David Price became the top pick of Major League Baseball's 2007 First-Year Draft on Thursday when the Devil Rays exercised the first pick to select the junior left-hander from Vanderbilt University.

Price has a nice body of work, but most impressive could be the performance he put forth as the ace of the USA Baseball National Team's gold medal-winning squad that competed at the FISU World University Championships in Cuba last summer. Price finished 5-1 with a 0.20 ERA in eight starts, with 61 strikeouts and only seven walks in 44 innings.

Price is polished and close to Major League-ready, and he is advised by Bo McKinnis, an agent the Rays have worked with in the past.

Rays scouting director R.J. Harrison (a former Chattanooga Lookouts manager) said Price is everything the organization is looking for in a front-line Major League starter.

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With the 14th pick in the draft, the Atlanta Braves selected outfielder Jason Heyward of Henry County High School in McDonough, Georgia.

Baseball America had this to say about Heyward:

"Heyward has as much upside as any player in the draft. He possesses a rare blend of strong tools and feel for all phases of the game. He draws physical comparisons to Fred McGriff, while his tools are similar to Willie McCovey's and his approach is comparable to Frank Thomas'.

Heyward's father played basketball at Dartmouth and his uncle played basketball for John Wooden at UCLA. He led McDonough High to the school's first state championship in baseball as a junior, when he was used as a center fielder, first baseman and pitcher. He'll play right field as a professional, where he's a solid-average defender with average arm strength. He's an average runner. His plate discipline and pitch recognition are outstanding, though some scouts left his games frustrated that he wasn't more aggressive. He rarely misses his pitch, and he shows above-average bat speed and a willingness to use the whole field. He has plus-plus raw power. Heyward will need to lower his hands in his set-up to improve his ability to get backspin on balls, helping his power translate into more home runs."

This is the second straight year that the Braves took a left-handed, power-hitting outfielder with the first selection in the Draft. Last year, they took Cody Johnson out of A. Crawford Mosley (Fla.) High School.

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The Cincinnati Reds made high school catcher Devin Mesoraco of Punxsutawney, Pa. their first selection in the first round of the draft.

The last time the Reds made a catcher their high draft pick was Dan Wilson.

Baseball America had this to say about Mesoraco:

"As strong as this year's high school class was considered at the outset of the season, it got even better when high school righthanders Jarrod Parker and Nevin Griffith and Mesoraco came out of the gate showing better tools and ability than they had last summer and fall. Griffith and Mesoraco appeared in showcases, but they didn't show impact potential until this spring, and Mesoraco has been the biggest riser of them all. An arm injury led to Tommy John surgery when he was a sophomore, and he was relegated to DH duties as a junior. His arm strength has slowly returned, and this spring he has shown a 70 arm with quick, efficient releases.

Defensively, Mesoraco compares favorably to 2001 Angels first-rounder Jeff Mathis, with athleticism serving as the foundation of an agile, quick-twitch player who receives and blocks exceptionally well. He shows above-average bat speed and 50-55 power at the plate. He's a solid-average runner, too, rounding out a legitimate five-tool package that probably won't make it out o"
f the first round.
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Source: Major League Baseball website and Baseball America.