Outlaws swap five players in Midseason Draft

An annual rite of passage each BDBL season, the annual midseason draft, where farm players are allowed to be picked up, took place this evening. From their draft room. the Flagstaff Outlaws announced they made five moves to help refresh the team, with an eye on 2018.

“Well, with no trades, our roster was in full compliance, but we always treat a few of our roster spots as fliers so we can make moves throughout the season to prepare for future season or take advantage of improvements,” Outlaws GM Greg Newgard said from the podium. “We were able to pick up a few players with upside next year and a few players to help with the farm.”

Flagstaff drafted pitchers Nick Kingham, Yonny Chirinos, Brady Rodgers and Ryan Helsley OF Travis Jankowski.

“Despite our farm being very pitching heavy, we just couldn’t find a way to add young bats at this time. Kingham and Chirinos have chances to start for us next season, Helsley is showing real improvement in his development and while Rodgers is recovering from Tommy John surgery, we’re confident he can contribute in 2020 and beyond. Jankowski can compete for a 4th or 5th OF spot for us and adds some speed for us.”

In order to make room, Flagstaff granted releases to Jake Rogers, Ian Clarkin, Bryce Johnson, Juan Lagares, and Andrew Stephenson.

“Several young OFs that aren’t progresssing in combination with an OF core that is really hard to break, forced us to shed some weight there and focus on other areas. We’ve added a ton more pitching that is further along the development path to go with the young arms we have.”