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Pirates select Stanford pitcher Appel in first round of MLB draft
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Stanford pitcher Mark Appel throws during a game at in May. The Pirates selected Appel tonight with the eighth-overall pick in the 2012 Major League Baseball draft.
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The Pirates continued their recent trend of drafting talented right-handers, drafting Stanford pitcher Mark Appel with the eighth pick in Monday's Major League Baseball draft.
Appel was mentioned as a possible top pick, but fell to eighth, and the Pirates snatched him up. Appel went 10-1 with a 2.27 ERA for the Cardinal this season.
Now the question becomes how to sign him. The Pirates have roughly $6.6 million to spend on their selections in the top 10 rounds of the draft, and Appel could force them to get creative in the later rounds to save money.
The Astros bypassed Appel and Georgia high school outfielder Byron Buxton to take shortstop Carlos Correa from the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy. The Minnesota Twins selected Buxton with the second pick.
Florida catcher Mike Zunino went to the Seattle Mariners at the third pick, and the Baltimore Orioles selected LSU right-hander Kevin Gausman with the fourth pick. The Kansas City Royals took University of San Francisco right-hander Kyle Zimmer at five, the Chicago Cubs took high school outfielder Albert Almora at six and the San Diego Padres drafted high school lefty Max Fried with the seventh selection.
First Published June 4, 2012 8:07 pm
