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Dodgers Agree To Terms With First-Rounder Jeren Kendall

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5:02pm: Los Angeles has also landed Cooper ($870K) and Wong ($550K), Callis reports (Twitter links).

2:58pm: The Dodgers have agreed to terms with first-round pick Jeren Kendall, per MLB.com’s Jim Callis (via Twitter). The Vanderbilt outfielder will receive a $2.9MM bonus, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (Twitter link).

Kendall, a left-handed-hitting junior, was taken with the 23rd overall pick, which came with a $2,702,700 allocation. Entering today, Los Angeles had yet to make things official with Kendall, second-rounder Morgan Cooper, and third-round pick Connor Wong.

Draft analysts split on Kendall, an accomplished college player credited by some as a five-tool player. That led MLB.com to rank him sixth among draft-eligible players. But he also placed as low as 18th (Baseball America), owing to concerns that he still swings and misses too frequently after three years at a top program.

Draft Chatter: Lewis, McKay, College Arms, Mock Drafts, A’s

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With the MLB Draft just a few hours away, there’s some increasing talk that the Twins are giving serious consideration to high school shortstop Royce Lewis with the No. 1 overall pick. John Manuel of Baseball America tweeted today that Lewis is in consideration and adds that he was told by a Twins official that signability is a factor for the Twins up top. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan tweets that the Twins are down to Lewis and Louisville left-hander/first baseman Brendan McKay. Meanwhile, 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson tweeted that as of this morning, a Twins front office source told him that no decision has been made.

For those wondering whether the Twins may cut a deal with Lewis to save money and allow greater spending with their Comp Balance pick and second-round selection, FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that Lewis has a high asking price. (Lewis is reportedly being advised by agent Scott Boras.) Adding to the Lewis/Twins steam is La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, who tweeted that with less than three hours until the Twins are on the clock, the Lewis steam is real. McKay and flamethrowing righty Hunter Greene are both in the mix, Neal adds, and money is a significant factor in the decision. Obviously, the Twins will spend their entire allotted draft budget regardless of who they take, but the amount for which the first overall pick signs will determine how aggressive the Twins can be on pick Nos. 35 and 37 as well as with the rest of their selections.

A bit more on tonight’s draft…

  • Fangraphs’ Gerald Schifman takes an excellent look at the usage of some of the top college arms in the draft, examining each pitcher’s average pitches per start, the percentage of starts in excess of 115 pitches and the number of “Pitch Smart” violations. (More details on the Pitch Smart guidelines here.) Notably, projected top picks like Vanderbilt’s Kyle Wright and Louisville’s Brendan McKay have had their pitch counts and rest between starts managed quite well for the most part. On the other end of the spectrum is UCLA righty Griffin Canning, who has throw 115+ pitches in 53 percent of his outings in the past two seasons. Missouri’s Tanner Houck has also had some troubling usage trends, including high pitch counts and a lack of rest between outings.
  • As is always the case on draft day, there are a number of last-minute mock drafts from some industry experts that readers and draft followers will want to check out. Both Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com agree that the top five picks will go Brendan McKay (Twins), Hunter Greene (Reds), MacKenzie Gore (Padres), Royce Lewis (Rays) and Keston Hiura (Braves). That, somewhat surprisingly, would leave Kyle Wright out of the top five, though Callis has him going sixth to the A’s, while Mayo has him going seventh to the D-backs. BA’s John Manuel agrees with that top three, though he has high school outfielder Bubba Thompson going to the Rays and Wright going to the Braves at No. 5. ESPN’s Keith Law also published a draft-day mock, listing McKay, Greene, Gore, Lewis and Wright as his respective top five.
  • The Athletics are up with the No. 6 pick in the draft tonight, and Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle connects them to a number of outfielders and pitchers. High school lefty MacKenzie Gore is on Oakland’s radar, though many project him to go before the A’s are on the clock. High school outfielder Austin Beck is also an Athletics target and recently had a private workout with the A’s. Slusser notes that they’d be thrilled to see Kyle Wright slip to them with the sixth selection, similarly to the manner in which Florida lefty A.J. Puk dropped to Oakland last year after being discussed as a potential 1-1 option. Wright’s teammate, outfielder Jeren Kendall, is also intriguing to the A’s, per Slusser.

Draft Notes: Law, McKay, Pearson, Top Talents

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With the MLB draft less now less than two weeks away, a look at some of the latest news and rumors…

  • ESPN’s Keith Law has published his latest mock draft (Insider subscription required and strongly recommended) and, like many others, now has the Twins leaning toward Vanderbilt right-hander Kyle Wright with the top pick. Looking a bit further down the board, Law has Louisville lefty/first baseman Brendan McKay slip a bit out of the top three to the Rays at No. 4, and looking further down the board a ways, he has the White Sox taking Vanderbilt outfielder Jeren Kendall, with whom Sox GM Rick Hahn met last week, according to Law. There’s interesting intel on the general types of players (e.g. college bats, high school arms, etc.) that many teams seem to be eyeing sprinkled throughout, making it well worth a look for anyone with an interest in the draft.
  • There’s been plenty of debate over whether McKay, a two-way star at Louisville, is best developed as a pitcher or a first baseman. There are compelling arguments for either side, and McKay seems to be a consensus top five pick  at this time. Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen scouted McKay’s last game and provides some fairly extensive info on McKay’s repertoire as well as his swing, in addition to sharing a nearly 30-minute video of McKay on the mound. Longenhagen notes that he ultimately prefers McKay as a pitcher, though he calls the decision close enough that it’d be wise to allow McKay to hit and pitch early in his pro career. Longenhagen also wrote about McKay and the draft’s other two-way stars recently when unveiling Fangraphs’ sortable draft board — an invaluable free tool for draft followers which even includes some Trackman data that offers max fastball/curveball RPMs for pitchers.
  • Baseball America’s Hudson Belinsky writes that potential first-rounder Nate Pearson, a junior college righty out of Florida, helped his stock by reaching 101 mph in his most recent bullpen session. Some scouts even had Pearson as high as 102 mph, Belinsky writes.
  • MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo put together an “All-Draft Prospect Team” by creating a roster of the draft’s top talent at each position (three, in the case of outfielders, plus one right-hander and one left-hander). Mayo’s piece offers a paragraph or two of scouting info on each of the listed players.

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