[JetsIn06]

The 1947 Portland Rosebuds

We go in 8-15 in April, followed by a 12-16 month in May. When the draft rolls around, we're 21-35, a significant improvement over where we were last season.

While the offense has continued to struggle mightily, we've actually been pretty good on the run prevention side; we have the 4th fewest runs allowed in our ten-team Federal League sub-league, coming from a very strong bullpen (2nd) and ranked 1st and 2nd in zone rating and defensive efficiency, respectively.

Let's turn our attention to the future though; the draft is here, and as I mentioned the lottery luck didn't quite go our way as we dropped from #1 to #4. There's a couple good outfielders, some first-base bat only guys, and two starting pitchers that all could be an option for us.

OF Ramon Giron is a left-handed college bat who's probably the best hitter available and has 8-grade speed to go with it, while 1B Chris Scott is another lefty college bat who should be great, but I'm not super keen on taking a 1B with such a high pick. CF Ray Nunez is a high-school bat who's probably going to end up in a corner but can definitely hit; OF Jose Tapia has a similar profile but is from the college ranks. CF Mark Arterburn is a JuCo Sophmore with a great bat and is certainly the best defender of the bunch.

On the arm side, SP Pat Brohawn is a high-school RHP with sidearm delivery, electric stuff and 6-grade control, and SP Sam Jenkins is another prep arm with great stuff but needs to improve his control a bit at a 5, according to our scout. SP Robby Garcia has a similar skill set to Jenkins but comes from the college ranks, and has an elite changeup.

From a national level, CF Keith Kohnen is also named as a potential number one pick, a high-school outfielder with great contact, and CF Adam Paul is right there with him with the addition of elite speed.

Honestly, this could go so many different ways.

And it does; CF Eric Dabney goes first overall to the Washington Wasps. While our scout didn't rank him quite as high as some of the other outfielders, he looks really good, with all-around contact, power, and speed with enough defense to stick in center.

OF Ramon Giron goes next to the Montreal Canadiens, and then Vancouver goes with a pitcher who was further down our board, SP Chris Johnson.

So we're up with the #4 pick, with both pitchers we like available, as well as two potential center fielders. It does seem like there's quite a bit of depth in the outfield class, so we go with SP Sam Jenkins, a prep arm from Florida with the elite changeup and more conventional delivery.

CF Mike Gruver, a prep bat from Florida, is our next pick. He's got a solid hit tool with power and 7-grade speed and 7-grade range in center.

To round out our top three picks, OF Mike DeWeese is a 17-year-old out of Washington, DC. A line drive hitter with some power potential, he'll be a great LF but could also potentially handle center.

By the time we get to the trade deadline, we're 40-64. While we don't have a ton of assets to move, I would like to utilize one of the trades I have, but we're not able to swing anything.

We finish the season poorly, with a final record of 56-106. The defense continues to be strong but we're going to have to hope some of these draft picks develop and find some young talent in free agency to get out of the basement.

The 1947 World Series is a great one, with the Philadelphia Brewers of the Columbia League facing off against the Philadelphia Patriots of the Federal League for the fourth straight season. Going all seven games, the Patriots come out on top, reclaiming their title.