Top News:
Baseball America:
Tuesday Morning Mock Draft — For the first time since 1999, when the Devil Rays deliberated between Josh Hamilton and Josh Beckett, scouting directors will wake up on draft day without knowing for sure who will go No. 1. The Royals own that pick, and if they've finalized their decision, they've kept it closely guarded.
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Jim Callis / Baseball America:
Draft Blog: Day One — Throughout the first day of the draft, Baseball America's reporters will keep you updated with an ongoing draft day blog. — Last Second Top 10 Projection — 12:57 p.m.: Our last-second projection for the Top 10 . . . 1. KC—Luke Hochevar — 2. Col—Greg Reynolds
Adam Rubin / NY Daily News:
Soler-powered — Rookie's gem lifts Mets in L.A. — LOS ANGELES - Alay Soler had a three-run cushion before he even took the mound. Nine innings later, the Cuban defector had his first major-league win. — Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado homered in the first inning …
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
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Chris Snow / Boston Globe:
It's a Broadway stage for Pauley in Act 2 — NEW YORK — Until Thursday night in Toronto, David Pauley had never pitched above Double A. Until Sunday night, he had never set foot in New York City. In fact, until he was dealt to the Red Sox by San Diego in December 2004 …
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Jeff Horrigan / Boston Herald:
Beckett collapses — Yankees apply pressure — NEW YORK - The Red Sox parted with two of their top minor league prospects to land Josh Beckett from the Florida Marlins last November because the team believed it was receiving a big-game pitcher in return who would not wilt under pressure.
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Jim Molony / MLB.com:
Royals tab Hochevar as No. 1 pick — Right-hander has ability to arrive in Majors quickly — The Kansas City Royals surprised no one by selecting a pitcher with the franchise's first ever No. 1 pick of the draft Tuesday. But the Royals threw a curve by selecting not Andrew Miller …
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Kevin Goldstein / Baseball Prospectus:
Future Shock — Pre-Draft Pandemonium — I had an interesting afternoon yesterday, getting away from the phone long enough to put on the suit and talk about today's draft with the fine folks on ESPNews' Hot List. During my 12 minute segment I spoke briefly about many of the top players …
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball
Jeff Passan / Yahoo! Sports:
Miller is draft's power pitcher — CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - At the mall last summer, Andrew Miller bought a three-pack of silicone bracelets. For a 21-year-old, he has a propensity to purchase ridiculous items, like cap guns and Velcro tennis-ball sets, and when he opened the bag and snaked the blue bracelet …
Discussion:
TigerBlog
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Paul Meyer / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Pirates likely to select a pitcher in first round — Player they are projected to get might stir up memories of former star Pirates pitcher from early '90s — If the teams ahead of them behave as expected, the Pirates almost certainly today will select University of Houston right-hander Brad Lincoln …
David Lennon / Newsday:
Milledge defends his actions — LOS ANGELES — Any remorse that Lastings Milledge was feeling after high-fiving the fans along the rightfield line Sunday apparently had vanished by the time the Mets boarded their cross-country charter to the West Coast later that night.
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USA Today:
Former prep prospect now creating heat in the kitchen after shoulder surgeries — Persistent shoulder injuries early this decade prevented Ryan Anderson from throwing 100-mph heat in the major leagues. Now out of baseball, Anderson is ready to turn up the heat in a new career.
Discussion:
Mariner Minors
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Kevin Baxter / Miami Herald:
Searching for diamond in the rough — The Marlins have made shrewd draft picks recently, something they hope to duplicate considering that there is a relatively weak crop of players this year. — kbaxter@MiamiHerald.com — The conventional wisdom holds that the talent …
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Evan Grant / Dallas Morning News:
Rangers' GM faces old dilemma in 1st draft
Rangers' GM faces old dilemma in 1st draft
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball
Mark Schlabach / Washington Post:
Nationals Win Fifth Game in a Row — Cordero Escapes Trouble in the Ninth: Nationals 5, Braves 4 — ATLANTA, June 5 — About three hours earlier, Washington Nationals Manager Frank Robinson sat in a small office in his team's clubhouse at Turner Field. Asked if he worried …
Jay Jaffe / Baseball Prospectus:
Prospectus Hit List — Week of June 4 — Who doesn't love a rookie? Whether it's a highly touted prospect making his not-so-long-awaited arrival, a green stopgap fresh off the turnip truck, or a lifer finally catching a break, nobody grabs our attention like the new guy.
NY Daily News:
Kids are all right to Brian — In the spring, Brian Cashman says, he and Joe Torre spent a fair amount of time talking to the Yankee kids, to the guys off the bench. The message, Cashman says, was the same, from the first time all the players were together in one room.
Discussion:
New York Times
Mike Downey / Chicago Tribune:
1 chance, 1 pitch, 1 dream deferred — 'Back then, I thought, 'Well, there'll be other days.' I didn't realize that that was the only day. Thus spoke Dr. Archibald "Moonlight" Graham, or at least a whimsical version of him brought to life by Burt Lancaster in the 1989 baseball—some would say cornball—film "Field of Dreams."
Discussion:
Bleed Cubbie Blue
Evan Grant / Dallas Morning News:
Alfonseca's return boosts Rangers' bullpen — IF Jimenez expected to be odd man out; move adds flexibility — Rangers manager Buck Showalter said he expects right-handed reliever Antonio Alfonseca to be activated from the disabled list today, giving the club an eight-man bullpen for the foreseeable future.