Rich: ... let's talk about a number of players by groups. There are four high school third basemen—or at least players who project to play the hot corner at the professional level—who could be drafted in the top half of the first round. Three of them are from California. One of them is Vitters, who we have talked about. The other two Californians are Moustakas, who Jim mentioned, and his Chatsworth HS teammate Matt Dominguez. The fourth is Kevin Ahrens out of Memorial HS in Houston, Texas. How would you rank these players, why, and are there natural fits for any or all of them?
Jim: Vitters and Moustakas are the cream of that crop, and they're also the two best high school hitters in this draft. Vitters is going to go in the top 3-4 picks as we've discussed, while projecting Moustakas is more dicey because he's advised by Scott Boras. Sounds like the Brewers aren't afraid of spending money on this draft, and I had them taking Moustakas in our mock draft, but Boras may try to send him to a team with more money. Dominguez is a very good defender, the best third-base defender in the draft since Ryan Zimmerman. His bat isn't as good as the other two guys, and I think he'll fit in the middle of the first round to someone like the Reds or Blue Jays. Ahrens, who draws a lot of Chipper Jones comps because he's a switch-hitter with power, projects more as a late first-rounder, but the Reds apparently have a lot of interest in him at No. 15. Don't be surprised if another Texas high school third baseman, Will Middlebrooks, sneaks into the end of the first round.
Alan: I’d rank Vitters 1, Moustakas 2, Dominguez 3 and Ahrens 4. Ahrens is pretty interesting. He has a nice stroke and fluid actions, with good body control on defense and he just does everything easily, which has as much to do with his comparisons to Jones as his profile. Dominguez has a lot of upside, and the only reason he’s not higher on the list is because of some things he does in his setup and swing mechanics that draw some red flags. But he can really mash. He doesn’t get to his power as often as Moustakas and Vitters right now, but he really launches balls when he connects.
Rich: I like Dominguez's upside, too. He hit two home runs at Dodger Stadium in championship high school games his sophomore and junior years, as well as one of four dingers with a wood bat in the Area Code Games at Blair Field last summer.