With a slew of bad news for Mets fans this week, I found an interesting nugget via Buster Olney’s Blog at ESPN (subscription required):

Heard this: While Gerrit Cole’s struggles have scared off some teams and caused him to drop on some draft boards, the Pirates — who have the first pick in the draft — continue to value Cole; they continue to look at him as a possible choice for that top spot.

Could Cole drop to the Mets at 13? Remember, his advisor is Scott Boras, he will be demanding big money, and even with their recent financial problems the Mets still have spent on their first round picks (see Matt Harvey last year).

Even if Pittsburgh doesn’t pick Cole, I doubt he makes it down to 13, unless the monetary demands become outrageous.

If you remember, Cole, a junior at UCLA, was drafted by the Yankees in 2008, but they never really had a chance to sign him since his heart was set on going to college. This was one of the rare times in recent years the Yankees big dollars failed to land an amateur player. If Cole had signed, the Yanks could have stolen a #1 pick at 28.

During a Bloomberg Sports Conference in February, former big league pitching coach Rick Peterson educated us on pitching mechanics as it relates to injuries.  He told us that any pitcher that has their palm facing down, while their front foot is forward with the delivery, is putting tremendous strain on the elbow. Using my amateur eye this picture appears to be a perfect example of what Peterson was talking about:

Stephen Strasburg has a similar follow through as well.

Cole, despite his talent, is far from a sure thing. I could see some teams that need to be right with their draft passing up on him. I don’t, however, believe it will allow him to fall to 13. I am also not sure it was be a slam dunk decision for the Mets to take him if he is headed towards similar arm problems we have already seen with Strasburg.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

Mike Silva

View all posts by Mike Silva
Mikes website

Tags: Gerrit Cole, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, Scott Boras, Stephan Strasburg, UCLA, Washington Nationals