The big story of the day is whether the Washington Nationals are going to sign San Diego State’s Stephen Strasburg by the midnight deadline tonight.  He is not the only one as number 2 selection in UNC’s Dustin Ackley is still unsigned among others. Both of these players are represented by baseball power agent Scott Boras who has become one of the toughest negotiators in the industry over the last few years. This has ended up hurting some players in their negotiations for a contract as many players have slipped down the draft board.

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Washington QB Jake Locker signed a contract today with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Locker was selected in the 10th round of the June Draft after being selected in the 40th round out of high school. He spent the summer of 2008 in the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League where he played for the Bellingham Bells. He finished the summer with a .273 average including two homers in only ten games.

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The Daily Advertiser has an excellent article looking at the job Paul Mainieri is trying to do at keeping his top recruits on path to head to Baton Rouge over the minor leagues. The top two prospects that he needs to worry about are Zack Von Rosenberg of Zachary High and Brody Colvin of St. Thomas More High. Von Rosenberg was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the sixth round while the Phillies selected Colvin in the seventh round by the Phillies. Both of them are not expected to sign for “slot” money so both organizations need to step up their offers considerably. LSU has also revoked the letters of intent to two junior college players in Slade Heathcott and Brett Bruening. Heathcott is expected to sign with the New York Yankees in the next week as he was selected in the first round while Bruening did not fulfill academic commitments that he promised to Mainieri.

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Baseball America writer Jim Callis reports that the Pittsburgh Pirates and Colton Cain have agreed on a 1.125 million dollar contract bypassing his collegiate eligibility. Cain was expected to become a key contributor to the Longhorns program as he features a mid-90’s fastball and also had potential into developing into a top level first baseman. Cain’s stock dropped as he told many MLB clubs that he was set on attending college but with this substantial offer for the eighth round pick he had to sign a professional deal.

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Darren Heitner of The Sports Agent Blog has an excellent article looking at the MLB 2009 draft. He discusses the ability for the 20 unsigned first round picks to come to agreements with their respective clubs before the August 17th deadline. I look at the list and see some similarities in many of the cases as Scott Boras has six unsigned clients in the first round. One of the interesting tidbits in the article is that Tyler Matzek is far from agreeing with the Rockies which opens the possibility that he will likely attend Oregon.

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Tennessee’s Todd Raleigh recently made a trip to Cape Cod to check in on his two drafted players in Chad Bell and Bryan Morgado. Bell is transferring into the Tennessee program for the 2010 season but was selected in the 14th round by the Texas Rangers. He is currently 3-1 with a 1.34 ERA in the Cape League. Morgado on the other hand was selected in the third round by the Chicago White Sox. He is currently sporting a 2-0 mark with a 1.67 ERA. The article also talks about four incoming freshmen who have already enrolled in summer school eliminating the suspense on whether or not they sign a contract.

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Thomas Boswell of The Washington Post has a lengthy article about Stephen Strasburg and his negotiations with the Washington Nationals. Boswell caught up with Strasburg after the 2009 Golden Spikes Award ceremony which took place at the 2009 MLB All-Star game. Strasburg states that there has been very little contact with the team besides them offering him a minor league contract so Strasburg couldn’t become a free agent if he is not able to come to terms by the deadline in August.

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FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE

SAN DIEGO –  For the third time in four years, 40 of the nation’s top high school baseball players will descend upon San Diego to play in the Aflac All-American High School Baseball Classic, the country’s premier high school baseball showcase. This year’s game will be played on Aug. 16 at 5 p.m. PDT in PETCO Park, home of the San Diego Padres, and will once again be televised live nationally on FOX Sports Net.

The Classic features an East vs. West format, played annually during the late summer before most participants have returned to school. For the second consecutive year, the Aflac Classic will be played in a major league venue. The 2008 showcase was played in Los Angeles’ historic Dodger Stadium. The 2006 and 2007 games were held at San Diego State University’s Tony Gwynn Stadium.
The Aflac All-American Classic, however, is more than just a game. As part of Aflac’s ongoing commitment to the fight against childhood cancer, all game proceeds from the 2009 Aflac All-American High School Baseball Classic will benefit Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego. Since 2003, the game has generated nearly $685,000 for charity.

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DJ LeMahieu (LSU Media Relations Photo)

I found this very interesting article looking at LSU’s shortstop/second baseman D.J. LeMaheiu who helped led the Tigers to the 2009 CWS Championship. LeMaheiu had a two out two run double which tied Game 1 of the CWS Championship Series. He ended up scoring the winning run in the 11th inning of that game to give the Tigers the 1-0 lead. Two days later, the Tigers picked up the deciding game by a score of 11-4. Read the rest of this entry »

Blake Dean returns to LSU (Photo Courtesy of LSU Media Relations)

Blake Dean of LSU has made his decision to return next season to the squad. Dean was a 10th round selection by the Minnesota Twins this past season after hitting .328 with 17 homers and 71 RBI. He will be undergoing surgery next Wednesday on his left shoulder to correct instability in that arm. Dean is expected to be ready for Fall Workouts in late October. Read the rest of this entry »

Jared Mitchell signs with White Sox (Ted Kirk/AP)

Jared Mitchell has officially signed with the Chicago White Sox after being selected with the 23rd overall pick. He has been assigned to Kannapolis of the South Atlantic League.

Mitchell skyrocketed this season up the draft boards after focusing on baseball this spring after playing his first two seasons at the school splitting time between spring football and the baseball season. Read the rest of this entry »

Former ASU star Dustin Pedroia

I recently posted an article from the Wall Street Journal which looked at the best baseball schools in the country. (Click here if you missed it.) I didn’t recognize it when I posted the article but it fails to mention Arizona State which has been a perennial power in the CWS and also putting players in MLB. One of our readers sent me the following letter about Arizona State not being included. Read the rest of this entry »