitive, but it won't be enough to move up in the standings this season. The Canaries signed Tommy Valdes away from Durham in the offseason and also hit the Rule 5 Draft hard and scoured the Waiver Wire looking for talent. Sioux Falls nabbed Bob Lemon in the draft and grabbed Paul Kim, Felipe Torrealba and Zachrey Sewell of the wire. They also acquired Angel Ordaz from Burlington via trade. Since all these additions are pitchers, it's probably safe to say Sioux Falls will be looking for offensive help as the season progresses.
Monday, September 15, 2008
A.L. West Division Predictions
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Season 9: 1st Place (102-60)
Season 10 Prediction: 1st Place
The Skinny:
The Poltergeists are simply loaded. There's no reason to believe anyone else in the division has done enough in the offseason to compete for 1st place. The offense is led by 5-time Most Valuable Player, Kevin Mullins. Not only has Mullins won the MVP 5 times, but he's won it the last 5 seasons while averaging 61 HR's, 164 RBI's and 125 runs scored a season during his MVP stretch! Now that's incredible! Oh, and he's not alone. Felix Ellis, Greg Wolf, Damaso Rojas and Lawrence Rhodes all drove in over 90 runs last season. Now, while I believe there are better pitching staffs in the league as a whole, the combination of offense and pitching in Portland is as good as anyone else's. Proof positive is 2-time Cy Young winner Domingo Pizzaro who went 24-2 last year which could be the best record by a pitcher we've ever seen in Mantle World. I could go on and talk about closer Nick Smith or 14-game winner Anthony Martin, but I'm frankly tired of talking about Portland.
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Season 9: 2nd Place (88-74)
Season 10 Prediction: 2nd Place
The Skinny:
I'd love to see a Battle Royale between the top 3 teams in the A.L. West and the top 3 teams in the A.L. North. Any one of the six could come out the winner on any given day. I'm sticking with Salem in the number 2 spot here simply because I give their pitching an edge over Colorado Springs. Offensively, I give the Marines an edge, but as they say, pitching wins championships. Malcolm Reese returns to lead this staff and Harry Cruz was a nice addition from the Rule 5 Draft, but I think the key to this team's postseason chances could be the performance of Walter Lewis. Lewis has won at least 10 games in each of the last 6 seasons, but he hasn't had a breakout season and has even been relegated to the bullpen at times. I think this could be the year for Lewis to win 15-16 games and get this team to 90 wins. The offense has a good mix of veterans and youth, but pretty soon Salem we'll need to see more youth like Rich Bagley and less veterans such as 35-year old Quentin Keller.
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Season 9: 3rd Place (85-77)
Season 10 Prediction: 3rd Place
The Skinny:
The Mile High Marines are one of those teams that's on the verge of greatness. There's a lot of young talent on this roster so while I'm predicting 3rd place this season, Salem and Portland better watch their backs. If some of these arbitration guys like Alfredo Valentin, John Blake Joey McClain and Midre Bonilla get locked up to long-term deals, Colorado Springs could have a bright future in this division. Howie Curtis and Lucas Nelson just hope they're still around to enjoy it.
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Season 9: 4th Place (60-102)
Season 10 Prediction: 4th Place
The Skinny:
Much like the Charlotte franchise, this team needs a little TLC and some more of what I like to call "pieces parts". The Ligers will once again rely on Jesse Haney and Michael Nathan to carry the offense, and I also like the addition of veteran free agent Alan Crosby who still swings the bat very well. From a pitching perspective, Scott Everett is the ace of the staff and Miguel Mateo is a steady arm out of the bullpen. Colorado just needs to be patient and accumulate as many high draft picks as possible and be on the lookout for any international talent that may help get the ship righted.
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