No sooner did baseball’s 2009 first-year player draft cross the finish line Thursday afternoon, but the gun was sounded to effectively signal the start of the 2010 scouting season.

Almost concurrent with the Los Angeles Angels making New York high-school first baseman Alibay Barkley the 1,521^st and final pick in the ’09 draft, the opening round of batting practice was getting underway at Perfect Game’s National Showcase at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

Some 250 of the nation’s top prospects in the 2010 high-school class are in attendance, including the likes of righthanders Jameson Taillon (The Woodlands, Texas, HS), A.J. Cole (Oviedo HS, Winter Springs, Fla.), Dylan Covey (Maranatha HS, Pasadena, Calif.) and Kaleb Cowart (Cook County HS, Adel, Ga.), and shortstop Yordy Cabrera (Lakeland, Fla.), the top five high-school prospects in the 2010 class according to the latest PG Crosschecker. Of the nation’s top 50 players, 44 were scheduled to participate in the four-day event.

Among those also in attendance are some 400-500 scouts, college recruiters and agents—all trying to get their first serious look at next year’s draft class. It’s been no rest for the weary as almost every scout went right from his own team’s draft war room directly to the Metrodome.

Chicago Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken said he took the first available fright out from the team’s draft headquarters in Mesa, Ariz., to Minneapolis so as to miss as little of the action as possible—even though he missed Wednesday’s opening-day session.

Wilken’s timing was perfect, however, as no more than minutes after he settled in at 8 o’clock Friday morning but Cabrera, a leading candidate to be one of the top picks in the 2010 draft, stepped in for a round of batting practice—driving numerous balls hard to left-center alley and the middle of the field. Shortly thereafter, he took a round of balls at shortstop, handling every play a shortstop is required to make with smooth, relatively easy actions.

Of the 32 players taken in the first round of this year’s draft, 30 had attended at least one Perfect Game-sanctioned event—either showcase or tournament—while in high school. The list included the likes of Donavan Tate (Padres, 3^rd), Zach Wheeler (Giants, 6^th), Jacob Turner (Tigers, 9^th), Tyler Matzek (Rockies, 11^th), Matthew Purke (Rangers, 14^th), Bobby Borchering (Diamondbacks, 16^th), Chad James (Marlins, 18^th), Jiovanni Mier (Astros, 21^st), Nick Franklin (Mariners, 27^th), Slade Heathcott (Yankees, 29^th), and Levon Washington (Rays, 30^th)—all high-school players taken in the first round this week.

We’ll be providing various updates on the National Showcase from time to time throughout the weekend, highlighting the top prospects in the 2010 (and even 2011) class.