Blue Crabs stress pitching in draft

Former Oriole, Red Sox among five selected

Friday, Jan. 18, 2008

Given the opportunity to select one player from each of the league’s seven teams, team manager and director of baseball operations Butch Hobson acquired the negotiation rights to five pitchers and two fielders. Five of the seven have major league experience.

“I don’t know if we specifically came into the draft targeting pitchers, but it’s an essential component of any good team,“ Hobson said. “Looking at the pitchers we selected, they are guys who have had success in the past. Good starters are not easy to find, and you can never find enough good pitching. I hope that we can sign these guys.“

The team drafted pitchers Eric Junge, Anthony Ferrari, Frank Castillo and R.J. Swindle, as well as former Baltimore Oriole John Halama. The Blue Crabs also added outfielders Eric Crozier and Mike Lockwood.

Coming into the draft, Hobson searched for pitchers who have demonstrated both control and accuracy. In the five selections, the veteran manager feels he has found a strong collection of starters and relievers.

“I think that if you look at the numbers for each of these guys you will see that their walks to innings pitched are very low,“ Hobson said. “You can look at a guy like John Halama. He throws a lot innings and he gives up a lot of hits. He gives up a lot of hits because he is around the strike zone, and I will take those kind of guys all day long.“

Halama, 35, spent nine seasons in the major leagues, accumulating a 56-48 record with a 4.65 ERA. The southpaw joined the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks in 2007, finishing the year with an 8-10 record and 4.14 ERA.

According to Hobson, both Ferrari and Castillo have also shown an ability to consistently find the strike zone. Ferrari, who has a career 3.74 ERA in the minors, was second in the league with 13 wins last season with the Camden Riversharks.

Castillo brings 13 seasons of major league experience to the team. The right-hander won 10 games while with the Boston Red Sox in 2001 and was on the 2004 club that won the World Series. Last season, Castillo went 8-4 while pitching for York, which finished third to last in the standings.

In Junge, the Blue Crabs have drafted a right-handed reliever who also has major league experience. The 31-year-old played for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2002 and 2003, going 2-0 with a 2.21 ERA.

And over the past four seasons, Swindle has accumulated a 20-11 record, 16 saves and a 2.45 ERA.

Originally, Hobson hoped to use to the draft to build his team around the positions in the middle of the diamond: Catcher, second baseman, shortstop and center fielder. But when the prospects at these positions failed to impress, Hobson went for pitching.

“As per usual, everybody wants to be strong up the middle, so most of the players who are good up the middle were protected,“ Hobson said.

The exception would be Lockwood, the center fielder whose rights the team selected with the sixth pick of the draft. Hobson describes Lockwood as a solid fielder and a strong hitter. While with Somerset last season, Lockwood hit a career-high 23 home runs, fifth highest in the Atlantic League.

Crozier, a first baseman-outfielder, will give the team additional offensive production and veteran leadership.

“Crozier is a veteran guy with some good experience,“ Hobson said. “He is a right-handed hitter, and our ballpark is going to be a right-handed hitter’s ballpark. And we felt that his veteran status would be good for us in the clubhouse.“

While the Blue Crabs will receive the right to negotiate with these seven players, the team may not be given the chance, as the players may instead sign with a major league organization.

“Historically with the draft, it is always three or four out of seven,“ said Atlantic League Executive Director Joe Klein, who presided over the draft. “If Butch hits seven in a row and they all finish .200 or .300 hitters and five winning pitchers, then that would be miraculous.“

Instead, according to Klein, most Atlantic League teams fill their roster in the month leading up to the season.

“The best players who come into this league either come from the year before and they return, or they are guys who get released at the end of spring training,“ Klein said. “It is going to be an evolution process, and you probably won’t have your full 25 until you get to spring training.“

Hobson agrees and acknowledges that the league’s trademark is its ability to send players to the major leagues. However, if the seven players he drafted return to the league, the Blue Crabs will make every effort to sign them.

“I am encouraged by the possibilities that exist in starting to build our roster as a result of the expansion draft,“ Hobson said. “We have an opportunity out of the gate to sign some high-quality ballplayers, five of which have major league experience.“

Notes: Prior the draft, the Blue Crabs agreed to deals in principle with two former members of the Road Warriors, a travel team in the Atlantic League. The team intends to sign right fielder Steven Doetsch, a 2007 Atlantic League all-star, and Ian Bladergroen, one of the top first basemen in the league.

E-mail Stephen Demedis at sdemedis@somdnews.com.