2013 Draft Round 1

Okay, so following a successful Pirates team is proving more stressful than I imagined.  I am not sure I am able to cheer on a team that is close to the playoffs, but might well miss them.

But today is a day of looking forward, and it turned out to be a much better day than I had hoped.

Almost all of the mock drafts had the Pirates taking high schooler Reese McGuire with the 9th pick and then getting usually Hunter Renfroe for the 14th or D.J. Peterson or Dominic Smith.  But, when the draft picks started falling into place the Pirates were given the opportunity to pick Austin Meadows, a high school 5 tool outfielder.  Almost all predictions had him going before the 9th pick.  So, the Pirates snatched him up as they had been rumored to want another good outfielder.

Meadows is young and will be a bit of a work in progress, so don't expect massive numbers in short season ball.  But he is highly athletic and has been highly successful so far.  We got a guy that everyone thought would be gone, and was almost universally rated higher than McGuire, so it is reason to be excited.

The best news is that then McGuire was still around at 14, so the Pirates took him then.  It seemed obvious the Pirates thought McGuire a top 10 talent, as all mock drafts had the Pirates taking the high school catcher.  His defense is apparently great and his bat will need the work, but not in the same way that Sanchez needed work.  Expect more from this kid.

With the Pirates clearly wanting McGuire and still getting him 5 picks later than they had planed and thus getting an even greater talent at 9, this was a highly successful Day 1 to the draft.  And there is one more bit of great news.  Mark Appel went #1 to the Astros.  He will not get the amount of money he could have if he had been willing to let the Astros draft him last year, but that is not the great news.  The great news is that many had thought the Astros would pass on Mark again and that would have meant he fell to the Cubs, who would have taken him.  Now Appel will pitch in the American League and never have to cross the Pirates, and especially not have to cross in division every year.  That too is good news.

More tomorrow on the next section of the draft.