With the 51st pick in the 2013 draft, the Pirates took a left-handed California high school pitcher named Blake Taylor. Taylor's only 17 years old, he currently throws his fastball in the low 90s, and he's 6'3." He's your protypical projectible high school pitcher, with his extremely young age making him particularly interesting. From what I can tell, he's a solid pick at 51 though he's (say it with me now) awfully raw.
One of the immediate questions that I'm getting asked a lot about Austin Meadows and Reese McGuire is whether or not the Pirates will have any trouble signing them. I honestly don't see any reason to think that either one will be a tough sign; Bill Brink talked to both of them tonight and McGuire's already said he's leaning towards signing with the Pirates while Meadows "has a decision to make." Both of these guys were heavily scouted by the teams picking in the top 15 (including the Pirates) and I didn't see any indication that either one would be a hard sign. Going forward, I think situations like Appel's last year are going to be the exception rather than the rule. Remember: the Pirates really liked McGuire and had to be pretty sure he'd sign at #9, but they went ahead and took Meadows anyway. I could be wrong, but I don't forsee any problems on this front.
Another little tidbit from Brink's chat with the draftees: Austin Meadows wants to meet Andrew McCutchen. I can't even express how great I think it is that the Pirates have a player that draftees immediately want to meet like that.
Baseball America's got a full rundown of the first round, with scouting reports for the picks and analysis. They slot Meadows in the middle of the Pirates' top ten prospect list, just ahead of Josh Bell, and McGuire in the bottom part of the top ten, mainly because the Pirates' system has so much depth. Jim Callis fielded a question on Twitter about Meadows and Josh Bell, saying that Bell's bat was better straight out of high school, but that Meadows' had better all-around tools.
Here's a scouting report on Reese McGuire, by Baseball Prospectus's Nick Faleris.
And here's a Minor League Ball report on Meadows, which mentions some concerns about squaring the ball up and making solid contact, but that he was still obviously a top-ten talent in this draft.
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