2003 Draft

March 17, 2003

The Hagerstown Hobgoblins kicked off the 13th Shoeless Joe Draft by selecting Japanese outfielder Hideki Matsui. One of the few veterans taken in the draft, Matsui is a special talent the Hobgoblin organization will put on display next to Cuban veteran Jose Contreras, snagged with the first pick in the second round. Those who thought that Matsui and Contreras would be taken 1-2 were wrong, as SJL GMs followed the Matsui selection by taking nothing but minor league or rookie talent through round one, from Moline's acquisition of Oliver Perez to Ft. Lauderdale's pick of John Lackey to the Sprockets scoop of shortstop phenom Hanley Ramirez. The Hexers, with pick 4, took the first SS prospect off the board with their selection of Khalil Greene, before beginning their barrage of firstbasemen taken in the draft, starting with round 1 pick Casey Kotchman and extending to Brad Nelson, Scott Thorman and Jesus Cota.

SJL GMs tended to minimize the selection of veterans, even free veterans, in favor of young players with loads of potential, set to break hearts and leave us pining for more. That's the nature of a league that is taking shape nicely as more time passes from the last expansion draft. All SJL organizations head into 2003 with more organizational depth than ever. Two clubs, the Leones and Sprockets, defied league trends by plucking more veteran talent through trades (the perpetual motion machine of Carlos Barrera who in his ultimate charm convinced several GMs to pick up the salaries of newly acquired players) and through the draft (Kip's remade infield of Jose Hernandez, Bill Mueller and J.T. Snow to complement Luis Rivas). Most clubs have successfully pared deadwood and have restocked the farm with a fresh-faced supply of youngsters whose progress will be monitored on a regular basis. The joy is now in the daily boxscore and the plentiful range of prospects, emerging regulars and veterans to observe as we wind down the rites of spring. For contending teams, and there will be more of them in 2003, the key questions are which pitchers will make the bubble to slip into their club's rotation, which relievers can be counted on to deliver regular work for their SJL bullpen, and which position players look to blossum in the upcoming season.

If one wants perspective on this year compared to last, consider this: it's highly likely that the Ft. Lauderdale Clementes, after having struggled to put together a patchwork rotation in the first two seasons after expansion, now have the best starting rotation in the Southern Division, led by Mark Mulder, Mark Prior, Kevin Brown, Jaime Moyer, and John Lackey. The Clementes have enough depth this year to put Kenny Rogers and Omar Daal in the bullpen. All this on a club that used to be perpetually short of anyone but the trusted anonymous AAA relief pitcher. At the same time, new GM John Reggio stepped into his first draft like a seasoned veteran, scooping a nice mix of prospects with veterans who can help his team make a run at the big boys of Moline, Harrisburg and Chicago, with the latter emerging as a preseason pick among a number of SJL prognosticators. A fun time of hopes, expectation and weekly results await us. Enjoy.

Shoeless Joe Supplemental Draft, March 15, 2003

Players without prices are free.

Round One:

1. Hagerstown Hobgoblins $78 Hideki Matsui, OF, NYY

2. Moline Greens (pick from New Orleans) $47 Oliver Perez, LHP, SD, $10

3. Ft. Lauderdale Clementes $126 John Lackey, RHP, ANA, $25

4. Bird-In-Hand Hexers (from Caracas ) $103 Khalil Greene, SS, SD

5. St. Louis Sprockets $45 Hanley Ramirez, SS, BOS

6. Moline (from London) Jesse Foppert, RHP, SF, $21

7. Bird-In-Hand Casey Kotchman, 1B, ANA

8. Baltimore Hons $37 Kurt Ainsworth, RHP, SF, $17

9. Kansas City (from London via Miami) $43 Jose Lopez, SS, SEA

10. Kansas City Whirlwind Jerome Williams, RHP, SF, $22

11. Chicago Cockroaches $45 Scott Hairston, IF, ARI

12. New Orleans ($72 Rafael Soriano, RHP, SEA, $16

13. Chicago (from Florida in Roy Halladay) B. J. Upton, SS, TB

14. Harrisburg Heroes $96 Jeff Mathis, C, ANA

15. Moline (pick from Savannah) Andy Marte, 3B, ATL

16. Moline Jeff Francoeur, OF, ATL

Round Two:

1. Hagerstown Jose Contreras, RHP, NYY

2. Harrisburg (from New Orleans) Jose Castillo, SS, PIT

3. Ft. Lauderdale Adam Wainwright, RHP, ATL

4. Hagerstown (from Caracas in Urbina trade 5.3.2002) Scott Kazmir, LHP, NYN

5. St. Louis Jose Hernandez, SS, COL, $21

6. Kansas City (from London in Johnny Damon ) Laynce Nix, OF, TEX

7. Bird-In-Hand Brad Nelson, 1B, MIL

8. Hagerstown (from Baltimore in the Rey Ordonez) Kazuhisha Ishii, RHP, LA, $22

9. Kansas City (from Miami in Livan Hernandez trade) John VanBenschoten, RHP, PIT

10. Kansas City James Loney, 1B, LA

11. Newark (from Chicago,) $81 Clint Nageotte, RHP, SEA

12. Harrisburg (from Penn) Bryan Bullington, RHP, PIT

13. Kansas City (from Florida in Edgar Renteria) Todd Linden, OF, SF, $11

14. Harrisburg Aaron Cook, RHP, COL, $8

15. Newark (from Chicago via Savannah Jon Figueroa, LHP, LA, $8

16. Moline J. D. Closser, C, COL, $5

Round Three:

1. Hagerstown Ramon Vasquez, SS, SD, $5

2. New Orleans Prince Fielder, 1B, MIL

3. Ft. Lauderdale Wes Bankston, OF, TB

4. Caracas $2 Carlos Duran, OF, ATL

5. Savannah Carpetbaggers (from St. Louis) $18 Jeff Baker, 3B, COL

6. St. Louis (from London in 3.1.2001 trade) Bill Mueller, 3B, BOS, $18

7. Bird-In-Hand Scott Thorman, 1B, ATL

8. Baltimore Macay McBride, LHP, ATL

9. London (from Miami) $35 Josh Fogg, RHP, PIT, $7

10. Caracas (from Kansas City in trade, 1.27.2003) Manny Delcamon, RHP, BOX

11. Chicago Mike Remlinger, LHP, ATL, $17

12. Newark Five Spot Ryan Hannaman, LHP, SF

13. Florida $25 Jake Gautreau, IF, SD

14. Harrisburg Horancio Ramirez, LHP, ATL, $5

15. Hagerstown (from Savannah) Chad Tracey, 3B, ARI, $19

16. London (from Moline in 1.22.2003 trade) Sergio Santos, IF, ARI

Round Four:

1. Baltimore (from Hagerstown) Jason Pridie, OF, TB

2. New Orleans Frank Thomas, 1B, CHIA

3. Ft. Lauderdale Jamie Moyer, LHP, FA, $29

4. London (from Caracas) Sean Burnett, LHP, PIT

5. St. Louis Mike Bascik, RHP, NYN, $6

6. Newark/Pennsylvania (from London ) Mike Koplove, RHP, ARI

7. Bird-In-Hand Joe Saunders, LHP, ANA

8. Baltimore Joel Hanrahan, RHP, LA

9. Caracas (from Miami) Bubba Nelson, RHP, ATL

10. Caracas (from Kansas City in trade) Rudy Guillen, OF, NYY

11. Chicago Johann Santana, RHP, ANA

12. Newark Brandon Villafuerte, RHP, SD

13. Florida Duane Sanchez, RHP, PIT, $9

14. Hagerstown (from Harrisburg ) Yorvit Torrealba, C, SF, $9

15. Savannah Ryan Jenson, RHP, SF, $14

16. London (from Moline in 1.22.2003 trade) Koyie Hill, C, LA, $13

Round Five:

1. Hagerstown David Bell, 3B, PHI, $20

2. New Orleans Brad Hawpe, 1B, COL

3. Ft. Lauderdale Dallas McPherson, 3B, ANA

4. Caracas Jayson Nix, 2B, COL

5. St. Louis Gregor Blanco, OF, BOS

6. London Joel Guzman, SS, LA

7. Bird-In-Hand Jesus Cota, 1B, ARI

8. Baltimore Corey Hart, 3B, MIL, $8

9. Savannah (from Miami) Eric Aybar, SS, ANA

10. Caracas (from KC) John Lester, LHP, BOS

11. Chicago Ben Kozlowski, LHP, TEX, $9

12. Newark Kelly Johnson, IF, ATL

13. Florida Brian Barden, 3B, ARI

14. Harrisburg Cole Hamels, LHP, PHIL

15. Savannah Javier Guzman, SS, PIT

16. Caracas (from Moline) Jeff Francis, LHP, COL

Round Six:

1. Hagerstown Francisco Liriano, LHP, SF

2. New Orleans Tag Bozied, 1B, SF, $6

3. Ft. Lauderdale Jose Valdez, RHP, NYY

4. Caracas Oscar Materano, SS, COL

5. St. Louis Albert Callaspo, 2B, ANA

6. Newark (from London) Steve Finley, OF, ARI, $35

7. Bird-In-Hand Robinson Cano, IF, NYY

8. Baltimore Jerome Gamble, RHP, BOS

9. Miami $3 John Frascatore, RHP, FA

10. Kansas City Bobby Jenks, RHP, ANA, $9

11. Chicago Jayson Bay, OF, SD, $10

12. Newark Andrew Brown, RHP, LA

13. London (from Florida) Garret Atkins, 3B, COL, $12

14. Savannah (from Harrisburg) Chris Snyder, C, ARI

15. Savannah Fred Lewis, OF, SF

Round Seven:

1. Hagerstown Jose Bautista, 3B, PIT

2. New Orleans Mike Gosling, RHP, ARI, $11

3. Ft. Lauderdale Omar Daal, LHP, FA, $23

4. Caracas Erold Andrus, OF, NYY

5. St. Louis J. T. Snow, 1B, SF

6. London Jake Blalock, IF, PHI

7. Bird-In-Hand Tony Alvarez, OF, PIT, $14

12. Newark Rey Sanchez, SS, NYN, $9

13. Florida Mickey Calloway, RHP, ANA, $14

14. Savannah (from Harrisburg) Zach Minor, RHP, ATL

15. Savannah Travis Blakley, RHP, SEA

Round Eight:

1. Hagerstown Reggie Abercromie, OF, LA

2. New Orleans Dan Meyer, RHP, ATL

3. Ft. Lauderdale Andy Benes, RHP, FA

12. Newark Chris O’Riordan, 2B, TEX

13. Florida Edwin Jackson, RHP, LA

15. Savannah Ian Oquendo, RHP, PIT

Round Nine:

2. New Orleans Trey Hodges, RHP, ATL, $11

3. Ft. Lauderdale Todd Hollandsworth, OF, $18

12. Newark Mike Nicholas, RHP, SD

13. Florida Josh Barfield, 2B, SD

15. Savannah Pete Harnish, RHP, CIN, $2

Round Ten:

2. New Orleans pass

3. Ft. Lauderdale Jamie Cerda, RHP, NYN, $11

12. Newark Bobby Madritsch, LHP, SEA

13. Florida Manny Parra, LHP, MIL

15. Savannah Sean Lowe, RHP, FA

Carryover Dollars for 2004

Baltimore, $12

Bird-In-Hand, $89

Caracas, $2

Chicago, $9

Florida, $5

Ft. Lauderdale, $31

Hagerstown, $1

Harrisburg, $83

Kansas City, $4

Leones, $16

London, $3

Miami, $3

Moline, $11

Newark, $7

New Orleans, $19

Savannah, $2

St. Louis, $10

2004 Supplemental Draft Pool

Negro League Player Team Negro League Player Team

Monte Irvin Atlanta “Double Duty” Ratcliffe Los Angeles

Josh Gibson Chicago AL Willie Wells New York AL

Satchel Paige Chicago NL Fats Jenkins Philadelphia

Bill Monroe Cincinnati George Jefferson St. Louis

Ray Dandridge Cleveland Ted Trent San Francisco

Rube Foster Florida Larry Kimbrough Tampa Bay

Martin Dihigo Houston Buck O’Neil Texas

Oscar Charleston Kansas City Mules Suttles Toronto