Riyadh go wild on Rule 5 day
When you’re as bad as the Red Crescents are, the Rule 5 draft is an exciting time. Even with $20-30 million in the back pocket it’s difficult to buy the amount of improvement the team needs; the Rule 5 draft offers a lottery pick (or four indeed). Following the success of last year’s Rule 5 where we picked up Vinnie Coalman and Umar Mutemi, who both ended up making nearly 130 appearances in Riyadh, the Red Crescents went all in this year.
With 11 targets on our list, we were pleased to scoop up four of them, ravaging Baghdad who provided three . The fans were most impressed with the capture of 25-year-old LHP Fernando Rivera who caused the fan interest to raise a point in the daily newspaper poll. In 2046 Baghdad tried him as a starter without any success, in 22 outings he posted a 2-12 record in the UMEBA and since then has been lightly used in the King’s minor league system. He has three elite level pitches but has been let down by a distinct lack of movement on them. It is our intention to use him in a set-up role to strengthen the backend of our bullpen.
The next selection will get a chance at the bottom of the rotation in spring training but may well end up in the ‘pen too. 30-yr-old Angel Romero, another leftie, had made 193 BBA appearances with Vancouver before rocking up in Baghdad’s Triple-A team on a minor league deal. In the BBA he was mainly a long man or spot starter, but he finished off 2048 starting his last six outings in AAA, going an average of six innings, striking out six, walking two and giving up around two runs. That has earned him a shot at the rotation where we could certainly do with a lefty. Failure there would probably see him end up back in the long man role.
Our first overall pick was 23-yr-old outfielder Manchu Li who was also from Baghdad. He reached Triple-A in 2046 and has 306 appearances there since. He can play right across the outfield which together with his youth was the main attraction for us. Elite in rightfield, above average in centre and passible in left would be really handy as a 4th or 5th outfielder. Last season he had a bit of a breakthrough, 17 homers, 64 walks, 27 stolen bases and a .286 batting average adding up to 4.2 WAR. Get anywhere near that and he’ll be a major star in Riyadh.
Our last selection was actually from Jerusalem, 23-yr-old infielder
Issac Emmott He’s turned out 210 times in the UMEBA for the Hebrew Hammers over the last two yours and while he hasn’t really lived up to his defensive ratings at second or short we feel he’s worth a look in spring training. He does look unfortunately like the slew of middle infielders we already have, but he has some power, a reasonable .236 average over his 210 games and can take a walk when needed. He’ll join the gaggle of players trying out for a backup middle infield role.
So, there we have it, four who have it all to gain in spring training. I think three will definitely stick on the roster, such is the lack of quality on Riyadh’s major league roster, but Emmott might prove to be too long a shot.
