[Westheim]

1992 AMATEUR DRAFT

The Raccoons had the 22nd pick in every round and two picks of 37 in the supplemental round. With about ten players topping our hotlist, we had an outside chance to get one.

Those players were SP Rafael Barbosa (12/20/16), SP Carl Bean (12/12/14), SP Clinton Kennedy (17/13/13), SP Anibal Sandoval (11/16/15), and MR Colin Dunlap (20/17/18) on the mound side, and 3B/2B Mark Hall (15/13/12), C/1B Luis Lopez (12/14/18), 2B Terry Sullivan (15/13/15), 3B Mike Crowe (16/12/18), and OF Luke Newton (18/6/19) on the plate side.

The Pittsburgh Miners had the first overall pick and selected SP Terry Wilson. He had been on our list, but only sixth or so among starting pitchers. Also on that list, but taken before our first pick, the guy ranking tops for classy names, SP Chang-bum O, who was taken 12th by the Stars. By the time our pick rolled around we were left choosing between SP Clinton Kennedy and OF Luke Newton. Six outfielders had been taken, but Newton, whom we had thought to top them all, remained? Hah. OSA wasn’t thinking much of Newton, but how much was I thinking of OSA?

1992 Portland Raccoons Draft Class

Round 1 (#22) – OF Luke Newton, 22, from Berthierville, Canada – great contact abilities, speed, range, defense, could be an elite leadoff hitter
Supp. Round (#43) – SP Clinton Kennedy, 20, from Dawson, GA – elite stuff, his nasty changeup potentially making him a front-end-of-rotation guy
Supp. Round (#57) – 3B Mike Crowe, 21, from Cleveland Heights, OH – projects as an elite slugger with enough of a glove to not hurt his team
Round 2 (#83) – 1B/LF/RF/3B Mark Kowalchuk, 18, from Cobourg, Canada – his only position of value may be first base, and whether his power will be enough? He’s certainly shown gap power so far, and he also has speed
Round 3 (#107) – SP Kokei Kondo, 21, from Sapporo, Japan – throws four pitches, all with great location, but lacks speed and real biting movement so far; as a left-hander, he could still become a reliever?`
Round 4 (#131) – C Jorge Chávez, 22, from Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep. – excellent defensive catcher, bat will have to pick up
Round 5 (#155) – RF/CF Joseph MacKellachie, 21, from Delray Beach, FL – agile runner and defender with a bat perhaps steady enough for a #2 spot in the lineup
Round 6 (#179) – C David Thompson, 17, from Middletown, NY – bat is not all bad, but since his catching abilities are only average, he will have to do the more with the stick, and so far has not shown any home run capabilities
Round 7 (#203) – SP Jose Cervantes, 20, from Jovellanos, Cuba – four pitches, slow fastball, much to work on here
Round 8 (#227) – LF/RF/1B Robinson Gonzalez, 20, from Valencia, Venezuela – speed and defense are there, now we have to slap that habit to swing at junk out of him
Round 9 (#251) – SP Raúl Flores, 21, from Puerto Plata, Dom. Rep. – not very impressive repertoire, he may have a hard time to impress anybody
Round 10 (#275) – CL Santiago Saucedo, 20, from Burbank, CA – left-hander with a nice circle change; might not close major league games
Round 11 (#299) – MR Alejandro Luna, 21, from San Francisco de Macoris, Dom. Rep. – has a curveball and his own glove
Round 12 (#323) – SP Jason Edgar, 17, from Chinle, AZ – four poor pitches, poor guy, looked so sorry among the leftovers we took him on

All players reported to A ball. Even Newton can use a little basic training. Especially since OSA was not fond of him. And 21 other teams. If he’s batting .184 in A ball, we’ll know why.