I'm spending the morning with The Heiress, but we'll be back for pick-by-pick coverage of Rounds 3-10 later today. For now, here are your Friday Morning Hot Links:
*1-1 pick Brady Aiken didn't know he was going 1-1:
We were negotiating a little bit before the draft, there was a couple people in the running. We didn't know until it came on TV.
*Previous link: the Astros see similarities between Aiken and Cole Hamels and Andy Pettitte.
*Luhnow, on Brady Aiken:
It's the most advanced high school pitcher I've ever seen in my entire career. He has command like I've never seen before of his stuff.
*Aiken models his game after David Price and Clayton Kershaw.
*Marlins VP of Scouting Stan Meek says they liked Kolek better than Rodon and Aiken.
*2-42 A.J. Reed is excited:
The organization doesn't have a whole lot of power, so I'll be able to add a little bit to that. They're excited to have a power bat and I'm excited to be that guy...It's not about the money for me. It's just about getting a chance to play pro ball and working my way up and making it to the major leagues. That's been a dream my whole life. So, you know, the money is great and having a million dollars is great, but my ultimate goal is to play in the major leagues for an extended period of time.
*Astros scouting director Mike Elias, on A.J. Reed:
Scouts and players and people that cover college baseball have called him Babe Ruth this past year, because he pitches and hits...He's got a lot of bat speed, there's a ton of power. We think it's going to play and I think he might have right now the most raw power in our system once we get him signed.
On Derek Fisher:
Real good looking swing, and he's also a really fast runner. We got him as low as 3.95 (seconds) down to first base, which makes somebody a plus-plus runner, 70-grade runner.
*Fisher turned down the Rangers (6th Round) in 2011 to go to Virginia. I like him already.
*Lancaster's Dan Gulbransen hit for the cycle and drove in six runs last night.
*And, seriously, if you didn't yesterday, do yourself a favor and read the oral history of the Cardinals' 2009 draft.