To celebrate my arrival as an official member of the Roster (huzzah!), I think it's time to play a little game I like to call "Draft and Follow". There are prizes to be won... yes, prizes.
The game is simple. Every person who wants to play must go to MLB's Draft Tracker and find the two drafted prospects whose last names are on either side of yours. Simply imagine that you were drafted and put yourself in the alphabetical list of drafted players. example, my name is "Wrigley" and the closest last name to Wrigley is "Wright". Because "Wrigley" comes after "Wright" in alphabetical order, I pick the last Wright on the list... the 1035th overall pick, Tyler Wright of the White Sox (from South Florida Community College). Then, because "Wrigley" would be last in the list of "W"s, I pick the first of the "Y"s... the 217th overall pick, 1B Theodore Yarborough of the Phillies (from Eastern Kentucky University).
Let's say my friend, Mr. Named F. Hank, is playing (OK, his last name really isn't "Hank" but you get the drift). "Hank" would come in the list between "Haney" (SS Robert Haney of the Phillies) and "Hankerd" (Arizona LF Paul Hankerd, a 3rd-rounder). So those are his guys. When you figure out who your players are, post them in this thread. If you want to use your "handle" last name, you can, or your real one. You don't need to tell us your last name either, just tell us who your guys are.
There's only one other rule... no first-rounders allowed. If the player was picked in the first round or the first compensation round, take the next closest player.
The game is that we compete to see whose prospects are the best and worst. There are three prizes (exciting, Batter's Box-y sorts of prizes from the Batter's Box Corporate Vault and Archives on lovely Hans Island) to be won, by the entrants whose players end the 2006 professional season with...
The Most Runs Scored + RBI: We're looking for short-season run producers here. We want hitters who can hit.
The Most Earned Runs Allowed: We're looking for pitchers who get lit up. Coach would be proud of my hitter chauvinism here, I trust.
The Lowest Signing Bonus: We're looking for the smallest reported signing bonus. Players must actually receive a signing bonus to be eligible and that bonus must be reported (Baseball America usually reports signing bonuses in its Draft Tracker, but any type of report is acceptable). Players must sign by the end of the minor league season to be eligible.
Post who your guys are in the thread and get ready for a fun two months of checking minor league boxscores. Major league totals, should your guy be so lucky, are included but not playoff totals of any kind.
Periodic updates will appear here!
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20060613082654549