PEBA Server Hacked, Borealis ‘Wing It’ With Pitcher Heavy Dr

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PEBA Server Hacked, Borealis ‘Wing It’ With Pitcher Heavy Dr

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PEBA Server Hacked, Borealis ‘Wing It’ With Pitcher Heavy Draft
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by Francis Ferry, NLN baseball beat writer

June 7, 2026: Aurora, Colorado – It was bound to happen. Disney losing billions on the Pirates IX film, Twitter - who can ever forget that crazy 2017 year-long, political hack; the NFL and their secret Rugby Rules files, and now the PEBA. Teams received what turned out to be a faulty list of officially draft-eligible players from the OSA Clearinghouse that left teams slack jawed at both the lack of depth and quality. At the 11th hour, though, the ‘White Hats’ – whom ever they may be (though rumored to being housed in Cuba), released the League’s actual draft list that left many teams – including the Borealis, scratching their heads and, to quote Aurora GM Will Topham, ‘winging it’.

“We found ourselves sort of dazed and confused – our usual pre-draft prep was looking pretty much like mush and when it became apparent that there was a little ‘hanky panky’ going on with the list, well we had hoped the Board would step in.” Topham said at a meeting with the press prior to the draft at Borealis HQ at Northern Lights Park. “But when all was silent, as the actual information crossed our desk at lierally – literally the 11th hour, we just threw our usual plan into the trash and winged it.”

As Topham would go on to say, it was time to ‘draft the best available player’. And based on the first day – and three rounds, that ‘best available’ plied their craft from the mound as the Borealis would select a starting pitcher with each of their first four picks. This is a strategy that might just have worked to Aurora’a advantage as they look towards a not-to-distant future that will not be including a ‘Train Arollin’’ and a ‘Tugboat’. Clark Snow (30) and ‘Terror’ Diaz are the only starters 30 and under. Aurora drafted Brandon ‘Catfish’ Waters in the first round last season, but did not draft another pitcher until the 5th round (Craig White). As a matter of fact, all three of the top starting pitchers (Rocky Martin being the third in the 6th round) have already moved on to A Ball or AA.

It’ll be mid-season on the Islands when we get our first look at Aurora’s first selection, though. With the 29th selection Aurora took SP Bob Imhoff out of the University of Iowa – who made all of 6 starts his senior year before he ruptured a tendon in his hand. The right-hander from North Branford, CT has what the Borealis have come to look for in their starters – a power arm and a high K/BB ration. Both his freshmen and junior seasons he struck out over 100 batters in 70+ IP. He posted a 3.79 ERA his senior year, but that may be more a vagary of early season mathematics – his career number for his first three seasons was a sparkling 1.65, with a sub-1.00 WHIP. He also seemed to keep the ball in the park – a definite plus. Bob was a USCBA All-Star his junior year and he was the USCBA version of Mike Provost – leading the league in K’s and K/9. He allowed the 5th fewest hits and OAVG and his 3.9 WAR was tops by a pitcher and 4th best overall. It is unfortunate that his senior season was cut short. 13 times he has struck out 10 or more hitters in a game – that’s nearly a third of his starts. With Imhoff looking at only 7 starts to his 2026 minor league season, he’ll no doubt begin at Mokule’ia – a fact that I won’t repeat, as all members of this years class are expected to head to the Islands.

During the Supplemental Round, Aurora had the 6th pick (for the signing of Jesus Negrete by San Juan) and, appropriately Aurora replaced one Jesus with another, as they took SP Jesus SolÌs out of Michigan State with their pick. Solis brings a wide variety of pitches in his repitore, but he also brings an odd history and perhaps some baggage. Most of all was his 2025 junior season where he made two appearances and pitched just 4 innings. Solis was suspended by the Persian team during the first week of the year – for incidents the team has still yet to elaborate on. Up to that point, Solis had been used out of the ‘pen (1.08 ERA over 50 innings and 39 appearances), but after his suspension, Jesus made 14 starts in 2026 and posted a 1.60 ERA, with 91 K and 15 BB, and a 0.74 WHIP. He threw the third most innings and had the fewest H/9, which led to a third best OAVG in the league. He was an All-Star in the bullpen his freshmen year. The fact that the team had to suspend him for a season doesn’t speak well to his character, but the fact that he returned for his senior year and pitched exceptionally well in a new job does speak well to his potential for the Borealis.

At 59, towards the end of the second round Aurora selected another right-handed starter, this time a kid from Charlotte, NC out of UCONN, Kelsey Buck. He’s another hard-throwing pitcher who features mostly a fastmall and a slider – he has a change that will need some work. His 2.31 ERA his senior season was the highest of his college career – though his 6 wins were tops for the Klondikes as were his 64 K. Kelsey was also an All-Star his freshmen year with a 6-1 mark and a 1.55 ERA in 11 GS. Whether he finds himself starting games in the future – he really will need to improve that change, or ends up in the bullpen, is something to be determined, but scouts do like how he handles himself in high-stress situations, and there have been whispers through out baseball that this guy may someday close games. For now, Kelsey will be starting alongside his draft classmates.

For the record, pointed out to us by the GM, had the hack not been exposed, the Borealis would never have had these first three picks on their board. “Dad (former-owner, Michael Topham, Sr), rest his soul, would say, ‘Even now, in 2026, one must shake their head at the security of ones digital information. Just as in 2017, the global storing of information ‘in the cloud’, as they used to call it, is never safe’.”

Aurora had a pair of third round picks, the first being the 3rd selection – thanks to Amsterdam and the Clark Snow deal, and after selecting three college players, Aurora hit the high school trails and went with a pair of school boys in the third round. The first of which was yet another right-handed starter from Katy HS, Mike Gaselee. Gaselee, first and foremost, is expected to opt for college, but nonetheless he’s an intriguing prospect. Last year he posted a 1.93 ERA, yet he only started 3 games – one of which was a perfect game against Sarasota. This year, he started 11 games with a 3.20 ERA. Scouts find him inconsistent at the moment, but when he has found his groove, they say he paints the conrers well. He needs to improve the pitches he brings to the table and find that consistency. With the top three starting pitchers drafted last year and this year all being college players, it may make sense for the Borealis to take a leap on a college guy they can groom for a few years in the low minors. For that to happen, they’ll have to convince Mike to sign. To the Borealis’ advantage, no one who knows Gaselee will tell you he’s a super scholar.

With their own selection in the third round Aurora took another young player who – surprise, does not pitch! Instead they selected SS Frank Evans, a native of Allen, Texas whose high school career hails from Canadian Canuck High School. When you look at the numbers, there is nothing memorable to Evan’s resume. His career batting average is on the Interstate, he has little power and has struck out 132 times in 445 AB. And yet, he has excellent defensive skills and speed that is enhanced by excellent baserunning instincts. “We look at Frank much like we do Mike,” Will Topham said, “he’s a project that we can bring along slowly. You can never tell with those HS kids. There’s plenty of competition at Mokule’ia this year – we have a number of players graduating from our International Complex, so we’ll see what he’s made of.” Or he may decide to hit the books at the next level.

Either way with Gaselee and Evans, the worst case scenario is they fail to sign and Aurora receives a pair of compensation picks next season.

Day 2 will begin with the Borealis on the sidelines as they dealt both their 4th round pick – and Duluth’s 4th rounder (from the Tomas Flores trade) to Amsterdam as part of the Clark Snow deal. Aurora also dealt their 7th rounder to Kentucky for Pedro Vega – who unfortunately is out for the season after a solid, early start, leaving the team with a 5th, 6th, an 8th and on to the end.

So, after Day 1 of the draft, the Borealis have their most concentrated early draft, focusing on pitching, since the 2021 season that brought, amongst others, Billy Taylor, Orlando Alarcon (now pitching for Reno), Tomas Moya and Julio Martinez. That class has seen Moya and Martinez beginning to get time on The Front Range, and Taylor on the cusp of breaking out. Only time will tell if this class is one that will provide Aurora with their best-drafted starters since Junior Cook and ‘Massacre’ Jimenez. For now, we await what Draft Day 2 holds for us.
Michael Topham, President Golden Entertainment & President-CEO of the Aurora Borealis
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