Jesse Hahn
Rumors

We are just hours away from today's deadline to sign player selected in June's amateur draft and the rumors are starting to swirl about who will sign and for how much.  In the interim, a number of non-first round draft picks continue to sign for over market value.

As always, Jim Callis and Aaron Fitt from Baseball America leads the pack in breaking this news.

• Pepperdine RHP Cole Cook signed with the Indians for $299K.  As a fifth round pick, the 150th overall, the recommended slot bonus is $169,200.
• Florida State outfielder Tyler Holt, a 10th round pick by the Cleveland Indians, also agreed to a $500K signing bonus with the Indians ($350K over).

• The Marlins signed high school shortstop/catcher JT Realmuto to a $600K signing bonus.  Realmuto was the 104th pick of the draft in the third round, a slot bonus recommendation of $309,600.
• High school catcher Will Swanner, a 15th round pick by the Rockies, agreed to a $490K signing bonus, $340K in excess of the recommendation.  
• Jake DePew, a high school catcher and ninth round pick by the Rays, signed for $460K, $310K over the slot recommendation.
• Jared Lakind, a high school first baseman, agreed to a $400K signing bonus with the Pirates.  A 23rd round pick, Lakind's deal was $250K over slot recommendation.
• The Padres have signed high school outfielder Jose Dore to a $450K signing bonus, three times the slot recommendation for an eighth-round pick.  

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Earlier in the week we outlined the college draft prospects who will be playing this weekend in the NCAA Regional games.  Jason Churchill of espn.com did his own break down on three specific match ups.

Virginia Tech vs. The Citadel

Virginia Tech brings a trio of draft prospects to their match up with The Citadel: outfielder Austin Wates, RHP Jesse Hahn and new to the scene RHP Justin Wright.  Fortunately for Wright, he will not have to face The Citadel ace and likely first round draft pick Asher Wojciechowksi who The Citadel is going to save for Saturday's possible match up with South Carolina

Minnesota vs. Cal State Fullerton

Cal State Fullerton shortstop Christian Colon is certainly the biggest name in this game, but Minnesota catcher Michael Kvasnicka has been one of the fastest to move up draft boards this season.  Despite being a #4 seed, Kvasnicka's presence will certainly push Minnesota into the lime light, even if they lose two games quickly.  Needless to say, plenty of scouts will be on had to watch Colon and Kvasnicka play.

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Yahoo! Sports is the latest entity to take a stab at a mock draft of Monday's first round.  Here's their take:

1) Washington Nationals: Bryce Harper, College of Southern Nevada, C
2) Pittsburgh Pirates: Drew Pomeranz, Ole Miss, LHP
3) Baltimore Orioles: Jameson Taillon, The Woodlands, RHP
4) Kansas City Royals: Deck McGuire, Georgia Tech, RHP
5) Cleveland Indians: Manny Machado, Brito HS, SS
6) Arizona Diamondbacks: Karsten Whitson, Chipley HS, RHP
7) New York Mets: Dylan Covey, Marantha HS, RHP

8) Houston Astros: Yasmani Grandal, Miami, C
9) San Diego Padres: Zack Cox, Arkansas, 3B
10) Oakland As: Bryce Brentz, Middle Tennessee State, OF
11) Toronto Blue Jays: Chris Sale, Florida Gulf Coast, LHP
12) Cincinnati Reds: Anthony Ranaudo, LSU, RHP
13) Chicago White Sox: Christian Colon, Cal State Fullerton, SS
14) Milwaukee Brewers: Josh Sale, Bishop Blanchett HS, OF
15) Texas Rangers: Brandon Workman, Texas, RHP

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The Sporting News recently issued their mock draft of the first round.  Let's take a look.

1) Washington Nationals: Bryce Harper, College of Southern Nevada, C
2) Pittsburgh Pirates: Manny Machado, Brito HS, SS
3) Baltimore Orioles: Jameson Taillon, The Woodlands, RHP
4) Kansas City Royals: Drew Pomeranz, Ole Miss, LHP
5) Cleveland Indians: Christian Colon, Cal State Fullerton, SS
6) Arizona Diamondbacks: Deck McGuire, Georgia Tech, RHP
7) New York Mets: Yasmani Grandal, Miami, C

8) Houston Astros: AJ Cole, Oviedo HS, RHP
9) San Diego Padres: Karsten Whitson, Chipley HS, RHP
10) Oakland As: Bryce Brentz, Middle Tennessee State, OF
11) Toronto Blue Jays: Chris Sale, Florida Gulf Coast, LHP
12) Cincinnati Reds: Michael Choice, UT-Arlington, OF
13) Chicago White Sox: Zack Cox, Arkansas, 3B
14) Milwaukee Brewers: Josh Sale, Bishop Blanchett HS, OF
15) Texas Rangers: Brandon Workman, Texas, RHP

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For the second straight year, the Cape Cod League will hold its All-Star game at Fenway Park, according to mlb.com.

The game will be held on July 28th, 2010 at 7pm with a home run derby prior to the start of the game.  Tickets are $10 and available at www.redsox.com/capecod

Although players are still sorting through their respective college and high school seasons and the 2010 draft has not occurred yet, the announcement is an important one, draft-wise, because of the number of prospects for 2011 (and beyond) that will likely be playing.

In the 2009 All-Star game, a number of players who are candidates to be taken in the first round played in the game.  Some of the higher profile names include Jesse Hahn, Chris Sale, Rob Rasmussen, Austin Wates and Zack Cox.

To read the entire article, visit mlb.com.

Let's take a look at how the top prospects for the 2010 draft fared this past Saturday.

Below is a recap of their performances from Friday night compiled from reports by Jason Churchill at espn.com, Baseball America and media reports from various athletic departments.

• Virginia Tech's Jesse Hahn struggled against Jarrett Parker and the top ranked Virginia Cavaliers.  Parker went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI, contributing to Hahn's difficult pitching line: 6.1IP, 7H, 3BB and 5ER.  Fortunately, Hahn did strikeout ten batters. 
• Two of UCLAs best pitchers, Rob Rasmussen and Dan Klein combined to defeat Oregon State.  Rasmussen yielded just four hits and two walks in 6.1IP while giving up no runs and striking out six.  Klein was a little erratic giving up a hit and walk in 1.2IP, but also didn't allow a run for his seventh save.
• Texas's Brandon Workman went the distance in a 8-0 win over Texas A&M.  Over his nine innings, he threw 116 pitches giving up just four hits and one walk while striking out eight.  Kevin Keyes's three-run home run was more than enough support for Workman.

• Kyle Parker from Clemson went 2-for-3 with a home run and a double to run his hitting stats to .365/.491/.730 in 34 games.
• Leon Landry from LSU went 3-for-6 to improve his hitting line to .364/.442/.553 on the season.

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Back in early February mlb.com's Jonathan Mayo gave us his Top 10 2010 MLB Draft prospects heading into the baseball season.  You can view the list here. 

Recently, he took a look at how the Top 10 have performed so far this season.

1. Anthony Ranaudo, LSU - Due to a stress reaction in his throwing elbow, Ranaudo has managed only five innings pitched this season.
2. Drew Pomeranz, Ole Miss - He's 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA over five starts. In 29 1/3 innings, he's allowed 18 hits against nine walks and has struck out 49.

3. Jameson Taillon, The Woodlands HS - Has had one good start and one bad start so far this season.  Might be overthrowing his fastball.
4. Bryce Harper, College of Southern Nevada - In 27 games that he's  played, Harper has hit .420 with eight homers, 27 RBIs, a .864 slugging percentage and .514 on-base  percentage.  The only concerns left are how Harper projects.
5. Dylan Covey, Maranatha HS - Hasn't allowed an earned run over 17.2 IP, yielding just seven hits (.113 average against) and four walks while striking out 35.

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Plenty of baseball action this past Saturday, Mar 6.  Let's take a look at the highlights from the draft prospects:

• Jedd Gyorko continues to hit.  His numbers are up to 361/452/639 with six walks vs. four strikeouts in his first nine games.
• Houston's Michael Goodnight out dueled Texas's Brandon Workman in a 1-0 win for the Cougars.  Despite walking four hitters, Goodnight struck out nine over 7IP and allowed just two hits.  Workman was equally as impressive, yielding just a walk, four hits and one earned run over 8IP with seven strikeouts.
• Cal State Fullerton's Christian Colon continues to struggle going 0-for-5 against Arizona.  The shortstop is hitting 194/310/306 through the first nine games of the season.  After having a 971 OPS last year, no one expects his struggles to continue long, but the lapse allows other shortstops like Josh Rutledge to close the gap on draft boards.

Christian Colon needs to snap out of his funk soon

• Alabama's Jimmy Nelson fanned eleven batters over six innings without giving up a walk.  Though considered a second-day pick heading into the season, he has a 19-1 K/BB ratio over the first 16 innings of his season and is moving up draft boards.

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Baseball America announced its pre-season collegiate All-America teams last week.  Below is a look at the third team.  We did a review of the first team on Tuesday and the second team yesterday.

C: Cameron Rupp, Texas
1B: Cody Hawn, Tennessee
2B: Chris Bisson, Kentucky
3B: Rob Segedin, Tulane
SS: BA Vollmuth, Southern Mississippi
OF: Ryan LaMarre, Michigan
OF: Leon Landry, LSU
OF: Austin Wates, Virginia Tech
DH: Jedd Gyorko, West Virginia
UT: Mike McGee, Florida State

            Leon Landry                               Jesse Hahn

SP: Jack Armstrong, Vanderbilt
SP: Kyle Blair, San Diego
SP: Jesse Hahn, Virginia Tech
SP: Brandon Workman, Texas
RP: Addison Reed, San Diego State

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. Zack 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