39.26 A Post-Bobby Lynch Jackrabbits Future #1 Carlomaria Donadoni
Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2019 4:11 pm
When I drafted Jose Salas, I was unsure whether I would be able to get a hitter I would be more excited about. Salas is the type of hitter who can hit anywhere in the lineup. He has so many tools that it will be difficult for anyone to keep him across home plate and a great frequency. Then, the 2038 draft hits. Carlomaria Donadoni could be a #1 overall pick in many drafts. I selected him with the 13th overall pick in the draft. When I joined the BBA for my second stint and took a look at Edmonton, I thought I would lean on players that had higher contact. The success of Steven Collins III further confirmed that plan. Donadoni was almost the best of all worlds. He was a high contact hitter with his potential rated at 9 and his power rated at 10. He has a lot of great other ratings that I'll get into, but he was a huge slam dunk. I know a lot of teams had similar acquisitions from the 2038 draft though, so I'm sure it'll be very interesting when they all get to the bigs and we have such a large infusion of talent.
Donadoni played two years of high school and he hit really well. Through 80 games and 320 at bats he batted .391/.478/.850 with nine doubles and 46 homeruns. Earlier in the series I mentioned how I really enjoyed looking at 162 game averages, but I acknowledge that none of this really means anything and it certainly doesn't translate to success in the bigs. With all of that said, Donadoni's 162 game average in high school was 93 homeruns. Hilarious. In the future, if you ever need some evidence to how insane the 2038 draft, you can take a look at Donadoni. He was selected with the 13th overall pick. Insanity.
After he was selected last season, he saw time in Rookie league where he batted .235/.267/.416 with 19 doubles and eight homeruns in 238 at bats. When he was drafted I really wasn't sure what position he would play. I kept him at third base because that's what he's always played, but he's not the greatest there, though he does have a big arm. His infield defensive ratings are 4/6/11/3 and he's rated a 5 at third. He's fine in a pinch I guess, but I definitely don't want to throw him out there for 162 games in the bigs. Thankfully, I already have a third baseman that's pretty good and that was kind of my struggle. He can play in the outfield a little bit too, but he's an absolute statue. 2/7/10 outfield defensive ratings, but I guess as long as the ball is hit directly at him every time with zero variance he should be pretty good out there. So, that wasn't really something I thought about. For awhile I just thought I'd stick him at DH, but I've spent a lot of time thinking about how I'll fit in all of my prospects. I'm reasonably certain I'm going to try sticking him at first base and hope for the best.
You're not really interested in his defense though. When he was drafted he was rated 2/3/3/3/3 with 10/10/10/6/7 potentials. He grew really quickly through 2038 despite his poor overall performance. By the time the 2039 season started Donadoni was already rated 5/8/5/5/4, but he lumped in contact potential to a 9. Overall, I'll take it. Donadoni would bump in every important category in 2039, bumping a point in his contact, power and AvK. He finished this season with a .257/.291/.479 battling line. We would love to see higher production since he spent a lot of the season with a 6 contact in Single A, but I'm confident he'll come around.
The question now is where do we go from here. He's turning 19 this offseason and I'm thinking about leaving him in Single A next season. I'd really like to see him perform better. Maybe a mid year promotion if he does well. If he bumps this offseason though it will be difficult to deny him a spot in AA. He has plenty more points to gain though and I'm not in any particular rush to get him in the bigs. I think his ratings now line up well with AA. We'll see how this offseason goes. If it goes well, we'll probably see him in spring training. As far as defensively, I'll maintain his third base rating hoping that he will bump his range at some point, but Donadoni will be seeing a lot of time at first base next season.
I think he'll be a monster once he makes it to the bigs. That's why he's my number one prospect. He has 40+ dingers written all over him hitting 50 in some seasons, but it'll be difficult to get there in Edmonton's park. A 9 contact hitter with a 7 AvK with a 10 in gap and 10 in power? If he hits those marks we'll be seeing Carlo-mania in Edmonton.
Donadoni played two years of high school and he hit really well. Through 80 games and 320 at bats he batted .391/.478/.850 with nine doubles and 46 homeruns. Earlier in the series I mentioned how I really enjoyed looking at 162 game averages, but I acknowledge that none of this really means anything and it certainly doesn't translate to success in the bigs. With all of that said, Donadoni's 162 game average in high school was 93 homeruns. Hilarious. In the future, if you ever need some evidence to how insane the 2038 draft, you can take a look at Donadoni. He was selected with the 13th overall pick. Insanity.
After he was selected last season, he saw time in Rookie league where he batted .235/.267/.416 with 19 doubles and eight homeruns in 238 at bats. When he was drafted I really wasn't sure what position he would play. I kept him at third base because that's what he's always played, but he's not the greatest there, though he does have a big arm. His infield defensive ratings are 4/6/11/3 and he's rated a 5 at third. He's fine in a pinch I guess, but I definitely don't want to throw him out there for 162 games in the bigs. Thankfully, I already have a third baseman that's pretty good and that was kind of my struggle. He can play in the outfield a little bit too, but he's an absolute statue. 2/7/10 outfield defensive ratings, but I guess as long as the ball is hit directly at him every time with zero variance he should be pretty good out there. So, that wasn't really something I thought about. For awhile I just thought I'd stick him at DH, but I've spent a lot of time thinking about how I'll fit in all of my prospects. I'm reasonably certain I'm going to try sticking him at first base and hope for the best.
You're not really interested in his defense though. When he was drafted he was rated 2/3/3/3/3 with 10/10/10/6/7 potentials. He grew really quickly through 2038 despite his poor overall performance. By the time the 2039 season started Donadoni was already rated 5/8/5/5/4, but he lumped in contact potential to a 9. Overall, I'll take it. Donadoni would bump in every important category in 2039, bumping a point in his contact, power and AvK. He finished this season with a .257/.291/.479 battling line. We would love to see higher production since he spent a lot of the season with a 6 contact in Single A, but I'm confident he'll come around.
The question now is where do we go from here. He's turning 19 this offseason and I'm thinking about leaving him in Single A next season. I'd really like to see him perform better. Maybe a mid year promotion if he does well. If he bumps this offseason though it will be difficult to deny him a spot in AA. He has plenty more points to gain though and I'm not in any particular rush to get him in the bigs. I think his ratings now line up well with AA. We'll see how this offseason goes. If it goes well, we'll probably see him in spring training. As far as defensively, I'll maintain his third base rating hoping that he will bump his range at some point, but Donadoni will be seeing a lot of time at first base next season.
I think he'll be a monster once he makes it to the bigs. That's why he's my number one prospect. He has 40+ dingers written all over him hitting 50 in some seasons, but it'll be difficult to get there in Edmonton's park. A 9 contact hitter with a 7 AvK with a 10 in gap and 10 in power? If he hits those marks we'll be seeing Carlo-mania in Edmonton.