The amateur draft was completed early this month and we should have all the new draftees signed shortly. And so now is a good time to look at the current state of the Chiefs. Once we have more of the recent crop of draftees signed, we'll do a look at the key prospects.
Clearly the best thing the Chiefs have going for them is "Mr. Automatic"--Bob Martin. The 27-year-old first baseman became a regular in 1929. Since then, he has not played in fewer than 151 games each season, and he has collected at least 200 hits in each season. He has led the Fed in hits in 3 of the last 4 seasons. He won the batting crown in 1932 (hitting .351), and he finished 2nd this past season to St. Louis's young phenom Freddie Jones (who hit .386). Martin is young enough--and seems durable enough--that he is a good piece to build around.
Outside of a couple of workhorses in Red Hampton and Ernie Newman, the pitching cupboard is rather bare. Ron Coles is an interesting pitcher. He throws four pitches, and he was a starter in high school prior to being drafted, but he has not started at all as a professional. I think we'll work on stretching him out this spring to see if he can handle a starter's workload.
