Looking ahead

I won't lie. I don't know all that much about the MLB draft process. It's got a lot of rounds. High School pitchers have high upside, but the road to stardom is littered with can't miss prospects. In fact, much of what I do know about professional baseball's draft is what I learned from Moneyball. With that in mind, Stephen has read up about the process and has come bearing gifts, which since his work is more demanding than mine, I will deliver to the blogging public. The Astros hold the tenth pick in this year's draft, their highest since 2001, when they selected a literal one hit wonder.

The latest MLB.com mock draft has the Stros selecting Yonder Alonso, a stud first baseman from THA U, or for those unfamiliar with college football, The University of Miami. He's got some numbers that jump off the page. In 2006, he became the first Miami freshman since Ryan Braun to lead the Hurricanes in RBI and HR's. A .519 OBP as a sophomore in college. Again, baseball projections and scouting are about as inexact as inexact sciences get, but it would be nice to be able to see 1B for this team transition from Bagwell to Berkman to a player like Alonso.

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