Draft Roundup
All kinds of good draft info surfacing today. Let’s take a look.
- MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo projects the top 30 picks. College closer Andrew Cashner moves up the rankings to the Rangers at #11, among other changes. Mayo has even heard a rumor that the Marlins could consider Cashner at #6 instead of Kyle Skipworth. Back on May 16th, Baseball America chose the Tigers for Cashner at #21.
- Mayo sees the Rangers at #11 and the Yankees at #28 as possibilities for Boras advisee Gerrit Cole. MiLB.com has compared Cole to Kyle Farnsworth. Baseball America suggested Cole could slip to the Cubs at #19 or the D’Backs at #26.
- Back to the Rangers…beat writer Evan Grant sees them springing for Eric Hosmer or Shooter Hunt.
- Jim Callis notes that raw first-round bats (Aaron Hicks for example) often do not pan out.
- Will the Mets stick to slot this year?
Rangers Leaning Toward College Pitcher In Draft
According to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com, the Rangers "would love to take a high upside college pitcher who could shoot through the system" with their 11th overall pick this June. Sullivan suggests Shooter Hunt, Tanner Scheppers, and Christian Friedrich as possibilities. Scheppers may be out of the picture given the stress fracture of his shoulder.
ESPN’s Keith Law ranked his top 60 for the draft on May 10th, and he considered the top college pitchers to be Aaron Crow, Brian Matusz, Scheppers, Friedrich, Josh Fields, and Hunt. In their May 16th mock draft, Baseball America picked high school first baseman Eric Hosmer for Texas.
By the way, check out the June Amateur Draft link. This will remain on the sidebar until after the June 5th draft takes place.
Boras Demands For Alvarez, Hosmer Leaked?
Kiley McDaniel reports rumors of Scott Boras’ asking price for ’08 draftees Pedro Alvarez and Eric Hosmer. He’s hearing a $9.5MM big league deal for Alvarez and a $7MM bonus for Hosmer – steep demands.
Hosmer, a high school first baseman, has been compared to Casey Kotchman by Baseball America. He’s a top ten pick. Alvarez, one of the top talents in the draft, plays third base for Vanderbilt but may end up at first. He figures to go within the first four picks (Rays, Pirates, Royals, Orioles) for sure.
By the way, the Reds have the seventh pick, and BA’s Jim Callis thinks they’ll go for a pitcher. He names Shooter Hunt, Tanner Scheppers, and Tim Melville as the main candidates.