More Names to Know for the 2013 Draft

Several months ago, I took a look at a few names to know for the 2013 draft.  Here's a second installment.  Check it out after the jump.

Draft Preview: The Youngin's Part 2

Everyone loves youth.  Tony La Russa may disagree with that statement, but he's part of a small minority.  The younger the player, the more time he has to grow and to develop.  It means a higher ceiling, well at least a higher perceived ceiling.  Ultimately, a player is going to be drafted based on several factors other than the date on his birth certificate.  Still, when it comes to the draft, youth is never going to be looked at as a fault. 

Draft Preview: The Youngin's Part 1

Everyone loves youth.  Tony La Russa may disagree with that statement, but he's part of a small minority.  The younger the player, the more time he has to grow and to develop.  It means a higher ceiling, well at least a higher perceived ceiling.  Ultimately, a player is going to be drafted based on several factors other than the date on his birth certificate.  Still, when it comes to the draft, youth is never going to be looked at as a fault. 

In the 2012 draft class, seven prep players stand out as being both a top draft prospect and extremely young.  That list consists of Carlos Correa, C.J Hinojosa, Carson Kelly, Rhett Wiseman, Cody Poteet, Daniel Starwalt, and Anthony Alford.  Carlos Correa was part of my first mock draft and was also profiled earlier here.  C.J. Hinojosa and Carson Kelly (along with Correa) will be included in my mock draft 2.0.  That leaves Wiseman, Poteet, Starwalt, and Alford to profile.  Up first, Starwalt and Alford.

Daniel Starwalt - Daniel Starwalt is the youngest player in Baseball America's top 100 draft prospects that came out on the first of February.  Starwalt, who Baseball America ranks 81st, won't turn 18 until February 7th of 2013! The right-handed pitcher, who currently attends Granite Hills High School in El Cajon, California is an excellent prospect.  That's clear by his commitment to Stanford which should make him a hard player to sign, especially with the new CBA.  Starwalt might be good enough that some team will try, however.  He currently stands at an impressive 6'3, 210 lbs and throws two intriguing pitches.  The first is a fastball that already touches 95 mph and the second is a curveball that flashes a sharp break and late bite, while coming in on hitters in the 78-80 mph range. 

Anthony Alford - Anthony Alford is also young, hence why he's profiled in this article.  He'll turn 18 about a month after the draft on July 20th.  Alford is both an excellent baseball prospect and a coveted high school quarterback.  Baseball American ranks him 89th on their list and ESPNU ranks him as the 95th best player in the class of 2012 in football. From Petal, Mississippi, Alford is committed to play both football and baseball for his homestate Southern Mississippi.  The Golden Eagles will have to hope he ends up on campus and not in fall instructionals for a baseball team next year, because make no mistake, that's a strong possibility.  Alford is a tremendous athlete who should be able to play centerfield with ample arm for the position.  While Alford is very raw and is more of an athlete than a baseball player at this point, he does have a quick swing backed by plenty of raw power than will be intriguing to some team come June.

#1 Prospect - Jameson Taillon

Very few big league clubs have a pitching talent like Gerrit Cole.  The Pirates are lucky to have two guys that can claim that elite status.  The second is my top Pirates prospect, Jameson Taillon.  Ultimately, it's not much of a surprise that Taillon is one of the top prospects in baseball.  His name was firmly placed on the map when the Pirates drafted him #2 overall back in 2010 as a prep pitcher out of the Woodlands High School in Texas, the same school that Kyle Drabek attended.  There wasn't much drama involved in signing Taillon, although he did wait until mid-August to forgo his commitment to Rice and instead take a 6.5 million dollar signing bonus.

Andrew McCutchen's trade value

Before people totally lose their minds, I am not advocating this move. I don't think it will happen and I am not saying that the front office was just trying to build up McCutchen's trade value so they can ship him off to the highest bidder. However, since I have seen a few people mention this and considering how McCutchen's enormous trade value was a hotly discussed topic before the extension, I figured I'd at least crunch the numbers and see what I came up with.

Reaction: McCutchen Signs an Extension!

First, I just gotta steal this video from Charlie's thread over at BucsDugout.  It relates my feelings of euphoria and joy perfectly.  Plus you can dance to it.

#2 Prospect - Gerrit Cole

As bad as the Pirates have been over the past two decades, it's actually shocking they haven't had the first overall pick in the draft more often.  Unfortunately, it means they've missed out on some incredible talent, most notably Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper.  I'm not at all bitter though.  Nope, not at all.  That aside, they did have the first overall pick in 2011 and with it they selected my #2 Pirates Prospect, Gerrit Cole.  With the Pirates selecting him actually marked the second time Cole was drafted in the first round of the rule 4 MLB draft.  In 2008, the New York Yankees drafted Cole with the 28th overall pick.  He reportedly turned down four-million dollars and instead elected to attend UCLA.  For Cole, it was a risky maneuver, at least financially, but ultimately it paid off.  The Pirates offered Cole eight-million dollars and this time he didn't turn down the money. 

#3 Prospect - Starling Marte

Talk about bang for your buck.  The Pirates signed Starling Marte - who was originally scouted as a pitcher - out of the Dominican Republic for a scant $85,000 bonus.  The investment turned out to be a great one.  Marte, who stands 6'2, 185 lbs according to fangraphs, oozes tools, highlighted by blazing speed and a strong arm.  Combining those tools with good jumps and reads, Marte is an elite defensive centerfielder.  On the other side of the game, Marte's bat has developed nicely, making him a very good overall prospect. 

Reaction: Braun - Not Guilty but Not Innocent

This article fits under the Reaction heading of the blog.  Read more of our Reactions here.

 On Friday, Brewers superstar Ryan Braun got up to the podium and forcefully declared that “the simple truth is that [he’s] innocent.” This comes a day after the first successful appeal of a positive drug test in MLB history. The blowback from Braun’s case has been substantial. One camp insists that this is all a cover up manufactured so as not to taint the career of the reigning NL MVP. Another believes that Braun has been completely vindicated and should be viewed as a clean player from here on out. The reality probably lies somewhere in between. Braun and his representatives responded to the positive test exactly as you would expect a falsely accused individual to respond. He denied everything, he challenged the results through baseball’s appeals process, and most importantly, he won his appeal. By ruling in Braun’s favor, arbitrator Shyam Das determined that Braun was not guilty of the charges against him. That is not the same, however, as saying that Braun is innocent, as the slugger would have you believe.

Why the Pirates Shouldn't Trade Andrew McCutchen

The rumors are persistent.  Andrew McCutchen, the face of Pittsburgh Pirates franchise, is a potential trade commodity.  To his credit, Neal Huntington has done his plenty to try and dispel the rumors regarding McCutchen being on the trade block.  At the same time, Huntington hasn't fully dispelled the rumors, stating recently that he wouldn't trade his star player, unless there was a 'dramatic overpay.'

Technically, Neal Huntington is 'right.'  If Mike Rizzo of the Nationals loses his mind and calls Neal with an offer of Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon (the definition of an 'overpay') for McCutchen, Neal accepts before Rizzo can come to his senses. Despite that, by not saying 'Our superstar is untouchable, period' Huntington leaves the door up for some uncertainty, which is amplified by the fact that extension talks have went nowhere so far.