Calzones Corner: 2012 Draft Recap Edition
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
In this edition of Calzones Corner, we are going to recap the PEBA 2012 First Year Player Draft. Joining us to discuss the Calzones’ draft and offering some insight on drafts from around the rest of the league is Calzones GM Matt Higgins
CC: Which teams draft really stood out to you?
GM Higgins: If I had to choose just one, I would go with the London Underground. Early on in the draft, we were more focused on what the Calzones were doing than other teams, but because we finished drafting in round 8, we were able to sit back and watch more on Day 2. What stood out to me was that London really made some very astute selections late in the draft. Later on, when I had a chance to review their draft in full, I thought they did a great job. Picking 9th in the first round, they were able to take the player I considered the best hitter available in this draft, Dean Morrison. In round 2, they added one of the best power-hitting prospects to come out of the college ranks this season in Leonard Ramsey, and in round 3 they add one of the best power-hitting prospects coming out of the high school ranks this season, Ralph Woods. That’s a pretty good haul right there. Then later in the draft, getting Warren Hayes in the 10th round, Pat Lehman in the 11th round and maybe the steal of the draft, catcher Masujiro Watanabe, in the 14th round. You can tell when a team has really done their homework, and we tip our hats to London.
CC: The Calzones had 22 selections in the first eight rounds of the draft. Give our readers some insight into how well you think the Calzones fared with those 22 selections.
GM Higgins: With 22 picks, all in the upper half of the draft, we felt we could accomplish some things that would help the organization for years to come. First and foremost, we wanted to acquire as much pitching as possible, but we didn’t want to neglect other areas of the organization. As we assessed the draft pool, we felt going in that we could strengthen the pitching, and also our corps of outfielders, quite easily. We also knew that we could easily grab a couple of corner infielders at some point. The trickier proposition, we thought, would be adding quality middle infielders and quality catching. As things worked out, we were able to grab a solid catcher in Jeff Richard and solid middle infielder in Gabriel López, both in the second round. On the downside, we missed out on a couple of pitchers we would have liked, as well as a couple of outfielders. If I had to grade this draft, I would do so looking at several things. Just on the amount of talent we brought in, having 22 picks in the upper half of the draft, that’s a grade of “A”. Being able to achieve balance and adding to every area of the team was a goal, and I think we achieved that quite well also; grade it “A-“. On executing our strategy, we really miscalculated on a few players and that cost us a bit, so in that area I would grade us at “C+”. Overall, I give our draft a grade of “B”. I think we may end up regretting a player or two we miscalculated on and ended up missing, but I think we are going to be very happy with the players we did select.
CC: Name one player you regret missing out on this draft.
GM Higgins: The player we think we will most regret missing out on is Warren Turner. We felt he was the best all-around high school outfielder available in this draft. Oddly, we don’t think we really miscalculated on him. We figured him to be a high second round pick, and ultimately he went to New Orleans at pick 7 in the second round. We were all set to take him at with our pick 3 in the second round, but when catcher Jeff Richard was still on the board there, we were faced with a tough decision. We will talk more about Richard later, but in the end, our decision was based on position. It’s much harder to get quality catching in this league, and ultimately that is what swayed us. We gambled that Turner might fall to us down at 20 in the second round, but we lost.
CC: Name one player who you were surprised to get outside of the previously mentioned Richard.
GM Higgins: That would be our next pick, down at #20 in round 2, Gabriel López. We felt going into the draft that getting a quality middle infielder would be tough. We really expected the top guys to be gone fairly early, and we were more concerned with drafting pitching early on. So we really thought we would end up just punting on the middle infield, maybe try to grab a sleeper late in the day, but when López was still there late in the second, we had to take him.
CC: Which player would you call the Calzones biggest steal in this draft?
GM Higgins: I don’t know if you can really call any player drafted in the first 7 rounds a steal. I usually reserve a label like that for players taken on the second day. But we were more than happy to get Jesús Espinoza late in the 5th round. The kid has great size and we felt that of the DH/1B types coming out of high school this past season, he had the most upside. We think he could turn into a real masher one day.
CC: Okay, before we get to the Calzones draft recap and get your thoughts there, let’s go around the league and hear your thoughts on one player from each team’s draft that jumps out at you. Give us a player who flies under the radar, if you will. Let’s start with the Manchester Maulers.
GM Higgins: 1B Jim Smith, 16th pick in round 14. Scouts aren’t in love with him, but in limited playing time at the college level he put up some decent numbers, batting .306 in just over 400 at bats. He has some decent defensive ability, so he’s not pigeonholed as a DH type. The knock on him has been the strikeouts, as he struck out slightly more than once every 4 at bats in college. Still, for a late round pick, Smith has a little upside if he can develop a little more power.
CC: Let’s stay in the Pan-Atlantic. Give us a player from New Jersey.
GM Higgins: When I look down low in their draft, nothing really stands out. The guy that gets my attention is 3rd round pick Oliver González, a hard-throwing 19-year-old pitcher. He hits the mid-90s on the gun and posted a better than 6-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his career at the high school level. An injury in 2011 and some lackluster numbers in 2012 might have caused him to drop a little in this draft, but when you throw that hard and exhibit very good control, there’s a lot for New Jersey to work with there. I wouldn’t be surprised to see González develop into a solid middle of the rotation starter in about five years.
CC: We talked earlier about the London Underground. Give us a rundown on one player who jumps out at you.
GM Higgins: Catcher Masujiro Watanabe, picked 9th in round 14. If there was a steal in the 2012 draft, this is it. With so many teams struggling to find good catching in this league, it seemed insane to me that Watanabe would fall that far. Just 18, so he has a lot of time to grow. He has very good skills behind the plate, and with a little bit of work he could be at least an average hitter. There were catchers taken ahead of Watanabe who don’t have nearly the upside.
CC: Next up, the Gloucester Fishermen. Who jumped out at you?
GM Higgins: 3B Truman Thompson, 10th pick in round 6. Thompson has some very good defensive ability and could be moved over to shortstop. Considering the lack of quality middle infielders in this draft, it sort of stands out that a player of Thompson’s abilities fell this far. He also has some decent power potential. His college numbers were okay but not spectacular, but when you consider his defense, his ability to play a position like shortstop, his power potential and the fact that he bats from the left side, this is a very nice selection by Gloucester at that point in the draft.
CC: How about the Connecticut Nutmeggers? We distinctly heard some expletives from the Calzones draft table late in the first day of the draft, so maybe you could tell us what happened there?
GM Higgins: We had already missed out on several outfielders we liked, and it was an area that we really wanted to improve in this draft. We had our eyes set on CF Ben Ray, who was drafted right in front of us with the 2nd pick in round 7, so there was grumbling from our corner as we scrambled to come up with another pick. We really like Ray at this point in the draft. He has great speed, covers a lot of ground in the outfield and has a decent eye at the plate. Scouts think he might even develop some modest power. If he ever proves he can hit, he could be a force at the PEBA level.
CC: Finishing up in the Pan-Atlantic, the Arlington Bureaucrats.
GM Higgins: Let’s look at SS Xavier Fiset, drafted with the 15th pick in round 4. More of a natural third basemen, Fiset is interesting because he’s a switch-hitter with solid power and very good plate discipline. He kicked the ball all over the infield as a shortstop at the college level, but his defensive skills are more than adequate at the hot corner. I would expect Fiset to eventually be a force in the PEBA if he continues to hit with power from both sides of the plate.
CC: Okay, let’s look at the teams in the Dixie Division. Who jumps out at you from West Virginia?
GM Higgins: C Darwin Boyer, 6th pick in round 7. After taking Richard early in the second round, we were looking hard at also bringing in a high school catcher we could develop. We were torn between Carl Head and Boyer, both Texas kids. We were convinced both would be off the board no later than the 5th round, so in the 4th round we grabbed Head. If we had known that Boyer would last until the 7th round, we would have waited. I don’t know who got the better catcher at this point, but on sheer value, West Virginia wins hands down. Boyer is a left-handed batter with good skills behind the plate and projects to have at least average power and an above average eye at the plate. Solid selection by the Coal Sox.
CC: Okay, let’s talk about New Orleans.
GM Higgins: Definitely outfielder Warren Turner, drafted in the second round at pick #7. We just think he is a fantastic talent with a huge amount of upside. In our opinion, the best outfielder to come out of the high school ranks in this draft. Good speed, above average defense, does the little things well, has shown very good plate discipline. He’s a smart player and he works hard. He’s as complete a package as there was in this draft. If he progresses like the scouts think he will, he will be a superstar in this league; no doubt in our minds about that. If there’s one player in this draft that we regret not grabbing when we had the chance, it’s Turner.
CC: How about Kentucky?
GM Higgins: I look at RF Jeff Francis, drafted in the 9th round. Scouts don’t think much of his bat, and his mediocre college numbers back that up, but he’s a switch-hitter with at least some power, and that is always interesting. He has plus defense with good instincts and a top-tier outfield arm. The intangibles are there. His downside is a real lack of speed and questionable plate discipline. If he can conquer the plate discipline issues, he looks like he might make a decent bench player someday.
CC: And Florida?
GM Higgins: 11th round pick Miguel Sánchez is an interesting player. Not much playing time at the high school level, but scouts think he will have at least moderate power if nothing else. They also question his eye at the plate, but he has great size, which makes one believe he could develop into a real masher someday. Being he’s a San Antonio kid, our scouts are quite familiar with him. They think he will be an interesting project-type player for the Featherheads.
CC: Last but not least in the Dixie, who jumped out at you from the Charleston draft?
GM Higgins: It would be catcher Jack Hines, drafted in the 9th round. He has good skills behind the plate and world-class speed – not a common trait in a catcher. The big question is, “Will he hit?” Even if the bat never develops, his skill set is not bad for a potential backup catcher. Certainly a worthwhile gamble for the Statesmen that late in the draft.
CC: Ok, let’s move over to the Sovereign League and start with the Desert Hills. What caught your eye from Aurora?
GM Higgins: It was the 4th round selection of catcher Sergio López. López is a singles hitter with barely average skills behind the dish. He does show good plate discipline, but for my money, this pick was a bit of a reach for Aurora. For another team, maybe not, but Aurora’s organization is already fairly well-stocked at the catcher position, so to spend a pick at the top of the 4th round for a catcher seemed a bit odd. Especially a catcher of such mediocre skill, in my opinion. López is not a terrible value here, mind you; I just don’t think the pick was a good fit for Aurora at that spot.
CC: Let’s look at Bakersfield next.
GM Higgins: In the 7th round, the Bears took first baseman Matt Miller. Miller never received any playing time in college, but scouts liked what they saw of his bat on the practice field. He projects to have decent power to the gaps and the size to make one believe he can eventually hit a few home runs as well. Very good intangibles. We think he has the potential to be a contributor at the PEBA level someday as at least a league-average first baseman or DH. That’s not bad for a 7th round pick.
CC: And in Reno’s draft?
GM Higgins: That would be 4th round pick Jorge Molina, second baseman. There is little doubt that he will hit for a decent average and create some havoc on the base paths with his speed. He won’t strike out much, so you can put runners in motion and play aggressively with Molina at the plate, but he offers little in the way of power and his defense is suspect. He’s very much a “tweener” because of his defense. He doesn’t have the power you want at the corner infield spots, and he doesn’t have the defensive skills to play in the middle of the diamond without making one cringe at every ball hit his way. He does have his plusses; namely, the speed, defense, and fact that he’s a switch-hitter. With the lack of depth in the middle infield in this draft, it’s hard to criticize this pick. Reno did the best they could given the situation. With a little luck and hard work, maybe the defense will improve enough for Molina to become a serviceable player.
CC: Give us a player from Palm Springs next.
GM Higgins: We liked Robert Boucher, drafted with 17th pick in round 5. Boucher has above average power potential and great speed. He does the little things well. Has above average defense at first base, but is also capable enough to play over at the hot corner if needed. He’s a bit on the small side, but he has the potential to be a poor man’s Barry Murdock.
CC: How about the Tempe Knights?
GM Higgins: Not much to choose from here as they had only three picks on the first day, and I’m mostly ambivalent about the picks they made on the second day. I think the one thing that stood out to me was the relative weakness of the catcher position in their organization, and they kept passing over a catcher like Masujiro Watanabe despite the large number of picks they had in the late rounds. If I had to pick a player that stands out to me, let’s go with Matt Carter, drafted with the final pick of the first round. Carter is a nice overall package. He has a very good eye at the plate and plus power potential. His defense is above average, and while he won’t steal a lot of bases, he does possess enough speed to not clog up the base paths. He’s known for his leadership in the clubhouse.
CC: Lastly in the Desert Hills – both figuratively and metaphorically – the Yuma Bulldozers.
GM Higgins: I liked the selection of Tom Tucker in the third round. Tucker had a down year in his senior season of college ball, but he has very good power potential and above average defense. In fact, his defensive skills are good enough to move over to shortstop, something that shouldn’t be overlooked.
CC: Moving over to the Great Lakes Division, who jumped out at you from Canton? What did you like?
GM Higgins: I actually liked a lot in Canton’s draft. In fact, if there was any one team that really got under our skin this past draft, it was Canton as they repeatedly drafted players that we were targeting. But the one that put a dagger in our hearts was centerfielder Bob Skinner, drafted with the 11th pick in the 3rd round. After we had lost out on Warren Turner, we were really targeting Skinner with our picks at the end of the third round. Skinner has great speed and plus defensive ability. Our scouts rated him as at least average potential in all hitting categories, and his numbers at the college level suggest he has a lot of upside that the scouts aren’t quite picking up on yet. We think he will make an impact in this league someday.
CC: Next up, Omaha.
GM Higgins: I liked the selection of SS Paul Cordell in the 9th round. Cordell is more of a natural third baseman. He has decent speed but might lack the instincts needed to be a true threat as a base stealer. He also showed some decent power in his final two high school seasons. Just 18, so lots of time to grow.
CC: Ok, how about Kalamazoo?
GM Higgins: Go to 5th round pick Kiyoshi Yamada. We really liked Yamada at that point; in fact we had him on a shortlist of players we liked if we failed to pick up a middle infielder in rounds 2 or 3. Yamada is a switch-hitter with a good eye at the plate, decent enough speed to be an a plus base runner, and decent defense at the second base position. In a worst-case scenario, we think Yamada could be a serviceable utility player someday.
CC: What did you see with Fargo?
GM Higgins: I thought grabbing outfielder Matt Bunch midway through the 7th round was fairly sweet. Bunch is a left-handed batter with excellent speed and projects as a possible future leadoff hitter. He batted .415 and .350, respectively, in his final two seasons of high school ball, numbers that tend to make his scouting reports look a little bit off. The real knock on him has been his instincts in the outfield; he tends to not get very good jumps on balls. If that can be corrected, Bunch could turn into quite the player.
CC: Take us to Duluth.
GM Higgins: I liked the selection of Craig Snipes in the 11th round. We actually viewed Snipes as an option late in the first day if we had missed out on some of the infielders we wanted. Snipes is a switch-hitter with good power to the gaps. He posted fairly good numbers in his senior season of high school ball. Snipes has a little trouble with his footwork on the double play, but we think he could develop enough power eventually to justify a move over to third base. His speed is below average, but as an eleventh round pick, Snipes seems like a real value.
CC: And finishing up our look around the league, Crystal Lake.
GM Higgins: Carlos Becerra, outfielder, in the 3rd round, is the pick that gets my attention. Crystal Lake had already taken three very good outfielders in the first round, but then they grab Becerra, a singles hitter with no speed, in the third round. Color me stumped on that one.
CC: Let’s walk through the Calzones’ draft. I’ll run off the players names in order. Give me your thoughts on the player and the process. Let’s start with Glenn Dixon, the second overall selection in the first round.
GM Higgins: We were fairly certain the Bulldozers would take Gunner MacGruder, the best high school pitcher. So that left us to take the best college pitcher, Dixon. With Dixon, we get a pitcher who should be able to make it to the PEBA level in three seasons or less. We aren’t convinced he will ever be a true ace, but we are confident enough in his abilities that we see him near the front of our rotation in the future. His numbers at the college level were very good; we loved his control and strikeout-to-walk ratio. He also works hard and is very intelligent, both qualities you would like to have in a starter that you are hoping for big things from.
CC: You were in the unique position of having back-to-back draft picks with the second and third overall picks. Tell us about José Patino, drafted third overall.
GM Higgins: After taking Dixon, we were really looking to bring in high school pitchers, with an emphasis on left-handers. We felt that with the young pitching already in the pipeline, getting some high school pitchers who might take a little longer to develop would actually be a good thing. We also felt that we needed a few quality left-handers, as we lacked much in the way of southpaws in our organization. That brought us to Patino, who we felt was the best southpaw in the draft. His numbers at the high school level were excellent, and we love the fact that he can bring it in the mid-90s and has excellent makeup. Coming out of high school, it will probably take Patino a little longer to develop, but when he does, we think he will be a quality left-handed addition to our rotation.
CC: Your next selection was at #14 overall, pitcher Luis Rodríguez.
GM Higgins: We took some flak from the pundits and local sports radio over this selection, but I’m not worried about that. The so-called scouting experts called Rodríguez a 3rd round selection at best. The numbers beg to differ. Rodríguez’s career numbers at the amateur level were in the top 5 in almost every important category when measured against pitchers in this year’s draft pool. I’ll take performance over some numbers scribbled in a scout’s notebook any day of the week. Expect Rodríguez in the Calzones rotation in about four years.
CC: With the 22nd overall pick, you selected left-handed pitcher Jason Gould. What about him?
GM Higgins: We actually gambled when we took Rodríguez at #14. We thought for sure we were going to miss out on Gould, whom we really liked. In fact, we were nearly sure he would be scooped by Florida. As it turns out, Gould fell to us at 22, and we couldn’t be happier. He’s another high school southpaw who can hit the low 90s, has great size and good makeup. We think, at the very least, Gould should become a solid part of a PEBA rotation someday.
CC: With the third pick of the second round, you selected catcher Jeff Richard, another pick that was criticized in some circles. Give us your thoughts.
GM Higgins: This was a tough one for us. As we discussed earlier, we really liked the outfielder Turner, who is probably the better overall player. The choice came down to position. We were surprised Richard made it into the second round. We really felt he was the best catcher in the draft, all things considered. He has two Glove Wizard awards at the college level. He has two All-Star appearances at the college level. In his final three college seasons, he committed a total of one error. He has a cannon for an arm. Overall his skills behind the dish are second to no one. He batted .371 for his college career, walked nearly three times as much as he struck out, and in his senior season he had the same number of home runs as strikeouts (7). His VORP of 42.6 was tops in the college ranks in 2012. He is intelligent and a hard worker. There’s nothing to not like about Richard. We can easily see him as our starting catcher in about three to four seasons.
CC: At pick #20 in the second round, shortstop Gabriel López.
GM Higgins: Another player we were surprised was still hanging around in the second round, especially considering the lack of quality middle infielders in this draft. After missing out on Turner, we started to turn our attention to López. We were happy he lasted until our pick at #20. López plays well-above average defense, has great plate discipline, and is a leader on the field and in the clubhouse. About the only thing he lacks is the speed to steal bases. Still, with his ability to play defense and put the ball in play, we could see him as our starting shortstop and 2-hole hitter down the road.
CC: You followed that up with the selection of the “other” Luis Rodríguez, an outfielder, with pick #21 in the second round.
GM Higgins: We went into the draft hoping to get at least two of the three high school outfielders we believed to have the best all-around abilities. We missed out on Turner, who we felt was the best. Rodríguez we felt to be the second-best all-around high school outfielder. His numbers were very good, and those 24 doubles and 7 HR in his senior season really jump out. He has excellent speed; we’re hoping to get him to run a lot more often. We think he can eventually be a 30/30 threat with his combination of power and speed. Defensively, he has great range and gets a good jump on the ball. On the downside, he has occasional lapses and his arm is barely average. He has good intangibles and is a very coachable player.
CC: With the 24th and final pick of the second round, you selected high school pitcher Anderson Young, despite the fact that he was injured. Thoughts there?
GM Higgins: Another selection I think we took some degree of heat for, but Young gives us another high school southpaw to add to the mix. Our doctors felt Young would recover fully from the slightly torn labrum and be pitching again before the end of the season. We thought he had more than enough upside to take a chance on him.
CC: Pick #8 in the 3rd round, pitcher John Becker.
GM Higgins: Next verse, same as the first. Another high school southpaw. We really liked Becker’s size. We feel if he’s able to add a foot or two to his fastball, he could really develop into quite a pitcher. In a worst-case scenario, we think we might have a left-handed long reliever.
CC: Pick #16 in the 3rd round, pitcher Ryan Lee.
GM Higgins: We were still looking to add high school pitchers at this time, and Lee was the best remaining in our minds at this point. He’s a right-hander, hits the low 90s and has an excellent head for pitching. We are hoping some solid coaching over the next four to five seasons will turn him into a potential middle of the rotation starter.
CC: Pick #20 in round 3, pitcher Landon Nicholson.
GM Higgins: Sticking with the pitching at this point, though the pickings are getting slimmer as we near the end of the third round. Nicholson is a right-hander out of the college ranks. Good size, gets a lot of ground balls, has enough stamina to start but was used mostly as a reliever the final two seasons of his college career. We will probably work him back into a starting role and see how things go.
CC: Pick #24 in round 3, third baseman Juan Ortíz.
GM Higgins: We needed another infielder, and at this point we thought Ortíz was our best option. While a natural third baseman, he has the skills and flexibility to play anywhere on the infield and be an above average defender. With shortstops hard to come by these days, having a player like Juan who could be moved to the middle of the diamond if needed seems like a good idea. Juan has fairly good plate discipline, might someday hit for average power and has just enough speed to be annoying on the base paths.
CC: Pick #8 in round 4, catcher Carl Head.
GM Higgins: At this point, we were looking to bring in a high school catcher, and our options were dwindling quickly. While we may have reached here a bit, we still had many more options at other positions and could afford to bring in the player we liked here. As I said before, we were torn between Head and Boyer, and in the end took Head. I think what did it for us was his size and the power he showed as a high school senior in his first real playing time. We think the potential is there for Head to become quite a power hitter someday. His defense is adequate and he’s a Texas kid; someone for the hometown fans to root for.
CC: Pick #20 in round 4, outfielder Pancho Gonzáles
GM Higgins: One of our goals had been to improve our outfielders. I mentioned we specifically targeted three high school outfielders and were hoping to get at least two of them. We missed out on Turner and then landed Rodriguez. Pancho was our 3rd choice, so even though we missed Turner, we still nailed two of the three we wanted. This pick was also important since we had missed out on several college outfielders we had wanted as well. While improving our outfielders in the organization was a goal, we had just two outfielders at this point after selecting Pancho and we had really wanted to have four or five. Still, we can’t be disappointed, as we filled a lot of other needs. We love Gonzáles’s power potential, but he lacks speed, and defensively he is probably limited to a corner outfield spot due to his limited range.
CC: Pick #3 in round 5, pitcher Luis Hernández.
GM Higgins: Another high school pitcher, this time a soft-tossing right-hander. We needed a few more pitchers at this point, and Hernández was a guy who demonstrated reasonable control and movement for a high schooler. The feeling is that if he can add a foot or two to the fastball, he might eventually become a back of the rotation option.
CC: Pick #16 in round 5, first baseman Jesús Espinoza.
GM Higgins: There wasn’t much to choose from as far as high school 1B/DH types, and we really needed to bring in a high school player with some power potential at this position. With a lot of our other needs mostly filled, we felt it was time to grab Espinoza before it was too late. We love his size and power potential.
CC: Pick #19 in round 5, pitcher Ismael Morales.
GM Higgins: We were looking to fill out a pitching slot here, and Morales was a guy who was consistent at the college level. Though he’s far from dominant, we like his size and his ability to get movement on his pitches. He’s a fly ball pitcher who doesn’t throw hard and might not have makeup to be a starter at the PEBA level. Still, he was the best of what was left on the board at this point in our estimation, so we grabbed him in the hopes that maybe he adds that coveted foot or two to his fastball. Maybe we can turn him into a solid middle reliever or swingman someday.
CC: Pick #16 in round 6, first baseman Mike Beasley.
GM Higgins: To this point, we had been stymied in our quest to get a college 1B/DH type. There were lots of options out there, which is part of why we waited so long. The other part is that all of our higher-rated options had been snaked earlier, mostly by the suckfaces in Canton. Of note was Jorge Núñez, a player we really liked whom they grabbed in the 4th round. Then in the 6th round, just five picks in front of this one, they snaked Andy Jenkins. While I call them suckfaces, it’s a backhanded compliment, as they were a thorn in our sides most of the day. We are not crying about getting Beasley, however. He’s capable of playing either corner infield position adequately, projects to have at least average power and has very solid makeup. We think he’s a gamer. The concern is whether he has a good enough eye at the plate to climb the ladder to the PEBA level.
CC: Pick #3 in round 7, pitcher Bob Glenn.
GM Higgins: Another high school southpaw, Glenn has good size, but he’s a soft-tosser who might lack the makeup needed to be a starter in the PEBA. Still, his high school strikeouts per inning pitched was very good, leading us to believe that if he ever adds a little giddyup to his fastball, he might be an effective left-handed setup man. At least that’s the hope in Dreamland.
CC: Pick #16 in round 7, outfielder Artie Rivera.
GM Higgins: We developed communication trouble at this point, and somehow an intern chose Rivera. The intern has been reassigned to duties in the janitorial department, and Rivera has been released to pursue a career in plumbing or whatever it is that Artie’s do.
CC: Pick #24, in round 7, outfielder Júlio Pérez.
GM Higgins: Left-handed bat with good size. Decent power potential. Another Texas kid. We needed to fill an outfield slot, and this was the best we could do.
CC: Pick #3 in round 8, pitcher Jason Green.
GM Higgins: Another left-handed pitcher out of high school. He can hit 90 MPH on the gun, gets good movement on his pitches and has the mental makeup to be a starter. He’ll need to work on the control and develop an out pitch if he’s ever going to advance very far.
And there you have it, folks; a complete recap of the 2012 PEBA First Year Player Draft as seen through the eyes of Calzones GM Matt Higgins. We’ll be back next week with a look at the Calzones up-and-coming prospects.