JUPITER, Fla.–One of amateur baseball’s most talked about players over the past few years has been Eric Hosmer, a sweet-swinging first baseman from South Florida.

His senior year is upon him, and he continued to build on his reputation by winning the MVP of the World Wood Bat Association fall championship today while helping his Braves Scout travel team to the title of the final major high school scouting event of the calendar year.

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JUPITER, Fla.–Just as many of the scouts and college recruiters were catching flights out of West Palm Beach Sunday, the year’s final major scouting event was offering exhilarating baseball and a fantastic stage to see which players performed under pressure.

The 80-team field at the World Wood Bat Association fall championship was trimmed to 32 Sunday afternoon, and teams played three more games as they tried to reach Monday’s quarterfinals.

The top two hitters at the event might be hitting back-to-back in the same lineup, and they helped their team reach the playoffs.

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JUPITER, Fla.–Following the 2005 season, the Dodgers hired former Giants executive Ned Colletti as their general manager, and now the Giants have returned the favor, as John Barr was named special assistant to the GM for the Giants.

Barr, who has spent the past 10 years as east coast crosschecker for the Dodgers, arrived to the park in Jupiter Saturday night and was greeted warmly by his colleagues. A scout’s scout, Barr worked in the front office with the Padres before taking over as scouting director with the Mets and later the Orioles in the ’90s. Among his peers, he’s liked as much for his professionalism and communication skills as he is respected for his keen eye for evaluation that helped the Dodgers build one of baseball’s best farm systems this decade.

JUPITER, Fla.–For baseball junkies, the only eye-popping velocites that can typically found this time of year are on Fox’ broadcasts of playoff games–where the radar gun readings at times appear to be more juiced than the list of players George Mitchell has stashed away in his brief case.  

But this weekend’s World Wood Bat Association fall championship in Jupiter, Fla., has offered more than its share of legitimate eye-popping velocities. [...] Continue Reading »

JUPITER, Fla.–As we have done for the past year or so, Baseball America is attending another major wood bat amateur tournament and providing insight and highlights here on the Draft Blog.

We’ve reviewed our notes from the summer and spent hours on the phone breaking down the next class of draft-eligible high school, junior college and four-year college prospects, and this weekend’s World Wood Bat Association fall championship in Jupiter provides us with one final firsthand look at the top prep players for the 2008 draft. [...] Continue Reading »