The baseball draft is a calculated risk. (All decisions are, basically.) The calculating among the 30 Major League Baseball teams in their draft preparation is with the skill level, the "signability," and the accounting ledger.
And it's not necessarily in that order.
History will show that Carlos Correa was the No. 1 pick of the 2012 draft. He could become the next Alex Rodriguez or Ken Griffey Jr. as a No. 1 pick, or the next Matt Bush or Brien Taylor. Or more than likely, somewhere in between.
Houston's brass is saying that Correa made it an easy decision on the field during a pre-draft workout. Said one scout to MLB.com's Peter Gammons: "Best player out of Puerto Rico since Carlos Beltran."
Beltran was a second-rounder back in 1995, the year after Correa, 17, was born. It makes for a nice story, the first-ever No. 1 overall pick from Puerto Rico, an island that's nurtured Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda and Roberto and Sandy Alomar. (None of those players were drafted, as Puerto Ricans were exempt from the draft before 1989.) And Correa -- the youngest player in the first round of the draft -- has talent. He's a big kid (6-feet-4) who could fill a power shortstop mold, not unlike Rodriguez or Derek Jeter, whom the Astros famously passed up back when they had the No. 1 pick in 1992.
And there's this: Correa could be playing minor-league ball very soon, unlike No. 8 pick Mark Appel, who was considered to be the favorite to go No. 1 but is represented by agent Scott Boras. According to a report, pre-draft contract discussions didn't go well between Boras/Appel and the Astros, and that's a big reason why Correa made history.
2012 MLB Draft: First-Round Draft Choices
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