Looking ahead to the 2010 MLB draft

[thundercleetz]

Law on 2010:

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/draft2009/insider/news/story?id=4253106

The 2010 draft class isn't as stacked right now as the 2011 draft appears to be -- the latter group includes cover kid Bryce Harper as well as Sonny Gray, Alex Meyer, Anthony Rendon, Gerrit Cole and Danny Hultzen. What 2010 really lacks is a clear No. 1 candidate. I could see any of at least a dozen names ending up on top of the board next June. (And for people who are arguing that the Nationals have a great fallback option if they don't sign Strasburg and get the No. 2 pick in next year's draft, this should be a cautionary note, since the 2010 draft doesn't appear to have even one no-doubter at the top, let alone two.) Since it's never too early to engage in reckless speculation, here's a look at the 2010 draft class in four movements:

College bats

Top names: Bryce Brentz (OF, Middle Tennessee State); Christian Colon (SS, Cal State Fullerton); Derek Dietrich (SS/3B, Georgia Tech); Yasmani Grandal (C, Miami); Josh Rutledge (SS, Alabama); Ross Wilson (3B, Alabama); Blake Forsythe (C, Tennessee); Leon Landry (OF, LSU); Andy Wilkins (1B, Arkansas); Micah Gibbs (C, LSU).

College arms

Top names: Anthony Ranaudo (RHP, LSU); Justin Grimm (RHP, Georgia); Drew Pomeranz (LHP, Ole Miss); Nick Tepesch (RHP, Missouri); Matt Harvey (RHP, UNC); Kevin Rhoderick (RHP, Oregon State); Josh Osich (LHP, Oregon State); Kyle Blair (RHP, San Diego); Chris Hernandez (LHP, Miami); Brandon Workman (RHP, Texas); Chad Bettis (RHP, Texas Tech); Alex Wimmers (RHP, Ohio State).

High school bats

Top names: Trey Griffin (OF, Martin Luther King HS, Stockbridge, Ga.); Austin Wilson (Harvard-Westlake School, Los Angeles); Kris Bryant (SS/3B, Bonanza HS, Las Vegas); Krey Bratsen (OF, Bryan HS, Texas); Nick Castellanos (3B, Archbishop McCarthy HS, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.); Yordy Cabrera (SS/RHP, Lakeland HS, Fla.); Reggie Golden (Wetumpka HS, Ala.); Taylor Lindsay (OF, Desert Mountain HS, Scottsdale, Ariz.); Marcus Littlewood (SS, Pineview HS, St. George, Utah).

High school arms

Top names: A.J. Cole (RHP, Oveido HS, Fla.); Jameson Taillon (RHP, The Woodlands HS, Spring, Texas); Stetson Allie, (RHP/SS, St. Edward HS, Cleveland); Zach Lee (RHP, McKinney HS, Texas); Justin O'Connor (RHP/SS, Cowan HS, Ind.); Kevin Gausman (RHP, Grandview HS, Aurora, Colo.); Rudy Acosta (RHP, Mount Miguel HS, San Diego); Cam Bedrosian (RHP, East Coweta HS, Sharpsburg, Ga.).

[baltimoriole]

The O's will never catch the Natinals as the worst team in baseball, but if the Nat's don't sign strasburg all the O's really need to do is be the second worst team in MLB. Here's to hoping that that Nat's don't pony up for Stras!

[Crazysilver03]

My bad, see that was there, sorry

If you want to delete a post, just go to the post, click EDIT, and on the page there will be a button to delete the post.

[Ralph]

http://www.lvrj.com/sports/48018907.html

Here we go.

[SrMeowMeow]

I would love to get the #1 overall pick next year if Harper's in the class. Unfortunately that would imply that a lot of important players had really bad years.

[Duke2010]

http://www.lvrj.com/sports/48018907.html

Here we go.

Alright, let's tank this thing. We can't let the nationals suck more than we do

I think we'll have a shot at him if we are in the top 3 picks because his asking price is gonna be through the roof. With all the hype surrounding him, I don't see him signing for anything less than the 8-10M range.

[allstar1579]

Alright, let's tank this thing. We can't let the nationals suck more than we do

I think we'll have a shot at him if we are in the top 3 picks because his asking price is gonna be through the roof. With all the hype surrounding him, I don't see him signing for anything less than the 8-10M range.

I think there is a difference between a college guy playing against top competition asking for that much and a HS kid leaving a year early asking for that much. Like the Sano thing, I think he can ask for a good chunk of change in the $4-6 mil range but I don't know that he's got enough of a track record that he should be asking for $8-10. I'm sure it won't stop Boras from trying though, hopefully they get that rookie cap in place first.

[BringBackMagic]

Alright, let's tank this thing. We can't let the nationals suck more than we do

I think we'll have a shot at him if we are in the top 3 picks because his asking price is gonna be through the roof. With all the hype surrounding him, I don't see him signing for anything less than the 8-10M range.

I know it's way too early in the game to tell, but could it be a Weiters type situation where despite being the best position player in the draft, he slides?

Would the fact that he's so young give team's more doubt about giving him such a huge contract and cause him to drop?

[Duke2010]

I think there is a difference between a college guy playing against top competition asking for that much and a HS kid leaving a year early asking for that much. Like the Sano thing, I think he can ask for a good chunk of change in the $4-6 mil range but I don't know that he's got enough of a track record that he should be asking for $8-10. I'm sure it won't stop Boras from trying though, hopefully they get that rookie cap in place first.

I definitely agree, but I see this kid getting Upton/Beckham money and then some some. I don't think I'd have a problem with giving him a bonus in the 6M range, because there's a track record of guys getting that kind of money with his type of talent. Boras is gonna try to blow up records with this kid, and I really hope that they get some kind of rookie cap in place. Is that something that is seriously in the works, or is it something that will inevitably fall through?

I think with Harper's price tag, he could fall to us if we have a top 3-4 pick, IMO. Getting him and Sano would be expensive, but well worth it if we could pull it of.

[Greg Pappas]

Don't be surprised to see Tyler Matzek back in the draft next year.

[allstar1579]

Don't be surprised to see Tyler Matzek back in the draft next year.

Yup. I mentioned that the other day. I'm sure he can't be too thrilled about the idea of pitching in COL, and if they won't pony up his money, he'll go to CC and be top 5 next year.

[Greg Pappas]

Yup. I mentioned that the other day. I'm sure he can't be too thrilled about the idea of pitching in COL, and if they won't pony up his money, he'll go to CC and be top 5 next year.

My thoughts exactly... we can hold out hope at least.

[hoosiers]

Yup. I mentioned that the other day. I'm sure he can't be too thrilled about the idea of pitching in COL, and if they won't pony up his money, he'll go to CC and be top 5 next year.

We'll see. As much as guys ask for, there have only been a handful or so that turn down multi-$M deals to go to back into the draft - like Harrington, Crow, etc.

If Matzek did go back into the draft, it sure would throw a wrench in some mock drafts posted on this web-site.

[allstar1579]

We'll see. As much as guys ask for, there have only been a handful or so that turn down multi-$M deals to go to back into the draft - like Harrington, Crow, etc.

If Matzek did go back into the draft, it sure would throw a wrench in some mock drafts posted on this web-site.

Yeah, but a HS kid doesn't have as much to lose as a college kid. He could go play JUCO for 2 years and enter the draft each year playing for the highest sum. College kids are looking at being 22 or 23 if they play that game. If Matzek is asking for $7mil and COL offers slot and stays there, I think he goes back into the draft. That and he's got a full ride to Oregon if he wants to go that route, he's got more options than COL has.

[Stotle]

We'll see. As much as guys ask for, there have only been a handful or so that turn down multi-$M deals to go to back into the draft - like Harrington, Crow, etc.

If Matzek did go back into the draft, it sure would throw a wrench in some mock drafts posted on this web-site.

You mean for next year? I don't see how it would be very confusing -- he'd be an available player to select and anyone running a mock would treat him accordingly.

If you're talking about mocks run for this year's draft, they're done and his going 11 ultimately didn't affect anything with Leake coming off early and White dropping -- can't really throw wrenches into anything at this point...

EDIT -- Just to say it again, all this is of course with the understanding that I think in most cases mock drafts are pretty useless aside from a conversation piece regardiong individual players.