The Tampa Bay Ray used the No. 1 pick on Georgia high school shortstop Tim Beckham. 2. Pittsburgh: 3B Pedro Alvarez Vanderbilt 3. Kansas City: 1B Eric Hosmer High School 4. Baltimore: LHP Brian Matusz San Diego 5. San Francisco: C Buster Posey Florida State 6. Florida: C Kyle Skipworth High School 7. Cincinnati: 1B Yonder Alonso Miami 8. Chicago White Sox: SS Gordon Beckham Georgia 9. Washington: RHP Aaron Crow Missouri 10. Houston: C Jason Castro Stanford 11. Texas: 1B Justin Smoak South Carolina 12. Oakland: 2B Jemile Weeks Miami 13. St. Louis: 3B Brett Wallace Arizona State 14. Minnesota: OF Aaron Hicks High School 15. Los Angeles Dodgers: RHP Ethan Martin High School 16. Milwaukee: C Brett Lawrie High School 17. Toronto: 1B David Cooper Cal 18. New York Mets: 1B Issac Davis Arizona State 19. Chicago Cubs: RHP Andrew Cashner TCU 20. Seattle: RHP Joshua Fields Georgia 21. Detroit: RHP Ryan Perry Arizona 22. New York Mets: SS David Havens South Carolina 23. San Diego: 1B Allan Dykstra Wake Forest 24. Philadelphia: SS Anthony Hewitt High School 25. Colorado: LHP Christian Friedrich Eastern Kentucky 26. Arizona: LHP Daniel Schlereth Arizona 27. Minnesota: RHP Carlos Gutierrez Miami 28. New York Yankees: RHP Gerrit Cole High School 29. Cleveland: SS Lonnie Chisenhall Pitt CC 30. Boston: SS Casey Kelly High School

The Major League Baseball draft is full of smoke screens, signability, and potential. With the draft coming up on Thursday, here are some rumors from some around baseball and a few last thoughts heading up to the two-day draft. The Tampa Bay Rays have the top pick again, and Keith Law of ESPN said they have narrowed their list to Florida State catcher Buster Posey and Georgia high school Tim Beckham. According to Law, they will take Posey. One of my favorite players in the draft is Fresno State pitcher Tanner Scheppers. However, Jonathan Mayo of mlb.com and Baseball America have reported he has a stress fracture in his shoulder. It will drop him in the draft, but it shouldn?t affect his long-term future. Baseball America and ESPN both have Stanford catcher Jason Castro slotted at No. 18 to the New York Mets. With Vanderbilt third baseman Pedro Alvarez almost locked in at No. 2 to the Pittsburgh Pirates, the next question is No. 3 with the Kansas City Royals. ESPN and MLB.com have them taking Florida high school first baseman Eric Hosmer. With any draft, the position battles are one of the most intriguing parts prior to the draft. One of the most intriguing we have come across is with college first basemen in South Carolina?s Justin Smoak and Miami?s Yonder Alonso. I rate Smoak higher, but they will both have an impact on where the other is selected. Catchers also are an interesting position with Posey and California high school product Kyle Skipworth who both should be taken in the top 10. Catchers don?t stay behind the plate as often due to injuries and lack of development. However, both players have shown the talents to not only stay at catcher but to be a force defensively. Three college players I like who might not make the first round are Texas outfielder Kyle Russell, UCLA shortstop Brandon Crawford, and Mississippi pitcher Lance Lynn. Out of the high school ranks, I like Georgia high school third baseman Ethan Martin, California outfielder Anthony Gose, and Alabama outfielder Destin Hood. What are your draft tidbits? Email them to Douglas.Benton@realgm.com

1. Pedro Alvarez 3B 6-foot-2, 225 Vanderbilt Alvarez has long been considered the top prospect in this draft. The left-handed hitter only solidified his position .322 in his junior year. 2. Aaron Crow RHP 6-foot-2, 195 Missouri The right-handed pitcher has the complete package right now. He is a power fastball-slider pitcher and was dominant all season by going 11-0 with 103 strikeouts in 83 innings. 3. Tim Beckham SS 6-foot-1, 180 Griffin HS (Griffin, Georgia) Beckham is a developmental player with loads of upside going forward. He is one of the best athletes in the draft and has a solid high school bat going into professional ball. 4. Brian Matusz LHP 6-foot-4, 193 San Diego The San Diego ace has a good frame at 6-foot-4 and has shown a good feel on his secondary stuff. Matusz went 10-2 with 122 strikeouts in 88 innings. 5. Gerrit Cole RHP 6-foot-2, 175 Orange Lutheran HS (Orange, California) Cole comes from a good competition scene in Southern California and comes into the draft as the best high school pitcher available. He has a plus fastball which will carry him in his early pro days. 6. Tim Melville RHP 6-foot-4, 190 Holt HS (Wentzville, Missouri) Melville and Cole battled all early for the top high school pitcher spot, but Melville is considered by some to be the best in this category due to his whole package. His frame also makes him attractive in his development. 7. Kyle Skipworth C 6-foot-3, 185 Patriot HS (Riverside, California) Catchers are tough to project, but Skipworth appears to have the real deal. He has a good bat from the left-side and has drawn rave reviews for his work behind the plate especially with his arm strength. 8. Justin Smoak 1B 6-foot-4, 215 South Carolina The switch-hitting first baseman is one of the best overall bats in the draft especially in the power department. He isn?t a great athlete but should be able to stay in the field with the majors. This season, he hit .391 with 19 home runs and 56 RBI. 9. Yonder Alonso 1B 6-foot-2, 215 Miami It was a tough decision between Alonso and Smoak, but Smoak won out due to his switch-hitting ability. Alonso had a big summer in the Cape Cod League, where he led the league in on-base percentage. He projects as a 30+ home runs guy with at least 100 walks. 10. Brett Hunter RHP 6-foot-, 215 Pepperdine Hunter came out on first for the early part of this year and displayed a fastball which would near 100 MPH. However, injuries curtailed his season and put a question mark on his draft status. 11. Tanner Scheppers RHP 6-foot-4, 200 Fresno State Scheppers is one of the fast risers in the draft due to his potential frame and his present day stuff. He is a power fastball-slider guy who had 109 strikeouts in 70.2 innings. 12. Eric Hosmer 1B 6-foot-3, 210 American Heritage HS (Plantation, Florida) Another talented first base bat will be available on Thursday in the form of Eric Hosmer. He is one of the most complete bats coming out of the high school ranks this year and has been rated as No. 5 player in this draft by Perfect Game. 13. Aaron Hicks OF 6-foot-1, 165 Wilson HS (Long Beach, California) Hicks is a very raw prospect at this point of his career, but there is much to like, so far. He is in the conversation for best pure athlete in the draft, and that athleticism gives him a high ceiling defensively. He hit .500 with 35 steals during his senior season. 14. Alex Meyer RHP 6-foot-7, 200 Greensburg HS (Greensburg, Indiana) The University of Kentucky commit jumps off the page with his 6-foot-7 frame alone. On top of this, he has a plus fastball and hard slider as he went 5-0 with 56 strikeouts in 29.1 innings. According the Keith Law of ESPN, he is represented by Scott Boras and, of course, considered a tough sign. 15. Buster Posey C 6-foot-2, 200 Florida State Posey came almost out of nowhere before the season to now being considered by some as the top pick in the draft by the Tampa Bay Rays. He hit .471 with 15 home runs this past season as a junior and is regarded as above average behind the plate. 16. Harold Martinez 3B 6-foot-3 195 Braddock HS (Miami, Florida) Martinez has moved around the board this year and finished at No. 16. He has a good bat with power potential and is solid at third base defensively. He would be a decent complementary pick for a team looking for a third baseman after Alvarez. 17. Brett DeVall LHP 6-foot-4, 205 Niceville HS (Florida) DeVall is the best power left-handed arm in the high school ranks this year and appears to be close to physical maturity. He needs to develop his arsenal at the next level but was dominant in high school with a 12-1 record and a 0.41 ERA. 18. Kyle Lobstein LHP 6-foot-3, 185 Coconino HS (Flagstaff, Arizona) The Arizona-bound Lobstein struggled at points during his senior year. He is a fastball-curveball pitcher who, when on, can use his curveball as an out pitch. He went 6-2 with a 1.32 ERA with 75 strikeouts in 42 innings. 19. Ryan Perry RHP 6-foot-4, 200 Arizona We aren?t as high on Perry as some in the baseball world, but he is still a good prospect. He has a good fastball and is physically mature coming out of Arizona. He is a bullpen guy in the majors but will have to improve his 9 K/9 innings if he wants to rise fast. 20. Dennis Raben OF 6-foot-3, 200 Miami Raben didn?t build on a big summer but still brings a good skill set to the table. He has shown some really good power and is an asset in the outfield. He hit .315 with eight home runs and 40 RBI this past season. 21. Christian Friedrich LHP 6-foot-3, 208 Eastern Kentucky Friedrich has the best curveball in the college ranks, according to Baseball America and, from the left-side, has a really good frame. He had a 1.78 ERA in 65.2 innings of work this season. 22. Daniel Webb RHP 6-foot-2, 205 Heath HS (West Paducah, Kentucky) Webb has a big time arm coming out of high school with a plus fastball and strong breaking stuff to complement it. He has a good frame and should be able to build on his numbers going forward. 23. Sonny Gray RHP 6-foot-0, 185 Smyrna HS (Smyrna, Tennessee) Another power pitcher makes the board in Sonny Gray, who has a fastball-curveball combo in his arsenal. He will have to redefine his delivery in the minors, but the talent is there for Gray, nonetheless. 24. Luke Burnett RHP 6-foot-8, 260 Louisiana Tech Burnett has the potential with his frame, if he can keep it in shape, but had a poor junior year. He went 0-4 with an 8.40 ERA for Louisiana Tech this past season. 25. Jacob Thompson RHP 6-foot-6, 215 Virginia Another really nice frame prospect is Jacob Thompson, who is known at this point for being around the strike zone. He struck out less than one batter an inning for Virginia this past year. He was 2:1 in strikeouts to walks this season, though.