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The Oakland Telegraph
1 June 2032
A's take catcher Trujillo and reliever Tovar in disappointing draft class; Hawkins returns with a bang
By Di Abolical-Scheidt, awful drafts correspondent
Oakland have selected catcher Ruben Trujillo and relief pitcher Jose Carlos Tovar in this year's player draft. 20-year-old Trujillo (no relation to the A's all-star first baseman Luis Trujillo) is an average catcher but projects to be a potentially decent batter. Tovar is another colleague graduate, who scouts project to 4.5*, but realistically he looks a minor leaguer who could at best become a throw-in to a larger trade. Good luck with your baseball career though, matey.
General manager Paulie Beane was upset about the quality of this year's draft pool, even by his standards of moaning. He explained to reporters that by the time Oakland picked, in position 29 of the first round, "All I was left with was a motley collection of fragile, fringe-prospect relievers and substandard batters. Seriously, just utter rubbish. Fortunately our farm system is already very strong, at least if you believe BNN have a clue what they're talking about."
Beane has been bolstered though by the return from injury of key batters Pepe Rios and Dennis Hawkins. Hawkins has been back for 2 games now, and has had an immediate impact, with the A's thrashing Baltimore 9-0 and then, yesterday, Minnesota 7-2. In yesterday's game it was like he had never been away, as he went 3-4 with a home run and a double. Oakland's recent form has been good more generally, much to the relief of all electronic equipment within easy reach of Beane's desk. They finished May 14-6, and now stand at 29-18 on the season, currently the best record in the American League and giving them a 3 game lead in the AL West division over the fast-improving Houston Astros. It looks like the much-maligned rotation has also started to get into the swing of things and join in the party, with Antonio Perez throwing a superb 5-hit shutout in the win over the Orioles. "About bleeding time", grumped Beane.
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