Draft 2010 Rounds 2-19

The second day of the Pirates is going on right now and the early ones on this day are all we are going to cover in depth as the late rounds will probably not be signed.

We all know by now that pick number one was James Tallion. A great future ace. Let us see the rest of them.

Round 2 – Stetson Allie – St. Edward High School, OH. This guy is a prep pitcher with big power and nasty breaking stuff. However he needs a change up, and of course control work, which most prep guys are going to need. He is ranked as the 8th best prep prospect, about 22 overall I think. He has a commitment to North Carolina, but I expect that the Pirates will be able to sign this guy, but for a load of cash.

Round 3 – Mel Rojas Jr., - Wabash College – This guys is switch hitting center fielder. He is the son of a major leaguer, and sometimes that helps with the work ethic. The Pirates have a lot of outfielders, but we will see about this guy. I don’t have a lot of info on Mel. Lack of power that hopefully will develop, but good speed.

Round 4 – Nicholas Kingham – Sierra Vista HS, NV – Another prep pitcher. A right handed hurler. He has a strong fastball and already has a change up. He has a high upside, but control and possible injuries make me nervous about so many of these prep pitchers. Ranked 186 of prep players.

Round 5 – Tyler Waldron – Oregon State (junior) – this guy was drafted by the Marlins out of high school, and is now moving up in the world. He can return for his senior season, so the Pirates might not sign him either. He is another right handed pitcher. He is the oldest pitcher in the crop right now. He was demoted to the bullpen after failing to live up to expectations at Oregon State last year.

Round 6 – Jason Hursh – Trinity Christian Academy, HS, TX – Another right handed pitcher from high school. I am detecting a pattern. This is the magic slot of the Pirates the last few years. Grossmann and Van Rosenburg were 6th rounders.

Round 7 – Austin Kubitza – Heritage HS, TX – Another right handed pitcher. This guy is going to have a lot to prove because the Pirates passed on Robbie Aviles who went a few picks later to Cleveland. Aviles is the 58th best prospect in the draft, but considered hard to sign. Austin is in the top 200 at 153, so it is not like he is without talent himself.

Round 8 – Dace Kime – Defiance HS, OH – A right handed pitcher from yet another high school. He is committed to Louisville. We will see how many of these guys the Pirates are really ready to throw money at to get them into the system. I am thinking that Kime may not be one of those players, especially if those in the rounds ahead of him sign.

Round 9 – Brandon Crumpton – Georgia Tech (Jr) – It appears the Pirates value right handed pitching. Not to mention youth. This guy can go back to school if he thinks he can get more money next year.

Round 10 – Zachary Weiss – Northwood HS, CA – Guess what? A right handed pitcher and again from High School. Again, I think this is one that the Pirates can go too if the others guys do not work out, but the top guys sign, I don’t think they will give Weiss a chance.

Round 11 – Daniel Grovatt – Univeristy of Virginia (Jr) – This is a left handed left fielder. This is a guy that I think the Pirates will sign. He gives them another left hander and outfielder. He hit .289 with a .385 OBP. He hit 8 homers, but was second on the team with 56 RBIs.

Round 12 – Vincent Payne – Cypress College – A junior college guy who is a right handed pitcher. Probably signable, but not in the same category as the higher pitchers on this list.

Round 13 – Christopher Kirsch – Marple Newton HS, PA – Surprise a LEFT handed highschool pitcher. This guy apparently was a late riser, but is probably a steal at the 13th round. A prospect and a project, but he has the tools.

Round 14 – Bryce Weidman – Southwestern Community College – A right handed pitcher. This guy is probably one that can be passed over. But we will see what the cards have in store.

Round 15 – Andrew Maggi (SO)– Arizona State – He is a shortstop. Right hander. The first infielder taken by the Pirates in this years draft. .343 Avg and a .430 OBP. No real power, but at short that is not a big deal. 34 of 42 in stolen base attempts. That shows great speed. Only a .961 fielding percentage is something worry about. He might not be a big league short stop and need to move to second or something. Still I like this pick. He can go back to college.

Round 16 – Matthew Curry – Texas Christian (sr) – A left handed hitter, right handed throwing firstbaseman. As a senior this guy will sign.

Round 17 – Ryan Hafner – Lee’s Summit HS, MO – A right handed prep pitcher to the Pirates. Kind of boring by now.

Round 18 - Chase Wentz – Louisiana State Shrevport (jr) – An outfielder that can probably play any of the positions.

Round 19 – Kent Emmanuel – Woodstock HS, GA – a LEFT handed prep pitcher. The Pirates are changing it up on us now.

This is where the draft stood at the time of posting. I think the Pirates probably will plan to throw a lot of money at Allie until he signs. Kingham, Hursh, and Kibutza will probably also get large chunks of change. If those four sign do not expect a lot of other action. I do think they will not have a hard time signing Waldron, whose last year at college was a disaster. I don’t think he will risk going back. The Pirates will sign Rojas. They will give him what he needs. Obviously the seniors they draft will sign. I would like to see them make a run at guys like Maggi, but it will depend at that point on the budget. Guys like Kirsch will get more money and better offers if Kingham and Hursh or Kibutza refuse to sign. It will be interesting to watch the Pirates try to sign some of these guys.

If the Pirates sign their top 3 picks and then at least 2 of the next 4, this draft will be a success. Of course the goal is to get all of the top 10, but this year that might be a stretch.