Pirates add another future ace to recent draft history

Who would have thought that Stanford righty Mark Appel would slide from the projected number 1 pick to the Bucs at number 8?  No one saw that happening!  No one!

While I would have loved adding a power bat to the farm system, adding another projectable power arm to the already stocked farm system is looking strong.  The Pirates have one of the best pitching staffs in baseball this year despite having the worse offense in the majors.  And look at where the team is at: 1 game over .500, 3 games out of first place. 

The Pirates future rotation is looking like a homegrown version of the 90s Braves or 70s Orioles teams.

It's going to be interesting to see if Appel will sign for slot since he is a Scott Boras agent and was projected to receive a signing bonus of $7 million plus if he got drafted 1st overall.  Since he was selected 8th, he could potentially have lost $4 million since the 8th overall pick slot is $2.9 million.

I'm hoping that the Pirates sign Appel to slot and not a penny over.  Appel doesn't have a lot of leverage since 4 of the teams that selected above the Pirates yesterday currently have some of the worse records in baseball.  This means that Appel could only go up in draft if any of those teams choose to pick Appel next year.  If Boras and Appel can't reach an agreement prior to the July signing deadline, they need to just walk away and get the 9th overall pick next year which looks to be a stronger draft anyway. 

Let's hope GM Neal Huntington signs Appel to slot to add another ace pitcher to the system.

Today's the last day to root for the Bucs for the Reds series.
Once the game starts, no more entries will be permitted.

LET'S GO BUCS!