[Westheim]

2048 AMATEUR DRAFT

Monday was Draft Day in the ABL, and the Raccoons had condensed down the 360-strong draft pool to 111 players on the shortlist and a crisp ten on the hotlist (*marking high school players):

SP Zane Fenlon (12/15/12)* - BNN #4
SP Tom Lindgren (15/13/9)
SP Art Schaeffer (13/12/13)

SP* Dave Lister (10/15/15)*
CL Ruben Mendez (19/14/12)

SS/3B Stephen Medlock (12/7/13)*
3B/2B Dave Blackshire (10/12/15)

OF Dave De Lemos (13/4/13)
OF/1B Noah Caswell (10/15/9)*
OF Alex Cruz (9/9/17) – BNN #1

Not like we could be much choosers as pickers, given that we were relegated to picking in the #23 spot this season, which is what you get for winning a hundred and some in the previous season. But hey, I will always gladly take a pawful of rings over a top 5 pick every 12 months… The Loggers are cute, but who wants to be the Loggers?

The Loggers held the #1 pick once more and used it on Dave de Lemos before the Titans went right off the hotlist with their #2 pick, selecting outfielder Eric Whitlow. Caswell went to the Pacifics at #3, as outfielders seemed to be the hot commodity of the season. The Falcons went for Art Schaeffer with the #4 pick, which opened the season for pitchers. The Wolves grabbed Fenlon, and Lindgren went to the Crusaders with the next two picks. Another hotlist player went to the Warriors, who selected Stephen Medlock seventh overall before a few more picks were made outside the hotlist. It took to the Aces and the #13 pick for another selection to be made from it, Alex Cruz in that case.

Then there were three, and when the damn Elks grabbed Ruben Mendez at #19, there were only two, but those two remained available at #23 for the Raccoons: infielder Dave Blackshire and pitcher Dave Lister. So it was gonna be a Dave at the top of the team’s draft class this year!

Blackshire was the only two-way player worth writing home about in this draft class, but it was a bit suspect to see him fall to the end of the first round. There was not much speed involved here and the paws were a bit clumsy, but he had a strong throwing arm and good range and should make for a tremendous third baseman with a sort of Nunley-esque stick; the type of guy that bats .280 with a dozen homers and will bat sixth on a great team and third on a ****** one. As a pitcher he threw 97 with the fastball, but only had a curveball for mixing it up, and that wasn’t gonna cut it in a worthwhile-first-round-pick sense… which was what made Lister quite the gamble. Great sinker/slider guy able to spot the corners, but he threw an absolutely worthless changeup beyond that and looked a bit resilient to expand on his arsenal. Faced with two two-pitch pitchers of which only one could hit, the Raccoons selected that guy.

Lister fell all the way to #39 and the Loggers to empty the hotlist long before the Raccoons were due another stab.

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2048 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Round 1 (#23) – 3B/2B Dave Blackshire, 20, from Pine Ridge, FL – two-way player with a much more promising future as a hitter, with a solid contact/OBP bat with notable power potential, very fine defense at the hot corner, but only negligible speed. If all else fails, he can still try his luck as a sixth-inning right-handed reliever with his 97mph heater and curve.
Round 2 (#61) – OF Ethan Torrence, 17, from Tacoma, WA – decently-able outfielder on defense with a good amount of speed for running and a bat that should work well at the top of the order with a knack to slap singles or draw a walk by laying off the garbage. Not much power, but he could always steal second later.
Round 3 (#85) – SP Pat Schwartz, 19, from Ramona, CA – smart right-hander throwing 92 with the fastball, and adding a curve, changeup, and slider to the mix. High stamina, mediocre control.
Round 4 (#109) – SP Luke Ostler, 19, from Fayetteville, NC – right-hander throwing 90, with a pretty vicious slider as a complement, but control and a third pitch are the main problems here.
Round 5 (#133) – OF/3B/SS Byron Horan, 20, from Los Angeles, CA – adept outfielder with speed and more of a low-key singles bat with little power an not much patience at the plate.
Round 6 (#157) – 3B/SS Blake McNeil, 17, from Baytown, TX – strong-armed infielder with some good potential in his bat, enough speed to steal bases, and a pretty thick notebook with a list of his enemies which he meticulously maintains in his locker…
Round 7 (#181) – INF/LF DaShawn McKnight, 18, from Lebanon, OR – singles bat without power, and not a lot of speed, but could still be a versatile defender and super utility; also the kid of former Coon Ronnie McKnight.
Round 8 (#205) – C Malik Morris, 22, from Wewahitchka, FL – goes about baseball and catching as if anything’s well, as long as it gets him out of Wewahitchka, but when he actually gives a bother, works really nicely with pitchers and can sock one from time to time.
Round 9 (#229) – SP John Brenton, 18, from Buffalo, NY – righty throwing 87 and with great potential to throw long relief in AA for his entire professional career.
Round 10 (#253) – RF/LF Jake Courtney, 17, from Philadelphia, PA – bit of a lazy dimwit, but we’re suckers for half-decent power potential left over in the double-digit rounds…
Round 11 (#277) – CL Bruce Bowhay, 21, from Greatwood, TX – left-hander (duh!) with a 90mph fastball and a curveball, and quick reflexes when it comes to catching one last glimpse of a baseball hit into the next county over.
Round 12 (#301) – 1B Edward Skinner, 18, from Halifax, Canada – slow, poor glove, hacks wildly, but has some power potential at least.
Round 13 (#325) – C Zach Morrison, 18, from Jolivue, VA – the King of the Passed Balls of the Virginia High School circuit, can hit for a bit of average, but really doesn’t have a fielding position where he wouldn’t jerk tears out of the observer with every play…

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Of course, Draft Day was also about cleaning house. The Raccoons put some old paws out the door with more or less ceremony as well. Some of the ones that were at least mentioned at some point or other in the past would include this bunch:

For pitchers, the Raccoons parted with AAA MR Joe Fishkin (2041, 9th Round), who had already attained minor league free agency once and had a 7+ ERA in AAA again; and A MR Andy Morgan (2046, 13th Round), who was simply at the end of his tether with his lack of talent.

For batters, papers were handed out to AA C Matt Gross (2047, 8th Round), and a pair of single-A catchers in Dario Medina and Ivan Ramos, both of whom had cost $26k each as July IFA players; also gone from Aumsville were infielders Manny Paez (2044, 4th Rd.) and Loren Decker (2046, 5th Rd.), plus outfielders Lorenzo Sandoval (2044 IFA, $22k) and Bobby Aragundi (2047, 12th Rd.).