NARBL 2013 Season

[JDevil]

Full League Name: North American Republics Baseball League (NARBL)
Main URL: NARBL League Site
Reports URL:
Boards URL: NARBL Forums
Rules URL: Rules
Commissioner(s) OOTP Forum Username(s): JDevil
Email Address: colecleburne@gmail.com
OOTP Version: 13
Game Needed: Required
Players: Fictional
# of Teams: 24
Export Deadlines Days And Times: Tue,Thu,Sun - Exports due 9pm EST
League Time Per Sim: 7 days
First Season: 2012
Latest Season: 2013
Special Rules & Settings: Check the rules page
Currently Available Teams: None Currently

[JDevil]

It's draft time again Rig Hands! So far this year the Roughnecks seem to be focusing on picking up bats over arms, with 4 hitters and 1 pitcher picked up in the first few rounds. If I had to guess, I would say that Houston is looking to overcome its offensive woes and inability to get base runners, thus the decision to skip over some promising pitching prospects (say that three times fast!). Anyways, without further adieu, I present the 2013 Roughneck Draft review!

Round 1 (6): Danyon Krebowski 2B

I was absolutely floored by this pick, Krebowski is arguably the best all around hitter in this draft, but sign-ability concerns allowed him to drop to number six overall. It may take some extra money, but if he signs he could be a franchise player for Houston.

Pros: Krebowski has plus-plus Contact and Gap potential, above average power potential, and a pretty good eye. He isn't going to swing at a lot of bad balls, and you can expect him to get on base at a very high rate. Krebowski does not have superhuman pop by any means, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him hit around 20 or so HR's a season. Krebowski's ability to get on base coupled with elite gap power and above average home run power could result in a large amount of runs being driven in. Without a doubt, Krebowski could easily become the number 1 prospect in Houston.

Cons: For a second baseman, Krebowski is not a very good fielder, mediocre would be a better description. Although he has plus range, Krebowski's arm is below average and his error rate and double play ability are merely average. Although Krebowski is fast, he doesn't know how to use it, he is an average base-runner and is below average in steals.

Sign-ability: Herein lies the problem, Krebowski is going to be TOUGH to sign. Houston is going to have to fork over some major cash to land Krebowski, and even then he is no safe bet. Still, he is a college player drafted in the first round, so let's hope clearer heads prevail and Krebowski doesn't look a gift horse in the mouth (enough cliches for one sentence?).

Overall: I would rate Krebowski as an A to A+ prospect, if he lives up to his potential he could become an elite bat and a true franchise player. Concerns about his defense should be eased by his stellar offensive production. The biggest flaw in Krebowski is that he is going to be difficult to sign. The Roughnecks went with the best player available in their first pick, lets hope they are willing to throw down enough pesos to lock him in.

Round 2 (16): Brock Smoker 1B

Houston bags another impact bat with the 16th overall pick. The Roughnecks snatched up Smoker right before Carolina could get their paws on him. I said earlier that Krebowski is arguably the best hitter in the draft, well Smoker is one heck of an argument against him.

Pros: Smoker has elite power potential, the potential for an elite eye, plus contact potential, and plus gap power potential. When it comes to hitting, Smoker excels in pretty much every department. It is not unrealistic to imagine Smoker at near the top of league leader charts in RBIs, OBP, and OPS in the future. Smoker may very well have a better bat than Krebowski, which would make signing them both a dream come true for Roughneck fans.

Cons: To say Smoker lacks defensive ability would be one heck of an understatement. Smoker stinks defensively, even for a first baseman! Additionally, Smoker is a pretty lousy runner, so don't expect many stolen bases.

Sign-ability: Great news! I won't use the phrase "sure thing" but Smoker should not be very difficult to sign. This is a real relief given the concerns with Krebowski.

Overall: Smoker does what first baseman do best, he hits...hard...and often. For all his offensive prowess, Smoker is a terrible fielder, and this is one of the biggest knocks on his overall rating. I wouldn't be surprised to see Smoker become the Roughnecks DH of the future given his glove (or lack thereof). Overall I would say that Smoker's potential should be rated as an A-, it could be an A or A+ if he had better defensive skills.

Round 3 (27): Merrill Hess 3B

Noticing a common theme yet? Merrill Hess is another talented hitter, and likely the best hitting prospect available at the time.

Pros: Hess has elite power potential (higher even than Smoker!) and elite gap potential. Hess also sports above average contact potential. Hess' fielding ability is, well, odd. He has elite range and a perfect arm, but he has a below average error rate and does not turn double plays well.

Cons: Hess is one of those guys with so much potential coupled with big time flaws. First of all, Hess has a terrible eye. Expect to see a lot of hacks from Hess, as he pretty much swings at anything that moves. One has to hope that his above average contact and elite gap power can keep his OBP decently high. Hess also has no business ever stealing a base as he is turtle slow and lacks base-running ability. Finally, as mentioned earlier, Hess makes a lot of errors and does not turn double plays as well as a third baseman should.

Sign-ability: Hess is going to be another tough player to sign. I hope he does not expect too much money, as his flaws could limit the cash Houston is willing to throw down for him.

Overall: Despite his flaws, I suspect Hess can develop into good overall player, maybe even making the occasional all star team. Hess's eye is going to be his biggest impediment, but he hits so hard that it will be difficult not to put him around the cleanup spot. Given his flaws and his above average contact potential, I see Hess as a B rated prospect, although his elite power could raise him to a B+ or even A-.

Round 4 (37): Alfonso Diaz SP

Hold on, this can't be right, a pitcher!?!?! Yep, believe it or not Houston did pick up one pitcher, but don't expect him to be the ace of the future (Evan Standbridge, your job is safe).

Pros: Diaz looks to have plus movement, as well as a plus sinker and cutter. He gets a lot of ground balls and has above average stamina. He projects to have average control and stuff.

Cons: The good news? Diaz has three pitches. The bad news, his changeup may as well not even exist. I just do not see Diaz's changeup getting much better. Without a solid third pitch, it is going to be hard (if not impossible) for Diaz to crack the rotation (unless Houston's pitching staff is truly terrible). Diaz may however be able to transition into a solid, if not good reliever or closer.

Sign-ability: Yikes, another hard sign. Houston snatched the best pitcher they could find at this spot, but with sign-ability concerns I'm not very confident he'll even make the system.

Overall: Diaz has the makings of a decent pitcher, but really only has two pitches. As such, expect to see him in the bullpen instead of the rotation. Overall, I would rank Diaz's potential as a C-, he may be a decent reliever in the future.

Round 5 (47): Dominic Crago SS

Houston adds speed and fielding here in lieu of power. Dominic Crago is a talented defensive shortstop, but he may not have enough to truly standout in the Roughnecks system.

Pros: Defense! Dom is elite in almost every defensive category except his error rate, which is merely "really good." Crago also has a set of wheels on him, with plus plus speed and baserunning ability. Expect to see plenty of steals from this kid. Dom has above average contact ability, but his real batting strentgh is that he doesn't strikeout, like...ever. Above average contact, an amazing strikeout rate, and an above average eye coupled with excellent speed may mean that Crago still gets on base a lot despite lacking in other offensive areas.

Cons: Dom has average gap power and pretty much no power at all (perhaps he will hit the occasional HR on accident). Additionally, having above average eyes and contact may not be enough for Crago to standout among other elite defenders.

Signability: Crago looks like he will not be too hard to sign, making him a nice safety pick given the amount of risky pickups from the Roughnecks this draft.

Overall: Crago's excellent defense is hampered by his fairly average offense. Still, his stellar strikeout rate and speed may be enough to get him on base regularly, if so, he could be a solid Shortstop. Overall I would say Dom has C rated potential, but he may just be sneaky enough to become C+ or even B- rated in the future. He is an interesting kid, though I fear he could get log jammed in the system.

That's it so far for the Roughnecks! Houston is taking some big risks in this draft, let's hope it leads to big rewards!

[JDevil]

Charleston (AP) - Unfortunately for Palmetto's fans, at least on draft day is that the Palmettos owned the last pick in each round, thanks to their 85-35 record last season. On the positive side however, they did have a few extra picks thrown in there with two picks in the third and two picks in the fifth round. The Palmettos stuck to their script on all picks except one. They were looking for guys who fit the mold of a Palmetto baseball player. Let's take a look at their picks in the first five rounds.

Round 1 (11) - C Hayden Waller (R/R) - Mississippi State University

Pros: Hayden is an elite catcher in all respects. He is a tremendous defender. He manages a staff well, and has a cannon for an arm. He is the best defensive catcher in the draft, and possibly the best we will see for years to come. He is also a good hitter with no flaws in his offensive game. He can hit for contact and power, and won't hurt with his plate discipline. He may never be an elite hitter, but he's a guy who could bat 5th in the order for years. He also has a great work ethic, and can impose his will on an organization, and is a workhorse who wants to play everyday.

Cons: If you are looking for a flaw in his game, it's his speed. As with most catchers he just isn't fast. He has below average speed, but he is a decent baserunner, and base stealer. He's never going to be good at laying bunts down either, but he hits well enough and will hit high enough in the order it shouldn't be an issue.

Signability: Signability will not be an issue here. He is just looking for his slotted amount. He has given every indication, he is just ready to get into our organization and start playing professional baseball.

Track Record: Through 45 games at MSU, he is hitting .310 with 8 homers and 43 RBIs. He has 21 extra base hits and 24 walks. He is second in the nation among college catchers in OBP and third in SLG.

GM's Take: "When Hayden was still there at 11 with all the tools he has, we had to take him. He is just about everything we look for. He's a tremendous catcher. He is gonna help out pitching staff even more, and he hits well also. I know alot of people are forced to sacrifice hitting to get an elite defensive catcher, but all the time he's worked on defensive game to this point has not hurt his development with the bat. He's not a guy we are gonna bury at the bottom of the order, just to get him on the field. We couldn't be happier to get him at 11."

ETA: Look for Hayden to make a push in late 2014 and possibly be the opening day starter in 2015.

Round 2 (22) - CF Casey Prudhoe (L/R) - St. Thomas Aquinas High School (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)

Pros: Where do we start here. He has alot of tools. He has good gap power and power potential, and well above average plate discipline. He has great outfield range and an above average arm. He has better than average speed, and he's a great baserunner and base stealer. He is also a guy who's gonna work hard to improve himself, which is very important for a young player.

Cons: Although he has good plate discipline, he still strikes out a bit too much. His development in this area will really determine if he ends up being a top of the order type of hitter or if he ends up hitting around the six spot. He needs more experience which will come over time to hone his craft as a fielder, but the potential is there.

Signability: This may be an issue here with Casey. We feel however with him being taken at the end of round two, and when we get to the signing period, that his demands may come down.

Track Record: Casey's high school stats are tremendous. He currently leads the nation in homers with 12. He is second in AVG at .535 and OBP at .594, and he leads the nation again in SLG at 1.209. He also has a 10-2 record as a pitcher. The guy is simply an athlete and a competitor.

GM's Take: "We like what we see in Casey. We aren't usually a team who goes after high school players, but with the tools he had, he was the best value we saw at this point in the draft. We really like his power and eye. He has a bit of a tough time still with offspeed pitches, but that will come over time we think when we get him involved in our system. He has a really bright future. We seem him as being a left fielder or center fielder. I dont quite think he has the arm for right. We are excited to add him to our organization."

ETA: Casey is young for his draft class and wont even turn 18 until November. He should really be a high school junior. It's going to be a while before he's major league ready. I think the earliest we could see him would be 2016, with 2018 being more likely.

Round 3 (24) - 1B Dylan Zeits (L/R) - Arizona State University

Pros: Dylan is a great contact hitter, in the similar mode to Palms current 1B and league MVP Bryce Kelley. He also bats left like Bryce. He has decent power potential. I'd call it about average for a first basemen, maybe above average for all players. He could be a guy you can hit 20 home runs over the course of a season if he stays healthy. In terms of the intangibles, he's a great leader, he is a tremendous worker and he is very loyal.

Cons: He is a terrible fielder, even for first basemen standards. He has average speed, but is not a good on the base paths. He may steal a few bases, but thats going to be about it. It's clear he spends more time in the cage than he does working on his fielding. He may strike out a touch more than we would like, but its not really a liability.

Signability: Should be no issues here. He is a slot player. I dont think the Palmettos will have any problem at all signing him.

Track Record: Dylan's .347/.410 line is good for fourth in the nation in both of those categories. He has 12 home runs to go with 47 RBIs. He is currently batting cleanup for the Sun Devils, as they are making a push to make the CCAA world series.

GM's Take: "We saw some glimpses of how Bryce hits when we look at his swing. He is a little taller than Bryce and bends a little more at the knees, but he is a great contact hitter. He has some decent pop and has 12 homers, I think so far this season for the Sun Devils. We know he may never be a great fielder, but his bat more than makes up for that. We talked with all his coaches at ASU too. We know what we are getting here. He's gonna be solid."

ETA: Dylan is pretty advanced in his development. He will need a little work on his plate discipline before he is major league ready. He could be ready by 2014. The issue here is what does Carolina do with Ray Armstrong? Do they move Armstrong to left and let Dylan back up Bryce, or do they let Dylan continue to get at bats in AAA? There may be a little log jam for playing time, but he could be ready to contribute as early as next season.

Round 3 (32) - SP Jason Cisco (R/R) - University of North Carolina

Pros: He has an elite fast ball that can touch 100 MPH. He has a nasty slider that will cross the plate in the low 90's and a nice little changeup that is very advanced for a 22 year old college pitcher. With as good as his fastball is, it's surprising that his changeup is as good as it is. He is a good leader, and hard worker as well. He also has nice sharp bite on his slider, and good late movement on his fastball. He has better than average stamina and does a good job holding runners.

Cons: The only con here and it's a glaring one, is that he just doesn't command the strike zone as well as we would like. Although he has pretty good stamina, he doesn't have elite stamina, which might cause him to have to exit games early because he tends to get deep into pitch counts

Signability: He's currently asking for over million to sign, but similar to Casey Prudhoe, we think we will be able to get him at a more reasonable amount when the rubber hits the road.

Track Record: He leads the nation in ERA and is third in strikeouts, but has far less innings pitched than the two guys ahead of him. His K/9 is a fantastic 13.6. He currently sits at 8-2 with a whip of 1.04.

GM's Take: "Well Jason's an interesting pitcher. We love his velocity, and movement. We just aren't blown away by his control. Jason can get away a little with control issues because he has such good stuff that he can notch a nice amount of K's. We will see what happens when we get him into our system. I am hoping we can iron out his control a little. If we can he is going to be a tremendous pitcher, and a steal where we got him in the draft. Either way he's gonna be entertaining, he's just that kind of guy."

ETA: It looks like 2015 is about where we are looking here. He might start in AA or High-A. His movement through the system will depend on if he can hone his command. Everything else is there.

Round 4 (42) - 3B Jose Altamirano (R/R) - Instituto Hidalgo - (Tulancingo, Hidalgo MX)

Pros: He has good power and good contact ability. He may never be all star caliber, but this is where his strength lies. He is an above average fielder who can play second and third. He also has pretty good speed.

Cons: Jose doesn't really stand out in any category. He is average to above average in about everything. If we are looking for cons it would be his skill on the basepaths, his plate discipline and his ability to avoid strike outs.

Signability: There shouldn't be any issues here at all.

Track Record: Jose is batting .514 with an OBP of .559 and SLG of .945 which puts him inside the top ten for high school hitters in this draft class. The competition he is facing in his part of Mexico however is not all that good, so his numbers might be inflated a bit there.

GM's Take: "What we liked about Jose was his production, his hitting and fielding ability. He's going to be a project for us, with him being so young, but with Jasper manning 3rd right now, with him being as young as he is, we are in no rush to try to get a third base prospect to the majors. We just thought he was the best hitter available to us in the draft when he was taken."

ETA: Shoot for 2017 as a target. He has some talent, but has a long way to go in his development.

Round 5 (49) - SP Tobias Jarrell (R/R) - Enid High School (Enid, SE)

Pros: He does a good job of keeping the ball down. He does not have an elite fastball. He succeeds by keeping the ball out of the hitters wheelhouse. He has a good fastball and sinker combo. His fastball is not overpowering, but he can make his sinker look like his fastball out of his hand, so his fastball gains some deceptive speed.

Cons: He doesn't have a ton of velocity, which may limit his upward development. He is really going to have to develop a nasty sinker to get away with his velocity. He is not great at holding runners, and he is not a great fielder, but those skills should improve over time.

Signability: No issues anticipated.

Track Record: He is currently 7-3 for his high school team, with 100 K's in 95 IP. His ERA is a tidy 2.08. It's not elite for a high school pitcher, but its good for a fifth round draft pick.

GM's Take: "Toby is another project for us. We wanted to get another starter at this part of the draft. We felt he had the best makeup of the guys who were left. He's not an overpowering guy. We are going to get him in here and really have him work on making his sinker his out pitch. He has a good slider too that moves well. If he can get those two pitches going, it should help with his lack of velocity. He might end up being a reliever for us, but we are gonna start him on the mound right now.

ETA: Look for him to be ready in 2018. He may make his money eventually as a reliever, but he adds depth to the Palmettos pitching slate in the minors.

Round 5 (52) - 1B Erik Fahnestock (R/R) - University of Arkansas

Pros: Elite contact hitter and tremendous leader. He does a great job working pitchers, because he doesn't swing and miss much. He's going to be a guy who puts the ball in play alot. He's isn't a guy who will strike out much at all. He also has great speed and baserunning ability for a first baseman. He currently has 40 steals to his credit for the Razorbacks.

Cons: Since he's such a good contact hitter he tends to swing at pitches he doesn't need to. He's not all that disciplined at the plate. He's not a great fielder, hence the reason he plays first base, but even for first basemen he's below average. He is more of a singles hitter too. His slugging numbers may falter a bit because of it.

Signability: We dont see there being any issues. His agent is willing to have him sign for his slot.

Track Record: Erik leads the CCAA in batting average at .398, but out of those 102 hits, only 13 of them are extrabase hits. His 40 steals is well above average for players at his position.

GM's Take: "Erik's makeup doesn't really match what other first basemen might offer. He is a great contact hitter and he runs well. He just works over pitchers, which we like because it elevates pitch counts. He is going to get on alot via the bat, similar to Bryce. I know I've compared both of these first basemen we drafted to Bryce, but he's the standard bearer for right now. Average wise Erik might be right up there with Bryce in the long run, maybe a tick lower, but he's that kind of hitter. He wont hit for as much power as Bryce does, but again, he just adds another asset to our organization that we are going to look to develop.

ETA: Look for him in 2016. He is a little young for a college prospect, so it will take him a few more years, but once he's ready he will give the Palmettos another quality bat to add to the lineup.