New Jersey Athletics Load up on Talent

[mikezone13]

Extract from www.njathleticsbc.com
The New Jersey Athletics were given the 3rd pick in the Inaugural Draft of the AFBL. The serpentine style draft means a lot of time between picks at stages, however the Athletics GM has made some fantastic picks during the first 5 rounds.

SP Jorge Sepulveda
Hailing from Phoenix, 26y/o Jorge is a left handed pitcher who could be a dominant force in the AFBL. He'll be expected to top the rotation for at least the next 5 seasons and may even challenge for an award or two.

SS Dax Taylor
Dax, a 26y/o Stockton, MO native, is a top class defender and has real speed while running the bases brilliantly. He's a good all round hitter at the plate as well, he can find the gap, get on base and has the ability to send the ball over the fence, likely will find himself in the number 2 or 5 spot in the order.

CF Martik Geboyan
Martik is another speedster drafted by the Athletics. He'll be top of the order for sure as he's adept at getting on base and is incredibly choosy with the pitches he swings at, however possesses no power of note. The 29y/o from Pennsylvania is also a gun defender, capable of excelling in all outfield positions.

C Dan Swain
An interesting choice by the Athletics to take a catcher so soon in the draft, however Swain is one of the better catchers in the league and carries a pretty decent bat with him as well. He makes the trek to New Jersey all the way from the West Coast, Lemoore, CA to be precise. At only 25 years of age he looks to be a talent for not just today, but also tomorrow as well.

SP Dave Boyer
Another player from Pennsylvania (New Castle), however he still has room to improve at only 24y/o. While unlikely to win any awards he'll put in a good shift and with a great defense behind him will notch up quite a few wins.

The first five Athletics are pictured below in their splendid home uniforms, sporting the NJ moniker on their left chest.

[mukerka]

nice!!

[mikezone13]

Extract from the Elizabeth News

A pretty decent draft for the Athletics as it turns out with GM Mike Trigwell having this to say "We've got a great group of guys at the ball club. A good mix of veterans and prospects. While we've already evaluated most players, there is still a chance for a number of players to press their claims for a spot on the 25 man roster for opening day."

When pushed about who he was most looking forward to working with Mike replied "Well, I should be diplomatic and say everyone, but I'll be honest, there a few guys who have already earmarked themselves as the leaders within the ball club. I'm talking about guys like Dax Taylor (SS), Maddux Hynes (MR), Raul Dias (LF) and Martik Geboyan (CF). Yes they're all great players, but they don't rest on their laurels, they work hard and set the example for everyone else to follow."

Trigwell also has a number of prospects on his book, and we will be interested to see how the talents of Ju-hyung Kang (CF), Juan Martinez (SP), Jeff Nielsen (C), Dave Boyer (SP) and Josh Talley (3B) are used.

Now some interesting stats on the players in the New Jersey organisation:

Heaviest and tallest player: Joe Hunter 6'8" 270lbs
Lightest and shortest player: Tony Anderson 5'8" 165lbs
Oldest player: Raul Dias 41 years 33 days
Youngest player: Kel King 16 years 112 days
Foreign players:20 in total - Japan (4), Canada (3), Mexico (3), Venezuela (3)
Most common first name: Joe - 8 players
Fastest player: Raul Dias - yes the fastest player is also the oldest

Spring Training sees the Athletics play Kentucky, New York and Ohio in their first three matches. However the results don't mean anything as the team looks forward to April 1st and a 4 game series across the border to face the Ontario Blue Pirates.

The road trips don't stop there as it's a full 14 games on the road for the Athletics to start the season, 4 at Ontario, 3 at New York (the first derby series), 4 at Ohio and then 3 at Massachusetts before a rest day and then a 2 game home series versus Kentucky.

Definitely a tough start, but a great chance for the GM to shape his team.

[mstreeter06]

Good stuff!

[NorseKaiser]

I really wanted Dax Taylor- not looking forward to facing him in my division for years to come...

[mikezone13]

I really wanted Dax Taylor- not looking forward to facing him in my division for years to come...

Definitely a good allrounder our Dax, can hit, field and very effective on the bases.

[mikezone13]

Spring Training - A good Runout for the Athletics, But Dias Gone for the Season

The first half of Spring Training had its highs and lows for the Athletics, while performances on the park were great, with a 9-3 record, including a 20-1 rout of neighbours New York.

The pitching staff are definitely giving GM Trigwell some tough choices to make with a combined ERA of just 3.50. Most pleasing to the GM were the three shutouts, against Massachusetts, Kentucky and Ontario, while seeing star pitcher Jorge Sepulveda and veteran Bob Thompson pitch a combined 20.0 innings without giving up a run.

On the batting side of the ledger Joe Hunter and [urlhttp://www.afblbaseball.com/afbl/reports/news/html/players/player_2820.html]Dan Swain[/url] both knocked 4 out of the park leading to 11 RBIs, with Swain posting an incredible .541 average. They were the only players to register double figures for hits, with Swain registering 20, more than anyone in the league.

Two players that Trigwell will be concerned about are Josh Talley and Kevin Nelson both youngsters hit around .100 and will need to do better to guarantee spots on the 25 man list.

While there are rumours of demotions occurring at New Jersey for the second half of spring training, one player who will definitely be gone is Raul Dias who suffered a bad concussion and will be out for the entire first season. This will likely be the end of the road for the 41y/o, although the organisation will likely do all they can to support Dias and get him back on the park for one more shot next season.