NL North S16 Draft Review

Columbus Horseshoes

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	Summary
1	22	Damian Harden	SS	22	Has the speed and base running to succeed in the Majors, but his bat and defense are well short of the standard. He could field well enough to be a 3B, but couldn't hit well enough to serve anyone there. His only hope is to slip into the Majors as a pinch running specialist. Good luck with that. Poor 1st round selection
2	77	Pascual Ortiz	CF	18	Might be a better pick than Harden, but he still is a 1 tool prospect with his speed and baser running. His bat is a little crisper than Hardens, but overall he is probably not a fulltime major leaguer in Ryan.
3	109	Nolan North	RF	19	A speedy 1st baseman with some pop, but a poor batting eye and below average batting splits, He is probably going to be a miss in this draft and never become more than a minor league dreamer.
4	141	Danny Serrano	RP	22	3 average pitches below average control will limit his opportunities as a reliever. He might get a few injury replacement innings, but he is far from a consistent major league guy.
5	173	Lefty Gutierrez	P	20	He is a great right hand specialist, In college his 3 pitches held batters mystified at the plate, but in the Big Leagues his lack of velocity and inability against Left handers will destroy him.

SUMMARY: I don't think the team picks up 1 sure fire Major Leaguer. Everyone drafted will most likely spend their careers hammering it out in the minor leagues. They have to be looking back on this draft and wonder what went wrong. Time to replace the scouting and plan again for next season.

GRADE: D-

Cincinnati Ramrods

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Summary
1	1	Roland Bryant	SP	Truly the best pitcher in this seasons draft. Cincinnati got their man to replace HOF'er Clarence Patrick whenever he hangs up his cleats. Bryant has plus control and splits. His stamina is among the league leaders and all 3 of his pitches should get guys swinging and missing. He might be one of the best pitchers the league has seen come out of the draft in a few seasons.
2	55	Buddy Thomas	SS	Defensive Stub, outside of fielding though he is not greatly gifted with a bat. He seems to understand how to hit, but does seem to have the natural talent to translate that into hits almost no power.
3	88	Miguel Cora	RF	Power hitting 1B, he is not going to hit for a high average but should sink 30+ homeruns a season in regular play. With limited defensive options, he may never get that chance.
4	120	Yamil Espinosa	C	College DH, with an average bat, not much chance he makes it into the league without clearer defined tools to offer a team.
5	152	Gerardo Hernandez	RP	Solid low end ML reliever, his below average control and lack of strike out velocity will make his great curveball pretty hittable at times. He might get a chance to show it in the league, but he has no long range future.

SUMMARY: The #1 overall pick translates into the best player in the draft, how that happens! Even looking beyond the 1^st pick Cincinnati did a fine job with their picks getting guys with roles that need to be filled and should translate well to a NL team. Thomas will be a ML SS with his Defense. Hernandez is a great gem in the 5^th round, in that he still has Ml possibilities.

GRADE: A-

Milwaukee Blues

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Summary
1	18	Erick Seaver	CF	Slightly above average hitter and runner. Overall a stretch in the 1st round for a player who does not project to hit really well and fields in a position closer to Left/Right field. He was a big swing and a miss for Milwaukee in the 1st round.
2	72	Banjo Hammond	SS	NOT SCOUTED SEEKING Almost 4M in Bonus Money
3	105	Kenneth Woods	SP	I like This pick in the 3rd round. Woods has plus splits and3 above average pitches. He has poor control but still you sign him and hope he can get DITR on his control. Any prospect which has only 1 screwed up rating is worth signing just in case.
4	137	Logan Brooks	LF	Great speed and base IQ and a solid contact hitter, Brooks has little power and poor batting understanding. He makes an interesting prospect because of his great base running.
5	169	Pepper Franco	RF	Also considering a football contract. Franco dropped in the draft as a result. This guy is a burner on the base paths and has great contact and can hit right handers good enough to give him a major league look. He is a strike out machine who really is a poor fielder. Decisions decisions… in Milwaukee.

SUMMARY: Started out with a very weak 1^st and 2^nd round, but picked up a number of solid guys in the 3^rd through 5^th rounds that are flawed, but still have a pretty good upside. You have to take a chance on those high risk reward guys sometimes just in case a little magic happens.

Grade: C+

Philadelphia Balboas

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Summary
1	21	Dwight Jameson	SS	Solid Defender and runner, Jameson should average 20+ stolen bases. He is an average hitter but still should be a solid major leaguer in his career. A poor makeup might make his minor league stay a little longer than the average 21 year old with his current skill, but patience will pay off on his fielding.
1	49	Arthur Ruffin	SP	4 good pitches and great velocity will make him a solid AAA pitcher, but his average splits will keep him from excelling to the Majors anytime soon.
1	53	Alex Gonzalez	2B	Mr. Average nothing special about him except he will not play 2B more like RF in the minors.
1	54	Rusty Ramsay	SS	Better defensively at 3B, Ramsay is an average overall player and should not excel much past AAA for long.
2	76	Omar Chavez	CF	Weak 2B option with an even poorer bat. If he had at least good base running with his above average speed, he might have some kind of hope, but nope.
3	108	Jeromy Scanlan	SP	Minor League inning monster, ML washout.
4	140	Theo Cooney	3B	Some power and an okay hitter but defensively better at LF than 3B. Not going to log much major league action either way.
5	172	Ira Rocker	2B	College rocket runner, he is wanting to stay in College to break some NCAA running records because he doesn't have much ML hopes though he does have great contact and speed to work with. Not worth 7M a season.

SUMMARY: The Balboas could have added so much with 4 1^st round picks and they seem to fail at doing so. Jameson is not a complete failure of a player, but they really could have benefited with a more complete package with the 21^st pick. The rest of the supplemental picks will most likely never pan out to be ML talent and were all big reaches for their talents.

GRADE: D+

Al North S16 Draft Review

TOLEDO HOLY

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	29	Bo Rothschild	RP	18	Solid pickup in the elate 1st round. Rothchild should be a mainstay as a Setup A type performer. With good control and excellent splits he brings with his 3 solid pitches to hurl at the hitters. Poor velocity is only real knock as a ML closer.
1	37	Omar Ontiveros	SS	18	Great defender with a solid contact bat. He has no power to speed of and no speed. His defense should be what gets him into the league. His poor makeup will keep him from ever realizing his Ml dreams.
2	69	Jack Rivera	LF	18	Great contact and great speed. He is a solid leadoff hitter, not much power but a guy that should get on base pretty regularly. He struggles against left handed pitching.
2	84	David Berry	RP	19	Poor splits on an inning eating bullpen guy he is the perfect AAA hurler to get you a few long outing of relief and charge back and do it again in a few days.
3	116	Steve Snell	RP	19	4 pitches and good control and splits. He might make a decent ML closer one day if someone wants to give him a try in that role. With poor durability you can't truly exploit is good stamina for a reliever.
4	148	Joakim Bautista	RP	18	Poor left handed split and only 2 pitches as a reliever. He will be a middle of the road pitcher. He might get some Ml action, but it will be sparse and he will be hardly a footnote in the history of the game.
5	180	Tony Johnson	SP	20	Poor splits and less than stellar pitch selection should kill him before AAA.

SUMMARY: The Toledo farm system is in pretty poor shape. They have traded away much of their talented Farm hands to amass a great and powerful ML team. They have a few Minor League Relievers, but not much depth at any positions. Their best picks in this draft were of course relief pitching. Drafting late in each round usually that is all that is available for easy ML picking, but you would still expect Toledo to concentrate on gathering a few hitting upgrades to balance their system. Or pick up a few solid starters to groom. Instead of this Toledo landed 4 Relief pitches in their top 7 picks. The positional players they landed should be okay if Toledo has patience with them, an attribute Toledo has not shown in his Farm management. A disappointing draft all around

Grade: D+

Madison Massa's

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	23	Joe Owens	2B	18	Good speed, but a power base runner, great contact and power but average batting splits, I huge reach with this pick for Madison. They could have scored much better than this.
1	24	Calvin Turner	RF	18	Great speed and contact. He should be a solid major leaguer and a better selection than Joe Owens 1 pick earlier.
1	31	Bill Strickland	2B	22	Another Lf who has a good, but poor batting splits. Definitely not a 2B in the ML.
1	35	Tom Forrester	RP	18	Long reliever with good splits and control, 2 plus pitches with 3 average pitches to throw. His stamina keeps him from going sooner but he should be a solid ML pitcher.
1	39	Shane Garland	3B	18	Might be a weak option at 3B, better suited for RF/LF he has good power and batting splits but lacks real solid contact. He might max out with a .260 batting average for his career.
1	40	Eddie Bruce	RP	22	Developed reliever with great control and 3 pitches including 1 elite level changeup to lean on. He has solid splits, but will struggle to pitch to good left handers.
1	41	Slash Fletcher	2B	18	All sped and contact, he lacks Ml splits and might be better defensively in the outfield. He's going to strike out more than the Massa's will like and he has extremely low makeup.
2	61	Rickey Melville	SP	18	Solid pickup in the 2nd round. Melville has 3 pitches solid splits and good control. He should be a bottom of the rotation type pitcher and could have a solid career in that role.
2	78	Aurelio Gonzalez	C	21	Better DH than putting him I the field. The boy can hit at the major league level, but without a position his value is probably right in the 2nd round.
3	98	Don Harding	CF	20	Lacks the fielding to be patrolling CF, but maybe LF he has above average contact and a solid right hitting split to lean on along with his good speed. Not sure what his ML chances are. He is at best a 4A player.
3	110	Scott Owen	RP	18	Solid overall reliever he has elite control and 2 great pitches, but lacks a strong presence against right handers which might keep him from having too much success in the league.
4	142	Giomar Espinosa	SS	22	Below average bat and glove, Might be an okay Minor league 3B but not much hope for a ML career.
5	174	Louis Jacquez	SS	20	Above average power, but below average everywhere else. Poor SS, better at 3B.

SUMMARY: A lot like Toledo in that they have trade away much of their farm system to maintain a strong ML club. They are slightly better off in depth, but they still could use players in almost every position, but even greater needs exist in the Starting pitching ranks. With 7 1^st round picks Madison you would think should have been able to fill a few needs. They did not do such a great job filling those needs. Owens, Turner, Strickland, Garland, and Fletcher are all basically reincarnations of the same player over and over. None can play regularly outside of the corner outfields or 1B. That's 5 out of 7 picks filling basically the same position. Forrester is a solid reliever and Melville in the 2^nd round should be a decent enough Ml prospect. Overall Madison's scouts seem to miss the class on how to evaluate fielding talent and they should be reevaluated before next draft.

Grade: C

NEW YORK BOMBERS

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	52	Kelvin Shaw	RP	18	Scouting says he has one of the best projected sinkers in the league. A solid overall reliever with 2 pitches, good splits and great control. His durability is below average with his low stamina. A watchful manager is needed to keep him injury free and ML ready.
2	81	Brian Wathan	SP	19	Solid Changeup with great strike out potential, He has 3 additional average pitches and above average splits. His control is below average and will make him a bit more of a wild card to make it regularly in the Majors.
3	113	Ricardo Valentine	2B	18	NOT SCOUTED LOOKING FOR 6.5M
4	145	Erik Buchanan	P	18	Looking for 6.5M and really wants to go to college, with his scouting report I would let him go to college.
5	177	Ernest Merritt	LF	22	Good hitter with a poor right/left hand understanding. As a 1B he doesn't offer as much defense to get him a consistent ML contract.

SUMMARY: Unlike the other division contenders, Bernie has been able to build his team evenly contending without selling the farm away. The bombers have a solid group of talent in the minors they can build off of. They should have used this draft to gather another starting pitching option, Maybe a future catcher and expand player depth. For season 16, the Bomber's did a good job with their picks considering their 1^st pick was not until deep in round 1. Kelvin Shaw should be a solid ML pick up in a few seasons. Wathan is a good late 2^nd rounder, he might not be a major league regular, but he could keep a minor league staff anchored for a long while. 5^th rounder Merritt might be a solid late 5th round pick up. Overall a solid draft even with 2 guys who have signing issues.

Grade: B

Minnesota Wogeban's

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	Summary
1	5	Herm Young	RF	21	Solid Ml quality hitter well developed with great speed. His speed is negated by his poor base running. He should be an above average ML player, but maybe e reach with the 1st 5 picks.
1	43	Billy Shea	RF	20	Weak swing against left handers, but otherwise he has Ml talent. Good power and contact. With his excellent makeup he should be a sure thing to make his projections.
2	59	Heinie Barber	SP	19	Average Splits on an otherwise solid pitcher. His pitch selection is overall above average, He is destine to burn out in AAA.
3	92	Quinton Oliver	CF	20	Good 2nd baseman with solid speed, but nothing more than an average bat to offer at the Ml level. A good 3rd rounder but no likely to have a great Ml career ahead of him.
4	124	Miguel Lecuona	CF	19	Another fast 2B candidate. He has no offensive bat and is basically just a speed guy.
5	156	Sammy Gonzalez	SP	21	Minor League inning eater.

SUMMARY: Solid Farm system with some great prospects crawling up through the system. They can always use more though. Possible a few starting pitchers to solidify the pitching staff for the future. In S16 They might have over reached to get Herm Young who is a solid Ml option, but not a superstar that teams need to get with a top 5 pick. Billy Shea who came late in the 1^st round might be almost as good when it's all said and done. His makeup and already established skills should allow him to blow through the minors quickly. Outside the 1^st round they did not pick up to much talent. Solid 1^st round, but tailed off after that.

Grade: C+

Power rankings Week 3 S16

1. Toledo (4) In the first announcement of AL all-stars Toledo has 7 members named to the team(including 5 position top vote getters) , leading the AL Nominations RATING 549.5 (+70.5)
   
2. Chicago (2) Spreading the Offense around. The Wolves have 3 guys with 20+ home run and 4 with 50+ RBI. This is pretty great balance. –RATING 523 (+32)
   
3. Madison (10) Pitching is more than a run and 1/2/ better on the road then at home (3.65 vs. 5.26) RATING 515.75 (+117.25)
   
4. New York NL (1) Just swept by Milwaukee which either illustrates the improvement of Milwaukee or a glitch in New York. RATING 507.25 (-3.25)
   
5. Louisville (3) – 14-4 in their past 2 games. They continue to show their record is no fluke and they are legitimate threats to take the AL. RATING 487 (+7.5)
   
6. Colorado (7) The Mile Highers have an unheard of .352 home batting average as a team. The #2 team Vancouver is 50 points lower. RATING 483.5 (+36.5
   
7. Vancouver (5). 6.4M coaching budget might be the reason this team isn't moving quickly up the power rankings. They have the smallest Coaching staff budget at 6.2M yet here they are near the top of the rankings. RATING 475.75 (+6.75)
   
8. New York AL (6) Rp Howie Oliver- Had a breakthrough season last year, but came crashing down to earth this season with a 7.64 in 17.2 innings of work. He has been struggling to get batters to miss the balls he throws. RATING 464.625 (+15.125)
   
9. Texas (9) – 5 Games over 5 right now and still holding 9^th position in the power rankings. If the Tornadoes can straighten up their bullpen they might be a threat to the top teams. A mid season trade with some of the floundering teams might just secure their place. RATING 458.5 (+32.5)
   
10. Kansas City (12) anyone else find it ironic that Raucous has 2 international players named to this season's all World team. I was not aware that he allowed internationals in his system with his career 0 international budget. RATING 421.5 377.5 (+44)
    
11. Salem (11) Holding their own, because of their pitching success, Hitting is still looking for that next gear to drive this team to the top. RATING 420.625 (+23.625)
    
12. Memphis (8) 3B Eugene Walker seems to have lost his power stroke this season. Hitting only 7 HR so far at the midway point of the season. He has averaged35+ Home runs a season previously. RATING 403.5 (-33)
    
13. Colorado Springs (14) Pokey West is CSP's number 5 starter but has played like the NL's Cy Young Winner. RATING 396.5 (+31.5)
    
14. Columbus (17) The Loss of Starting pitcher High Richardson will take its toll on the pitching staff. He blew out his knee and most likely will be done until the spring. RATING 357.625 (+46.125)
    
15. Cheyenne (13) –3B Lonnie Yarnall's antics as a strikeout power hitter with no batting average finally hit its breaking point in Cheyenne as he was designated for Assignment last week. RATING 348.875 (-31.375)
    
16. Las Vegas (15) like most of the teams in the Al West. The Las Vegas Gamble has been up and down all season. Getting as high as 2^nd before falling all the way to the basement. RATING 334.375 (-21.125)
    
17. Cincinnati (18) after last season's first all-star appearance Albert Maurer continues to blaze an elite career. After 22 wins for Florida last season Mauer is 5-5 this season with 5 complete games and 2 shutouts in 15 starts. Pretty nice work. RATING 317.625 (+11.625)
    
18. Salt Lake City (21) 4 straight shutouts in the last 5 games. This might be the streakiest team in Ryan. They see to win get 5 games over .500 then proceed to lose the next 10 games. RATING 297.875 (+29.375)
    
19. Philadelphia (16) – 2B
    Arthur Worthington- has improved each season, he has been in Philly offensively, but defensively he has been stellar each season. The kind of player we all want on our team.
    RATING 291 340.5 (-48.5)
    
20. Norfolk (19) Norfolk has grounded into 100 GDP's this season ending 100 rallies with men on base. Might be time to evaluate the batting order and shuffle guys up a bit to avoid this fate. RATING 268.375 (-22.125)
    
21. St Louis (30) Sp Teddy Kline- a 4A player has shown no value as the 5^th starter this season. Might be time to move on and try someone else in that role.
    RATING 257.125 (+61.375)
    
22. Monterrey (25) – The Metros have only had 46 inherited runners all season for their bullpen. To put this in context the league average is 91 and Washington (32 team) has handed their pen 184 inherited runners. RATING 253.25 (+28.25)
    
23. Burlington (29) Made a mini jump by not doing anything, but playing solid Baseball. They could make another with a strong week leading to the all-star game. RATING 243.75 (+43.75)
    
24. Houston (22) 3B D.T. Hutch has seemed to recovered his career after sitting most of last season and getting a late contract with Milwaukee. He is batting .279 with 8 homeruns and 41 RBI, a pace which he has not seen since season 11. RATING 242.25 (-17.75)
    
25. Pittsburgh (23) –RF Bill Sheehan has shown improvement over last season where he hit 16 home runs on the whole season. This season he already has slammed 14 at the midway point. RATING 242.25 (-4.75)
    
26. Florida (27) CL Pedro Escobar's blown elbow has him lost for the season and possibly could have career implications if he can't recover some of his lost pitches and lost splits. RATING 239.5 (+30)
    
27. Austin (20) SP Calvin Coco has benefited from the injury to #5 starter Gonzales who was struggle this season. Someone Coco has fell out of favor with Austin management and was working in long relieve most of this season before this second chance.
    RATING 231.25 (-39.75)
    
28. Washington D.C. (28) RP Edgardo Vazquez's blown his shoulder out, this should be a career ended for the long time pitcher I don't see him recovering. RATING 226.625 (+22.125)
    
29. Milwaukee (24) - # 5 Starter and trade acquisition at the start of the season Horace Walton has performed very well and has been a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing season. RATING 219.75 (-22.75)
    
30. Durham (31) The Bulls pitching has once again struggled they have the highest OBA (.308) and have allowed the most home runs. RATING 182 (-7)
    
31. Minnesota (26) Might be time to look at AAA SP Jacob Shinjo- He probably would improve the rotation and he is almost fully developed RATING 177 (-23.5)
    
32. Atlanta (32). SS Wayne Brown never really found comfort in Atlanta in his little under 1 season time here he batted a lowly .188, 50 points lower than his career average. RATING 118.5 (-15)