Former Stanford pitcher Mark Appel went No.1 overall in the MLB Draft on Thursday to the Houston Astros. He was the eighth overall pick last year and was offered $3.8 million by the Pittsburgh Pirates, an offer he turned down. The gamble payed off for the hard-throwing righty with a fastball in the mid-90s (mph). After going 10-4 with a 2.12 ERA and 130 strikeouts in 106 1/3 innings this season for the Cardinal, the 6-4, 195-pound Appel is expected to fetch about $2 million more than he passed on with the Pirates.
Former Stanford pitcher Mark Appel went No.1 overall in the MLB Draft on Thursday to the Houston Astros. He was the eighth overall pick last year and was offered $3.8 million by the Pittsburgh Pirates, an offer he turned down. The gamble payed off for the hard-throwing righty with a fastball in the mid-90s (mph). After going 10-4 with a 2.12 ERA and 130 strikeouts in 106 1/3 innings this season for the Cardinal, the 6-4, 195-pound Appel is expected to fetch about $2 million more than he passed on with the Pirates.Phil Sears/Associated Press file photo (2012)