Draft - Baseball Wiretap

Law Has Cole Rated As Top Prospect

Sep 18, 2014 6:24 AM

ESPN.com's Keith Law revealed his second mock draft on Monday night and he rates UCLA right-hander Gerrit Cole as the top prospect. The Pirates hold the first overall pick in next week's MLB First-Year Player Draft. "The Pirates are still seriously on Danny Hultzen and Bubba Starling, and I wouldn't rule Anthony Rendon out entirely, but my gut tells me right now they'll find Cole's raw stuff -- he hit 101 for me on Friday night and touched 100 many times, including in the eighth inning -- too good to pass up," Law writes.

Keith Law/ESPN.com

Tags: Pittsburgh Pirates, Draft, Draft Misc

Discuss
Brandon Bonilla Making Mark As Pitcher

Sep 19, 2014 3:50 PM

Brandon Bonilla, a pitching prospect for Bradenton IMG Academy, is looking to make his own mark on the game of baseball. "My father was able to play for 17 years so I have been able to learn a lot from him," the younger Bonilla said. "But I am my own person. The back of my jersey says Bonilla, but I am not him. I want to be my own person and want to be treated fairly." His father, Bobby, finished his career with more than 2,000 hits, 250 home runs, 400 doubles and well over 1,000 RBI while playing for eight teams. "A lot comes with the last name," he said. "Some people may be jealous at that fact he is my dad and some may just not like him very much, but that fuels me to be better. To be honest, I want to be treated fairly. It is just my last name, it is not me. I have to work hard to make people see that I am worth all of this attention and not just leveraging my father."

Rivals!

Tags: Draft, Misc Rumor

Discuss
UConn Preparing To Have Two First-Round Picks

Nov 11, 2014 4:44 AM

The University of Connecticut, long regarded as a college baseball doormat, seems likely to have two first-round picks in next month's First-Year Player Draft. The Huskies have a rich baseball history that tracks back eight decades, but they've only had one player -- former big leaguer Charles Nagy -- who was taken in the first round since the institution of the Draft in 1965. Now, outfielder George Springer and right-handed pitcher Matt Barnes appear to be on the fringe of changing that. "I think we're starting to put ourselves on a national stage and people really recognize us as a good program now," Barnes said. "When I got here, it was on its way up, and people knew that we had a chance to do some things. Predominantly, it was a basketball school, and football was starting to make a name for itself. We weren't really nationally known in baseball when I got here, but the last two years, we've definitely done a pretty good job of changing that." UConn has gone to the College World Series just five times in its program history, and it hasn't managed to make it that far since 1979. The Huskies, ranked No. 18 in the country by Baseball America, set the team record for victories (48) last season, and they're two wins shy of winning the Big East regular-season title for the first time.

MLB.com

Tags: Draft, Draft Misc

Discuss
Upcoming 2011 MLB Player Draft Full Of Talent

Jun 26, 2014 8:54 AM

The general consensus is that the Class of 2011 is one of the strongest and deepest pools of amateur talent that has come around for some time. "It's good this year," one scouting director admitted. "One of the better ones I've seen in a while. There's a little bit of everything. There's good general depth. It's a lot better than it was in 2010." Fans can find out just how much better it is by tuning in to coverage of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft on Monday, June 6, at 7 p.m. ET on MLB.com and MLB Network.

MLB.com

Tags: Draft, Draft Misc

Discuss