#1's - Where Are They Now?

Cortez Mack - Guido Giacoletti - Cobb Time Herald

With the season 7 draft just finishing up, it is a good time to take a look at past drafts to see where the sure thing #1 picks have ended up, and how their careers are progressing.

Season 1 - SP Elvis Christman - Tacoma Boogity Boogity Boogity
--Talented yet injury prone starter Christman has been very effective when he is healthy enough to take the mound. Traded twice, he is now sitting on the DL for the New York Pick Pockets. Injuries have prevented him from reaching his full potential, but he still has been able to accumulate 35 wins at the ML level with a career ERA of 3.76, and a WHIP of 1.26. The seven trips to the DL haven't derailed his career yet though, there is still potential that he will be a dominant everyday starter.

Season 2 - SS Enrique Guardado - Chicago Cubbies
--SS Guardado is now plying his trade in Atlanta via Huntington, and is starting to come into his own. He is suffering a bit of a hitting drop since leaving the hitter friendly confines of Eble Park, but is still a talented hitter for the Warthogs. With 119 HR's and a career BA of .296 at the age of 23, the future looks bright for Guardado.

Season 3 - SS Carlton Nelson - Los Angeles Lobos
--Gifted with the glove and the bat, Nelson is now playing for Wichita's AAA squad, and tearing it up at the plate. Kept in the minors to allow his glove to properly develop, he has a career minor league OBP of .398, and is showing that he is just about ready for the big leagues. The future is very bright for Nelson to have an award filled ML career.

Season 4 - SS Omar Lewis - Oakland Frozen Koreans
--Lewis has stayed with the franchise through it's relocations to Arizona, and is currently playing for the Devildogs big league squad as the team develops its young players together in the majors. A very good hitter in the minors, he is having some trouble adjusting to major league pitching, hitting only .243 this season. But he is still only 21 years old, and has some time to develop before management starts to look more critically at his performance. The jury is still out on Lewis, but he has the potential to be a solid performer in the coming years.

Season 5 - 2B Jamie Beimel - St. Louis Silver Sluggers
--The talented hitter Beimel has split his time between the Philadelphia and Fargo franchises, and is currently starting in LF for the Fug Nuts. This season he hasn't hit as well in Fargo, but is still a very good player who is developing his fearsome hitting skills while still producing at an acceptable level. His career OPS is already .850, and is only going to go up in future seasons.

Season 6 - Jerry Torrealba - Boise Bombers
--Playing for the Devildogs AA team one year after he was drafted, the 19 year old Torrealba is doing well with a 9-3 record and a respectable 4.13 ERA. There are high hopes for Torrealba to contribute, but he is several years away at this point.