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Westheim · 10-06-2012, 11:23 AM

1980 AMATEUR DRAFT

The horrible 1979 season the Raccoons laid down had one good to it: it gave us first choice in the draft this year. There were a couple of potential star pitchers in the draft. They all demanded a truck full of bucks to sign. Catchers and outfielders were sparse overall, while there were many relievers and infielders worthy. But I had tons of those. I had to decide between four of five starters from my shortlist (which was not that short). And it better be a good decision, since we forfeited our second round pick to the Crusaders for signing Ralph Nixon (or was it Hermundo?).

Round 1: SP Carlos Gonzalez, 17, from Peoria, AZ, superb numbers projected all across the board, and my scouts drooling all over him
Round 3: SP Ray Willis, 20, from Monterey, CA, could be a solid end-of-rotation guy one day, but his stuff needs to pick up quickly for that
Round 4: 1B/2B Darren Campbell, 22, from Philadelphia, PA, a solid hitter and fielder but without power
Round 5: LF Jose Perez, 21, from Chihuahua, Mexico, a good hitter, but his defense is a bit challenged
Round 6: C Christian Billings, 21, from North Las Vegas, NV, solid throughout and with a chance to make the majors as a backup
Round 7: 3B/1B Kevin Schultz, 21, from Winsted, MN, not much to say about a good fielder with a small bat
Round 8: MR Drake Crookshanks, 21, from Santa Ana, CA, minors filler
Round 9: CL Matt Parker, 17, from Spring Lake Heights, NJ, minors filler
Round 10: SP Felix Acosta, 17, from Comonfort, Mexico, A level forever

I shoved down more than a million bucks Gonzalez’ throat to get him. That’s right, $1.24M for a guy that’s not even old enough to drink beer legally. All the starters I contemplated over and the lone two powerful outfielders were gone by pick 7. My other eight picks signed for slot. I just trashed my budget big time here. All were assigned to A level.

This ballooned my minor league teams again and it was time to cut some weight. The following players were axed immediately (there are very few names on the list that were mentioned before):
MR Andre Dupond (1978 round 9 draft pick, awful)
MR Gonzalo Torres (1978 round 10 draft pick, more awful)
MR Carlos Yanez (at A level since ’77, has not even pitched yet this year with a crowd of relievers at A level)
MR Rusty Frazier (pitched in AA three years, was demoted to A and has not played there yet (like Yanez))
C Josh Case (1977 round 9 draft pick, had never gotten above A level and was batting .079 this year)
C Mike Young (spent three years at AA, but is now parked at A as #4 catcher; with Billings drafted, there is no place on the bus for him)
LF/CF/RF Norberto Perez (since hitting .300 in A in ’77 he has steadily declined)
LF/RF Robby Davis (he actually bounced between AAA and the majors every year from ’77 to ’79, but at age 21 has degraded so much, he’s not even cutting it at A level; he was a career .212 batter when in the majors)

We also waived C R.J. Sanderson at AA level. Sanderson was backup catcher for the Raccoons for some time, but he’s not getting the job done at any level and has to go someplace other than my 40-man roster. In addition to that, about 20 players were moved from one level to another, up or down. I settled with 88 players across my three minor league teams, plus Ken Clement and Sanderson on waivers.

When I look back at my 1977 draft class, of the first eight draftees, six play at AAA, and one (Daniel Hall) plays in the majors, albeit badly. There are some promising relievers in there, but what I need most are starters and one or two big bats. I have some promising starters in the pipeline, but they won’t be ready for another year or so.

I am also using a four-man rotation, still. It would be better to go to five, but whom to pitch!?

10-06-2012, 11:23 AM	#67
Westheim Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Germany Posts: 14,081	1980 AMATEUR DRAFT The horrible 1979 season the Raccoons laid down had one good to it: it gave us first choice in the draft this year. There were a couple of potential star pitchers in the draft. They all demanded a truck full of bucks to sign. Catchers and outfielders were sparse overall, while there were many relievers and infielders worthy. But I had tons of those. I had to decide between four of five starters from my shortlist (which was not that short). And it better be a good decision, since we forfeited our second round pick to the Crusaders for signing Ralph Nixon (or was it Hermundo?). Round 1: SP Carlos Gonzalez, 17, from Peoria, AZ, superb numbers projected all across the board, and my scouts drooling all over him Round 3: SP Ray Willis, 20, from Monterey, CA, could be a solid end-of-rotation guy one day, but his stuff needs to pick up quickly for that Round 4: 1B/2B Darren Campbell, 22, from Philadelphia, PA, a solid hitter and fielder but without power Round 5: LF Jose Perez, 21, from Chihuahua, Mexico, a good hitter, but his defense is a bit challenged Round 6: C Christian Billings, 21, from North Las Vegas, NV, solid throughout and with a chance to make the majors as a backup Round 7: 3B/1B Kevin Schultz, 21, from Winsted, MN, not much to say about a good fielder with a small bat Round 8: MR Drake Crookshanks, 21, from Santa Ana, CA, minors filler Round 9: CL Matt Parker, 17, from Spring Lake Heights, NJ, minors filler Round 10: SP Felix Acosta, 17, from Comonfort, Mexico, A level forever I shoved down more than a million bucks Gonzalez’ throat to get him. That’s right, $1.24M for a guy that’s not even old enough to drink beer legally. All the starters I contemplated over and the lone two powerful outfielders were gone by pick 7. My other eight picks signed for slot. I just trashed my budget big time here. All were assigned to A level. This ballooned my minor league teams again and it was time to cut some weight. The following players were axed immediately (there are very few names on the list that were mentioned before): MR Andre Dupond (1978 round 9 draft pick, awful) MR Gonzalo Torres (1978 round 10 draft pick, more awful) MR Carlos Yanez (at A level since ’77, has not even pitched yet this year with a crowd of relievers at A level) MR Rusty Frazier (pitched in AA three years, was demoted to A and has not played there yet (like Yanez)) C Josh Case (1977 round 9 draft pick, had never gotten above A level and was batting .079 this year) C Mike Young (spent three years at AA, but is now parked at A as #4 catcher; with Billings drafted, there is no place on the bus for him) LF/CF/RF Norberto Perez (since hitting .300 in A in ’77 he has steadily declined) LF/RF Robby Davis (he actually bounced between AAA and the majors every year from ’77 to ’79, but at age 21 has degraded so much, he’s not even cutting it at A level; he was a career .212 batter when in the majors) We also waived C R.J. Sanderson at AA level. Sanderson was backup catcher for the Raccoons for some time, but he’s not getting the job done at any level and has to go someplace other than my 40-man roster. In addition to that, about 20 players were moved from one level to another, up or down. I settled with 88 players across my three minor league teams, plus Ken Clement and Sanderson on waivers. When I look back at my 1977 draft class, of the first eight draftees, six play at AAA, and one (Daniel Hall) plays in the majors, albeit badly. There are some promising relievers in there, but what I need most are starters and one or two big bats. I have some promising starters in the pipeline, but they won’t be ready for another year or so. I am also using a four-man rotation, still. It would be better to go to five, but whom to pitch!?