Philadelphia river rats
Needs: C, COF, RP
Behind the plate, Pablo Marquez is a solid young ML catcher, but he needs a capable backup to step in when he needs a break, and that backup is not yet in the Philadelphia system. The current infield is in disarray, but that will soon change. The arrival of Yadier Santos at SS does give some stability, but he is currently challenged defensively, and has a lot of developing to do before the leaky Philadelphia defense starts to make better plays. The signing of another young stud, Al Pascual, will eventually help stop the leaks on the left side of the infield as one of the two young shortstops will be moved to 3B. Young Earl Dye needs to take over a more permanent role at 2B, and when Kid Flair arrives, ndrules will have the 4th skilled infielder that will allow them some flexibility moving forward. With the group they now have in the system, they should be fighting for a playoff spot within 3 seasons. In the OF, their current LF, Felipe Puente, is far better suited for their future 1B. His defense is not strong enough for LF, but great for a gold glove calibre 1B, and he has the bat to anchor the middle of the batting order. Bruce Blank is solid in CF, and there is a brilliant defensive OF on the bench in Miguel Santana. Right field, much like the left side, does not have a capable player to man that position unless one of the overqualified infielders is moved there. On the rubber, ndrules has a very nice pitching staff forming. Filled with young studs, some already on the big team, and some yet to arrive, this staff will keep Philadelphia in the playoff hunt for many years once they arrive.
Draft Expectation: Low
The regular 5 picks in the top 5 rounds, starting with the 9th overall. ndrules should expect a high quality blue chip prospect with his first pick, and anything else is gravy.
Draft Preparation:
Well into the bottom third of the league in player salary has given ndrules some money to spend. The problem is, he started the season with an amount for salaries that was well above the league average, and then took a large chunk out of player salaries and stuck it into prospect funding. In so doing, he sacrificed 11 million to the league as compensation. His large prospect budget was meant to, and has allowed him to, sign some high profile IFA's. The remainder of his budget was pretty evenly spread out, except for international scouting, which was maxed.
Prospects
Round 1 Pick 9 SP Placido Balentien
A megafind by ndrules in the first round. With one future ace already in hand, he went for the doubleheader, and landed a beauty. Balentien will at times be unhittable, with 5 major league class pitches to draw from. His control is virtually flawless, and he is equally effective against both right and lefthanded hitters. Unusual for a southpaw.
ML Projection: 200+ IP/18-20+ W/.200-.230 OAV/2.00-2.50 ERA
Round 2 Pick 66 IF Marc Peterson
An outstanding pick in the second round, Peterson's overall rating is only as low as it is because of his low durability rating. He will only be able to put in 110-120 games per year max, but talk about high quality games! Because of this, he may be best suited on this team to be a super utility player, filling in for anyone who is tired or injured. Amazingly, he may even be a step up from the regular player at that position.
ML Projection: Utility Player
Round 3 Pick 98 C Guy Smart
Smart is the backup catcher ndrules needed from this draft. Very smart (sic) pick in the 3rd round. He is solid defensively, and very effective offensively.
ML Projection: Backup Catcher
Round 4 Pick 130 RP Rickey Delahanty
An inning eating long reliever, Delahanty could find a home on most ML squads as either a secondary long relief arm, or a mop up pitcher. He won't do anything spectacular for you, but he will save the arms of your better pitchers when his teammates forget to show up for the game.
ML Projection: Mopup Pitcher
60-100 IP/5 W/.280-.320 OAV/4.50-6.00 ERA
Round 5 Pick 162 RP Dante Wang
Some good numbers, but not good enough for the big leagues. Ceiling AAA
Hidden Gems: C Bonk Burke?
Overall Grade: A+
Starting with his first pick, ace Placido Balentien, ndrules had a great string of very solid picks, all being good enough for the big leagues until pick number 5. He filled a very important need by taking backup catcher Guy Smart, and picked up a superb all-purpose player in Marc Peterson.
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