[ayaghmour2]

I made three trades so far (hopefully more) to pick up picks in this years' draft. We've finished about 2 of the 10 human rounds.

The biggest trade was sending a former 2nd Rounder Vince York to the Pioneers for a 2nd Round Pick, the 23rd in this year's draft (York was actually 25th in 1924). Formerly one of our biggest producers, York was going to be out of a starting job with the acquisition of Bobby Sprague. He's too good for a bench spot, and I was able to send him to a FA team with a shot at the pennant who needed an extra corner outfielder to play across from young star Alex Ingraham. Both are 26, and York hit a respectable .320/.371/.445 (106 OPS+) with 6 homers, 9 steals, and 109 RBI's in 631 trips to the plate. In his 3+ year career, he's hit a much better .347/.393/.494 (126 OPS+) with 32 homers, 24 steals, and 333 RBI's. He's a talented youngster, but I like who we were able to replace him with and with his defensive question marks and my priority of good defensive outfielders, he was expendable.

The other two trades helped me get middle round picks. I sent backup catcher Jim Kyle to the Foresters for a 4th and 6th Round Pick and then minor league center fielder Buck Waldrop to the Kings for their 4th, 5th, and 6th Round selections.

The 26-year-old Kyle is a former waiver claim during the 1929 offseason from the Sailors. He's been a reliable backup catcher, providing a .267/.322/.383 (92 OPS+) line with 5 homers, 6 steals, and 69 RBI's in 630 big league plate appearances, approximately one full season he split into five. He's definitely good enough to start, but he was stuck behind top-5 Fred Barrell and now Mike Taylor, arguably the best catcher in the CA, if not all the league. With Claude Ramsey, the current 82nd best prospect in baseball, a year younger and on the 40 as well, Kyle was expendable as well.

I didn't initially want to trade the 22-year-old Waldrop, but the more I kept looking at the pool the more I wanted to have more picks. A former 4th Rounder who I was a huge fan of on draft day, Waldrop ranks just outside the top 100 prospect list at 102. He's got a nice power/defense combo out in center, but he's getting closer to the big leagues with no clear spot. He had a decent season in Lincoln, hitting .233/.283/.447 (102 OPS+) with 25 homers and 55 RBI's in 438 plate appearances. For Waldrop, his big league future will be determined by his hit tool. The power is there, but he has to make more contact.

1st Round, 14th Overall: SS Billy Hunter (Cincinnati HS Tigers): I haven't had any success drafting shortstops, Clint Hinzman in Toronto (traded for Cy Bryant) non withstanding, but I also have never grabbed one in the first round. I generally prioritize SS/CF/SP in most drafts, but there usually isn't one I like enough when my pick comes around. I was elated to see Billy Hunter, a high upside 17-year-old high schooler, still on the board at 14. The big reason for that is after hitting 14 homers and driving in 60 runs with OPS+ of 168 and 160 as a sophomore and junior, he slumped as a senior. The Toledo native hit .305/.351/.461 (107 OPS+) with 4 homers and 36 RBI's across 185 trips to the plate. There was a silver lining this year, as after poor showings defensively, he improved his zone rating to a +6.4 and his efficiency to a 1.089. These numbers are extremely encouraging and my scout, who doesn't usually like to hyperbolize, projects him to be "an elite starting shortstop". What's better is that he's young enough to perfectly coincide with when the annual injuries eventually cripple Russ Combs beyond the point of repair.

2nd Round, 23rd Overall: CF Marty Roberts (Brunswick Knights): Here's basically the return for Vince York. Marty Roberts may actually be a better prospect then Hunter, and he more or less replaces Joe Johnson in the organization. Another younger player, the junior won't turn 21 till November 17th while some in his class are almost 22. My scout isn't nearly as big of a fan, but his .355/.399/.592 (149 OPS+) line as a junior with 9 homers, 12 steals, and 40 RBI's is much more encouraging. The power definitely spiked, as he almost reached his combined mark, but his career .314/.377/.521 (142 OPS+) line isn't all too far from this year's performance. He's a strong defender as well, with a +4.2 zone rating and 1.031 efficiency this season and he didn't make an error the last two seasons. He's got a ton of upside in the field and on the bases, and he should be an above average hitter. I'm not sure if the power will develop, but Roberts has all the tool to be a top 5 center fielder.

2nd Round, 30th Overall: SP Walker Pearce (Wilkes-Barre HS Warriors): I had to do it! Another high school pitcher in the 2nd Round, and even though both Ike Quinn and Roy Byrd's arms have fallen off, Mel Leonard is one of the best prospects in baseball and John Hartz is top 10 in our system (granted a weak one). Pearce is more Leonard then Hartz, however, as the little lefty not only has upside, but also a track record. The senior was 3-3 with a 2.35 ERA (204 ERA+), 1.01 WHIP, and 44 strikeouts in 61.1 innings. He had a sub 3 ERA all three years of High School with 6.5+ K/9 and sub 0.5 HR/9 ratings. Pearce keeps everything on the ground with an elite high 80s sinker and he gets a lot of movement on it and his offspeed stuff. He's got nice command and since he's just 5'9''. a growth spurt can give him a nice velocity boost. I wouldn't say he's an ace, especially with how good our rotation is, but he's a dependable middle of the rotation guy that should be able to step in once Max Wilder eventually reaches the cliff.