#2 Draft Pick Subjective Rankings for 3/7
Just my opinion. Rankings are Mariner-specific, which means (everything else being equal, of course):
Factor 1: Safeco -- LH pitchers benefit; RH hitters penalized
Factor 2: "2014" -- Felix contract up after 2014; Ichiro will be 40 in 2014
A "pure" abstract ranking of who would be the "best pick" might be different.
1. Anthony Rendon, RH 3b, Rice.
Starting to lap the field in Strasburgian fashion. 20 H, 8 xbh (4 dbl, 1 tpl, 3 HR), 13 BB (vs. 5 K) all in just 13 G. .435/.574/.761 -- with the new bats that were supposed to sap everyone of their power.
Some say: "imagine if Mark Teixeira had shortstop hands and was Gold Glove at 3b." Tex is a SH and Rendon is RH-only, but otherwise, yeah. Impossible to turn down, but pretty unlilkely he'll still be there.
2. Gerrit Cole, RH starter, UCLA.
It does seem like the college pitchers are ahead of the non-Rendon hitters, but Cole has really brought down the walks so far in 2011, showing perhaps a little extra maturity and command. His teammate Trevor Bauer, facing the same opposition, hasn't. FWIW. Cole gets the edge over the other college starters because his ceiling seems just as high, but his floor has less downside.
3. Matt Purke, LH starter, TCU.
After one start on a pitch count and one scratch, Purke finally went deep into a game on Sunday, and he picked up right where he left off from last year's 16-0 season: 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K. What I love is that he was a high-school hotshot, but hasn't shown one iota of melting down from the hype.
4. Sonny Gray, RH starter, Vanderbilt.
People got squeamish about Gray, perhaps due to his size (5-11, 180), and started ranking Bubba Starling or Matt Barnes ahead of him. I don't really see why. Supposedly he has the best breaking stuff of all the college arms. Friday's game: 9.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 15 K.
5. Bubba Starling, RH OF/P, Gardner, KS
Still the "wild card," but George Springer's struggles (.172/.306/.345) move him up. If you knew he'd be Bryce Harper who could play CF, then he'd be higher. But how do you know? G's reference to the scouting report touting his baseball potential does make a difference (before, I'd just seen reports of how he's a freak athlete). But the "2014" factor downgrades him in my book (again, everything else being equal).
New wild card: Francisco Lindor, SH SS, Orlando, FL
HS shortstop supposedly rocketing up everyone's board after homering from both sides of the plate in early-season action; this after winning the home run derby at an all-star game last fall. He's a true switch-hitter with a plus glove at short, which has everyone buzzing about the power. Hard to see the Ms biting at #2 ("2014 factor" again), but at least it's within the realm of possibility.