BaseballAmerica.com: Draft: Draft Dish: Draft Tracker: May 7

As we get closer and closer to the draft, we'll keep updating the Draft Tracker, which serves as a snapshot of which players are climbing, and which are dropping, on draft boards. The Draft Tracker is based on talent but the closer it gets to the draft, the more it reflects other factors such as positional scarcity, signability, etc. In the following rankings, preseason refers to our Preseason Top 30, while the Top 50 refers to our most recent Draft Top 50 rankings. Our Top 200 and the Draft Preview will be rolling out on the Website beginning late next week.

Rk	Player	Pos.	School	Preseason	Top 50
1	Pedro Alvarez	3b	Vanderbilt	1	1
Despite down year caused by early hamate injury, Alvarez is the draft's top talent. Whether or not he's worth a major league contract in the $8.5 million neighborhood is the bigger question.
2	Tim Beckham	ss	Griffin (Ga.) HS	4	4
Hasn't had a huge spring, but Beckham has the best combination of tools, athleticism and projection of any player in the draft. Comparisons to the Upton brothers don't fit, however.
3	Brian Matusz	lhp	San Diego	2	2
Surest of the sure things, a three-pitch lefty who misses bats with more than enough fastball and excellent secondary stuff.
4	Buster Posey	c	Florida State	15	7
In the mix starting at No. 1 overall after hittng .477 in conference games, Posey makes a case as the draft's safest pick at its most premium position.
5	Aaron Crow	rhp	Missouri	3	3
As much as you could ask for in a fastball, yet Crow has fallen off the torrid pace he set in the season's first two months.
6	Eric Hosmer	1b	American Heritage HS, Plantation, Fla.	8	5
Asking price is high for Boras Corporation client and Arizona State signee, who has now strength and now power. "It's like watching a college hitter," one scouting director said.
7	Justin Smoak	1b	South Carolina	5	6
Recent hot streak has Smoak contending to be drafted in the top five like former prep teammate Matt Wieters.
8	Gordon Beckham	ss	Georgia	24	12
Posey and Smoak are catching up in terms of 2008 production, which merely makes Beckham's season outstanding instead of singular.
9	Tanner Scheppers	rhp	Fresno State	22	9
Still learning to harness his electric stuff; 92-96 mph fastball in recent starts, and still relatively new to pitching. Could be draft's top arm if he becomes more efficient.
10	Shooter Hunt	rhp	Tulane	17	8
Command issues have him a tick behind Scheppers at this time; plenty of fastball to go with a true power breaking ball.
11	Kyle Skipworth	c	Patriot HS, Riverside, Calif.	12	11
Dominant performance (18 hits in a row) stands out even in crowded Southern California high school ranks.
12	Yonder Alonso	1b	Miami	7	13
Opponents and scouts marvel at Alonso's professional approach and hitting ability, leading to 10 homers in just 22 Atlantic Coast Conference games.
13	Tim Melville	rhp	Holt HS, Wentzville, Mo.	6	10
Doing a little of everything for his team of late, Melville has had a two-homer game and 14 strikeouts in recent outings for Holt High.
14	Aaron Hicks	rhp/of	Wilson HS, Long Beach	13	15
He's done it all in the last week, throwing a complete-game shutout with 11 strikeouts on the mound and contributing a solo homer to lead off a 34-0 romp against Compton High the next game.
15	Christian Friedrich	lhp	Eastern Kentucky	9	14
The draft's most polished lefty commands three pitches, including a fastball with average-to-plus velocity and a good, if slow, curveball.
16	Ethan Martin	rhp/3b	Stephens County HS, Toccoa, Ga.	NR	16
More evidence that Martin's pitching skills have moved to the fore—he threw a complete-game no-hitter with 11 strikeouts in a start April 23.
17	Joshua Fields	rhp	Georgia	NR	18
One-inning at a time approach has suited the nation's top closer, who just gave up his first earned run this weekend.
18	Gerrit Cole	rhp	Lutheran HS, Orange, Calif.	11	19
With an arm as good as any in the draft, Cole still has managed to see his stock fall due to concerns about his delivery, mound presence and secondary pitches.
19	Alex Meyer	rhp	Greensburg (Ind.) HS	NR	22
Six-foot-7 Kentucky signee has little in common with last year's Indiana phenom, Jarrod Parker, but should join him in first round.
20	Casey Kelly	ss/rhp	Sarasota (Fla.) HS	NR	35
Tennessee quarterback signee and son of ex-big leaguer Pat Kelly has shown first-round talent as both position player and pitcher.
21	Brett Wallace	1b/3b	Arizona State	NR	26
Red-hot of late, Wallace remains one of the draft's best pure hitters and has firmed up his body.
22	Conor Gillaspie	3b	Wichita State	NR	29
A grinder and a premium hitter, Gillaspie has built on his strong summer, when he was MVP of the Cape Cod League.
23	Jemile Weeks	2b	Miami	25	20
Rickie's younger brother lacks his pure physicality but has offensive upside, including line-drive swing, speed and surprising power.
24	Andrew Cashner	rhp	Texas Christian	NR	NR
Fast-moving closer has upper-90s velocity, pushing to front of down college crop in Texas.
25	Ryan Perry	rhp	Arizona	16	38
Poor early performance somewhat mitigated by a move to the bullpen; still one of the draft's elite arms at 92-97 mph.
26	Reese Havens	ss	South Carolina	NR	34
He's built on his Cape Cod League improvement; his 1.150 OPS this spring is a 400-point improvement on his first two seasons.
27	Jason Castro	c	Stanford	NR	NR
Third-string catcher last summer in Cape Cod (behind Posey and LSU's Sean Ochinko), Castro has plenty of bat and enough ability to stay behind the plate.
28	Brett DeVall	lhp	Niceville (Fla.) HS	30	30
Florida's top prep pitcher saw his 18-innings scoreless streak in the postseason end when he was used on two days' rest; Niceville won 3-2 anyway.
29	Daniel Webb	rhp	Heath HS, West Paducah, Ky.	NR	33
Despite fierce competition from the state's strongest draft crop ever, Webb remains the class of Kentucky.
30	Ike Davis	1b/of	Arizona State	NR	36
Before recent injury (he hasn't started for five games), Davis was making a case for Pac-10 player of the year as he's nearly matched his career home run total with 15.

BEST OF THE REST

Chris Carpenter, rhp, Kent State

Zach Collier, of, Chino Hills (Calif.) HS

David Cooper, 1b, California

James Darnell, 3b, South Carolina

Isaac Galloway, of, Los Osos HS, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

Anthony Gose, lhp, Bellflower (Calif.) HS

Robbie Grossman, Cypress-Fairbanks HS, Cypress, Texas

Brett Lawrie, util, Brookwood SS, Langley, B.C.

Seth Lintz, rhp, Marshall County HS, Lewisburg, Tenn.

Kyle Lobstein, lhp, Coconino HS, Flagstaff, Ariz.

Wade Miley, lhp, Southeastern Louisiana

Tim Murphy, lhp, UCLA

Dennis Raben, of, Miami

Tyson Ross, rhp, California

Tyler Sample, rhp, Mullen HS, Denver

Zeke Spruill, rhp, Kell HS, Marietta, Ga.