Boardwalk Empire - 2039.5 - Rule 5 Losses

[Joshua Biddle]

Gamblers Lose Four in Rule 5 Draft

The Atlantic City Gamblers had four players depart via the Rule 5 Draft, and did not utilize the draft to make any further offseason additions with the team expected to have little salary cap space. The Gamblers lost right-handed starting pitcher / relief pitcherMiguel Peña, first baseman Enrique Gómez, catcher Miguel Ledezma, and left-handed starting pitcher Catur Layar.

Peña, 21, was drafted with the 19th pick in the 1st round of the Rule 5 Draft by the San Antonio Outlaws. Peña was drafted by the Gamblers’ organization with the 15th pick of the 2nd round (49th overall) of the 2034 BBA Amateur Draft, spending the 2038 season with Class-AAA Brooklyn Bombers, finishing the season 3-5 with a 5.52 ERA, a 1.27 WHIP, a 4.41 FIP, a .266 opponent’s average, a .400 quality start percentage, 55 strikeouts, and a 0.8 WAR in 62 innings pitched (10 starts), with his season shortened due to a Torn UCL sustained in late May 2038. Peña has excellent stuff, but questions about his ability to limit home runs as a natural flyball pitcher and average at-best control leave in question if he will be able to produce consistently at the major league level, not having proven that at the Class-AAA level. Peña has three pitches – a superb fastball, good curveball, and average changeup – if he can cut it at the major league level, it won’t be a surprise if it’s out of the bullpen. Peña’s lack of production at Class-AAA, injury history, and cap constraints are the reported reasons he was not added to the 40-man roster, though it was reportedly after careful deliberation.

Gómez, 24, was drafted with the 20th pick in the 3rd round (80th overall) of the Rule 5 Draft by the Long Beach Surfers. Gómez was drafted by the Gamblers organization with the 6th pick of the supplemental 2nd round (65th overall) of the 2031 BBA Amateur Draft, spending seven-plus season with the organization. During the 2038 season, Gómez was claimed off waivers a whopping five times from April to June, which included being claimed by Brooklyn from Atlantic City (4/9/2038), claimed by Wichita while with Brooklyn (4/24/2038), claimed by Brooklyn while with Wichita (5/8/2038), claimed by Wichita while with Brooklyn (5/29/2038), and claimed by Atlantic City while with Wichita (6/12/2038), finally getting to play with the Gamblers’ Class-AAA affiliate the Brooklyn Bombers, finishing the season hitting .261/.359/.439 with 19 runs scored, 14 doubles, 6 home runs, 25 RBIs, and a 0.7 WAR in 209 plate appearances. Gómez was part of the initial draft after Keith Bleeker and BBBS Enteprises took over ownership of the Gamblers and Joshua Biddle took over as GM, and Gómez started off his BBA career in stellar fashion, finishing the 2034 season hitting .315/.392/.603 with 26 runs scored, 9 doubles, 11 home runs, 30 RBIs, and a 0.6 WAR in 166 plate appearances. However, Gómez’s tantalizing start at the plate was short-lived, finishing the 2035, 2036, and 2037 seasons with declining batting averages (.245, .216, .187) and declining WAR (-0.2, -0.2, -1.0) to the point where Gómez was subjected to waivers. The team brought him back, believing he would be an asset to the Bombers and waiting to see if he could recapture what wooed Gamblers fans early, but did not covet the second chance enough to re-add him to the 40-man.

Ledezma, 21, was drafted with the 1st pick in the 4th round (91st overall) of the Rule 5 Draft by the Brooklyn Robins. Ledezma was drafted by the Brooklyn Robins organization with the 12th pick in the 14th round (430th overall), but was subsequently released by the Robins eight days later on 6/10/2036. Ledezma joined the Gamblers organization on 2/27/2037 on a minor league contract, spending the 2037 season with Class-AA Trenton hitting .236/.316/.387 with 45 runs scored, 22 doubles, 2 triples, 9 home runs, 50 RBIs, and a 2.0 WAR in 396 plate appearances. The mediocre season at the plate put a damper on but didn’t negate his excellent glove work behind the plate, posting interesting metrics including a .996 fielding percentage (3 errors), a +2.8 zone rating, .904 defensive efficiency, a .305 caught stealing percentage, and a 3.88 catcher’s ERA. The 2038 season was one of unexpected growth for Ledezma at the plate, finishing the season hitting .291/.392/.520 with 49 runs scored, 27 doubles, 1 triple, 17 home runs, 61 RBIs, 1 stolen base in 1 attempt (1.000 success rate), and a 4.5 WAR in 414 plate appearances, coupled with a .998 fielding percentage (2 errors), a +3.1 zone rating, a 1.079 defensive efficiency, a .449 caught stealing percentage, and a 3.69 catcher’s ERA. It’s difficult to find any conceivable metric or counting statistic that Ledezma didn’t improve in, and that, perhaps, was the lightning rod that attracted the Robins to acquire their former draft pick.

Layar, 23, was drafted with the 1st pick in the 7th round (181st overall) of the Rule 5 Draft by the Brooklyn Robins. Layar was drafted by the Gamblers organization with the 16th pick of the 9th round of the 2033 BBA Amateur Draft, and spent the 2038 season with Class-A Long Island, finishing the season 8-10 with a 4.26 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, a 3.56 FIP, a .252 opponent’s average, .636 quality start percentage, 142 strikeouts, and a 2.9 WAR in 145 2/3 innings pitched (23 appearances, 22 starts). His promotion to Class-A for the 2038 season followed two consecutive all-star appearances in 2036 and 2037 for Class-Short Season A Bogota, the 2037 SUN SL1 Outstanding Pitcher Award, and being part of the 2037 Sunshine League Supremacy Series Champion Bogota Scholars.