Some draft-related links to peruse for your Monday evenings…
- San Diego third baseman Kris Bryant is a "once in a career" player to coach both in terms of his talent and his humility, coach Rich Hill tells AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. Cassavell chronicles Bryant's journey from Little League to San Diego, noting that he's a high school rival of Bryce Harper. Bryant, who will be advised by Scott Boras, is a projected Top 10 pick with some thinking he could even go No. 1 overall to the Astros.
- Count Baseball America's Aaron Fitt among those who feel that Bryant should be taken first overall. Fitt tweets that while he's a fan of both Jonathan Gray and Mark Appel, Bryant is a "special" power bat.
- Oral Roberts right-hander Alex Gonzalez's stock is going nowhere but up, and it's doing so quickly according to MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo. Gonzalez has a "nasty fastball-slider combination with excellent command." Mayo writes that some think he can be a "Mariano Rivera-like reliever," while others believe he has the repertoire to start.
- From that same piece, Mayo writes that Indiana State left-hander Sean Manaea repaired some of the damage to his draft stock with a solid performance this past weekend. Manaea has battled hip injuries this Spring. Right-handers Ryne Stanek (Arkansas) and Chris Anderson (Jacksonville) also turned in solid performances that helped re-establish some of their falling stock.
- There are six new players in Mayo's Top 100, including prep pitchers Kyle Serrano and Chandler Eden, prep catcher Dom Nunez, prep outfielder Jordan Paroubeck, college shortstop Hunter Dozier and college outfielder Jared King. Serrano and Dozier have leapt all the way into Mayo's Top 50.
