A few players to keep an eye on draft day (June 7-8).


The links provided go to scouting reports at MILB.com. In many cases there's even video of the players. And the best part is that it's free to read. Once you click on one of these links there'll be a pick list of all of the top prospects, and probably over 100 overall. It can be quite addicting if you're into that kind of thing.

Jon Lucroy, C, Louisiana-Lafayette
Baseball America rank: 72

Year	AB	Ave	OBP	SLG	K/BB	K%
2005	182	0.379	0.427	0.544	0.9	8.5%
2006	231	0.333	0.390	0.610	1.0	10.1%
2007	250	0.364	0.407	0.668	1.5	11.4%

Arencibia and Canham get more attention, but Lucroy is in the same ballpark as them at the plate. His defense gets mixed reviews.


Kellen Kulbacki, OF, James Madison
BA Rank: 66

Year	AB	Ave	OBP	SLG	K/BB	K%
2005	210	0.343	0.392	0.552	1.9	13.1%
2006	194	0.464	0.568	0.943	1.1	13.2%
2007	191	0.398	0.538	0.785	0.5	11.6%

Ok, those numbers are sick. Average, power, walks, plate discipline, it's all there at the plate. He's not considered a good OF so he might be limited to LF, but it's easier to teach someone how to field than how to hit, right?


Danny Payne, OF, Georgia Tech
BA Rank: 82

Year	AB	Ave	OBP	SLG	K/BB	K%
2005	261	0.284	0.418	0.375	1.1	19.5%
2006	180	0.356	0.455	0.628	1.5	22.5%
2007	219	0.370	0.509	0.543	0.7	14.5%

Payne's been a solid hitter, but hasn't shown a lot of power. If he can stay in CF he's a solid prospect. If he can't play CF he's probably a lot closer to a 4th OF.


Tony Thomas, 2B, Florida St
BA Rank: 114

Year	AB	Ave	OBP	SLG	K/BB	K%
2005	217	0.240	0.388	0.419	1.8	27.7%
2006	235	0.289	0.392	0.426	1.9	23.7%
2007	242	0.442	0.537	0.760	0.9	12.2%

How's that for a turn around? Thomas reportedly opened his stance up and now sees the ball earlier and from the looks of it it's been quite a useful adjustment. He's also 28-33 in steal attempts this season.


Eric Sogard, 2B, Arizona St
BA Rank: 182

Year	AB	Ave	OBP	SLG	K/BB	K%
2005	22	0.182	0.308	0.227	1.0	15.4%
2006	184	0.353	0.432	0.625	1.1	14.5%
2007	213	0.390	0.490	0.624	0.6	8.6%

Second basemen don't get a whole lot of respect in the draft (or in the free agent market for that matter). But sometimes a guy hits enough where you need to take a look at him and Sogard could be one of those players. His line is actually quite similar to Dustin Pedrioa who also played at ASU.


Matt Spencer, OF, Arizona St
BA Rank: 198

Year	AB	Ave	OBP	SLG	K/BB	K%
2004	17	0.176	0.263	0.176	3.0	31.6%
2005	45	0.222	0.294	0.489	4.5	36.0%
2006	176	0.278	0.357	0.443	1.5	16.9%
2007	168	0.381	0.444	0.637	2.3	18.1%

If there's such a thing as a journeyman college player this might be it. He played his freshman year at Texas, transferred to UNC for two years and then played at Arizona St this year. As you can see he had a big spike this year, although part of it may be due to the environment.