I will apologise to Perfect Game ahead of time for copying this from their site. Jerry if you have a problem with this, I will gladly delete it, You can find this on the Perfect Game website.
CLIFF PENNINGTON
Texas A&M shortstop Cliff Pennington has been talked about in 2005 draft terms as high as the #2 pick overall, to the Kansas City Royals. The rumors are that the Royals are considering selecting Pennington as a "budget conscious" pick. The talk is so rampant that Royals scouting director Deric Ladnier sarcastically told Baseball America recently, "I even called Pennington's advisors to ask them what I had agreed to pay the kid."
Such talk is heady stuff for a 5-11, 170 lb shortstop from Corpus Christi, TX, who wasn't even drafted after his senior high school season. But one player whose head it probably wouldn't affect is Pennington, a consummate gamer and baseball rat.
Perfect Game staff member David Rawnsley has a unique perspective on Pennington.
"Before joining Perfect Game a few years ago, I worked in the agent/advisor field," recalls Rawnsley. "One of my clients for the 2002 draft was Pennington. I pretty much knew Cliff wasn't going to get drafted because of a number of different things; his size, being from Corpus Christi, his commitment to A&M, but I knew he would be a high pick out of college and it was an investment of time (note: Pennington is still advised by the company Rawnsley used to work for).
"What made it easy is that Cliff is such a great baseball fan and student of the game in addition to being a great talent. He knew as much about the history of baseball at 17 as anyone I've ever met. There's no doubt I could have asked him who the Hall of Famers were on the 1936 Yankees or who the most important players on the 1957 Milwaukee Braves were and he'd know. The kid just loved baseball and lived it and studied it. You knew if his talent held up and he stayed healthy he would be successful."
Calling Pennington a "budget conscious" pick is something PG knows nothing about, but if you called him a "consistency" pick, which is what a team is generally looking at when they consider "over drafting" a player, Pennington fits the bill. You know exactly what you're getting with Pennington. He hit .340, .339 and .363 in 3 years with the Aggies. He walked 22, 33 and 37 times. He led the team in stolen bases (Pennington led the Cape Cod League last year with 21 steals, too). He only made 12 errors in 2005. In fact, Pennington led Texas A&M in virtually every offensive category in 2005. There's no talk of his playing second base, either. Pennington is a shortstop.
Pennington participated in the 2001 PG National Showcase at Tropicana Field. The PG report after the event looks like a script for the next 4 years (Pennington was an 88-92 mph hurler in HS who A&M toyed with making a closer frequently) and is a good summary of how professional scouts evaluate players such as Pennington.
2001 Perfect Game National Showcase, Tropicana Field (6/01): Pennington is an outstanding 2-way college prospect. We understand that he normally runs a better 60 time than we got him (6.94 on the Tropicana turf) . His arm is fun to watch (88 mph off the mound), he can pitch with anyone as far as stuff and ability. Even a top slider at times! He can hit and he shows power potential. If he were a bigger guy, he would go high in the draft. He should be awesome at the college level.