[StLee]

Top 10

1-1 Roxbury - SP Nuke Laloosh

Skills: Why did the Beerthirty Sippers win the 2299 championship in the Boston Youth Development League? This guy! Laloosh finished a whopping 12-0 in 16 starts with a 0.29 ERA, striking out 238 batters while walking only 15 in 125.0 innings pitched. He already has five decent pitches that will only get better as he progresses. While he still needs to work more on trying to control movement and placement rather than blowing pitches past players or outright following them, he has plus potential in both movement and control. He can top out at around 96 MPH on his fastball. He has all the skills to be a star player in the CBO.

Personality: Laloosh is not only talented, but he is also cerebral and a hard-worker. He is never satisfied with his last game, working each day to do better than he did the game before. His coaches, including new Nordhagen Beach skipper and former Party Boys pitcher Matt Ballhawk Getman, have nothing but good words to say about him and where he can go with his baseball career.

1-2 County Crossing - CF Sharkey Lurkfodder

Skills: The first surprise of the draft since he was projected to go lower, the Bloodbugs love two things about Lurkfodder: speed and defense. He is fast and covers a lot of ground in the outfield, while also showing the ability to progress fluidly from base to base. He was highly successful with his bat in the BYDL, but he will need to show considerable improvement against much better pitching before he is CBO ready. He projects to be a purely pull hitter who could rack up a few homers each year, but he will want his contact to improve and find good pitches to swing at.

Personality: He is a focused player who puts his efforts into doing the right things on and off the field. He is intelligent and had a good grasp of learning new skills. New County Crossing GM Kyle Wolf mentioned him before in pre-draft talk that he could be a "diamond in the rough," which may not be the best choice for the Bloodbugs, but seems to fit into Wolf's GM philosophy of taking chances on players needing to develop their skills more.

1-3 Atom - 2B Rabbit Forest

Skills: Possessing a lot of potential as a future starter in the Cats' lineup, Forest is a good batter when it comes to putting the bat on the ball. He punishes fastball pitchers, but sometimes struggles on off-speed pitches since he is aggressive at the plate. He could be a steady .333 hitter in time. On the base paths, he is a threat to run a nab a base or two in any given game. He has good range defensively, but a weaker arm will mean he is bound to be a two-bagger unless he switches to the outfield.

Personality: He has a tendency to daydream on the field sometimes. He keeps his thoughts private, so he often does not tell what distracted him. Because he is soft-spoken, he will never be a team leader. However, he is highly loyal and will stand up for his teammates and offer encouragement to them.

1-4 Easy Town - SS Rick Rolled

Skills: Easily one of the top potential guys in the draft, Rolled could be a star player hitting for .333 per year, or he could be a lifetime .200 hitter. He will not hit for home runs with his one in the BYDL coming on an inside-the-park home run that happened when two outfielders collided. He is not very fast, so he is not much of a base-stealing threat, but he covers space well on defense. His defense is solid, which could push him into the CBO as a defensive replacement early in his career, but the Assaultrons would be better served to let him develop naturally a few seasons at Taffington Boathouse.

Personality: He is not considered to have a strong personality, but he will never give up his teammates. He will never let them down. He will never run around and desert them. He will never make them cry or say goodbye, will never tell a lie or hurt them.

1-5 Warwick - RF Delmarva Illeracula

Skills: Talented ball player, should be an all-around good hitter: average, power, slugging. Once he develops fully, will be a middle-of-the-lineup hitter for his team. Needs to develop his defensive skills more. Will play because he can hit, but will not help much on defense from his corner outfield position. Could even become a 1B in time.

Personality: There is not much to say about Illeracula. He lacks an edge that could hamper his development. Overall, he is neutral: not a leader nor follower, not overly enthusiastic or listless, not excited nor depressed by successes or failures.

1-6 Finch Farm - SS Pipe Wallcrawler

Skills: Younger brother of FHE's Hose Wallcrawler, Pipe shows similar skills to his brother, which will serve him well in his CBO pursuits. He is a good defensive player and a talented baserunner today, which could already put him in the mix to play if his bat did not need much more development. He was a successful hitter in the BYDL, hitting for over .400, but that is not necessarily the same as the BMU or CBO. His best feature is that he has a good eye, which helps him wait for the right pitch and let the bad ones go. However, he does not always punish pitchers for bad pitches, tending to pop up a lot of balls. What he can do, especially from the left side of the plate when he faces righties, is to drop down a bunt and beat it out for a single. That may be his greatest value in being a top of the lineup hitter.

Personality: Had a lot of coaching from his brother as a young player so tends to respond with "I know" a lot when being coached. That can be off-putting to a coach trying to break bad habits. He is graded low in adaptability, so he may not develop as rapidly as some of the other players in the Top 10. He is a health freak, though, and will do what it takes to be in top shape when it comes time to play ball. That should help him avoid injuries on the next level.

1-7 Concord - 1B Jackie Shepherd

Skills: Concord may have drafted the steal of the Top 10 in Shepherd with the 7th pick. He is big and strong and can rip the cover off the ball, though he is sometimes not patient with off-speed pitches. He almost always puts a curveball over the fence . . . in foul territory. If he practices sitting on pitches more, he has the potential to be a 30-HR hitter in the CBO. He also can produce lots of doubles, but he is too slow to ever leg those out for triples. He also does not strike out very much, which makes him a middle-of-the-lineup gem from day one with the College Square Nerd Ragers.

Personality: A captain in the making. He possesses strong leadership ability, the ability to adapt in any situation, and a strong work ethic. If he were stranded on an island with a bunch of survivors, he would become the island's leader on day one. He leads by example, but still works as hard as anyone else to improve. He just needs to watch out that success does not get to his head.

1-8 Sunshine Tidings - 1B Duncan MacCready

Skills: Son of Diamond City mayor Robert MacCready, Duncan is slotted at 1B because he is raw defensively. However, he has a talented swing that could make him a future middle-of-the-lineup hitter. Even though he has good power, he is most impressive with his ability to hit anywhere around the plate, even finding ways to turn inside pitches into base hits. In situations where the wind is blowing out, look for him to have multiple HR games.

Personality: Not exactly the same as his father, at least not yet. A childhood illness has made him more of a reserved person. Still, he possesses great mental fortitude and can handle any pressure situation. Does not fold when a game is on the line or if a deathclaw is roaring right in front of him. Actively recruited by the Brotherhood of Steel to be a foot soldier because of that personality.

1-9 FHE - SS Wolf McQuaid

Skills: May not be the best overall hitter, but he is a power-hitting shortstop, which gives him good value. He waits for pitchers to make mistakes and then punishes them for those mistakes. He is all action, little rest, on the field. He exhibits great hand-eye coordination with both the glove and bat, making him a defensive gem that could eventually challenge star SS Hose Wallcrawler.

Personality: Despite his good attributes, McQuaid is a gung-ho, balls out kind of personality on and off the field. While that can be positive on the field, his personality can get him in trouble off it. He is likely to wrestle a Yao Guai if that is what he needs to do, which is fitting with him being drafted by the Yao Guai. It's his style and he is not willing to change, which could stress out his coaches on off days and the off-season.

1-10 Egret - 1B Silvam Fourteen

Skills: A powerful guy, Fourteen is swing for the fence or die trying when it comes to his plate discipline. He can show signs of having a good eye, but we will probably not hit high for average, while his Slugging Pct may be a plus for his team. That makes him similar to Nordhagen Beach's Dustin Mart in terms of his style. That could be good if he bats .250 in a year, but he may be closer to a .200/30/90 type hitter. His best value would be to improve his swinging style, something Somerville Place hitting coach Perky Perkins is not know for doing. May not be on the right franchise for his potential development needs.

Personality: Extremely self-confident and unwavering once he takes a position. He is extremely loyal to friends and will defend them and fight for them regardless of the situation. Does not ask anything of others and will be content with whatever salary he draws in both the BMU and CBO.


Nordhagen Beach

Draft Grade: B-

Analysis: Much-improved draft from a year ago, the Party Boys probably hit on their first three picks: Mattingley, Koontz, and Syzmanski. All three could be future contributors to the CBO club, making them good value at each pick. Their 3rd-round pick, Lindstrom, could also be a solid pick, but time will definitely tell for him. Their 4th-round pick is probably going nowhere, and they had no 5th-round pick, so they did not add a ton of depth in Greentop Nursery.

Rd 1 (#21) - 3B Donn Mattingley

Skills: Started at 1B in the BYDL but quickly showed that he had a strong arm. Tried at pitcher but ultimately settled at 3B where he will be a potential Corvega Top Defenders Award winner, which will be useful for the Party Boys if Dirty Dog Sapienza proves not to be the right replacement for 31-year-old Jon Hitman. He may never develop as a great hitting 3B overall, but he has plus-potential power and the ability to work the count. Like a lot of power hitters, he has the attitude that he should hit a home run every at bat rather than adjusting for the situation.

Personality: Likes to play, hates to practice. If the arrival time is 2:00, he arrives at 2:00. Leaves the field right after. Coaches question his work ethic because he doesn't do the extras that could make him a star. Seems to be content to be good, not great, which contributed to a late-1st round pick. Not cerebral, but saved on the field by good natural reflexes.

Rd 2 (#12) - SP Odd Thomas Koontz

Skills: A finesse pitcher, Koontz does not have impressive speed but he does have an array of effective off-speed pitches: curveball, slider, and circle change. His fastball can hit the low-90s, but those 75-80 MPH pitches earn him a fair share of strikeouts. If he improves his command, he could be a 1 or 2 starter.

Personality: Fits in with the crowd. Does not have high expectations of others, which makes him easy to work with. Not great at changing up motion or stride when coached to do so, so he will need to develop in some other way.

Rd 2 (#22) - SS Bast Syzmanski

Skills: Because of his speed and defense, he is rated highly. However, his bat is likely to be a nuisance for any coach who wants to play him. Not rated to be a great hitter, so hoping for him to be a .200 hitter and batting 8th, while helping to generate the occasional run and turning double plays is his best bet for success in the CBO.

Personality: Enjoys his teammates and being part of a team. Not an outgoing personality, but not shy either. Will work with his second baseman and first baseman to refine double play chances. Coaches say he is all about baseball.

Rd 3 (#22) - SP Cosen Lindstrom

Skills: An intriguing pick at this spot, Lindstrom is probably bound for the bullpen where he could be effective. Really a two-pitch pitcher--fastball and curveball--but he worked on his slider more this season with the Yahoos in the BYDL, which made him more effective as a pitcher. Does not tend to go deep into games, so he needs to work on stamina or prepare himself for a 3 innings max session out of the bullpen. Like Koontz, a finesse pitcher, which seems to be the type of pitcher Nordhagen Beach is pursuing. His fastball tops out at around 89 MPH. If he converts to a reliever, could eventually become the leader of the middle relievers.

Personality: Plans and leads with attention to detail. Wants to be counted on in any situation. Teammates love his enthusiasm and willingness to take on a leadership role. Comes out every day looking to work and improve.

Rd 4 (#22) - SP Jose Corona

Skills: Selected right around the place where any pick has to show tremendous improvement to ever make the CBO. Lefty who relies on batters making mistakes more than his ability to blow the ball past anyone. His fastball is his weakest of his three pitches, topping out at 87. He has decent control and would need to improve his curveball and slider movement a lot before he could hope to be a CBO-level pitcher. Likely a lifetime minor-leaguer.

Personality: Not quick to form an opinion on anything, including what coaches think about his motion. Lacks some adaptability, which is likely to hold back his development. Could use some maturing.

Fort Hagen

Draft Grade: C

Analysis: Only four picks, so depth is an issue. However, three of their four picks were good value: Pitt, Siwel, and Shotgunhoarder. Shotgunhoarder helped move this draft from a C- or D to a C/C+. Could have found better value with their 3rd-round pick--SP Cosen Lindstrom or SP Wylee C. Yotay. No 4th-round pick. Fort Hagen is a stacked team talent-wise, so all players are for the far rather than near future. Still, may want to hoard picks for the next couple of years to improve overall depth at C.I. T. Ruins.

Rd 1 (#23) - 3B Beyemeff Pitt

Skills: Could develop as an infielder or outfielder. Has decent range and instincts, even though he is not a fast runner. Has the range and arm strength to be a shortstop but makes too many errors, so more likely a corner infielder or right fielder. Shows good overall bat skills, able to hit to any field with power. Could be a .300/20/60 type of hitter if he hits on all cylinders. Will not strike out a lot.

Personality: Not an assuming person. Will naturally trust his teammates to do their jobs, so he plays his positions by the book, expecting players to hit the proper cutoff man and make the proper adjustments. Loyal to his team and teammates, made him a well-like player by South Charles Bank. Doesn't care about caps or finances.

Rd 2 (#21) - CF Lewis Siwel

Skills: A good pick at this spot, Siwel sees the ball well and can drive the ball out of the park. Like Pitt, he shows power to all fields, which looks like a skill the Silver Shroud wants in its young players. If he can develop making good contact, he could be a middle-of-the-lineup centerfielder, which could mean he is a potential star player. Needs to learn to better anticipate balls in the outfield, especially line drives, which he tends to overrun when hit right at him. May have to settle in at RF because of his poor outfielder's eye, though he can get to the ball fast and throw out aggressive runners.

Personality: Battles with comprehending game mechanics, like his tendency to make the same mistakes in the outfield. However, he completes his drills well and does great when a coach is standing next to him. He works hard to be a good player but some of his intelligence problems makes it hard for him to understand nuances of the game. BYDL coaches taught him to zip the ball to 2B when he had problems understanding the purpose of a cutoff man.

Rd 3 (#21) - SP Hard Cohen

Skills: Cohen has three pitches with his changeup being his most dominant when he can get batters in a two-strike count. Exhibits some control problems. If he can overcome those problems--walks and wild pitches--then he has the potential to develop into anywhere from a 4th starter to a closer in the pitching rotation. Will probably take some time to get to the CBO, if ever.

Personality: Has good ideas and loves to share them. Teammates are drawn to his personality, which makes him a team leader. Could have a future as a coach if the CBO does not work out for him.

Rd 5 (#9) - 2B Davis Shotgunhoarder

Skills: A great value pick at this spot, Shotgunhoarder could be the type of player that develops into a solid career guy. Somewhat surprising he went this low. He is a jack of all trades, master of none type. He has decent potential to hit for average but he doesn't have a whole lot of pop on his bat. If he develops his bat, he could be a .250 hitter batting in the bottom of the lineup. He does have decent speed, but he is not confident on the bases. That is something he needs to work on. He does use his speed to get to balls in a hurry. He is an OK defender, but will never be in the top tier of defensive players. Because of range but average arm skills, likely to be a career two-bagger.

Personality: Enthusiastic and well-prepared before and during games. He is a rare breed who likes to study pitcher and hitter tendencies, allowing him to be ready in different situations. Adapts well to the flow of the game. Has a tendency to ask for a lot of favors, which did lead to some tensions among his teammates. Always looking for someone else to pay for him even when he has caps on him.