[ayaghmour2]

RHP Johnny Godfrey (8th Round, 117th Overall): Another new pitcher, I used my lone 8th Rounder to grab righty Johnny Godfrey from Moss Point. As a senior he finished 6-3 with a 1.50 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 18 walks, and 107 strikeouts in 90 innings. He has a decent fastball that already can reach 90, but he also has a pretty good forkball. If he can turn the changeup or slider into a reliable third pitch and I can see Godfrey pitching every fifth day in the FABL.

RHP Art Saunders (9th Round, 133rd overall): This pick was a gamble, betting on a projectable young righty from Omaha, Nebraska who despite starting only half his games as a Senior, still had impressive numbers. He was 5-0 with a 0.85 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 10 walks, and 92 strikeouts in 63.2 innings pitched. I love the big strikeout numbers, even if some of it was help from pitching out of the pen, but interesting enough, I haven't noticed too much difference in anecdotal evidence in this league with a strikeout jump. In fact, guys like Hank Spencer and George Johnson this year had better strikeout numbers in the rotation then the pen. Still, there is a lot to be excited for with Saunders. He has a nice 86-88 sinker that generates a ton of groundballs. He mixes in a fastball, curve, and change while commanding all his pitches well. His stuff is really solid and makes up for low movement. A lot of pitchers had a better 1934 then 1935, but Saunders is one of the lone exceptions who really broke out. We may run into stamina issues later in his career, but he's a really smart kid and combined with his impressive raw skills, he should be able to make the best of it.

C Steve Mountain (9th Round, 142nd Overall): Almost all my catching prospects are 21 or 22, so I grabbed another high school development project in the glove of Steve Mountain. He won't hit at all, not even cracking .400 as a senior, but when looking for a backup catcher you need a guy who can lead a staff and limit the run game. Mountain is excellent at both of those things. His excellent control of pitchers works to his advantage at the plate, as it is almost impossible to fool him. Even if he never hits all that much, he'll always have a spot in our organization due to his glove.

LHP Harl Haines (10th Round, 149th Overall): I've taken a ton of righties, so with my 10th Rounder I decided to grab a lefty in Harl Haines. He's a tall and slender 6'3'' southpaw who can hang around in the low 90s with his fastball and cutter. Haines looked much better as a junior then a senior, and was a perfect 10-0 with a 1.42 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 26 walks, and 123 strikeouts in 101.1 innings pitched. Still, the senior from Niagara Falls finished 6-2 with a 2.30 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 29 walks, and 77 strikeouts in 82.1 innings pitched. He's committed to Hillsborough College, but there is no way I'm letting him go. Haines worked on adding a screwball between his junior and senior year, but the slider is still his go to pitch for strikeouts. He has to polish off his command a little bit, but just like Harry Parker, he's listed as a starter already which shows he's already more developed then most.

CF Oscar Panduro (10th Round, 158th Overall): He might not have been the best player left, but I love going with Chicago kids and Panduro is one of the best available. He spent most of his time out in center, but the Bluegrass State junior also spent time at first, second, short, left, and right (I'm guessing he can handle third too) and hit .308/.352/.460 with 8 homers, 93 RBI's, and 68 steals in 505 trips to the plate. Panduro has excellent speed, stretching singles into doubles and tagging up on balls most players shouldn't. He's got well above average contact potential, and with the speed every time he puts the ball in play is a chance he'll reach safely. He also does a really good job limiting strikeouts, just 6 in 100 games.

Lot's of new Cougars taken in the first 10 rounds of the draft, with almost two picks in every round. In total, 18 new farmhands will join the ranks and I expect a lot of our older players or later round picks in recent years will have to find new homes. Half the picks were pitchers, something that I rarely ever do. I've only taken two pitchers in the first round prior to this season, Mike Murphy second and Tom Barrell first. Interesting enough, we signed just 20 players last draft, so I just need to keep three of the 11th to 25th rounders to match our total. This likely will be our biggest draft class, which is interesting because it's not one I felt was all that deep at the top. Still, I'm really happy with a lot of these late round selections as I was able to hedge my bets rather effectively. I'm hoping I hit on at least one arm after the 5th Round and hopefully two of the three in the first two rounds. That alone will be a win, as I'm really confident in Hal Wood's future and I think Chubby Hall will end up being like I kept the 5th Overall Pick. Still, I'm expecting a rather low success rate with these picks as I really focused on quantity.

Up next is the Major League Rule-5 Draft, the Minor League Draft, and the Independent League draft. After that we'll start fake baseball again and I'm already hyped for Spring Training. A lot of roster battles will be underway as I think 1936 will be a big transition year for us. I'm excited for a full season of Leo Mitchell, Ollie Page, and Rich Langton and my scout and OSA thinks Mike Taylor is poised for a rebound season. The pitching is a mess, but our park became a little easier to pitch in (we recalculated all parks to average around 1.000), so I'm expecting better seasons from Rankin and Lyons. We'll also get to see Milt Fritz again, who I think I understand now. He has all the talent in the world, but just doesn't really care. Some days he'll throw a complete game shutout, others he'll give up eight runs before getting eight outs. I just have to be patient with him, let him pitch every fourth or fifth day, and hope the offense can score enough runs for him. Oh yeah, and don't forget Tommy Wilcox! Let's hope the injuries are a thing of the past, because we may be adding two Allen Award winners to our 1936 rotation. If Wilcox can match is 1933 or 1934 numbers and Fritz can match his 1929-1933 performance, we may find ourselves in a late season pennant race. It feels like it's been forever, but just two seasons ago the Cougars were representing the Continental Association in the postseason.