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RHP Karl Wallace (50th Overall)
Acquired: Via Trade with Boston (1934)
Drafted: 6th Round, 91st Overall (1932)
Alma Mater: Milwaukee HS Maroons

The only member of our top 10 that was not selected by us, in what may have been the most underrated trade I have ever pulled off, I acquired Karl Wallace and Johnny Cox (eventually flipped for Ray Ford) for veteran Max Wilder. 23 in February, Wallace spent most of the season in Mobile, and while he didn't do all that great, he still was effective in the rotation. Wallace was 10-7 with a 4.81 ERA (95 ERA+), 1.44 WHIP, 48 walks, and 50 strikeouts in 147.2 innings pitched. The walks were up a bit and the strikeouts were down a little, but it did come after seven strong starts down in Lincoln. A polished four pitch pitcher, he boasts a nice mid 90s fastball that he supplements with a decent curve, cutter, and changeup. He hasn't quite shown it yet, but Wallace projects to have pinpoint command and he can go extremely deep into games. He threw an 161 pitch complete game and a pair of 152 pitch complete games and a clean bill of health. OSA drools over him; "Wallace's ceiling is immense - future rotation anchor" and I actually think they are on to something. My scout isn't nearly as high on him, ranking behind Sullivan, Scott, and Parker, but I think when it is all said and done, Wallace might be our most reliable arm. And don't think that means a dull and consistent like say Dick Lyons. I mean you can take it to the bank that he's going all nine with three runs and a reasonable WHIP.

CF Carlos Montes (54th Overall)
Acquired: Via Draft: 1st Round, 12th Overall (1934)
Alma Mater: Citronelle Bulldogs

1936 was a tough season for the former first round selection, as he had a tough spring that saw Roy Moore take the opening day center field job. Not only that, he struggled in AAA, sprained his elbow, and then finished his season in AA. It was equal time split between them, but his .270/.357/.418 (104 OPS+) Mobile line and .249/.324/.387 (87 OPS+) Milwaukee line could not have been further from what I envisioned. Now before I get ahead of myself, nothing changed about Montes, I just probably expected a bit too much from the 20-year-old. My scout raves about him, "high ceiling and low floor" with "the potential to become one of the best." His defense out in center is strong, and it will only improve with more playing time. He's patient and has excellent speed, but he doesn't seem to have much extra base pop. He did triple a lot this season, 12 in 127 games, but just 26 doubles compared to 24 steals. Sure he's no Sal Pestilli, but him and every other center fielder in the league will be competing for second best and I don't think there is another center fielder with a higher ceiling.

SS Ducky Jordan (55th Overall)
Acquired: Via Draft: 6th Round, 92nd Overall (1932)
Alma Mater: Little Rock HS Pioneers

"The Hot Springs Hotshot" was a guy I was pretty high on draft day, but decided to wait until the 6th to select him. Looks like it panned out pretty well, as the versatile switch hitter has grown tremendously both in the field and at the plate. I rushed him a bit last season, so I took a step back and let Jordan spend his whole season in Mobile. I wanted him and Billy Hunter to get used to playing together, as I envision that as our future middle infield. Jordan is more then talented enough to play short, but posted an incredible +14 zone rating and 1.065 efficiency at second despite just 30 games prior at the keystone. He didn't hit for a very high average, but had a productive .266/.338/.448 (106 OPS+) batting line to go with 36 doubles, 18 triples, 8 homers, 25 steals, and 74 RBI's in one less then 600 plate appearances. His speed and defense are elite, but sometimes he's a little too aggressive at the plate which leads to a lot of poor contact. Very few swings and misses, and he's started to walk more then he strikes out, but the tiny 5'7, 145 pound Jordan is extremely gifted in baseball skills. If his parents were a bit taller, maybe his name would be in the same sentence as Billy Hunter.

RHP Harry Parker (56th Overall)
Acquired: Via Draft: 7th Round, 108th Overall (1934)
Alma Mater: Bushwick Tigers

I feel like I talk about him all the time, but Harry Parker is the reason I enjoy spending so much time sorting through draft eligible players. I probably reached taking him in the 7th Rounder, he could have lasted much longer, but I am glad I didn't waste too many picks before I decided to take the 6'6'' complete game machine. He only had three starts this season less then 8 innings, and two of his three 8 inning starts were losses on the road. That means in his 24 starts, he finished 19 of them. 1933-1934 Tommy Wilcox, is that you? Did you come back disguised as Harry Parker to give it a second chance? The timeline fits, Wilcox got hurt during the 1934 season, giving him enough time to transfer all of his pitching abilities to Parker in preparation for the 1935 season.

There are a lot of ways to analyze Parker, but let's start with the raw stats. In 15 starts with Lincoln, he was 10-3 with a 2.78 ERA (153 ERA+), 1.02 WHIP, 21 walks, and 66 strikeouts. Then in 9 starts in Mobile, he was 5-4 with a 3.09 ERA (148 ERA+), 1.10 WHIP, 19 walks, and 33 strikeouts. Technically, he did do worse after the promotion, but the 2.3 BB/9 and 3.9 K/9 are still then all of our pitchers including Dave Rankin. Not only that, despite the flyball tendencies that I guess is his only weakness, he's kept his HR/9 below 1 at each minor league stop so far. He's excellent at missing bats, for the most part maintains command of all six of his pitches, and is completely unrattled on the mound. Then on the tools side, he throws a commanding low 90s fastball while also mixing in a change, slider, splitter, curve, and cutter. Parker almost places the pitches where he wants them and will freeze hitters with his excellent stuff. It may be pushing it, but I want to see Harry starting games in Chicago next season. I haven't decided where he'll start, probably Mobile for a few more starts, but one thing is for sure: Harry Parker is not leaving our organization for a very long time.

RHP Bill Scott (56th Overall)
Acquired: Via Draft: 7th Round, 111th Overall (1933)
Alma Mater: Holyoke HS Oaks

Note to self: the 7th round is for pitchers. A year before Parker was Bill Scott who I sort of lucked into. Don't get me wrong, I scouted him a ton and did like him, but when I selected Scott I wasn't thinking "this kid is going to be a stud" like I did with Parker. I thought "pitcher, he's added velocity, and nice high school numbers, definitely worth a shot." I felt the 1933 class was very weak (looks like I was right), and you can tell that by how I ended my draft post:

"I'm just waiting on my 1st, 2nd, and 4th rounders. None of the other scrubs are any good, and I really only expect Barnard to crack our top 30."

Well, I was a little wrong. Barnard never cracked our top 30 (and never played a game in our organization) while Tommy Wilson actually did (top 100 prospect now and he's a total stud), but since he was our 2nd Rounder he wasn't really grouped into the "scrubs" category. No third or fifth round pick and other then Scott and I guess Nate Doane, a whole lot of nothing came out of this class, so I guess it makes sense Scott blossomed.

In stats only there are a lot of mysteries, but I still don't quite understand Bill Scott. Not just his meteoric rise through our system, but how he seemingly can continuously throw faster (seven velocity bumps since 1932 including three this year) then he did before. Where we are at right now, the righty comfortably throws in the middle to high 90s with an unhittable fastball. His curveball is almost as good, but his third pitch, the slider, is more of an after thought. Originally I thought this could stop him from developing into a starter, but the slider is passable enough with the two potentially elite pitches. In fact, I was so convinced he wasn't going to develop the slider, that his first two seasons he spent a little more then half of his appearances out of the pen. That changed this season where he started all 11 of his La Crosse appearances and all 6 of his San Jose appearances before a strained forearm ended his season a month early. The results were okay, actually better in San Jose, but Scott is one of the few players in my organization I am at a loss with. Like Bobby Mills, I've tried extremely hard to trade him, but had no success. In fact, I think before the 1936 deadline I offered Scott in nearly every trade that involved a pitcher leaving our organization since the prospect prognosticators started giving him some love. Now I think it's worth hanging on to him. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't hesitate to move him over Parker, Sullivan, Wallace, or Bryan, but I think I need to watch him grow. He'll turn 21 in a week and a half and my scout thinks he's going to end up our #2 right behind Cy.