Mark Appel, come on down.

The Pittsburgh Pirates got a gift to fall right on their laps during Monday's First Round in the MLB Draft.  The consensus top pitcher in the draft, Mark Appel, fell from grace to the eighth pick. The Pirates obviously could not let a talent of that caliber go to waste as they made him their 2012 First Round Pick. Mark Appel joins Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon as front end right handed pitching talent.  The prior two first round picks find themselves at High-A Bradenten and seem to be on the fast track to the Majors.  Mark Appel can catch up to the other prized prospects rather quickly.  Appel features a plus fastball that touches in the Mid 90's along with other plus pitches.  His current season at Stanford is on going as they will move on to the Super Regionals this weekend.  His numbers on the year have to catch anyone's attention. He went 10-1 with a 2.27 ERA, 5 Complete Games, and 127 Strikeouts in 119 innings in the very competitive Pac 12 Conference.

        The descend down the draft has to raise some concerns.  The most logical explanation is that Appel's agent, Scott Boras always drives teams away.  The new rules (Which I have yet to fully grasp)  also would suggest for the pitcher to fall.  I can gather that you only can over-slot a player so much money before a penalty were to ensue.  The rules seem a little flawed and simply put, stupid.  All in all I do not believe an injury or off field issues played a factor in Appel dropping.  Some teams and draft experts scout differently. There is no doubt he is a top talent, and the Pirates walk away with a very good pick. Neal Huntingdon does not appear to shy away when staring Boras in the face.  The management is not the most popular among Pirate fans, but they can not really complain with the drafts for the most part. They draft the right guys and throw money into the system there. They may not bring in high end Free Agent talent, but understand this....The Pirates are spending more money on the product than they ever have during this losing streak. It will prove to be beneficial in a few years.