[Westheim]

Here's a skip ahead to the draft. Played half a week yesterday to get there, and now I am too tired to finish it. Maybe tomorrow morning with my coffee, otherwise ... later.

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2068 AMATEUR DRAFT

Meandering around the northeastern corner of the country brought me to New York on Friday for the Amateur Draft, where the Raccoons had a splendid selection of high picks, and not a lot to pick from because the pool was just … eh… shallow. While we had 112 players selected for the shortlist, just to go through the motions again, here’s the really shambolic hotlist (*high school dolt):

SP Kody Carr (12/13/12) – BNN #9
SP Kevin Schure (12/13/11) – BNN #7
SP Jonathan Martello (11/13/14)

CL Noah Newhard (17/11/10)

1B Oscar Gaitan (10/13/13) *
1B Michael Kiger (11/11/13) – BNN #3

OF/1B Ryan Redding (19/17/9) * – BNN #2
OF Eduardo Zambrano (12/19/15) * – BNN #8
OF Kyle Markovich (9/13/12) – BNN #1
OF/2B Walter Richmond (7/12/7) * – BNN #5

Sure been hotter before…

The draft began with the Bayhawks, who selected Ryan Redding, and were immediately followed by the Wolves snatching Eduardo Zambrano, which would also have been my first two selections, probably. Just like that, the whole fun was out of the draft…!! The Buffaloes then helped themselves to pitcher Kody Carr at #3. After that it was Kevin Schure to the Scorpions and Walter Richmond to the Indians. The Coons were then really picking between the only remaining starter Martello and the only remaining outfielder Markovich. I didn’t really see why BNN had put Markovich #1 on their list, and I also didn’t get why Martello wasn’t in their top 10 at all given the absolute scarcity of talent otherwise. Unable to make a decision, I screamed into my paws for a solid two minutes, much to the bewilderment of all the adults in the draft room, and then just blindly slapped one paw on one of the sheets with profiles that very confused Oscar Semchez was holding. I didn’t believe in the choice, and I would surely be terrible disappointed by Kyle Markovich further down the road.

Martello went to the Pacifics at #10, probably relieved he didn’t end up with *this* godforsaken franchise for the next half-decade. The other three players – Newhard, Gaitan, and Kiger – remained available into the latter half of the first round, when the Raccoons had their compensation pick for the loss of Rich Monck. The Raccoons went against character and did not draft the closer, but the first baseman Gaitan, who appeared to have a high ceiling, and was also praised by OSA. With that, Kiger was off the table, since there was no point in drafting two first-sackers that high when they’d only end up standing on each other’s hindpaws in Aumsville. Newhard was thus the default selection for our first supplemental round pick, if he was still around, which he was – but Kiger had been taken by the Loggers at #24 anyway.

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2068 PORTLAND RACCOONS DRAFT CLASS

Round 1 (#6) – OF Kyle Markovich, 20, from West Columbia, SC – solid allrounder outfielder with above average defense and speed, and some promising power potential. Which sounds like a third-round pick, because that’s what the draft pool was like…
Round 1 (#21) – 1B Oscar Gaitan, 19, from Caguas, Puerto Rico – reasonably agile for a first baseman, Gaitan is a hard worker and can hit for both contact and power, although the swing does have some holes when he gets too eager.
Supp. Round (#27) – CL Noah Newhard, 20, from Los Angeles, CA – blazing fastball, vicious slider on this right-hander
Supp. Round (#40) – SP/1B/3B/RF Jaquan Riggs, 19, from Wilmington, NC – profiling largely as a singles slapper at a power position, Riggs shone chiefly through his capital throwing arm at third base and was the star pitcher on his high school team. The Raccoons were not sure at all what to do with him, but we’d probably turn him into a starting pitcher, which he had enough pitches – more than brain cells at least – and stamina for.
Round 2 (#50) – OF Dave Perry, 19, from Massillon, OH – can hit well for contact and is a tough strikeout, although the power profile is more gap-oriented; at least has the speed to pile up doubles, and had some range in the outfield, but the throwing arm was nothing special
Round 3 (#74) – SP John Knox, 23, from Harvey, LA – right-hander with five pitches, including a fastball, cutter, and slider that looked usable, but control was an issue even at that advanced age; perhaps a late bloomer?
Round 4 (#98) – SP Paul Fitzgerald, 18, from Ormond Beach, FL – right-handed Florida Man, also with five pitches, some usable, and control issues; at least he was five years younger than Knox…!
Round 5 (#122) – LF/RF Kory Steiner, 17, from Washington, DC – free-swinging power hitter with questionable defense and friends
Round 6 (#146) – 1B/C Adam Nissen, 18, from Wichita, KS – oddball low-power first baseman with a good eye, moonlighting as a catcher; if he had been gifted with blazing speed, the M.C. Escher painting would have been complete, alas, it wasn’t so.
Round 7 (#170) – 2B/3B Mike Harter, 17, from Mission Viejo, CA – zoomy infielder with sure paws and speed, albeit with a modest bat that was at best good for a few doubles
Round 8 (#194) – SP Steve Denn, 19, from Manhattan Beach, CA – right-hander with really only two pitches, an 88mph fastball and slider, and both were being hit quite decent distances
Round 9 (#218) – SS/2B Kevin Howell, 18, from San Francisco, CA – what was it with all these California high schoolers, and then they never hit for power? Another defensive middle infielder.
Round 10 (#242) – MR William Ives, 20, from Torrington, CT – one more for the pile of uninspiring right-handers with control issues, although, if he could figure out the cutter to accompany it, that curveball might get him at least some attention.
Round 11 (#266) – CL Tom Allen, 20, from Yonkers, NY – left-hander (hah!) with 90mph and a slider, and from Yonkers of all places, oh dear!
Round 12 (#290) – OF Jeremy Simonds, 21, from Everson, WA – singles slapper trying to occupy a power position; some speed, no plate discipline
Round 13 (#314) – SP Brian Keener, 19, from Drexel Hill, PA – right-hander with four pitches, all unimpressive, and can’t throw harder than 88

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All picks were assigned to Aumsville. As we realigned the player material in the minors, I will note that of the two Ham Lake starting pitchers we’ve been having a keen eye on right now, Val Centeno was promoted to St. Pete, but Jimmy Wharton was yet held back.

Of course a number of players were also released, of which the following had been drafted or signed for hard coin in the July IFA periods:

For pitchers, we canned $830k signing Alexis Barron from 2064, who had absolutely no control whatsoever and who could really light up a locker room in all the wrong ways. We also released 2066 fourth-rounder Tom Michael, who had been up and down between single- and double-A several times already, as well as 2066 11th-rounder James Swink, and others.

On the position player side, we let go of German AAA outfielder Olaf Volkert, who had been a scouting discovery, but mentioned as being somewhere or other on depth charts at various times during the decade, but by now he was 27, in his fifth year in AAA, taken off he 40-man, and just taking up space. Also gone were OF Aaron Moore (2062, 4th round), LF/RF Jim Higgins (2062, 7th round), 3B Nate Jones (2066, 9th round), and a few more oddball walk-ons and such. All of them had been hanging around in double- or single-A.