Brains! 2063.3: Zombies' Draft Exciting, Unlikely To Pay Immediate Rewards

[aaronweiner]

The Jacksonville Zombies have had mixed success in drafts in recent years, though mostly on the positive side. The team's best attribute in drafts has been the depth of the draft, as several of the team's picks after round 4 have made it, some of them big: Pepe Aragon and Gabriel Manuel, for example. However, this year the team is excited about their top three choices, and while there's a chance that one of their later picks pops up and performs, it looks like the future of this draft is going to likely come down to the first three rounds.

"We like the depth of this draft better than people are saying, but yes, we're very excited about our first three picks," Jacksonville GM Aaron Weiner said. "We're looking forward to their professional careers."

Jacksonville's first pick was starting pitcher Clark Curry, who was rated much higher in the draft than he is in the Jacksonville organization, but immediately slots in at the team's fourth best prospect. Curry, along with former fifth round pick Chi-Chuong Bui, Julio Segura, and other young arms, creates a solid base for the Jacksonville organization's pitching future.

"Clark was one of the highest rated starters in this draft when we drafted him, and he's a big righty with a live arm," Weiner said. "We think he's going to have killer stuff and he could either be in our future rotation or be our future closer - either one is fine with us. He's got a ton of talent."

Jacksonville's second pick, expected to sign in the next week, is slugging outfielder Larry Gaylor, whose 29 homers last year paced the college circuit. Gaylor is an exciting prospect: the switch-hitter already has major league power, and he had eighty college home runs in three years, hitting at least 22 in each season.

"We can imagine Gaylor, along with guys like Pepe, Gabe, and Steve Holcombe, being the backbone of a lineup that leads the BBA in home runs pretty often," Weiner said. "Larry was one of the best contact/power combinations in the draft, he's very coachable, and we were thrilled he fell to us at #54."

Jacksonville actually huddled under for about an hour deciding between two players waiting to make the Gaylor pick, though it was probably always going to be him. The bigger surprise came when Jacksonville drafted the other guy they were looking at in the second round all the way at #90, in the third round: French starting pitcher Lafite Rothschild. Rothschild, who won the 2061 Mike Swanson Award and finished second in 2062, fell in the draft because of a rough 2063 season, but that may have made him a draft day steal.

"We were absolutely floored when Lafite was still available," Weiner said. "Last year wasn't totally his fault, and while he's got some growing pains to do, he's going to be a really good one when he's finally ready. We were all set to take him at #54, and we were just amazed when he was still there."

Jacksonville also drafted another pair of live armed relievers in Rounds 4 and 5, Tony Sanchez and Stephano Zorzi, and a pair of wild card hitters in second baseman Adrian Vega and Felipe Bravo, but most scouts agree that the success of the Jacksonville draft will likely rest on the first three picks.

"Clark and Lafite are really raw, and it's going to take some time for them to be major leaguers, but we think the world of both those guys," Weiner said. "And we might have to find a spot for Larry pretty soon. We're all really pleased about how the draft went."

[aaronweiner]

Bumped for links put in (thought they'd just work since they're on my homepage lol)

[Jwalk100]

Rothschild is the one I really liked. It would be nice to get a 1-2 point bump in his HRA to make him a really good piece in a rotation.

[aaronweiner]

Rothschild is the one I really liked. It would be nice to get a 1-2 point bump in his HRA to make him a really good piece in a rotation.

He's got a long time until he's anywhere, so hopefully he can be taught to do that.

He should be pretty good even if he's prone to the long ball.