Recently, a number of respected baseball media outlets have released their respective lists of the top number of prospects heading into the 2010 season.  These lists include Keith Law of espn.com's Top 100, Jonathan Mayo's collection of top prospects starting with Scouting the Sally's Top 30, Oriolesprospects.com Top 20, Propects Paradise's Top 30, Camden Crazies Top 25, Dave Barr's Hot Corner Top 20, Prospect Junkie's Top 20, The Cardinal Nation's Top 40, Seth Stohs from sethspeaks.net's Top 20, and Mayo's Top 50.

Obviously this all represents opinion, but to get a better idea of the overall feel of the group Baseball Rumor Mill averaged the Top 20 rankings from all of the lists to come up with an aggregate ranking of the Top 20 prospects heading into 2010. 

The rankings were tabulated only evaluating the Top 20 of each list and a point value was assigned to each rank.  #1 = 20 points, #2 = 19 points, so on down to #20 = 1 point.  If a player was not listed in the Top 20 a NR indication was given and no points were awarded.  The rankings are based on aggregate point totals, though we also did an evaluation of point totals after dropping the highest ranking and lowest ranking.  For instance, Desmond Jennings finished fifth overall in aggregate, but would be tied for 3rd with Buster Posey after dropping each player's highest and lowest ranking.

To view the raw data, click here.

Not surprisingly, Jason Heyward and Stephen Strasburg were significantly ahead of the field at the #1 and #2 spot, respectively.  There seems to be a considerable drop in consensus after either Dustin Ackley at #12 or Madison Bumgarner at #13.  Only ten players received Top 20 votes in all ten rankings.

Without further ado, the aggregate rankings

1. Jason Heyward, OF Atlanta
2. Stephen Strasburg, P Washington
3. Buster Posey, C San Francisco
4. Brian Matsuz, P Baltimore
5. Desmond Jennings, OF Tampa Bay
6. Carlos Santana, C Cleveland
7. Jesus Montero, C New York Yankees
8. Neftali Feliz, P Texas
9. Mike Stanton, OF Florida
10. Pedro Alvarez, 3B Pittsburgh
11. Justin Smoak, 1B Texas
12. Dustin Ackley, OF Seattle
13. Madison Bumgarner, P San Francisco
14. Aroldis Chapman, P Cincinnati
15. Domonic Brown, OF Philadelphia
16. Jeremy Hellickson, P Tampa Bay
17. Martin Perez, P Texas
18. Alcides Escobar, SS Brewers
19. Wade Davis, P Tampa Bay
20. Chris Carter, 1B Oakland

Less than a year after being the #1 draft pick, Strasburg rates as the #2 prospect in baseball

Jonathan Mayo mlb.com gives his Top 10 2010 MLB Draft prospects heading into the start of the baseball season.  Of most significant note is that Mayo does not have Bryce Harper as the #1 player available.

1. Anthony Ranaudo, LSU, RHP
2. Drew Pomeranz, Ole Miss, LHP
3. Jameson Taillon, The Woodlands High School, RHP
4. Bryce Harper, College of Southern Nevada, C
5. Dylan Covey, Marantha High School, RHP
6. Chris Sale, Florida Gulf Coast University, LHP
7. Jesse Hahn, Virginia Tech, RHP
8. Zach Cox, Arkansas, 3B
9. Manny Machado, Miami Brito High School, SS
10. Kaleb Cowart, Cook County High School, 3B

Anthony Ranaudo supplants Bryce Harper as the #1 available player according to Jonathan Mayo

Jonathan Mayo mlb.com gives his Top 20 2010 MLB Draft prospects heading into the start of the baseball season.  Today we take a look at #11-20.  For #1-10, click here.

11. James Paxton, Kentucky, LHP
12. Deck McGuire, Georgia Tech, RHP
13. AJ Cole, Oviedo High School, RHP
14. Kevin Gausman, Grandview High School, RHP
15. Brandon Workman, Texas, RHP
16. LeVon Washington, Chipola Junior College, 2B
17. Micah Gibbs, LSU, C
18. Stetson Allie, Olmstead Falls High School, RHP
19. Christian Colon, Cal State Fullerton, SS
20. Yordy Cabrera, Lakeland High School, SS

Deck McGuire lands at #12 on Jonathan Mayo's Top 20

The Under Armour Pre-Season All-America event took place in Tuscon, AZ recently and several players eligible for the 2010 draft stood out.  Jonathan Mayo of mlb.com gives us his review of the event and what was seen from 2010 MLB Draft hopefuls.

• Kevin Koziol - Followed up an impressive performance at the Under Armour All-America game at Wrigley field over the summer with another impressive performance in Tuscon.  Swung the bat well and made consistent contact.
• Alex Ramsay - A good defensive catcher who hit the ball both ways with a nice left-handed swing.
• Alex Facundus - A multi-position player as a pitcher and a outfielder, Facundus hit 91mph with his fastball and showed an average curveball.
• Brett Winger - Another multi-position guy, Winger was a bit slower than Facundus at 89mph on his fastball but threw a very nice change up.
• Brad Markay - Similar to Winger, Markay hit 89mph on the radar and his fastball had good sinking action on.  Can also play SS
• Joseph Drum - Caught scouts attention in Tuscon with a surprising performance.  A corner outfield who showed good power.

The College of Southern Nevada's baseball season started this past weekend and that means the news about 2010's #1 draft prospect, Bryce Harper, will only continue to swell as we head into the heart of the baseball season and then draft season.  Baseball Rumor Mill will keep you up to date on all the news that is written about the phenom.

• CSN head coach Tim Chambers talks about Harper before this weekend's debut in this clip.
• Todd Dewey of the Las Vegas Review-Journal takes a look back and Harper's debut on Friday and his dramatic last at bat.
• Coach Chambers is excited for CSN's season not just because of Harper, but also the talent around him.  CSN is ranked #1 among junior colleges heading into the 2010 season.  BRM took a look at Harper's supporting cast at CSN in a post last year.
• Ray Brewer of the Las Vegas Sun explores Coach Chambers decision not to allow media access to his superstar.  Some think that this tactic is a product of Harper's advisor, Scott Boras, working behind the scenes.  
• Pirates general manager Neal Huntington talked about how raw Harper is as a prospect and is a far bigger risk as the #1 pick than Stephen Strasburg was last year.  

Bryce Harper is sure to generate a lot of news in the coming months

Much hyped 17-year old prospect Bryce Harper made his junior college debut for the College of Southern Nevada this past weekend, playing four games in three days on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the 4th annual Coyote Border Battle.  CSN went 4-0 in the games, defeating Arizona Western College 11-4 on Friday and 8-5 on Sunday and swept a double header with Yavapai College 7-1 and 5-1 on Saturday.

Though his team went 4-0, Harper's results were mixed.  On Friday, in his debut, Harper walked in his first plate appearance, singled and stole a base in his second and recorded outs in his next two at bats before stunning the approximately 1,400 people in attendance in his fifth at bat.  Though Arizona Western was attempting to walk Harper intentionally, a 3-0 pitch got too close to Harper who reached out and punched a sacrifice fly to center field. 

Harper's coach, Tim Chambers, summed it up best, "I learned right there, and I tell people all the time, don't take your eyes off him because you might see something you've never seen before."

With Bryce Harper, you never know what you might see

Despite a successful start, Harper struggled on Saturday, going 0 for 8 in the double header against Yavapai College. "He had a couple mechanical things going on," Chambers said. "He's got the leg turn and he was sitting on his backside and doing the leg turn on the front side, so he was forced to come up out of his squat, which makes it look like he's big-time jumping at the ball, which is what everybody saw this summer. When your head moves two feet, I told him, 'You're like a phenom to just make contact with your head moving that much.' Most people, if they do what he was doing, they wouldn't be able to touch it."

Ever the showman, Harper saved his best for last in border battle finale on Sunday.  He rebounded from his difficult Saturday by going 2 for 4 with a double and his first collegiate homerun.  "The home run that was absolutely launched" an American League area scout said. "He showed why he is the poster boy right now."

Harper is slated to play mostly catcher and right field, but debuted Friday night at third base, caught the second game, played center field in the third game and back to catcher on Sunday.  "He played a lot of shortstop in the fall," Chambers said. "He may play some more infield. We're shorthanded a little bit, so he might see some more time there. He might even pitch a few innings. He keeps begging me, so we threw a bullpen last week, so I might give him six to 10 innings on the year."

The Louisville Slugger 2010 Pre-Season High School All-America Team was announced on Friday.  Twenty-three "multi-position" players were selected to the first team.  Multi-positional players are defined as players who pitch as well as play the field.  Often these players are being scouted by teams to be a pitcher or a hitter and the opinions vary considerably.  The two biggest names on the list are Stetson Allie and Kaleb Cowart.

Allie plays all over the field, lining up at third base, first base and on the mount.  As a hitter and a fielder, se has strong quick hands that get the barrel to the ball and result in power to all fields. His hands are soft and sure and his arm is a cannon across the diamond.  On the mound, Allie throws very hard, 96 mph, but needs to work on his control.

Similar to Allie, Kaleb Cowart plays both third base and is a right handed pitcher.  Cowart is an outstanding defensive infielder with quick feet and a cannon arm.  As a switch-hitter Cowart shows very good bat speed right-handed and a long and smooth swing left-handed with power both way.  Cowart has a fast easy arm with loose athletic actions on the mound.  His fastball sits at 90-92, but can get as high as 94-95.  Throws a hard spinning curveball with very good depth and two plane shape and is developing a change-up.

Other notable selections include DeAndre Smelter, Jacoby Jones and Drew Vettleson.

Kaleb Cowart could be drafted as a pitcher or a hitter

The Louisville Slugger 2010 Pre-Season High School All-America Team was announced on Friday.  Twelve outfielders were selected to the first team.  The two biggest names on the list are Austin Wilson and Josh Sale.

Wilson is describe as an "uncommon five-tool player" because he's got all the skills you'd need on a baseball field as well as a passion for getting a quality education.  Playing for Harvard-Westlake High School in California, Wilson is a big, physical corner outfielder with a high ceiling.  Sale is a strong and compact 6'0", 203 lb left handed hitting outfielder from Bishop Blanchet High School, Washington.  He has some of the most impressive bat speed and hitting ability of any player in the 2010 class and the natural lift in his swing gives him top level home run potential.

Other noteable outfield selections include Reggie Golden, Cody Hahn and Michael Lorenzen.

Austin Wilson adds pre-season All-America to his impressive resume

The Louisville Slugger 2010 Pre-Season High School All-America Team was announced on Friday.  Twenty-three infielders were selected to the first team.  The two biggest names on the list were Garin Cecchini and Zach Alvord.

Cecchini is a 6'2", 200 lb shortstop who plays for Barbe High School in Louisiana.  He has a strong athletic build, classic lefthanded swing, creates excellent bat speed, serious home run juice, to go with a good arm that has carry.  Alvord is another shortstop who at 6'0" and 180 lbs is a bit smaller than Ceccini.  Playing at South Forsyth High School in Georgia, Alvord has very good compact strength for a middle infielder.  Alvord's best tool is his bat and offensive potential as a middle of the field player.

Other noteable infielders selected include Marcus Littlewood, Nick Delmonico and Johnny Field.

Garin Cecchini was one of twenty-three infielders selected to the High School All-America team

The Louisville Slugger 2010 Pre-Season High School All-America Team was announced on Friday.  Thirteen catchers were selected to the first team.  The biggest name on the list was Stefan Sabol. 

Sabol is a very strong and athletic 6-2, 205 lb catcher that plays for Aliso Niquel High School in California.  Sabol is a right handed hitter with a strong line drive swing and very good bat speed. He's primarily a gap to gap hitter at present and can overpower pitches with his strength. Because he hasn't caught as much as many of his peers, Sabol's catching mechanics are still developing but his athleticism is a big plus on his defensive projection.

Other noteable catchers on the list include Jacob Felts and Alex Ramsay.

Stefan Sabol was named one of the top high school catchers in the country