[Westheim]

Players of the Week have been added above

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2042 ABL DRAFT

While another season was uselessly flowing down the Willamette, the Raccoons at least got to draft in the thick of it in the 2042 edition of the country’s bestest baseball boys offering up their services for indentured servitude at less than minimum age, so that we could waste away their youth until they were in their late 20s and no good for nothing no more, like Travis Sims or Nick Lando.

Scout guy and me were armed with almost four picks in the top 40 (our third supplemental round pick was #42) and five inside the top 60, with a top selection of #16. Also the usual hot list (players with * are high school players):

SP Sean Fowler (13/13/12) * - BNN #9
SP Gary Perrone (13/14/12)
SP Jim White (13/13/12) – BNN #6
SP Lance Parent (12/12/9) – BNN #7
SP Jeremy Chaney (11/17/13) – BNN #8

CL Sam Gibson (17/13/8)

C Ray DeFrank (11/11/17) * - BNN #4

INF Nathan Whitehurst (14/9/11) *
3B Seth Lyon (13/6/13) *
SS/2B Jonathan Ban (14/5/11)
INF Billy Canning (9/11/10)

OF/1B Billy Quinteros (10/13/17)
LF/RF Justin Griffith (12/8/10) *
LF/RF David Sanders (12/5/11)

But first we had to play the patient game, while scout guy had me take peeks on his dumbphone at the score of our ongoing second leg of the double header against Dallas in Portland (not that it was going so well…). The Indians had the first selection. They went with outfielder Bill Quinteros. Gary Perrone was the first pitcher taken, #2 by the Gold Sox. The Rebels continued with Nathan Whitehurst.

I was already hissing at GMs to steer the heck clear of our hotlist, but to no avail. The Knights took Chaney at #4, and while the Titans went with shortlisted pitcher David Barel, the Aces dared to grab Ray DeFrank at #6. The Caps took Sean Fowler at #7, and that second catcher that didn’t quite make the hotlist, but was certainly on our mind, Blake Mickle, was the #8 selection by the Warriors followed by Jonathan Ban going to the Thunder. L.A. made Jim White the #10 choice. The Buffos picked Sam Gibson at #13.

That left five hotlist options for the Raccoons with their #16 pick, of which Lance Parent was the only pitcher. There was the pair of defensively challenged corner outfielders in Griffith and Sanders, plus the infielders Canning and Lyon. The Raccoons went with solid – and took Lyon, a rock-steady defensive third baseman with a hitting profile reminding one of Matt Nunley: good contact, *some* power, but not a whole lot, and a tough time for the pitcher, able to battle out long at-bats. No speed here, but you can’t have everything. The outfielders probably had higher upside, but with their limited defense also certain pitfalls…

As far as the hotlist was concerned, Lance Parent ended up the #21 pick by the Scorpions. Justin Griffith also went in the first round, the Loggers picking him with the #24 selection. The Thunder then got Canning at #28, but Sanders fell to the Coons with their first supplemental round pick – we had made the selection on the board a while ago, picking him now was a no-brainer.

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2042 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Round 1 (#16) – 3B Seth Lyon, 17, from Simi Valley, CA – sturdy defensive third baseman with high contact abilities, tough to strike out, a bit of power.
Supp. Round (#32) – LF/RF David Sanders, 20, from New York, NY – limited power abilities, but good contact and eye potential, also some speed. His first step off contact in the field is slow though, and he might be a defensive liability. Very good throwing arm, though.
Supp. Round (#39) – CL Brad Barnes, 21, from Southlake, TX – right-handed groundballer with a 92mph sinker and a really good changeup
Supp. Round (#42) – OF Ken Mills, 20, from Reisterstown, MD – very good outfield defense, potential to be a prolific base stealer, source of power for Towson College, and able to draw walks, too … that he has fallen this deep in the draft is mostly due to concerns whether he can make contact consistently against professional pitchers with good breaking stuff.
Round 2 (#58) – SP Sean Belisle, 18, from Oxnard, CA – right-hander throwing 92 with a cutter, and adding three breaking pitches, most notably a befuddling slider. Some concerns about character, like eating teammates’ lunches, which could become a problem on the Raccoons’ farm…
Round 3 (#82) – SP Rich Haynes, 18, from Chula Vista, CA – right-hander throwing a 93mph cutter and a hitter-freezing knuckle curve… unfortunately he has yet to find a third pitch that he can throw for anything else but bombs away. Everything else would be in place.
Round 4 (#106) – C Rich Rabe, 22, from Detroit, MI – switch-hitting catcher with tremendous defense, but hitting like a 1980s defensive shortstop…
Round 5 (#130) – 1B Ryan Stella, 20, from Pelham, NY – he is mainly about power potential and will likely strike out in droves; good defender at first base, though, possessing good range, but a lack of throwing arm power will keep him on the right side of the infield no matter what.
Round 6 (#154) – SP Ian McGuire, 19, from Doral, FL – right-handed flyball pitcher with a mix of four pitches, none convincing so far. The fastball tops out at 90mph.
Round 7 (#178) - SS Josh Floyd, 20, from Ridgway, PA – supremely gifted defensive shortstop, but like our fourth-rounder he hits like a 1980s defensive shortstop, and there’s no speed to speak of either.
Round 8 (#202) – 1B/LF/RF Evan Van Hoy, 20, from Solon, OH – lefty hitter with unimpressive batting profile, but with some power potential; also fairly speedy for a corner guy with mediocre glove abilities.
Round 9 (#226) – OF/1B Jonathan Babcock, 19, from Massapequa Park, NY – right-handed hitting, decent defensive outfielder with some speed, but no power whatsoever; mostly a singles slapper, and he stems from Neil Reece’s corner of the world.
Round 10 (#250) – SP Ricky Baez, 18, from Ponce, Puerto Rico – left-handed soft-tosser (86mph) and a neat knuckle curve, but little else of note.
Round 11 (#274) – MR Drew Sidwell, 21, from Merrimack, NH – lefty (of course!) baseball rat with a 91mph fastball and a curveball. Unfortunately his passion for the game is in no way matched by his skill set.
Round 12 (#298) – INF/RF Tim Rogers, 18, from Normandy, MO – our scouting department says he has excellent on-base potential, but OSA hates him, and the fact that we get him just ahead of the mercy picks for the one-legged and paraplegic players gives me thoughts that OSA might be right.
Round 13 (#322) – C Bobby Christenbury, 20, from Aberdeen, MD – little glove, no bat, no speed, no power, and not even a throwing arm that can throw out one of those one-legged players…

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All our picks were assigned to Aumsville.

The minor leaguers set free included three relievers in Aumsville, including 2039 ninth-rounder Josh Fuller and 2041 13th-rounder Brian Willard. In terms of position players, 2037 ninth-rounder C Chad Field and outfielder Jared Roe (2036, 12th round) had their suitcases put in front of the door in Ham Lake. A pair of 2040 infielders, Ken Lenihan (5th round) and Jason Hannah (12th round) were released from Aumsville. The Beagles also released last year’s 12th-rounder, LF/RF Bryan Hardy.

One notable promotion also took place, that of 1B Shuta Yamamoto from Ham Lake to St. Pete. The 22-year-old Japanese import had batted .276/.366/.504 in 64 games with the Panthers, hitting 13 homers along the way. This also created a roster squeeze with Art Goetz and Damian Salazar in AAA. Since all three were also on the 40-man roster, the Raccoons maybe would want to get rid of one of them or play one of them in the majors… Goetz had hit .232 with 6 HR, 34 RBI with the ’41 Coons. Salazar had been up with the ’40 Coons, flailing his way to a .214 average with 1 HR and 11 RBI in just slightly fewer at-bats, but was out-hitting Goetz in AAA now. Goetz was already 27, and Salazar would turn 27 in July, so neither was very high up our rankings anymore.