Someone please explain to my why we need a prankster on the team?
The Rule 5 draft is a lot like buying a shot glass from a gift shop on a Caribbean island. You find one that looks really unique and awesome looking and you can't wait to take it home and use it. Only when you get home you realize you already had 5 other shot glasses and don't even drink that much. After using it once or twice, you chuck it in the trash and forget all about it. Till next years cruise or Rule 5 draft that is.
Twin Cities had a bad Rule 5 draft before it even began. They were supposed to draft number one overall as they have had the worst weighted 3 year win total. Rather then bitch and moan about it and make the commish redo the draft order to this uneventful event, possibly delaying the offseason again. The River Monsters sucked it up and hoped nobody left anyone worthwhile unprotected.
Not only were all the halfway decent players pulled back, the two teams that unexpectedly leapfrogged Twin Cities didn't even participate. No harm, no foul. But know that is the draft order isn't correct for the amateur draft, we will be crying like a morbidly depressed Pseudobulbar cutting rotten onions.
Now on to the draft. With the first three picks, the River Monsters added a trio of short side platoon middle infielders by the names of Warren Danvers, Luke Collingridge, Mersha Njau. At the time of the draft, it was unknown who they would actually platoon with as the River Monsters didn't have a second baseman. The recent signing of Matthew Hewat seems to have shed more light on the situation. Hewat expects to play everyday, mostly at 2b, but sliding over to short against LHP so Pedro Díaz can platoon with one of the rule 5 picks.
Danvers was the first pick mainly cause he's got jokes. Seriously. While it's not a make or break situation, filling out the bingo card of personalities has it's advantages. Last season the River Monsters paid some scrub injured pitcher $500k just so he can sit in the dugout and crack jokes while on the 60 day IL. I'm going to let you in on a little secret. The River Monsters are not the most talented team in the BBA. We will need every advantage we can get to over achieve this season. So until the team acquires some other clown, Devers could have an inside track despite his inferior glove that really only plays at 1B/2B.
Luke 'Deeb' Collingridge would figure to be the best talent fit for the spot. He's 2 years younger than the other two candidates and is probably is the only one of the three capable of handling the third string SS duties that come with the role. The kid has a good attitude and has put up decent numbers in the UMEBA minor leagues. Twin Cities feels he can slide in and play a minor part of the core moving forward.
Njau will have an uphill climb to make the squad in spring training. His main redeeming quality is that he can play a below average left field as well. Which is something most of our current outfielders can't say. So yeah, we would use him as a late inning defensive sub for Linsemen
In the fourth round of the draft, Twin Cites stole Jaime Cuevas, a 29 year old prospect from the world famous Phoenix Talon farm system. Joking aside, Cuevas is just a spot holder for the role Stan Moten is expected to fill once the can competently be trusted to play 1B, 3B, and LF. The benefit to filling this role with a rule 5 pick is that it costs zero additional dollars and zero roster spots. Once Moten is ready, you call him up and send Cuevas packing without having to pay to release him(if he had been a free agent signing).
One positive thing that sticks out about this draft is that we didn't feel there were a lot of upgrades available, yet at the same time we lost 5 players. That can only mean that the talent base in Twin Cities is improving. I was going to highlight who we lost in the draft. But this article is becoming a bit long and the W/PP (word count to participation point ratio for all you stat geeks) is well beyond a reasonable level. So we are going to wrap it up right here.
