2/25/2065
The Rule 5 draft came and went with the Bears selecting two players to fill up the 40-man roster. We didn't have a long list this year and it was mostly Nashville players. I was honestly surprised we ended up getting two.
Players Drafted
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San Fernando Bears: Drafted 1B
Artemis Kaklamanakis in the 2064 Rule 5 Draft (Round 1, Pick 19, 19th overall Pick) from the Nashville Bluebirds.
Kaklamanakis seemed like too good of a hitter to let Nashville hold onto so we scooped him up with our first pick. We were in need of left-handed corner depth before the free agent signing of
Katsunan Hashimoto. On closer review, I'm not sure the 26 year-old Kaklamanakis is going to reach his full potential but you could do worse as a source of a power against RHP. He's already been returned to Nashville.
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San Fernando Bears: Drafted CF
Tsurayaki Yagi in the 2064 Rule 5 Draft (Round 2, Pick 19, 51st overall Pick) from the Nashville Bluebirds.
After evaluating the players further, I like the Yagi pick better (oops, clearly the list should have been in a different order). He's a AAAA center fielder with 9 range who knows how to work a count. His 4 contact (and power that lumped from 5 to 4 since the draft) means he's never going to hit enough to be a legit BBA starter. Yagi will serve as depth during spring training but all indicators point towards us returning him to Nashville if we don't experience an injury at the position.
Player Lost
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Twin Cities River Monsters: Drafted RP
Duane Bishop in the 2064 Rule 5 Draft (Round 1, Pick 22, 22nd overall Pick) from the San Fernando Bears.
Bishop was once a valued prospect but he's cleared waivers and returned to San Fernando on a minor league contract for 2065. He struggles too much against left-handed pitching to hold down a BBA bullpen role. TWC must agree because they've already returned him.
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Long Beach Surfers: Drafted RP
Fernando Srapionian in the 2062 Rule 5 Draft (Round 2, Pick 1, 33rd overall Pick) from the San Fernando Bears.
I figured Srapionian might get drafted since he has such a high ceiling with that elite stuff. However, the 24 year-old lefty isn't fully developed, has awful platoon splits, and is simply too lacking in movement/control. Even the struggling Surfers agreed and returned him before spring training. We're hopeful Srapionian didn't drink any water during his brief stay in Long Beach.
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Sacramento Mad Popes: Drafted 2B
Max Matterson in the 2062 Rule 5 Draft (Round 4, Pick 23, 119th overall Pick) from the San Fernando Bears.
Matterson is actually the player I was most worried about losing. With his struggles last year in AA as a 23 year-old (.723 OPS, -0.3 WAR), lacking intangibles, and middling defense I couldn't bring myself to protecting him. I now regret that decision since he developed up to 6 contact in the last sim. We'll wait and see if Sacramento retains him after they took multiple players at this position.
