THE PRICE IS RIGHT
For Immediate Release
February 10th, 2007
Draft Central By Evets Reltuc
It took till the last game of the 2006 season for Coconut Creek and Hollywood to battle for the rights to the #2 overall pick. Neither team really wanted the distinction of being the worst in baseball. Hollywood was one year removed from losing to Chicago in the ALCS and two years from losing to Perennial powerhouse Tempe in the World Series. With Kip Wells, Matt Clement and Hideo Nomo, their cornerstones for their run, all taking a dive, Hollywood stripped their team and went into rebuilding mode. Here they were, playing their worst baseball in 5 years hoping NOT to finish with the worst record, but alas it was something they could not avoid.
Hollywood’s scouts went into high gear trying to determine if there was a TRUE #1 pick out there and who might they choose. Names kept popping up all over, Jeff Niemann, Ian Stewart, Tim Lincecum amongst others came up, however one stood out much higher than the rest…David Price. For only the second time in MWBL Draft history (Mark Prior, 2002) an amateur player was taken #1 overall. Evets Reltuc, Hollywood’s Scouting Director, was traveling the world over the course of a year, getting a good look at the potential prospects. He was in Arizona to observe Chip Cannon’s domination and in Hawaii to witness Atsushi Nohmi mastery. He also spent time reviewing the talent at Winter Ball in Puerto Rico, Mexico and Valenzuela. When all was said and done, it was Vanderbilt then-Sophomore David Price who was the most impressive, with his nearly untouchable performance for Team USA last year, going 5-1, 
0.20 with 61 strikeouts and seven walks in 44 innings.
“I have to say, that’s a ballsy pick,” Iron City Yinzers owner Jonathan Mayo said. “It’s not what I would’ve done personally had I had the worst record in the league last year – which I didn’t, somewhat surprisingly – but I have to give Hollywood credit for being gutsy enough to take a guy who’s never thrown a professional pitch with the top pick in the draft.”
Price, a 6-6 lefty from Vanderbilt, is also a two-time pre-season first-team All American. He’s a lefty that delivers a mid-90s fastball, a hard slider, has above-average control and good all-around feel for pitching. “Picking at No. 1 is always difficult”, says Reltuc. “I told Steve (Cutler, Hollywood’s owner) that I would have a hard time not selecting him first. Are we taking a chance that he stays healthy? Yes, but the way I see it is, its minimal risk with high reward”.
Hollywood has another pitcher on their roster drafted straight out of college, Jered Weaver. If Weaver continues to excel at the rate we expect and Price lives up to his potential, Hollywood could have the best righty-lefty starting pitching combo in the league. With that Hollywood hopes the ‘Price is Right.’