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With Pitchers and Catchers set to report Major League Spring Training next week.  There are some Canadians who will be in camp in the upcoming weeks to keep an eye out for.  Also, look out for a up and coming Canadian talent in this summer’s Major League Baseball Draft.  Please note: all of the rankings and reports were compiled by Baseball America.

First baseman Joey Votto, from Toronto, Ontario is ranked third in the Cincinnati Reds’ Top Prospects coming into the season.  Votto is also ranked as the Best Power Hitter and Best Strike-Zone Discipline on the Reds’ Best Tools list. 

Although signed by the Reds as a catcher, Votto is seen as Cincinnati’s first baseman of the future, and the very near future at that.  He is projected to crack Cincinnati’s lineup no later than September of this season and is expected to stay once he gets there.

Last season, Votto tore it up for Double-A Chattanooga hitting .319 (.547 slugging percentage) with 22 homers and 77 RBI, also adding 24 stolen bases on his way to earning the Southern League MVP.

North Vancouver, B.C. native Blake Hawksworth missed significant time due to injury in 2004 and 2005, but had a remarkable comeback year in 2006.  The right-handed pitcher split his time last season between Single-A Palm Beach and Double-A Springfield in the St. Louis Cardinals organization where he went a combined 11-4 with a 2.93 ERA in 27 starts.

Hawksworth is ranked fourth on the Cardinals’ Top Prospects list prior to 2007 and is also ranked as having the Best Changeup in the organizations’ Best Tools list.  His injuries (bone spurs in his right ankle and a partially torn labrum) knocked his progress off track, but he seems to have regained his touch after last season.

Philippe Aumont of Gatineau, Quebec is a 6’7”, 225 pound right-handed pitcher ranked 32^nd in the Top 100 High School Prospects list.  He’s projected to go high in the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft, joining the likes of Adam Loewen and Jeff Francis who were both selected in the first round in 2002.

“If it’s the first round, good.  Or the second round, that’s fine too,” says the 18-years-old Aumont of his draft status in a recent interview in the Ottawa Citizen.  “I want to compete.  I just want to play and compete.”

With a 90 plus mph fastball and a dominant mound presence, one can expect big (pardon the pun) things from Aumont.