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Deck McGuire, AJ Cole Make Jonathan Mayo's Top 20 2010 MLB Draft Prospects

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 Rears Back

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

2010 MLB Draft Preview: AFLAC All-Star Game

Jonathan Mayo from mlb.com posted a report from the AFLAC All-Star game. Let's see what he had to say about some of the 2010 prospects in attendance.

Pitchers

Jameson Taillon, RHP: Hit 95 on both sides of the plate with his fastball along with a plus slider and a developing curveball. Likely Top 10 pick.
Stetson Allie: Needs to learn how to pitch vs. just throw, but hit 97
AJ Cole: Threw his fastball very well, but unimpressive with secondary pitches.
DeAndre Smelter: Very aggressive with hitters, throwing 95-94 with his fastball
Cam Bedrosian: Did not disappoint, but did not impress either.
Peter Tago: He got knocked around a bit, but Mayo says that "scouts liked his arm action." Hit 94 on his fastball with a good slider.

Hitters

Bryce Harper, C: Always the big name wherever he goes, the presumptive #1 pick of the 2010 draft underwhelmed at the game. He'll still likely be the #1 pick, but his swing demonstrated some flaws.
Tony Wolters, SS/2B: A solid defender who can hit for average. Not much power and slow.
Zach Alvord: SS/2B: A very good defender who Mayo compares to Jiovanni Mier.
Reggie Golden, OF: One of the best overall players available for 2010. Showed power, speed and defense.
Yordy Cabrera: A nice swing compliments his good power.
Brian Ragira: Very good plate discipline and had no trouble hitting fastballs.
Chevez Clarke: Disappointed with his speed, but had a nice swing.

2010 MLB Draft Preview: East Coast Showcase

Jonathan Mayo of mlb.com has a report from the 2009 East Coast Showcase and highlights who he was told stood out. Mayo claims that there will be several 2010 first round draft picks at the showcase and points to guys like Zach Wheeler, Bobby Borchering, Mike Trout and LeVon Washington

Hitters

  • Stetson Allie, RHP/3B: Based off of his 97-92mph fastball and an 91-88mph slider, one would figure his future is as a pitcher. However, his command is below average and some scouts think he'll be a more productive hitter. Either way, he was an impressive athlete.
  • Eric Arce, C/1B, Lakeland HS: Called the best hitter at the draft. Demonstrated good power along with an ability to use the entire field. His catching skills are questionable, so he may be a 1B professionally.
  • Yordy Cabrera, SS, Lakeland HS: One of the rare prep shortstops who projects as a professional shortstop because of his excellent hands and strong arm. Also has a nice swing that results in solid contact.
  • Chevez Clarke, OF/INF, Marietta HS: The epitome of a "tools" player as evidenced by his ability to play almost any position in the infield or outfield.
  • Delino DeShields, OF/INF, Woodward HS: Like Bedrosian, he's got a former big league father in Delino DeSheilds Sr. Similar to Clarke, he's got the tools to play several different positions.
  • Manny Machado, SS, Miami Brito HS: While he was probably not in the first round discussion before the showcase, he played really well and impressed scouts.

Pitchers

  • Cam Bedrosian, RHP, East Coweta HA: Threw fastballs at 95-92 and a 79-77 breaking ball and has a great pedigree with his father as a former major league player.
  • AJ Cole, RHP, Ovieda HS: Reminded scouts of Rick Porcello and threw up to 96 mph
  • DeAndre Smelter, RHP, Tatnall HS: Draws comparisons to Edwin Jackson displaying a 95-92 mph fastball and a 77-75 breaking ball.
  • Karsten Whitson, RHP, Chipley HS: Has thrown up to 96 mph, but only reached 92 at the showcase. Nevertheless, he still threw a solid breaking ball clocking in at 81-78.
  • Bobby Wahl, RHP, West Springfield HS: Mayo downplays Wahl's ability by saying that he's riding on his command right now. He defends Wahl by by saying he still has plenty of "stuff." Frankly, I'd rather have the control.

2010 MLB Draft Preview: Harper, Taillon, Cabrera, O'Connor

USA Baseball's Tournament of Stars had plenty of 2010 draft talent in attendance and Keith Law of espn.com gives us a review of how they played.

  • Bryce Harper lived up to his recent scouting report and struck out twice by not being patient with the pitchers attempting to pitch around him.
  • Jameson Taillon from the Woodlands HS in Texas was tracking at 90-94mph on his fastball and a good slider. His curveball and changeup were also decent.
  • Kris Bryant from Bonanza HS in Las Vegas showed plenty of power from the right side of the plate along with an arm to throw from third base.
  • Brian Ragira out of Martin HS in Texas showed great wrists and the ability to stay inside the ball to generate power with his swing.
  • Marcus Littlewood from Pineview HS in Utah was very deft at the shortstop position, demonstrating very smooth hands.
  • Nick Castellanos out of Archbishop McCarthy HS in Florida had great power on anything below mid-thigh, but struggled with pitches up in the zone.
  • Sam Wilson from El Dorado HS in New Mexico uses an upper cut swing to generate good power, but needs to adjust that to hit higher quality pitching and can do so without sacrificing power.
  • Yordy Cabrera from Lakeland HS in Florida is very athletic, playing both thirdbase and RHP. While he has nice power he needs to improve his plate discipline.
  • Justin O'Connor plays infield and pitches for Cowan HS in Muncie, IN and while considered more of a prospect as a pitcher, did not throw at the tournament. Nevertheless, he demonstrated one of the most disciplined swings at the tournament. "He is, in the words of one scout who has seen him aI few times, 'obnoxiously talented.'"

2010 MLB Draft Preview, 6/13

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 (Sports Illustrated coverboy Bryce Harper, Sonny Gray, Alex Meyer, Anthony Rendon, Gerrit Cole and Danny Hultzen) but there's plenty of talent to track.

College Bats

College Arms

High School Bats

High School Arms

2010 MLB Draft Preivew: Ten Players To Watch

The 2009 MLB Draft is over and that means it's time to move on to the 2010 MLB Draft Previews.

High School

  • Cameron Bedrosian, RHP, East Coweta HS, GA: The son of Steve Bedrosian has a low-90s fastball to go with a biting curveball and a decent changeup.
  • Yordy Cabrera, SS, Lakeland HS, FL: Cabrera also pitches, but most predict is professional future is as an infield.  His father is a minor league coach with the Tigers.
  • AJ Cole, RHP, Oveida HS, FL: At 6'5" and 190lbs, he's a scouts dream who can see him filling out his fram and improving on his 90-93 speed already.
  • Kaleb Cowart, SS/RHP, Cook County HS, GA: Cowart would prefer to play the field, but scouts are split on whether he'd be a better hitter or pitcher. 
  • Jameson Taillon, RHP, The Woodlands HS, TX: Taillon is already hitting mid-90s with his fastball and has a nice curve to go with it.

College

  • Christian Colon, SS, Cal-State Fullerton: Colon played every game for an undefeated Team USA over the summer and is hitting .352 for the Titans this year.
  • Matt Harvey, RHP, UNC: The current baseball factory, Harvey joins teammates Dustin Ackley and Alex White at the College World Series.
  • Drew Pomeranz, LHP, Mississippi: In 2009 he was 8-4 with a 3.40 ERA over 16 starts. He struck out 124 and walked just 37 over 95 1/3.  Great numbers.
  • Anthony Ranaudo, RHP, LSU: Another player who will be at the College World Series, Ranaudo was 10-3 with a 2.95 ERA, striking out 147 over 109 2/3 IP and keeping hitters to a .198 average in 2009.
  • Victor Sanchez, 3B, San Diego: An injury limited his 2008 to just 28 games, but the pre-season All-American will be on everybody's radar next year.