1928 FABL DRAFT- PART I
It was a very busy start to the draft weekend for the Brooklyn Kings and half way through the 10 round active GM portion (before our AI scouting director's take over) Brooklyn's brass feels pretty good about their draft so far. It is draft day so every team feels optimistic of course, but the Kings had a little more reason that most for their excitement.
The prize of the draft for Brooklyn was trading up to grab the first overall selection and the right to choose Liberty College pitching sensation Tommy Wilcox. The deal all came together just hours before the draft was set to start and was a surprise even to the Kings. The Kings went into the draft knowing they wanted to come away with a premier pitching prospect and in their minds that meant one of two players. "We had reached out to Washington early in the week to try and see about getting pick one," explained Assistant General Manager Rube Carter, "but did not hear back so we set our sights on the local kid we also liked a lot."
That local kid was Brooklyn State lefthander Mike Murphy, who was the main focus of the Kings trade discussions in the final few days leading up to the draft. Brooklyn had figured the cost of getting the number one pick and the right to select Tommy Wilcox would be more than they would be willing to pay but perhaps they could land Murphy by trading up into the top five. When that failed to materialize, despite calls to several clubs, the Kings began to look at plan C which was using their two first round picks (10 and 14) on the 2 best pitchers they could find and hope one would blossom. While the Kings won't confirm, they were rumoured to be targeting a pair of high school arms in George Thomas and Joe Russell or a college pitcher like Pat Albright or Frank Nicholas.
It turned out the deal with Washington did come to fruition and the Kings pulled the trigger even though it cost them a good young prospect in 3B Dave Bristol as well as their two first round picks. It turned out a rumoured trade up to #3 with St Louis would not have helped the Kings land Murphy as he ended up going second to the Chicago Cougars right after Brooklyn announced the selection of Wilcox. In the end things worked out even better than expected when Brooklyn not only got Wilcox but they also landed one of the other arms they coveted - Joe Russell - with their second round pick.
For Brooklyn State prospect Mike Murphy it was a mild disappointment. The lefthander was thrilled to be selected second overall by the Chicago Cougars but smiled for a moment and said "Ya, it would have been something," when asked how he would feel about pitching at Kings County Ballpark wearing a Brooklyn Kings uniform. Very popular in his adopted hometown, some Brooklyn fans were calling for the Kings to take Murphy over Wilcox with the first pick but it has been clear all season that the Liberty College strikeout artist was the clear favourite to go first overall.
Brooklyn also made a surprise move during the draft to add 2 more draft picks. The Kings had some sort of falling out with their new scouting director and traded him to the Pittsburgh Miners for a 6th and 7th round draft pick. Brooklyn also announced that long-time scouting director Rube Carter, recently promoted to assistant General Manager, had agreed to return to his scouting duties. Carter is credited for selecting the large number of good young position players on the big league roster including Doug Lightbody, Ab Thomas and Mike Taylor. He has had much less success with acquiring pitching talent but the Kings hope that changes with this draft.
Here are the picks so far.
ROUND 1 PICK 1 - TOMMY WILCOX - The All-American righthander from Liberty College set new single season and career AIAA marks for strikeouts after fanning 196 in 127 innings this season and 498 for his 3 year career. Wilcox led Liberty to the College World Series finals and is being banked on as a future top of the rotation guy. It's a lot of pressure for the 21 year old to live up to and while a final decision has not been made Wilcox will likely start his journey at Class A Omaha.
ROUND 2 PICK 10 - JOE RUSSELL - After getting the number one college pitcher in the draft the Kings added what they felt was the number one high school arm in Joe Russell, an 18 year old righthander from Toledo High School. Russell finished his prep career with a 23-2 record and a 1.28 era. He fanned 288 batters in 225 innings while walking just 44.
ROUND 3 PICK 10 - ART SUMMERS - Despite an overabundance of power hitting OF-1B in their system, the Kings felt they could not pass on the 21 year old outfielder from St. Matthew's College. Summers, who hit .324 with 11 homers in 50 games as a senior, was projected as a first round pick by the Kings scouting department. The Charlotte, NC native hit 31 homers and batted .340 for his college career.
ROUND 4 PICK 10 - DAN YOUNG - The 18 year old shortstop from Tulsa High School is a defensive marvel but there are some concerns about his bat. He hit .290 in 116 high school games for his career but his glove is likely already good enough for the major leagues. He is a longer term project with the hope he can develop the offensive skills to be more than just a defensive whiz at shortstop.
ROUND 4 PICK 12 - OSSIE MAHONEY - With the pick acquired from Cleveland in the deadline deal that sent Mose Smith back to the Foresters the Brooklyn Kings elected to take another college arm. The 21 year old went 5-4 for the St. Pancras Lions this season. The Kings see him as a potential back of the rotation starter.
ROUND 5 PICK 10 - DOC DILL - There were a number of power-hitting first basemen the Kings had interest in and when they started dropping off the board Brooklyn figured it better pull the trigger and select Dill. An 18 year old from Cleveland High School, Dill is a long-term project and the type of player who will benefit immediately from the Kings recently announced new Class C level affiliate in the Upper Mississippi Valley Association. Dill finished second in the nation among high schoolers with 16 home runs this season and led the nation in OPS. He has shown steady improvement in each of his three high school years and the Kings see him as a longer term project.
ROUND 6 PICK 6 - MARV BELL - Through trades the Kings have 3 picks in the sixth round and used the first of them on utility man Marv Bell. The 21 year old primarily played second base, and did so with above-average ability, for the St. Patrick's Shamrocks but he can play anywhere in the infield or a corner outfield spot in a pinch. He hit .281 in 100 college games and the Kings are hoping he can improve his on base percentage. He won't be a longball threat but with his defensive skills would make an excellent role player down the road.
Brooklyn's remaining picks will take place tomorrow.