Top News:
Keith Law / ESPN:
Cole still No. 1 in final 2011 mock — UCLA righty goes to Pirates; Nationals are poised to add another potential superstar — I'll call this the “final” first-round projection, but I'm hoping to update this throughout the day on Monday. Many high-level sources are telling me they're …
Discussion:
Sports Illustrated, FanGraphs Baseball, Scout.com, Projo Sox Blog, Washington Post, Beyond the Box Score, Lookout Landing, MetsMinorLeagueBlog.com, River Avenue Blues, The Crawfish Boxes, Federal Baseball, Royals Review, U.S.S. Mariner, MetsBlog.com, Rays Index, Bucs Dugout, MLB Rumors, Steve Melewski, Where Have You Gone … and AZ Snake Pit
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Jim Callis / Baseball America:
Final Mock Draft — As draft morning dawned, one thing was certain: The Pirates will take UCLA righthander Gerrit Cole with the No. 1 overall selection. After that, teams were still scrambling to line up their picks. — The consensus in the industry is the Mariners will choose Rice third …
Discussion:
Baseball Nation, Lookout Landing, Steve Melewski and baseballmusings.com
Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com:
Pirates will take Cole with No. 1 Draft pick — Power right-hander from UCLA eyed as durable, front-line starter — The Pirates will take UCLA right-hander Gerrit Cole with the No. 1 overall pick in the First-Year Player Draft on Monday, a baseball source told MLB.com.
Peter Abraham / Boston Globe:
MLB Draft live blog: Red Sox take Barnes and Swihart in first round — The MLB Draft has started. The teams are calling into their picks into a MLB Network studio in New Jersey to be announced by commissioner Bud Selig. — The first pick, as expected, was UCLA righthander Gerrit Cole to the Pirates.
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball, The House That Dewey Built, Over the Monster and Baseball Nation
Kevin Goldstein / Baseball Prospectus:
Future Shock — The 2011 Mock Draft — 1. Pittsburgh Pirates: Gerrit Cole, RHP, UCLA. Upgrade this call from “lean” to “heavy lean.” It seems clear that Anthony Rendon is out of the picture, so it's between Cole and Danny Hultzen, who did himself few favors by throwing out a big bonus number over the weekend.
Discussion:
Toronto Sun, Dodgers Blog, Over the Monster, Batter's Box Interactive …, Camden Chat, Lone Star Ball and South Side Sox
Dave Sheinin / Washington Post:
Draft surprise: Rice 3B Anthony Rendon falls to Nationals with sixth overall pick — Toss out all the projections and mock drafts, which were rendered obsolete two picks into tonight MLB draft. By the time the Nationals' turn came with the No. 6 overall pick, the players most frequently linked …
Discussion:
Mr. Irrelevant …, Federal Baseball and Nats Enquirer
Dave Cameron / FanGraphs Baseball:
Are the Pirates Making a Mistake with Cole?
Discussion:
Bluebird Banter and U.S.S. Mariner
Duk / Yahoo! Sports:
Mets give blogger a bigger audience by ejecting him from Citi Field — Whoops! In an attempt to curb the exposure of outside business interests, the New York Mets did the complete opposite over the weekend and unwittingly gave extreme exposure to something their very policies were designed to prevent.
RELATED:
Matthew Leach / MLB.com:
Cards select second baseman Wong at No. 22 — ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals continued a recent trend on Monday, selecting University of Hawaii second baseman Kolten Wong with their first pick in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft. Wong is the third college infielder selected by the Cardinals in the first round in the past four years.
Discussion:
Viva El Birdos
RELATED:
Ken Gurnick / MLB.com:
Dodgers draft Stanford lefty Reed 16th — Having served as closer in 2011, southpaw can hit 96 mph — The Dodgers selected Stanford left-handed relief pitcher Christopher Reed with their first selection — No. 16 overall — in Monday night's First-Year Player Draft.
Discussion:
True Blue LA and Britt's Bird Watch
National Post:
Blue Jays take a pitcher with first pick — After stocking up on pitchers in the early rounds last year, the Toronto Blue Jays took another one with their first pick in the 2011 draft. — Tyler Beede was ranked as the draft's No. 35 prospect by Baseball America. The Jays picked 21st in the first round.
Discussion:
Bluebird Banter
RELATED:
John Manuel / Baseball America:
Pick 1/21: Blue Jays Select Tyler Beede — The Blue Jays drafted Tyler Beede, who was No. 14 on our list of righthanded pitchers but who continued to move up draft boards as the draft approached. A Vanderbilt signee, Beede was considered a tough sign, and last year's top prep out of Massachusetts …
Discussion:
Batter's Box Interactive …
Michael Diaz / MetsMinorLeagueBlog.com:
A deeper look at Brandon Nimmo — Brandon Nimmo, OF, East HS (WY.) — 6'3″, 195lbs — [DOB]: 3-27-1993 — Brandon Nimmo is a tremendous athlete with outstanding tools across the board. Very high upside, with size, speed, and defense. Smooth left-handed hitting swing, with a lot of room to fill out.
Discussion:
Amazin' Avenue
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Toni Ginnetti / Chicago Sun Times:
DL likely for White Sox' Jake Peavy — The frustration of this White Sox season might be epitomized by starter Jake Peavy, who likely is headed to the disabled list again. — Less than a month after his return from shoulder surgery, Peavy left the game Sunday against the Detroit Tigers with a strained right groin.
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com, HardballTalk, Yahoo! Sports, Baseball Nation and Call to the Pen
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Associated Press:
Dykstra charged with car theft, drug possession — SAN FERNANDO, Calif. — Former New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies star Lenny Dykstra was charged Monday with grand theft auto and drug possession by prosecutors who claim he used phony information to lease a car from a Southern California dealership.
Discussion:
NESN.com
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Orioles Hand Athletics 7th Straight Loss, 4-2 — BALTIMORE (AP) — Brian Matusz and three relievers combined on a seven-hitter, and the Baltimore Orioles beat Oakland 4-2 Monday night to extend the Athletics' losing streak to a season-high seven games. — Matt Wieters had two hits …
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports, Athletics Nation and Associated Press
Brian Costa / Wall Street Journal:
Mets Look to Open Their Wallets — With their finances in distress, the Mets need to stay in the good graces of Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig. And yet, now more than ever, it's essential that they ignore Selig's wishes in one critical area: the amateur draft.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors, Mets Merized Online and MetsBlog.com
RELATED:
Andy McCullough / New Jersey Online:
As mind behind Mets' future, Paul DePodesta tasked with replenishing farm system
Discussion:
Patrick Flood
Troy Renck / All Things Rockies:
Rockies' Fowler considered for disabled list; Blackmon possible replacment — SAN DIEGO — With their offense struggling mightily, the Rockies couldn't stomach having a position player unavailable for another game. So Dexter Fowler might land on the disabled list with a sore left abdomen …
Discussion:
HardballTalk, NotGraphs Baseball and Call to the Pen
Tony Jackson / ESPN:
Gordon's promotion among moves by Dodgers — PHILADELPHIA — Dee Gordon, one of the top prospects in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization as well as one of the most compelling, is on his way to the major leagues. — The club purchased the contract of the lanky shortstop from its Triple …
Discussion:
True Blue LA, baseballmusings.com and ESPN
