S18 Draft Review by holer

Scottsdale RAIDERS

Needs: C, SS, OF, SP
In desperate need of catching help as incumbent Malachi Corey is sinking fast. In the rest of the infield, the Raiders are one of those teams that employs the "4 shortstop" system, whereby they try to fill all infield positions with natural shortstops. The problem with this in Scottsdale is that nobody has good enough fielding ability to man the actual shortstop position. In the outfield, rightfielder David Unamuno would be better off at 1B, leaving few options to cover RF, especially with Patsy Crow and Tomaas Marquez approaching free agency. The starting pitching is below standard overall, starting with their ace. The problem is, they don't have one. They do have a decent number 2 and 3 starter, but fall off again after that. This team was built almost as an afterthought just to surround Dante Ming with a collection of stuffed uniforms, and it is really beginning to show as Ming quickly succumbs to age. Focus for Scottsdale in the draft has to be to find the long-lost ace, and then to find an everday catcher capable of handling him, while providing some offense of his own.

Draft Expectations: High
Even though they only have 5 picks in the first 5 rounds, 3 of them are in the first round. Starting at number 7 overall, Scottsdale has 3 picks in the top 36. deerhunter should expect a lot from this draft.

Draft Preparation:
The Scottsdale Raiders player payroll is right at the top of the league, by a substantial margin. As a result, deerhunter has virtually no money to throw at any other department. Amazingly, he found enough nickels in the couch to pay 9 mill to any and all prospects who might get lost in the desert.

Prospects

Round 1 Pick 7 SS Carlton Mortensen
deerhunter has managed to find a top ten pick who will have difficulty even making the big leagues, ever. As a SS he will self destruct. He would best be moved to 3B. At 3B, his bat might be able to fill in as a utility infielder.
ML Projection: Utility Infielder

Round 1 Pick 25 RF/1B Pat Lewis
See Mortensen above, except with no chance of making the ML. At RF, or 1B, you would like to see a player with a far superior bat to Lewis, pounding the ball out from the middle of the batting order. Ceiling AAA.

Round 1 Supp Pick 36 SS Carter Calero
Probably the most talented player taken by Scottsdale in the first round (but not by much), Calero is still very doubtful as a full-time big league player, making deerhunter 0 for 3 for the 1st round of the draft.
ML Projection: Utility Infielder

Round 4 Pick 128 RP Joe Sherman
Although most of his numbers don't look too bad, one glaring weakness will seal his fate. An absolute lack of control will keep Sherman from ever seeing any time in the bigs.

Round 5 Pick 160 2B/LF Lynn Scott
Not even worth writing about

Hidden Gems: none foreseeable

Overall Grade: F
I'm afraid deerhunter may be better off just sticking to the free agent market to build his teams. The summers just keep getting longer and drier in the Arizona desert.