Dejan Kovacevic tweets that there’s “no front-runner” for the Pittsburgh Pirates with the first overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft.
Anyone trying to figure out #Pirates favorite for No. 1 in #MLBDraft is wasting time. They’re open to top 3-4 guys, with no front-runner.
Those three to four guys almost certainly include Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon, UCLA pitcher Gerrit Cole and Virginia pitcher Danny Hultzen, perhaps along with Kansas high school outfielder Bubba Starling and Oklahoma high school pitcher Dylan Bundy.
Essentially, it’s an awful year to have the first overall pick in the draft. If this were the NFL, the Pirates might be trying to trade the pick right now, since there doesn’t seem to be a huge difference, from the perspective of the value of the pick, between the No. 1 overall pick and No. 3. If only Rendon’s health were assured, the pick would be easy, but alas, it isn’t. If only Cole had pitched well recently, the pick would probably be pretty easy, but alas, he didn’t.