[ayaghmour2]

Happy FABL New Year! I was a little busy tonight, and celebrated by putting together a pair of trade with a pair of Federal Association teams. I was looking to trim my 40-man roster a little, and was able to pick up two draft picks and three prospects. The cost was our 2nd and 4th Round selections from the 1931 draft, a pair of youngsters who have already debuted in the big leagues. None were in our plans this year, and if we wanted to option them, it would be their third and final one, so I saved myself a potential roster crunch next offseason as I know I'll need more 40-man spots during the season if I want to bring up one of my top prospects like Del Burns or Juan Pomales.

The first move was a trade with one of my most frequent trading partners, the New York Gothams. I feel like we have a trade or three with them each season, and this is our second of the offseason as we sent Sam Hodge there for Willie Gonzalez Jr. We sent them another young pitcher, this time John Hartz, for a 5th Round Pick and southpaw Ray Wilcox. Based on name alone, Wilcox was a target of mine in the 1936 draft, but my scout wasn't the biggest fan of him and I decided not to take him in the human portion. The Gothams grabbed him in the 12th Round, and the 23-year-old has done a lot of traveling. In 1937 he had stops at all five minor league levels, with stops between 2 and 9 games. His longest stop was 65 innings in Class B, but he had an above average ERA+ at each stop other then AA. This year, however, he spent most of his season in A ball and made 18 starts. He was 7-9 with a 3.18 ERA (125 ERA+), 1.29 WHIP, 61 walks, and 48 strikeouts in 141.2 innings pitched. The Rochester native does have nice stuff, four quality pitches with a hard upper 90s cutter and a good changeup. His fastball is respectable as well, and he can drop in a splitter when needed. Wilcox isn't a top prospect by any means, but he checks in at 370. I don't think he'll turn into a top arm by any means, but he's got nice talent and it helps me free up a 40-man spot.

The other move was with the Pittsburgh Miners, who already added star centerfielder Pablo Reyes and left handed pitcher Karl Johnson in their quest to retake the Fed. It's not a move that will secure them the pennant, but they added the excellent glove of Roy Moore to their outfield for Jasper Wright, Ron Sexton, and a 7th Round Pick. Wright is a very interesting prospect, a 20th Round selection from 1935 that was lucky to not get cut after draft day or a 29 PA stint in his first pro year. Since then, however, he's had back-to-back seasons with 100+ starts and he flashed a lot of promise. He has the speed and defensive capabilities to man center, but also the glove and reaction time to play on the infield dirt as well. Weinstock thinks he's got the tools to stick in center, but I'd love to work on his versatility. I imagine he can handle left and right easily, and I'll likely give him a game or two at third or second. He could work as a 9th man (probably in San Jose) like a Tip Harrison, spelling the starters at the other eight spots. I love his eye, love his wheels, and he's looked to develop a little gap power as well. He had 20 doubles and 17 triples this season, and while all seven of his homers came in 90 games in C ball, the power could come with age like it did for Carlos Montes. Wright reminds me a lot of him, and while he may not have the obvious upside Montes did, he could force his way into our lineup. Another guy towards the back of the prospect lists, he ranks right outside the top 300 at 305.

Sexton, just 18, was the Miners 5th Round selection in the most recent drat. He split time between Jackson and Spokane, but he seemed to be overmatched in Class B. He made 10 starts and was 2-5 with a 7.35 ERA (60 ERA+), 1.90 WHIP, 31 walks, and 16 strikeouts. This was nothing like his first six starts, where he was a perfect 4-0 with a 1.84 ERA (241 ERA+), 0.94 WHIP, 10 walks, and 15 strikeouts. I think I'll let him start in La Crosse, and since he'll be 19 next August, he may spend all season with the Lions. The lanky 6'2'' righty sits comfortably in the 89-91 range, but his four pitches aren't anywhere near their peak. He has been adding speed, 86-88 on draft day, and he seems to have a little more left. I like his slider, his newest pitch, but his stuff may be more Cy Sullivan then Harry Parker. He does well mixing his pitches, and his walks were much more controlled when he wasn't over matched. A big strikeout arm in high school, I'm hoping he can polish his stuff while he grows in our organization, and he could work his way up prospect lists as he ages. Right now he ranks 402nd in the league, but I can see him jumping into the top 200 by year's end, or of course, falling off the face of the earth like some teen pitchers do.

This was our fifth trade of the offseason, and while I expect it to be the last, I won't count anything out. We had to give up a lot of good prospects for Freddie Jones, and I really wanted to try to restock the system. I've stockpiled a few picks, so we're looking at five extra picks in the first 10 rounds. All of them are in the 4th-7th Rounds, and these are my favorite picks to have. Of course, everyone wants extras 1s and 2s, but we tend to have a pretty good track record with middle round picks like these. I don't expect every 5 to be Hank Stratton, every 6 to be Ducky Jordan and every 7 to be Harry Parker, but Phil English, Red Moore, or Reginald Westfall would work fine too. I didn't take anyone in the minor league draft today, and I expect the guy I want in the independent draft to be taken before me, so there might not be any news until Monday. The first part of the draft will be setup over the weekend, so hopefully we'll add three more Cougars on Monday and/or Tuesday. My scout doesn't love the class by any means, but I love his initial ten man list, as I'd be happy to get eight of those options with my first pick, with a ninth probably just someone I need to scout a bit more. It will be an interesting experience picking before the season stats are in, but having no mock draft definitely makes things more exciting.