With the Baseball America 2013 Top 100 High School and College Prospects list being released, several Elite Alumni were named on both lists. Two Elite Alumni barely missed the cut for the High School list. Below are the lists of the Elite Alumni who were ranked along with the link to the full lists.

Baseball America 2013 Top High School Prospects (Subscription)

Below is the Top 100 high school prospects in the country for the 2013 draft. The list is based on future pro potential and was put together with the input of dozens of scouts and college coaches.

Baseball America 2013 Top College Prospects (Subscription)

Here are the Top 100 college prospects in the country for the 2013 draft. The list is based on future pro potential and was put together with the input of several scouting directors and crosscheckers.

Baseball America: 50 Players Who Just Missed The Cut (Subscription)

Arden Pabst, c/1b, Harvard-Westlake HS, Studio City, Calif.
Georgia Tech recruit got some experience catching two first rounders last year. Big, maxed out frame could trigger a move to first base.

Kyle Serrano, rhp, Farragut HS, Knoxville
The son of Tennessee head coach Dave Serrano, Kyle has a 6-foot-1, 190-pound frame and a loose, clean delivery. His fastball sits in the 88-90 mph range and he already has feel for a quality changeup with fade. He is committed to play for his father with the Volunteers.

With the early signing period taking place during mid-November, many Elite and EBS players had signed their National Letters of Intent to Division I schools. Below are some of the players who signed during the early signing period:

Joven Afenir (Vista Murrieta): Kansas
Aaron Barnett (Capistrano Valley): Pepperdine
Scott Burke (Glendora): UCLA
Gavin Collins (El Toro): Mississippi State
Joe Corrigan (Harvard-Westlake): USC
Dalton Frize (Orange Lutheran): St. Mary’s College
Jeremy Martinez (Mater Dei): USC
Dane McFarland (JSerra): Oregon
Ryan McMahon (Mater Dei): USC
John Montgomery (JSerra): Eastern Michigan
Nick Pagliolonga (El Toro): Naval Academy
Arden Pabst (Harvard-Westlake): Georgia Tech
Austin Ponzi (Santa Margarita): Long Beach State
Tyler Russell (Vista Murrieta): Eastern Michigan
Jordan Scheftz (University): UC Irvine
Fred Schlichtholz (Coronado): Fresno State
Nick Senzel (Farragut [TN]): Georgia
Kyle Serrano (Farragut [TN]): Tennessee

Click Here to view some of our players sign their Letters of Intent.

Jonathan Mayo from MLB.com has just released his first Top 50 Watch List of 2013 prospects. Elite Baseball Series Alumni Michael Lorenzen (Fullerton Union HS/CSUF), JP Crawford (Lakewood HS), Dominic Smith (Serra HS), and Jeremy Martinez (Mater Dei HS) all have been named to this list.

18. Michael Lorenzen

Cal State Fullerton, Junior
Height: 6′3″, Weight: 195
Position: OF
DOB: 1/4/1992
Bats: R, Throws: R
Twitter: @Lorenzen55
Previous: 2010, 7th (221) - TB

Lorenzen has been on the radar for a while now, having been drafted in the seventh round of the 2010 Draft out of high school by the Tampa Bay Rays. He opted to head to Fullerton instead, and he still has the raw tools and the plus makeup people liked three years ago. The two-time USA Baseball Collegiate Team member hasn’t consistently turned the tools into performance, though.

With a Ryan Braun like body type, Lorenzen can flat out play center field, covering gap-to-gap extremely well with a plus arm. He does have some gap power at the plate and he runs well, though he’s better underway. The question is if he’ll hit enough at the next level.

He does throw mid-to-upper 90s fastballs as Fullerton’s closer and that could be an “if all else fails” backup plan.

Lorenzen didn’t have a great summer numbers-wise, hitting .171 with no extra-base hits and two stolen bases, for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team during exhibitions in Cuba and in Honkbal-Haarlem Baseball Week in the Netherlands. He also pitched in three games, picking up a win, a loss and a save. He didn’t allow a hit, but he did allow four walks while striking out one.

22. JP Crawford

Lakewood HS (Calif.), Senior
Height: 6′2″, Weight: 175
Position: SS
DOB: 1/11/1995
Bats: L, Throws: R
Twitter: @jiggaboo_jp
Commitment: USC

This Southern California product and Oscar Mercado are the top high school middle infielders in the country in this class.

Well-known on the showcase circuit, Crawford has a plus arm and easy, flowing motions defensively. While he grades out as an average runner, he is a threat on the bases. Crawford has a loose, wristy stroke and can hit the ball to all fields. He has average raw power and could grow into more as he matures. How high he goes in the Draft may depend on how much teams feel his bat will come.

Crawford got the chance to show off his skills at a number of summer stops, playing in the Area Code Games as well as the Under Armour All-American Game and Perfect Game All-American Classic, stealing two bases and going 1-for-4 in that last event of the summer for him.

35. Dominic Smith

Sierra HS (Calif.), Senior
Height: 6′0″, Weight: 195
Position: 1B/LHP/OF
DOB: 6/15/1995
Bats: L, Throws: L
Commitment: USC

The bat is what really stands out for this Southern California high school first baseman. With a terrific approach at the plate and a loose swing, he gets advanced marks for his hittability.

Right now, Smith is more of a hit machine an RBI type than one who will wow you with his power. There is some pop there, and how high he goes on Draft day may depend on just how much power a team thinks he’ll have in the future.

Smith spent most of the summer on the West Coast, playing in the Area Code Games and the Perfect Game All-American Classic, making a quick trip to Chicago for the Under Armour All-American Game. He went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs in the Perfect Game Showcase.

50. Jeremy Martinez

Mater Dei HS (Calif.), Senior
Height: 5′11″, Weight: 195
Position: C/3B
DOB: 12/29/1994
Bats: R, Throws: R
Twitter: @J_Mart25
Commitment: USC

People who watch Martinez hit might do a little bit of a double-take. The Southern California high school standout purposefully has patterned his approach, setup and swing after Albert Pujols.

A veteran of Team USA, Martinez has shown an ability to catch some of the better prep arms in the country, grading out with solid catch and throw skills. He has an idea at the plate with some good power from the right side to go along with it. And though there’s not much projection and he’ll have to watch his conditioning, he should have enough to be an everyday backstop at the next level.

In his most recent turn with USA Baseball this past summer, Martinez hit .289/.400/.400 and was tied for second on the 18 and under team with 10 RBIs, as that squad won gold at the Junior AAA/18U World Championships in South Korea. He also played in the Area Code Games and the Perfect Game All-American Classic, going 2-for-3 with an RBI.

MLB.com - 2013 Prospect Watch

Posted Nov. 13, 2012 1:06 pm
by Conor Glassey

This year’s High School Top 100 list stands out for a few reasons . . .

Premium Positions

While the top of this year’s draft doesn’t compare to the premium talent available from the high school ranks in 2012, there is some interesting depth and it’s clear that the strength’s of his year’s high school class are two positions teams can seemingly never get enough of: catchers and lefthanded pitchers.

The Top 100 list features nine true catchers, two players who may remain behind the plate, but probably fit better at first base in Zack Collins from American Heritage High in Plantation, Fla., and Corey Simpson from Sweeny (Texas) High and two players in California—Dom Nunez from Elk Grove High in Sacramento and Chris Rivera from El Dorado High in Placentia, Calif., who have intrigued scouts in brief looks behind the plate.

Of those final two, Nunez is more committed to transitioning behind the plate than Rivera. Leaving Rivera out, that makes 12 players in the Top 100 with a good shot at being drafted as a catcher. The Top 100 high school players are generally picked in the top six rounds. For comparison’s sake, the first six rounds of the 2012 draft included six high school catchers. In 2011 it was nine and in 2010 it was three.

For lefthanders, there’s a outside chance that five high school southpaws are picked in the first round, which would be a draft record. Trey Ball from New Castle (Ind.) High is the highest on the list, but it’s more likely he’ll be taken as a position player with a very nice fallback option. Outside of him, there are 11 lefthanders on the Top 100 list.

The weaknesses of the class are righthanded pitching—there isn’t a Lucas Giolito, Dylan Bundy, Jameson Taillon or Zack Wheeler in this year’s class. There are always pitchers who make a big leap forward in the spring, but right now it looks like a below-average year for high school righties. The high school shortstop crop in this class is also a little thin after J.P. Crawford from Lakewood (Calif.) High and Oscar Mercado from Gaither High in Tampa.

Unique Locales

A quick scan through this year’s list and it’s easy to see there are plenty of players from unique locations. All in all, this year’s Top 100 has players from 31 different states (including Canadian provinces, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico), which is the most in the recent history of the lists.

The first player who stands out in that regard is outfielder Ryan Boldt from Red Wing (Minn.) High. Traditionally, Minnesota’s draft history is strong with Hall of Famers Dave Winfield and Paul Moliter, along with solid players like Kent Hrbeck, Terry Steinbach, Denny Neagle, Jim Eisenreich and Dan Wilson. All those players signed out of college, though. Boldt could be the first high school player to be drafted in the first round out of Great Lakes state since Joe Mauer in 2001.

A.J. Puk is a lefthander and first baseman from Washington High in Cedar Rapids, Iowa—a state that has never produced a first-round high school pick. He has impressive physicality and has stood out on the mound for the past couple years. He’s now drawing some interest as a legitimate two-way player. Iowa high schools don’t play baseball in the spring, but Puk will play in a Perfect Game league on weekends.

The last time Maryland had a first-round pick out of high school was in 2001 with righthander Gavin Floyd. Outfielder Matt McPhearson is on the outside looking in right now, but could force his way into that discussion with a good spring. McPhearson has impressive athleticism, as both his father and four of his older brothers have all played Division I football. He is an 80 runner on the 20-80 scouting scale.

Connecticut has a player on the list in outfielder Thomas Milone from Masuk High in Monroe, Conn. Milone stood out at the East Coast Professional Showcase for his above-average speed and intriguing pull power in his lefthanded swing. The most successful position player signed out of a Connecticut high school has been Brad Ausmus, a 48th-round pick in 1987.

Out West, Colorado has two physical righthanders in Derik Beauprez (Cherry Creek, Colo., High) and Alec Hansen (Loveland, Colo., High). But that’s not too rare for Colorado. After all, the Rocky Mountain state has produced plenty of pitchers over the years, most notably Goose Gossage, Roy Halladay, Danny Jackson, Brad Lidge, Brandon McCarthy, Luke Hochevar and David Aardsma.

It’s two other states that are more unique for crosscheckers’ schedules. Scouts are very happy that they have a legitimate reason to expense trips to Hawaii this year, as outfielder Marcus Doi from Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu and catcher Iolana Akau from St. Louis High in Honolulu. both look like quality draft picks.

Crosscheckers and scouting directors will also be making the less-exciting trip into Idaho this year to catch outfielder Mason Smith from Rocky Mountain High in Meridian and third baseman Joey Martarano from Fruitland High.

Typical Hot Spots

This year’s list isn’t all about non-traditional states. As is usually the case, the three big states (California, Texas and Florida) dominate the list. Combined, those three states account for more than 40 percent of the list, as California has 20 players ranked, Florida has 14 and Texas has 10.

California’s group is top heavy with shortstop J.P. Crawford from Lakewood (Calif.) High, outfielder/first baseman Dominic Smith from Serra High in Gardena, lefthanders Stephen Gonsalves from Cathedral Catholic High in San Diego and Ian Clarkin from Madison High in San Diego, as well as first baseman Rowdy Tellez from Elk Grove High in Sacramento all among the top 16 prospects in the country. There is some obvious depth in the state and it’s a very good year in the San Diego area, as well as another solid year for Northern California.

While not all organizations split up their scouting assignments the same way, it’s easy to see why many teams are adding an extra crosschecker in the Southeast. This year’s list features 36 players from that region. After Florida, Georgia has eight players on the list, South Carolina has four, North Carolina and Tennessee have three apiece and Alabama and Puerto Rico each have two.

Baseball America - Crosscheckers Will Travel To Unique Locations In 2013