S18 Draft Review by holer

Iowa City Rounders

Needs: 1B, COF
Iowa is loaded with quality catchers, and won't have to worry about that position for quite a long time. Ahsowhat is another owner who drafts/signs loads of middle infielders, and then mans all of his fielding positions with them. The problem is, it's really hard to find shortstops and second basemen who are also monster middle-of-the-order hitters, which is what Ahsowhat needs more than anything. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Ahsowhat has a couple of excellent options to patrol CF, but his outfield as a whole is very thin. A couple of hard hitting corner outfielders are what is needed here. Iowa's greatest strength by far is it's starting pitching, definitely the envy of the league. All are young, and as if that's not enough, all are ace quality! Denny Tazawa is a future number 3 starter on any other team, but he can't even crack the rotation here! His bullpen is not at the same level as the rotation, but it does have some talent already there, and others on the way.

Draft Expectations: Low
Iowa has the standard 5 picks in the top 5 rounds, and does not pick until number 26 overall. This means Ahsowhat will not have great expectations for this draft.

Draft Preparation:
Like division rival Texas, Iowa has a player payroll in the bottom third of the ARod world. What Ahsowhat has chosen to do with that financial freedom is very interesting, but makes complete sense. With so little expected from his draft, Ahsowhat chose to maximize funding to all his departments that are not directly draft related, such as advance scouting, training, and medical. He then dispersed what little was remaining to the draft related departments.

Prospects

Round 1 Pick 26 RP Terrence Riggs
A very high quality relief pitcher, Riggs is a perfectly acceptable option at pick number 26. He has good control, and is virtually unhitable vs right-handed hitters. He will probably become the premier set-up guy, but would also do fine as the closer.
ML Projection: 60-70 IP/5 W/5-10 SV/.190-.220 OAV/2.00-2.50 ERA

Round 2 Pick 82 SS Louis Daniels 
Defensively, Daniels is sound with a good glove, and a rocket launcher arm. Offensively though, Daniels is extremely challenged. At best he will become a defensive replacement, and will only be allowed to hit against left-thanders.
ML Projection: Defensive replacement

Round 3 Pick 114 CF Victor Castellanos
Phenominal range is Castellanos' long suit. Unfortunately, he doesn't bring enough else to the table to justify any time spent in the big leagues. Ceiling AA or AAA, if he is actually signed.

Round 4 Pick 146 2B Gil Clark
Not enough talent to climb to the top, and not signed anyhow.

Round 5 Pick 178 LF Craig Hill
Another minor league player not signed.

Hidden Gems: CF Jermaine Hicks?, CF Kent Cash?

Overall Grade: C
Although another relief pitcher wasn't necessarily needed, I'm sure Riggs will be a welcome addition to the bullpen. At pick number 26, he is at the appropriate level of prospect you would expect. After picking up another couple of longshots further down the draft, Ahsowhat wound up with about what should be expected.