Brett Lawrie

Scouts debate whether Lawrie is the best Canadian hitting prospect since Justin Morneau or Larry Walker, but he's definitely created buzz in a draft relatively short on high school bats, drawing some comparisons to Craig Biggio. If he had a more defined position, he would be a cinch first-round pick. Signed by Arizona State, Lawrie has too much present hitting ability to wind up in college. One scout compared him to Marlins slugger Dan Uggla for his strength, power and muscular, mature build, and several scouts have graded Lawrie's power as above-average if not 70 on the 20-80 scale. He's not just strong but also has a keen eye, offensive instincts, aggressiveness and quick wrists that drive the bat through the hitting zone. On a spring trip with his Canadian travel teams (Langley, B.C., Blaze and the Canadian junior national team), Lawrie went 21-for-30 against extended spring training and college teams, including 14 extra-base hits. He hit doubles off Kyle Davies and Luke Hochevar in a game against the Royals' extended spring team. Several scouts summed up his offensive approach by describing him as "fearless." He's also athletic with above-average speed (6.75 seconds in the 60). Defense is Lawrie's shortcoming; he plays infield and catcher and also has seen time in the outfield, where one scout described him as "disinterested." He's shown the tools to catch, as he's built for the position at 6 feet and 200 pounds, and he has an average arm at the least. However, his bat might be too advanced for him to take the time to learn such a valuable defensive position, and some scouts doubt that he'd have the temperament to handle it anyway.