Scouting Report: Rico Noel, 2B-SS, Coastal Carolina (2010 Draft)
John Klima | February 7, 2010
Rico Noel and I had an interesting talk last summer, discussing the increasing value on speed and defense at the major league level. As a player who grew up watching the steroid era, Noel was pleased that his skills were coming back into favor. That’s good, because like a lot of middle infielders we have scouted on this site, Noel isn’t going to be the eye-pleasing 6-5 guy. Height is the most overrated aspect of player development, pure and simple. Noel is going to give himself a chance to succeed because he will be able to run, bunt, put the ball in play, play multiple infield positions, and defend. He’ll need some polish as he improves, but from a pure scouting point of view, I’d have no problem turning this guy in because I know good minor league instructors can make a big leaguer out of him.
