Burlington Booya
Needs: OF, SP, RP
Graham Oliver and Ben Felsen are a solid combination behind the plate, however Dioner Moreno is a miscast nightmare at 1B. I understand the desire to get his bat into the lineup, but he should be sent in a deal to the AL where his talents as a DH can be better utilized. Cam Weston is the natural 1B, but he has been moved to RF to plug a gap there. The rest of the infield is loaded with blue chip talent, and once tmantom settles them into their natural positions, this will become an even more formidable team than they already are. His two greatest challenges will soon become, how to pay all these guys, and secondly, how to get them all sufficient playing time. In the OF, most positions are being staffed by infielders, which will yield good results in the field, but is an awful waste of talent. When these guys go looking for big money contracts, tmantom will be paying skill position salaries to players playing the corner outfield. The starting rotation is solidly made up of players who are mostly in their prime, and is designed to win now, which is what Burlington is doing. They will need replacing however, over the next few years. Burlington's weakness is without a doubt it's bullpen. Much help is needed here to put the opposition away after building up those big leads.
Draft Expectations: Very Low
Five picks in the first 5 rounds, and the first pick is at 27th overall. All tmantom should expect from this draft is a fringe player or two, and anything better would be a bonus.
Draft Preparation:
Burlington's player payroll is currently just below league average, giving them a considerable degree of flexibility, especially taking into account the low amount that will be paid out to draft picks in the prospect budget. They have allocated significant amounts to both training and medical, and they still managed to max the prospect budget. Obviously they will have plenty available for the IFA market. For draft scouting, they concentrated mainly on college scouting.
Prospects
Round 1 Pick 27 1B/LF Rolando Alarcon
Not a bad pickup for 27th overall, Alarcon will provide plenty of pop to any team he lands on. He has excellent contact/batting eye splits, and very respectable power. His moderate left/right splits will be bolstered by those contact/batting eye splits, and he is an extremely intelligent base-runner.
ML Projection: 25-35 HR/.280-.300 BA/15 SB
Round 2 Pick 83 SP Harvey Trammell
A career minor league starting pitcher, Trammell will not be effective enough to get ML hitters out. Ceiling AAA
Round 3 Pick 115 IF Derrek Schmidt
Schmidt is a typical 4A player whose numbers are slightly enticing, but not quite good enough for a role in the majors. Because he does not stand out in any one area, he will probably play out his career in AAA.
Round 4 Pick 147 SS Cesar Moreno
Moreno holds slightly more promise than Schmidt, with a little bit better defense and a bit more consistent offense. This may be enough to get him a role as a ML utility player.
ML Projection: Utility Infielder
Round 5 Pick 179 RP Jake Washington
Although he has some nice numbers, Washington's left/right splits are way too low to be an effective ML reliever. He will probably top out at AA.
Hidden Gems: None Foreseeable
Overall Grade: B-
This is a team that has been assembled to win now. Because it is still young enough, assuming that tmantom can keep re-signing his free agents, this team should be a contender for many years to come. Adding Alarcon into the mix will simply add another bat into an already potent lineup.
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