And Now There Are Two

Since the day after the 2010 MLB Draft last June, the baseball world had unanimously pinned Anthony Rendon as the future first overall pick.  When the college baseball season opened last month, Rendon was, again, the consensus number 1 who could only be knocked down if he suffered another major injury.  Since then, Rendon has hit well, batting .341/.517/.565.  And yet, there has been something off about Rendon's season. 
A season which has been sprinkled with bad luck.  Rendon opened the season as a DH and has only started playing third in the past two weeks due to a strained shoulder; certainly nothing major to be worried about but it did limit his ability to show off his gold glove caliber talent on the hot corner.  Compound his minor injury with the major injury to star outfielder Jeremy Rathjen and Rendon's protection in the lineup has been lost, leaving him vulnerable to fewer hittable pitches.  Since Rathjen's injury, Rendon has walked 11 times in 6 games.  Also, Rendon has only registered 4 home runs in 85 at-bats; well off his pace from the 26 he hit last year.

Cole Emerging 

Gerrit Cole was mentioned as part of the "Big 3" in the draft, accompanying Anthony Rendon and Matt Purke.  At the start of the season, he was seen less as a first overall pick and more as a player battling Matt Purke for the pick following Rendon.  Now, however, he is creating controversy and drama over the top spot in the draft.  To say Cole, a junior at UCLA, has dominated this year would be an understatement.  His 1-2 record is deceiving given that his offense gave him zero (0) run support in 18 straight innings.  In 32.1 innings, Cole has struck out 40 batters, allowed 15 hits and yielded only 5 earned runs.  Per the scouting report on the Pirates Prospects Cole Tracker, Cole's single flaw was his control.  However, given his 6.0 K/BB ratio this year, it appears Gerrit's maturation has lifted that weakness.  





Who to Choose?


So who do the Pirates take?  Barring injury, it really seems to be a can't-lose situation for a franchise who gained this very fortunate decision by running a can't-win team the year before.  Who would you choose?  Team Rendon or Team Cole?

Reasons to Select Gerrit Cole


The old adage, "Pitching/defense wins championships" still lives on as we saw last year in the World Series.  Imagine a rotation whose first 3 pitchers were Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon and Luis Heredia.  Assuming they all reach their potential (which is a huge assumption in baseball) this could be the front line of the best rotation in baseball by 2014-2015.  In his most recent chat transcriptWednesday, Jim Callis had this to say about Cole in comparison to Taillon:

"It's not like Rendon won't be able to play third base—a very good third base—in the future, so that's not really a factor. Cole has enhanced his chances of going 1-1 by showing great stuff every time out this spring. He and Taillon have comparable fastballs and breaking balls, but Cole's changeup is significantly better." 

Alvarez could use a friend to give him RBI's

 Reasons to Take Anthony Rendon


Rendon adds a pure number 3 hitter at a prime position.  He projects to be a 25-30 home run hitter while hitting over .300.  As mentioned before, he has a plus glove, making him a potential gold glove winner each year.  He would move Pedro Alvarez, a below average fielder, to first base and let him focus on hitting.  The top 5 players in the lineup could include Tabata, McCutchen, Walker, Rendon, Alvarez (in no particular order) by as early as June 2012.  You should also consider that the Pirates system lacks significant power and projectable hitters on the corner infield positions.  In Baseball America's Prospect Handbook, they listed the Top 30 prospects in the Pirates' system and, of the 30 prospects mentioned, Matt Hague (29) is the only corner infielder listed.  Meanwhile, over half of the list is made up of pitching prospects (16).  And, although you can never have too many pitchers, it is apparent the Pirates need more talent in their lineup; talent Rendon can instantly inject.   


 Who would I choose?  No idea.  Honestly, it's a coin flip.  As former Pirates post-game host, Rocco DeMaro told me today, it's a good year to have the second pick.  One thing is for sure, whoever they take will instantly be a top 5 prospect in the system. 

And for those of you doubting the Pirates will spend the money on either player:

written by Jon Pennline