[Westheim]

2047 AMATEUR DRAFT

Me and my honey pot got some weird looks as I hustled into the draft room with Degenhardt barely on time. The league presidium eyed me annoyedly, the other GM’s mostly with bemusement. I coughed dramatically and called for order before being shushed and sent to my seat by Agnes, the ancient secretary / head viper of the league.

118 players in total had made this year’s shortlist, 48 of those pitchers and 70 batters. Yes, I said before that it was a pitchers pool, but the talent was in the quality, not necessarily the quantity. Just take a look at the hotlist (*high school player):

SP Kennedy Adkins (13/14/13)
SP Jamie Kempf (13/12/7) – BNN #7
SP Jeff Boyce (12/11/13) – BNN #5
SP Blake Sparks (14/15/10) * - BNN #4
SP Troy Henrikson (13/12/6) * - BNN #10
SP Josh Clem (10/15/11) * - BNN #1

CL Mike Snyder (15/13/13)

1B Jay Rogers (9/12/13) – BNN #2
1B Bill Joyner (15/13/8) * - BNN #6
1B Harry Ramsay (12/11/8) *

LF/RF/1B Aubrey Austin (10/10/17) – BNN #3
OF Jason Monson (10/16/14) – BNN #9

Any of those starters would make me happy, but we were not gonna pick until #21 and so the chances were less than “hell no”. Unless something was wrong with our scouting process, in which case I would have to hit that honey pot onto Pat Degendhardt’s head until it broke. Either one of it.

The hotlist thinned out quick. The Wolves took Blake Sparks to begin the draft, making him the first-overall selection. The Titans went for offense with Monson, while the Capitals grabbed Kenny Adkins. Jay Rogers to the Blue Sox at #4, followed by Kempf being made a Logger. The Aces took Aubrey Austin. The Pacifics at #7 made the first pick not from the hotlist, SP Ben Lussier. Henrikson went #9 to the Crusaders, Clem #11 to the Falcons, Joyner #12 to the Scorpions. The Wolves then struck again at #14, one of their three first-round picks, and took Boyce from me, too!

That left Snyder and Ramsay to mull over when our time to pick finally rolled around at #21. They were incomparable, naturally, but the selection was between a good-contact first baseman with power and a righty groundballer with good potential for real closer’s stuff. Picking a closer in the first round was frowned upon in some circles, but it’s not like the Coons had fared badly with the tactic at times (*cough* Grant West *cough*). We went for Snyder in the end, convinced by his devastating curve and cutter combo.

Because life sucks and nothing can bring us joy, the Thunder then selected Harry Ramsay with the #31 pick in the supplemental round. That was ONE pick ahead of the Coons’ compensation pick for Ryan Person. I annoyedly and loudly clonked onto the table with my honey pot, but it did not crack nor shatter. The table got a wobble, though.

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2047 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Round 1 (#21) – CL Mike Snyder, 21, from New York, NY – groundballer with a vicious cutter / curveball combo that should give hitters fits at every level
Supp. Round (#32) – OF Curtis Scholl, 20, from Connersville, IN – able defensive outfielder with good speed and strong base stealing aptitude that can hit for average and for some power.
Round 2 (#61) – SP Cameron Argenziano, 19, from Stony Point, NC – left-hander with three, maybe four pitches, throwing 89 with a groundball tendency. Surprisingly good control for that age, hopefully translates into even better control in the future.
Round 3 (#85) – SP Eric Reese, 19, from Encinitas, CA – another left-hander, this one with a quite good cutter / slider combo. The third pitch is a problem – not much of a changeup – but maybe he can dial it up a bit from 91 mph.
Round 4 (#109) – INF/RF Joe Boese, 18, from San Diego, CA – versatile infielder (although the arm’s the best bit) with good plate discipline and at least some power potential
Round 5 (#133) – C/1B Tyler Philipps, 20, from Lincolnia, VA – very good defensive catcher with great ability behind the plate and to lead the pitchers during the game. Unfortunately he hits and runs like such a very good defensive catcher…
Round 6 (#157) – LF/RF Jeff Kjar, 21, from Bardstown, KY – left-hander with power potential; now, everything else needed work, but that power potential was really interesting… might wiggle through as so-so corner outfielder with a .240 batting average.
Round 7 (#181) – SP Jesse McGuire, 18, from Somerset, MA – left-hander with a swooping curve, but throws his fastball dea straight at 88;
Round 8 (#205) – OF Dustin Nudel, 18, from Kansas City, MO – wide-ranging, speedy outfielder with more of a singles bat, if anything.
Round 9 (#229) – 1B Mitch Lapp, 19, from Irondequoit, NY – weird one, a defensive first baseman that can run and hits like a Gold Glove shortstop, and on top of that grabs every strikeout he can…
Round 10 (#253) – INF/CF Jarod Nardine, 18, from Sonora, CA – so, here is then a potential Gold Glove shortstop that also hits like one.
Round 11 (#277) – SP Bob Norwood, 19, from Meriden, CT – this year’s obligatory left-hander in this position throws 86 and has a curve and a change, which doesn’t amount to much stuff at all. He’s not missing, though!
Round 12 (#301) – LF/RF Bobby Aragundi, 18, from Ponce, Puerto Rico – corner outfielder with limited range and no power
Round 13 (#325) – SP Eric Resek, 19, from South Hadley, MA – right-hander throwing 86 with no control whatsoever; can maybe employed to scare opposing batters, who duck a lot when he’s on the mound.

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There were not that many players released at draft time this year; the system was not quite as well stocked even by numbers this year, and we had quite a few injuries even in the minors. Before draft day, there had been only 81 actives between the three minor league teams.

Some, however, had to go. Like OF Ben Finegold, an eighth-rounder in 2041, who had spent the last seven years hitting nothing at every minor league level and at 28 years old had to breathe somebody else’s oxygen. At the bottom of the system we parted with LF/RF Aaron Weyrick, a 12th-rounder, and just a scant few more that had been washed in as scouting discoveries or out of other people’s discard piles.