Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com gave a nice status report on the 30 players drafted in the first round of the 2007 first-year player draft. He notes that because of a recent change in draft rules, players must sign with the teams that drafted them by August 15th or they have to re-enter the draft pool for the following year. Each first rounder did so, although some not early enough to play last summer.

Some highlights from Mayo’s article (draft position in parentheses):

• David Price (No. 1, LHP, Tampa Bay Rays): His elbow injury did not require surgery; he will make his pro debut in Class A, probably this May.
• Ross Detwiler (No. 6, LHP, Washington Nationals): Brought up late last September, Detwiler will start the year in the minors but looks to be moving up quickly.
• Tim Alderson (No. 22, RHP, San Francisco Giants): His unorthodox delivery made some clubs shy away from drafting him, but an impressive performance out of high school has the Giants starting him in Class A Advanced ball.
• Aaron Poreda (No. 25, LHP,Chicago White Sox): He can get his fastball into the high-90s, but the White Sox are having him spend time in the minors this year to develop his secondary pitches.

Most teams have made their final cuts of spring training over the past few days.  This means that the remaining players not cut will more than likely spend the remainder of the spring with their respective teams.  We’ve listed below the more noteworthy prospects who have been sent back to the minors:

• Wade Davis, RHP, Rays
• Jake McGee, LHP, Rays
• Adam Miller, RHP, Indians
• Chuck Lofgren, LHP, Indians
• Mike Aubrey, 1B, Indians
• Danny Moskos, LHP, Pirates
• Collin Balester, RHP, Nationals
• Tyler Clippard, RHP, Nationals
• Garrett Mock, RHP, Nationals
• Ross Detwiler, LHP, Nationals
• Greg Reynolds, RHP, Rockies
• Casey Weathers, RHP, Rockies
• Max Ramirez, C, Rangers
• Chris Davis, 1B, Rangers
• German Duran, 2B, Rangers
• Elvis Andrus, SS, Rangers
• Justin Masterson,  RHP, Red Sox
• Michael Bowden, RHP, Red Sox
• Deolis Guerra, RHP, Twins
• Jordan Walden, RHP, Angels
• Matt Wieters, C, Orioles

• Mets’ starting OF Moises Alou is going to miss at least 4-6 weeks with a hernia.  While this is bad news for Mets fans, it could be good news for prospect Fernando Martinez.  With all the injuries affecting the Mets starters, there may be a need to expedite the call-ups of their prospects.
• Dbacks RHP Max Scherzer had a rough outing today.  He gave up 3 ER in two innings with 2 HR, 4 H and a wild pitch.  He did also have 4 K, showing signs of his ability.  ESPN’s Keith Law doesn’t think Scherzer has the command or durability to be a starter, but thinks he could be a solid reliever.
• The Nationals reassigned 16 players to their minor league camp today.  Among the 16 were southpaw prospects Ross Detwiler, the 6th overall pick in the Draft, and Josh Smoker. We might see Detwiler as a September call-up again, but more than likely he won’t join the rotation until 2009.  Smoker is only 19, so he’s got a few years down on the farm before he’ll be fantasy relevant.
• Steve Pearce of the Pirates hit another HR today, his 2nd of the spring.  Eric Hz of FakeTeams argues that if Pearce keeps hitting them, the Pirates will have to keep him on their opening day roster.

Dave Sheinin and Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post report that 21 year old pitching prospects Ross Detwiler and Collin Balester had some nasty stuff on practice Monday. Balester sent Dmitri Young away “muttering to himself” after freezing him on two consecutive pitches. Detwiler also impressed. Manny Acta isn’t in a hurry calling either of them up, but might start one of them in the bullpen when the season opens.

Detwiler is ranked #51 by both Keith Law and Baseball America, while BA ranks Ballester #86.

We covered the pitching prospects below, now we’ll cover the hitting prospects. As mentioned before, MiLB.com put together a compilation of the best Q&A’s from recent MLB.com Mailbags. The answers are provided by beat writers for each respective team. We’ve summarize some of the more juicy prospect news below:

• Colby Rasmus’ call-up could be delayed for business reasons. A few days ago we discussed how Evan Longoria is in the same position. The Cardinals could gain an extra year of free agency with a short delay, and avoid Super-Two status with a mid-season call-up.
• Dodgers’ SS prospect Chin-Lung Hu will more than likely start the season at Triple-A. But with Rafael Furcal’s contract up after this season, look for Hu to compete for that position next Spring.
• Giants’ IF prospect Eugenio Velez could steal a whole lot of bases if given the opportunity. Velez has 122 stolen bases between the past two seasons.
• The MLB.com author argues that the Braves might be better off keeping BA’s 70th ranked overall Brandon Jones (OF) at Triple-A this season. The thought is that allowing him to play every day will be better for his development than sticking him in a major league platoon with Matt Diaz.
• Jesus Flores has not lost his status as the Catcher of the future for the Nationals; the future has just gotten a little further away. It seems he will spend at least a portion of the season at Triple-A due to the signings of Paul Lo Duca and Johnny Estrada.
• Nolan Reimold could see some playing time in Baltimore this season, just not in April. With CF and RF firmly occupied by Adam Jones and Nick Markakis, the only option for Reimold is in Left. Luke Scott will have to really struggle or get injured for the Orioles to make the call for Reimold this season.
• Look for Jed Lowrie to be this year’s version of Jacoby Ellsbury, a late season call-up with immediate impact. Lowrie is currently playing shortstop, but could probably play any infield position and “can flat-out hit”.