Pirates mulling first overall pick
Major League Baseball’s first-year player draft is just days away and the Pirates still do not know who they are going to select with the first overall pick.
That does not mean there is disorganization among the Pirates’ brain trust. Instead, indecision still reigns after scouting the top players in the nation dozens of times this spring.
?The Pirates have yet to come to a final decision among three college players: UCLA right-hander Gerrit Cole, Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon and Virginia left-hander Danny Hultzen.
“It’s not a negotiating ploy or a smokescreen,” said one Pirates insider, who is close to the situation. “It’s a matter of being able to make such a good case for taking all three.”
Some scouts have said Cole is just a step below Stephen Strasburg, the right-hander taken by Washington first overall in the 2009 draft. They believe Cole can be a No. 1 starter in the major leagues with his 100-mph fastball and sharp breaking pitches.
However, Cole also has his detractors. They believe he will not develop a changeup that is necessary for a major-league starter to keep hitters off-balance and would be better served working as a late-inning reliever.
Rendon has outstanding power and is a good defensive third baseman.
The idea of moving Pedro Alvarez from third base to first and pairing Rendon with him on the infield corners is very intriguing to the Pirates.
Rendon, though, also comes with questions. His performance has slipped this season after he tore ankle ligaments last summer while playing for Team USA, then injured his shoulder this year in the preseason.
The allure with Hultzen is that he is the most polished of the three players. If he signs relatively quickly and logs some innings in the minor leagues this season, there is a chance he could be ready to join the Pirates’ rotation as soon as the beginning of next season.
Hultzen’s downside, though, is that he doesn’t have the high ceiling of Cole and Rendon.
What you see now is basically what you’re going to get when he reaches the major leagues, a lefty with a good feel for pitching and exceptional command of his pitches.
The Pirates’ decision-makers are huddled at the team’s spring training headquarters in Bradenton, Fla., debating the top choice and indications are they may not make a final decision until just before the draft beings Monday night.
Thus, there could be quite a bit of suspense when commissioner Bud Selig steps to the podium at the MLB Network headquarters in Seacaucus, N.J., a little bit after 7?p.m. and announces the first pick.
Correspondent John Perrotto is the national writer for BaseballProspectus.com