Top 100: Strasburg, and then who?

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This isn't the strongest draft class in recent years. It's not the weakest. It's not the most top-heavy, and with Stephen Strasburg dominating college hitters, it's not the least top-heavy, either. But it might just be the strangest.

This draft class is pitching-heavy, but that is as much because it is incredibly light on bats as because the arms are good. Just about every year brings a handful of strong high school hitters with tools and polish; this year has none. The crop of college bats looked thin in summer 2008, and if anything, it's thinner now. At one point, it seemed to be a deep high school catching draft, but Georgia catching star Luke Bailey blew out his elbow and Yuba City, Calif., masher Max Stassi came down with some shoulder soreness. Less than four weeks from draft day (June 9), it still is unclear who the No. 2 prospect in the pool is, and the view below that is downright opaque.

This list represents a first attempt at ranking the top 100 players in this draft. It is not a projection of where these players will be taken (we'll get into the mock drafts soon enough), nor does it factor in "signability" -- that is, the expected price tag on each player. The rankings are drawn from my own firsthand evaluations of players, evaluations from video of players, and conversations with scouts and executives who have been seeing these players for the past 11 months. I'll add more scouting reports and video and update the rankings on a regular basis between now and the draft.

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Keith Law

ESPN Insider

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• Senior baseball analyst for Insider
• Was special asst. to Blue Jays GM
• Wrote for Baseball Prospectus