If you’re looking for stuff about Strasburg, and I suspect that some of you are today, that’s coming later. For now I’m following the draft and composing “How the Bucs Stole Strasmas” on Twitter. I’ll post it with the gamethread, which will go up around 4 like usual on gamedays.
This is the fun day of the draft. Picking up one talented player is great, but it’s also not enough. The Pirates did a great job on day 2 of last year’s draft and they need to do so again this year. They’ve got a pretty awesome opportunity to pick up some more top-tier talent with their first pick today, as a bunch of highly regarded slipped through the first round and will be available even after the Nats make their first pick.
Tim has a nice rundown of who’s still available from Baseball America’s Top 50. While it would be kind of mind-boggling for the Pirates to come out of this draft with Taillon and Stetson Allie (plus, they’d have drafted guys named Jameson and Stetson!) or AJ Cole, I’d be pretty surprised if they went right back to the prep pitcher well. It’s just too much of a risk. I don’t know a whole lot about any of these guys, but Brett Eibner seems like a pretty interesting pick.
One thing worth keeping in mind here with both Taillon and whoever the Pirates pick today is that the Pirates do have a bit of leverage over high school players because the CBA is going to end before they’re eligible for the draft again as college juniors and many people suspect that the draft and the way draft picks are paid could be radically different by the time they hit the draft again. It won’t keep some guys from going to college, but anyone that gets a decent offer after the first round may consider it differently this year than in past years.
In any case, I’ll update as best as I can this afternoon. I’m in lab but will check in regularly. Feel free to use this as an open thread and as the Pirates make interesting picks. I’ll update below.
Round 2 UPDATE: Whoa, they actually took Stetson Allie. The two best high school pitching prospects in the draft were … drafted by the Pirates? I’m honestly speechless here.
MORE ON ALLIE: Super power arm, probably the hardest high school thrower in the draft in that he can throw in the upper 90s and hit 100 on the gun in a workout the day before the draft. He’s not nearly as polished as Taillon, but he’s got a great arm. He’s going to be expensive as hell (BP’s Kevin Goldstein says $3 million+), but, I mean … wow.
Round 3 UPDATE: Mel Rojas Jr. He is indeed the son of Mel Rojas. Bryan Smith at FanGraphs says:
[P]lenty of athletic genes, and projects to cover a lot of ground in center field. Skinny and 6-foot-3, Rojas will add strength, but the question is whether he has enough loft on his swing to hit for power. The team that drafts him will have the onus of adding patience to his game at the next level, as he’s succeeded without it up to now.
They left AJ Cole on the board. Can’t draft high ceiling, tough-sign pitchers in every round.
Round 4 UPDATE: Cole very nearly fell to the Pirates in the fourth, but the Nats grabbed him right before the Bucs picked again. The Pirates go with another prep RHP, Nicholas Kingham. Guess what? He’s tall! And projectable! Shocking, I know.
Rounds 5, 6, and 7 UPDATE: Tyler Waldron, RHP from Oregon State in the fifth round, Jason Hursh, a prep RHP from Texas in round 6, and Austin Kubitza, another prep RHP from Texas in the seventh. Holy freaking crap, Neal. Waldron is the shortest at 6’2″. Kubitza is 6’5″ and ranked in the BA top 200.
Rounds 8 and 9: Round 8: Dace Kime, RHP, Ohio high school. Round 9: Brandon Cumpton, RHP, Georgia Tech. Eight of nine picks are right handed pitchers, six of those eight are high schoolers.
Final update: The Bucs are drafting RHPs left and right, but finally mixing some position players in as well. I’ll have a full rundown of day 2 before day 3 starts tomorrow.
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