[Westheim]

2040 AMATEUR DRAFT

For the 2040 draft the relentlessly mediocre Raccoons would have the relentlessly mediocre #13 pick in every round, no extras. Somehow that seemed fitting.

There were a total of 111 players on the shortlist, and of course also few on the hotlist of a dozen boys or so (*denotes HS players, of which there weren’t many on the hotlist this year):

SP Paul Paris (15/12/12) – BNN #3
SP Arthur Pickett (11/14/14) – BNN #8
SP Tom Spencer (10/12/10) *
SP Brian Jackson (11/13/11)
SP Adam Capone (10/13/14) – BNN #1

CL Rich Kappel (19/16/11)
CL Jonathan Osmond (17/13/11)
CL Dale Mrazek (16/14/12)
CL Steven Johnston (18/12/9)

SS Jon Parker (9/8/12)

OF Dan Mathes (11/9/9) – BNN #9
RF Matt Diskin (12/9/8) *
LF/RF Pat Stipp (12/10/11)
OF Jonathan Gross (11/8/10)
LF/RF Billy Slingluff (12/15/11) – BNN #2

Paris and Pickett were at the top of the pile, I’d say, and we’d get neither one of them. It wasn’t completely out of the window that we’d take a top notch closer after all.

Billy Slingluff ended up being the #1 pick in the nation, being selected by the Pacifics. After that it was Matt Diskin to the Warriors and (sigh) Paul Paris to the Crusaders. The Indians were up next, picking SP Chris Volk, who was not on the hotlist. The Cyclones made Dan Mathes the #5 pick, followed by (SIGH) Arthur Pickett being taken at #6 by the Stars. Well, so much for hopeful wishing.

Pat Stipp went #9 to the Scorpions, and that was the only other hotlist kid being taken before the Raccoons got their first pick. Instead, both the Thunder at #10 and the Rebels at #12 took players not even on the shortlist (Steve Humphreys, Lance Harrison, respectively, who will surely make the Hall of Fame now), which made me wonder what me and scout guy were perpetually doing wrong... And while my heart afterwards told me to take one of the top 2 closers (probably Osmond, who had even better ratings with OSA), we played it “safe”, and took SP Adam Capone, at worst a strong finesse pitcher, and at best an All Star to get the Raccoons on track for *something* by 2044 or so. He was also from Hawaii, and we weren’t having the worst track record drafting pitchers from Hawaii…

Brian Jackson went #14 to the Condors after our selection. The Miners took Rich Kappel at #16, immediately followed by Jonathan Gross to the Bayhawks at #17. The Caps selected Jon Parker at #21, emptying the batting side of the hotlist for good. Tom Spencer (who had rather little stamina for a starter, sort of like Antonio Donis, but, eh, Donis made it to the Hall of Fame after all…) fell to the supplemental round and there to the Cyclones at #27, leaving the three non-Kappel closers. Nothing happened to those for a long time until the dismal Indians took Jonathan Osmond with the #46 selection, which was already in the second round. The Stars – quickly becoming the bane of my existence – drafted Dale Mrazek at #48. Coincidentally, those two picks sandwiched the delightfully-named INF Manny Peoples, taken by the Thunder. Johnston was then taken by the Coons when their second-round pick came up.

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2040 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Round 1 (#13) – SP Adam Capone, 20, from Honolulu, HI – right-hander with greater control than stuff, but there’s nothing wrong with a finesse groundballer. Throws 3 1/2 pitches and if he can add a little bit to the 90mph fastball he should turn out fine.
Round 2 (#55) – CL Steven Johnston, 20, from Albuquerque, NM – left-hander with a vicious cutter-curveball combination. The cutter darts enough to generate lots of groundballs. Would have ample stamina for a starter, throwing 95mph, too, but does not throw a third pitch at all.
Round 3 (#79) – OF/1B Ben Bonczek, 17, from Martinsville, VA – Cristiano showed be Gobble content of Bonczek making pinpoint 400-foot throws, so he has a murder arm. Not much range, though, and we are buying into scout guy’s assurance that a subtle change to his swing will unleash great power potential.
Round 4 (#103) – SP Chase Gregson, 18, from Springfield, IL – starter only if that third pitch, a changeup, gets better; but the 92mph sinker and cutter make for good groundball action, which is a nice building block.
Round 5 (#127) – 3B/1B Ken Lenihan, 19, from Jackson, MS – murder arm, but not much range, would be well enough for third base though; no power potential, but could be a bit of a single-slapping bat in the #2 hole.
Round 6 (#151) – MR Matt Balling, 23, from Phoenix, AZ – strong changeup and 93mph fastball on this right-hander.
Round 7 (#175) – INF/LF Andy Benton, 19, from Houston, TX – good defensive middle infielder with speed, and at least some potential for an on-base bat, even though he really has to work on his patience in the box…
Round 8 (#199) – OF Ali McLeish, 17, from Melville, NY – best case he becomes a singles-slapping defensive replacement for a bulky corner outfielder that can actually hit.
Round 9 (#223) – CL John Hiscock, 20, from Edmonton, Canada – right-hander with a 91mph fastball and a sorta neat curve.
Round 10 (#247) – SS/2B Tom McCullough, 21, from Oil City, LA – could be a tremendous base-stealing demon if he could ever reach base at all against competent pitching.
Round 11 (#271) – SP Joel Ray, 18, from Picnic Point-North Lynnwood, WA – if only his list of awesome pitches was as long as his place of birth. Annual Nick Brown Memorial Pick, throwing 86 for “heat”, and a messy curve and slider.
Round 12 (#295) – LF/INF/CF Jason Hannah, 18, from McHenry, IL – does play many positions, all of them so-so, and his batting is much worse than that.
Round 13 (#319) – C Troy Hall, 19, from Rochester, NY – can’t hit, can’t run, can barely throw. Knows plenty of dirty jokes, though.

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We were reasonably confident in young Adam Capone’s and Steven Johnston’s abilities to move the pair to Ham Lake right away. The other selections were all assigned to Aumsville.

Of course cleaning house is part of the drafting process and getting rid of your mistakes from five years ago went paw in paw with bringing in new hopes and dreams to be dashed by baseball in the future.

The Raccoons handed a total of 12 players their papers on draft day, including a bunch nobody ever heard of, but also: 2034 fourth-rounder MR Jim Norton, perpetually awful in AA; 2034 11th-rounder MR David Bentley, not even good enough to be awful in AA; 2036 fourth-rounder INF/LF Phil Adcock, batting a spiffy .600 OPS in single-A; 2037 fifth-rounder INF Jeff Goodwill, who ran out of the GM’s goodwill to let him continue poking pointlessly in Aumsville; 2037 12th-rounder LF Chris Marsee, because oh dear…; 2038 12th-rounder 1B David Mendoza, displaying a staggering lack of talent;