[Westheim]

1982 AMATEUR DRAFT

My first choice was between six players: SP Judd Montgomery, MR Ray Reilly, INF Alberto Reyes, LF/RF Alejandro Lopez, LF/RF Bobby Quinn, and OF/1B John White. Picking one was not easy and was done by sorting out first.

As attractive as I found Ray Reilly’s makeup, he fit the right-handed high-stuff 8th inning guy I had already a lot of, even in the minors. Had he been a lefty, he had been far up on the chart, but I needed something else. Judd Montgomery was not going to be it – he was not the over-the-top hurler I would pick as #2 in the first round. He certainly had potential for a #2 or #3 starter. But I left him at the side and looked at the power hitters in the draft. This also excluded Reyes, a jack of all trades, and White. Lopez was projected 20/20/15 (bit less by OSA), with mediocre defense. Quinn was a 20/14/19 project, but ranked a bust by OSA, and his defense was bad. Thus I settled on Alejandro Lopez as round 1 pick, then go from there.

The Knights had the first pick. They picked outfielder Michael “Lunatic” Root, who had been about 7th on my OF list, similar in makeup to Quinn, but with a less sure-handed bat (at least according to my scouts).

None of my top 6 remained, when the Raccoons came back to pick for the first time in the supplemental round.

The Raccoons picked:
Round 1 (#2) – LF/RF Alejandro Lopez, 18, from Villa Gonzalez, Dom. Rep. – huge bat and mediocre defense, he could make pitchers suffer badly one day
Supp. Round (#25) – INF Carlos Miranda, 20, from Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep. – plays all infield positions, has high contact and a good eye, and also hits for some power
Supp. Round (#39) – OF Matt Olson, 21, from Avis, PA – not too great in the field, but has a solid contact bat and a good batting eye, but no power.
Round 2 (#43) – MR Jason Bentley, 20, from Chicago, IL – very good stuff, less control, but has a good projection to be a 7th/8th inning righty.
Round 3 (#67) – C Odwin Garza, 22, from Sint Nicolas, Aruba – knows how to catch and his bat his good for a catcher as well.
Round 4 (#91) – 1B Mariano Duarte, 21, from Sanford, NC – hardly knows how to move and catch a ball at the same time, has a good bat according to my scouts, but OSA disagrees
Round 5 (#115) – RF Paul Blake, 22, from Santa Ana, CA – average throughout, his bat could give him a chance at a career, but OSA thinks he’s a bust
Round 6 (#139) – CL Arturo Romero, 18, from Plano, TX – nasty slider, fast fastball, but OSA disagrees again
Round 7 (#163) – CL Ken Franco, 19, from Seattle, WA – similar in makeup to Romero, but a tad below according to my scouts
Round 8 (#187) – 1B Bryce Parker, 17, from Newark, NJ – no big league future
Round 9 (#211) – MR Ancel Rosen, 21, from Bornheim, Germany – no big league future (he was the last player left on my not so short shortlist)
Round 10 (#235) – MR Jaime Echeveste, 21, from Valencia, Colombia – lefty reliever, one of the last there was, plus in college at Oregon, but no big league future

Bentley, Olson, and Blake reported to the AA team as experienced college players. The rest went to the A level team.