Top News:
Jim Callis / Baseball America:
Mock Draft 4.0 — Bonus demands adds more confusion to wide-open draft — When team officials head to bed the night before the draft, they usually have a pretty good idea of who they're going to take in the first round. They may not know exactly who's going to fall to them …
RELATED:
Steve Henson / Yahoo! Sports:
Mock draft: No. 1 pick a no-brainer — Buzz up! — Attention: This is only a test. — This is not the real draft. — Not even close. — This is a mock draft, meaning I will undoubtedly be ripe mocking material Tuesday night after the real draft is conducted by real major league baseball decision-makers.
Baseball Analysts:
The 2009 MLB Draft is (Finally) Upon Us — The Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft begins today at 6 p.m. ET. The MLB Network will broadcast the first round from its Studio 42 in Secaucus, N.J. with MLB.com providing on-air coverage of the remainder of the draft …
Kevin Goldstein / Baseball Prospectus:
The Mock Draft — This one could be a mess folks, and it's all about bonus demands at this point. Right now, you have as many as four high school pitchers—Jacob Turner, Tyler Matzek, Matt Purke, and Shelby Miller—looking for big, big money, with the first three all telling teams they're looking …
Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com:
West, Carroll enjoy big nights in Florida win — Starter takes no-hitter into seventh; outfielder nearly cycles — MIAMI — While facing off against a guy now closely related with the number 300, it was the number 1 that seemed to ring loudest at Land Shark Stadium on Monday.
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com
RELATED:
Yahoo! Sports:
West, Marlins shut down Giants 4-0 — Buzz up! — MIAMI (AP)—The tall left-hander had not allowed a hit through six innings— and Randy Johnson — was already out of the game. — Facing the Big Unit, 6-foot-8 rookie Sean West — flirted with a no-hitter in his fourth career start.
Tom D'Angelo / Palm Beach Post:Florida Marlins likely to look for pitching help in 2009 baseball draft
Discussion:
FishStripes
Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com:
The one? All eyes on Strasburg — Expected to be first pick, phenom has met every test — At approximately 6:15 p.m. ET today, the world of Stephen Strasburg will change forever. And, if you believe all the hype about the San Diego State right-hander, Major League Baseball may never be the same again.
RELATED:
Dylan Hernandez / Los Angeles Times:
Padres' Heath Bell has a new look — Padres closer lost 25 pounds in the off-season. His trainer? Nintendo's Wii. — Reporting from San Diego — Heath Bell reported to the San Diego Padres' camp this spring weighing 25 pounds less than he did at the end of last season. — His secret?
RELATED:
Joe Posnanski / Sports Illustrated:
Talkin' about the underappreciated base on balls, with Bill James … People have violently different views about walks in baseball. I like them because I believe that they are still the most underappreciated weapon in baseball. Bill likes them because they epitomize team play — “Hey …
Discussion:
BBTF's Baseball Primer …
Bart Hubbuch / Mets Blog:
Chipper no fan of Citi Field — Longtime Mets nemesis Chipper Jones did so much damage at Shea Stadium that he named one of his sons “Shea” in honor of it. It's safe to say the Atlanta slugger won't be making any similar tributes to Citi Field. — Jones ripped the Mets' new park …
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com, Mike Silva's …, Walkoff Walk, Amazin' Avenue and The Musings and Prophecies …
Sky Kalkman / Beyond the Box Score:
Interview With John Sickels & Open Draft Day Discussion Post — Happy Draft Day, everybody! In addition to this post serving as an open thread to discuss the draft's developments, I had the pleasure to sit down with John Sickels and ask him a few questions.
Bob Raissman / NY Daily News:
Raissman: Keith in no hurry to rip loafing Met — Considering the current state of effort in baseball, it's big news when a player actually busts it out of the box determined to arrive safely at his final destination. — Players who go catatonic as soon as they hit the ball, guys who jake it …
Anthony Rieber / Newsday:
Yankees pitchers try their hand at batting practice — C.C. Sabathia will try his luck at the plate as the New York Yankees prepare for interleague baseball in the upcoming weeks. (Photo by David Pokress / June 8, 2009) — Yankees pitchers enjoyed taking batting practice Mondayin preparation …
Discussion:
Fack Youk
Associated Press:
Braves edge Pirates in 15 innings as Cox gets 2,000th win with Atlanta — ATLANTA (AP) — David Ross' bases-loaded infield single in the 15th inning drove in Jeff Francoeur to give the Atlanta Braves a 7-6 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in a game that lasted almost 5 hours Monday night.
Rick Hummel / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Cards ‘always open’ to deals, DeWitt says — Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. emerged from a 25-minute, closed-door meeting with manager Tony La Russa on Monday morning, but DeWitt said no trades were imminent. — “It was usual, catch-up stuff,” he said.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
Ted Berg / SNY.tv:
Notes from the Minors — On Buffalo, Binghamton, Buttzville and beyond — If you read Matt Cerrone's MetsBlog.com, you know that I spent the weekend on a two-city tour of the upper levels of the Mets' Minor League system. It was a fun but tiring trip, and because I'm still recovering …
Discussion:
MetsBlog.com
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Sox diligent in shortstop search — The Red Sox have left no stone unturned in looking at or discussing deals for shortstops. Whether they actually pull the trigger on something is up for debate internally as the team patiently awaits the return of Jed Lowrie, who has a great chance …
