Pirates ink second overall pick Alvarez

Baseball Betting Lines

08/16/2008 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Pirates agreed to terms with third baseman Pedro Alvarez, the second overall selection in the 2008 June Draft, prior to Friday's midnight (et) signing deadline.

Alvarez batted .317 with 15 doubles, nine home runs and 30 runs batted in 40 games during his junior season at Vanderbilt. Despite missing 23 games during the season with a broken hamate bone in his right hand, Alvarez tied the all- time Vandy home run record with 49.

The 21-year-old Alvarez also hit .329 with a school record 22 home runs and 64 RBI as a freshman while being named the Southeast Conference Freshman-of-the- Year.

"Pedro Alvarez is an accomplished college hitter with the potential to be a middle of the order bat at the major league level for us," Neal Huntington, Pirates senior vice president and general manager said. "Equally important, he is a quality young man who comes from a very strong family. We appreciate their trust in the Pirates organization. We are excited to add him to our system and about the potential impact he can have."

The six-foot-two, 225-pound Alvarez was selected to the USA National Team twice during his collegiate career. In 2006, he captured the Gold Medal in the FISU World Championship by leading the team with a .379 average to go along with five home runs and 43 RBI in 31 games. In 2007, Alvarez led Team USA in batting average (.315), hits (40), home runs (7), RBI (30), total bases (70) and slugging percentage (.551), while winning the Silver Medal at the Pan Am Games and finishing third at the World Port Tournament.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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