2010 FOLLOW LIST

COMPILED by DAVID RAWNSLEY

STATE OVERVIEW

It’s become almost a cliché in baseball circles that Texas is the home of big, strong-armed pitchers. The legends of Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens run deep in the Lone Star State, especially when they are re-ignited, like this spring when Ryan, in his role as president of the Texas Rangers, starts showing up at high-school games to scout talent.

Nine of the top 10 prospects in Texas this spring are pitchers (according to PG Crosschecker; see attached follow list), with eight throwing from the right side. None is more prominent, or more talented than The Woodlands High righthander Jameson (Jamo) Taillon, who has a realistic chance of becoming only the third high-school righthander picked with the second selection overall in draft history.

Should that occur, Taillon would join fellow Texan Josh Beckett (1999, Florida Marlins) and Illinois’ Bill Gullickson (1977, Montreal Expos) to hold that distinction. No prep righthander has ever been selected with the first pick in the draft.

With the 2010 season winding down, it’s appropriate to note that the No. 1-ranked teams at both the college and junior-college levels are Texas teams—and both have high-powered pitching staffs.

The University of Texas has the top pitching staff in college baseball (43-8, 2.27 team ERA), bar none, and could have three pitchers drafted in the top three rounds in starters Brandon Workman and Cole Green, and closer Chance Ruffin. The team’s best prospect, sophomore righthander Taylor Jungmann, will have to wait until 2011 to be drafted, but he is a strong candidate to go No. 1 overall.

San Jacinto, meanwhile, enters the Junior College World Series at No. 1. The Gators (48-10) suffered the misfortune of losing their two best holdover pitchers from 2009 to season-ending arm injuries, yet are still deep in pitching talent (2.47 team ERA), and have realistic hopes that as many as four pitchers could be drafted in the top 10 rounds in June.

Freshman lefthander Miguel Pena has posted an impressive 13-1, 1.96 record this year for San Jac, while sophomore righthander Clay Schrader has been a stalwart in the bullpen with 11 saves and 47 strikeouts in 27 innings.

San Jacinto, though, doesn’t boast the top junior-college pitching prospect in the state. That distinction is held by Northeast Texas righthander Zach Cates, a converted catcher with a mid-90s fastball who could slip into the supplemental round after going undrafted the past two years. A virtual unknown at the start of the 2010 season, Cates burst onto the scouting landscape by pumping fastballs as high as 98 mph.

In what has become almost an annual ritual, a Texas-based team in the independent American Association has a strong possibility of producing a first-round arm.

On the heels of Luke Hochevar (the No. 1 overall pick in 2006), Max Scherzer (an unsigned first-rounder from 2006 who signed a year later after pitching in the American Association) and Aaron Crow (a first-rounder a year ago), the Grand Prairie Air Hogs are auditioning lefthander James Paxton, an unsigned supplemental first-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays a year ago. He could resurface in the first round this year.

As was the case with those before him, Paxton elected to skip his senior year of college in favor of a handful of starts at the independent level, just before the draft. Paxton left Kentucky early this year after being involved in an eligibility controversy with the NCAA over his use of an advisor/agent in his negotiations with Toronto last summer.

After Taillon, the Texas high-school ranks will have a more limited impact on the draft than normal. But that could quickly change if talented McKinney High righthander Zach Lee gives any indication that he might be interested in pursuing a professional baseball career out of high school.

Lee, one of the nation’s top quarterback recruits, has been steadfast in his conviction to play college football at Louisiana State, and has refused all overtures from scouts to at least discuss his career options. Should he have a change of heart in the days leading up to the draft, or leave the door even slightly ajar, then Texas could have yet another pitcher move squarely into the first-round picture.

Perhaps not ironically, given the state’s fascination with prep football, the three best high-school prospects after Taillon, including Lee, are all nationally-known football players.

Henderson High righthander Tyrell Jenkins, like Lee a quarterback, has committed to play football at Baylor. LaPorte High outfielder Kendrick Perkins initially tried to give up a promising football career as a running back last fall, but returned after missing one game and went on to rush for more than 1,600 yards for a second straight year. He has signed a baseball-only scholarship to attend Texas A&M, however.

Not every top prospect in the 2010 draft from Texas is a pitcher, or a football player.

Texas-Arlington outfielder Michael Choice, the only position player in the state given a chance to be picked in the first round, has been mentioned as a possible draft for teams in the first 5-7 picks, although the early- to mid-teens seems to be a more realistic landing place.

Choice has assembled one of the more unusual seasons in recent memory as opposing pitchers have done their best to pitch around him, with limited success. He had drawn 70 walks on the season, by far the most in the nation, and yet was still hitting a robust .401-16-57.

Beyond No. 1 Texas, the next two highest-ranked college teams in the state, Texas Christian (No. 8, 40-11) and Rice (No. 23, 32-19), will have a minimum impact on this year’s draft. But both those schools should significantly influence the 2011 proceedings.

Rice sophomore third baseman Anthony Rendon, perhaps the best hitter in college baseball, is expected to challenge Texas’ Jungmann to be the No. 1 pick overall. TCU lefthander Matthew Purke, a front-runner for national freshman-of-the-year honors, could also be in the running after going unsigned as a 2009 first-rounder.

But first things first, and the focus here is on 2010.

IN A NUTSHELL

STRENGTH: Pitching at all levels.

WEAKNESS: Advanced college hitters, high-school bats.

OVERALL RATING (1-to-5 scale): 4.

BEST COLLEGE TEAM: Texas.

BEST JUNIOR-COLLEGE TEAM: San Jacinto.

BEST HIGH-SCHOOL TEAM: Bellaire.

PROSPECT ON THE RISE: Tyrell Jenkins, rhp, Henderson HS. Like Zach Lee (below), Jenkins is a prominent football QB, but just as talented on the mound—and perhaps more signable.

PROSPECT ON THE DECLINE:Rick Hague, ss, Rice. His defensive struggles this spring are well documented, but he hasn’t hit especially well either, until the last month.

WILD CARD: Zach Lee, rhp, McKinney HS. Definite first-round candidate on talent, but will his football ride to LSU be too hard to buy out?

BEST OUT-OF-STATE PROSPECT, Texas Connection: Brett Eibner, rhp-of, U. of Arkansas (Attended high school in The Woodlands).

TOP 2011 PROSPECT: Anthony Rendon, 3b, Rice U/Taylor Jungmann, rhp, Texas.

TOP 2012 PROSPECT: Michael Wacha, rhp, Texas A&M.

HIGHEST DRAFT PICKS

Draft History: David Clyde, lhp, Westchester HS, Houston (1973, Rangers/1^st round, 1^st pick); Matt Anderson, rhp, Rice U. (1997, Tigers/1^st round, 1^st pick).

2006 Draft: Brad Lincoln, rhp, U. of Houston (Pirates/1^st round, 4^th pick).

2007 Draft: Kevin Ahrens, ss, Memorial HS, Houston (Blue Jays/1^st round, 16^th pick).

2008 Draft: Andrew Cashner, rhp, Texas Christain U. (Cubs/1^st round, 19^th pick).

2009 Draft: Matthew Purke, lhp, Klein HS (Rangers/1^st round, 14^th pick).

BEST TOOLS

Best Hitter: Michael Choice, of, Texas-Arlington.

Best Power: Michael Choice, of, Texas-Arlington.

Best Speed: Krey Bratsen, of, Bryan HS.

Best Defender: Bryan Holaday, c, Texas Christian.

Best Velocity: Jameson Taillon, rhp, The Woodlands HS/Zach Cates, rhp, Northeast Texas JC.

Best Breaking Stuff: Chance Ruffin, rhp, Texas.

TOP PROSPECTS

Full scouting reports available on players ranked on national Top 250 list (click on National Top 300)

GROUP ONE(Projected ELITE-Round Draft / Rounds 1-3)

1. JAMESON TAILLON, rhp, The Woodlands HS                                                    National Top 250 (Rank 2)

FB up to 96-98 mph frequently, CU is plus at times; as good as any HS pitching prospect in the last decade