The Wall Street Journal has an excellent article about which schools are the most successful in developing pro prospects. The interesting part about the MLB Draft is how high the failure rate of players is. One example of this is 1999 when over half of the first round picks have not been in the MLB while Albert Pujols has become the most feared hitter after being picked with the 402nd selection in that same draft. Read the rest of this entry »

The hot topic of the week in baseball is the decision of Las Vegas high school phenom and SI annointed ‘Chosen One’ Bryce Harper and his parents to have Bryce skip the final two years of high school to focus on his baseball career. Bryce’s plan is to earn his GED and then enroll in community college thereby enabling him to become draft eligible for next year’s MLB Draft. Good idea? Bad idea? Decide for yourself. Here’s what a few prominent voices around the web have to say.

Big League Stew
Dan Shanoff
The Big Lead
Jeff Pearlman

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FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Former Illini shortstop Brandon Wikoff (Peoria, Ill.), third baseman Dominic Altobelli (Oak Forest) and center fielder Joe Bonadonna (Buffalo Grove, Ill.) all signed or will sign their first professional contracts recently, as Altobelli inked his deal Friday, Wikoff signed on Sunday and Bonadonna will sign his contract Tuesday. In addition, Illinois signee Seth Schwindenhammer (Bartonville, Ill.) signed a contract with the Boston Red Sox on Sunday after being drafted in the fifth round and will begin playing with the rookie-league GCL Red Sox in Florida rather than attending college. Read the rest of this entry »

The Major League Baseball Draft takes place today at 6pm Eastern time. The first day of the draft consists of Round One, Compensation Round A, Round Two, Round Three and Compensation Round B. All these rounds will be shown in its entirety on the MLB Network. The College Baseball Blog has done a ton of articles on the Top College Baseball Players in the nation and also attended two of the top High School All-American games last summer. Read the rest of this entry »

Alex White is a 6-3 200 pound right handed pitcher out of the University of North Carolina. He entered the season as the second or third best right handed college pitcher. He had an up and down season as he went 8-4 with a 4.13 ERA in 15 starts. He ended up striking out 109 batters in his 98 innings of work. Read the rest of this entry »

Dustin Ackley is widely considered the best available college bat available in the 2009 MLB Draft. Ackley is a 6′1 184 pound first baseman right now who could get moved to the outfield at the next level. He currently has a .412 average with 22 homers and 70 RBI. Ackley is also a solid baserunner as he has 13 stolen bases in 17 attempts. I have included a video of Dustin’s swing from a Boston College and North Carolina game this season. Read the rest of this entry »

Mike Minor is a 6′4 195 pound left handed starting pitcher from Vanderbilt University. He entered the 2009 SEC season as the Commodores number 1 starter where he went 6-6 with a 3.90 ERA.

Yes, those numbers are not that great but he had an outstanding summer with the USA National Team including two victories over the eventual Cuban Olympic Team. He finished the summer with a 3-0 record and a 0.75 ERA in six appearances including five starts. Read the rest of this entry »

Stephen Strasburg (Andrew Huse, Daily Aztec Photo)

Stephen Strasburg is expected to be the number 1 selection on June 9th by the Washington Nationals in one of the worst kept secrets in sports history. I have heard from several sources that Strasburg’s agent/adviser Scott Boras is going to ask the Nationals for 50 million dollars. Read the rest of this entry »

Johnathan Johnston (Courtesy of Navy Media Relations)

I came across this interesting article about Navy graduate Jonathan Johnston who recently talked with Bus Leagues Baseball about his minor league baseball career. Johnston had a lengthy article written about him back in November about how he was removed from minor league baseball by the Navy and forced to get back into the Navy full-time. Read the rest of this entry »

Peter Gammons of ESPN wrote an interesting article recently about UNC’s Dustin Ackley being the second best player in the 2009 MLB Draft. He has shown throughout his collegiate career to be one of the most potent bats but the question is whether or not he is the second best player in the country after Strasburg? What do you say? Read the rest of this entry »

By: Katie Dowd

The Great Wall of China, the Grand Canyon and the Pyramids all belong in the category of “Things That Have to be Seen to be Believed.”

Add Stephen Strasburg to the list.

If you frequent this site, I suspect you’ve heard of the kid named Strasburg.  There’s talk he could be the greatest pitching prospect in the history of baseball. He throws upwards of 100 MPH with a filthy slider and curve ball. Oh, and he’s struck out 147 while walking 15 in 78 1/3 innings. Read the rest of this entry »

The 2009 Major League Baseball Draft will be the first of it’s kind.  The commissioner’s office released a statement today saying this year’s draft will be held at 6 P.M. on June 9 at the studios of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey.

The first day will include the first three rounds plus two compensation rounds, totaling 111 picks.  Read the rest of this entry »