Top News:
Joe McDonald / ESPN:
Sox feel good about first 3 picks — Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein and Co. came away feeling very good about the club's three picks during the first day of the 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. — Boston selected second baseman Kolbrin Vitek (20th overall) …
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Frankie Piliere / Fanhouse MLB Blog:
MLB Draft Analysis: Red Sox Big Winners — The Boston Red Sox do a lot of things well as an organization. Drafting is one of those things, and they had a stellar day to kick off the 2010 MLB Draft. As for the rest of the proceedings, it was an unusual day to say the least, with plenty of shockers among the early picks.
Ian Browne / MLB.com:
Red Sox tab Vitek with first pick in Draft — CLEVELAND — The Red Sox went for an intriguing bat with the 20th overall pick in Monday night's First-Year Player Draft, grabbing Ball State second baseman Kolbrin Vitek. — While Vitek is widely regarded for his offense, it is unclear if second base will be the position he winds up at.
Peter Abraham / Boston Globe:
Red Sox, Dice-K handle Indians, 4-1 — Game over: Red Sox 4, Indians 1 — Matsuzaka went eight innings before Bard pitched the ninth and allowed a homer by Kearns. — Draft update: Vitek has agreed to a contract — Just spoke to Kolbrin Vitek, who visited the Red Sox over the weekend …
Bob Dutton / Kansas City Star:
Royals pull a surprise, select Cal State-Fullerton shortstop in draft — It was the Royals, with the fourth overall pick, who amped up the drama Monday night in the Rule 4 (new-player) draft by waiting until the last moment before selecting shortstop Christian Colon from Cal State-Fullerton.
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Adam Kilgore / Nationals Journal:
Nationals pick Bryce Harper
Discussion:
D.C. Sports Bog, MASNsports.com, Orioles Insider, Federal Baseball, Mr. Irrelevant … and The Nationals Enquirer
Roch Kubatko / Baseball America:
Orioles Stray From Pitching-First Plan With Machado
Discussion:
Camden Chat
Ben Goessling / MASNsports.com:
Nationals make Harper the No. 1 pick - The Goessling Game
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
Barry Petchesky / Deadspin:
This Is Pete Rose's Corked Bat — You're looking at an X-ray of a Mizuno PR4192 bat, commissioned by Pete Rose specifically for his 1985 chase of baseball's all-time hits record. Inside, clear as day, is a piece of foreign material, about 6 inches long, and the diameter of a nickel.
J.J. Cooper / Baseball America:
Best Available Talent Heading Into Day Two — Here's a look at the top remaining players on our updated Top 50 draft prospects list that we posted on Monday. — 15. Stetson Allie, rhp, St. Edward HS, Lakewood, Ohio — 20. Brandon Workman, rhp, Texas 23. Brett Eibner, rhp/of, Arkansas 25. A.J. Cole, rhp, Oviedo (Fla.) HS
Discussion:
Nationals Journal, redsminorleagues.com, Baseball Prospectus, MLB Rumors and Nationals Farm Authority
John Manuel / Baseball America:
Yankees End First Round With Stunner, Cito Culver — Once again, this wasn't a consensus first-rounder. Need more proof? Cito Culver ranked No. 168 on our board, but Culver had athleticism, plus tools to play shortstop and good infield actions, and the Yankees popped him at No. 32.
Discussion:
The LoHud Yankees Blog, Pinstripe Alley, NoMaas.org, Sliding Into Home and The iYankees Blog
Anthony DiComo / MLB.com:
Mets draft workhorse with their first pick — Club selects Carolina righty Harvey seventh overall — NEW YORK — In the game that everyone still talks about, Matt Harvey took the mound feeling ill. — “Playing on the road at Clemson is a very tough place to play,” he said weeks later.
John Manuel / Baseball America:
Biggest Shocker So Far: Hayden Simpson to Chicago Cubs — We were on Hayden Simpson in the preseason. But no one was on him at No. 17 overall. — Simpson, our No. 191 prospect on our Top 200, was our preseason Division II pitcher of the year, and he was the pitcher of the year at Division II.
Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com:
Quality players left entering Day 2 of Draft — SECAUCUS, N.J. — Washington Nationals, you are on the clock with the first pick ... again. — Sure, it may not be as sexy as taking uber-prospect Bryce Harper with the first overall pick on Monday night, but the Nationals will get to kick things off …
Associated Press:
Adrian Gonzalez hits pair of homers as Padres down slumping Phillies — PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The way the Philadelphia Phillies are hitting, their pitchers need to be perfect or close to it. — Adrian Gonzalez's (FSY) first of two solo homers broke up Cole Hamels' (FSY) …
Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Pirates Notebook: Players shrug off Strasburg — If this is the day Major League Baseball has been anticipating all summer, the debut of Washington phenom Stephen Strasburg, then it also is the day the Pirates have been anticipating ... well, not much at all, actually.
Kevin Goldstein / Baseball Prospectus:
Final Mock Draft: Mock Away — 1. Washington Nationals: Move along, nothing to see here. — Pick: Bryce Harper, C/OF, College of Southern Nevada — 2. Pittsburgh Pirates: The needle seems to have move a bit towards James Taillon over Manny Machado. The Pirates think Taillon is the better talent …
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