With the 2013 MLB Rule IV Draft less than a month away, droves of scouts and front office personnel are piling into college and high school stadiums across the country with the hope of identifying their future first-round pick.

While some organizations already have it narrowed down to a few specific players, other teams—especially those drafting in the mid-to-late first round—are busily checking in on some of the late risers in this year’s class.

But that’s part of the beauty and allure of the MLB draft; a player can seemingly come out of nowhere, catch the right person’s eye and then BAM! They're suddenly a first-rounder.

Because so much can and will happen between now and June 6 to alter the landscape of the first round, I would be lying if I said I knew exactly how things will unfold on Day 1.

Read More »2

I don’t know what the Minnesota Twins are feeding their young hitters, but I want some.

In all seriousness, the team’s top position prospects have been absolutely raking to begin the 2013 season.

At the top of the list is third baseman Miguel Sano, obviously, as he’s already posted gaudy numbers in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League (High-A). Meanwhile, playing alongside Sano at Fort Myers is Eddie Rosario, a 21-year-old left-handed hitter who possesses one of the more underrated hit tools in the minor leagues.

But it doesn’t stop there.

Read More »2

The first week of May is usually when the first wave of prospects are promoted to the major leagues. And no, it’s not a coincidence.

Due to the respective service-time concerns of each prospect, most teams are hesitant to promote one of their budding stars ahead of schedule. Besides delaying their arbitration clock, keeping a player in the minor leagues for a designated amount of time results in an additional year of team control over their contract. And it just so happens that the first week of May is when a large contingent of prospects are finally clear of the aforementioned service-time concerns.

Furthermore, with a full month’s worth of games to reflect on, both at the minor- and major-league level, the beginning of May is a period during which every team assesses their strengths and weaknesses, and determines how to improve their on-field product.

For some organizations, that solution lies within the upper echelons of their farm system.

Read More »11

One of the unique parts about the Major League Baseball draft, particularly the high school prospects, is a lot of them don't just focus on baseball. 

As much as we love the sport and think anyone would be foolish to waste their time doing anything else, young athletes have other interests that can be of great benefit, both from an educational and financial standpoint, which play a role in their futures. 

We have seen in the past draftees leverage their ability to attend college on a football scholarship to get a better deal from the MLB team that took them.

The new collective bargaining agreement, which instituted the ridiculous draft slot, has hurt teams trying to negotiate because they can't spend a lot of money on one pick without hurting their chances of signing other draftees. 

Read More »0

Now that we have entered the month of May, you are going to start hearing a lot of chatter about prospects who will be getting the call to the big leagues. 

Major league clubs won't come out and admit it, but they want to keep their top players in the minors to delay their arbitration clocks and gain another year of control. It is a smart financial strategy, though it can hurt your playoff chances come October. 

For instance, last year, the Los Angeles Angels kept the corpse of Vernon Wells in left field and sent Mike Trout back to Triple-A to start the year. Wells was awful, as expected, for a month, leading to Trout being called up and having the season he had. 

But because the Angels started out the year so slowly, they missed the playoffs by four games. The odds of Trout alone being worth four wins in one month are zero, but having that presence at the top of the lineup might have helped Albert Pujols and others start faster. 

Read More »11

With the first five weeks of the minor league season now complete, it’s time to reflect on the early-season returns of baseball’s top 10 prospects.

The big story thus far has been Taijuan Walker, who is dominating in his second tour of Double-A. Over his last five starts, the right-hander has allowed only two earned runs on 13 hits in 30 innings. Meanwhile, Zack Wheeler has finally adjusted to the notoriously hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and fired back-to-back gems for Triple-A Las Vegas.

In terms of hitters, Xander Bogaerts has officially busted out of his early-season funk at the dish with a 1.060 OPS over his last 10 games. The right-handed hitter has finally found his power stroke too, as he’s now homered in consecutive games entering Monday.

Here’s a look at how the rest of Prospect Pipeline’s top 10 prospects have fared so far this season.  

Read More »10

The 2013 Major League Baseball draft is exactly one month away, so what better time to take our first in-depth look at what to expect from the annual extravaganza than providing our thoughts on what will go down. 

But instead of just providing you with a standard, run-of-the-mill mock, we wanted to change up the formula a little bit to bring in a little diversity. I, along with my fellow B/R prospect writer Mike Rosenbaum, will run through the entire first round with our idea of what each team will do. 

We will be providing our selections for all 33 picks of the first round, with alternating analysis from both of us on each pick. Rosenbaum kicks things off with the first pick. 

For more draft talk, be sure to follow me on Twitter @adamwells1985. You can also follow Mike on Twitter by clicking here. 

Read More »16

It’s only a little over a month into the Major League Baseball season—meaning all statistics still represent a small sample size—but many of the game’s top rookies are off to a hot start.

At the same time, there are several highly regarded young players who have struggled—some even mightily—to begin the season. While some of them will be encouraged to work through their scuffles in the majors, others will face an inevitable demotion if they don’t right turn things around in a hurry.

With so many notable prospects starting the season in the major leagues, it’s never too early to speculate about the Rookie of the Year Award. Therefore, I will break down the race in each league on a weekly basis this season with a detailed look at certain prospects' stock.

Here’s a look at how some of the top rookies have fared through the first three weeks of the season.

Read More »20