[illeracula]

2019 First Overall Pick:
With the first pick on the 2019 First Player Draft the Virginia Beach Surf Dawgs have picked Shunen Koyama, out of the Univeristy of New Mexico. Shunen is a 20-year old CF with a 4* talent. He is fast (Speed: 13, Stealing: 15, Baserunning: 17), plays great outfield (LF: 18, CF: 12, RF: 17, Range: 15, Error: 14, Arm: 16) and should be a solid hitter in the future (Contact: 7/11, Gap: 10/14, HR: 6/12, Eye: 4/8, K's: 5/11). If the Surf Dawgs and Shunen come to an agreement it will be interesting to see where he starts his minor league career, but don't expect him to spend too much time down on the farm.

--------
2019 Norfolk Cavaliers Draft:
1) Round 1: Pick 17: 17th Overall: Mark Bolton, Catcher (Normal)
Our scouting director, Antonio Diaz, said we shoudl go for Kevin Snyder, a 22 year old, hard thrower (99-101 MPH), who has 5* talent. He is listed as a MR and has one pitch (FB: 14/16) that is solid and another one that needs to be developed (SL: 6/13). His stamina is 20 and overall he looks like a solid pick. He was drafted and didn't sign last year as the #15 pick overall... BUT his injury history is fragile! Why would I want to pick a middle reliever with a fragile injury history? I don't... So with our first pick, I went with 21 year old catcher, Mark Bolton, out of St. Johns U. He is a top defensive talent (C: 17, Ability: 13, Arm: 13) and has some room to get better. Rated 1*, Potential 4*. He should be an easy sign and will give us some backup catching help in the future:
Contact: 8/10, Gap: 7/9, HR: 6/10, Eye: 7/11, Avoid K: 6/11

2) Round 2: Pick 16: 44th Overall: Steve Combs, SP (Extremely Hard)
With our 2nd pick I went with Steve Combs, a HS SP, who is 18 years old out of Baltimore MD. He has 3.5* potential, throws 93-95, gets 56% grounders and has the potential for 10+ control. He might be a tough one to sign, but I have faith we will be able to work things out.
Stuff: 6/11, Movement: 10/13, Control: 5/10

3) Round 3: Pick 19: 63rd Overall: Ignacio Gallo, SP (Easy)
Ignacio Gallo a Lefty from UNC, who has 3.5* potential. He throws low 90's, gets 56% grounders, hold runners on well and has 15 stamina. He is listed as a MR, but I am going to get him some reps as a starter to see how it works out. He did start while at UNC. One reason I went with Igancio is he is very itelligent and has a very high work ethic. Can't go wrong there.
Stuff: 9/11, Movement: 8/8, Control: 7/12

4) Round 3: Pick 24: 68th Overall: Carl Spence, IF (Extremely Hard)
Carl Spence, is our second HS kid from the Baltimore area. He is rated a 1* prospect, but he is a solid fielder (SS: 15, Range: 19, Error: 18) with good speed (Speed: 14, Steal: 13, Base running: 13), but there are questions about his bat. Currently he has very little potential, but we hope he can grow and learn, he is list at 6'1" 175, so we know there is room.
Contact: 2/5, Gap: 6/8, HR: 2/4, Eye: 6/12, K's: 2/8

5) Round 4: Pick 20: 88th Overall: Jason Doyle: IF (Extremely Hard)
I went with the guy with the highest potential, and that was Jason Doyle and middle infielder out of HS. Most teams shied away from him, believing he wont' sign no matter what. We will see what happens. Doyle is very similiar to Spence, with speed and a glove, he is also 18 and measures in at 6'0" 170. We will see if we can him on.
Contact: 5/9, Gap: 4/8, HR: 2/5, Eye: 4/10, K's: 1/5

6) Round 5: Pick 20: 108th Overall: Frank Combs: OF (Normal)
With the pickings getting slim, we went with another speedster/defensive talent, but this guy is an outfielder. Frank Combs out of LSU. He is 20 years old, 6'0" and 190 pounds. He wasn't overly impressive at LSU this past season, but we think he could bloom.
Contact: 6/8, Gap: 6/8, HR: 1/1, Eye: 4/6, K's: 3/7

7) Round 6: Pick 20: 128th Overall: Will Wallace, SP
With our 7th pick, we went with a lefty out of a small university (Lebanon Valley), Will Wallace. He throws 4 pitches, has decent stamina and should be able to hold his own in the minors. Since the competition level of his college was poor, we really don't know how he will transition. We have faith that he will be able surprise, and if not no harm done.
Stuff: 6/7, Movement: 8/8, Control: 4/6

8) Round 10: Pick 20: 208th Overall: Glenn Young, SP/UTL (Extremely Hard)
With our final pick and the last pick in the draft we went with high schooler Glenn Young. Glenn is listed as a pitcher, but he may end up playing the field. He had the highest contact and avoid K's potential on the board. He didnt' get to swing the bat much in HS only getting 36 AB's, but he did hit .417. We will convert him to a fist or third baseman and see what happens. The joy of the last pick.
Stuff: 4/6, Movement: 7/7, Control: 4/9
Contact: 4/9, Gap: 6/9, Power: 1/1, Eye: 4/6, K's: 4/11

Now its time to try to sign these guys...

Norfolk's Past Draft Recap
(Current Level, Potential Stars, Current Rating, Highest Rating, 2019 Stats)

As you can see, we haven't had the best luck drafting over the years, with only 3 of our picks in the bigs and a handful with a possible future. Not to mention I traded away a lot of guys to make this team, for better or worse. Here is a recap of Norfolk's previous 6 drafts.

2013
1) Arturo Ramirez (SP) (#3 Overall) - Norfolk, 2018 Newcomer of the Year, 5-1 3.63 10 GS
2) Maurice Noble (CF) - AAA, 1*, NR, #18, .294-5-22
3) Jack Dooley (OF) - did not sign
4) Bobby Myers (P) - AAA, 1*, NR, #98, 2-4 8.47 15 G/3 GS
5) David Harrison (CF) - A, 1.5*, NR, NR, .333-5-20
6) Francisco Correa (SS) - AAA, 1*, NR, NR, .202-0-6
7) Raymond Prigent (C) - AA, 1*, NR, NR, .250-4-16
8) Jeremy Pittman (CF) - AA, 1*, NR, NR, .301-4-23
9) Vincent Ayers (C) - A, 1*, NR, NR, .258-0-5
10) Stephen James (C) - A, 1*, NR, NR, .308-4-7

2014
1) Gabriel Santos (SP) (#1 Overall) - Traded to Balitmore Barons
2) Jeremy Jones (SS) - Traded to Balitmore Barons
3) Doug Nelson (SP) - Retired due to injury 03/26/2015
3) Vaughn Griffith (SP) - Norfolk, Debut 2018, 2-3 5.68, 9 G/4 GS
4) Joseph Kearse (1B) - did not sign
5) Donald Matthews (2B) - did not sign
8) Vern Sanchez (SS) - A, 1*, NR, NR, .263-0-11
9) Gary Lee (3B) - AA, 1.5*, NR, NR, .267-0-15
10) Bertrand Balkwill (SS) - AA, 1*, NR, NR, .296-1-7

2015
1) Joseph Kearse (1B) (#18 Overall) - Traded to Chesapeake Blue Crabs
2) Arhippa Skytta (SP) - did not sign
3) Chuck Champman (LF) - did not sign
5) Markus Lee (SS) - AA, 1*, NR, NR, .273-0-19
6) Ed Jones (SS) - did not sign
7) Peter Alexander (C) - AAA, 1*, NR, NR, .327-4-13
8) Rich McIver (SP) - A, 1/2*, NR, NR, 2-0 3.74, 20 G
9) Rick Ford (2B) - A, 1*, NR, NR, .083-0-2
10) Sixto Alvarez (SP) - A, 1/2*, NR, NR, 0-0 1.74, 7 G, 1 SV

2016
1) Ben Sanford (SP) (#14 Overall) - AA, 5*, NA, 83, 2-3 2.55, 15 SV, 24 G
2) Joe Chambers (SS) - Norfolk, 2019 Debut, .302-3-17
3) Ricardo Vasquez (1B) - A, 2*, NR, NR, .253-5-29
4) Artie Knight (SS) - Traded to Washington Senators 2018
5) Lowell Haas (SP) - A, 2*, NR, NR, 2-4 5.52, 11 GS
8) Jamie Renteria (SP) - A, 1/2*, NR, NR, 4-5 4.38, 15 G/8 GS
9) Bill Etheridge (SP) - A, 1*, NR, NR, 3-4 4.11, 10 GS
10) Johnny Rush (SP) - A, 1/2*, NR, NR, 2-3 6.09, 10 G/9 GS

2017
1) Ramon Grandados (CF) - AAA, 2.5*, 23, 23, .270-6-27
2) Bernardo Velez (2B/P) - A, 4*, NR, NR, .287-5-31
3) Tom Dundee (CF) - A, 4*, 96, 96, .226-6-38
4) Chris Brownwell (SP) - A, 2*, NR, NR, 3-1 4.63, 20 G
5) David Lowe (SS) - did not sign
6) Ron Reason (CF) - A, 1.5*, NR, NR, .267-3-19
7) Bill Brown (SP) - did not sign
8) Jimmy Jones (SP) - A, 1*, NR, NR, 4-2 4.32, 24 G, 10 SV
9) Bob Watson (2B) - A, 1*, NR, NR, .291-0-15
10) Justin Wills (SS) - A, 1*, NR, NR, has not played in 2019
11) Gil McDaniel (SP) - A, 1/2*, NR, NR, 3-1 5.43, 10 GS

2018
1) Michael Heathcote (SP) - AA, 2.5*, NR, NR, 3-4 3.96, 11 GS
2) Vernon Tilly (RF) - A, 4*, NR, NR, .319-5-34
2b) Tim Rodriquez (SP) - A, 1*, NR, NR, 4-1 2.83, 12 GS
3) Sergio Beltran (SS) - did not sign
3b) Jorge Gonzalez (CF) - A, 1.5*, NR, NR, .247-1-20
3c) Ronnie Ludwick (SS) - A, 2.5*, NR, NR, .262-5-19
7) Willis Randall (3B) - A, 1*, NR, NR, .241-0-1
8) Ken Giles (SP) - A, 1*, NR, NR, 1-1 4.79, 22 G, 1 SV
9) Manuel Reyes (1B) - A, 1*, NR, NR, .000-0-0
10) Alberto Sanchez (SP) - A, 1 *, NR, NR, 1-7 7.16, 11 GS