[DD Martin]

The Off-Season Continues

So there was a tremendous amount of work to do once we got into town. We had over 250 players in the organization and had room for around 155. Almost 100 players to release. Unfortunately my scout the venerable John Spears who has been in Brooklyn for years didn't seem to have much in the way of notes (a bug in ootp that when an online league changes GM's the scout suddenly becomes dumb on all talent he has been scouting. In organization and out).

It even got so bad that in the 6th round of the Rule 5 draft we drafted our own player (So my bad on that as I clearly wasn't paying attention but the blame goes to SD Spears who clearly didn't review the list he gave me). More on the Rule 5 draft later.

So the first order of business was to review my 40-man roster. In all we released almost half (19) including releasing last year's starting SS Otto Deal (33) who hit 206 last season. We quickly filled up that roster with returning players from the war and other had 6 spots open for the Rule 5 draft.

While I can list the players we DFA, the names won't mean much so I'm not going to take the time. It was a hodge podge of aging veterans and lackluster talent brought in to tide things over until the real boys came back from the war.

Rule 5 Draft

We lost one player in the Rule 5 that we seriously considered keeping. Looking back on it I wish we had protected him but we have a glut of OF prospects. While LF Elmer Wands (24) is only ranked by the OSA at (#566), our scout and even the OSA like his ability. Although our scout wasn't completely confident in his assessment. We also "lost" P Willie Gonzalez Jr. but since we were the ones that drafted him in the 6th round I guess it was a wash. We wanted him enough to draft him so adding him to the 40-man roster wasn't that big of a deal. Maybe if I "release" him he will go back to us and we can put him in AAA. Although Manager Tom Barrell really likes him and might even start him....hmmmm

So players from outside our organization that we drafted....

1.) In the first round we took OF/1B John Beaver (22) from the NY Gothams. Beaver was completely blocked with the hitter rich Gothams and for me was a no brainer of a pick. Our SD John Spears didn't have much in the way of notes but did say "he's would be a reliable hitter in the grand scheme". OSA was a little more detailed stating that he should be able to draw a lot of walks and be one of the best at working the count. Only occasionally can he get completely fooled by offspeed stuff. Beaver projects to be an above average big league OF". Beaver is the #102 ranked prospect in the FABL.

2.) In the 2nd round we went for a position of need in my opinion. So we selected C Frank Reichardt (22) from the Montreal Saints organization. Scouting feels that "he has an elite eye and should someday lead the league in walks (we will be a walk happy group I guess). He has a high ceiling and projects well on the field and at the plate." With praise like that he will be our backup C and if we keep 3 he will learn to play 1B some this spring and maybe even see if he can play LF.

3.) In the 3rd round we took a chance on a P. Not the pitcher that we first wanted as they were taken by another club, but someone who could someday be a back of the rotation SP. The newest member of the King's is SP Jack Brown (22) from the Philadelphia Keystones. The key note for us was that scouts think his stuff can become "elite" a word we like to hear about pitchers and after he fully matures he can be a potential #4 SP.

4.) In the 4th round we took a player who was in my old team's system as we selected from Detroit, RF Willard Blair (23). He was recently signed to a minor league deal but I felt as a former 5th round pick who was drafted by the military right after he was drafted by Cleveland, that he had some upside. He is only rated as #465 by OSA on its prospect list but he has a shot. He has tremendous raw potential but he needs to work hard to translate that talent into a reality to become a big leaguer. We will give him a chance this spring but I'd say his odds are 50/50 on sticking with us.

5.) Finally in the 5th round we selected SS Phil Gratz (26). Gratz fills a position that I feel we needed help in and as is something I often do he has great character and is a natural leader. Scouting says that he "provides well above average defense, runs well and aggressively. Projects to be a patient hitter with good discipline and should be an average big leaguer.

Most years you don't find starters in the Rule 5 draft but this year there was a lot of potential talent available and I feel we got at least 2 starters, 2 others that have potential to be solid players and a 5th guy who has a chance and that we might elect to keep. Of course that is all speculation and we will see what happens on the field this spring.

Trade news

With our needs at 3B and 2B we quickly were in search of talent. We were tempted to sign 37 year old 3B Larry Colaianni, formerly of Washington to a deal. The sticking point were several. 1.) as mentioned he's 37 and wouldn't be a long term solution. 2.) He wanted $65,000 as a free agent to sign. This would have made him the highest paid player in the FABL ahead of multiple time Whitney Award Winner Bobby Barrell who makes $61,250. With our youth movement in full swing, I decided that Colaianni was not a fit, although we could afford to sign him.

The player I really would have wanted was former Detroit Dynamo SS/2B Hank Grant. When I left Detroit there was no way I was releasing him. I had youngsters ready to take over but Grant would have found a spot somewhere. But with penny pinching tightwad owner Powell Thompson not having a very good budget despite all the progress we had made on season ticket sales before I left I am sure the new GM felt he needed to create budget space. If we had known that Grant was available we would have traded for him quickly, but instead he was gobbled up the Outlaw Western League. Back to the drawing board.

So we traded with Toronto a CF prospect Wally Boyer (20 #202) for veteran 3B/2B Joe Bell (30). It is a position we feel we need some competition for and while I am not convinced that Bell is the long term answer, or even the short term one, we had enough OF prospect depth to take a shot. Bell hit a respectable 284/365/824 with 3 home runs and 13 RBI's in limited action last season (109 AB's). We hope he gets more playing time and our assessment is he should be a league average sort of player.

While I do not feel that we will contend this year for the CA pennant, I want us to be as competitive as possible and get as many lottery balls as we can for the 1947 draft.

Speaking of drafts, we are very close to having the 1946 draft. While my current (for now) SD John Spears doesn't look prepared I will say that I am prepared for the draft. I have laid out what I expect from Spears going forward and he is a very capable SD so I don't feel we will have these problems again. But this year this draft is fully on me.