The Next Lebron?

Bryce Harper is going to be the first pick in the MLB Draft next Monday. He was hailed as "Baseball's Lebron" as a 16 year old. He has "light tower power" and has demonstrated it as a 17 year old in junior college after there were some doubts. He might be the real Roy Hobbs. If only the Pirates had been slightly worse last year, he could be coming to Pittsburgh instead of Washington...

The only prospect who has been hyped more over the last 10 years is Stephen Strasburg. Or maybe Mark Prior.

Joe Posnanski, one of my favorite writers, attempts to slow the hype down just a bit by explaining how different the Harper and Strasburg paths to the majors are/will be. While he still loves the talent of Harper, there have been plenty of  "can't miss" high school prospects at the top of the draft miss while Strasburg was ready for the majors the instant he was drafted (basically there was no risk)....The money quote from his "scout friend:"

He did not finish that sentence though he could have finished it this way: “And everything doesn’t always go right in baseball.” The bottom line is this: He thinks Harper is one of the best 17-year-old hitting prospects he’s seen. But, he’s just that: A terrific 17-year-old prospect. And there have been a lot of those.

Here is the complete article.

Who do the Pirates pick second after this guy is off the board? They seem to have about 3 options, one of which is being compared to A-Rod, not to get out of control with expectations or anything. I will get to them later this week.

Humberto Sanchez

Here's some of the things the Pirates knew about Tony Sanchez when they drafted him: He had conditioning issues in his past (seriously, he went on the Subway diet), he had a questionable bat, and he was strong defensively. There's a reason some felt he was drafted 20 slots too soon.

So, let's see. A former chunker who has an average bat with some pop...but is strong defensively. Hmm. Who does that remind me of?

The Pirates didn't have a bad draft in 2009. And Tony Sanchez might turn out to be a good player (he's not even playing AA ball yet, so let's not assume he's going to replace Ryan Doumit just yet). But the MLB draft is more of a crap shoot than any of the other major sports, so I believe that you're always better off drafting the best player available--not the most signable player. (Bryan Bullington, anyone?)

And just so you know, the Pirates are already prepared to pass up a tremendous prospect this upcoming draft. Fact is, Bryce Harper might not even be in Neal Huntington's top 10 this June.

Yet, I'm supposed to trust Neal Huntington's scouting prowess on Tony Sanchez?

So go buy yourself a $5 footlong, Bird, and tell them Tony Cota sent you. Or Humberto Sanchez. Or....I'm sorry--I keep getting them confused. Tell them Tony Sanchez sent you.