Eleven former first overall picks are currently on MLB rosters (DL included): Chipper Jones, Alex Rodriguez, Pat Burrell, Josh Hamilton, Adrian Gonzalez, Joe Mauer, Delmon Young, Justin Upton, Luke Hochevar, David Price and Stephen Strasburg. Here are some draft-related links in anticipation of this year's top pick:
- Anthony Rendon played his first games in the field since suffering a shoulder injury in March, and interestingly, Rendon played second base, reports John Manuel of Baseball America. Rendon made an error in his second game but according to one scout, "handled his routine chances just fine." While Rendon has displayed a strong third base glove in his college career, some executives have wondered if he is better suited to play second in the majors.
- Jim Callis of Baseball America has Rendon going first overall to Pittsburgh in his latest mock draft.
- The Pirates are open to taking any of the top three or four players with the first overall pick, and they don't even have a "front-runner" for the pick, tweets Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- ESPN.com's Buster Olney hears that the Pirates continue to consider Gerrit Cole as a candidate for the first overall pick in the draft. Cole’s struggles have scared some teams off to an extent, but not Pittsburgh. Cole hit the 101-mph mark on the radar gun during a start tonight, according to ESPN's Keith Law (Twitter link).
- MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo lists the draft's top college arms, including Cole, Trevor Bauer and Danny Hultzen. The 2011 draft class stands apart from others thanks in large part to the deep, talented crop of college hurlers.
- As Mayo explains, 6'9" right-hander Alex Meyer has developed from a hard thrower into a more polished college arm.
- Reed MacPhail of FanGraphs offers more on the Kentucky starter and his “tantalizing combination of size and stuff.”
- Hultzen is "probably" the Diamondbacks' most wanted player, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic and he thinks the D'Backs would pass on Cole if he's still available when Arizona makes the third overall pick.
MLBTR's Mark Polishuk also contributed to this post
