[Westheim]

2017 AMATEUR DRAFT

Time to get a new set of kits in here! The Raccoons held the #15 pick in the Amateur Draft following the Thursday night games, but would then not pick again until the second round proper thanks to no compensation picks awarded to them in the last offseason.

Here is our pre-draft list of the hottest young ball handlers again – that sounded way wrong, somehow. Once more, I surely hope that Gabriel Martinez a) knows what he’s doing besides plotting my demise, and b) isn’t actively listing duds for me to pick (although, thinking about it, I can pick duds on my own, thank you very much). Players with an asterisk are high school players. Also listed is their position in the BNN pre-draft hotlist, if they are ranked in the top 10.

SP Jim Bryant (13/16/12) - #5 BNN
SP Kyle Anderson (11/15/12) - #1 BNN *
SP Jack Sander (12/14/12)
SP Dave Madonna (13/11/12)

RP Steve Schwartz (12/16/14)
RP Kevin Gautney (13/13/12)
RP Mike Rehbock (13/12/11)

C Bobby Farnell (9/15/15)

1B Trent Herlihy (10/13/12) - #9 BNN
INF/CF Trey Rock (17/3/5) - #2 BNN *
1B Ruben Santiago (11/14/8) *

CF/RF Ian Coleman (14/8/11)
OF/1B Terry Kopp (11/13/12) - #7 BNN
OF Adam Braun (10/12/7) *

For the first time in longer than I could remember, a catcher was taken #1 overall in the amateur draft, as the Wolves took Bobby Farnell, the slugging backstop. Next were outfielders. The Loggers selected Ian Coleman, and Terry Kopp went to the Capitals, and then it was into the pitchers. Jim Bryant was #4 to the Thunder, and the Blue Sox picked Jack Sander at #5. The Buffaloes picked that extremely-high-reward / extremely-high-risk pitcher, Matt Duskin, who had been on our watch but not the hotlist, with the sixth pick. Dave Madonna, whom I had had my keenest eye on as a realistic pick at #15 was swept up five picks earlier by the Cyclones.

My earlier prediction that the Raccoons would be left to pick between 1B Ruben Santiago and the relievers almost became true. The Titans took Steve Schwartz at #13, and Adam Braun remained left over among the outfielders, but that aside it was Santiago, Gautney, and Rehbock. I might have been tempted to select Schwartz with the first-round pick because he really looks that good, but neither Gautney nor Rehbock were elite closer material. If you pick a reliever in the first round, it better be a Grant West (although Richard Cunningham wasn’t shabby either, and can you believe those two were selected in first rounds more than 35 years ago? Time’s been flying!).

The Raccoons ended up selecting what looked like a fine bet to get a fine, if one-dimensional, major league caliber player eventually. Ruben Santiago, who had fled Cuba at age 14 on an XXL inflatable rubber duck that had been washed ashore, became the #15 pick in the draft and the Raccoons’ new hope for a worthwhile first baseman, although right now he was only 18 years old.

After that we had about two hours of time to kill. I went for dinner. Martinez went for a gun shop two blocks over. With no pick in the next 47, we easily had enough time to scratch some itches…

When I returned nicely filled, the second round proper had just begun. We were at #55, and the Buffaloes had just selected Ken Gautney, which left only Mike Rehbock from amongst the hotlist players. Martinez was already back in the draft room, and slid over a paper bag to me, saying he had brought me a little something from the bakery he had stopped at on the way back. Poison! That’s what was rushing through my head. And I wasn’t even lying when I told him that I was really not hungry right now. He mumbled something like ‘El día que usted muera vendrá’, and I tried to sit a little bit further away from the paper bag.

Rehbock was still available when we finally had our second pick, and with no other genius ideas to go by, he was selected #63 overall.

2017 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Round 1 (#15) – 1B Ruben Santiago, 18, from Rodas, Cuba – prototypical first baseman more or less with a knack for power, decent contact abilities, and not much to write home about in terms of speed and defense, but power is something that can carry you a good bit of the way…
Round 2 (#63) – CL Mike Rehbock, 20, from Pratt, KS – a fairly small (5’8’’) southpaw that has good movement on his 91mph fastball and makes batters dizzy with an unpredictably migrating changeup
Round 3 (#87) – SP Josh Taylor, 18, from Jupiter, FL – fairly ordinary fastball and curveball for this right-hander, but what could make him special is a knuckle curve that he has in the making
Round 4 (#111) – OF Kyle Muller, 18, from Houston, TX – all the pieces for a good-to-great defensive outfielder, including in centerfield, and reasonable speed to be a threat on the base paths; good contact rating, and he doesn’t bite at junk, but power is probably not in the books for him
Round 5 (#135) – SP Jeff Presley, 18, from Fair Oaks, CA – slim right-hander that doesn’t look like he can throw hard, and actually doesn’t throw hard, either; slider and splitter look good enough that he has a chance to make the majors as a control pitcher
Round 6 (#159) – CL Eric Broady, 20, from Manhattan, NY – big swooping curve for this right-hander, but the fastball hardly ever tops 90mph
Round 7 (#183) – INF Jason Lamphier, 21, from Burton, MI – very versatile infielder that plays all positions well and has some good speed to strike fear into opposing batteries … if he could just hit a little…
Round 8 (#207) – CL Kyle Kirsch, 22, from Salisbury, NC – this right-hander throws up to 93, but has questionable control and occasionally hangs his curveball
Round 9 (#231) – SP Julian Hill, 18, from Ocala, FL – there is potential on this right-handers’ curveball, but overall there isn’t that much to be enthusiastic about
Round 10 (#255) – 3B Brian Voyles, 23, from Wells, ME – despite being big and heavy, he can certainly hold his ground with the glove at the hot corner, there’s no doubt about that; but some modest singles-hitting aside he’s not a factor with the bat
Round 11 (#279) – SP Ken Shelton, 18, from Hollister, CA – Shelton is the annual 11th-round southpaw to be selected as the Nick Brown Memorial pick. Fastball, curveball, neither impressive.
Round 12 (#303) – OF John McGrew, 20, from Chino Hills, CA – hits just enough to not be kicked off the Cal State team, fields just well enough to not get fatally struck in the eye by a line drive, and runs just fast enough to not be eaten by wolves…
Round 13 (#327) – SP Dave Motter, 17, from Three Rivers, MI – looks quite pale; the Druid has to look at him immediately!

All picks were assigned to Aumsville to start their professional careers.

We also cleaned house. In a first slate, a number of players were released, including a former Nick Brown Memorial pick, 2011 11th-rounder Rick Conley, who had gotten stuck in Ham Lake four years ago. Also gone: 2014 fourth-rounder 1B Scott Thompson, 2013 ninth-rounder C Owen Long, and a few lower picks and scouting discoveries. More to come.