When Greg Tagert had to whittle down his list to 11 names, it wasn't about picking his favorite RailCats.
It wasn't about who had the best "RailCat" potential or who had the loftiest contract.
It was about selecting the 11 players who brought the most overall value to the team and who might be seen as most valuable to the Northern League's newest franchise, the Lake County Fielders.
Tagert's protected list of 11 went to the Northern League, where only the league and Fielders manager Fran Riordan will see it. Those left unprotected are open for selection in Thursday's two-round dispersal draft that will guarantee the RailCats -- and the other five teams from the 2009 league -- will lose two players each to give the Fielders 12 to start a roster.
"It wasn't just about ranking the players 1 through 11," Tagert said. "It's the 11 you think need to be protected because they provide value to your team one way or another. It's not necessarily the 11 guys guaranteed to be on the club next year, but that they have value in some way."
The definition of value isn't just to the players like Tony Cogan, who pitched five shutouts, or players like Andy Shipman, the league's best closer.
It also means players that can be valuable for a trade or valuable because they'll still be classified as rookies for another season -- like pitcher Tristan Facer.
When Riordan starts picking on Thursday, he'll probably see more rookies protected than veterans because each team can activate only four veteran-classification players, but also needs as many contributing rookies as it can find.
"With a lot of veterans, you're also getting their salary, that they'll live in an apartment, all of those benefits that a veteran gets," Tagert said.
Riordan will have access to the last contracts of the unprotected players, knowing what perks each player expects and how to fit them under his salary cap.
From there, it's more about how Riordan expects his team to look. Does he want more than one long-ball hitter? Is he hoping to stock his bullpen? How does he want his infield to look?
There will probably be fewer catchers on the protected lists of the six 2009 Northern League teams, for nearly the same reason as the veterans: No one needs six catchers.
It won't be unheard of for the Fielders to select a player that is considering retirement and doesn't report to camp. The RailCats haven't started asking yet who is ready to come back for the 2010 season, so their protection list could include one or two of those guys, too.
"I'll be interested to see how many of the (drafted) 12 actually start the season," Tagert said. "He might be acquiring players to make a trade, too, in hopes of acquiring two others. I'll be very surprised if all 12 guys start camp and are in uniform to start the season."
Since the protected lists aren't released, only a handful of people will know what each team considers their top 11 valuable players. In versions of the lists, there were as many as 20 different names considered, Tagert said.
With the busy season in independent baseball -- the resign and retirement season -- still a couple months away from starting, the RailCats will at least take stock of what to do with all that value.
This column solely represents the writer's opinion. Reach her at hillary.smith@nwi.com.
