[Westheim]

The draft pool consisted of 288 players this year, enough for 12 rounds, since the supplemental round encompassed 43 picks this time. The Raccoons had forfeited their second, third, and fourth round picks with their offseason buying spree, and would have the #6 and #30 (or #7 and #31?) picks. (I am unsure how the game will sort out their tied record with the Loggers in ’82. Their next pick would not come until #141, so it was unlikely we’d get more than two worthwhile players.

If any, of course, our last few first round picks had been shots in the foot:
1980 – SP Carlos Gonzalez: 1-4, 5.29 ERA @ AA
1981 – 3B/2B Orlando Lantán: .234, 6 HR, 25 RBI @ AA
1982 – LF/RF Alejandro Lopez: .230, 2 HR, 11 RBI @ A

For some strange reason, quite a few of the most interesting fielders were catchers, but the occasional outfielder was in there. The best pitchers were all relievers, although there might be some that could be converted to starters. There was not a single guy in there that immediately slapped you in the face and screamed to take him, at least in the eyes of my new scout.

OF Claudio Garcia probably stood out the most among the fielders, with a 18/12/18 projection, but there was also some Canadian catcher named John Fleury with a rumored 18/15/19 bat and high accolades for his work behind the plate.

Among a group of four or five pitchers the two most likely star starters (if any) were Scott Wade (17/15/14) and Christian Whitney (18/12/10). But since the Raccoons picked sixth (or seventh), it was entirely likely that all of those four mentioned here would be gone by then.