Draft Report Part 4 of 10

Dover Demon Dawgs (AL)

Luke Rose 1st Round (14th) Every rose has a thorn they say. This rose has more then one by the looks of it. Equally tough on lefties and righties, very good control, and 2 quality pitches. Will eventually settle into one of the top three spots in the rotation for any team.

Rick Henderson 1st Round (34th) Youngest son of former major league base stealing superstar, Rickey Henderson. Must have watched his dad steal a few bases and thought it would be fun to try and stop him. Projects to be a solid power hitting catcher that calls a very good game. Should be good for 30 homers and .280 avg. 1st of two compensation picks for Johnnie Price.

Charlie Robertson 2nd Round (53rd) The 2nd compensation pick for Price. Should never bat at the major league level. Could however steal 40 bases if just used as a runner and has all the makings of a gold glover. A great guy to have on the bench. But not a great pick in the 2nd Round.

Del Cortes 2nd Round (66th) Cortes has all the makings of a very good Mop up pitcher, good control and stamina and one very good pitch. His inability to get right handed batters consistently and his lack of a 2nd pitch are the only things keeping him from starting every 5 days.

Karl Cortes 5th Round (162nd) Karl could one day see himself riding the pine for a bad ML team. A smart ball player that can steal and field pretty well and hits righthanders well enough to not embarrass himself. A long shot at the majors.

Chance Haynes 6th round (194th) Faster then Cortes, a better fielder and even a better bunter. Doesn’t hit as well though. Might actually be the better major leaguer if he gets there.

Stan Blair 9th Round (290th) STEAL STEAL STEAL. Hello future Setup A. better then average splits, solid control, great heat, keeps the ball on the ground and 1 awesome pitch and a 2nd pitch that is okay. Great pick!

Draft Grade: A- , No superstar, but 2 very good players at SP and Catcher. 2 solid bullpen pitchers and a couple of nice bench player options. Great draft with out breaking the bank.


Durham Bears (NL)

Santos Quixote 1st Round (2nd) He might have the best stuff of any pitcher in the draft. Will probably only be good for 5 or 6 innings, but he will be great in those innings. Awesome control, very good splits, 2 amazing pitches and 2 more that will be useable.

Footsie Chapman 1st round (41st) Footsie should be a solid tail end of the rotation in a few seasons. Pin point control, and a variety if pitches ranging from average to spectacular. Will struggle against lefties but should still start once every 5 days.

Juan Gonzalez 2nd Round (54th) The Bears grabbed another solid pitcher in the 2nd round. Probably wont start but will be useful out of the pen in a long relief capacity. Good control, and good splits should help compensate for mediocre pitches.

Paul McCorley 9th Round (278th) The first position player taken by the Bears. Has major league power and a great eye, hits lefties well enough to platoon. Might be better suited to play in the AL where he can spend time at DH.

Draft Grade: B, the worst team in baseball got a little better. A potential superstar pitcher and 3 other solid additions. Some more variety to the picks could have been done to bring some defense or extra pop to the organization.


El Paso The Alamo (NL)

Darin Osterbrock 1st Round (12th) May one day be one of the best closers in baseball. Or may one day be the best pitcher for 4 innings and the worst for anything after that. AWESOME splits, AWESOME control and one great pitch. Is probably going to end up in the bullpen were he will be one of the best two inning closers of all time.

Patrick Smith 2nd Round (64th) Smith looks like he should be a solid member of The Alamo pitching staff in a few seasons. May not ever be more then a .500 pitcher but he will have moments of greatness.

Ajax Robertson 4th Round (128th) A serviceable utility man. A good enough fielder that he can play anywhere, except maybe SS. On the other hand might not ever get past AAA.

Draft Grade: C+ Got some nice help for their pitching staff but not much beyond that.