NL North Draft Review

So the format will be the same as the NL East review, so I won't bother re-typing it.


Buffalo Wings
1: Vic Ramsey, P
2: Troy Cedeno, P
3: Andre Keller, P
4: Pete Terry, P
5: Dallas Garcia, P

So it is pretty obvious that the Wings went pretty pitching heavy in this draft as all 5 of their first picks were pitchers. Vic Ramsey looks pretty much un-hittable and was a steal considering there was another relief pitcher taken before him by Richmond with the 7th pick. If there is something that you could deem a flaw about Ramsey, it would be his durability is average for a reliever, but beyond that, there is squat to complain about. Troy Cedeno projects to be a #4/5 type starter. He has good control but mediocre splits and pitches. He has a history of health problems so hopefully he can avoid the injury bug in his career. The last 3 pitchers are career minor leaguers.
Grade:B-

Cleveland Cuyahogas
1: Hal Paquette, P
1: Hi Adams, P (From Washington D.C. for Hector Unamuno
1: Vernon Wilson, P (From Washington D.C. for Hector Unamuno)
2: David Forster, P
3: Erick Glynn, P
4: Santiago Ramirez, CF
5: Vin Romano, SS

If it wasn't for the fact that both Milwaukee and Scranton took a combined a two pitchers(both by Milwaukee) I would say that the NL North went dipped heavy into pitching this year. Cleveland's first five picks were all pitchers, and I would say 3 of them are guaranteed to be in the majors one day. Hal Paquette possesses great control, and is able to get right handed batters out with ease. Opposing batters may be able to key in on his fast ball as his 3 other pitchers are average. Both Wilson and Adams are almost exact copies of Paquette in that they have good control, and their effectiveness against righties is decent as well. They also posses good first pitches, and have better secondary pitches than Hal. Wilson may be injury prone during his career and could see his fair share of the DL. David Forster is borderline ML material in my opinion. He has good control and his splits are average, but he lacks a decent pitch and his secondary pitches are horrible. Santiago looks like he's going to be a bench 2nd baseman. His splits and batting eye are average, and won't make up for his lack of power. His sub par glove for 2B also means that he won't be starting for any length of time. Vin Romano is a purely defensive shortstop who could start against righties if you don't have any other option. Erick Glynn is a career minor league type guy. Good control combined with shitty splits and only two pitches is a surefire way to get shelled in the majors.
Grade:B+


Milwaukee Timber Rattlers
1: Otis Schneider, SS
1: Jim James, SS (From Atlanta for Thomas Berra)
1: Kevin Sanders, 2B (From Atlanta for Thomas Berra)
1: Bartolo Alvarado, P (From Cheyenne for Olemedo Colon)
2: Felix Ramirez, SS
3: Randy Phillips, 3B
4: Jordan Carter, LF
5: Luther Pearce, P
I came into the draft loaded with first round picks, and could have had two more first rounders next year if I was able to offer Warren Richardson a contract, but having a budget and sticking to it has its drawbacks sometimes. Anyhow my minors needed to be replenished with position players as I have picked a pitcher in the first round every year with the exception of Season 2. Otis Schneider is an excellent defensive shortstop who won't kill me at the plate, and will draw a ton of walks. I drafted Jim James as a shortstop, but because Schneider is leaps and bounds better defensively, he'll move over to 3rd base. His skill set is eerily similar to that of Nerio Reitsma, lets just hope he doesn't put up the same numbers that Reitsma did for me. Kevin Sanders was drafted as a 2B but he's more suited for RF, plus he has a big power bat. Won't draw alot of walks, but his slugging will make up for that. Bartolo Alvarado will be a good left handed starting pitcher. Excellent control plus decent splits, though he might get hit by righties. Also has 3 plus pitches, though will need a good PC catcher to avoid his 3rd. Randy Phillips swings a good bat, and will most likely move to left field as he is blocked by the afro mentioned players at 3rd and right. Felix Ramirez doesn't have great splits, but his power will help make up for some of that. He's blocked mostly everywhere on the diamond and will probably be traded away. Jordan Carter is most likely a player who will come off the bench and Luther Pearce is probably a career minor league starter.
Grade:A-


Scranton SweetSwing'n AbbyMo's
1: Pat Woo, SS
2: William Bryne, CF
3: Ted Hodges, SS (Not Signed)
4: Ralph Myers, 3B (Not Signed)
5: Hal Roosevelt, 2B (Not Signed)
Well Scranton has only signed two of their top 5 picks. I assume he's waiting for a good international to roll around before he dumps the rest of his prospect budget into signing picks. Anyhow, Woo and Bryne are basically the same player with minor differences, or not so minor. Lets start with whats the same: Power, Splits, Eye. All within 5-10pts of each other. Woo makes alot more contact that Bryne, but Bryne is alot faster than Woo. Woo will be an above average shortstop whil Bryne will be an average 2B/CF. The last 3 picks were basically defensive guys, but Myers has the potential to develop some nice power.
Grade:B