mmmm, donut
I'm always fascinated by rule 5 draft. We currently have 6 survivors on our 40 man roster and just added two more.
Gains
In round one we nabbed Ajax Antikatzides from division rival Des Moines. Ajax is a power arm RP prospect who should get the job done at the BBA level someday. He's got 8/7/3 potential with a 5/7/8/10 pitch selection and 5 stamina. So technically he could be viewed as a starter. Some might even see him as a RP conversion. Though I would not suggest pairing his 3 control with what would become 1 or 2 stamina. We view him just as he is. A flawed pitcher with BBA stuff/movement who should get a shot at low leverage relief innings and maybe grow into more with maturity.
Honestly, I doubt he sticks. His currents are 5/5/2 and that will likely get pummeled. I don't like keeping rule 5 picks who can't hang in the BBA yet as in most cases it stunts their growth. I guess I just want to have a placard on a locker that says Ajax was here.
In round two we picked up Ernesto Valadez from the Rockville, I mean Cape Fear Swamp Asses. No Foxes. Cape Fear Swamp.... Foxes! Please excuse me, they are new. I will get it right eventually. Anyway, Valadez is a very similar player as Ajax. Decent stuff, good movement, terrible control, 3 plus pitches. Meh. Usually I'm good at this rule 5 thing. This year.. not so much. Valadez isn't terrible. I was actually bidding for him in free agency to help fill out my AA roster. When I saw him in the rule 5 pool I thought, no way he gets added to the 40 man if a team just signed him to a minor league deal.
Mr. Valadez stands a better chance than Ajax of hanging. But I still think he might be a bit too mid to make it. He really needs that 7 movement to kick in before April first to have a legit shot.
Losses
I've always kinda sorta liked Edgar Barron from a far while he played with division rival Yellow Springs. He kind of embodies the Twin Cities style of play. Good defense, speed, can't hit for shit. So when I saw him on waivers last year, I pounced. We were able to pass him through waivers and bring him back on a minor league deal. He's really an ideal guy to stash in AAA. He should perform well there and when shit hits the fan in July with injuries and stuff, he won't totally embarrass you.
Portland picked him up to be a bench player and I suspect he may stick. Which is fine. If you build deep teams, you won't sweat these losses. We currently have 11 outfielders in AAA at the moment and need to cut some anyway. This just takes away a tough decision.
The Pacific continued to feast on Heartland table scrap when Vancouver selected Alexander Sakellaridis. I allegedly picked up "The Scholar" as a 21 year old with 7/9/6 potential for a mere $700k. I fee like that is fake news because a guy like that would probably go for like $10 million and quite frankly, I don't even remember being that excited over signing him. But his history log says it happened.
Now he is just 5/6/5 schlub like everyone else. I guess I am happy he is gone. I always mix him up with Stephen Skandalis. I'm like ... wait, I thought this guy was a 1B? Maybe Sakellaridis bumps back to 7/9/6 again in the hitting depressed Pacific. Or maybe Vancouver just drafted him to trade him back to me for a dollar to add to his trade tally. Either way, I don't really care. We have no plans for the 19 year old. Oh wait, that is Skandalis, Sakellaridis is turning 27.
Next up, we have Rocky Mountain drafting Jameel bin Ala'..........who? Just kidding. I actually like bin Ala as a left handed hitting CF for my A-ball team. Don't view him as a prospect though. I suppose his 7 power potential would play well in the high altitude.... if it was developed. And his +9 ZR in 70 games would play well.... if 8 range was the same in the BBA as it is in SS-A. So yeah, I expect bin Ala to be back roaming CF in San Angelo/Billings by the time their season opens. Thanks for getting him some extra playing time though.
Post Article note: Lane's link generator doesn't even know who TF Jameel bin Ala is. So here is his link.
