3/7/2062
The Bears whole 2061-2062 offseason strategy revolved around the Rule 5 draft. The team is maxed out financially and could only afford to make
one major league acquisition which was in part motivated by turning two bodies who needed protection into one. After
losing seven players in last year's draft, the Bears figured the best way to fill their open 40-man roster spots was to protect their farm system from the Rule 5 draft at league minimum salaries. San Fernando also traded
Qaseem Kahil to Montreal in an effort to open another 40-man spot.
In all, the Bears added ten minor leaguers to the secondary roster:
RP
Duane Bishop
RP
Jose Diaz
RP
Dale McCutcheon
RP
Myung-joo Pak
C
Pepe Rodriguez
3B
Awdia Iman
3B
Jesus Reyes
LF
Kit Markoulides
LF
Daniel Throsby
CF
Jim Sitton
Despite these efforts, San Fernando still saw three of their players taken during the draft.
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New Orleans Crawdads: Drafted 1B
Joe Edwards in the 2061 Rule 5 Draft (Round 1, Pick 16, 16th overall Pick) from the San Fernando Bears.
Edwards is a 29 year-old who hasn't done a whole lot in 1,293 BBA PAs (career .749 OPS) and doesn't play a lick of defense. But he's got decent offensive ratings--particularly against LHP--and can run the bases. We wouldn't be surprised to see New Orleans roster Edwards all season and squeeze some production out of him as a short-side platoon DH. He spent 2061 putting up a 132 OPS+ for our AAA affiliate.
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Des Moines Kernels: Drafted 1B
Brian Allen in the 2061 Rule 5 Draft (Round 3, Pick 14, 78th overall Pick) from the San Fernando Bears.
Thanks to the presence of the superiorly talented Edwards,
Brian Allen spent 2061 with our AA team. We weren't sure he'd make our AAA club this year and sure enough Des Moines already returned Allen.
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Charlotte Flyers: Drafted 2B
Leonardo Campos in the 2061 Rule 5 Draft (Round 3, Pick 17, 81st overall Pick) from the San Fernando Bears.
None of these players were a priority for us to protect but Campos is the one player we were disappointed to see taken. It's just such a pain in the ass to keep shortstop filled throughout your system (as Charlotte can attest) and Campos was bumping offensively. But he's 26 years old and was never viewed as anything other than org filler until those bumps (which still aren't fully developed). Campos is a strong defender at second but his arm makes him a bit of a reach in the BBA.
We did get in on the action by taking a player for ourselves.
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San Fernando Bears: Drafted 3B
Jose Reyes in the 2061 Rule 5 Draft (Round 1, Pick 27, 27th overall Pick) from the Calgary Pioneers.
What are we missing with Reyes? Our public love affair with 45 POT third baseman not withstanding, we think Reyes looks like a BBAer. He should hit at least .280, provide a bit of pop, and walk enough to have a respectable OBP. It's not an exciting package at third base, but it's Reyes' 8 infield range that has us most excited. He's currently in the development lab trying to strengthen his up-the-middle defensive credentials but even without improvements we expect him to play a respectable second base, providing further depth for
Bill Irvine and co.
