The catching crop is deep at the prep ranks and light among the collegians this spring. Below is a look at some of the top names to know for the June draft, beginning with the cream of the catching crop.

Cream of the Crop

Creating a Mechanism for Evaluation of Draft Strategy

Part of what drew me to Baseball Prospectus, other than my respect for Jason Parks and his vision of a scouting-department-style “Prospect Team,” was the allure of stepping into a ready-made readership eager and able to help me explore baseball on both a macro and micro level. As far as the draft is concerned, that means not only breaking down draft prospects from a scouting perspective on a player-by-player basis, but also working to understand what goes into formulating an overarching approach to player acquisition through the draft. This includes general strategies relating to draft acquisitions, as well as draft-class-specific game planning.

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The Situation: In an ironic twist, the oft-injured Anthony Rendon (Baseball Prospectus’ top Washington Nationals prospect and the 35th-rated prospect on Jason Parks’ Top 101 entering the season) has the injury of another to thank for his first taste of major-league action. Nationals All-Star third baseman Ryan Zimmerman was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday for a strained left hamstring, leaving Washington with a hole to fill at the hot corner. Coming off strong showings in both the Arizona Fall League and spring training, Rendon put himself on the fast track to the Nation’s capital with a red-hot start to the 2013 season, including the most recent 10-game stretch at Double-A Harrisburg, in which he posted a triple-slash line of .333/.511/.636 while clocking in with an 11:8 walk-to-strikeout ratio.

Background: After dropping to Atlanta in the 27th round of the 2008 Draft, Rendon decided to forgo the start of his professional career in favor of three years with Coach Graham and the hometown Rice Owls. Without question the decision was a good one, as the Houston native immediately established himself as the top player in college baseball, eventually earning a major-league deal with the Washington Nationals worth $7.2 million over four years ($6 million of it in signing bonus).

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As we roll the calendar over to April, Baseball Prospectus will be ramping up our draft coverage.  As has been previously noted, we are fortunate to have partnered with Perfect Game USA, who will be providing first-rate analysis of draft prospects, draft class rankings, and mock drafts as we get closer to June.

In addition to Perfect Game’s content, I will be continuing the “Scouting the Draft" Series, providing look-ins on players throughout the remainder of the spring, including scouting notes and player video. Further, we will be starting next week with a new draft series, “Dissecting the Draft." 

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    In the week leading up to Opening Day, we're asking and answering three questions about each team in a five-part series ordered by descending Playoff Pct from the Playoff Odds Report. Today, we get things started with a look at the six teams with the highest odds of winning at least a Wild Card. As a reminder, you can find links to our preview podcasts for each team here.

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From February 28th through March 3rd, the Rangers’ and Royals’ spring training facility in Surprise, AZ  hosted the Coca-Cola Classic. It’s a round-robin event featuring four college programs—University of Arkansas, Arizona State, Gonzaga, and University of the Pacific—and several interesting draft-eligible talents.  Dozens of decision makers were in attendance, both at Surprise Stadium and at games on the back fields to get early-season looks at top draft arms Ryne Stanek (Arkansas), Marco Gonzalez (Gonzaga), Trevor Williams (Arizona State), Colby Suggs (Arkansas) and Barrett Astin (Arkansas), as well as some interesting positional talent, including Razorbacks second baseman Dominic Ficociello. 

Arizona State finished the weekend a perfect 4-0, while Arkansas, who entered the weekend ranked in the top five in multiple collegiate polls, dropped all four of their contests (two against ASU, and one each against Gonzaga and Pacific).  Below, we highlight three performances of particular import for draft evaluators, and provide further scouting notes on various other draft talents, both present and future.

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Courtney Hawkins and Keon Barnum served as bookends to this year's Chicago White Sox Top 10 Prospects here at Baseball Prospectus. Today’s Draft Video Weekend Flashback features these top prospects  -- the top two selections for the White Sox in the 2012 draft -- in pre-draft action.

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Last week, scores of talent evaluators packed up and shipped down to the Dominican Republic for a series of prospect showcases and exhibition games highlighting current and future international prospects.  Among the prospects eligible to ink during the current signing period (July 2, 2012 through July 1, 2013) was 6-foot-4, 215-pound Jacob Constante, a bi-lingual power lefty that has seen his stock rise over the last 12 months in conjunction with his steadily improving velocity and breaking ball.

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Eric Jagielo (3B/OF), out of the University of Notre Dame, is one of the top bats in a thin collegiate class. Jagielo’s profile should play to a corner without issue, and could ultimately grade out at a 5/6 (hit/power) with further adjustments in approach. A stocky build and below-average lower-half agility could push him to the outfield, though evaluators should give him a chance to prove that sentiment wrong this spring. Today’s video is from the 2012 Cape Cod All-Star Game, held in Harwich, Massachusetts.

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