Another high-profile draft-and-follow signed Wednesday. Delgado (La.) Community College outfielder Lee Haydel didn’t match the seven-figure bonuses righthanders Matt Latos (Padres) and Jordan Walden (Angels) got on deadline day, but he did receive $624,000 from the Brewers. Milwaukee drafted him in the 19th round out of a Louisiana high school last June. [...] Continue Reading »

It appeared the Padres and righthander Matt Latos were at a standstill that wouldn’t be resolved before tonight’s 11:59 p.m. ET deadline to sign draft-and-follows. Latos reportedly sought more than $3 million, while San Diego was offering roughly half that. But the two sides got a deal done this evening, with Latos receiving a reported bonus of $1.25 million. [...] Continue Reading »

Drew Cumberland was among the top high school middle infielders in the 2007 class, but he was unable to punctuate a strong senior season due to a nagging hamstring injury. He left the state championship game because of the injury and was unable to stay in the lineup at last weekend’s Florida High School All-Star game in Sebring. [...] Continue Reading »

Jordan Walden entered 2006 with the tag as the best high school prospect in the draft, not to mention seven-figure bonus aspirations. He had to wait a year, but Walden got his money Tuesday, agreeing to terms on a $1 million bonus from the Angels. He’ll sign the deal today, the deadline for clubs to come to terms with the last-ever crop of draft-and-follows. [...] Continue Reading »

The rise of Devin Mesoraco was easily the most exciting story of amateur baseball in Pennsylvania this year. While Mesoraco, a senior catcher from Punxsutawney, made his move early this spring, the last month of the season saw a college prospect from the Keystone State make a push, albeit not nearly as high in draft stock as Mesoraco. [...] Continue Reading »

One draft-and-follow signing we missed recently was Cubs righthander Jordan Latham, a 29th-round pick last year out of the JC of Southern Idaho. Pitching in the wood-bat Scenic West Athletic Conference, Latham was as nasty as any pitcher in the league at times–a league that includes Brewers $500,000 signee Chad Robinson and Braves DFE Cole Rohrbough, a Top 100 prospect. [...] Continue Reading »

After speaking with a scout who saw Joe Savery pitch for the first time this past weekend in the Conference USA tournament, I got to thinking how interesting it is to hear scouts’ opinions on high-profile players that they have not seen before.

Track records are important in evaluations, and it’s also important to consider extenuating factors whenever you’re scouting a player, such as workload or whether he’s been injured recently, etc.
But at a lot of conference tournaments, area scouts receive assignments to watch players out of their area, so they’re getting an unbiased look at a player that they have no history with, which can be a very good thing. The scout can sit down and evaluate the player for what he is, without a preexisting opinion. [...] Continue Reading »

While Rice advanced to the finals of the Conference USA tournament today with a 20-9 win over Memphis, Rice junior lefty Joe Savery was unimpressive.

He was lifted in the sixth inning after allowing six earned runs off nine hits with four walks and three strikeouts.

“That was it?” asked a scout based in the Southeast after watching Savery for the first time today. “I know he’s played first base for four games and was saved to come in for the second game of a doubleheader, but if you’re a first-rounder, I generally am expecting a little bit more. [...] Continue Reading »

SEBRING, Fla.–Somewhere in a smoky bar tonight someone will shout out “Golden Earring” and win a trivia contest. That’s the band that performed a popular song in the ’70s called “Radar Love”, and while the song was written about a man pressing on through a long road trip anticipating being reunited with his girl, it’s a perfect metaphor for scouting . . .

“I’ve been drivin’ all night, my hand’s wet on the wheel
There’s a voice in my head that drives my heel . . .
“When she’s lonely and the longing gets too much
She sends a cable comin’ in from above
We don’t need no phone at all
We’ve got a thing that’s called radar love
We’ve got a wave in the air, radar love” . . .

I hit the road for the Florida Athletic Coaches Association All-Star Baseball Classic hoping my own radar, albeit of the Stalker variety, would see some digits it hasn’t seen too often.

But instead, one thing became obvious: Florida’s high school class is marginal. [...] Continue Reading »

Andrew Brackman’s May hasn’t gone as anyone might have hoped. The 6-foot-10 North Carolina State righthander did not pitch in any of the Wolfpack’s three games in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, meaning he will have made only one appearance, totaling four innings, during the entire month.

Issues both on and off the field have led to Brackman’s mysterious May. The team has said his arm is simply tired after he had pitched 78 innings this season, compared to 71 in his previous two college seasons combined. On top of that, he has had to deal with the death of his former girlfriend in the last week.

So while the lack of work may be understandable, it doesn’t make the task of figuring out where to draft Brackman any easier. [...] Continue Reading »

SEBRING, Fla.–Day One of the Florida Athletic Coaches Association All-Star Baseball Classic featured an exciting starting pitching matchup of Nevin Griffith (Middleton High, Tampa) and Michael Main (Deland High). The two talented righthanders did not disappoint. [...] Continue Reading »

SEBRING, Fla.–The 29th annual Florida Athletic Coaches Association All-Star Baseball Classic began in earnest Friday in Sebring, Fla.

There are four teams of approximately 20 high school seniors, broken into regions, participating in this event. The players were chosen, based not only on their performance this season, but also their prospect status, making it a must-see event for scouts. [...] Continue Reading »

GREENVILLE, N.C.–With their season on the line, Tulane’s players finally loosened up a bit. It’s been a trying year for the Green Wave, who have been forced to play their entire season at Zephyr Field, home of Triple-A New Orleans. Players like Brad Emaus and Warren McFadden have pressed, and their draft stock has slipped as a result. But Emaus looked relaxed in Tulane’s 13-5 win against Alabama-Birmingham in the Conference USA tournament Thursday, going 3-for-3 with a double and three walks. Tulane coach Rick Jones said it was the first time all year his junior second baseman has looked comfortable and seemed like the player who hit 13 homers as a freshman. The third-team preseason All-American raised his average to .333 with the strong performance. [...] Continue Reading »

There are questions about whether Max Scherzer has the secondary stuff to be a front-line starter or if he projects as more of a closer. But there is no question that the rest of the American Association will be happy to see him leave in a couple of weeks as he likely prepares to re-enter the draft.

Scherzer was in control once again for Fort Worth last night in his third start for Fort Worth. He didn’t touch the 97 mph that he has in other starts, but he sat comfortably at 92-94 mph with a free and easy delivery while showing a still-improving slider and an occasional changeup. [...] Continue Reading »

Missouri State lefthander Ross Detwiler remains a candidate to be drafted among the first 10 picks three weeks from now, but he had one of his shortest outings last night in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. He gave up four hits and walked four in three innings, giving up two runs to Wichita State.

The Bears rallied to win 5-2 without him, and Detwiler’s poor outing may not hurt his stock too much. [...] Continue Reading »

Neither T.J. McFarland nor Chris Province made our Top 200 Prospects list that we put together early last week, but both pitchers would make it if we were updating it today. [...] Continue Reading »

Pete Kozma, senior shortstop for Owasso (Okla.) HS, made a grand exit to finish his high school career. As part of Owasso’s 23-game win streak to end the season and claim the 6-A title, Kozma went 9-for-11 with one home run, five doubles, nine RBIs and eight runs in the regional bracket before dominating the state rounds. In the final four games of his career, he went 5-for-9 with four home runs, seven RBIs and four intentional walks. [...] Continue Reading »

It’s the last year of the draft-and-follow process, and the Brewers are going to go out strong. [...] Continue Reading »

Alan Matthews asked Devil Rays scouting director R.J. Harrison who his top three players were, and Harrison deferred. Alan asked Harrison if the trio might include consensus top prospects David Price, Matt Wieters and Josh Vitters. Harrison replied, “Those are three pretty good players there at the top of your list . . . ”

Looks like Alan was right on. In this Tampa Tribune article, Harrison confirmed the three players the Rays have focused on the most are indeed Price, Wieters and Vitters. It’s obviously no surprise, and Price keeps pitching his way to elite status, striking out 15 Thursday night in dominating LSU 4-1. “I felt like I threw my fastball wherever I wanted to tonight,” Price said that night. “I threw my slider where I wanted and I felt like I was clicking in my windup so I felt good.” [...] Continue Reading »

North Carolina State junior righthander Andrew Brackman will not pitch this weekend against Clemson because of fatigue.

Brackman, a candidate to go among the top 10 players drafted in June, has struggled down the stretch in his first full season as a baseball player. His first two baseball seasons at N.C. State were delayed while the 6-foot-10 Brackman finished playing power forward for the Wolfpack basketball team, but this year he decided not to play hoops in order to focus on his baseball career. [...] Continue Reading »