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The Draft, obviously, is all about projection. All 30 teams’ scouting staffs scour the country evaluating the best amateur talent available each year, trying to decipher who will turn into the game’s next stars.
It is a huge understatement to call it an inexact science. Over the years, we’ve tried to encapsulate what the scouting industry is thinking about each Draft class when we put out our Draft prospect rankings. Just like with the newly minted Draft Top 150 we launched, this isn’t a guess as to who will go where, but as thorough a vetting of the ranking of a class’ talent as we can muster.
Highest-ranked Draft picks of the past decade mlb.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mlb.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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MLB Rumors: Free agent Kyle Schwarber and the Washington Nationals have reportedly agreed to terms on a one year deal worth $10 million. The free agent outfielder/DH was non-tendered by the Chicago Cubs in early December, due to their not wanting to pay him the estimated $7-8 million Schwarber was expected to get in free agency.
Schwarber was selected #4 overall in the 2014 draft by the Cubs out of the University of Indiana. An offense-first catcher with a lot of questions about his ability to stay behind the plate, he was not expected to go nearly that high in the draft, and the Cubs signed him to a well-below-slot deal that allowed them to apply the savings to, among other things, signing 6th rounder Dylan Cease, who got $1.5 million to sign as a sixth round pick, established himself as a top 100 prospect, and now is with the Chicago White Sox (who acquired Cease in the Jose Quintana trade).
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HOUSTON What’s in a number? Well, quite a lot when they’re worn by baseball players. The wearing of a particular jersey number is something most players take very seriously, while some are just glad to have any kind of number below their name on a big league uniform.
The Astros have 10 retired jersey numbers, including Jackie Robinson’s No. 42 that was retired around baseball prior to the 1997 season. The last number retired by the Astros was the No. 7 worn by Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, who actually broke into the Major Leagues wearing No. 4. And did you know 14 players wore No. 24 after Jimmy Wynn before the Astros decided to retire it in 2005?