With the 8th pick the Pittsburgh Pirates select

[thecrow124]

Who ya got?

I have a list of 4, 3 of which could possibly be there. In order of preference:

1. Carlos Correa (he will be gone, but still my top choice.)
2. Lucas Giolito (no idea if he would sign for the roughly $3 million we could offer though)
3. Mike Zunino / Albert Almora, whichever is there.

The rest of the top 8 are unlikely to be there, and would be behind these 4 anyway. But this is just my opinion. Lets hear yours.

 

[element1286]

I would love to see them get Almora or Correa, but I find both of them unlikely.

After those two, I don't see too many guys that I have a strong feeling about either way.

There was some late information about David Dahl to the Bucs, which I would be fine with as long as Correa and Almora are gone.

 

[Illinest]

Just a guess but - i think the pirates are sensitive about negative news and try to bunch it together. I think that the allie news might be something that theyre using to hide a slightly unpopular draft choice. We will know more within the hour.

 

[thedddd]

well 2 or the three already gone. I really have no idea this year like the others I really would loved to see Correa but knew that wasn't happening.

 

[thedddd]

Wonder what's up with Appel to fall from the projected #1?

 

[26 elroy face]

WOW, Mark Appel !!!

 

[Darkstone42]

How in the world did he fall to us?

 

[thecrow124]

Kind of shocked that Appel fell to 8th, even more surprised that NH drafted him. Rumor has it that he wanted more than the $7.2 million the Astros had slotted for him, so how in the world are we supposed to sign him with our $6.9 million for our entire draft? Even with the +5%, that still only gets us to $7.2 million.
We can't afford to not sign him, as this is a weak draft overall, and our supplemental round pick likely isn't going to be very good. Actually none of our top 10 will be if we really plan on signing Appel. That being said, I could see a scenario where we spend $5 million on Appel, throw out the rest of the top 10, save for 1 or 2, go overslot on a couple HS players late in the top 10, then spend the rest of the draft trying to fill it out with some slot signings. The biggest thing with this would be that we would throw a boatload of money at Jorge Soler and bring him in to our system. THAT IMO would be the best way to go. Signing Appel and Soler would be a steal for any price.

 

[element1286]

Yea, I'm kind of worried about the signablity of Appel. I wasn't a huge fan of his heading into the draft, but it seems like very good value getting one of the top 2 or 3 players at 8.

 

[thecrow124]

Yea, I'm kind of worried about the signablity of Appel. I wasn't a huge fan of his heading into the draft, but it seems like very good value getting one of the top 2 or 3 players at 8.

It almost makes me believe that Boras was pushing him down with his bonus demands, probably trying to get him past the Pirates as well. There are teams later that have a higher bonus total that could have met the higher bonus demand.

All in all, I don't really think he would want to go back to college after the way his coach used him this year, plus he would have much less leverage in negotiations next year when he would be a college senior. I do think he will sign, it is just for how much.

On a side note, I also believe that Boras has found loopholes that he truely intends to use to get more money for his clients. I specifically like the one where he could have a stable of players that have no shot at playing professionally that teams can draft in the 16-40 rounds and give them $100 thousand, and then let them retire. If every one of them sign, then that is $2.4 million dollars, lets say Boras gets half of that because in all honesty, these guys would be drafted realistically, so he gets $1.2 million, and diverts $1 million of that to Appel, thus in reality increasing Appel's bonus. Seems a lot shady, but would you really put it past Boras?

 

[element1286]

Doesn't even sound legal, crow. I don't like Boras too much, but I think he is more Ari Gold on the douchebag scale than Bernie Madoff.

 

[Illinest]

Relieved to be wrong. Now sign him. A top of the draft talent is many times more likely to pan out than a second through tenth rounder. Give him every penny of it if we have to. Go after Soler if you need another big name.

 

[evolver115]

I saw drafts that had this kid going #1 overall... What happened for him to fall to the eight spot?

 

[steelparrot]

If you dont sign a pick, you lose his slot from your pool.

We had to take him. Offer him slot and if he doesnt take it, oh well we get 9th pick next year. A trivial loss in the long term heck might even be a better draft class next year. He is the one with the most to lose not the Pirates.

No way we should ever take a penalty to sign a draft pick.

 

[thecrow124]

Sounds as though he is not to impressed with Pittsburgh drafting him. Refused conference call with Pittsburgh media. Probably not gonna sign, so this draft may center around the comp round pick.

 

[Illinest]

He'll sign if he's not a retard. He could come back next year in a (probably) stronger draft class, get drafted around the same pick but have relatively little leverage as a college senior.

Once his panties get untwisted and he realizes that there's 5 million dollars at his fingertips he'll settle down.

 

[element1286]

He'll sign if he's not a retard. He could come back next year in a (probably) stronger draft class, get drafted around the same pick but have relatively little leverage as a college senior.

Once his panties get untwisted and he realizes that there's 5 million dollars at his fingertips he'll settle down.

Been thinking, I'm inclined to agree. What leverage does he really have? He can improve 7 slots in the draft, but I wouldn't even give him a 50/50 shot do to that.

 

[thecrow124]

He'll sign if he's not a retard. He could come back next year in a (probably) stronger draft class, get drafted around the same pick but have relatively little leverage as a college senior.

Once his panties get untwisted and he realizes that there's 5 million dollars at his fingertips he'll settle down.

If he doesn't sign he will go into next season presumably as the #1 draft prospect, and he does have room to improve as a pitcher, so he could concievably improve his draft spot and position, but like you said he would have little leverage. So if he was drafted #1 overall and a team offeren him the $2.9 million we can offer, it isn't like he could go back to college. He could however, go play indy baseball for a year and be declared a FA. There are still options for him.

The more I think about it though, I am not a fan of offering him $5 million dollars, offer him slot and then negotiate the 5% above from there. No reason to ruin the entire draft to try to appease him.

 

[element1286]

Agree, crow, no reason to blow the budget. He isn't that good. But it is interesting, Appel has much, much less leverage than Giolito, who would have been a really tough sign. Wonder if the Nats will be able to sign him.

 

[element1286]

Barrett Barnes at 45, seems like a quality pick, Marlon Byrd comparison, whatever that is worth.