MLB Draft

High school players take longer to develop than collegiate prospects, but a few prep stars in the 2012 MLB draft have an upside that was just too good to pass up.

The teams that drafted these teenagers will be in for a several year wait until they see their investment pay off. 

Still, the talent they just added to the organization will be very valuable in the future. 

Here are the five best high school players taken in this year’s draft. 

Position: OF

Height/Weight: 6’4”/208 lbs.

Bats/Throws: S/R

DOB: 1/1/1994

High School: Hueytown (Ala.)

College Commitment: Florida State

Deven Marrero will have a hard time living up to his first-round expectations despite his fall to the No. 24 pick. He's not the only one though, there are two others that won't live up to the expectations of a first-round pick. 

We'll start with the aforementioned Marrero.

Deven Marrero, SS, Arizona State

Boston selected Marrero with the No. 24 pick. He is a defensive-first shortstop, which should come as no surprise, because most are.

Monday marked the beginning of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft for Major League Baseball. Oh, you didn't hear about it? That's because of the four major sports, the MLB draft operates in complete anonymity. Over the next three days, there will be 40 rounds of players being selected, and you'll probably hear nothing about it.

Today, we're going to try and change that. Bud Selig better be listening because it's time to look at ways that the MLB Draft can be just as exciting as its counterparts.

Position: LHP

Height/Weight: 6’3”/175 lbs

Bats/Throws: R/L

DOB: 1/22/1994

High School: Camarillo (Calif.)

College Commitment: UCLA

Since picking up pitching as a sophomore, Hunter Virant has continually asserted himself as one of the top prep left-handed pitching prospects in the 2012 draft class.

Position: 3B

Height/Weight: 6’1”/210 lbs

Bats/Throws: R/R

DOB: 3/9/1994

High School: Valencia HS (Calif.)

College Commitment: Pepperdine

Much like Lance McCullers, Williams comes from a family with big-league experience, as his father, Eddie, spent 10 seasons in the major leagues.

Several teams beefed up their pitching staff in the 2012 Major League Baseball draft.

Some teams reached for a prospect, some teams got lucky to pick one that fell and a few teams got the perfect player at the perfect time. 

Here are the four best grades from teams that added big arms in the draft. 

Mark Appel, RHP, Stanford—Pittsburgh Pirates, Pick No. 8

Grade: A+

After previewing the 10 best catchers in the 2012 draft class earlier today, Prospect Pipeline’s draft coverage continues with a preview of the top draft prospects at second base.

Stanford third baseman Stephen Piscotty is an underrated college baseball player who will end up landing higher than expected in this year's MLB draft.

Many mock drafts are projecting teams near the top of the draft to select developmental high school players, but by the time the results are in we're going to see that teams value players who can make a more immediate impact.

While the 2012 draft class has tons of depth at some positions such as pitching (but what draft doesn’t?) and outfielders, it’s incredibly slim at others.

As I mentioned last week, the crop of shortstop prospects is less than impressive, and I think the fact that the Pirates have been linked to Arizona State’s Deven Marrero at No. 8 overall is a testament to this notion.