In this blog, I am going to detail the way the Augusta Hitmen were built through the draft, trades, international signings, and free agency (at least as best I can remember it). This has never been a strong franchise. A record of 84 wins was set in Season 1, and they haven't gotten back to 80 since. Ironically, the year they won the division (Season 2), they did so with only 79 wins. The past four years have been the worst, amassing totals of 51, 63 (the year I took over), 66, and 65 wins. As we begin Season 9, we have high hopes for improvement, but only time will tell. Enough of that for now, though, let's talk about how this franchise got to where it is today.
Draft
Season 1
The first ever draft pick for the franchise was actually a fine one. 1B Roosevelt Henderson is a really good all-around hitter. He first made it to the majors in Season 5, but his real breakout season was Season 6, where he hit 40 HRs and drove in 111 RBIs. Augusta hasn't had anyone come close to that since. Before Season 7, he was traded to San Francisco, which is why he is no longer with the Hitmen. While it might be nice to have him around now, the trade netted us some of our current players, and it made sense at the time. Henderson was really the only Major League-level player drafted to the franchise in Season 1. Most of the other picks are retired, with one still hanging around in the minors
Season 2.
Season 2's draft brought in some pitching help in Moose Prior, Augie Wang, and Jimmy Glanville. Sadly, all three of them have been traded (two of them by me) to other franchises. Still, the players we got back show that this was not a lost draft, however, of the first two drafts, none of the players are currently on our major league roster.
Season 3
Season 3 is where the wheels really started to come off as far as the draft goes. None of the players drafted ever had real major league talent, and the picks from rounds 3-5 were not even signed. Gene Hernandez and Hal Kane have made limited appearances at the big league level, but mostly as September call-ups to eat innings, and as an injury replacement. Kane got the job done last season, making 11 starts, but these types of draft picks partially explain how we got to where we are now.
Season 4
Things actually got a little better in Season 4. Pete Benes, Ellie Moore, and Bernie Adkinsson are all either on, or near the major league team here in Season 9. Benes had a pretty decent rookie campaign in Season 8, slugging 23 home runs and he'll hope for even more this year. Moore, an excellent defender, is still with the Triple-A team, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him called up at least as a defensive replacement. Finally, Adkinson is making his ML debut this season. He's been derailed somewhat by injuries, but he still does the job at long relief, or as a spot starter. This looks like the best all around draft so far.
Season 5
This was actually not an awful draft either, but not the kind that you need to get competitive. Augusta had three picks in the first round, but all three netted marginal major leaguers (and one retired the very next spring) in Joey Overbay, Allan Ensberg, and Teddy Lowe. Overbay is still struggling in High A, and is unlikely to ever make it to the show, but he's got a shot. Ensberg starts this season in Triple-A and he could receive a September call-up, but is unlikely to ever be a big part of the rotation. The best pick from this draft may have been 2nd round selection Ted Reith. He's finally getting his shot in the bigs this season. Although he is most likely to provide depth off the bench, at least he is contributing. Other draft picks from this season were more marginal MLs, like Max Manzanillo and Graeme McPherson. This kind of draft is not what you need to get to where you want to go.
Season 6
This was my first draft on the job, and I will admit, it was nothing spectacular. When I saw this franchise, I knew that I needed some major league pitching, and I tried to get it from the draft. In doing so, I reached a bit for Angel Kelly. He is not usually the kind of player you want to get with the 2nd pick in the draft, but he's what we got. He doesn't project much as an ace, but he'd work as a middle-of-the-rotation guy, or out of the bullpen. We plan to leave him in Triple-A for one more season before bringing him up in Season 10. He may have come up this season, but we made enough moves in free agency that we can give him one more year to develop. Aside from Kelly, we also drafted Sherman Pall and Kevin High. Both could be worthy of spots in the rotation, although they may start in the bullpen, but not until Season 10. We also got pretty good value (we think) in our 5th round selection of Howard Champion. At the least, he should be able to provide some depth off the bench, but may find himself in the lineup on a regular basis. This was by no means a spectacular draft, but I think it was start.
Season 7
We definitely took some risks in this draft, as we went after some players who may turn out to be injury concerns. Mark Baines, if he can stay healthy, looks like the best prospect we've got. He's currently playing at Double-A, and will probably stay in the minors for two more seasons, when he'll take over for Skeeter Wilkinson at 3B. Our next pick was another injury concern, in Tony Leary. If he can stay healthy, he's going to make a solid leadoff hitter who is a legitimate CF. In this draft, we also picked up defensive specialist Cleatus Hutton and possible platooner Rudy Torrealba. If Baines and Leary stay healthy, we can call this a successful draft. If they don't, we cannot. So far, so good.
Season 8
In Season 6, we took nothing but pitching, while in Season 7, we took no pitching at all. We tried to mix it up a bit in Season 8. In our first two picks, however, we went for players who we thought could field, yet still produce at the plate. #9 overall selection Randy Atkins should be able to do just that. We really like his eye and ability to put the bat on the ball, along with his defensive projections. We hope he'll be ready to take over at short when Endy Flair's contract expires. From there we went after C.C. Holloway, whose glove is a little better, but bat isn't quite at Atkin's level. Drafting these players together may allow us to trade one of them at some point. In the next round we got Al Robinson, who may make it as a bench player. He doesn't have the power to get himself in the lineup every day, at least not as a 1B. Finally, we decide to get some help for our bullpen in this draft, and we did so by selecting Rafael Uribe and Carlos Julio. Neither one is a sure-fire closer, but both have a great shot at making it to the majors one day.
Overall, some of the drafts have been okay, but none of them have been great. Season 3 was a disaster, and we just didn't get much from Season 5, either. The jury is still out on Seasons 6-8. Augusta's first ever draft pick, Roosevelt Henderson, appears to be the best player drafted, but Pete Benes and Mark Baines may have something to say about it before it's all said and done. Going forward, we'll need to improve our performance in the draft to get where we need to be.
Trades
We've looked at drafts, but now let's see how trades have shaped this franchise.
Season 1
No trades in Season 1. At least we didn't lose anybody!
Season 2
Only one trade in Season 2, and it was with Chicago. We gave up Robert Daniels (who, ironically, is back with the team in Season 9), and and got two catchers and cash back. Both catchers are retired now, and neither really ever had a huge impact. Daniels played a bunch in Season 5 and posted a respectable on-base when he did, but he's been up and down between the bigs and Triple-A since then. This was an okay trade - didn't hurt us too much, but didn't provide much help, either.
Season 3
Only one trade in Season 3. Edgar Flores was sent packing in favor of Chad Hill. This was essentially a nothing-for-nothing trade, so it didn't hurt us. One thing I can say is that, at least in the early years, this franchise did not improve itself through trades.
Season 4
Just a single trade in Season 4, with Arizona. We acquired Randall Waters for Jimmy Glanville and Ramiro Gabriel. This trade was okay for us - Waters came over and converted 15/15 saves. The problem was, he walked as a free agent the following off-season. As for Arizona, Glanville never did much of anything for them, while Gabriel had a decent season for them in Season 8, driving in over 80 runs. Through four seasons, no trades were made to help in the future (now).
Season 5
No trades in Season 5.
Season 6
Lots of trades in Season 6! In my first season as GM, I think I made as many trades as the entire franchise had made in the five previous seasons. I took one look at this farm system and knew right away that I needed to acquire some young talent, and get rid of some big contracts.
First move I made was to rid myself of 34 year old Edwin Patterson and his max contract. It took a lot, but I got it done. Patterson went to Chicago, along with Felipe Palmeiro and Gregory McNeil. In return, we got Vitas Leach, Carson Stull, and Sammy Rivera. Patterson won 19 for Chicago in Season 6, and 12 in Season 7. They did not pick up his option following Season 8, and he is now with Tacoma. Palmeiro saved 29 games for Chicago in S6, and put up respectable numbers after. McNeil has been a beast, driving in way over 100 runs and hitting at least 40 HRs in each of the past three seasons. As for the players we got? Neither Leach nor Stull made it through Season 6 with us. Leach never amounted to much of anything, although Stull has saved over 80 games for Fargo since then. Rivera is still with us, although he'll never be a regular in the majors. We tried that in Season 7 and he went a very poor .229/.301/.379. It was nice to clear that big salary, but we may have been better off just eating it.
Carson Stull came with a salary, and at the time, the last thing we wanted was salary, so I flipped him in a salary dump move as quick as I could. We sent him to Fargo, and in return, they sent us Benny Figureoa. He never amounted to much, although he did make 12 starts last season. Ironically, he's back with Fargo, as a member of their Double-A club.
We weren't done yet. We decided to move our backup catcher, Raymond Rose, to Chicago. In return we got Brandon Hansell and Martin Snyder. Snyder retired at the end of the season, but we're happy with what we've gotten from Hansell. He's hit 20 home runs in each of the past two seasons, he is acting as our starting catcher for this year, and won't be eligible for arbitration until next season. Good thing, because behind him, we have very little depth at catcher. As for Rose, he only had about 30 ML at-bats for Chicago. After that, he was traded to Fargo, hit 25 home runs for them in Season 7, but now he's looking for work. Overall, this was a pretty good trade for us.
Remember Vitas Leach, part of the Patterson deal? Well, we flipped him too, and we got a darn good player in return. When Leach went to Boston, Midre Cela came to us. He's currently part of our youth movement, making his rookie debut last season. He got on base at a .341 clip, which is okay, considering that all we had to give up was a pitcher that we didn't want, and some cash. Cela is going to stick around for a while longer, and hopefully he'll be a big producer. He's also a pretty good fielder, so he can contribute in more ways than one. We were very happy with this trade.
This next trade was probably the worst we've made. We sent Enrique Aquino to Cheyenne in exchange for Kazuhiro Kyung. Kyung is a fine player, except for two issues: low durability and weak pitches. Still, he should be able to get the job done in long relief. We'll find out this season, as he was brought up to the big club for Season 9. Meanwhile, Aquino has not really lived up to expectations. He went into free agency after Season 6 (netting Cheyenne Type A compensation, if I remember correctly, which is why this was such a bad trade), and was signed by Syracuse. He hasn't done much for them, and last season he saw fewer than 100 ABs. Not good for Augusta, or Aquino.
We made one final trade in Season 6, sending Larry Cirillo to Seattle in exchange for Stump Cyr. We were excited about the trade at the time, but it just didn't work out for us. Cyr pitched in just 20 games for us, and never with a whole lot of success. San Francisco picked him up off of waivers last year, and they're trying to deal him now. Cirillo, on the other hand, pitched well for Seattle in Season 6 before signing with Arizona in Season 7. He spent Season 7 in Triple-A, pitched badly for the ML team in Season 8, and now is available as a free agent. Not a great trade for us.
So in Season 6, we made a ton of trades, moved a bunch of salary, and picked up a couple of useful players. Some of the trades were good, some of them were bad, but on some level, we achieved our goal of reducing salary and moving that money to players that we wanted.
Season 7
If we made a bunch of trades in Season 6, well, we made almost as many in Season 7. We started by making a arbitration pitcher-for-arbitration pitcher deal with Toronto, sending Artie Silva in exchange for Carl Davis. We liked Davis' control, and the salaries basically matched, so we thought this would be a good deal for us. Turned out that Davis sucked, posting a 5.74 ERA in a pitcher's park, while Artie was about a run better. We released Davis the next season, and he hasn't been picked up since. Seems Silva is still with Toronto at the back end of their rotation. This wasn't a great trade for us, but it didn't hurt us much either, as Silva was not in our long-term plans.
We followed up by trading our first-ever draft pick, Roosevelt Henderson to San Francisco. In return, we got Gus Borders and Darrell Parker. Borders ended up being part of another deal (and players received in that deal were part of yet another deal to acquire one of our current players, who we are very happy with), while Parker is still with us. Hard to say if this was good or bad for us. Henderson drove in over 100 for SF in Season 8 after not doing much in Season 7. Borders helped bring us a player who we really like (more on that later), and Parker is pitching well for someone so weak against right-handers. He made 11 starts for us last season and he's ticketed for long relief and spot starts this season.
Next, we moved two of the top relievers in our system, Moose Prior and Vladimir Seguignol, for package of three players from Charleston: Ted Holmes, Kevin Aldred, and Alex Bryant. Aldred has been the centerpiece of this deal, making his ML debut last season and winning the starting CF job for Season 9. Ted Holmes gave us some good innings for a while, but we decided to cut him this season, and Alex Bryant was good in Season 7, but left as a free agent after that. Bryant was scheduled to net us Type B compensation, but due to a loophole, he did not. Prior has been decent, but not spectacular for Charleston, and Seguignol will make his debut for their big league club this season. Overall, we are happy with this trade, because it brought us Aldred.
Not long after acquiring Gus Borders, we flipped him to Los Angeles/Sarasota in exchange for R.J. Ontiveros. Borders did ok for LA/Sarasota in Season 8, knocking in over 70 runs. More on Ontiveros later. On the surface, this trade was not great, but the end result makes us happy with it.
Just before the beginning of Season 7, another owner needed to clear some space, so we decided to send him a prospect, and take on one of his bigger salaries. We acquired Albert Pascual, and sent Charles Brunson and Jose Martinez. We thought of this as a good-will move, where we weren't giving up a lot, but we weren't getting a lot in return. Pascual actually pitched okay before moving on to Syracuse and their minor league system the next season.
We made one last trade in Season 7. In the off-season, we had spent a little too much money on relief pitching, so we tried to move some of those contracts. We were able to send Ivan Hayes to Trenton in exchange for Pete Redmond. This was mostly a salary dump, although Redmond impressed us enough to earn a spot on our bench this season. Hayes was a bust with Trenton. His ERA with Augusta was 2.63 in Season 7, and it jumped to 5.79 with Trenton. His performance for them in Season 8 was a little better (4.32 ERA), but he was never as good as he was in Augusta. Good trade for us. Cleared some salary, and got someone who will contribute at least a little.
We did okay, but not great in Season 7. We acquired Aldred, and set the groundwork for another big deal in Season 8.
Season 8
Of all the trades we made, we think the best were in Season 8. We kicked it off with a bang by acquiring David Matos. He came over from Albuquerque, while we sent Pedro Cruz, R.J. Ontiveros, and Augie Wang away. We really didn't have any big plans for any of these pitchers, so we were more than willing to make this trade. Wang and Cruz will make their big league debuts for Salem (formerly Albuquerque) this season, while Ontiveros was flipped to Cheyenne. He's currently on their Triple-A team. Matos had a great season for us in Season 8, posting a 3.36 ERA. Very happy with this trade.
The next move we made was to move a couple more pitchers, for an impact position player prospect. We sent Victor Moya and Hank Hardy to Boston in exchange for Kenny McKay. McKay is progressing through our system and we expect him to contribute at some point. Neither Moya nor Hardy are with Boston at this time. Both have moved at least once in the Rule 5 draft. Great trade for us.
The next move we made was shortly after the Rule 5 draft. San Antonio inquired about a player we selected, Ernie Moore. We sent him along in exchange for Ahmad Spivey. Moore is sticking around with San Antonio, while Spivey is currently part of our Triple-A club. We expect him to join the big league club next season as a part of our bullpen.
After things started to go south in Season 8, we looked at who we wanted to keep around. If they didn't make the list, we wanted something in return for them. The first to go was Miguel Rodriguez. He is a decent player, but he didn't fit into our plans, so we wanted to see what we could get for him. We ended up sending him to Tacoma for Miguel Uribe. Uribe started Season 9 in Low-A, but we are confident that he will progress through the system quickly beginning this season, and join the big league bullpen as early as Season 10 or 11. Rodriguez didn't do much for Tacoma, they released him, and he got picked up by Salt Lake City. Jury is still out on this trade, but it definitely didn't hurt us.
Our last trade in Season 8 involved a veteran pitcher who we signed in the off-season, Tim Thomas. He's still good enough to get the job done, but at his age, and on our time line, he wasn't going to help us. As with Rodriguez, we wanted to see what we could get for him. We ultimately shipped him to Tampa Bay in exchange for Wes Valentine. Valentine begins Season 9 in Triple-A, with a good shot at a bullpen spot next season, and at the very least, a September call-up.
In sum, this is a franchise that made no trades in its early years, and many trades in recent years. Some of them were good, some of them were bad, but we were able to acquire at least a little bit of talent.
International Signings
Season 1
International signings are pretty much the opposite of trades with this franchise. In the early years, there were several, but in recent years, hardly any.
In Season 1, only one move was made on this front. Miguel Rodriguez was acquired. He posted a few decent seasons, but was ultimately traded last season.
Season 2
A lot more action in Season 2. Unfortunately, none of these players were even close to major leaguers. Most of them are retired by now.
Season 3
Season 3 was more of the same - several moves, but none of any real consequence. We did acquire Ramiro Gabriel through internationals in Season 3, but he was flipped to Arizona in Season 4.
Season 4
Season 4 was, by far, the best season for internationals for this franchise. Hank Hardy and Victor Moya (traded together for Kenny McKay) were signed this season, as was Jose Martinez (traded for Albert Pascual), and the biggest chip was Vladimir Seguignol, packaged in the deal for Kevin Aldred. One international from this season is still with the team - D'Angelo Rivera. He made his major league debut in Season 9, and we'll look to get at least a few seasons out of him. This was a productive season in terms of internationals, because it allowed us to acquire some other players.
Season 5
Nothing here.
Season 6
The most recent international signing was made in this season. I decided to acquire Pedro Cruz. He was a decent player, but he had more value as a trade chip than a member of our team, so he was dealt to Albuquerque. After this point, we began reducing money spent on international scouting.
International Scouting hasn't brought much to this franchise, other than players signed in Season 4. Players signed in the early seasons, though they were many, were not very valuable.
Rule 5 Draft
The Rule 5 Draft is an area we have utilized much more in recent seasons. We've been able to improve ourselves a little bit in this way, but there is only so much you can get out of Rule 5 picks.
Season 4
This team took zero Rule 5 players in the first three seasons, and the one they took in Season 4, Victor Bryant, didn't last long. Although he looks like a decent reliever, especially for a Rule 5 pick, he was waived the same season and picked up.
Season 7
It was another three seasons before the next Rule 5 player was taken by Augusta, and it was worth the wait. With the 4th pick, we nabbed Aramis Maduro and started him immediately at 2B. His offensive numbers were okay, but it's his defense that we were excited about, including a gold glove in Season 8. He's moved to the bench, although now he fills in at short a little more frequently. He's versatile and hits about right for an infielder... we are happy with this pick.
Season 8
In Season 8, we picked up several players for a couple of reasons. First, we had room on our 40-man roster, and second, we wanted to have some defensive fill-ins for the first month of the season before calling up Benes, Cela, and Aldred. We took five players: Ernie Moore (who was flipped to San Antonio), Vladimir Montero, Matt Reese, Russell Hall, and Esteban Molina. Molina and Montero are sticking around in Triple-A, while Hall has retired, and Reese was scooped up by Chicago in this year's Rule 5. Not a bad way to add some defensive depth, at a low cost.
Season 9
Only one player drafted this season, and it was Robert Daniels. Some 7 seasons after trading him to Chicago, he is back. Before the draft, we looked at our bench and decided that we needed to improve it where we could, and Daniels did just that.
We've used the Rule 5 to add some small pieces here and there. This franchise did not use it in the early days. Hard to say how much of a difference this might have made. Now to one final area - Free Agency.
Free Agency
It's hard to say what was done before I arrived in Season 6. I know that in Season 5, Edwin Patterson was signed to a max contract, and I needed to clear that off the books as quickly as possible. In Season 6, I was in selling mode, so I don't recall any additions through free agency, so I will start with Season 7.
Season 7
We made a big splash in free agency in Season 7. The biggest signing we made was FA Pitcher Billy Ray Sewell. We were ridiculed at the time, because of the injury risk. In his two seasons with us, he hasn't been injured much. He missed the end of Season 7, but we were already far out of contention. Last season, he missed some time here and there, but no long stretches. When he's healthy, he's been great, posting a 24-18 record (with very little run support!) and ERAs of 3.44 and 2.63. With two years left on his contract, we're hoping to get him at least a winning season, if not a playoff appearance.
That season we also signed several complimentary pieces including Endy Flair, CF Nate Sewell, and 2B Neil McEnroe. None of these were great signings, but Sewell and McEnroe are off the books, and Flair will be after Season 10.
In Season 7, we also signed a trifecta of relievers in Ivan Hayes, Rod Sweeney, Eli Rivera. Hayes was traded and Rivera's contract expired, while Sweeney is acting as our closer this year. His contract will expire after this season and that's more money we can reinvest in the draft, or other places. In retrospect, spending that kind of money on relief pitchers, at the stage we were at was a poor decision. We could have used all of that money on a big bat, or starting pitcher.
Season 8
We didn't dish out nearly as much money in Season 8. We signed Skeeter Wilkinson to a three year deal to take over the job at 3B until Mark Baines is ML ready, and we signed Tim Thomas to a one year deal, and we flipped him to Tampa before the season was out. Seems we have gotten better value out of these contracts.
Season 9
We went all out this season for an impact bat, and we got it. We signed Lyle Lindseyto an $85 M contract. Time will tell if this helps us get over the hump, but signing a player who hits about 45 home runs a year can't hurt your offense.
Aside from that, we signed a pair of starting pitchers in Troy Stargell and Richard Takada. These players will add depth to our rotation, and hopefully allow us to challenge for a wildcard spot. This might be overly optimistic, but it's worth a shot.
Finally, we gave a 1-year contract to Jumbo Tabaka. He figured he would be a good player to come in and provide some depth off the bench, and it didn't cost us much to get him.
So, this is a franchise that has not drafted very well, not traded very well, not done much through internationals, not picked up many players through the Rule 5, and not always made the best free agent acquisitions. Still, we feel that we are on the right track, and we are moving toward being competitive. It is just going to take a lot of work.
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