Pirates are leaning towards Rendon?

by Slick1 on May 7, 2011 11:14 PM EDT

There was a series of interesting Tweets on Fox Sports Houston's Twitter account. This is the feed the covers the Rice Owls. With nearly a month until the draft I thought the information was worthy of a fanpost.

Below is the first of a couple tweets that inidcate the Pirates may have Rice's Anthony Rendon on the top of their 2011 draft board.

FSH_OwlsMK Bower With the #mlbdraft a month away, indications are the #pirates are leaning toward Rendon over #UCLA Jr. RHP Gerrit Cole for top overall pick.

And this next tweet was in response to someone asking for a source:

FSH_OwlsMK Bower @ @jkstephan34 Can't reveal source, but it's more than just hearsay. Of course, there's still a month to go and opinions change.

And a followup:

FSH_OwlsMK Bower @ @jkstephan34 Was told #Pirates still believe strongly in Rendon's hand-eye coordination, and everyone knows his defense is exceptional.

And one final draft related tweet that may give you some indication of just how highly regarded Rendon is by his coach Wayne Graham:

MK Bower

#Owls coach Wayne Graham lists his top 4 college hitters over last 20 years: #Vanderbilt IF Pedro Alvarez; #Owls IF Lance Berkman; #GeorgiaTech IF Mark Teixeira; #Owls IF Anthony Rendon.

I know a coach tends to favor his own players but that is some pretty exclusive company. And of course, if the Pirates draft Rendon they will have arguably two of the greatest college hitters in recent memory. At least accoding to Graham.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the managing editor (Charlie) or SB Nation. FanPosts are written by Bucs Dugout readers.

Tweet Comment 22 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Pedro...

bring that Vanderbilt stroke to the big league parks every once in a while. Please and thank you.

by mspirate on May 7, 2011 11:28 PM EDT reply actions

If we do draft Rendon with the No. 1 pick...

then Pedro’s move to 1B in the next year or two is imminent.

by mspirate on May 7, 2011 11:29 PM EDT reply actions

Rendon or Cole....

at this point, i think i would rather have rendon and ill tell you why. most of the reason is because im pretty disappointed in Alvarez thus far. If alvarez doesnt play out to be the player hes projected to be, then I feel that if we draft Rendon then we’ll definately get production and great defense. Plus, if alvarez comes around, the 3-4 rendom alvarez combo could be awesome. There are a lot of good pitchers later in the rounds, as huntington has drafted extremely well in later rounds. I believe there will be a sleeper pitcher in round two this year such as Allie and Scheppers were in past years. I would absolutely love to see taillon and cole in the same rotation, but I think its obvious that our offense needs a huge boost and rendon can advance through the minors very quickly. We will prob have a top 5 picks next year also. Thoughts?

by JJDURNEY88 on May 7, 2011 11:31 PM EDT reply actions

I think its a little early to be disappointed in Pedro thus far. Remember, he struggled mightily when he was called up last year and finished the season quite strong. Hopefully, he’ll lessen some of his flaws, but I think he will eventually be a better version of what he is now: a streaky, strikeout-prone, but ultimately effective power hitter.
As for the Rendon or Cole…jeez, I’d be happy with either honestly. I’d lean towards the everyday player, because I think there’s less risk involved. Also, the pitching crop is very deep, so hopefully the Bucs splurge on that like crazy and see if someone could fall to them (I like Henry Owens, but there’s no way he makes it to their 2nd pick, I think) in later rounds.

by NastyNate82 on May 8, 2011 12:09 AM EDT up reply actions

exactly…we need to draft rendon so he can make up for pedros lack of production. patient or not, pedros approach at the plate is awful. i think people are givng him too much credit.

by JJDURNEY88 on May 8, 2011 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions

If Rendon is drafted...

it will have absolutely nothing to do with Pedro or anyone esle in the org. It will be because the Pirates feel he is the best player on their board.

by Slick1 on May 8, 2011 1:36 PM EDT up reply actions

yup

by white angus on May 8, 2011 4:51 PM EDT up reply actions

Geez man...

Pedro hasn’t even played a full calendar year of Major League ball yet. Yes, the slow starts are annoying and frustrating, but everybody freaking out about him already is annoying as well. Give it some time. He’ll be fine.

My prediction: Pedro is hitting at least .250 and showing the power by July.

by mspirate on May 8, 2011 12:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Fans griped about Aram when he struggled

How did that turn out.

s.zielinski

by steve_z on May 8, 2011 4:53 PM EDT up reply actions

well, im sure the Cubs fans booed. milton bradley will atest to this.

by white angus on May 8, 2011 5:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Gotta play the odds

college position players have the best chance to make it to the bigs.

by hilltoppeer on May 8, 2011 11:24 AM EDT reply actions

Nope-

with the #1 overall pick the Pirates absolutely, positively should take the best player on their board, regardless of position and school level.

Thinking about safe college guys is what gets you a college pitcher you hope will be a good #3 starter.

by patthatt on May 8, 2011 9:01 PM EDT up reply actions

That;s true, but...

If you project Cole and Rendon as basically equals, who do you take?

I ask honestly. I’d lean towards the position player, I think. I agree that you shouldn’t automatically go “safe,” but if you’re equally high on a pitcher and a hitter, I think you should take the hitter.

Santa Roberto Clemente
Ora Pro Nobis
FireRickReilly

by CTapps on May 8, 2011 9:26 PM EDT up reply actions

If you rank them the same...

you go with the position player for the reason Mark states below.

by Slick1 on May 8, 2011 10:05 PM EDT up reply actions

College pitchers are actually the most likely to flame out.

College position players are the most likely to succeed.

by MarkInDallas on May 8, 2011 9:26 PM EDT up reply actions

if youre playing the odds, sure

but, if im not mistaken, the majority of top pitchers in the majors have college experience

by white angus on May 8, 2011 10:40 PM EDT up reply actions

dunno if it's overwhelming

I checked the top 10 in Fangraphs WAR for 2010 (which, I know, isn’t the greatest stat); if I’m not mistaken, three had college experience (Cliff Lee, Verlander, Weaver), three were international free agents (Ubaldo, Felix, Liriano), four were drafted out of high school (Halladay, Josh Johnson, Wainwright, Lester).

Not actually affiliated with whygavs.

by WHYG Zane Smith on May 9, 2011 9:01 AM EDT up reply actions

other pitchers of note with college experience...

Lincecum, Hudson, Hanson, Oswalt, Lilly, Buerhle, Matusz, Haren…

so it is true that most pitchers are drafted BEFORE college, like you said.
but answer me this:

why does everyone say drafting high school pitchers high is a risk?

by white angus on May 9, 2011 12:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Forgot about David Price,

Also Barry Zito, Ben Sheets, Mark Mulder to name a few older names.

why does everyone say drafting high school pitchers high is a risk?

Ignorance? Most studies now show college pitchers as the riskiest draft pick in terms of future contribution to the big league and flame out risk. I’ve read at least three.

by Slick1 on May 9, 2011 1:00 PM EDT up reply actions

why does everyone say drafting high school pitchers high is a risk?

As of maybe ten years ago, they were. Then after Moneyball came out, everybody started talking about how high school pitchers were too risky to draft, and they became relatively undervalued on the market.

In another ten years, who knows?

by Vlad on May 9, 2011 4:56 PM EDT up reply actions

Huntington has balls. I wouldn’t be surprised if he took Hultzen or Starling. Hes all about high ceiling. His response to reports would just be we liked him a lot. Dont be shocked. At this poin Id rank rank it as rendon, hultzen, cole, starling, gray, bauer

by JJDURNEY88 on May 9, 2011 1:54 PM EDT reply actions

i would be shocked as of right now ...

I don’t think Hultzen has ace upside. Starlings a fine prospect but I think a lot is Bering made of his ceiling. IF it’s higher than Rendon’s or Coles the fact that he’s years from reaching more than offsets it.

by Slick1 on May 9, 2011 4:19 PM EDT up reply actions