The 2035 amateur draft got underway with far more questions than answers available. Some considered the class to be average at best, while others thought it to be down right horrible. The San Antonio Outlaws were drafting in the #11 spot and truly had no clue who they would pick, or even who would be available when their time came.
Well sometimes your good, and other times your just lucky and in this case the Outlaws were lucky when 17 OF Cesar Flores from Barcelona BC in the International Finishing Academy fell into their laps at 11. Flores was considered on of the more electrifying bats in the draft and was expected to go in the top ten. One scouting service with the Huntsville Phantoms News did accurately predict that Flores would be drafted at #11 by the Outlaws.
The scout from Huntsville had this to say "Flores’ bat is one of the more exciting in the draft (as much as I like OBP, there is something about a guy that always swings and swings hard), but he slips down the list because his OF glove projects to waste his arm and keep him at 1B/DH where his bat is considerably less exciting". Outlaws Team Scout Buster Cherry agreed with the assessment at the press conference after round one.
"We see a young kid who is still growing, who will have a chance to look at other positions along the way to find his best fit, but two things you can't teach are speed and power and he has plenty of power to go along with a superb eye at the plate. Instead of taking a good defender and trying to make him a good hitter, we feel we are taking a good hitter and will make him a good defender somewhere".
As the second round begins, it will be interesting to see what side of the coin the Outlaws head to next, pitching or hitting.
