Keith Law stated before the draft the Josh Bell, the 6'3, 200lb slugger committed to the University of Texas, was a top 15 talent and was virtually unsignable. Supposedly, the Red Sox had great interest in taking him in the first round, but the letter Bell sent to MLB teams prior to the draft requesting that they did not draft him because of his college committment was enough to scare off all major league teams in the first round. Law also stated that if a cool 6.5 mil and a chance to play for the world champion Red Sox couldn't persuade Bell to enter the draft, then nothing would...
So, the progressive, high rolling Pittsburgh Pirates decided to roll the dice on Bell with the 1st pick of the 2nd round....and they were successful on signing bell to a 5 million dollar deal. Although the deal wasn't completed until a few minutes before the signing deadline, the Pirates were victorious in securing two highly touted draft prospects (Gerrit Cole and Josh Bell).
At Texas Prep, Bell was an advanced switch hitter that offers tremendous power. He started switch hitting at the age of 5 and hits equally as well from both sides of the plate. In Bell's senior season at Texas Prep, he hit .584 with 13 HR's, 50 RBI, and 16 stolen bases. Bell projects to be a middle of the lineup type of hitter that will likely play either left or right field.
Athough Gerrit Cole stole the show as the first pick of the draft, Bell might have a greater upside as an every day contributor to the offense. Kudos to Bob Nutting and the Pirates organization for putting together a financially record setting draft and following the sustainability plan they discussed early on. Bell might be more of a "sure thing" than anyone else the organization drafted this year. Pirates fans have a reason to be excited for several years to come.
