MOD: Pirates
by jar75 on May 13, 2009 1:12 PM EDT
14 comments
Alright, we have the following picks for the 2009 MLB draft:
#4
#49
#53
#84
The Pirates own a barren system that is desperate for high upside talent. Gone are the days of settling for "safe" picks with limited upside who struggle to reach even the lowest of ceilings. The Pirates will go with the best player available, and may lean towards HS draftees. The best case scenario would see Pittsburgh putting together a winning team around 2012, and this scouting director sees no reason to reach for a finished product.
By no means am I saying that we won't go with a college guy if he's the best on our board, and we'll gladly take another Tanner Scheppers if one falls to us (as in 2008). This time, however, we hope Neal Huntington has the stones to actually sign the guy.
All thoughts are welcomed, and anyone who wants the deputy position should speak up.
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Id be willing to bet that the Pirates go college arm, closer to mlb the better.
White or Gibson I bet are their guys.
Do you think that Scheppers non signing last year will keep the Bucs away?
No...
From all reports, they left on good terms, and I could definitely see Scheppers being drafted again. As a Pirate fan, it infuriates me, as we could have had him cheaper and with a less premium draft pick last year. I also don’t like the idea of taking him that high simply because of the health question marks.
The Pirates will probably opt for a college arm at #4, but I don’t really like the choices. White needs to heat up to justify #4, Gibson seems like their conventional “safe” selection (Moskos, Lincoln, Maholm, et al.), and Crow/Scheppers will have to show me something in Indy ball. I’d trade down to the middle of the draft if the MLB allowed it as I don’t particularly like any of my options right now.
Yeah, but after Strasburg there arent a lot of sure things out there. And I would be surpised if the Pirates went HS bat or arm with a long time to reach mlb. Tate might be a nice pick there but Green works too. Kind of have to go with the best of whats available.
I certainly see your point
I don’t think it’s likely that the Pirates take a HSer at #4, but if certain players are off the board it may be the best route. I believe that this organization needs to fully commit to rebuilding before it ever has a chance to get back to respectability. The Pirates can afford to wait for a high schooler if they feel that he is the best on the board.
I like the HS arms in this draft, and if certain things happen between now and the draft, I could be tempted by one. White, Crow and Scheppers are the three arms that I’m looking at right now. One will likely be taken third overall. If the other two limp to the finish line, I’m going to have a very hard decision to make.
I would pick...
Crow with the fourth pick. He has the best stuff of people who don’t have a history of injury (Scheppers) or are HS arms that would take too long to get to the majors(Purke or Matzek). He would look good at the top of our rotation.
With the second pick I would love to see Luke Bailey, ahigh school catcher, fall to us. He was projected as a first round talent, but has been injured so he will likely slip. He would require a large signing bonus, but it would be really nice to get a true catching prospect in our system.
Maddox...
is the one I actually prefer of the two, but Maddox seems like more of a sure thing to go in the first round because he hasn’t done anything to drop like Bailey has. Maddox also has more offensive potential, but Bailey seems more likely to stay at catcher. I have heard people compare Maddox to Mike Piazza( which seems a little extreme), so he has to have a ton of offensive potential.
re: Maddox
BA actually has Maddox dropping saying:
“At 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, Maddox is an ox with two big tools—raw power and arm strength. However, the game doesn’t come easy to him, he lacks fluidity, and the rest of the prep catchers in Florida have caught up to him or passed him on many boards. Florida is loaded with prep backstops. Want defense? Take Steve Baron. Need power? Try Michael Ohlman. Need a little of both? How about Mike Zunino, or J.R. Murphy? Maddox hasn’t had a great spring, and he’s not looking great by comparison to his competition.”
I like the combination of a plus plus arm and power potential, and wouldn’t mind adding him to the organization.
I had...
not heard much about him this spring and assumed he kept his first round status. I would love for Pittsburgh to get him because of his enormous power potential. I do believe he has more upside than any catcher in this years draft. He is the only one I could see being an average defender, hitting in the 280s, and hitting 30+ homers every year.
Sano - DR
This will certainly affect who the Pirates will take in the draft. We all know that they won’t spend 9M+ every year in the draft, but spending 3.5-4M on a 16 year old Latin prospect will definitely reduce the amount of money available for draft picks.
I saw that as well. I’m going to remain skeptical until it actually happens, as the Pirates have been rumored to have interest in a few other high end international FAs over the years with nothing coming to fruition. I would love to see it happen, and you’re right, it would affect the draft budget.
On another note, Callis, in his first BA mock draft, has the Pirates taking Gibson with Alex White and Zach Wheeler as possibilities as well. And ESPN’s draft blog says: “Pittsburgh at No. 4 prefer OF Dustin Ackley and RHPs Shelby Miller (Brownwood, Texas) and Jacob Turner (St. Louis/Westminster Christian Academy)”.
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