Meet the best pitching prospect in the Pirates’ system.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxc0ezYHyUo&w=575&h=385]
Come on, you know that video’s exciting.
Leading up to this pick, I’ve seen some people say they wanted the Pirates to pick Machado because they “need” a shortstop or the “need” bats. What the Pirates need is talent. Almost everyone seems to agree that Taillon has more talent than everyone in this draft not named Bryce Harper. I’ve seen other people say that the Pirates should draft Pomeranz or Sale because they’re college pitchers and the Pirates need rotation help now. Any GM that uses that logic with the second overall pick should change his name to Dave Littlefield.
So what did Neal Huntington just do? He drafted a 6’7″ high schooler that already has four pitches, and he did it even though he knows that it’s going to cost a huge amount of money to sign him and there’s a lot of inherent risk in drafting a high school pitcher. Could this blow up in his face? Sure, but it’s hard not to respect a GM that has the brass to make a pick like this. It’s not cheap, it’s not safe, it’s a team taking the player they think is the best player and believing they can bring him along the right way. This is the opposite of everything that I disliked about the Pirates drafts between 2002 and 2007, save the McCutchen and Walker picks. I like it. I like it a lot.
Anyways, I’m gonna take some time and digest this and have a lot more later.
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