Yonder Alonso Rumors

Draft Day Roundup

The draft is just four hours away.  We'll be live-blogging it here at MLBTR.  Here are today's draft links.

• Baseball America's brand new top 30 projections.
• According to Keith Law, Mariners doctors gave the thumbs up on Tanner Scheppers and the team could take him at #20.
• Law says the Nationals seem to be debating between Kyle Skipworth and Aaron Crow at #9.
• Law adds that first baseman Yonder Alonso has an $8MM rumored asking price, which could cause him to drop. Alonso is roughly the 11th-best player in the draft, combining various expert rankings.
• Speaking of huge demands, Buster Posey's people are floating $12MM.  Perhaps for that reason, the Rays will go with Tim Beckham.
• The Pirates seem a near-lock to take Pedro Alvarez at #2.
• Jonathan Mayo is "fairly certain" the Reds will take Gordon Beckham at #7.
• Nick Piecoro tosses out some possibilities for the D'Backs at #26.
• Tom Haudricourt has three names for the Brewers at #16.

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Mayo's Latest: Alvarez, Orioles, Cashner

MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo has some draft tidbits tonight.

• The idea has been floated that the Rays could draft Pedro Alvarez with an eye on moving Evan Longoria to second base down the road.  Alvarez's position really shouldn't be a concern - Carlos Pena might be gone by the time he's ready.  Mayo's heard buzz that the Rays have narrowed it down to Alvarez or Buster Posey, despite what Tim Beckham's dad said.
• Standard speculation is that the O's are looking at Brian Matusz and Justin Smoak, but Mayo's heard there might be a non-Beckham dark horse.
• The White Sox have Smoak, Yonder Alonso, and perhaps Andrew Cashner on their radar at #8.

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Odds and Ends: Hosmer, Fossum, Garza

Some random tidbits for today...

• USA Today has an in-depth look at high school first baseman Eric Hosmer, who will likely be advised by Scott Boras.  He's a likely top-ten pick this June unless his asking price causes him to drop.  Baseball America looks at another first-round first baseman, Yonder Alonso.  Here's a reminder of which teams pick when.
• The Tigers inked oft-injured pitcher Casey Fossum, who is not likely to help them at the big league level this year.
• Rays Index wonders whether the Rays might seek compensation from the Twins for Matt Garza's injury.

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