Maryland Bridegrooms Draft History

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Here's a new thread to look back at the careers of the players drafted in the First-Year Player Draft by the Maryland Bridegrooms organization and what happened to them. I think I'll just go year-by-year with longer updates only on the players who made it to the AFBL. It may likely be a while between posts although I have the first few seasons nearly all done already aside from links and formatting so maybe I can stay ahead of this for a bit. If you have suggestions for how it can be done better or what stats you'd like to hear about please let me know.

The club were originally the California Golden Eagles for the first couple of years in the AFBL so that's what those references are about if it's not clear.

I've only hyperlinked the players that were drafted in that year that made it to the big leagues. I didn't give Manny Rosario his own little segment as he was covered as part of Dana Little.

Some general stats: There have been 110 players taken in the First-Year Player Draft by the organization since 2013 who have made it to the AFBL in some capacity. Of those 110 players, 29 players or 26% of Maryland draftees who have made it to the AFBL (either with Maryland or another club) have negative career WAR.

This should be a fairly and unfairly painful subject to research & re-live.



2013 First-Year Player Draft

Players to Reach Majors: 3 of 7
Cumulative Draft WAR (AFBL-level): 14.22
Notes: 8.1 of that WAR was earned by Dana Little while he was playing for Idaho and 3.4 of the WAR total was earned by Manny Rosario while playing for Colorado.


Round 1, Pick 9 (9th Overall): 1B Dana Little ? Retired 2031


Dana Little

Dana Little  was the 9th overall pick and the first ever draft pick of the then-named California Golden Eagles organization in the inaugural AFBL First-Year Player Draft in November of 2013, but he would never get a chance to play in the big leagues for the club that drafted him.

The Owensboro, Kentucky native was named the #77 prospect in baseball in 2014, became a Rookie League All-Star that same year and also won the RLW Best Defender Award at first base. After tearing up the Rookie League again at the beginning of the 2015 season, he was promoted to A-level and struggled the rest of the year.

Little quickly figured out A-Level though in 2016, posting a .302/.372/.511 line with 22 home runs while starting a career-high 137 games. Little was promoted to AA in 2017 where the then 22-year old nearly duplicated his A-ball season stats at the higher AA level. Little was given a brief AAA showcase for 5 games at the end of the 2017 season and those would be the last games he?d play for the Maryland organization.

In 2017 while Little was settling into AA, the Bridegrooms converted 2-time Best Defender Award winner at catcher Mike Brown to first base to make way for Willie Patton (and his bat) to be the everyday catcher. As 2018 Spring Training began the organization realized that Little would be blocked from starting at the Major League level for the foreseeable future and so he was traded to the Idaho Steelheads for SS Manny Rosario and MR Ruben Perez.   

Little went on to become the starting first baseman for Idaho for the next four seasons and posted reliable slash lines with good power (three seasons with home run totals in the mid-20s) before becoming a defensive replacement and backup option in 2022 at age 27. He progressively saw less and less plate appearances and game time at the big league level, and spent stretches of 45 games and 108 games at AAA in 2024 and 2025 respectively. In 2026 he spent the entire year in AAA before being released in 2027. He was quickly signed by the Virginia Diamond Club and spent the rest of 2027 in AAA.

In 2028, at age 33, he appeared back at the AFBL-level for the first time since 2025. In 10 games as a DH he posted an utterly dismal slash line of: .167/.205/.622 for -0.2 WAR. In 2029 he was released by Virginia and after no club came calling for two years he retired in 2031.

Little hit .269/.309/.444 for his career with an OPS of .753, 103 OPS+ and 8.1 WAR. He had 107 home runs and struck out 678 times in his 3,039 career plate appearances.


DANA LITTLE WAS TRADED TO IDAHO STEELHEADS ON MARCH 16, 2018 FOR:

Manny Rosario

Manny Rosario played 8 years for Maryland from 2018-2025 as a utility infielder able to play first, second, third or short, with most of his starts coming at shortstop. He was released by the Bridegrooms in 2026 and eventually caught on to do the same thing for 6 years in the Colorado Bears organization. Rosario was originally drafted by Maryland (then California Golden Eagles) in the 5th round of the Inaugural First-Year Player Draft (73rd overall) in 2013, was subsequently selected by the Idaho Steelheads in the 14th round of the Expansion Draft in 2017, then was traded back to Maryland in 2018! For his 14-year AFBL career he was a serviceable 4.4 WAR player with most of the WAR coming while playing on stronger Colorado teams. Manny retired in 2034 after being an unsigned free agent for the better part of two years. He was released by Colorado in 2032. Despite desiring the #14 jersey for sentimental reasons, Rosario wore #5 for all 8 years as a Bridegroom as star reliever Artie Gregory would not part with the #14 shirt.

Ruben Perez is a retired left-handed reliever who spent 12 years in the Bridegrooms bullpen from 2018-2029.  While his career WAR is -0.6, most of that is influenced by the last two years of his career in 2028 and 2029 after recovering from shoulder trouble in 2027 which limited him to just 5.2 innings that season. For most of his career he was a perfectly acceptable if slightly above replacement-level innings eater out of the bullpen who might get wild and walk a few batters. He is 4th all-time in Maryland history in Games Pitched with 598 and 5th in K/9 with 7.8. Perez wore the #4 jersey for all 12 years with the organization, despite desiring the #5 of Manny Rosario who was unwilling to switch because Manny couldn't get his desired #14 from Artie Gregory.   


Round 4, Pick 9 (57th overall) OF Jose Santana ? Retired 2027


Jose Santana

South Hill, Washington?s own Jose Santana played parts of 6 seasons with Maryland from 2019-2024 before being released in 2025 and retiring from baseball two years later.

Santana put up solid numbers in the low minors almost immediately after landing there, and in 2018 he posted a .318/.409/.452 line with 9 home runs, 77 RBI and 15 stolen bases for AA Ocean City Crabpots. He was invited to Maryland?s big league camp in 2019 and made the team out of Spring Training.

Santana had a solid rookie campaign in 2019, going .264/.314/.378 in 507 plate appearances while mostly playing right and center field. Although a natural right fielder, Santana could play all three outfield positions in addition to being the kind of natural athlete who could be  used as a temporary option to cover shortstop and second base if the starters were hurt or tired.

Instead of building on his solid freshman season, Maryland management inexplicably decided to slash his playing time dramatically in 2020 to just 199 plate appearances as he became a backup and defensive replacement. The next season his playing time was cut even further, appearing in just 22 games and getting 53 plate appearances coupled with a potentially confidence-crushing demotion to AA. To his credit though, Santana seemed to respond well as he went .308/.422/.516 and posted 1.5 WAR in 47 games for Ocean City.

The AA performance was enough to get Santana back in a Bridegrooms uniform in 2022, but a prolonged groin injury kept him out for over two months. As soon as he returned from the groin injury he missed another month after pinching a nerve in his neck by "sleeping in an odd position" which has become an infamous quote/injury excuse among die-hard Bridegrooms fans. He ended up appearing in just 8 games and getting 5 plate appearances at the Major League level that year. 

Seemingly healthy again in 2023, Santana got 116 plate appearances (the most since 2020) in his role as backup and defensive replacement, going .295/.362/.448 for 0.6 WAR. So, of course, that decent rebound year as a positive-influence/bit-player type guy was followed by Maryland slashing his plate appearances by half in 2024 and then outright releasing him in 2025.

Santana was .251/.303/.357 for his career with .660 OPS (81 OPS+), 11 home runs, 19 stolen bases, 220 hits, and 1.8 WAR. Santana wore the #46 jersey for his entire career. 


Flame Outs & Unknowns
Round 2, RP Tony Richardson - Tony went back home to Missouri and decided to attend college. He's currently a senior at the University of Missouri and for the last two years has played the role of Missouri mascot Truman the Tiger at the school's men's basketball games. His favorite cookies are chocolate chips.

Round 3, SS Joe Stevens - Joe opened a falafel stand in his hometown of Loomis, California (near Sacramento) due to his personal love of falafel before abandoning his family and business and running off to West Virginia with a 19-year old Sierra College student who was majoring in philosophy. His favorite color is green.

Round 6, 2B Jesus Pujols - Jesus is a lay minister and animal healer in his hometown of Santo Domingo. He is known for being able to heal cats with a "magic comb" made of local debris. His favorite dinner is spaghetti & meatballs, with well-toasted garlic bread.

Round 7, RP Mike Nichols - Mike is currently a day laborer and a well-liked regular at The Rusty Needle Pub in Salem, MA. He is renown locally for his "almost hit by a bus" series of stories where he recounts a seemingly endless string of times where he was almost hit by a bus. Mike has no favorite things.

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2014 First-Year Player Draft

Players to Reach Majors: 4 of 7
Cumulative Draft WAR (AFBL-level): 26.1
Notes: A sizable portion of the positive WAR for this class came from Jose Ibarra?s time spent as a member of the New Mexico Danger. 


Round 1, Pick 7 (7th Overall): SS Jose Ibarra ? Retired 2028


Jose Ibarra

The selection of Jose Ibarra as the 7th overall pick in 2014 signaled a string of drafts that would last through 2017 where the Bridegrooms would focus on at least one big-time power bat per draft, with all other considerations about the player?s skills and attitudes aside from work ethic and injury history completely minimized or outright ignored. In 2014 it was Ibarra. In 2015 it was Willie Patton. In 2016 we had Orlando Gandarilla followed by Jose Ortiz in 2017.

The concentration of these similar types of players all drafted and developing right around each other made one of them expendable. And, after finishing his 4th year in Maryland with a then club record 43 home runs (and a still club record 106 RBI) in 2019, it was Ibarra who was traded to New Mexico where he would play for 7 more years and average about 30 home runs and 2.5 WAR per season (aside from his final year for the Danger in 2026 where he only had 7 plate appearances). Ibarra brought back a haul of 3 pitchers and a second baseman, two of those players would end up playing a combined 18 years for Maryland while the other two flamed out of baseball. 

For his career Ibarra hit .251/.296/.461 with an OPS of .757 (102 OPS+) and 23.7 WAR. He hit 255 home runs which is currently 61st all-time in AFBL history.


JOSE IBARRA WAS TRADED TO NEW MEXICO DANGER ON MARCH 17, 2020 FOR:

Starting pitcher Reginald Webber never got close to the AFBL level, blowing out his shoulder in his first year in the Maryland organization and retiring from baseball shortly thereafter.

German reliever Felix Stolle was included in the deal simply for his name, and the fact that he was a lefty. He never played for Maryland at the highest level but he did pitch 2.2 innings in the AFBL for the then-Arizona Alpines in 2016.

Left-handed curveball pitcher Jim Edwards bounced around from Oregon to Idaho to New Mexico before settling down and playing 9 seasons for the Bridegrooms from 2020-2028 wearing the #34. The reliable Edwards appeared in 309 games for Maryland, 166 of them as a starting pitcher. He amassed a respectable 10.6 WAR despite his 54-78 record while playing on some terrible Maryland clubs. The highlight of his career was tossing a 5-hit shutout against the New York Twin Towers in April 2024, the only shutout of his career.

Rob Price played nine unremarkable years for Maryland, mainly as the starting shortstop or in a platoon backing up shortstop and second base from 2020-2028. His best overall season came back in 2026 when he put up 3.9 WAR on the strength of good defense and a .267/.287/.458 line with career-highs in home runs (26), RBI (77), and runs (72). Price played in 994 games for Maryland, put up 13.6 WAR and wore #67 before being released and finishing his career with 3 seasons in Colorado.




Round 2, Pick 7 (23rd Overall): SP Jim Love ? Retired 2028


Jim Love

It?s hard to imagine the expectations placed on Jim Love, who was immediately marketed to the fanbase as some kind of hippie-harbinger of a new age of peace and understanding and prosperity for Maryland. In 2019 he was named the #21 prospect in all of baseball and got off to a good start for the Bridegrooms in 2020. Fans started wearing tie-dye shirts to the ballpark whenever Love would throw and there was some electricity in the ballpark for the first time in years.

But, as is so often with things that seem promising for the organization, Love injured himself while pitching and was gone for the rest of the 2020 season with a torn labrum. He was never the same after the injury, a once durable pitcher became an injury risk every time he threw and he?d never again show the promise or live up to the hype of his early career. In 2023 Love was shut down again for the season with shoulder inflammation, and then in 2025 he partially tore his labrum forcing him to miss most of the season and retire from baseball.

Love went 32-52 in 126 starts and 15 relief appearances from 2018-2025. Love is well-received when he comes back to the ballpark to participate in Old-Timer events despite his misfortunes and injury history. Love wore #43.




Round 3, Pick 7 (39th Overall): 3B Kevin Lilly ? Retired 2029


Kevin Lilly

Kevin Lilly was a promising third baseman coming along in California?s low minors when he was nabbed by Washington in the 7th Round (111th overall) of the 2017 expansion draft. Washington sent Lilly straight to AAA Olympia Battle Cats and by 2018 Lilly was up with the big club in the AFBL.

In 2019 Lilly became the starting third baseman, a position he?d hold for the Resonance for just two seasons. After a 2020 year in which he hit .222/.294/.331 with an OPS+ of 73 and -0.2 WAR, Washington banished Lilly to the minors. Lilly stayed with AAA Olympia and was something of a star down there after stringing together three impressive seasons from 2021-2023. But despite his efforts and the reputation that he was a good influence on young players, he was never recalled to the AFBL. He retired in 2029.




Round 7, Pick 7 (103rd Overall): SS Jesus Gomez ? Retired 2027


Jesus Gomez

It took Jesus Gomez a couple of years to get out of A-Ball, but his rise (if you want to call it that) was quick thereafter. A hard-working utility player, Gomez came up to the Bridegrooms as a backup in 2019 after being named to the AAA All-Star Game. Gomez really struggled at the plate in the majors and so went back to AAA Annapolis Destroyers and was named to the AAA All-Stars again in 2020. He would only get back to the majors as an emergency replacement for a handful of games in 2022 & 2023 before being released in 2025 and retiring in 2027. Gomez wore #45.


Flame Outs & Unknowns
Round 4, RP Don Smith ? Don Smith became a plumber. Coincidentally, his favorite snack food is sliced plumbs.

Round 5, CF Wally Wright ? Wright was arrested in North Carolina in 2030 for trying to impersonate a member of the famous Wright family of early aviation fame. He returned to his native Arizona on probation but immediately violated it when he pulled the same scam on some elderly Air Force veterans. He is currently serving 2 years in prison. His favorite prison meal is bread and mashed potatoes.

Round 6, SP Jared Feathers ? Jared Feathers is now a highly regarded interior decorator and architect who has recently signed a TV-deal for a reality remodeling show on HGTV. His favorite color is aquamarine. 

[mstreeter06]

These are great!

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2015 First-Year Player Draft

Players to Reach Majors: 5 of 8
Cumulative Draft WAR (AFBL-level): 57.28
Notes: 24.4 WAR was from Patton?s time with New Mexico


Round 1, Pick 2 (2nd Overall): C Willie Patton ? Retired 2028


Willie Patton

Willie Patton  was one of the best power-hitting catchers in the early years of the AFBL. Patton went straight from the draft into the starting catcher spot in the majors for the then-named California Golden Eagles in 2016 without ever spending a day in the minors. He had a dominating stretch of 6 seasons between 2017-2022 where his WAR never dipped below 5.0 and topped out with a 7.3 WAR in 2022. In the middle of that run, Maryland inexplicably shipped Patton to New Mexico for a collection of role players.

In 2023 Patton made less contact at the plate than he had previously in his career as he suddenly seemed to lose the ability to recognize good pitches and posted the lowest WAR (3.1) since his rookie year in 2016. In 2024 he lost the everyday starting job but still started 55 games for the Danger. He was completely marginalized in 2025, starting just 9 times for New Mexico and being demoted to the minors for the first time in his career. He?d never return to the AFBL as a torn posterior cruciate ligament ended his 2026 AAA campaign and his career. He retired in 2028.

Patton?s .857 career OPS is currently 29th all-time in AFBL history, his 45.07 career WAR is 42nd, and his 280 career home runs currently places him 50th. Patton still holds the Maryland records for career slugging percentage (.505) and OPS (.839). Patton wore #35 during his stint in Maryland. He was a 4-time All Star (3 with New Mexico) and won a Gold Glove at catcher in 2018.


WILLIE PATTON WAS TRADED TO NEW MEXICO DANGER ON MARCH 17, 2020 FOR:

The club picked up third baseman Don Silver who spent a couple of very good years at AAA Annapolis Destroyers before trying to break through to the Maryland starting lineup in 2022 at the age of 26. He ended up being unable to do so and became yet another barely above replacement role player who played wherever he was needed (including 1 start as catcher). Silver always regrets that he never got to play left field, the only position he never got to try aside from pitcher. Silver hit .250/.315/.725 in 1047 plate appearances for 2.76 WAR. Silver wore #39.

Infielder Mario Serrano played 101 games (starting 31) for Maryland between the 2020 and 2021 seasons before being permanently demoted to the minors in 2022. He was primarily a defensive replacement at shortstop and third base. Serrano won three Best Fielder awards in the minors for his work at shortstop and wore #44.

Panamanian Jose Bernard was an outfielder version of Mario Serrano. He spent most of his time with the Maryland organization at AAA but he did play parts of 6 seasons with the Bridegrooms from 2020-2025. Bernard was the classic definition of a Taxi Squad player and he remained a complete professional and good clubhouse influence through his many promotions and demotions. Bernard wore #59 for all 6 years with the Bridegrooms.

1st round Draft Pick in 2017 ? This pick turned out to be centerfielder Doug Jones, a kid from New York City who played 9 years and 622 games in center field for Maryland. More details about him when we get to the 2017 draft, but he was a solid defensive center fielder who stole 102 bases in his career and whose 3.4 career WAR was impacted by -2.4 WAR in his final two seasons.



Round 2, Pick 2 (18th Overall): RP Alfredo Rivera ? Retired 2029


Alfredo Rivera

Alfredo Rivera  was one of the bigger ?misses? in Maryland?s early draft history, reinforcing the notion that the ?Grooms shouldn?t select relievers so early in the draft. Rivera was once named the #68 prospect in the AFBL and had good stuff and movement, but he was a below-average reliver in 6 years with the Bridegrooms and he should not have been taken at 18th overall in the draft.

After 6 mediocre seasons in the majors, Maryland demoted Rivera to the minors and he?d spend the 2023 & 2024 seasons there before being released. North Carolina scooped him up and he?d play parts of 4 years for the Aviators before being released again in 2028. He retired in 2029 with a 21-10 record, 9 saves, 522.2 innings pitched, .307 BABIP, 3.91 ERA, 1.54 WHIP and -2.26 WAR. Rivera wore #41 for Maryland.



Round 2, Pick 14 (30th Overall): SP Rob Knowles ? ACTIVE


Rob Knowles

38-year old Rob Knowles is still active in baseball, throwing in the bullpen for AAA Annapolis Destroyers. He has pitched in the Maryland organization since 2016 and is a 15-year veteran at the AFBL-level.

Knowles was used primarily as a starting pitcher for his first 9 years with the organization, until 8 weeks injured with elbow tendinitis in 2028 followed by a 8-month stint on the disabled list with a torn rotator cuff the following season sent him to the bullpen for good. He?s currently appeared in 519 games for Maryland which is 6th in club history and has a 2.01 career WAR while being part of some awful Bridegrooms teams. Knowles wears the #22 jersey.



Round 3, Pick 2 (34th Overall): RP Enrico Leon ? ACTIVE


Enrico Leon

Enrico Leon had three solid seasons in the Maryland bullpen from 2017-2019 as a youngster in his early 20s before being traded to West Virginia with shortstop/second baseman Ben Crossin. In retrospect it was a terrible trade for Maryland as Leon could have been a mainstay in the bullpen for a generation and gained a reputation that would have rivaled club icons Lyndon Shortt and Artie Gregory, while Crossin went on to post a 17.8 career WAR.

At 39-years old, Leon is hanging on with Ontario?s AAA affiliate, hoping for one last shot at the majors. Thus far in his long career he has a 128 ERA+ and a 12.5 WAR. Leon wore #20 while with Maryland.


ENRICO LEON WAS TRADED TO WEST VIRGINIA HOLLERS ON APRIL 6, 2020 FOR:

Riverwalker Hatfield was a 235-pound flame-throwing lefty brought over to be a specialist against left-handed batters and a big part of the ?Grooms? bullpen. He ended up being a replacement-level option out of the bullpen for Maryland from 2020-2026 after missing almost two years with a tough recovery from surgery to repair elbow ligament damage. He was released by Maryland in May of 2027 and after not being signed elsewhere he quietly retired in 2029. Hatfield is of course brother to Mountainman Hatfield and Bandit Hatfield who all started together with West Virginia and eventually all ended up with other clubs. Riverwalker finished his career with a 46-30 record, 37 saves, 3.58 ERA, 127 ERA+ and 3.4 WAR. Hatfield wore #26 for the Bridegrooms.

Second baseman Jarrod Smith was almost a career minor leaguer, playing 1,378 games between A and AAA level, with nearly half of the games coming at AA. In 2020, after 7 seasons in the minors, Smith finally played 26 games (and started 7) for the Bridegrooms. After 2 more years in the minors, Smith came back up to the big club in 2023 and played in 2 games as a defensive replacement. Then, after a couple of injuries to his hip and hamstring and another demotion to AAA in 2024 he decided he was finished with baseball. He bitterly retired after the 2024 season and has had nothing nice to say about the organization since. Smith wore #7.

Right-handed reliever Pat Cantrell was having some decent seasons in the minors for West Virginia and even though he was approaching 30-years old it was thought that he would be another live arm Maryland could effectively use to eat some innings. He was 33 in 2021, his first full season in the majors. In 2023 after two decent years in the majors, Cantrell underwent surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow and suffered setbacks in recovery which permanently cost him some velocity and movement. Maryland released him just prior to the start of the 2025 season and he retired the following year with a -0.41 career WAR in 127 appearances. Cantrell wore #18.



Round 6, Pick 2 (82nd Overall): CF Mike Moore ? Retired 2026


Mike Moore

Left-handed hitting centerfielder Mike Moore was another player who spent most of his career in the minors aside from a cup of coffee with Maryland in parts of the 2019 and 2021 seasons. He finished his big league career with a .236/.286/.292 line and 0.0 WAR in 77 plate appearances. He also struck out 21 times. Moore wore the #29 jersey.



Flame Outs & Unknowns
Round 4, RP Ken Hinton ?  Ken moved back to his hometown of West Bend, Wisconsin, a town about an hour?s ride northwest of Milwaukee. He has become something of a reclusive shut-in, paralyzed by the crippling anxiety that ended his baseball career before it ever began. Ken enjoys hearing the whistle of evening trains, which he describes as "soothing."

Round 5, LF Pat Major ? Pat hung around in the minors for 11 years before deciding to retire in 2026 and open two used car dealerships in Nevada. His over-the-top antics in his commercials (which frequently show him riding a llama through his car lot) has brought him intense local fame but also criticism from animal rights activists. Pat?s favorite brand of cigarette is Maverick.

Round 7, RP Jeff Ford ? Baltimore, Maryland?s own Jeff Ford played a few years in the minors before literally crapping out of baseball in 2023 with rectal prolapse. Ford is back in West Baltimore as the pastor of a local congregation. Jeff?s favorite hat style is newsboy cap.

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2016 First-Year Player Draft

Players to Reach Majors: 5 of 5
Cumulative Draft WAR (AFBL-level): 104.24
Notes: 46.3 WAR was from Weaver?s time with New Mexico, West Virginia & New Jersey. The 2016 Draft would be the last time that the franchise would be drafting as the California Golden Eagles. 


Round 1, Pick 4 (4th Overall): SP Tim Weaver ? Retired 2034


Tim Weaver

Tim Weaver was a borderline Hall of Fame right-handed pitcher with a great changeup. He?s currently in the top third of several high-profile all-time AFBL leaderboards, including win percentage (.6375), WAR (50.77), strikeouts (2,240), and wins (160).

Despite his good track record and stories from former players of his great leadership ability in the clubhouse, he found himself traded three times in his career before finally settling into New Jersey in 2024 in his age 28 season. He?d spend a career-high 8 seasons with the Athletics and two more in AAA in 2032-33 before retiring in 2034.

Weaver was a 3-time All-Star, a 2-time 20-game winner, and won the Federation Cup Series with New Jersey in 2026. The following season in 2027 he was off to an amazing 8-0 start with 0.94 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 76.1 innings before tearing his rotator cuff and missing the better part of a calendar year. 

Weaver wore #49 for Maryland.

TIM WEAVER WAS TRADED TO NEW MEXICO DANGER ON MARCH 17, 2020 FOR:

Right-handed starting pitcher Charlie White was a good prospect who had bounced around from New Jersey to Ontario to Idaho to New Mexico before landing in Maryland. White spent most of 2020 as part of the Ocean City Crabpots (AA) rotation, a club that won the National League title that year. In 2021, he went down injured for almost a year with a torn flexor tendon in his elbow and was never the same thrower. White made 111 decent or poor starts for -0.5 career WAR and appeared in 186 games overall for Maryland from 2022-2028. White wore #29.

1B/3B Bobby Kodo was a popular player who held down first base and backed up third base for Maryland from 2020-2027. He was a decent contact hitter and is still #10 in Maryland career batting average with .270. Despite his local popularity, his 4.8 WAR in 8 years with the club wasn?t that great and there is still a recurring thought among scouts that Kodo could have become an All-Star caliber player if he took baseball more seriously. Kodo wore #6.

Switch hitter Scotty Knox is a Maryland club legend who played first base and the corner outfield positions from 2020-2028. Knox had 9 seasons with at least 20 home runs and is still currently third in club history with 224 home runs, fifth in total bases with 1,746, fourth in OPS with .822 and second in hit by pitch with 51. Knox went to the 2022 All-Star Game as a left fielder. He also led the league in games started in 2020 with 157. Knox wore #58 and every year there is an unsuccessful campaign by fans who petition the club to have the number retired.

#17 Jeff Baker spent parts of 14 seasons with the Bridegrooms before retiring after the 2033 campaign, 7 of those seasons as the starting catcher. Unlike many Maryland acquisitions, Baker stayed away from major injuries and was a solid 16.2 WAR performer. He is currently #3 in career games played for the ?Grooms with 1,491. Baker was regarded by the fans as a good squad player but was in many ways completely forgettable for someone with such a long tenure, never forming the emotional bond with the fans that Bobby Kodo and Scotty Knox did in the half the time.


Round 2, Pick 4 (20th Overall): LF Jeff Cahill ? Retired 2035


Jeff Cahill

Jeff Cahill is one of those players who whenever he started to get into a really good groove he would get an injury that would bring his momentum to a halt and leave lasting consequences on his skills. Once named the #5 prospect in the AFBL, Cahill was drafted to eventually be a devastating presence in the middle of the lineup. But his string of injuries meant that he never delivered on the power potential and instead he settled into a long career as a consistent singles and doubles hitter.

Cahill spent most of his playing time in left field from 2024-2033 but he was also filling in on a regular basis as competent cover in right field. He was sent down to AAA Annapolis Destroyers in 2034 and spent two seasons there before retiring.

While Cahill never lived up to the (possibly unreasonable) expectations, he is still currently fourth in Bridegrooms history in games played (1,326), OBP (.356), and hits (1,400). For his career he was a .271/.356/.395 hitter with an OPS+ of 108 and 19.1 WAR.

Cahill wore #33, which has been recently worn by star pitcher Bob Parker.


Round 3, Pick 4 (36th Overall): CF Orlando Gandarilla ? Retired 2031


Orlando Gandarilla

Injuries took their toll on many early draft picks in Maryland?s history, and Orlando Gandarilla was no different. After a breakout 5 WAR season at age 28 in 2020 where he hit .241/.305/.461 with 29 home runs, a badly sprained ankle and fractured wrist robbed him of some power. He was still a 2-3 WAR player until being beaned in the head and suffering symptoms of post-concussion syndrome in 2027. He hung on for the 2028 & 2029 seasons but retired in 2031. His 1,172 games played is current 6th all-time for the club. While his primary position was center field, he also played over 200 games at both shortstop and left field. Gandarilla wore #48 for 12 seasons. 



Round 4, Pick 4 (52nd Overall): 3B Al Jones ? Retired 2026


Al Jones

Al Jones  was traded to the then-named New York Brewers one year to the day after being drafted by California, so he only played briefly in the minors for the organization. He played parts of four years at the AFBL-level for NY though from 2018-2021 and posted a 31.5% career strikeout rate and -0.7 WAR in 1,116 plate appearances.

Jones didn?t give up on a major league career and played 5 seasons in the New York system for AAA Brooklyn from 2022-2026. But he was never called back up despite hitting at least 27 home runs in 4 of those 5 seasons.

AL JONES WAS TRADED TO NEW YORK BREWERS ON NOVEMBER 15, 2017 FOR:

SS Ben Crossin was a workman-like player for the Bridegrooms in 2018 & 2019 before being traded in the previously discussed deal with Class of 2015?s Enrico Leon to West Virginia. The most notable thing about Crossin was that there was controversy when he came to the club and took #34 which until the 2017 season had been worn by recently traded team leader and All-Star Kevin Reynolds.

CF Firdus Ovchiyan was thrown into the deal simply because of his name. He never made it to the majors and became a birdwatcher and nature photographer in Cape May, New Jersey.


Round 6, Pick 4 (84th Overall): 2B Joe Baldwin ? Retired 2033


Joe Baldwin

Joe Baldwin  was a decent second baseman who put up 11.7 career WAR over 9 seasons. Not bad from someone picked 84th overall. He was at the center of a local media controversy after the completion of the 2025 season when he had his best-ever year (leading the league in doubles and posting a 6.4 WAR) but ending up losing the team MVP vote to sentimental favorite Kevin Reynolds. Reynolds, who only had 3.5 WAR, had recently returned to the worst club in baseball in a trade after spending 5+ years in Colorado. Baldwin went .260/.343/.384 with 833 hits and 393 walks in 3,631 career plate appearances.

[Chappy]

Wow, 5 of 5 made the majors, very nice!

[Chappy]

By the way, I'm totally stealing this.