A look back at the 2011 draft, Part 1

Drafts are often graded almost immediately but everyone knows you can't truly grade a draft completely for a few years. So, in honor of the 2021 draft on Saturday, here's a look back at the 2011 DMBL draft.

Coming off a 7-1, 1.69 ERA season for Arizona, Daniel Hudson was the odds-on favorite as the top pick and was selected 1st overall by New Jersey Team Buddah (now the Hopatcong Floating Fish). The 24-year-old starter only spent a few months with NJ before being shipped to Las Vegas along with someone named Carlos Marmol for 5 draft picks: 3rd and 5th rounders in 2012 and 1st, 5th and 6th rounders in 2013. (The most prominent of those picks probably turned out to be Yoenis Cespedes, drafted with the 2012 3rd rounder as an ineligible prospect.)

Hudson finished the season 16-10 with a combined 230.7 IP across both squads but fared far better in his second stop: 7-6, 4.11 with NJ, 9-4, 2.32 in LV. In a full season in LV in 2012, Hudson went 10-13, 4.80 in 210 IP before being traded that December in a deal involving six players and two draft picks.

Hudson was shipped to Livingston with OF Curtis Granderson, 1B Kendry Morales, SP Shelby Miller and Brett Anderson (a fellow No. 1 overall pick from just a year earlier, 2010) plus a 4th in 2013 with a 1st in 2013 and C Jonathan LuCroy coming back to Vegas (That 1st in 2013 turned out to be No. 1 overall and future McDonald winner Kris Medlen). After just 10 days, Livingston sent Hudson to the St. Louis Farrahkans, along with 2B Danny Espinosa and 1B Mark Reynolds, for 2nd and 6th rounders in 2014. By June, he was out of a job, having been released by St. Louis, and never latched on to another team, missing the 2013.

After missing the 2013 MLB season with elbow surgery, Hudson shifted to a relief role but apparently hasn't pitched in the DMBL since his release in June 2013 by St. Louis. In true DMBL fashion, he's eligible in this year's draft as a RP.

There were just 14 teams in the league in 2011 and four of them had compiled two picks each in the1st round. Let's have a look at the good, bad and ugly:

2nd - Starlin Castro, 2B, Sardine City
A formidable prospect at the time, and just 20 years old, Castro screamed out to be a high draft pick. He may not have been a franchise-changer but he turned into a useful middle infielder with a solid bat who spent four seasons with the Straphangers. Still just 30, he failed to qualify for the 2021 DMBL season, with just 63 PAs, but was drafted late in 2019 and bounced around as a free agent.

3rd - Jhoulys Chacin, SP, Hoboken

The pick was swapped a number of times before Hoboken exchanged 1st rounders with NJ to move up, adding a prospect named Aroldis Chapman to sweeten the pot. Chacin had some success, making the All-Star team that season and finished a respectable 13-9 and stuck around for a third of the 2012 campaign before getting released. He returned for 1 start with Hoboken in 2014 and then a longer engagement in the DMBL in 2018 when he was drafted in the 2nd round by Poovey Farms, where he spent two seasons (8-13, 5.96 and 12-14, 4.46 in 2019).

4th - Corey Hart, OF, Arkansas
Hart had limited success to say the least after being drafted by Las Vegas in 2007 (a 4th rounder) and latched on with New Jersey in 2008 and 2009 for brief spurts. Hart put it together with his best campaigns in Arkansas, going for 34 HRs in 2011 and 33 in 2012 before fading out.

5th - Jonny Venters, RP, Hillsborough
The lefty out of the pen 102 batters in 89.3 innings across 66 appearances for the Hit Men while posting a 2.62 ERA. The next year, he racked up 25 saves. In all, Venters 118 appearances with 28 saves over 2 seasons in Hillsborough. In 2015, he was drafted by Blue Ridge in the 15th round and made 7 mediocre appearances out of the pen for the Bombers.

6th - Logan Morrison, OF, Blue Ridge

Morrison has been well traveled through the DMBL as owners hoped to capitalize on the potential of a lefty-slugging OF/1B one-time prospect. In part-time action with the Bombers that year, he didn't make much of a splash, (.289/.369/.403, 0 HRs, 38 RBI). Ahead of 2012 protecteds, he was shipped to Philly for 5th and 12th rounders. By July of that year, he was dealt to Hoboken with SS J.J. Hardy for a 6th. Combined, he slugged 23 HRs but batted about .220.
In 2013, St. Louis nabbed him in the 9th round and smacked 24 HRs as the squad moved to Boston. He still managed to hit only .182/.249/.364 in 162 games. Morrison was picked in the 16th round of the 2014 draft by Sardine City, later released, and picked up for a short time by Empire City.
Hoboken signed him to a minor-league deal in 2017 with hopes for a comeback. He led the team in 2018 with another career high of 29 HRs and 71 RBI in 140 games at 1B but still couldn't break the Mendoza line (.196/.307/.427).

7th - John Axford, RP, Hillsborough
Between the lefty Venters and this 6-foot, 5-inch Canuck, the Hit Men were aiming to build the bullpen of the future. Axford struck out 73 in 57.7 innings that year across 40 games. He appeared in 100 games over 2 seasons with Hillsborough, mainly as a setup man, with a combined 16 saves. Axford didn't draw much interest from DMBL teams after that.

8th - Wilson Betemit, 3B, Hoboken

As a switch-hitting infielder with pop, the Dominican native was always a favorite in the draft, whether as an up-and-coming prospect or a starter. He first was drafted in the 4th Round in 2006 by Phoenix. Betemit then joined New Jersey Buddah (now Hopatcong) as the 30th and final pick of the 2007 dispersal draft, breaking up the outgoing Phoenix and Westwood franchises among the incoming NJ and Sardine City teams. (BTW, 2B/3B Freddy Sanchez went 1st in that draft.)
In 2008, Betemit was chosen in the 2nd round of the Supplemental draft by Hoboken and managed a few ABs that season. He failed to qualify for DMBL for a few seasons before making it back in 2011 as a 1st rounder, the second time he'd been selected by Hoboken. He paid off their persistence with a solid season: 24 2Bs, 15 HRs, 52 RBI
Ahead of the 2012 season, the Cutters traded him to Blue Ridge for SP Jair Jurrjens and a 9th rounder in 2013. He slapped a career-best 38 doubles and a career high .276/.347/.447 for the Bombers that year and stuck around with them into 2013 before calling it a career.

9th - Joaquin Benoit, RP, Vancouver

Prior to 2011, Benoit spent time with Hoboken and Arkansas in 2006 before two seasons in Newark. The third RP drafted, he posted a perfectly cromulent season with the Iron Fist, going 11-2 with 16 saves, 140 strikeouts in 108 innings across 68 appearances.
Benoit stuck around Vancouver in 2012 and later signed briefly with Amityville during 2013 before returning to Vancouver through 2014. After the 2015 season, Benoit was sent east to Philly in exchange for SP Jose Quintana. He would go on to be drafted again: in the 4th round in 2016 by Arkansas and in the 13th round in 2017 by Philly, later released and picked up briefly by Blue Ridge.
The Dominican native has proven his longevity and if you you look at it this way, that's the argument for him being the best pick of 1st Round. While he compiled a modest 36 saves over his career, Benoit was a staple of bullpens, one of just 17 relievers with at least 500 appearances (510). Even more impressive is his career win percentage of .638 (51-29) - that would rank 5th best all time among starters, trailing only the likes of Pedro, Curt Schillling, Randy Johnson, and Dennis Martinez.

10th - Daric Barton, 1B, Sardine City
An uber prospect who didn't have the longevity of another prospect like Logan Morrison. He put together a fine 2011 campaign:  106 BBs against 133 Ks was the highlight yet only .242/.355/.357 with 11 HR and 74 RBI. He'll always have his year with Sardine City because he only managed 4 more ABs in DMBL, in only 4 games (without a hit no less) with Bridgewater. A 13th-rounder of Newark's in 2009, he never did much with the Sugar Bears before his 1st Round selection, or after when Bridgewater tapped in the 9th round in 2012.

11th - Rickie Weeks, 2B, Vancouver

Weeks often showed enough potential to be drafted - twice in the 1st round no less - but didn't quite deliver enough to be protected. And boy, was drafted a lot. Weeks broke into the league in 2006, a 4th round selection of South Boston, where he compiled a respectable 18 HR and 57 RBI -- but also 25 errors.
He was a 1st round pick for the first time in 2008, when he was drafted 13th overall by Marietta. The next year, he was taken by Blue Ridge in the 9th round. Weeks finally showed enough with Vancouver that he was protected and he rewarded their patience - somewhat - with a 16 HR, 57 RBI season. But it wasn't enough to stick around. He drafted for the 5th time in 2013, in the 8th round by Newark (later Brick City).

12th - Omar Infante, 2B, Blue Ridge

It might be considered a career high for Infante, who like Weeks was drafted five times, although three of those came in the supplemental rounds or close to them. The Venezuelan-born Infante hit a career-high .305 with the Blue Ridge Bombers. He first was drafted in 2005 by Vancouver in the 5th round and again by the Iron First in the 6th Supplemental Round of 2009.
After his tenure with Blue Ridge, Infante was selected in the 6th Supplemental Round again, this time in 2012 by Hillsborough, and finally in the 15th round of the 2013 draft by Bridgewater.
He finally put it together in 2014 with 14 of his 37 career HRs coming for the Bombers before rounding out his playing days in 2015 with El Paso.

13th - Travis Wood, SP, Newark

Wood is another player who would be selected twice in the 1st round. He later was taken by Brick City in 1st round of the 2014 draft, No. 17 overall. He spent about 1/3 of the season with Newark before they dealt the left-hander to a contender in Philly along with SS Jimmy Rollins for SP Homer Bailey and a 4th rounder. Wood put it together in Philly, sporting a 12-2 record to go a combined 20-4 and win the Listach Rookie of the Year Award while helping the Green Rage reach the finals. While he wasn't drafted Philly, a Listach Award on your mantel makes an argument for being the best pick of the round.

14th - Edinson Volquez, SP, Bridgewater
See, it's not all that uncommon for guys to be drafted at least once in the 1st Round. Volquez was the 3rd overall pick in 2009 by New Jersey, after Milton Bradley and Chris Davis, finishing the year 6-12 in 33 starts. This time, he went last in the 1st round, but it was the high point of being drafted in three consecutive years. He only started 6 games in 2011 for Bridgewater, later drafted in the Supplemental Round 1st in 2012 by Livingston, then the Supplemental Round 4th in 2013 by Marietta.

Part 2: Beyond the 1st Round