COUGARS LEAD THE WAY WITH 6 PICKS IN AN EXTREMELY BUSY RULE V DRAFT
Like my wife when she spies a sale leading up to Christmas, the Chicago Cougars and New York Stars just could not help themselves snapping up perceived bargains when it came time to make Rule V draft picks. It was a very busy year as a total of 22 players - 10 more than the last two seasons combined - were selected including an almost unbelievable 6 by the Cougars and 4 from the Stars. While those two clubs scurried around the tree opening presents it was the Washington Eagles that played the role of Santa, losing a league high 3 players in the draft. Several clubs including Cleveland, Boston, Detroit, the New York Stars, Chicago Chiefs, Philadelphia Keystones and St Louis lost two each.
Here are the draft results:
Code:
1928 RULE V SELECTIONS
PICK# DRAFTED BY POS NAME DRAFTED FROM
1 Cougars CF Joe Davis Cleveland
4 Montreal SP Leo Hall Detroit
6 Keystones SP Earl Farrar Washington
7 NY Gothams SP Chuck Calvert Washington
9 Brooklyn SP Jim Langley NY Stars
12 Detroit C Hack Bailey Brooklyn
13 Cleveland CF Leon Drake Chiefs
14 NY Stars SP Boyd Harper Cleveland
16 Sailors SP Bill Knapp St. Louis
2-1 Cougars CF Mike Smith Chiefs
2-4 Montreal SP Gus Cain Cougars
2-6 Keystones SS Turkey Powell Toronto
2-9 Brooklyn RP Harry Meek Boston
2-13 Cleveland 2B Bob Baker Washington
2-14 NY Stars LF Lum Baker Keystones
3-1 Cougars 3B Harry Simmons Detroit
3-13 Cleveland SS Marty Smith Keystones
3-14 NY Stars RP Red Wozniak Pittsburgh
4-1 Cougars SP Ace McSherry Baltimore
4-14 NY Stars LF Ken Adams St. Louis
5-1 Cougars SS Tom Rogers NY Stars
6-1 Cougars CF Bobby Navieras Boston
Now for a quick break down on each selection.
CHICAGO COUGARS
I am going to put the 6 Chicago Cougars picks together as I can't see how all these guys are going to stick. Chicago selected 3 center fielders in the draft, a third baseman, a shortstop and a pitcher. Their outfield was weak a year ago so it makes sense to grab a bunch of outfielders if you have room on the 40-man roster and let them fight it out to try and earn a job in the spring. Those that don't impress can easily be sent back to their original team with no cost other than a bit of money going back with them.
Joe Davis was taken first overall. I am surprised they did not elect for a pitcher here but Davis seems to have a pretty good shot at sticking. He is 24 years old and split last season between AA and AAA in the Foresters organization. He hit .300 at AAA Cincinnati with a bit of power and slightly above average defense. Mike Smith is a year younger than Davis and also a center fielder that the Cougars selected from the cross-town Chiefs in the second round. Davis spent most of the year in AA, batting .339 with 10 homers. They took a third outfielder in 27 year old Bobby Navieras from Boston in round six. Navieras hit .294 with limited power at AA a year ago. My expectation is Navieras will be returned to Boston while one or both of Smith and Davis stick with the Cougars next season.
The third baseman, 24 year old Harry Simmons, had a good season at AA in Detroit's system. Simmons hit .319 and will be given every opportunity to win a spot on the Cougars roster as will shortstop Tom Rogers, a soon to be 27 year old that was taken in the fourth round. Rogers hit .258 at Los Angeles and looks to be pretty good with the glove. The other Cougars selection was 25 year old lefthander Ace McSherry, who went 4-11 with a 4.34 era for AAA Indianapolis a year ago.
NEW YORK STARS
The Stars grabbed a pair of pitchers and a pair of corner outfielders. Body Harper, a 24 year old lefthander, and 20 year old righthander Red Woziniak are the pitchers. Harper had a decent year for AA Toledo, going 12-7, 3.15 and might be ready to slide into the Stars bullpen but I have no idea how New York thinks it can use a roster spot on the 23 man for Woziniak. He is just 20 years old and had a brief but unsuccessful stint in AA in 1927 before spending last year in Class B- where he was adequate but certainly not dominant. He will likely be sent back to the Miners organization.
The outfielders are 24 year old Ken Adams and 23 year old Lum Baker. Adams hit .342 in AA but was a 4th outfielder a year ago while Baker put up some solid numbers (.329,11,75) but did so playing A ball. Perhaps the Stars keep one of the two but if both make their active roster I find it hard to believe New York will be a pennant contender.
CLEVELAND FORESTERS
It was a busy day for Cleveland as the Foresters added 3 players but lost a pair of prospects. The Foresters had great success a year ago in adding infielders Ron McDougle and Russ Combs in the rule V draft and are trying to duplicate the magic this time around with 3 position players led by outfielder Leon Drake. Drake, who won't turn 20 until next week, spent much of last season in AAA where he hit 8 homers and 19 triples in 70 games. His average was a little low at .247 and he strikes out a lot but if the Foresters can use him sparingly and be able to keep him in the big leagues for a year they have found a real winner a couple of years down the road.
Middle infielders Bob Baker and Marty Smith were the Foresters other two picks. Baker is 24 and has bounced between AA and AAA the past two seasons. He just might be this year's version of Russ Combs, a shortstop the Foresters drafted in last seasons rule V draft and had a big year. Smith seems to have some potential as he hit .320 with 11 homers in 70 games in Class B a year ago and looks to have a solid glove, but his lack of experience above that level puts his ability to transition to the major leagues in doubt.
MONTREAL SAINTS
The Saints added a pair of decent young arms in 25 year old's Leo Hall and Gus Cain. Hall was 13-14, 3.19 in AA in the Dynamos organization while the lefthanded Cain went 8-4 2.65 also in AA in the Chicago Cougars system. Expect both to be given every opportunity to stick in Montreal.
PHILADELPHIA KEYSTONES
The Keystones added a veteran minor leaguer with a few games of FABL experience in 28 year old righthander Earl Farrar. He spent last season in AAA Los Angeles and looked very good posting a 14-4, 2.73 mark. Farrar has had some pretty good minor league seasons through the years but has never been given a real shot to pitch in the majors. If he can duplicate his minor league success he will be a very nice pickup for the Keystones, who need pitching badly. Shortstop Turkey Powell is in the same boat. The 28 year old has had some decent minor league seasons including .329.6.61 at AAA Buffalo a year ago but never given a major league shot. He might challenge incumbent Cliff Herman for the starting shortstop job. Looks like a pair of nice pickups for the Keystones with no downside should they not succeed.
BROOKLYN KINGS
The Kings selected a pair of pitchers but after signing a veteran free agent in Bob Schmid they immediately returned 20 year old second round pick Harry Meek to Boston. Their other pick was 23 year old Jim Langley, a lefthander who went 13-15, 3.02 at AA a year ago. Brooklyn seems to be in an endless cycle of searching for quality pitching so Langley will have an opportunity in spring training to earn a roster spot.
The
NEW YORK GOTHAMS, DETROIT DYNAMOS and PHILADELPHIA SAILORS each made one selection on the day. The Gothams added pitcher Chuck Calvert, a 25 year old who was 19-9 at AA Atlanta and also made a couple of AAA starts last year. He should stick and perhaps slide into the bottom of the rotation. Detroit opted for catcher Hack Bailey from Brooklyn. He may have some upside but it will hard to believe Bailey is ready for the major leagues next season after playing just 9 career minor league games - all at Class B. Finally we have the Sailors grabbing soon to be 23 year old pitcher Bill Knapp from the St Louis system. The Sailors seem to find pitching gems and Knapp had good numbers last year(16-16, 2.76) but they were in Class A. There is question as to whether the defending champs want to burn a 23-man roster slot on a pitcher who may be over-matched next season but they do have spring training to evaluate him.
So there you have it. A pretty busy draft. It will be interesting to see who lasts the season in the big leagues and who, if any, become impact players.