[JayW UK]

The 2014 Inaugural and Amateur Drafts

New Orleans won the lottery and the honour of picking first overall in the Inaugural Player Draft, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Washington and Seattle rounded out the top 5. In a slightly surprising move, the Blues selected 28-year-old Andrew Parker. The speedy, big hitting Outfielder was projected by most scouts as a possible top 10 talent, but no-one expected him to be drafted in the top 5, let alone first overall. One of the two players expected to be drafted first was Kevin Jones, the Los Angeles native was picked up 2nd by the Lynx which was a match made in heaven. As, if the rumours were to be believed, he would only play for his hometown club and if drafted by any other club, would have refused to sign his contract. The other player in the conversation for 1st overall selection was 25-year-old, big hitting first baseman Gabriel Mendez, Atlanta were over the moon he was still there at pick number three. Washington chose Tulsa native Ben Douglas next, he projected as a power hitting outfielder with a good eye who would find a way to get on base, his only weakness was defense which was average at best. Seattle picked Alberto Ruiz the consensus best Catcher, fifth overall, the 28-year-old possessed a big bat to go with his talents behind the plate. The first pitcher drafted was Ron Titley, taken 6th overall by Phoenix, the 28-year-old was a surprise to be the first pitcher taken as most scouts projected him to be a late first to early second round pick. A trio of outfielders, Francisco Martinez (CHI), Juan Santos (PHI) Charlie May (IND) and power pitcher Ed Hudson (NY) rounded out the top ten. Kansas City picked up Pitcher Jose Salinas 11th while Outfielder Al Keith went 12th to San Diego, Power hitting first baseman Tony Diaz was tabbed by Dallas 13th. Strikeout kings, pitchers Alfredo Flores (SF) and Anthony Barrett (MIN) went next, before Houston grabbed outfielder Richard Bean, a defensive standout, with the 16th pick. Robin Ashburn became the second catcher taken when he was drafted 17th by Las Vegas. Three third basemen were taken in a row, Terry Lambright (TB), Carlos Martinez (BOS) and Alberto Ortiz (CLE) before Denver grabbed High Contact hitter and speedster Marcus Witt with the 21st Overall pick. Detroit got their man in outfielder Mitchell Hendrickson 22nd, before pitchers Jose Flores (OKC) and David Rocha (MIA) were taken to close out the first round.
Other notable players picked included, Speedy second baseman Roy Kennelly (CHI), Knuckleball pitcher Vince Little by Atlanta and Slugging first baseman Albert Massey by Houston, all in the second round. Atlanta also picked up a gem in the third when they drafted LF Claudio Ortiz. Detroit snagged pitchers Lou Murphy (4th) Benedict Lewis (6th) and dominant closer Min-Jae Choi in the 16th round, they also grabbed OF Jarred Cross (10th) and 3B Brandon Bowman (12th). Indianapolis picked up two quality infielders from the Domincan Republic, 3B Luis Sanchez in the third round and SS Vicente Padilla in the fifth. Denver took versatile 1B/OF Steve Wolfe in the fourth while New Orleans drafted pitcher Zander Pace in the same round. Sanfrancisco picked up outfielder Warren Dyer in the fifth-round while Oklahoma City grabbed pitcher Juan Delgado also in the 5th then found OF Benjamin Wetherby in the 8th. Boston secured the services of catcher Jack Epps in the second, then waited until the sixth to grab 1B Sergio Woods while future team mate OF Larry Petersen lasted until the tenth round where New York ended his wait. Las Vegas picked up their ‘Ace’ pitcher in the third when they took Isreal Beasley, they also tabbed dominant closer Stephen Davis in the 11th. Indianapolis picked up closer Richard Bridgewater in the 13th and Minneapolis waited until the 19th round to claim their own closer, Jonathan Fliehman.

As February turned to March, all eyes turned to the amateur draft. The 2014 draft pool was a strong one, led by a trio of college pitchers (including SEC foes Ray Ware and A.J Merriweather) and a couple of quality High School position players. Sitting at the top of the pile, head and shoulders above the rest, was a player that scouts universally agreed was a “can’t miss” prospect. The kind of player you build a team around, he possessed a power bat, hit for high average (potential .330+) and had a discerning eye (although didn’t draw enough walks for some scouts). His defense was average but he was very intelligent and coachable, in short, he was everything a team wanted in a franchise player. His name was Dixon Bodean.
Kansas City, having won the lottery for the right to pick first, drafted the 18-year-old Bodean No1 overall agreeing swiftly to a hefty $11.4M signing bonus. Denver snapped up 22-year-old college pitching prospect from Florida, Ray Ware, he possessed a power arm and good control to go with it. Ware signed for $8.6M. High School pitcher Reed Bush was picked next by Minneapolis while Oklahoma City bolstered their farm system with college pitcher A.J Merriweather from Alabama. Dallas and Houston picking 5th and 6th couldn’t agree terms with their draft picks, who both returned to school for another year. Twenty-year-old Bill Smith, a slick fielding first baseman from Tampa College was taken next by Phoenix while High school Shortstop Tim Calhoun went 8th to Las Vegas. It was a surprise that California pitcher, Tom Petzinger was still on the board when San Diego picked, and they wasted little time in selecting him, while 23-year-old second baseman Michael Fleming, a team mate of Ray Ware at Florida, went 10th to Sanfrancisco.