In the first round, Brooklyn's New York Moabs selected IF Yunel Escobar with the eigth overall selection, one spot ahead of the desperate Yuma Firebirds. The Moabs had two first round selections, and the second went to Rafael Betancourt. Betancourt will bolster a much maligned bullpen that really struggled getting the ball to Francisco Rodriguez, an all-star closer. "Clearly, the issue last season was getting the ball from the starters to the closer, we didn't" stated Manager Bobby Cox.
After the first round, the Moabs clearly focused on Starting Pitching as Ubaldo Jimenez, Adam Wainwright, Micah Owings, Manny Parra, Ross Detwiller, and Tom Gorzelanny went in succession. Rumor has it that Gorzelanny may be on his way out of Brooklyn. GM Eric Caskey commented on the starting pitching: "Clearly we wanted to upgrade our pitching all the way around. We feel that youthful depth in BARB is the new way to win."
The Moabs also risked losing several players, and brought back backups SS Jhonny Peralta and C Bengie Molina. Peralta thanked ownership for their offer, "There's no other place that I would like to be than here. We can win it all after this draft."
To complete the roster, the Moabs also drafted relievers Matt Lindstrom and Johnathan Meloan. Both players give the Moabs considerable flexibility as both are unestablished and both throw really hard. In addition to Meloan, the Moabs drafted two other prospects, Chris Coghlan and Hank Conger. Coghlan is a converted 3B who now plays 2B and has a textbook inside out swing, which allows him to take a lefthanded Derrek Jeter approach to the game. Conger is a switch hitting catcher who has a tremendous work ethic. Caskey believes that Conger can be a run producing, switch-hitting, defensive reliable, and leader. He also has the luxury to move slowly, as he is likely to start in AA Syracuse, as a result of Brian McCann's youth.
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