Another night drinking with the scouts at the Barleymoe

Tonight Elijah Craig is joined by Tito, Evan Williams and Uncle Val

Elijah: Good evening draft nerds. What have you got for me tonight.

Uncle Val:  Well Elijah we got a report from the Stickball Council Assessing Talent (SCAT).

Evan: It is a very thorough report comparing the last 6 drafts. the three of us thought we should make you aware of the findings.

Elijah: How did you get a copy. I thought those reports were for members only?

Tito: I hadn't been deleted from the from the membership list when the report was sent out.

Elijah: Why exactly are you no longer a member? Did you forget to pay your dues?

Tito: Not exactly.

Evan: Hell Tito just tell him.

Tito: No, I'd rather not.

Uncle Val: Let me tell. Elijah, this was the best meeting SCAT ever had.  Elijah, do you know who Rudy Munoz is?

Elijah: I think he's the scout, who sells up players that are hard to sign. Wasn't he the scout on Jeimer Telis and Wayne Newman. He just never warns the owners about these guys not being ready to sign.

Uncle Val: Rudy is that and more Elijah. Not only is he a scout but on Sunday mornings he is the head pastor at the First Redemptorist Church of the Divine.

Elijah: Well that is good to know that there is a man of faith scouting for teams; but it still doesn't explain why Tito got kicked out of SCAT.

Uncle Val: Well Rudy was always asking about why Tito drank so much water at SCAT meetings.

Elijah: Did you or Evan switch water glasses, so Rudy was drinking Tito's Vodka?

Evan: Elijah, you know they kicked us out of SCAT after season 48.

Uncle Val: Rumor has it that Rudy'd daughter was a little tired of the fire and brimstone. She had begged her dad to let her serve refreshments at the meeting. She made the switch.

Tito: I never knew those meetings were so boring until I had to sit through one sober. But I did get a date with Celeste.

Elijah: So the reverend got drunk and you got a date with his daughter?

Tito: That is how I remembered it.

Elijah: What did the SCAT report say.

Evan: Well it really just compared this year's draft with the previous 5 drafts. The average player picked in the first 10 picks got a score of 83.25 for the six seasons of the study. This year the average picks scored an 86.1.

Uncle Val: So the top end of this year's draft was unusually strong. SCAT ranked drafts in groups of ten, through the top thirty picks this year's draft was better than normal. After that if fell off and was pretty near the norm.

Tito: The report did say that the 41 through 50 picks were a little higher than the norm but pointed out that was due to Seventy_77 and vegascowboy both making unusually strong picks at that stage of the draft.

Evan: SCAT, ranked vegascowboy's pick of Dan Brown with the third pick as the best player chosen. They also thought that renrog's selection of Coco Ramirez with the in the 31st to 40th picks for all 6 years.

Elijah: What else did the report say.

Uncle Val: It was pretty boring typical SCAT stuff.

Elijah: Thank you guys for your hard work. I'll see you guys next year.

                       Another night drinking with the scouts at the Barleymoe

            Tonight Elijah is joined by Jim Beam, Jose Cuervo and Jack Daniels

Elijah: Well fellas if you read the  email you know that tonight I want to discuss the 2 American League teams and 3 National League teams doing much better than last year.

Jack: I didn't read the email. What teams are we talking about.

Elijah: In the American League it's Colorado and Burlington. In the American League its San Juan, Augusta and Albuquerque.

Jim: Can we start with Burlington?

Elijah: Sure, why not. Did you think I wanted you to do in alphabetical order?

Jim: Burlington's improvement has all been with the bats. The pitching is getting the same good results. In season 52 they allowed 3.56 per game. That hasn't changed much; it's 3.41 runs this season. The Blue hens are scoring 1.31 more runs per game this year.

Jose: They have a new catcher, third baseman and right fielder this year and they are making a difference.

Jack: I disagree Jose, returning players Emilio Jose and Emil Vazquez are leading that offense. Both these players have seen their OPS rise by about 100 points this season.

Jose: So your point is that the star players in Burlington are shining bright this season?

Jack: Thanks Jose, I couldn't have said it any better.

Jim: Jose and Vazquez are both under 25. That shining may last a long time.

Elijah: Can we cover the improvement in Colorado? Looks to me like the Stickman has rebuilt this pretty quick.

Jack: We should be used to that by now.

Jim: Colorado has improved both on the rubber and at the plate, though the hitting has been better than the  pitching; what you would expect in that ballpark.

Jose: Who would have thought at age 34 Bill Sullivan would be having a career year.

Jack: That guy is amazing. For his career he is .260 hitter with a .400 on base percentage.

Jose: He's third all time in Colorado for walks. He has 1045 walks in his career.

Jack: James Kwon is all time League leader in walks with 1595.

Jim: I guess if he plays until he's 40 we can all forget about James Kwon because Sullivan will have the record.

Jose: Another guy having a career year is Irving Astacio. He has raise this OPS 100 points this season.

Jack: The Stickman also brought back Stolmy Castro. Castro has been in the majors since season 39 and this is his second tour in Colorado.

Elijah: It is getting late. Can we start on the National league.

Jim: Two of the teams were really bad last season. Augusta and Albuquerque have a long way to go if they want to make the playoffs. 

Jack: Foreigner82 took over that mess in Augusta and he's already turning things around. Shortstop AJ Morris is 27 and is having a fine season. Tony Funaki and Albert James have also turned it around this season.

Jose: The problem in Augusta is the pitching. At least it's old pitching.

Jack: What is good about having old pitching?

Jose: The team knows that they need to replace these guys. What is frustrating is a team that counts on young pitching and they never fully develop. Foreigner82 sees what is in front of him, what needs to change.

Jim: Albuquerque is another story. they are the second youngest team in the National league. Rule 5 draftee, Otto Gibbons, has settled in as the centerfielder of the future.

Elijah: And that leaves you fellas to talk about San Juan.

Jose: mike1184 is in tough division. His run production is up about a run per game. Hitting coach Johnny Vasquez is really getting good at bats from every player.

Jack: Arthur McPherson and Miguel Gomez, both in their second year in the majors, seemed to have blossomed into major league hitters.

Jim: The two of them and catcher Watty Quackenbush with veteran Jamie Wang gives the Expos a potent offense.

Elijah: Call the uber. It is time to call it a night.

 Report to: Elijah Craig

 From: Hiram Walker

 Subject:  dherz_263

    Elijah, unlike the previous owner of the Milwaukee franchise,  dherz_263 is en experienced HBD manager with over 100 seasons and 10 World Series championships. 

He was born in New York but now resides in Atlanta. His favorite sport is baseball, favorite team is the Mets. 

Doesn't have a set way to build a team. Likes to have flexibility on player acquisitions. Doesn't favor trading, drafting, or free agent signings. Seems like he will use all three in the right situation.

What little I've found out about  dherz_263, leads me to believe this guy is all business-no silly stuff here.

Meet Your Hall of Famer: Sean Woodson

 

Bio:   Sean Woodson was born in Tishomingo, OK (Pop. 3034, 123 miles SE of Oklahoma City.)  He attended Tishomingo High School (Nickname: Indians) where he made Baseball America’s top 25 recruits before attending Wake Forest.  At Wake Forest he led the Demon Deacons to the College World Series in his Junior year.

Draft: Was the 31^st pick in the first round in Season 31 by St. Louis (usibjc).  

Scout Ken Post- “He had above average velocity, but his best attributes are how he could control both his fastballs (4-seam/Cutter), and both moved.  Hard combo to find from a left-handed pitcher.”

Manger (usibjc)- “One of his best abilities was availability. My teams play of bunch of one-run games during the season and sometimes a string of them in a row. He rarely missed a save opportunity having 67 and 65 of them during the seasons he had a record high 59 saves.”

Career: Woodson was drafted in Season 31 by St. Louis, he spent all but 2 years of his career when he finished in El Paso.  He broke into the Majors in Season 34 and retired after Season 48.  During his time, he was an 11-time All-Star and won 5 Firemen of the year awards.  He appeared in 744 games while winning 17 and getting the save in 566 (4^th All-Time).  He held opponents to a .236 Batting average, 1.20 Whip and an ERA of 3.13.  His best season came in Season 42 where he pitched in 54 games had 51 Saves, and OBA of .186, Whip of .96 and ERA of 2.06.  He won his 3^rd Fireman of the Year award that season.  He is tied for the Season Save Record with 59 (twice Season 36 and 38), and Career Record of 565 Saves for the St. Louis Franchise.   

Speech Highlight- “I owe everything to this game.  It gave me so many opportunities.  Coming from small town in Oklahoma to playing on the JR Olympics team, to Wake Forest, to the Majors.  I owe a great deal of gratitude to the St. Louis Organization for their belief in me and my long career with them.”

Meet Your Hall of Famer: Jeffrey Dresden

Bio:   Jeffrey Dresden was born in Burlington, NJ (Pop. 9920, suburb of Philadelphia, PA across the Delaware River).  He attended Burlington City High School (Nickname: Blue Devil’s) where he was famous for driving in 15 runs in a single game, a state record.  After graduating he attended Hostos Community College (Nickname: Caiman) in Bronx, NY. (Hostos only has Basketball and Esports for male sports)

Draft: Was the Top Pick in season 28 by Burlington (milton7).  

Scout Ken Post- “He was a natural hitter with a textbook left-handed swing and had leadership qualities that got the most out his teammates.”

Manger (milton7)- “We knew we had something special his rookie year. He had 23 plus plays, no minus. His fielding percentage was 1.000 and his range factor was 11.05 in 135 games. He was the Brooks Robinson of first base.”

Career: Dresden broke into the Show in Season 31 for 1 game, in which he went 2-4 with 2 doubles and the rest as they say was history.  He was an 8-time All-Star and won 7 Gold Gloves (1B) and 6 Silver Slugger awards (1B x 6, LF) while playing for 3 different organization (Burlington, Toronto, and San Francisco).  He was also the Rookie of the Year in Season 32.  His best season came with Burlington in Season 37 where he hit .317 with 29 2B, 49 HR, 144 RBI, and scored 108 runs.  Those totals help accumulate a career BA of .313 with 471 2B, 401 HR, 1412 RBI and 1261 Runs.  He still holds career marks for Burlington in BA (.314), Doubles (318), Hits (1779), Runs (869), and RBIs (975).

Speech Highlight- “I am an example that anything is possible, from playing MLB The Show on Hostos Esports team, to being drafted 1^st by Burlington.  You could not write a better story.”

                           Another night drinking with the scouts at the Barleymoe

                Tonight Elijah Craig is joined by Tito, Evan Williams and Uncle Val

Elijah: You guys are my draft nerds. What do you think is going to happen on Wednesday.

Uncle Val: I think the quality of hitters is a bit better but the quantity pitchers are not up to last season standards.

Evan: Tito, it's almost impossible to know all the top prospects. I bet you only have seen 4 or 5  the top ten picks. Don't be so negative. The draft always produces fine players.

Uncle Val: You're right about that but I  compared this years draft notes to last year notes it tells me that pitching is in short supply in this draft.

Tito: That is certainly a problem for clubs that only have one pick, like Chicago, Albuquerque and the other eleven. Elijah, did you know that Santa Fe has 6 first round choices.

Evan:  Tito how the heck did that happen?

Tito: brad11 had four free agents signed by other  teams. 2 typeA and 2 typeB. He lost 3 pitchers including his closer from season 52. How, the heck, he's leading his division is a riddle to me.

Evan: What other teams are getting multiple choices?

Tito: Louisville have 5, Toronto St. Louis and Ottawa have 4. Some others have two or three.

Elijah: Does that seem like the first round is almost the second round?

Uncle Val:  We have 65 picks this year in the first round. Last year there were 63 picks. In season 50 the low was 58 and the high was the season before that with 79.

Elijah: Well it will be exciting to see what happens on Wednesday.