Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Where am I? How did I get here? Houston Lone Stars edition

Another franchise with with a new owner this season. This franchise has traditionally stayed out of the international market, but their drafts have yielded a number of big league contributors.
Top 10 Draft Picks:
10. Stephen Russ. S9, R1-#25. Had a productive Season 13. Had 27+ plays at 1B in Season 13 after 11- plays at SS the season before. Maybe he was best suited for somewhere in between.
9. Benito Beltran. S8, R1-#26. He has spent most of his career as a trusted setup man. Given the chance to close in Season 15, he recorded 28 saves.
8. Rob Borders. S2, R1-#40. He was a solid major league starter for three seasons (S8 to S10).
7. Nash Garcia. S7, R1-#22. He currently has a streak of 7 consecutive seasons with 30+ home runs.
6. Josh Jacome. S7, R1-#36. 1 All-star appearance. He's been a steady reliever his entire career.
5. Gus McDonald. S1, R1-#15. 1 Gold Glove. He had offensive production while playing a solid CF in S11.
4. Stevie Huff. S10, R1-#9. He has 7 seasons with over 200 innings pitched. In Season 16, he had an excellent ERA of 3.18.
3. Alex Wang. S5, R1-#14. 1 All-star appearance, 1 Fireman Award. Fabulous career WHIP of 1.05 for this reliever. He also has a sparkling 0.88 WHIP in 31.2 IP in the postseason.
2. Freddie Hunter. S4, R1-#14. 2 All-star appearances, 1 Silver Slugger, 2 Gold Gloves, 2 World Series rings. His nearly identical production in Seasons 16 and 18 are probably his best. He ha played 7 positions in his career, waiting to get behind the plate and on the mound.
1. Walter Evans. S3, R1-#20. He was a starter that could just barely get into the sixth inning, but he managed double digit win totals in 3 seasons thanks to sub 1.30 WHIPs, including 1.07 in S11.
Top 5 International Signings:
5. Benny Duran. S6-$4.9M. Who wouldn't be thrilled to get 73 at bats in the Majors?
4. Juan Sanchez. S17-$13.0M. A good rookie season in S18. His lack of power is a concern as a 1B.
3. Humberto Gomez. S14-$5.7M. Nice rookie season in Texas in S18. He hasn't translated too well to Augusta.
2. Julio Cora. S4-$11.8M. 4 time All-star. 51 saves in Season 16 is the single season record for Feller. He has 3 other seasons with 40+ saves.
1. Deivi Bennett. S2-$7.4M. 1 time All-star. In part time duty, he batted .309, .334, and .311 in his last 3 seasons. His 531 career stolen bases rank 7th in Feller history.

Next up: Charleston Soggy Dogs

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