A Crock of Gunt: Assistant GM Javier Padilla and the 2038 Draft

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A Crock of Gunt: Assistant GM Javier Padilla and the 2038 Draft
KOA Radio 650

June 7, 2038: Asheville, North Carolina - Today, Aurora’s broadcast team of Mark Gunter and George Crocker welcome Aurora’s Assistant GM Javier Padilla to their Draft Day bunker to discuss the 2038 Aurora draft and expectations.

Gunt: Welcome everyone on The Front Range to today’s live broadcast of the 2038 PEBA amateur draft. I’m Mark Gunter and I’m joined by…

Crock: MON-EY!!! Money-money-MON-EY… Hi Boys and Girls – your ol’ pal George Crocker here – and it’s all about SHOW ME DAT MON-EY here at the draft – eh, Money?

Gunt: I wish you wouldn’t call me that, but, yes, there will be some young players who are scheduled to have a big pay day in the not to distant future. We are live today from the Asheville Hotel in Asheville, North Carolina, and we are joined by Aurora Assistant GM Javier

Padilla. Welcome Jav…

Crock: We really wanted Jose… Suar-ez, but that dude shined us on – making some excuse about being with The Boy Wonder in the draft room. You’d think The Girl Wonder would…

Padilla: ‘Girl Wonder’?

Crock: Ya, you know, that teenie-bopper lioness running the show these days? You know they say out on the street it’s really Willie T and the Comm…

Gunt: That’s enough George; I’d like to keep my job... How are you Javier?

Padilla: I’m doing well. It’s such a tremendous venue here – year in and year out they really pull out all the stops; the people here are really great.

Gunt: So, give us some of the mindset in the organization heading into this draft.

Crock: Mindset? More like who’s minding the draft picks?? Where’s our first? Where’s our second?? Where’s our third??? Does the league have it out for us? I mean, c’mon Marky-Mark? The Big Harry C is supposed to be family. He should be looking out for us!!

Gunt: We’ve been over this before, George – Harry had to devest… Anyway, Javier, you were saying?

Padilla: (looks at Crocker with an annoyed sideways glance) Well, it is always a tough draft day when you lack a number one pick – drafting that player who is simply the best on the board or the best at your greatest positional need is kind of thrown out the window.

Gunt: And what would that greatest positional need be?

Crock: Pitching, Mark-O – it’s always pitching!!

Padilla: Well, George isn’t wrong. We have three young arms from the past couple of drafts that we felt strongly about, but those in the scouting office who focus on pitching are now expressing some concern. We had high expectations for Gerber, Pak and Ohayashi, but now… Thank goodness for Jung-hyun Yi, otherwise the cupboard looks bare. We have our fingers crossed on a couple of names dropping down the board to #38…

Gunt: That was New Orlean’s second rounder, from the Castanieda trade…

Crock: Oh – ‘Stocky’ – why aren’t you guys making a push on him? Talk about disappointments: I give you David Simmons.

Padilla: We have mentioned him in the past, in talks with Crystal Lake, and were told he was staying. Now I’m hearing rumbles – but it may be too late. Anyway, we are hoping either Anthony Soame or Seishiro Iwata drop. I’m not hopeful on Soame, but maybe Iwata…

Gunt: Excuse me, Javier, but we’ve just been informed that Soame has been taken by Reno.

Padilla: Man… I guess we will be seeing him come the end of July. That’s what we really liked about him – he’s ready to step right in and make a difference. With how Reno is playing, he may instantly become a potential Wunderkind candidate right out the gate – if he performs. I know Scott Maynor over there is desperate to do something other than just making the playoffs.

Crock: I ain’t worried – did you see where he’s from? Wolverhampton?? He’s just a wolf – don’t you know we have the ‘Werewolf’? Werewolf trumps Wolf every day of the week and twice on Sunday!

Padilla: The story with Iwata is the same – though maybe he could stand some time at AAA. Of course, working with ‘Stork’ and ‘Train’ at Aurora should help expediate his development. He’s young, and worse case scenario is he steps in next year and fills Rudy Howard’s spot on the roster.

Gunt: So we can expect Rudy to not be resigned for 2039?

Padilla: I think that’s likely. Between Martin Gutierrez and Tekle-Mariam Louahla, I think we otherwise have that spot covered.

Crock: Tickle Me LouLou? Look at those stats – 32 K in 22 IP? He’s the ‘Jackal’ in my books!

Gunt: Well, it’s a good thing for that, Javier, as Iwata is heading to Japan – Toyama just took him. With a bullpen ranked just 13th in the SL, the SL-leading Wind Dancers certainly can use his help sooner than later.

Crock: Did you see he’s from FUK? Can you belive that? FUK? Don’t you recall there was a minor league team from FUK? Wasn’t it the Scottish? A Big Uproar was made of it – don’t you remember Markaroonie?? Didn’t they change it to SHT or something equally bad?

Gunt: OK… Here it comes – Aurora’s first pick, at 38th overall… We are expecting a pitcher… Maybe ‘Shrimp’ Yakota…

Padilla: Nope – I just got a text from Will – it’s an outfielder, Yataro Sugano – they call him ‘Swampy’, from Montego Bay High. He’s a switch hitting primarily LF, who can play a decent CF; great baserunner with a little pop in his bat.

Crock: ‘Swampy’? I already love this guy! ‘Bayou Boy’ That’s his name for me – where’s he from? Louis-Anna? Tex-ass? Maybe Flor-id-e-a? He’s perfect! A natural fit – who needs a pitcher when you can have a swampy mess of a belly itcher??

Gunt: Let’s see. He was an IHS All-Star as a Freshman, and won Glove Wizard awards in left as a Freshman and Junior. Sprays the ball around when he get’s it in the air with strong gap power – a swing well tailored for Northern Lights Park. He has a solid career OPS of .776 and an OBP of .331, supplementing a modest .279 average.

Padilla: He’s young. He definitely drives the ball well, when he connects – if he can add a little mass, get the ball to travel farther, he’ll hit for a higher SLG, I’d think – especially from the left-side, which tends to be his better side.

Gunt: You’d project that he’ll begin at Montserrat?

Padilla: Most definitely. I’m getting word of our second pick – another outfielder?

Crock: Outfielders galore! You can never have enough outfielders – that’s what I always say! The Boy Wonder taught me that – he’s always saying that: ‘Outfielders, Outfielders, Outfielders!!’

Gunt: I think he’s always saying ‘pitching, pitching, pitching’, but it is another outfielder. Juichi Ueda, a LF from Chiben HS – the IHS champions in 2038.

Crock: Man… What a name… Can I buy a vowel?

Padilla: Ueda is…

Crock: That’s it!! ‘Vowels’ – That’s what we’ll call him – ‘Vowels’!! That’s so amazingly awesomely romantic, if I do say so myself, and I am George Crocker after all… ‘Vowels’… Classic!!

Padilla: I was going to say that Ueda is a right-handed hitter – throws left-handed, that has a very good skill-set in keeping in line with Aurora’s philosophy: put the ball in play – high contact, doesn’t strikeout. If you look at his stat-line, it’s not super impressive, but we really like his potential, he works hard – and under the tuteledge of Pedro at Rookie League, I think we can really see this kid blossom.

Gunt: Yeah, I’m looking at the scouting reports – he’s not super fast, like Sugano, but he does have the ability to drive the gaps, and I think will remind folks of Ferringo as well. I think this might have been the first time Aurora has drafted Japanese players with their first two picks – and high schoolers at that.

Padilla: I think we might see a bit of that in this draft – high school kids; half the team at Montserrat are 20-year olds and looking at making the move to Short A – like Josh Whiskin, who has had three phenomenal seasons in the Caribbean with an IBC record 111 HR.

Crock: But can the ‘Big’ Whiskin hit at a level greater than rookie ball? That will really be the question. Sure, he’s put up gaudy numbers, but he’s posted some ugly ones as well – like 100 K in 300 AB – as he’s done the past two-seasons. He’s a little introverted, he’s a tad weird, but it’s hard not to love the kid and root for him.

Padilla: George Crocker making sense and calling someone weird? What has this world come to?

Gunt: As we move into the fourth round, any thoughts this far, Javier?

Padilla: No big surprises. – league-wise, but I do feel like this is a moment where we grab some arms. I am still of a mind that they missed a big chance with their second pick by not taking that Cuban catcher, Ricardo Quintera from Waseda – whom Havana quickly snatched as we passed on him. I had him rated the best catcher in the draft. After trading ‘Kracken’ for Castanieda, and with Vicente Carajal’s development stalling, we could have used new blood at the position.

Gunt: Here it comes – in the fouth round, the 122 pick is… SP Rupert Muijen, a right-hander out of Ulsan High. He was 0-1 in 9 starts with a 1.30 ERA, struck out 34, walked 12 in 41.2 IP. He was a 2038 HIS All-Star.

Padilla: It’s interesting to note that despite having just a single decision on his record, he gave up only 6-runs all season! Six!! Ulsan lost games he started 2-0, 3-1, 3-2, 4-3 – he gave up no runs in that game, and 10-3 – a game he lasted only 2.2-innings and gave up just a run. Ulsan finished 5th in their division and had the 21st lowest team average. He’s a really interesting choice. He has an outstanding fastball – topping out at 95 at the moment, with an above average curve and splitter. At 6’ 6”, and 190, you’d think he was a scrawny guy, but he’s strong and works effortlessly on the mound – which will allow him to pitch deep into games.

Crock: But what about the knee? What about the knee?? For the second straight year Aurora selects a pitcher on the shelf – last year it was Jon Mason, who missed all of rookie ball, and now Rupert – Oh… that name… gives me the shivers… Ru-Pert! Moy-Jen!! I can here it now – echoing about Soufriere Hills Park, the fans on their feet on a 2-strike pitch… chanting Ru-Pert-Ru-Pert-Ru-Pert!! Glorious stuff – can’t you see it Gunt-Stuff?

Gunt: Sure, George, whatever you say. But, he does have the torn meniscus – and maybe that was a turn off for some, but that’s a simple surgery and rehab, and he’s expected to miss only a month – so… five starts? He should still get 10-12 starts in. He will certainly step right into the Mystique rotation with Ohayashi, Mason, McRae and Roberts as Montserrat looks to defend their IBC title.

Padilla: Well, Mark, we are about to end day 1 of the draft, and Aurora has made their last pick, at 153 – yet another high school kid – out of Bishop Moore HS, pitcher Fernando Castillo.

Gunt: Fernando was a 2-time ISF All-Star, who was originally used as a starter for the Hornets, but by the end of this, his senior season, he was pitching in a closer role – earning 8 saves in 12 relief appearances. He finished with a 3.03 ERA and 1.16 WHIP, striking out 21 while walking just 3 over 32.2 IP.

Padilla: He’s a smart kid – and has a commitment to East Carolina. We spoke with his coaches at Bishop Moore and they tell us he has a great knack for picking up nuiances of the game other kids would never see. They said he showed great maturity in the locker room and might one day make a great coach.

Crock: But can he pitch? Or does he just wrassle ‘gators? A good ol’ boy from Louis-Anna? Must be out wrasslin’ ‘gators late at night, ramblin’ on about covalent bonds and condensation reactions while breakin’ a leg or two…

Gunt: Condensation reactions… (rolls his eyes) Castillo has an above average fastball – he’s hitting the gun at 94 for now, and scouts believe his curve can be equally effective, if he can perfect it. With Marshland – last years 2nd round pick, filling the closer role at Montserrat, Fernando will likely fill a set-up role right away for the Mystique.

Padilla: Personally, I’m not sold on Castillo, but you have to have hope when dealing with a smart guy who can command a locker room. If Rin and ‘Sleepy’ can get him moving in the right direction, we might have something here by the time he get’s to A ball. Yeah, as far as I’m concerned, the jury is still out on this one.

Crock: I’m telling you – get him a ‘gator and watch him soar – they have ‘gators down there in the Caribbean, don’t they? I understand they enjoy a nice Haitian rum.

Gunt: I think that’s all we have for today, Florida has made their pick to end the 5th round and the day. I want to thank Javier Padilla for joining us…

Crock: Yeah… too bad you couldn’t hit, Javier – your career coulda been like mine; All-Star, Hall of Fame, playing around the world. You ain’t see world class baseball until you’ve played in Bogata. Man… let me tell ya… and the girls…