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Rule 5 Draft Runs Through C-Town

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The Cleveland Spiders held the #1 pick in this week's Rule 5 draft and may have struck gold with 24 year-old 2B Russ Mercedes. Some scouts believe Mercedes has the whole package: defense, speed, solid contact and great discipline at the plate, not to mention being a great physical specimen who stands up well to the rigors of a long season. The Spiders also did well later in the draft, picking up Catcher/DHs Apollo Payton in Round 2 and Denny Taft in Round 3.

The Oklahoma City Drunken Ducks nabbed hard-throwing reliever Ismael Cruz with the 2nd pick. If Cruz can find the strike zone consistently he'll be very tough to hit. Other significant picks include RP Junior Gutierrez going 5th to the Syracuse Salt City Ballers, defensive whiz Tony Gomez going 9th to Little Rock, and the Otawa Ice taking a chance on 32 year-old reliever Donald Cho at #12.

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