BNN Weekly Report
This Week in the CBO, BMU, GBRL, and Youth Leagues
by Nat Wright-Kawolski
4 November 2305
CBO Draft to Change for 2305
CBO Interim Commissioner Jimmy LaRue announced today that tomorrow's Rookie Draft will be expanded to 15 rounds with the addition of the new Massachusetts Minor League joining the CBO.
According to LaRue, the minimum number of rounds in 2306 will be at least 10 or, but 15 will be the rule for this season. The 15 rounds will be the second longest draft since the 2296 Inaugural Draft that went 27 rounds. For the 2305 Rookie Draft, 412 youth league players have been made eligible from the BYDL, CCYL, and PJPL leagues.
Goodneighbor is expected to take CF Hondo Ohnaka (West Seekonk of PJPL) as first overall. He is expected to be followed in the top five by Chatham's (CCYL) LF Handel Alone (Quincy), Hester's (BYDL) C Kinsella Birdwatcher (The Slog), West Dennis' (CCYL) 1B Ani Waalk (Fort Hagen), and West Dennis' (CCYL) RF Pogo Cliffhanger (Bunker Hill). SP Pokey Chatman (Pawtucket, PJPL) is expected to be the first pitcher taken by Fort Hagen at #10 overall. The Silver Shroud acquired the 10th pick from Spectacle Island in a trade that sent C Stuart Constantino, a 2nd-round pick, a 3rd-round pick, and a 5th-round pick to the Reapers for the 1st-round pick, 1B Mark Brinetea, and P Junkyard Gourd.
The OSA 1st-Round Mock Draft is included at the end of this article.
LaRue also spoke more on the planned expansion of the CBO, stating that 2308 would be the ideal time but that 2309 or 2310 seemed more likely to correlate with finished Metro lines and stadium constructions. He also noted that the league would not expand until all four major league stadiums were completed and ready for full capacity. It is of note that three new stadiums are under construction in Goodneighbor, Vault 95, and Cambridge. Some other stadiums have been partially expanded with overall CBO-ready sizes in Abernathy, Graygarden, Malden, Nahant, and Warwick.
At this time, neither Abernathy nor Warwick is expected to rejoin the CBO due to low populations in those settlements. Finch Farm is also under financial stress and cannot match the revenue that larger farm settlements like The Slog and Sunshine Tidings have been able to garner. The Four Leafs franchise petitioned to have all of their minor league teams close to Finch Farm to cut costs of scouting and staffing for those teams. In 2306, the Leafs minor league affiliates will be the Nahant Shoremen (MML), Clifton Vertibirds (BMU), and Taffington Boathouse Spy Hunters (GBRL). All three of those teams are located in the northeast quadrant.
OSA Mock Draft