Sorting the wheat from the chaff (A Hartford Farming blog)

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Re: Sorting the wheat from the chaff (A Hartford Farming blo

#16 Post by Vic »

If he were a 4-star prospect, the malt whiskey would likely be en route, but the Claymores are a, um, frugal organization. So Indiana ale it is ...
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Re: Sorting the wheat from the chaff (A Hartford Farming blo

#17 Post by Fishermen »

#4. May 22nd, 2028
The Pitcher Edition
Injuries continue to disrupt the minors and players shuffle along the highways & byways to reach their new team but two are going further than most. The first trade of the GM Laverick era was a minor league swap with the Scottish Claymores. When young Tam Lochhead, Hartford’s 2027 #1 pick, reported back to Waikiki he went straight in to see manager Jonathan Brown and complained of being homesick. After meeting with the welfare team the franchise decided it was best for all if the 19-yr-old was allowed to go home. A conversation with Claymore’s GM ensued and an agreement was reached to send the rights to Lochhead to Claymores and they would send 23-yr-old Ken Turner who was born in nearby Plymouth, Mass in return. Not a blockbuster in the overall scheme of the PEBA but a big deal to the life’s of two young men.

Triple-A Lincoln Emancipation 21-21, 3rd RML North (2 GB)

Despite the constant shuttle of pitchers to Hartford Lincoln actually managed to go 7-6 over the last fortnight to move back to .500. Kojiro Hirose became the second ex-Lincoln pitcher in the Hartford rotation and catcher Dae-hyun Paek headed for the big league club as well to ride the pines as a backup. All of the promotions have meant three new faces in the rotation but not the two they were expecting. 34-yr-old José Morín was signed as a minor league free agent for injury cover and he hardly had time to pitch an innings before he boarded the Hartford bus (he actually pitched two scoreless & hitless innings striking out two). Also 32-yr-old Truman Burke has finished his rehab stint following last year’s radial nerve (elbow) decompression surgery and after going 0-2 in five starts with an ERA north of six, Hartford have put him on waivers with a view to returning him to Lincoln full-time. So coming in to the Emancipation rotation are 25-yr-old lefty Jose Garcia who was previously in the bullpen and two promoted from Double-A Laval. Coming up are 29-yr-old lefty Albert Metcalf & 24-yr-old Ken Wolf, both were previously pitching out of the Laval bullpen. Heading into the Lincoln bullpen is the out-of-form Takejiro Daikawa, finally demoted from Hartford despite all their injury worries. Leading batter is 26-yr-old Howard Harper, in his second year at this level he is leading the team with four homers & 19 RBI.

Double-A Laval Islanders 19-27, 4th PCAL Maple Leaf (12 GB)

Not a happy fortnight for Laval after they won just four of their 13 games. They too are seeing plenty of movements due to the pitching crisis. Juan Arredondo has moved from the bullpen to the rotation while 22-yr-old Dave Allen has been promoted out of the Cheyenne bullpen to be the Islander’s fifth starter. 22=yr=old Brett Utting has also swapped the Cheyenne bullpen for the one in Laval. The corner outfielders in Laval are trying their best to push the team on, 24-yr-old left fielder Ryan Brown is powering the team’s offence with nine homers and 26 RBI as well as seven successful steals out of eight attempts while 24-yr-old right fielder Siu-chung Duan has six homers, 13 RBI and 10 steals from 11 attempts.

A ball Cheyenne Frontier 12-16, 1st AWL Big Sky (- GB)
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The Govan tough nut Ken Turner has arrived in Cheyenne
Cheyenne has also had a rough two weeks, playing just nine games in that period it was probably just as well as the team could only manage three wins. Their rotation has done fairly well considering the team’s win total, their problem has mainly been in the bullpen. 21-yr-old [http://www.pebabaseball.com/reports/new ... _2464.html] Ángelo López[/url] has made the move from Waikiki to be a setup man in the Cheyenne bullpen while 22-yr-old Wing-kit Da, a Chinese international free agent signing last November, is now starting his professional career in deepest Wyoming. Slipping into the closer’s role is the new arrival from Govan, Ken Turner, he has expressed his relief at being back in the U.S. but has obviously learnt the “Glasgow kiss” during his time in the Glasgow suburb settling a few locker room disputes with it in his first few days here. 23-yr-old catcher Jim Weatherstone, a minor league free agent signing in February, is pushing for a promotion after starting his third year at this level. He is currently hitting .294/.463/.667 with five homers and 15 RBI. Patience at the plate is obviously a mantra in Cheyenne as four players have drawn a total of 11 or more walks in the 28 games played.

SS-A Waikiki Coconuts ---, --- HL Aloha (–GB)

Promotions have reduced the number of players in minor league camp in Hawaii to 33 but that still means about 10 of these will either have to be cut or find spots higher up the franchise to make room for the new intake of the 2028 first-year-player draft. Several are being looked at hard for promotion in the very near future including 20-yr-old South Korean left fielder Dong-won Pong who was signed to the International Complex in 2024 and has been promoted to the pro ranks this March.
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Re: Sorting the wheat from the chaff (A Hartford Farming blo

#18 Post by Fishermen »

#5. June 2nd, 2028
Moving Day Edition
There was a lot of player movement today, all the teams travel secretaries were kept busy issuing travel orders as a minor league free agent signing, players being activated off the DL and players clearing waivers had the managers scrambling to stay within roster limits. Unfortunately, it did lead to several players losing their jobs.
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Former London pitcher Robby Holmes signs a minor league deal in an attempt to resurrect his career

Triple-A Lincoln Emancipation 24-28, 3rd RML North (4 GB)
With two of the team’s best pitchers playing in Hartford the Emancipation are still struggling, going 3-7 over the last 10 games. Hopefully though the changes at the end of this week might change that. After a long drawn out negotiation 33-yr-old pitcher Robby Holmes agreed a minor league deal with a $30,000 signing bonus. I know Holmes well, he arrived in London as a 23-yr-old in a trade I did with Crystal Lake and although he was the PEBA’s #48 ranked prospect his career was already blighted by surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow. Tommy John surgery, Shoulder inflammation and more Elbow problems have prevented him from reaching his potential. He still has 138 PEBA starts, 40 wins and an All-Star appearance (2022) so I was happy to give him this chance to resurrect his career. He will slot straight into Lincoln’s rotation as will demoted Harpoon pitcher Masaharu Konishi and Truman Burke, both who have cleared waivers to be assigned here. Third baseman Scott Wilson is another reporting following clearing waivers to remove him from the 40-man roster and catcher Dae-hyun Paek has returned to Lincoln after his stint in the PEBA. Both will take the starting role at their respective positions. All of this meant Ken Wolf, Katsuyuki Iida and Julio Gomez were demoted to Double-A Laval and two pitchers, 29-yr-old Albert Metcalf & 30-yr-old Roy Baird (just promoted from Laval), were called into the managers office and were handed their outright release. Neither had made the PEBA and were both at least three years removed from a winning season record.
The final series of May was probably representative of Lincoln’s season, after a 5-2 win over the West Valley City Grizzlies the two sides traded 9-0 games as Lincoln first lost 0-9 and then bounced back to win the rubber game 9-0. Three out of Javier Garcia’s 11 appearances have been starts and he now has a 4-0 record with a 1.45 ERA. The batters are not so impressive in general, they will welcome back Wilson and his .317/.397/.406 triple slashline and look for Howard Harper to add to his 6 homers and 25 RBI.

Double-A Laval Islanders 24-31, 4th PCAL Maple Leaf (12 GB)
Laval continue to muddle along posting a 5-5 record over the last ten games including a double header at Lodoss where the Islanders unusually won both games. The influx of Iida, Wolf & Gomez from Lincoln caused pressure on roster space in Laval too. Wolf went straight into the rotation and Gomez headed for the bullpen, but Iida was directed to the managers office where having flown all the way from Nebraska to Canada was handed his outright release and a ticket home. Along with him 27-yr-old Hunter Bradshaw was also given his release. The leading light in Laval has been 24-yr-old left fielder Ryan Brown who has nine homers, 29 RBI, 27 runs scored, 13 walks, two of Laval’s four triples and ten steals from 11 attempts. He had 80 plus games in triple-A last season and it’s a fair bet he won’t have to wait too long to return to Lincoln.
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Re: Sorting the wheat from the chaff (A Hartford Farming blo

#19 Post by Fishermen »

#6. June 2nd, 2028

Reseeding the farm edition


Since I arrived in Hartford on Opening Day, I have been slowly X-Raying the farm system we have here to find out the nuts and bones of it. We have a mid-ranked system, 15th out of 26, with just two prospects rated by OSA in the Top 100. The fact that 11 franchises have lower ranked systems means something, but I would still like to figure out a way to push our system up the ranks. We have six players in Triple-A 30 and over as well as 12 players 25 and over in Double-A, I would like to reduce those age profiles. OK, I know I’ve just added to them by signing Robby Holmes & Jose Morin, but that was a necessary effect of the PEBA club’s injury crisis it was not a long-term policy decision. So how do I go about a radical overhaul of the entire system and reshape it in the image of my vision?

Winning 101 games last season doesn’t help our drafting position and neither does the loss of our first-round pick (down to something the previous GM did presumably?) meaning that our first draft pick will be 56th overall. So, we won’t be getting any big league help anytime soon out of this draft. Looking through the potential draftees though there is more than a few available that would be great assets to Waikiki & Cheyenne, that set me thinking; perhaps the way to revitalise the system would be to make the A ball and SS-A teams something to behold, then perhaps some of those would develop. If enough develop perhaps Laval will feel the benefit and then maybe even Lincoln? Not exactly rocket science, and also not really helping Laval & Lincoln provide many players to Hartford in the short term. In truth though it is probably, in my opinion, the best way to improve the system as a whole, any other method smacks of sticking plasters over the holes and leaves you with a farm system that doesn’t have a clear vision, purpose or probably an end result.

The upshot of all this is that all week I have been pouring over chart after chart of the potential draftees with my Scouting Director, trying to find those hidden ones that will kickstart the revival of Waikiki and Cheyenne. Maybe they don’t really need kickstarting, but big Oak trees begin with an acorn. They may take years to grow big & strong, but they get there in the end and that’s my vision for our farm. It’ll mean that for the immediate future, maybe as long as five years, Hartford will have to rely on whatever it can scramble around and find in the bargain bucket. We’ll need a shortstop soon, Mark Edwards remains unsigned for 2029 and I can’t see that changing unless he drops his demands. I can’t see my way to handing him an eight-year extension at the age of thirty and we haven’t got a readymade replacement in the system. What I am committed to doing though is not emptying our current prospects, such as they are, or selling our draft picks in order to solve that. If we can’t find a replacement, at the right value, in free agency then we have two candidates in Lincoln who won’t be stars but may well be able to hold the fort.

I’m looking forward to the draft to see how many GM’s will be following versions of my plan, several have many years head start on us and hopefully therefore may not be chasing the same help as we are, but I suspect it will be hard to grab many that fit perfectly into our new vision. Over the last few weeks the staff at Waikiki have been combing our roster that is currently there and have managed to reduce the number of holdovers from 38 down to 25 which I think is a realistic starting number. I’m happy that the 25 at Waikiki all have some sort of upside to them and we also have a spare roster spot in Cheyenne too. How many of those 25 remain in the organisation for much longer after the draft will depend on the quality that myself and the franchise’s scouting team can draft on the day. I am hopeful that we can fill the 10 places though with players that can really make a difference, if we get more than that 10 then we can start pushing players upwards and perhaps eliminate one or two of the ones that will never be more than organisational foot soldiers at Laval. All I can say is Draft Day is Day One in rebirth of the entire franchise.
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Re: Sorting the wheat from the chaff (A Hartford Farming blo

#20 Post by Lions »

What? You're not gonna tell the world who your sleeper picks are?
Harpoon wrote:Over the last few weeks the staff at Waikiki have been combing our roster that is currently there and have managed to reduce the number of holdovers from 38 down to 25 which I think is a realistic starting number.
Oh man, that must've been hard. We currently have 58 :shock: players on the Ketchikan roster. I have been avoiding it like the rotting carcass that it is. Maybe it'll just decay all on its own. There isn't much to distinguish a lot of those guys, so it'll be a bit of a crapshoot who stays and who goes. Maybe I'll flip some coins. The initial pruning will all be age related as there are some older guys there that shouldn't be.

Of course, there has to be room in the minors for draftees that come in as well...
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Re: Sorting the wheat from the chaff (A Hartford Farming blo

#21 Post by Borealis »

Hartford's lost #1 pick was due to the signing of FA Eduardo Romano - who did the signing, I can't say, be it a previous GM or the AI...
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Re: Sorting the wheat from the chaff (A Hartford Farming blo

#22 Post by Fishermen »

Oh, thanks Mike for that At least it was a worthwhile return then given the current state of my rotation lol. And yes Frank it was a hard job clearing the deadwood. Some did find their way out the door thanks to their age but a lot it was just a case of being realistic with how far they had left in them to go. There was a lot of 22 & 23-yr-olds that looking at their ratings/stats would be hard pressed to play any better than any 20-22 year old players I could pick up in the draft
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Re: Sorting the wheat from the chaff (A Hartford Farming blo

#23 Post by Fishermen »

#7 June 26th, 2028
2028 Draft Edition


With our first-round pick being lost due to signing Romano in free agency we only had 14 picks this year and thanks to all the compensatory picks etc our first pick was #56 overall. We felt the draft went well and had no trouble in negotiating with our draft picks with the exception of our 15th rounder, 393rd overall. Miguel Fernandez a 22-yr-old second baseman who already has four years of high school & four years of college under his belt decided that he would like upwards of $1.8 million to stop him returning to waste another year in education. With the rest of the draft picks signing for a total outlay of less than $1 million, his call was not returned, and he can have his ninth year of education. All of the remaining picks have now successfully agreed terms with Hartford and have been assigned to their first ever pro team. So there’s a little about them :-

#2 (#56th overall) Ed Black

Ed is 22-yrs-old and hails from Keansburg, NJ. He’s had four years at West Virginia college mainly at shortstop with a few outings at second. We liked his top-notch defence at short (he won the 2027 USCBA COL USCBA COL Glove Wizard Award at SS) and our scouts recommend giving him some time at second to improve him there and even suggesting that he might even be able to fill in at the outfield positions given his defensive abilities. His speed is useful, but it is not anticipated to translate into multiple steals. He agreed a $370,000 bonus fee on signing and was sent to SS-A Waikiki. In his first six games as a pro he is 3-13 with 2 walks and has scored once batting in the lead-off spot.

#3 (#80th overall) Jack Beaumond

Jack is a 21 yr-old Canadian from Vancouver BC. He’s fresh out of San Juan college where he was selected to the 2026 International College All-Star Game. He spent virtually all his time there in right field and the improvement shown defencewise in his last year there convinced us to take a chance on him. Probably not going to be more though than an organisational RF, he signed with a $250,000 bonus and reported to Waikiki. In his first six games he is struggling to catch up with the ball a bit, he’s 3-16 but has a double, a RBI and six walks batting third.

#4 (107th overall) Alfredo ‘Busboy’ Montoya

Alfredo is a 21-yr-old born in Williamsburg OH. He spent four years at the Georgetown college where he acquired his ‘Busboy’ nickname due to his habit of sneaking into restaurant kitchens pretending to be a waiter in order to steal other people’s orders for himself and his impoverished team-mates. A sound defensive catcher with a bit of pop in his bat, in 2027 he hit ten homers in 37 games and was selected to the United States Collegiate Baseball Association All-Star Game. He has only just signed with a $170,000 bonus and is currently on-route to Waikiki to begin his pro career.

#5 (133 overall) Pawl Wilczynski

21-yr-old Pawl is from Krakow, Poland (misspelled on his player bio) and was the first pitcher selected this year. He spent four years at Keio University where in 53 outings (21 starts) he went 10-16 with one save and 3.96 ERA as well as striking out 157 batters in 170 IP. He agreed an $140,000 bonus and reported to Waikiki last week. His first ever por start saw him go 7.2 innings giving up three hits & two runs. Walking two and striking out eight he got a no decision as Waikiki lost 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth.

#6 (159th overall) Porter Morris

Porter is 21-yrs-old and from Huntington IN. His lightning speed we hope will lead to a stellar base-stealing career and can play above average defence in centre or left although he will need to work hard on his arm strength. He spent four years in South Florida college split between left & centre field and in 2027 he gained a Championship Ring when he won the 2027 United States Collegiate Baseball Association UCSBA World Series with the South Florida Citrus. He reported to Waikiki and in 40 AB’s so far, he has 8 hits, 4 walks with two RBI along with four runs scored. Used exclusively in centre so far, he has turned in some eye-catching performances in the field.

#7 (185th overall) Landon Lee

Second pitcher chosen 21-yr-old Landon was born in Abram-Perezville in Texas and spent four years aattending Arizona State college. He managed a 4-5 record with a 3.00 ERA in 30 outings there with a 1.18 WHIP. In his two Waikiki starts so far, the lefty has a 0-1 record with a 2.13 ERA. Striking out 11 in 12.2 innings pitched he has walked six.

#8 (211th overall) Hisayuki Nakano

Born in Gamagori, Japan 21-yr-old Hisayuki is a third baseman who attended Asia University for four years before completing his last year in France’s Aix-Marseille Universite. He was selected to the 2025 International College All-Star Game and won the 2028 ICOL AL Platinum Stick Award at 3B. Sent to Waikiki he has six hits in 25 AB’s including his first pro homer hit on June 15th off Yasu Storks’ Norm Morton.

#9 (237th overall) Robby Harris

Robby is a 21-yr-old from Mount Pleasant, WI. He spent four years in UAB college mainly playing as a catcher or first baseman, but we see his future as a first baseman where Waikiki had a hole. In his first 27 pro AB’s he has 10 hits including two doubles and a .370/.393/.444 triple slashline.

#10 (263rd overall) Brian Carlson

Third pitcher taken by Hartford, 22-yr-old Brian hails from Glencoe IL. He attended Cy-Fair high school for a year before going undrafted in the 2024 draft. He then spent four years at Illinois college compiling a 6-3 record with a 2.89 ERA and five saves in 60 outings mainly from the bullpen. He was selected to the 2025 and 2028 United States Collegiate Baseball Association All-Star Games and struckout 138 batters in 115 IP during his college career. In four outings out of the Waikiki bullpen he has compiled a 1-1 record and was unlucky to be tagged with the loss after the only run he gave up was unearned.

#11 (289th overall) Lonnie Whittier

Lonnie is 21-yrs-old and comes from New York City. He had four years in the James River High School but went undrafted in 2025 and headed for three years at Tulane college. He has racked up 292 college/High School appearances mainly at second base particularly in his college career. Patient at the plate he drew 87 walks in 163 college games. Playing at Waikiki he is currently the back-up second baseman and unfortunately has yet to lay bat on ball successfully going 0-8 with four strikeouts.

#12 (315th overall) Joe Lauzon

Another player with a long & varied career, 24-yr-old Joe who hails from Montreal in Canada signed a minor league contract with Crystal Lake after being discovered in 2020. After four years in their international complex he was promoted to their short season A team and their A ball team but was released after just two years. He signed up to attend Hamilton college and spent two years there before we finally drafted him. Good speed and a good arm has made him useful all round the outfield. In four games in Waikiki he flailed wildly during his 12 AB’s and he had just four K’s to show for his efforts. Given his age he was sent to A ball Cheyenne where he has done better, in four games he is 3-10 with a double and his first career pro home run on June 22nd against Nassau Vulcans where he drove in both of Cheyenne’s two runs in a 14-2 defeat.

#13 (341 overall) Jason Colman

21-yr-old Jason from New Orleans has spent the last four years in West Virginia college mainly at the corner outfield slots with left field being his best position. His college highlight was being selected to the 2026 United States Collegiate Baseball Association All-Star Game. As a backup corner outfielder he has one hit from two pinch-hit AB’s

#14 (367th overall) Blake Walker

Born in Penn Yan, New York state 18-yr-old Blake is the fourth & final pitcher selected by Hartford in the draft. He spent four years in Palm Beach High School where he compiled a 5-3 record with one save in 2025 as a fifteen-year-old but never got tagged for result again. Pitching out of the Waikiki bullpen his only action so far is facing a batter in the tenth innings of a 7-10 defeat against Kilauea, he threw one ball and one strike before getting him to ground out.

#15 (393rd overall) Miguel Fernandez

Greedy ******* We did not offer him a contract and will let him return to college. After four years at Chatsworth High School, going undrafted in 2024 and another four at UAB college he wants more education
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