When Hudson Haskin's world shut down in March, lives changing in drastic measures due to the coronavirus pandemic, he had no idea whether he'd play college baseball again. And whether the impact on his status in the First-Year Player Draft would be minimal or severe. Like so many other people around the world, all he could do was wait through it and count his blessings. Haskin wouldn't see another pitch at Tulane University, but the Orioles made it clear that they wanted him in their minor...

The Orioles selected six players the last two nights in the First-Year Player Draft and the first five-round Major League Baseball draft ever is in the books. In a Zoom call with Baltimore reporters late last night, O's supervisor of domestic scouting operation Brad Ciolek expanded on the club's scouting and interest in top pick Heston Kjerstad, the University of Arkansas outfielder that went No. 2 overall. "We liked him as a bat coming out of high school," Ciolek said. "At Arkansas, he...

Two days of the First-Year Player draft provided the ideal distraction from the back and forth between ownership and the Major League Baseball Players Association. Barely a peep about the length of a proposed season, percentages of prorated pay and an expanded playoff format that could shove 16 teams into October. And now, back to our regularly scheduled bickering, already in progress. Selecting players from the college and high school ranks is followed by negotiations on contracts, with the...

The Nationals did a very nice job of finding top-flight talent on day two of the First-Year Player Draft, highlighted by the selections of a Friday night starter, the top Pac-12 Conference closer, an elite high school shortstop from South Florida and a batterymate at Oklahoma of first-round pick Cade Cavalli. In the second round, the Nats picked right-handed starter Cole Henry out of LSU and the vaunted Southeastern Conference. Henry was 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA in four starts this season, and is...

The Washington Nationals selected five players on the second day of Major League Baseball's 2020 First-Year Player Draft. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Assistant General Manager & Vice President of Scouting Operations Kris Kline and Director of Scouting Operations Eddie Longosz made the joint announcement. The Nationals kicked off Thursday's action by selecting right-handed pitcher Cole Henry out of Louisiana State University in the second...

The Orioles made four selections on Day Two of the 2020 First-Year Player Draft on Thursday, completing rounds 2-5. This year, the Orioles selected six players overall: five position players and one pitcher, with four of the selections being college athletes. The Orioles selected one right-handed pitcher, three infielders, and two outfielders. Hudson Haskin, 21, an outfielder from Tulane University (LA), hit .333/.452/.500 (22-for-66) with six doubles, one triple, one home run, 18 runs, and 14...

The Orioles completed their draft tonight, making four more selections and six total over five rounds and two days. They selected four college position players to start their draft, added a high school infielder in round four tonight and a prep pitcher in the fifth and last round. So, four of six taken were from the college ranks and five of six were position players. The Orioles' supervisor of domestic scouting operations, Brad Ciolek, talked to Baltimore reporters on a Zoom call tonight and...

Another week down, another week without resolution to the seemingly important question of: "When will the 2020 Major League Baseball season begin, and how long will it last?" Despite proposals and counter-proposals, the league and the MLB Players Association don't appear to be close to a deal at this point. We can only continue to hope cooler heads will prevail - and soon. There was baseball news this week, though, in the form of a condensed, five-round draft that began Wednesday night and...

The wait for the Orioles to select a pitcher in the 2020 First-Year Player Draft is continuing. They passed yesterday on the arms with the second and 30th overall picks and used the 39th this afternoon in the second round to nab Tulane outfielder Hudson Haskin. MLB.com ranked Haskin, who's sophomore-eligible, as the 74th-best talent in the draft. But Baseball America had him 211th. Haskin, 21, is a right-handed hitter described as a toolsy center fielder who was chosen by the Athletics in the...

It's day two of the draft, and the Nationals have much more to consider than they did last night when they waited around for their one and only pick (No. 22), which they used on Oklahoma right-hander Cade Cavalli. Tonight, the Nats will make five selections, one apiece in rounds two through five, plus a compensatory pick after the second round they received for losing Anthony Rendon to free agency. Yep, that's a big one. The whole thing begins at 5 p.m. with the start of the second round. The...