[ayaghmour2]

This trade was made 100,000% because I was very angry with how the draft shook up, and is likely an overpay, but I don't even care. I needed Juan Pomales. Even if it costed Karl Wallace and Stumpy Beaman (plus I get Del Burns). I covered Pomales in my amateur report, and I didn't even hide that he was who I wanted, because there was no way to select the players. "El Conejo" could probably slot right into the majors as a center fielder, but I really want to see what he can do on the mound. The 6'1'' righty doesn't throw all that hard, 83-85 with his fastball and sinker, but he has excellent command and keeps the ball on the ground. His curveball makes a lot of hitters miss, and while the fastball isn't all that great, the sinker has a lot of life and bite. OSA absolutely loves the sidewinder, but I think Pomales projects to be a potentially reliable back of the rotation arm instead. Of course, that's all just gravy. The real pull is his unlimited ceiling at the plate and in the field. He won't ever hit many home runs, but Pomales is an extra base machine who should hit well over .300 once he's ready to go. He can take the extra base, steal, and make pretty much any play in the outfield. He's supposedly got a cannon as well, so if the range isn't there in center, he can easily displace Rich Langton out in right. I have absolutely no idea where Pomales will start level wise, but it's pretty clear the bat is way ahead of the arm, so it may be tough to find a happy medium. Pomales is a fully year older then Montes, but it's going to be fun watching them track down balls at the North Side Grounds.

Of course, there was a pretty big cost, two of my finer pitching prospects in Stumpy Beaman and Karl Wallace (Wallace I'll miss more), but we were able to bring one back. There was a lot of surprise when Del Burns was taken 3rd Overall in the 1934 draft, but honestly, I kind of liked him. Not 3rd Overall worthy, but a lot of people were screaming waste pick and I felt more reach pick. Burns seem to have proved some of the haters wrong, as the 21-year-old has put up decent numbers in the minors and the prospect people are starting to like him a bit more. He's just outside the top 100, but the 6'2'' righty has proved that he was not a waste pick. I really like his arsenal, five pitches featuring a nice forkball and a low 90s fastball and cutter. He keeps the ball on the ground and he gets good movement on his pitches. Burns, like Wallace and Stumpy, is in AA and having a quality season. He's 4-3 with a 4.36 ERA (112 ERA+), 1.56 WHIP, 42 walks, and 30 strikeouts. The walks are a little concerning, his BB/9 up to 4.4 (career 3.0), but I'm not too worried about that becoming an issue. He's a little further away then the guys I gave up, but with all the 40-man roster shuffling I was dreading, moving some of the '32 class really will make things easier on me. Losing Wallace stings, he looks like a Dave Rankin clone in terms of innings eating, but I can't stuff Pete, Scott, Parker, Cy, Wallace, Stumpy, and Foote in a rotation that already includes Pug, Fritz, and Rankin. Heck, even Art Saunders is approaching the top 100 and Dan Everett, Joe Brown, and Luis Sandoval are all in the top 200. I think Pomales could be a star, and even if it means we miss out on two really good pitchers, it's hard to think that all these guys would turn out if they stay in Chicago.