The decision to make a player primarily a pitcher or primarily a position player has existed since Babe Ruth—and likely long before. Ruth, you may remember, originally reached the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox as a lefthanded pitcher, and for decades even held the record for most consecutive shutout innings in World Series play.

Ruth is also the answer to a trivia question that I’ve never had anyone answer successfully: What Hall of Famer reached 50 wins at the youngest age? Trick question, but Ruth’s the answer.

Given his pitching ability and revolutionary power-hitting skills, along with his bigger than life personality, I often wonder why the discussion about the greatest baseball player of all time doesn’t start with who is No. 2 after Ruth.

The 2008 draft class features an abnormal number of high school players who have the type of dual pitching/position talent that is getting them evaluated as potential future major leaguers both ways. There is rarely agreement among scouts which is the best way to send such a young prospect out to pro ball, either. The old axiom has always been, “Go out as a player first, as you can always convert to pitcher without losing too much time proving that you can’t hit.” But if you lose a couple of years of repetitions with the bat while you are struggling on the mound, that will most often be fatal to your chances as a position player.

A new emphasis on an old twist has occurred this year: consideration for what the player himself wants to do. Understandably, there is obvious risk in paying a young prospect top-round bonus money only to find out that he has no real interest in doing what you signed him to do. With the sheer number of top-level talent with both pitching and position tool sets in 2008, there is more scout talk about this than ever.

A few cases in point.

Sarasota (Fla.) High shortstop/righthander Casey Kelly has the whole equation coming and going. Depending on who you talk to in the game, Kelly could be a first-round pick as either a shortstop or righthanded pitcher. If you talk to University of Tennessee football coaches, Kelly could also be in the running for the Vols’ starting quarterback position in a year or two. Throw in Kelly’s baseball background—his father Pat is a former major league catcher and is scheduled to manage the Cincinnati Reds’ Gulf Coast League team this summer—and you have a complicated situation.

According to Florida-based scouts, Kelly has made it clear that he wants to play pro baseball—but only as a shortstop. Teams drafting him with the intent of using him as a pitcher will likely see him throwing footballs instead of baseballs.

Bellflower (Calif.) High outfielder/lefthander Anthony Gose opened up scouts’ eyes by throwing 95 mph last October at the World Wood Bat Association fall championship in Jupiter, Fla., then hitting 97 mph consistently early this spring before going down with a tender shoulder in mid-March.

Scouts have evaluated Gose much higher on the mound than as an outfielder. Yet Gose has made it very clear that he has no interest in pitching at the next level, even stating in an April 16 article in the Los Angeles Times, “If I didn’t have to do it (pitching) again, I wouldn’t even miss it.”

Stephens County High (Toccoa, Ga.) righthander/third baseman Ethan Martin has taken a different attitude. Martin was such a high-level talent as a third baseman that he was chosen to play in the Aflac All-American Game last summer at the position, and rarely pitched during the summer playing for the East Cobb Astros.

But when Martin came out throwing 95 mph with a hammer curveball this spring, scouts quickly changed their opinion on his prospect status. According to Martin’s advisors at Jet Sports Management, “Ethan has accepted that scouts like him best as a pitcher and that that is going to be the path he takes to the major leagues.”

Of course, a player can be so good at hitting the baseball that scouts will just write off the pitching side of his game, regardless of how talented he might be on the mound. Current Texas Rangers star Josh Hamilton regularly threw 95 mph from the left side in high school, but there was no talk of the No. 1 pick in the 1999 draft being anything but a hitter.

This year’s top high school power prospect, American Heritage High (Plantation, Fla.) first baseman Eric Hosmer, has reportedly touched 98 mph from the left side this spring out of the bullpen. But no one is talking about his pitching future.

The 2008 college baseball crop isn’t without its own dual-position dilemma. Florida State’s Buster Posey was an Aflac All-American on the mound in high school, played shortstop as a freshman at FSU and is now the top catching prospect in college baseball, while still dabbling on the mound occasionally. Fresno State’s Tanner Scheppers was recruited out of high school as a shortstop before converting to the mound. Tulane’s Shooter Hunt was much better known as a catcher in high school before concentrating on pitching as a collegian. Arizona State’s Ike Davis has pitched since the start of his college career and has been clocked up to 94 mph, but he has always been considered a better hitting prospect.

This pitching/hitting quandary isn’t likely to change in the short term, either. Shortstop/righthander Mychal Givens of Tampa’s H.B. Plant High, often mentioned as the top prospect in the 2009 high school class, throws 95 mph off the mound and the dialog has already started as to his best future role.

Here’s out take on the Top 10 Player/Pitcher Prospects in the high school ranks for the 2008 draft:

1. Eric Hosmer, 1b-lhp, American Heritage HS, Plantation, Fla.
No questions, first base all the way.

2. Aaron Hicks, of-rhp, Woodrow Wilson HS, Long Beach, Calif.
First-round talent both ways, prefers the outfield for now.

3. Casey Kelly, ss-rhp, Sarasota (Fla.) HS
Has strongly stated his preference to playing every day.

4. Ethan Martin, rhp-3b, Stephens County HS, Toccoa, Ga.
Likely late first-rounder on the mound, almost as highly regarded at third.

5. Jake Odorizzi, rhp-ss, Highland (Ill.) HS
Potential first-round pitcher; some like equally as a player, though.

6. Tim Melville, rhp-3b, Wentzville Holt HS, Wentzville, Mo.
MVP of the 2007 WWBA 18-and-under as a primary hitter, RHP for the scouts.

7. Tyler Chatwood, rhp-ss, Redlands Valley East HS, Yucaipa, Calif.
Not only a mid-90s pitcher, but plays shortstop, center field and catcher.

8. Anthony Gose, of-lhp, Bellflower (Claif.) HS
Scouts clearly like him better as a power lefthander.

9. Joe Loftus, 3b-rhp, Academy of Holy Angels, Savage, Minn.
Not considered a pitcher until he opened this spring touching 96 mph.

10. Jordan Swagerty, c-rhp, Prestonwood Academy, Plano, Texas
With Tennessee’s Matt Ramsey, the top catcher/righthander prospect in the country.