MLB Draft Tracker 2012: Pirates Smart to Jump on Mark Appel at No. 8

There was plenty of chatter before the 2012 MLB Draft that Stanford could have another Houstonian taken with a No. 1 pick this year, with Mark Appel potentially joining NFL star-in-the-making Andrew Luck in that regard.

Come draft day on Monday, though, Appel found himself tumbling down the order, presumably on account of signability concerns.

Not that the Pittsburgh Pirates much mind, now that they'll have Appel under their wing.

The 6'5 former Cardinal ace is a tremendous talent in his own right, a flame-throwing right hander with the stuff, the polish and the know-how to reach the Big Leagues in short order.

The Pirates would've been well-advised to spend the No. 8 pick on a position player, given their relative dearth of hitters down on the farm and up at PNC Park to complement the likes of Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker. Then again, it's tough to argue with Pittsburgh taking the best player available, especially given that player's ace potential.

What's more, Appel should fit in perfectly as the newest leg of a pitching tripod currently making its way through the Pirates' system, alongside Jameson Taillon, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 draft, and Gerrit Cole, the No. 1 pick in last year's class. All three are power pitchers capable of hitting high 90s on the speed gun with regularity.

Put them in a rotation with fast-improving righty James McDonald, and the Pirates may well have one of the best young pitching staffs in all of baseball.

It won't have come cheaply or easily, though. The Pirates gave Taillon a $6.5 million signing bonus in 2010 (the second-highest in MLB history) and an $8 million chunk of pocket change to Cole in 2011. On both occasions, Pittsburgh was pushed right up to the signing deadline on both occasions.

They figure to find themselves in the same predicament this time around, especially now that the deadline has been moved up from mid-August to mid-July.

Pittsburgh's league-mandated limit of $6.6 million to be spent on signing bonuses for picks through the first ten rounds could be an even bigger issue, though. According to ESPN's Jayson Stark, there could be some harsh penalties for the Pirates if they exceed that limit by more than $1 million:

"

If Pirates were to exceed their pool by more than $1M, they'd get fined $1M+ & lose 1st-round picks in each of next 2 drafts.

— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) June 5, 2012"

That could prove challenging to Pittsburgh's efforts to stack its farm system with another top-flight starter, but if general manager Neal Huntington can hammer out a deal, the Pirates could be back in the business of winning baseball games again before long.

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