Anthony Rendon
Rumors

Most draft related news recently has centered around either the Cape Cod League and its recent All-Star game at Fenway Park or the signings (or lack thereof) of the 2010 class.  However, there's still plenty of information to pass along about next year's draft class, the Class of 2011.

We'll start off with some pieces about high school players eligible for the 2011 draft courtesy Conor Glassey of Baseball America.

• Lakeland Christian HS (FL) Left-handed pitcher Corey Stump threw well at the East Coast Pro Showcase in his hometown of Lakeland, FL.  There are also notes on some of the other top performers on the day.
• Lake City HS (SC) outfielder Shon Carson is fast.  Very fast.  Also, more news from the East Coast Pro Showcase
• Catholic HS (LA) pitcher Aaron Nola did not think he'd be at the East Coast Pro Showcase, but he made the best of his unlikely appearance.  Also included is a list of the top 60-yard dash times.

ESPN recently profiled some of the top players for the 2011 draft class. 

• UCLA pitcher Gerrit Cole passed up on over a $1M signing bonus as the 28th pick of the 2008 draft to improve his stock for 2011.  It worked. 
• The early favorite for the #1 pick of 2011 is Anthony Rendon. 

• Similar to Cole, TCU pitcher Matt Purke passed up #14 pick signing bonus money in 2009 to enter the 2011 draft.  Purke has plenty of top flight competition.
• Science Hill HS (TN) pitcher Daniel Norris is rated the top high school pitcher of the 2011 class.

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Michael Huang of The Sporting News recently wrote about top flight players to watch for in 2011.  Below is a list of the players he identified.  To view a player's profile, click on his name.

In no particular order:

Jackie Bradley Jr., South Carolina, OF
Taylor Jungmann, Texas, P
Anthony Rendon, Rice, 3B
Matt Purke, TCU, P
Dylan Bundy, Owassa HS, P
Gerrit Cole, UCLA, P

Trevor Bauer, UCLA, P
Henry Owens, Edison HS, P
Travis Harrison, Tustin HS, 3B
Danny Hultzen, Virginia, P
Preston Tucker, Florida, 1B
Daniel Norris, Science Hill HS, P
Zack MacPhee, Arizona State, 2B

The good news for those rooting for Florida International third baseman Garrett Wittels to break or at least tie Robin Ventura's record of 58 games is that Wittels extended his streak to 56 games with a hit early in FIU's game against Dartmouth.

The bad news is that FIU was eliminate and if Wittels is to break Ventura's record, it will have to wait until next year.

Wittels took any drama out of the game by ripping an RBI double in the bottom of the first to give FIU a 1-0 lead.  They would extend the lead to 6-2, but give up five unanswered runs to trail 7-6.  FIU would tie the game at 8-8, but ultimately lose 15-9.

"This was definitely a bad loss today and we all thought the outcome was going to be different. We played hard and we just didn't make adjustments and pitch that well," said Wittels. "Going into the offseason, it's just going to make me want to work that much harder to get back to this point so it doesn't happen next year.

Wittels next chance to get a hit will be the start of the 2011 season, Feb 18-20. 

Wittels was not talked about much as a hot draft commodity along with other big names for 2011 like Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon, but perhaps his name will be more in the discussion if he's able to break Ventura's record next year.

To read the entire article, visit fiusports.com.

Unfortunately for teams, scouts, players and fans of baseball's amateur draft, the College World Series does not conclude until after June 7th draft.  However, we will be treated to a number of fun match ups this weekend in the College World Series Regionals.  Here's a look at some fun match-ups and top players to watch, broken down by region.

Tempe Region

If the higher teams advance, #1 Arizona State will face #2 San Diego.  That means Arizona State will face either Sammy Solis or Kyle Blair from San Diego.  Seth Blair will throw for Arizona State, but likely in their opening game against Milwaukee

Fayetteville Region

Top seeded Arkansas sports a likely Top 10 pick, Zack Cox, a likely first day pick, Brett Eibner, and a likely second round pick, Andy Wilkins.  Those three will dominate the conversation in this region

Auburn Region

Jimmy Nelson from Auburn faces off against Todd Cunningham from Jacksonville State in the opening round game.  Both could be Day 2 picks.  Other Day 2 picks include Auburn second baseman Brian Fletcher and first baseman Hunter Morris.

Atlanta Region

Possible Top 5 pick Deck McGuire and possible Day 1 pick Derek Dietrich will pace the Georgia Tech yellow jackets while Josh Rutledge hopes to keep Alabama's title hopes alive.

Charlottesville Region

Virginia is one of the best teams in the country and is headed by draft prospect Jarrett Parker.  Mississippi has possibly the top college pitcher in the country in Drew Pomeranz, someone expected to go in the Top 5.  St. John's sports a possible Day 2 pick, Daniel Burawa.

Norman Region

UNC's Matt Harvey seems likely to go in the first round while California's Dixon Anderson figures to be in the mix on Day 2.

Columbia Region

Pitching prospect Sam Dyson leads the top seeded South Carolina Gamecocks.  Likely first round picks Austin Wates and Asher Wojciechowksi lead Virginia Tech and The Citadel, respectively.

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Keith Law from espn.com believes that the 2011 draft is loaded with talent - similar to 2008 and 2009 - something that 2010 will lack, despite its top heavy nature with Bryce Harper.  Even with a number of quality players who could compete to be the top pick, Law believes that Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon is already separating himself from the pack as the best player in the 2011 draft class.

With respect to his ability to hit, Law had the following observations: "[Rendon] has one of the best swings I've seen on a college hitter, with excellent hip rotation and strong, quick hands. He pairs it with good pitch recognition and a patience that's born both of a good eye and the fact that opposing pitchers don't want to pitch to him right now. He taps his front foot twice and gets it down a little late, but everything about his transfer and swing is quick and forceful enough that it doesn't seem to affect him against college pitching. His plate coverage is good, and he can shorten his swing to square up a ball up in the zone."

Anthony Rendon is the early favorite for "one-one" status in 2011

Currently, Rendon is a third baseman with an above-average arm and "good reads."  There's speculation that Rendon might physically develop too much to play third base professionally and would have to move to first base, but Law isn't worried about that right now.

USA Baseball released its 50-player watch list for the 2010 Golden Spikes Award given to the top amateur baseball player in the United States.  On June 1st, 2010, the watch list will be reduced to the 30 official nominations for additional consideration.  Voters will be asked to nominate five players from the list and the five finalists for the award will be announced on June 8th, 2010.  Additional voting will take place on the 8th and a winner will be announced.  Interestingly, June 8th, 2010 is also the day after the first day of Major League Baseball's amateur draft.  The winner will not be announced until July 13th, 2010.

Six players on the 2010 watch list were semi-finalists in 2009: Bryce Brentz, Alex Wimmers, Deck McGuire, Anthony Rendon, Addison Reed and Daniel Bibona.

A semi-finalist in 2009, Alex Wimmers has made the 2010 Golden Spikes Award Watch List

Bryce Harper from the College of Southern Nevada is the only junior college player to make list.  A junior college player has won the award just once, Alex Fernandez in 1990.

LSU leads all colleges with four players nominated (Blake Dean, Micah Gibbs, Leon Landry and Anthony Ranaudo) while Texas has three (Chad Bettis, Taylor Jungmann and Brandon Workman), and Alabama, Arkansas, Cal State Fullerton, Coastal Carolina, Florida State, Georgia Tech, University of Miami, Rice and Virginia have two apiece.

Baseball America announced its pre-season collegiate All-America teams last week.  Below is a look at the first team.  We'll look at the second team later in the week.

C: Micah Gibbs, LSU - A switch-hitter who possesses power from both sides of the plate
1B: Hunter Morris, Auburn - Lefty bat with raw plus-power potential
2B: Ross Wilson, Alabama - A middle infielder that hits with power.  Draws comparisons to Dan Uggla
3B: Anthony Rendon, Rice - Obviously Anthony is one of the top players in college baseball. An outstanding defensive and offensive player
SS: Christian Colon, Cal State Fullerton - A very sure-handed and reliable middle infielder
OF: Bryce Brentz, Middle Tennessee State - Utilizes quick wrists and a short path to the ball to produce above-average power to all fields
OF: Todd Cunningham, Jacksonville State - Hit .339 with 10 homers and 47 RBIin 2009
OF: Jarrett Parker, Virginia Tech - An athletic kid with a strong, fundamentally sound swing
DH: Zack Cox, Arkansas - Combines his power potential with solid hitting ability and talent with the glove at third base
UT: Brett Eibner, Arkansas - A two-way player, Eibner will see time in center field and on the mound in 2010

Christian Colon                                          Jarrett Parker

SP: Deck McGuire, Georgia Tech - In just his first year as a weekend starter, he went 11-2 with a 3.50 ERA in 16 starts, striking out 118 while walking 41 in 100.1 innings
SP: Drew Pomeranz, Mississippi - Pomeranz is a big-bodied lefty with solid stuff across the board and two legitimate swing-and-miss pitches
SP: Anthony Ranaudo, LSU - Hard-throwing right-hander with mid-90s fastball who is considered one of the best pitching prospects in the country
SP: Chris Sale, Florida Gulf Coast - Sale's strength is throwing strikes with a 89-93 mph fastball, a good low-80s changeup and an above average slider
RP: Kevin Jacob, Georgia Tech - Has three pitches he throws for strikes, including a very good fastball

The 2010 MLB Draft class might not have the star power at the top that the 2009 MLB Draft class did (Stephen Strasburg, Dustin Ackley) or be as loaded as the 2011 draft class (Sonny Gray, Alex Meyer, Anthony Rendon, Gerrit Cole and Danny Hultzen) but there's plenty of talent to track.

College Bats

• 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, Albama
• Ross Wilson, 3B, Albama
• Blake Forsythe, C, Tennessee
• Leon Landry, OF, LSU
• Andy Wilkins, 1B, Arkansas
• Micah Gibbs, C, LSU

College Arms

• Anthony Ranaudo, RHP, LSU
• Justin Grimm, RHP, Georgia
• Drew Pomeranz, LHP, Mississippi
• 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
• Alex Wimmers, RHP, Ohio State

High School Bats

• Trey Griffin, OF, Martin Luther King HS, GA
• Austin Wilson, Harvard-Westlake School, CA
• Kris Bryant, SS/3B, Bonanza HS, NV
• Krey Bratsen, OF, Bryan HS, TX
• Nick Castellanos, 3B, Archbishop McCarthy HS, FL
• Yordy Cabrera, SS/RHP, Lakeland HS, FL
• Reggie Golden, Wetumpka HS, AL
• Taylor Lindsey, OF, Desert Mountain HS, AZ
• Marcus Littlewood, SS, Pineview HS, UT

High School Arms

• AJ Cole, RHP, Oveida HS, FL
• Jameson Taillon, RHP, The Woodlands HS, TX
• Stetson Allie, RHP/SS, St. Edward HS, OH
• Zach Lee, RHP, McKinney HS, TX
• Justin O'Connor, RHP/SS, Cowan HS, IN
• Kevin Gausman, RHP, Grandview HS, CO
• Rudy Acosta, RHP, Mt. Miguel HS, CA
• Cam Bedrosian, RHP, East Coweta HS, GA