BROOKLYN KINGS OFF-SEASON UPDATES
DRAFT PART II
Here is a look at some highlights from the remaining selections made by the Brooklyn Kings in the 1928 FABL draft.
Thanks to trades the Kings had three picks in the sixth round. After taking college 2B Marv Bell with their first one, Brooklyn turned back to pitching. In a further effort to address a lack of quality pitching depth in the organization, Brooklyn adds two more arms with their remaining round six selections. Joining the Kings family are 21 year old Eddie Boyle from Maryland State and 18 year old Tony Fasone from Tulsa High School.
Boyle reminds Kings management a lot of current King Bill Dengler. Both are former Maryland State Bengals. Both righthanders had outstanding junior seasons but each struggled somewhat in their draft year. Boyle was 10-1 with a 2.04 era as a junior but struggled this past season in a down year for the school. For his 3 year college career Boyle compiled a 21-10 record with a 2.47 era and an impressive 1.01 WHIP. His 21 wins establish a new school record beating the old mark of 19 that was shared by Dengler.
Fasone, a high school teammate of Kings fourth round pick Dan Young, is the opposite of Boyle. The righthander improved most of his stats each season culminating in a very strong year on the mound for the Tomcats.
The Kings would also add more pitching in the later rounds bringing the total to 11 pitchers selected among their 27 draft picks. Most of the later round picks will likely never advance past the low minors but a couple to keep an eye on are Tommy Chandler and Chief Cook. Both are college pitchers and Chandler was especially highly thought of by the Kings scouting department, which ranked him as the 4th best lefthander available in the draft. Chandler went 7-2 with a 3.24 era for St Patrick's this season. Cook is a righthander who hails from Eastchester, New York and pitched for 3 seasons at Opelika State. The 15th round pick was 5-2 with a 4.28 era for the Wildcats and was greatly improved over his first two seasons in the AIAA.
Other position player selected include speedy centerfielder Paul Edwards from Mississippi A&M, a school that also produced Kings outfielders Doug Lightbody and Clarence Hall. Edwards, a 7th round pick, was a 3 year starter and hit .310 for his college career with 22 homers and 34 stolen bases in 147 games. The Kings hope the selection of high school third baseman Milt Butler in the 9th round will help reduce the sting of losing young prospect Dave Bristol in the trade with Washington for the first overall selection. Butler hit .322 with 28 homers in 119 games at San Antonio High School. He also helped the Warriors to a national high school championship this past summer, batting .310 with 5 round trippers in 22 games. Two rounds later the Kings would draft another San Antonio HS product in power hitting first baseman Paul Valentine, who batted .334 with 29 homers in his 120 game prep career.
DRAFT SUMMARY
Like every team a week after the draft the Brooklyn Kings are thrilled with the prospects they added. The big coup, and how the success of this draft will judged, hinges entirely on the right arm of Tommy Wilcox. If Wilcox comes anywhere close to living up to the hype that surrounded him at Liberty College the draft will be a huge success for the Kings. Brooklyn, of course, hopes and thinks that some of the other picks will develop nicely but it is the career of Tommy Wilcox and the Kings move to trade up to the number one spot that will be remembered.
RULE V DRAFT
Now that the euphoria of adding Wilcox has abated somewhat the Kings need to get down to the business of signing their draft picks and preparing for the Rule V draft. With a pair of open spots on their 40 man roster one would think Brooklyn will be active in the draft but inside sources say the Kings may go in a different direction to fill at least one of the final two spots.
There was a lot of upheaval in the baseball world this off-season with several new minor league teams and some existing independent clubs now aligning themselves with a major league affiliate. As a result between those for indy team players and some veteran roster cuts by FABL clubs there are some attractive veteran free agents available and Brooklyn may use a roster spot signing one of them. The Kings also have a couple of veteran infielders in Eddie Andrews and Glenn Mowles that are presently not on the 40-man roster so there is a chance one could be added.
Brooklyn has been known for trying to keep 1 spot free on their 40 man at all times to allow for roster flexibility without having to worry about exposing anyone to waivers so there is a good chance the Kings may not make a selection in tomorrow's rule V draft.