Chuck Biscuits - Cobb Times Herald
Whereas the season two draft was extremely deep in hitters, the the season three draft introduced the league to some of the best pitchers seen to date, including several first ballot hall of famers. There were a few bats to be had, and some pretty nice late first round picks as well. Read on to find out all about the impressive talent that came from the season three draft.
Season Three DraftTop Pick: Carlton Nelson - Los Angeles Lobos - Nelson is very similar to season 2 #1 pick Enrique Guardado, a SS who is gifted both with the glove and the bat, with reasonable power. Nelson made his ML debut in season 9, and has been rather lackluster at the plate for a top pick, although it must be said that having an everyday SS who can go for 30HR/100RBI every season is a luxury most teams do not have. Nelson turned out to be solid, and actually is one of the better hitters in the draft, but compared to #2 pick SS Corey Green, he doesn't compare. But as a whole the season three draft belonged to the pitchers, which makes Nelson only a minor stud in the grand scheme of things.
Biggest Steal: Gregg Young, #72 - Pittsburgh SSP - Young was a pleasant surprise for Pittsburgh in the second round, and has turned out to be a very nice ML player. An All Star, Young has put together some very nice seasons, averaging .300/35HR/100+RBI for his ML career, which is surely more than you would expect from the #72 pick.
Best Hitters: #2 Corey Green, #1 Carlton Nelson, #4 Pedro Chavez, #7 Grant Keats, #21 Ben Harris, #36 Luke Henley,#41 Alfredo Cruz, and #72 Gregg Young.
Best Pitchers: #3 Dean Hernandez, #5 Kirk White, #10Ivan Canseco, #12 Lewis Keller, #23 Ralph Hill, #28 Benito Rodriguez, and #27 Carl Jordan
Duds: RF Darrin Weiss, #14 - Las Vegas High Rollers - Weiss used his #14 pick skills to put together a ML career average of .259, with 103 HR's in 2,881 ABs before becoming an unsigned free agent in season 12.
Honorable Mention: Al Torres, #16 - Chicago Sabercats - the #16 pick in the draft retired at 28, says about all you need to know.
Unsigned Picks: #6 pick CF T.J. Phillips, #13 pick P Bruce Coleridge, and #32 pick CF Michael Lloyd were the only unsigned picks in the first round.
Prime Studs of the Draft: Of all the hitters in the draft, Corey Green stands head and shoulders above the rest, having put together a slugging career only surpassed at the SS position by Dallas Kline. The pitchers are a bit harder to chose from, as Ivan Canseco, Benito Rodriguez, Ralph Hill, and Lewis Keller have all had excellent ML careers. But the Times Herald thinks that it is a tie between Dean Hernandez and Kirk White. Hernandez has been the AL counterpart to NL Hall of Famer Kaz Ong, and White is without doubt the best closer the league has ever seen.
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