PERFECT GAME CROSSCHECKER'S DAILY TOP TEN LIST
WEEK 13: 4/30/07 - 5/6/07
 
Friday, May 4, 2007
Quebec high school righthander Phillippe Aumont, whose fastball was clocked at 97 mph earlier this spring, is projected to go in the first half of the first round in this year’s draft. British Columbia high school righthander Kyle Lotzkar is also a potential first-round selection.

Only twice before has Canada made as big an impact on the draft. In 2002, B.C. products Adam Loewen (fourth overall, Orioles) and Jeff Francis (ninth overall, Rockies) were selected in the first 10 picks. In 1997, three Canadians were selected prior to the second round.

Canadians were not eligible for the draft prior to 1991 (unless they attended an American college), but the country has produced a number of early-round picks since. We identify the 10 highest picks ever and the list is noteworthy because of the absence of 2006 American League MVP Justin Morneau (Twins ’99, third round), 2004 National League Rookie of the Year Jason Bay (Expos ’00, 22nd round) and 2003 N.L. Cy Young Award winner Eric Gagne (Dodgers ’95, non-drafted free agent)—three recent award-winning Canadians.
 
Top 10 Canadian Draft Picks
  Player, Pos., Hometown Drafted (Order)
1. #Adam Loewen, lhp, Surrey, B.C. Orioles ’02 (4)
2. #Jeff Francis, lhp, North Delta, B.C. Rockies ’02 (9)
3. *#Kevin Nicholson, ss, Surrey, B.C. Padres ’97 (27)
4. #Scott Thorman, 1b, Cambridge, Ontario Braves ’00 (30)
5. #Chris Reitsma, rhp, Calgary Red Sox ’96 (34)
6. Ntema Ndungidi, of, Montreal Orioles ‘97 (36)
7. #*Aaron Myette, rhp, Surrey, B.C. White Sox ’97 (43)
8. Joey Votto, c, Etobicoke, Ontario Reds ’02 (44)
9. #*Danny Klassen, ss, Leamington, Ont. Brewers ’93 (55)
10. Martin Mainville, rhp, Montreal Expos ’93 (60)
*Attended U.S. college/high school
#Played in major leagues
-- Alan Simpson
 
Thursday, May 3, 2007
On Wednesday in this space, we ran a list of the 10 top current major leaguers that were originally signed to contracts as draft-and-follows from the junior college ranks. With the draft-and-follow process being phased out with this year’s draft, we thought we would continue along the same theme and identify the 10 draft-and-follows from the 2006 draft who have emerged as the top prospects this spring, and the most likely to sign before this year’s draft.

The players have until May 31, the beginning of the close period, to sign or they will re-enter this year’s draft. In fact, one player, Broward (Fla.) CC outfielder Sergio Morales agreed to terms with the White Sox late last week. The team the player remains under control to is noted, along with the round he was drafted in a year ago.
 
Top 10 Draft-And-Follows
1. Matt Latos, rhp, Broward (Fla.) CC Padres (11)
2. Jordan Walden, rhp, Grayson County (Texas) CC Angels (12)
3. Lee Haydel, of, Delgado (La.) JC Brewers (19)
4. Rob Bryson, rhp, Seminole (Fla.) CC Brewers (31)
5. Chad Robinson, rhp, CC of Southern Nevada Brewers (12)
6. Jordan Brown, rhp, Meridian (Miss.) CC Braves (21)
7. *Sergio Morales, of, Broward (Fla.) CC White Sox (12)
8. Jovan Rosa, ss, Lake City (Fla.) CC Cubs (22)
9. Bryan Paukovits, rhp, San Diego Mesa CC Royals (44)
10. Rudy Owens, lhp, Chandler-Gilbert (Ariz.) CC Pirates (28)
*Has already signed
-- Alan Simpson
 
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
The draft-and-follow rule, which enables major league teams to draft junior college players and control their rights for almost a year before deciding whether to sign them, has been a key part of the draft since 1987. The process is being phased out with this year’s draft (See Allan Simpson’s accompanying column). In 2006, there were 51 big leaguers who originally signed as draft-and-follows, most as late-round picks.

Here’s our take on the 10 most successful draft-and-follows currently active in the big leagues, and the year/rounds they were drafted out of junior college:
 
Top 10 Draft-And-Follows
  Player, Pos., Club Signing Team, Year (Round)
1. Roy Oswalt, rhp, Astros Astros ’96 (23)
2. Andy Pettitte, lhp, Yankees Yankees ’90 (22)
3. Travis Hafner, dh, Indians Rangers ’96 (31)
4. Mark Buehrle, lhp, White Sox White Sox ’98 (38)
5. Jorge Posada, c, Yankees Yankees ’90 (24)
6. Rich Harden, rhp, Athletics Athletics ’00 (17)
7. Jason Isringhausen, rhp, Cardinals Mets ’01 (44)
8. Gary Matthews, of, Angels Padres ’93 (13)
9. Marcus Giles, 2b, Padres Braves ’96 (53)
10. Reggie Sanders, of, Royals Reds ’87 (27)
-- Alan Simpson
 
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
We kick off our 2007 Draft Preview coverage today with, among other things, a list of signing bonuses for the first 10 rounds of each of the last three drafts. With one exception, every first-rounder received a bonus of at least $1 million.

It wasn’t always that way. In the early days of the draft, first-round picks routinely received bonuses of less than $25,000. Not counting 2000, when Reds first-rounder David Espinosa received no bonus but a major league contract that guaranteed him $2.95 million, here are the 10 smallest first-round bonuses on record. Coincidentally, none of the players reached the major leagues.
 
Top 10 Smallest First-Round Bonuses
1. Bob Jones, 3b, Twins (1966) $9,000
2. Gene Holbert, c, Braves (1969) $10,000
3. Joe Grigas, of, Pirates (1967) $12,000
  Alex Rowell, of, Twins (1968) $12,000
5. Brian Bickerton, lhp, Athletics (1967) $15,000
  Robert Robinson, of, Tigers (1968) $15,000
  Ted Nicholson, 3b, White Sox (1969) $15,000
  Bob May, rhp, Pirates (1969) $15,000
  Ron Broaddus, rhp, Braves (1970) $15,000
  James West, c, Orioles (1970) $15,000
  Ken Thomas, c, Orioles (1972) $15,000
-- Alan Simpson
 
Monday, April 30, 2007
It’s still only April, but Colorado Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday is on pace to tie the highest season batting average since Hall of Famer Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941, becoming the last big leaguer to top the magic .400 barrier. Holliday was hitting .394 through Sunday’s games, tying the mark achieved by San Diego’s Tony Gwynn in the strike-shortened 1994 season.

Following are the 10 highest single-season batting averages since Williams topped .400 66 years ago. Twenty-one players have hit .365 or better since then, including three Rockies players: Andres Galarraga (.370 in 1993), Larry Walker (.379 in 1999) and Todd Helton (.372 in 2000).
 
Top 10 Highest Batting Averages Since 1941
1. Tony Gwynn, San Diego (1994) .394
2. George Brett, Kansas City (1980) .390
3. Ted Williams, Boston (1957) .388
  Rod Carew, Minnesota (1977) .388
5. Larry Walker, Colorado (1999) .379
6. Stan Musial, St. Louis (1948) .376
7. Tony Gwynn, San Diego (1997) .372
  Nomar Garciaparra, Boston (2000) .372
  Todd Helton, Colorado (2000) .372
  Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle (2004) .372
-- Alan Simpson