Is it too early to start scouring for the next great high school or college prospects in anticipation of your keeper league drafts?

Young catchers with hitting and fielding skills are always a commodity that excites the fantasy owner, so let’s have a look at one of the top defensive backstops in the Illinois high school ranks, and one who swings a pretty mean bat as well – Dominick D’Agata.

D’Agata has just wrapped up his high school career, guiding Schaumburg to its unprecedented second straight Mid-Suburban League title.

Undrafted this year (although reportedly, the Rays were interested), he’s headed to Purdue in the hopes of garnering major league attention and ultimately following in the footsteps of other catchers from this league who made it the Show: Tom Lundstedt, Sal Fasano, Todd Hundley, Dan Wilson and Josh Paul.

If D’Agata can have the same kind of impact on Purdue that he had on Schaumburg (which went 49-14 in the last two years, winning consecutive league and regional titles), chances are there will be more big league teams wooing him in a few years time.

A productive hitter (he led the team in RBI this year), D’Agata has shown developing power (after last year setting a school record with 16 doubles, this year, a few of those ended up as long balls), an ability to shut down the opponents’ running game and great leadership skills.

The Cook County honourary captain of the 2008 Daily Herald All-Area baseball team, D’Agata is also a solid contact hitter, whiffing a mere four times in 88 at bats.

June 13th, 2008
Categories: BASEBALL, High School, RotoRob . Author: RotoRob . Comments: 1 Comment

If you’re in one of those super deep leagues that likes to find the next big thing, you might want to cast your eyes to the New Mexico high school system, where Del Norte, Albuquerque senior Wade Hinkle is making state history with his power bat.

Hinkle, in just his third varsity season, has already broken the state record for career home runs, set by former Yankee pitcher Christian Parker (remember him?), who took four years to hit 24 jacks.

He’s also tied the single-season New Mexico record of 15 homers set in 1985 by Jim Rino of Bloomfield. The 2007 All-State player is beginning to get the Barry Bonds treatment, as opposing teams have been opting to give him a free pass rather than risk pitching to him.

April 26th, 2008
Categories: BASEBALL, High School, RotoRob . Author: RotoRob . Comments: No Comments

Some observers expressed surprise that North high school star infielder/pitcher Mike Kaiser was not snapped up by a Division I or II school.

And after he took home MVP honours at last week’s Metro Detroit High School All-Star Invitational, perhaps some schools are kicking themselves for not recruiting him.

Coming off a state championship season in which he went 13-0 while batting .481, Kaiser was named to EA Sports All-American second team. A 2-for-3 showing with a pair of runs and an RBI to lead his team to a 7-2 win in last week’s game, has definitely made Kaiser start popping up on the radar.

He’ll head to Aquinos College this fall, but it wouldn’t be a shock to see a bigger school lure him away next year should Kaiser continue to put up the numbers.

NOTE: RotoRob will be away from his PC for the next day and a half, celebrating his big 40th birthday as Lisa B, the RotoWidow, monopolizes his time for a while. We should be back with more fantasy fun late tomorrow night.

July 22nd, 2006
Categories: BASEBALL, High School, RotoRob . Author: RotoRob . Comments: No Comments