rendon or cole #1, who will it be? who should it be?

the gap is narrowing between the two, with many mocks now placing cole going first overall to the Pirates. What do you think will happen?

Still two months from the draft, and anything could happen.

At present though, Cole would likely be # 1.

Yea, as a Pirates fan, its fun to imagine both alternatives...

with Rendon an offense of
c. t. sanchez
1b. P. Alvarez
2B. N. Walker
ss. ?
3S. A. Rendon
LF. J. Tabata
CF. S. Marte (they say hes a better fielder than mccutch, but cutch could play cf)
RF A. McCutchen

or a staff in 2014 OR 15 of
1. Gerrit Cole
2. Jameson Taillon
3. Stetson Allie
4. Luis Herdia
5. Bryan Morris (or Rudy Owens, or von Rosenberg, Cain, etc..)

Rich (Philly): John, With the rise of Cole lately are the M's the biggest winner in the draft ( Get to take whoever Pitt Passes on)?

John Manuel: Not sure why it would be the rise of Cole "lately." Did you guys not watch him in Omaha last year? It was on national TV, you know. I saw him there and in the summer for Team USA; he was a monster then, pretty much the same guy now, and he, not Rendon, was a first-rounder out of HS. Also, he didn't last 7 IP in his last start. Not hating on Cole in any way, just saying, we had him 2 on the board coming into the year, and frankly I think he's still 2. You could even argue he's not the best pitcher on his own team; check Bauer's stats out, and his stuff is legit. I'd take Cole over Bauer, and I know that's the industry consensus, but it wouldn't shock me one bit if Bauer wound up having the better career. He's just too unconventional (and too small) to be the consensus guy. To get to your question, this is a good year to pick in the top 10-15, because you would feel good that you'd have a shot at a big-time talent. Now you just have to pay for him

^^^
I feel the exact same way. A lot of this Cole talk stems from him having exponentially more cards available now compared to last year, meaning more people have a vested interest, and more people are pumping him up. I remember posting several "Cole is on ESPN tonight" last year, only to have them go with minimal replies...because nobody owned his cards. I would argue Cole of last year was greater than this year so far, and last year's Cole in the super regionals was disappointing for me. Rendon's bat is too good to pass up. I actually hope Cole goes #1 because that means he will be the poster child for all of Topps 2012 products, having a handful of autos spread through different products while Rendon would have a great shot at having a regular, non SP'd 2011 Draft Auto. So yeah, root for Cole.

By investment wise I hope it's Gerrit Cole, but you never know plus whichever one doesn't get picked 1st goes to my Mariners (most likely.)

Ive said for months
1. Cole
2. Rendon
3. Purke

I'll stick with that.

Seattle would love rendon, look at the infield in the system of 24 and under

1b Smoak
2b Ackley
SS Nick Franklin
3b Rendon

frzg said:

Ive said for months
1. Cole
2. Rendon
3. Purke

I'll stick with that.

Seattle would love rendon, look at the infield in the system of 24 and under

1b Smoak
2b Ackley
SS Nick Franklin
3b Rendon

Click to expand...

I'm not sure Purke can make it back to #3, he has definitely been one of the biggest "slippers" over the past 2 months.

But I agree with Cole #1, Rendon #2

Seattle would love rendon, look at the infield in the system of 24 and under

1b Smoak
2b Ackley
SS Nick Franklin
3b Rendon[/quote]

That would be an INCREDIBLE infield...

Apparently, there's been a lot of discussion about Rendon's lack of playing the field this year. Concerns some team.

Nathan Rode - @bahighschool RHP Dylan Bundy now 5-0 w/ 66 Ks in 30 IP. Scout recently told me he'd be first HS arm off the board, maybe as high as 3rd overall #mlbdraft

The Pirates have only commented positively on Cole so far as I can find. They have not commented on Rendon other than to say he was an interesting player. I would be shocked if they took a pitcher this year just because their system is devoid of any talented infielders.

If they hadn't screwed up the Sano deal I think they would have been much more inclined to go with a pitcher again.

That being said NH has done a good job going after the best talent they think is on the board so we will see.

Jaypers said:

Nathan Rode - @bahighschool RHP Dylan Bundy now 5-0 w/ 66 Ks in 30 IP. Scout recently told me he'd be first HS arm off the board, maybe as high as 3rd overall #mlbdraft

Click to expand...

Bundy was always high on the 2011 radar, but the kid looks like a beast so far this season.

Yes, Polk High has a great arm in Bundy.

bballcardkid said:

Rich (Philly): John, With the rise of Cole lately are the M's the biggest winner in the draft ( Get to take whoever Pitt Passes on)?

I'd take Cole over Bauer, and I know that's the industry consensus, but it wouldn't shock me one bit if Bauer wound up having the better career. He's just too unconventional (and too small) to be the consensus guy. To get to your question, this is a good year to pick in the top 10-15, because you would feel good that you'd have a shot at a big-time talent. Now you just have to pay for him

Click to expand...

I presume its talking about Bauer here, because Cole is 6-4, 220.

Jaypers said:

Nathan Rode - @bahighschool RHP Dylan Bundy now 5-0 w/ 66 Ks in 30 IP. Scout recently told me he'd be first HS arm off the board, maybe as high as 3rd overall #mlbdraft

Click to expand...

I just can't buy it. Not in this draft. Too many college pitchers have been decent if not stellar (Gray, Hultzen, Jungmann).

sheetskout said:

Jaypers said:

Nathan Rode - @bahighschool RHP Dylan Bundy now 5-0 w/ 66 Ks in 30 IP. Scout recently told me he'd be first HS arm off the board, maybe as high as 3rd overall #mlbdraft

Click to expand...

I just can't buy it. Not in this draft. Too many college pitchers have been decent if not stellar (Gray, Hultzen, Jungmann).

Click to expand...

Not to mention Purke and the wide variety of solid hitters available too (Starling, Springer, etc). But I think first high school arm for Bundy is pretty reasonable. Not sure who else would challenge him for that.