1979 Amateur Draft Contains Some Real Surprises
With the first round of the Amateur Draft complete, lets look and see who each team selected and how they fit into each teams plans.
1. Oakland - SP John Fulgham Fulgham was a surprising first overall pick. Considering that the Athletics have a number of fine young starting pitchers like Reuschel and Soto, the Athletics might have been better served by adding an outfielder like Henderson, Raines or Gibson. Still, Fulgham does have the potential to be a top of the rotation starter and this pick might signal that a trade of Ace Catfish Hunter is in the works.
(Historical Note: John Fulgham was an excellent young starting pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1979 and 1980. In 1980, Fulgham tore his rotator cuff and never pitched another game in the Major Leagues. Medical technology has made great progress in the last 20 years.)
2. Seattle LF Rickey Henderson The best player in the entire draft. At worst, Henderson should be the best leadoff hitter since Jimmy Wynn of the Houston Astros retired. His speed at the top of the lineup with Willie Wilson will make the Mariners a dangerous team this season and once the Mariners add a quality middle infielder or two, they could end up as the team to beat in the AL West.
3. Atlanta CF Tim Raines Tim Raines is a dynamic young player. The question is whether the Braves are going to use Raines in the outfield, where he will be a fantastic fielder as well as hitter or whether Raines will form the keystone combination with Garry Templeton for the Braves for the next ten seasons. I doubt the Braves can lose either way.
4. St. Louis SP John Tudor The Cardinals looked to bolster their pitching with the crafty left hander John Tudor. Tudor is the starting pitcher that is the closest to being ready to start in the Major Leagues and is likely to do so at the beginning of the season.
5. Atlanta via Toronto RF Kirk Gibson While Gibson is an excellent choice at 5th overall, (I thought he would go much higher), this is an interesting choice. The Braves are thin in pitching, but with Templeton, Office, Raines and Gibson, the Braves might have the best core of young hitters in the NL West. But this does nothing to solve the Braves biggest problem, which is a weak and old starting rotation. A pitcher like Stieb might have been a better choice for the Braves.
6. Los Angeles SP Dave Stieb The original Best of the NL West has seen some lean years recently. No doubt the $17,000,000 a year contract given to Bill Singer has not helped the Dodgers, but perhaps being able to replace him with Dave Stieb within a season or two may give the Dodgers the necessary payroll room to upgrade their lackluster offense.
7. New York (N) CL Jeff Reardon Reardon is the first of four closers selected in the 1979 CDL Amateur Draft. Reardon is by far the best of the closers, as he should be the solution to the Mets late inning woes in a close division, where winning 5 more one run games might be enough to take the division.
8. Kansas City SS Dickie Thon An excellent Shortstop in what is perhaps the thinnest year for Shortstops in CDL History. (Actually, he is the only Shortstop in the draft.) Regardless, Thon would be the best shortstops most years. Hes a very good defender, as well as having great offensive potential. At his peak, he could easily hit .300 with 20 home runs, which is something you cant say about most shortstops.
(Historical note: While many people may not remember this, Dickie Thon was considered by some to be a future superstar. He had an excellent season in 1983 hitting .286 with 20 Home Runs while playing half his games in the Astrodome. On April 8, 1984, Thon was hit in the left eye by Mike Torrez, breaking his tripod bone. This beaning is almost certainly the most vicious since Tony Conigliaros beaning, as it reduced Thon to nothing more than a role player.
9. Houston SP Mike Scott The Astros fall from the top has been anything but pretty from the day that Jim Palmer blew out his arm to the day that Bert Blyleven blew his arm out. The Astros have rebuilt their offense with a number of talented young hitters and are now trying to do the same with their pitching staff. Scott could be the ace of the Houston staff in a few years, though the question is whether he will be enough.
10. Detroit MR Jesse Orosco Orosco should be a fine middle reliever for the next couple of seasons before becoming one of the best relievers in the league. The Tigers are working on turning the corner and Orosco should be an important part of the Tigers rebuilding.
11. Philadelphia MR Dickie Noles An interesting choice. Noles is a solid middle reliever, but is not likely to improve any time soon. The Phillies have some bigger holes on offense, but perhaps the Phillies are following the old adage that good pitching beats good hitting.
12. Cleveland SP Dave Righetti An excellent choice. The Indians have a number of quality hitters and their rotation features four starters who are at least 30 years old. Righetti may end up being no worse than Fulgham who was selected first overall. Sometimes the question of what a team needs most and who the best player on the board has the same answer.
13. Pittsburgh CL Dan Quisenberry The Pirates hope that the Quiz is the answer to the ninth inning for many years to come. Quisenberry is an odd closer, in that he doesnt throw very hard, but almost never gives up a walk or a home run. He could be a great reliever even if he gives up a hit an inning.
14. Houston via Milwaukee and San Francisco CL Bill Caudill - The question as to who the best closer in CDL history is answered by one man, current Astros closer, CL Darold Knowles. Knowles is 37 and nearing the end of his career. The Astros wisely took the hard throwing Bill Caudill to replace Knowles once he decides to retire. Caudill may never be the closer that Knowles is, but it is possible that no one else will ever be that good.
15. Cincinnati via Montreal C Brian Harper There were few very good hitting prospects in the draft and the dropoff from the first four selected and Brian Harper is rather steep. I doubt anyone thinks Harper is a future MVP, but he should be a solid catcher, which is better than most teams field behind the plate.
16. San Diego 3B John Castino A pick that fills a need. Castino should be a solid third baseman and with neither Graig Nettles nor Aurelio Rodriguez being all-star caliber or even quality Third Basemen, adding Castino should fill a void in the Padres infield within a season or two.
17. Baltimore SP Charlie Leibrandt There is little separation between the ten best pitchers in the draft. Leibrandt is a crafty left hander that is similar to John Tudor, who was selected fourth overall. He excels at getting groundball outs and if the Orioles provide him with a good infield defense, could be a star in the CDL.
18. Texas MR Dewey Robinson A non-descript reliever. Texas had a deep bullpen and rotation, which makes selecting Robinson in the first round harder to believe. The Rangers would have been better served by selecting a player like Tommy Herr or Tony Bernazard to try and add some much needed infield talent to the Rangers.
19. Cleveland via Boston 3B Tom Brookens With Carney Lansford already on board, look for Brookens to spend most of his time playing second base, since starter Dick Green is 37 and nearing the end of his career.
20. California SP Lamarr Hoyt Hoyt is a bit of a surprising pick, since quality outfielders such as Gary Ward and Mickey Hatcher were still on the board. Hoyt is still a fine selection, since starting pitchers tend to be expensive to retain and Hoyt is a fine pitcher in his own right.
21. Minnesota SP Brian Allard A very good selection. The Twins have perhaps the best up the middle players in Orta, Burleson and May, which is why the Twins are never far from the top of the AL West standings. With three of their starting pitchers 36 years old, the Twins needed to restock a dry cupboard when it comes to starting pitching and Allard does just that.
22. Cincinnati 2B Tony Bernazard There is no such thing as too many good middle infielders. While Bernazard will have difficulty finding a spot to play on the Reds, he will be excellent trade bait as he should end up being one of the better second baseman in the league. Perhaps the steal of the draft.
23. New York (A) SP Brian Kingman An interesting selection. Kingman is ready to start now, but do the Yankees want to imperil their chances of repeating as AL East champions by starting an unproven rookie. The Yankees are another team that could have went after an outfielder like Ward or Hatcher, both of whom were still on the draft board.
24. San Francisco CL Mark Clear A choice that I am of two minds about. The Giants did need a closer and Clear is an absolute steal at 24th overall, especially since he will likely be the Giants closer on Opening Day. On the other hand, the Giants only have three starting pitchers on their roster and opening day is four days away and there has been no rumors of a deal to bring a starter to San Francisco. Is this dynasty nearing its end or are the Giants just toying with the fragile minds of their NL West rivals? Only time will tell.
25. Chicago (A) 2B Tommy Herr The White Sox had a wild ride from being the continual thorn in the Twins side to cellar dweller to being half of an All-Chicago World Series. While the White Sox came up short in the Series, they came up big in the draft. While the Pale Hose are flush in second sackers, they are thin at shortstop behind Darrell Evans. Herr may be a good enough athlete to move to the other side of the keystone and be the starting shortstop for the White Sox for years to come.
26. San Diego via Chicago (N) SP Richard Dotson A solid pick. Aside from outfielders, there are precious few quality hitters left in the draft pool by this time. The Padres seeing this, decide to grab another starting pitcher in Dotson, who should be ready to contribute by the time Grant Jackson is ready to retire.
Best Pick of the Draft Rickey Henderson by the Seattle Mariners
Biggest Steal of the Draft Mark Clear by the San Francisco Giants
Biggest Overdraft Dickie Noles by the Philadelphia Phillies
Player Most Likely to Contribute this Season (Tie) Rickey Henderson and Jeff Reardon
Best Player to Last to Round 2 (Tie) Mickey Hatcher and Gary Ward
Only time will allow us to see who the real winners and losers were in this draft, but it appears that the teams at the bottom of the draft benefited nearly as much as the teams at the top of the draft, which is not surprising considering how deep this draft is. I hope everyone enjoyed reading this recap of the 1979 Amateur Draft. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at UKSiubs98@aol.com
Brian Marshall
CDL Co-Commish
Houston Astros
The new CDL News is here. As you can see, it is integrated into the main page, so everyone can see the articles written about the league. The best part of the newspaper is that soon everyone will have the ability to post news about their team or the league for everyone to see. While we work on implementing that feature, I encourage everyone to look forward to the 1979 Amateur Draft Review, which will be posted soon.