Draft 2012: - Zeke DeVoss, Deven Marrero, Kyle Hansen, B J Zimmerman, Byron Buxton

7-19-11: - http://www.mlbbonusbaby.com/2011/6/29/2250656/early-look-at-2012#comments  - Zeke DeVoss, Miami, 5’9 1/2 170, L/L, gets on base, makes solid contact, 270 type hitter with fair power at best, good instincts and jumps in CF, enough arm to stick there, will goes as far as bat takes him. 4-7 round type guy at best for me.

9-8-11: - http://www.gacksports.com/65590/2012-mlb-mock-draft-update - 4. Seattle Mariners Deven Marrero Short Stop Arizona State You can make the case that Deven Marrero, Michael Wacha, or Nick Williams is worthy of being the #4 overall pick. Seattle usually takes college players over high school players. That leaves Devin Marrero and Michael Wacha by process of elimination. The Mariners are 17th in team ERA so you got to go with Marrero here.

http://www.redstormsports.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/090811aaa.html   - Pitcher Kyle Hansen and outfielder Jeremy Baltz have both been named Top-30 prospects in the Cape Cod Baseball League, as announced by Baseball America. Hansen, who played with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, checked in at No. 22, while Baltz was listed as the No. 27 prospect after his season with the Falmouth Commodores. A Cape Cod All-League selection and a starter in the All-Star game at Fenway Park, Baltz (.321) was one of 15 players in the league that batted above .300 for the season. The outfielder had a league-best 13 doubles, and ranked third in RBI (23), fifth in on-base percentage (.434), tied for fifth in hits (45), seventh in slugging percentage (.457) and tied for eighth in runs scored (21). The outfielder also batted .393 (11-for-28) with two doubles and three RBI in seven playoff games as Falmouth, which finished fourth in the Western Division in the regular season, surged in the postseason and reached the Cape Cod Baseball League championship series. The Harwich Mariners, however, swept the Commodores in the best-of-three title series.

9-12-11: - http://www.collegesummerbaseball.net/2011/09/top-20-position-players-in-florida.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter  - In the six-team Florida Collegiate Summer League this summer, the Sanford River Rats downed the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs to earn them the title of FCSL Champions. Individually, there were at least 25 position players that turned in great seasons. Unfortunately, I had to narrow the list down to the top 20. - 2. B.J. Zimmerman 1B Winter Park—Tampa - Zimmerman, a big first baseman from the University of Tampa hit .355 in 110 at-bats this summer. A former Washington Nationals draft pick, B.J, led the league with 30 runs batted in and he also scored 20 for the Dawgs. He walked 21 times, stole 3 bases and smacked one double in the All-Star Game. He also hit .333, with 2 doubles in the playoffs. Perfect Game ranked him as the 18th best prospect in the league.

9-14-11: - http://mlbdraftguide.com/1/2011/09/12/byron-buxton-draft-profile  - Byron Buxton is the consensus top prospect from the state of Georgia. He shot up drafts boards over the summer and is now mentioned as a possible top 5 overall selection in the 2012 draft. Buxton is a two way prospect, pitching and playing the outfield. He shows promise as a hitter and pitcher, but his bat will be his ticket at the next level. He is a top athlete and plays quarterback for Appling County in the fall. His long frame will allow him to add strength as he matures. Buxton has quick hands and an easy swing. A pull hitter, he makes consistent solid contact. He has plus speed, clocked from 3.89 to 4.12 from the right side and at 3.18 on a steal. Buxton is solid in the field, aided greatly by his plus speed. With his speed and strong accurate arm, he should remain in centerfield longterm.

Draft 2012: - Joey Rickard, Kenny Diekroeger, Lucas Giolito, Kyle Hansen, Freddy Avis

7-19-11: - http://www.mlbbonusbaby.com/2011/6/29/2250656/early-look-at-2012#comments  - Joey Rickard, Arizona, 6’1 180, R/R, runs well underway, 6.55, 60 guy, throws adequate, solid range, makes contact, short stroke with occ alley power, doubles type guy, could be quality 4th OF in time, 8-12 round type.

9-1-11: - http://projectprospect.com/article/2011/08/31/2012-mlb-draft-top-prospects  - Kenny Diekroeger, SS, Stanford - Stanford shortstop Kenny Diekroeger can be a frustrating player to evaluate. The good is that he has a compact and hand-oriented swing that's very short to the ball. He has a smooth trigger and has the hand strength required to make a hands dominant swing work. However, Diekroeger doesn't get anywhere near the bat speed he could out of his swing, nor does he maintain optimum angles through the zone. Diekroeger has similar hand rhythm actions to Jason Bay, but also has a pull side dominant plane like Bay. Diekroeger's hand rhythm helps pull his front shoulder back to an angle that usually is conducive to hammering the pitch away, but he doesn't maintain that plane when he launches. His strong hands should allow him to still be quick inside yet still cover away with the angle of hip-shoulder separation he achieves, but due to a heavy rolling top hand, Diekroger pulls his barrel off the pitch away and consistently into a pull dominant plane.

9-8-11: - http://www.gacksports.com/65590/2012-mlb-mock-draft-update  - 2. Baltimore Orioles Lucas Giolito Pitcher Harvard Westlake High School California This was such a tough pick to make. I felt like Lance McCuller’s Jr. still deserves to be a top pick, but there are too many numbers working in Lucas Giolito’s favor. Giolito managed to strikout batting prospect Trey Williams. Giolito weighs 6 foot 6 220 pounds. Giolito was 9-1 with an ERA of 1.00 last season during his junior season of high school baseball. You get a 95 MPH 4 seamer and a 92 MPH 2 seamer with Giolito. Another plus pitch that Giolito has is his hard breaking curve ball that he manages to deliver into the lower corners of the strike out zone so effectively.

Pitcher Kyle Hansen and outfielder Jeremy Baltz have both been named Top-30 prospects in the Cape Cod Baseball League, as announced by Baseball America. Hansen, who played with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox, checked in at No. 22, while Baltz was listed as the No. 27 prospect after his season with the Falmouth Commodores. Hansen made 13 appearances, including two starts, for the Red Sox and went 0-1 with a 3.63 ERA. The righty finished tied for tenth in the league with four saves and racked up 28 strikeouts, while issuing just nine walks in 22.1 innings of work. Hansen also limited the opposition to a .214 batting average. The righty also made one playoff appearance, striking out four in 4.0 innings of one-run relief. - http://www.redstormsports.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/090811aaa.html  

8-16-11: - http://sancarlos.patch.com/articles/freddy-avis-suddenly-a-sizzling-mlb-prospect  Freddy Avis’s summer has been a blur. And that’s how many an opposing batter would describe his mid-90’s fastball. How much has changed for Avis since he completed his junior year at Menlo School? At the time of the MLB draft in early June, Avis would’ve gawked at the possibility of weighing a lucrative offer to play professional baseball in a year. That was about the furthest thing from his mind as he was narrowing his college choices and eying a full slate of travel-ball games with the California Smoke.