6/28/2010: Of the 54 former USA players to be drafted, 14 have already signed professional contracts; the deadline for all draftees to reach agreements with their respective MLB teams is midnight of August 16th. Check back often, as this list will expand frequently between now and August 16th…

6/28/2010: This is the next-to-last update for the year. The only thing left to do is to crown a national champion. And if you have no rooting interest, consider that UCLA has 2 pitchers that are Team USA alumni (Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer)…

6/10/2010: Baltimore Orioles infield prospect Mychal Givens made his professional debut this past week; Givens was drafted in the 2nd round with the 54th overall pick by the Orioles in the 2009 MLB Draft; BaseballAmerica had this to say about him: “Givens started making noise as a prospect after his freshman season in high school, and he hasn’t stopped. A veteran of the Aflac and Under Armour games from last summer, Givens has been evaluated at a national level repeatedly. Over time, he has evolved as a prospect, going from hitter to pitcher and back again. He has a strong, athletic body and physical frame, with elite tools… He has strength and good hands that should allow him to hit for power down the line, though his swing will need tweaking. Defensively, Givens isn’t smooth at short but has first-step quickness and plenty of arm…”

Unless you live in a cave, you know that last year’s #1 overall draft pick, RHP Stephen Strasburg, made his major league debut last night; Stras lived up to the hype in his first outing, striking out 14 over 7-innings of work and allowed 2 runs on 7 hits…

6/7/2010: Arizona State sophomore Riccio Torrez has been playing like an upperclassman all year, but he really turned it on in the post-season; Torrez went 7-for-11 with 4 2B’s, 1 RBI and 4 SB’s; on the year, Torrez is batting .404 with 9 HR’s, 51 RBI’s, and 20 SB’s to go with a .492 OBP; the only criticism of his game is an 18-to-39 walk/strikeout rate; look for a spectacular junior campaign in 2011…

6/3/2010: The Chicago White Sox called-up OF Brent Lillibridge; Lillibridge was batting .270 with 4 HR’s and 16 RBI’s for the AAA Charlotte Knights; he played in 46 games last year with the White Sox and 26 the year before with the Atlanta Braves…

6/2/2010: Oakland Athletics RHP Brett Anderson returned from a month-long rehab and had a stellar outing, giving up just 3 hits in 5.2 IP and allowing no runs while fanning 4…