Upon conclusion of the expansion draft that introduced the Boise Spuds and Wichita Aviators to the BBA, the Edmonton Jackrabbits found themselves with two fewer players than they previously had on the 40-man roster. Thankfully, due to some carefully-calculated protecting, neither of this losses are going to affect the team much in the long run.
The first casualty is corner outfielder
Felix Duarte (7/6/9/4/6 Ratings, .248/.298/.409, 6 HR, 17 RBI), a 28-year-old lefty hitter who profiles largely as a AAAA hitter (and therefore suits an expansion team quite well.) Selected by Wichita in the 30th round, Duarte has one good major-league season under his belt, that being 2031 when he hit 22 homers and was worth nearly two wins. But in his last big-league year, he was worth -1.1 WAR in just 20 starts, toiling both offensively and in the field. Despite a combined 5.9 WAR at Triple-A Winnipeg during each of the last two seasons, there was never much organizational confidence in Duarte's BBA abilities, and he was left unprotected, and subsequently selected by the Aviators.
Secondly, taken in the 33rd round, was infielder
Grant Montoya (6/6/3/5/8 Ratings, .264/.325/.369, 4 HR, 23 RBI). Montoya was claimed off waivers from Vancouver by the Jackrabbits in mid-May last season, and proceeded to hit for a .694 OPS and 0.8 WAR, with 24 steals in 29 opportunities, in 109 starts largely as Edmonton's shortstop. Ultimately, I think he profiles more as a utility guy than a starter, and while he'll probably wind up starting his fair share of games as a member of an expansion club, it'll be interesting to see whether or not the Aviators try to teach him third base to round out his repertoire as a diamond patroller.
