Taylor Ard

The third time's a charm. Ard has been drafted twice before--in 2010 out of Mt. Hood (Ore.) CC in the 35th round by the Marlins and last year out of Washington State in the 25th round by the Red Sox. A redshirt junior, Ard is old for the college class, but scouts feel that he is ready to sign this time around. Ard has a thick, muscular build at 6-foot-1 and 229 pounds and he's limited to first base. His calling card is his power. Ard is a solid hitter with above-average power to all fields. He was the only player in the Pacific 10 conference to hit double-digit home runs last year and was battling Oregon State freshman Michael Conforto for the conference lead this year. Ard also has a good track record of hitting with wood--he raked at Mt. Hood, destroyed the West Coast League and had the fourth-most doubles in the Cape Cod League in 2010 (nine) and the fourth-most home runs there last summer (four), though his batting average was just .247 over those two summers.