Having just updated our follow lists of all the top prospects in each state in the 2010 draft class, we’re now in the process of assembling the top 250 order overall. We started with University of North Carolina righthander Matt Harvey at No. 1 and Florida high-school righthander A.J. Cole at No. 2.

No real surprise there. In fact, most of the players we’ve identified and can expect to see at the top of next year’s draft board are already well-known to scouts and recruiters for some of the nation’s top college programs.

What has caught us off guard a bit is the large number of high-school juniors who have already made commitments to colleges. So far, we’ve identified more than 100.

Mind you, the commitments are verbal only, and thus non-binding, but it’s doubtful we’ll see many players (or colleges) have a change of heart between now and the NCAA early-signing period next November.

The whole practice is in stark contrast to last week’s college football signing frenzy. Not only did all of the nation’s top prep football prospects just sign, but they will begin playing at the college level as early as late summer—less than six months from now. The baseball players who are about to embark on their junior seasons in high school and yet have already made college commitments, meanwhile, won’t actually begin playing in college until the spring of 2011—two full years from now. As anyone with a trained eye knows, a lot can change in the physical, mental and emotional development of a teenager over a two-year period.

But it’s all in keeping with the way the game at the amateur level has changed and evolved over the last generation. It used to be that it wasn’t uncommon for early-round draft picks, even first-rounders, to be virtually unknown to baseball scouts and recruiters at the start of their senior year in high school. Agents could routinely pick off the best prospects by waiting as long as April—two months before the draft.

Nowadays, as the scouting and recruiting of baseball talent has become more competitive and sophisticated, and the value of premium draft picks has skyrocketed, scouts, recruiters and agents are left in the dust if they haven’t identified and moved in on the game’s top prospects at an early stage of development—often two years before they can sign a college letter-of-intent or are subject to the draft.

The competition for players has also intensified dramatically in other areas, notably at the summer-league level. It wasn’t uncommon, even a decade ago, for a top summer club to add a marquee talent midway through the college season. But it’s rare now for teams in the highly-competitive Cape Cod League and other top summer programs to not have their next year’s roster filled by the time the previous summer season ends.

Some colleges are much more expedient and efficient than others in identifying and locking up the top prep prospects early in the process, and one of the best in the business is the University of San Diego.

The Toreros are hardly a program with a rich baseball history like Arizona State, Cal State Fullerton and Southern California, or some of its nationally-prominent neighbors, and they are even overshadowed in their own town by Tony Gwynn-coached San Diego State. But they have quietly emerged as a national power by getting a jump on and often outsmarting their competition.

Until lefthander Brian Matusz, the fourth overall pick in the 2008 draft, USD had never produced a first-round pick. But the Toreros have made major inroads on securing legit pro-level talent in the last couple of years—often by beating some of the big boys in college baseball to the punch. And they have become an innovative, industry leader in arranging for most of their top high-school recruits to play in summer-league competition prior to enrolling in college as freshmen.

USD has never reached the College World Series, but begins the 2009 season ranked No. 10 nationally by PG Crosschecker. On the heels of Matusz, it may have another first-rounder this year in righthander Matt Thomson. But the Toreros real impact on the draft won’t truly be felt until 2010 when righthander Kyle Blair, lefthander Sammy Solis and third baseman Victor Sanchez will all be potential first-round picks.

Moreover, USD’s impact on the 2010 draft could be even more profound as its ability to gain an early upper hand on its more established competition has enabled it to secure commitments from several top high-school juniors, including three potential first-rounders. The trio includes California prep righthander Dylan Covey, Nevada prep third baseman Kris Bryant and Utah prep shortstop Marcus Littlewood—all ranked by PG Crosschecker as the No. 1-ranked prospects in their respective states.

So while 2010 may seem like a long way off to baseball traditionalists who continue to follow conventional scouting logic, it can’t come soon enough for the Toreros.