The rolling nature of the annual six-round Rookie Draft is another unique feature of the Otis Association. In each decade, six of the Drafts heavily favour the Penthouse League; three – those in years ending in 3, 6 and 9 – the Skylobby League; while the rollover years – those ending in 0 – give the Basement League a chance to procure some quality players, perhaps even an out-and-out gun or two.
With all of the movement from level to level and the seedings based on the results from the previous season, this means that luck can play a huge part. You can catch a break and get a nice run of high picks or exactly the opposite. Or, as is the case with us here, you can get a bit of both.
For this 1989 Draft, with our seeding derived from when we were in the Skylobby League, we have the 9th, 12th, 29th, 32nd, 50th and 72nd selections. But we better use them wisely, because next year our picks are much less favourably positioned – the 101st, 130th, 141st, 160th, 161st, and dead last 180th – and the three subsequent to it aren’t much better unless we move up the hierarchy.
We have a fairly solid squad, especially for the bottom rung, but are in dire need of quality at both IF corners. Redressing this is our number one drafting priority.
With our list of preferred players drawn up, we get into it.
None of those we are interested in are taken by the time our first pick rolls around, and after some final deliberation, we go with
Vic Ramirez, a high-contact hitter with OK pop who is only OK on D but plays the corners in both the IF and OF.
Once again, the gods are kind to us and none of our wants are taken in the next two picks.
With our second selection, 12th overall, we opt for
Tim Torres, a rangy switch-hitter who offers the complete package and plays all four IF slots with average or better proficiency.
After a slightly longer wait for our next opportunity in which a couple of our guys going elsewhere, we call a last-minute audible and take OF
Denzel Clarke, a local boy who looks like he'll compete for batting titles if he delivers on his promise.
We take a bit of a gamble with our 4th pick, using it on two-way player
Michael Kmet. Scouting reports profile him as a strong enough hitter to be an everyday position player if the pitching goes awry, and it is on this basis that we form our judgement. At just 19, he's perhaps an investment in the club's future rather than an immediate solution. We'll have to wait and see.
We do want to grab a pitcher, but with the general tendency toward picking position players still in evidence, we decide to follow suit and select utility
James Rich with our next-to-last pick.
The final addition to our club is southpaw
Gerard Thomas. GT needs to tighten up his control and further develop his off-speed pitch, but still should prove a more than handy type for us over the oncoming years.
A really good Draft for our franchise.