Looking ahead to the 2010 MLB June draft.

Wednesday July 29, 2009

Chances are the Padres will draft in the 2nd to 5th position in the 2010 draft.

So who may be available then?

16 year old Uber-prospect Bryce Harper will more than likely be gone at that point to the Washington Nationals.

So who are the top dozen or so other prospects?

Let’s start with the College Bats
Christian Colon – SS – Call State Fullerton – A slick fielder with a good eye, but not much power at the plate.
Blake Forsythe – C – Tennessee – If you are wondering, yes they are brothers. Blake may be the better hitter.
Yasmani Grandal – C – Miami – A power hitting catcher with patience at the plate and a really strong arm. He didn’t hit for high average(.299), but took a lot of walks.

Now the College Pitchers
Justin Grimm – RHP – Georgia – Grimm brings a mid 90’s fastball, but needs work on his breaking stuff.
Anthony Renaudo – RHP – LSU – Renaudo has a low 90’s fastball with good control and movement and 2 plus breaking pitches. In the past I would have said he was a Padres type pitcher.
Kyle Blair – RHP - USD - A top 50 prospect coming out of high school, he was chosen in the 5th round by the Dodgers, but chose to go to USD instead. Brings a mid 90’s fastball & a nice change.
Nick Tepesch – RHP – Missouri - The soft tossing pitcher features a 89-92 mph fastball as part of his 4 pitch repertoire. While he has exceptional "stuff" he struggled with control this past season for the Tigers.

How about the High School Bats
Bryce Harper – C – Left high school at 16 so he could go pro. Enough said
Austin Wilson – OF – Harvard-Westlake HS, CA – POWER, POWER and MORE POWER!! A True 5 tool player, this kid has hit 500 foot home runs, has the best high school arm I have ever seen and has 6.4 speed in the 60. He could be a monster.
Trey Griffin – OF/SS – MLK HS, GA – Extremely athletic, Griffin may end up being a SS as a pro. He hits for average and power to all fields and has good speed in the field and on the base paths.

And finally the High School Arms
Yordy Cabrera – RHP/SS – Lakelan HS, FL – Born in the Dominican, Cabrera is one of a number of players that could go either way. His 96 mph fastball and good control for a HS player makes me think that teams will be drafting him as a pitcher.
A.J. Cole – RHP – Oviedo HS, FL – A 6’4” power pitcher who throws 95-96 now with room to grow. Cole is at the top of the list of prep pitching prospects.
Rudy Acosta – RHP – Mount Miguel HS, CA – A 6’ 5” local boy who throws 90-93 mph now and has 2 plus breaking pitches. At only 180 lbs he has a lot of filling in to do and his velocity should improve over time.
Justin O’ Connor – RHP/SS - Cowan HS, IN – Another of the 2 way players that should go high in the draft, O’Connor has a 96 mph fastball but needs work on his breaking pitches.
Cam Bedrosian - RHP - East Coweta HS, GA – Bloodlines are the reason I have included Bedrosian here. His father, Steve Bedrosian, was a MLB reliever for years so Cam will know better than most what it takes to succeed as a pro and Cam may have more talent than his dad did at his age.

I included 5 prep pitchers because they seem to be the players that we see the most change in during their senior years, for good and bad.

The 2010 June Amateur Draft is much too far away to predict either who will go 2nd to 5th or who the Padres will take, but I hope this has given you some players to watch during the 2009/2010 College and High School season.