New Dutchmen GM Lays Foundation For Long-Term Success

By Clyde Elkins

SAN DIEGO—There's no such thing as a pitching prospect.

That aphorism credited to Gary Huckabay, founder of Baseball Prospectus, is one taken to heart by the Elysian Fields Flying Dutchmen when making the first four selections of the club's introductory MMDA draft.

Bryce Harper

Given the option of assuming control of the Lakers or Clippers franchises when joining the league, Dutchmen GM Clyde Elkins opted for the Michigan roster, in part because the team held the fifth slot in the draft and also for the presence of the game’s top lefthander Clayton Kershaw. This was a fortuitous decision with Dodgers devotee Steve Frediani among MMDA ownership.

With the first two picks of the draft, acquired in exchange for Kershaw, the Dutchmen selected 19-year-old outfielder Bryce Harper and 20-year-old third baseman Manny Machado. After Yoenis Cespedes and Yu Darvish went off the board third and fourth, Elkins bypassed quality arms in Matt Moore and Jarrod Parker, opting to fill a void at shortstop with 22-year-old defensive wizard Andrelton Simmons.

While Harper and Machado are the consensus top selections in drafts excluding non-carded players, the presence of Pablo Sandoval at third base could have shifted Elysian Fields' attention from Machado to Darvish, a potential top-ten pitcher entering his prime. And while the young Oriole qualifies only at third, many believe that he’ll eventually return to his natural position of shortstop, which could make the selection of Simmons redundant.

Manny Machado

This is a team in full rebuild mode, however, in a well-established league with GMs who understand player valuation. Until a foundation is in place Elkins will employ the “best athlete available regardless of position” approach. Harper, Machado, and Simmons fit this mold and possess the shared characteristic of being mature beyond their years. Much has been written about their seamless transition to the majors; how the action seems to slow down for them while their peers struggle in their first exposure to the game’s biggest stage. It was only a year ago Mike Trout was coming off his introduction with a .220 average in 40 games.

Further evidence of the team’s philosophy in practice came with the drafting of Jean Segura in the second round, potentially the third shortstop taken by Elysian Fields. At that point, Elkins amended Huckabay’s dictum to: “There’s no such thing as a pitching prospect . . . until the third round.”

Andrelton Simmons

Five consecutive pitchers under the age of 25 were selected, four of them—Drew Pomeranz, Robbie Ross, Martin Perez and Christian Friedrich—lefthanded. This was certainly not by design but was dictated by the flow of the draft and the team’s innings requirements heading into the MMDA season.

Elkins’ focus for the next year will be filling holes in the Dutchmen roster by dealing from positions of strength (though they are limited). As pleased as he is to have acquired Machado, he is open to including the budding star in trade if it addresses needs at catcher, second base, first base or the rotation. Same goes for Segura, Sandoval, Hunter Pence, Cameron Maybin, Paul Maholm, Nate Eovaldi, Randall Delgado and a number of quality relievers.

It should be interesting to see, not just how the Elysian Fields roster develops, but how the impending moves will affect the 2013 MMDA pennant race and the building efforts of other young teams.