Draft 2012 – Alex Bregman, Kyle Hansen, Brian Johnson, Ross Heffley, Addison Russell

 Alex Bregman — 5’-11”, C/INF, Albuquerque Academy (NM) - Bregman is an advanced hitter with an easy swing and power to all fields. As a junior, he hit .678 with 19 home runs, and his 6.8/60 speed allowed him to steal 23 bases as well. He is still raw as a catcher but has shown the ability to stay at the position at the next level. Hit .417 with seven RBI and five stolen bases for Team USA at the Pan Am Championships, coming up with clutch hit after clutch hit. Plays the game very hard and has a high understanding of the game. http://www.throughthefencebaseball.com/top-50-draft-prospects-for-2012-50-thru-26/15621/

Kyle Hansen / RHP / St. John’s – A 90-92 fastball from the 3/4 slot with good sink, Hansen has shown the ability to miss bats in his first two years in the Big East. There are some issues with his finish with the delivery, but Hansen is one of my sleepers to watch in 2012. http://mlbdraftinsider.com/2011/12/top-twelve-college-pitchers/

Brian Johnson has gotten looks as both a hitter and a pitcher with Florida and while he can hit a little, most feel he'll pitch at the next level. The left-hander has four pitches he can throw for strikes. His fastball sits mostly in the average range, though he can run it up to 92 mph, with pretty good sink to the arm side. His slider is his out pitch and should be an above-average offering in the big leagues. His changeup, which he doesn't always use, has the chance to be at least above-average. Johnson gets high marks for his mound presence and willingness to go right after hitters. College lefties are always a hot commodity and Johnson could be the first in this class to go off the board.http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2012/

Ross Heffley   Position:  2B   School:  Western Carolina   Date of Birth:  1/21/1990   Height/Weight:  5’8/175   Bats/Throws:  R/R   Class Of:  2012   Previously Drafted:  Scouting Report:  Ross Heffley earned All-American Honors in 2011 and won Western Carolina’s triple crown.  He is a small second baseman, listed at 5’8, but that may be generous.  He handles the bat well.  He has some pop and could provide plenty of doubles at the next level.  Heffley is an average runner.  He provides solid defense at second and has a strong arm  http://mlbdraftguide.com/

Addison Russell, SS, Pace (Fla.)  - Like Romero, Russell appears to be a candidate to move to third base at the next levels, and there's enough arm strength and athleticism to warrant a shot in the outfield if necessary. He possesses well above-average bat speed that may turn into enticing power come draft day. Russell, who signed on to play at Auburn, starred with Almora on the USA Baseball National Team that won the Pan Am title. http://espn.go.com/blog/high-school/baseball/post/_/id/940/mccullers-jr-is-top-florida-diamond-star

Draft 2012: - Stryker Trahan, RJ Ybarra, Jeremy Baltz, Ross Heffley

http://mlbdraftinsider.com/2011/12/top-twelve-high-school-position-players/#more-602 6. Stryker Trahan / C-OF / Acadania HS (LA): Just like Cecchini, Trahan would rank higher on the list if he was a sure thing at his current position. The left-handed hitting catcher has plus power, though he can get a bit pull happy at times. Defensively, the issue isn’t with arm strength or quickness — and he’s an above-average runner in the outfield — but he’s new to the position and still a work in progress. If he shows major improvements behind the plate, he’s a first-round lock.

RJ Ybarra is a polished catching prospect with nice ability on both sides of the ball. Ybarra has a big, relatively long power swing that leads to impressive power and an ability to hit a good amount of line drives. His swing does lead to some strikeouts, but that’s to be expected from a hitter with Ybarra’s power. His plate discipline is solid at this point, and that’s an area where Ybarra will look to improve this season. Defensively, Ybarra has been a catcher since he was 10 years old, but played other postions until he was a junior at Riverside Poly because of team need (thanks to Baseball America- link is subscribers only). Last season, in his first full year at catcher, Ybarra showed a great arm and nice agility behind the plate, but he needs work on the smoothness of his motions along with blocking balls down in the zone. He has the ability to be a very good defensive catcher with more experience, and we’ll see if he improves defensively in 2012. http://rayscoloredglasses.com/2011/12/21/taking-an-early-look-at-the-catchers-in-the-2012-mlb-draft-part-1

We continue the countdown today at number 31 with St. John’s junior outfielder Jeremy Baltz. The Vestal, NY native attended the local Vestal High School where he was a four-time New York State scholar-athlete. He earned a total of three letters in baseball while helping the Golden Bears win three straight sectional titles and two conference championships. He was a two-time all-division selection while being named all-conference as a senior. He was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 45th round in the 2009 MLB Draft but decided to attend St. John’s. Baltz had one of the best seasons by a freshman in school history leading the team in each of the triple crown categories. He finished with a .396 batting average with 24 homers and 85 RBI. He picked up a myriad of awards for his season including being named 2010 Big East Rookie of the Year, Louisville Slugger Freshman of the Year, and NCBWA National Freshman Hitter of the Year. He was named a Freshman All-American by NCBWA, Louisville Slugger, and Baseball America while being named a First Team All-American by Baseball America while being Second Team All-American by ABCA, Louisville Slugger, and NCBWA. http://www.collegebaseballdaily.com/2011/12/27/top-100-countdown-31-jeremy-baltz-st-johns

Player:  Ross Heffley  Position:  2B  School:  Western Carolina  Date of Birth:  1/21/1990  Height/Weight:  5’8/175  Bats/Throws:  R/R  Class Of:  2012  Previously Drafted: Scouting Report: Ross Heffley earned All-American Honors in 2011 and won Western Carolina’s triple crown.  He is a small second baseman, listed at 5’8, but that may be generous.  He handles the bat well.  He has some pop and could provide plenty of doubles at the next level.  Heffley is an average runner.  He provides solid defense at second and has a strong arm

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http://mlbdraftinsider.com/2011/12/top-twelve-high-school-position-players/#more-602 7. Joey Gallo / 1B-3B /  Bishop Gorman HS (NV): This is a fairly aggressive ranking, but I think Gallo’s upside and raw power are better than other first-base prospects like Keon Barnum and the like. The swing will need to be shortened considerably, but the plate approach is solid and the ball jumps off the bat when contact is made. The LSU commit has the arm-strength to play third, but not the lateral quickness or range.