Draft Day 2 Rounds 3 - 10

I sort of liked the Day 2 draft guys taken individually.  However, I do lean more toward college players right when you pick in the middle to the back rather than up front when you are looking for impact players.  The Pirates are putting together a draft of solid, but not great, players.  I feel this is what you can do from time to time when your system is already stacked with talent.  

I feel that Day 2 was a day where a lot of guys that probably will play major league ball for teams other than the Pirates were drafted.  A lot of these guys could be future trade bait to help improve the big league club.  And there is nothing wrong with that.  

Jordan Luplow, who MLB has ranked in the top 100 and BA at 103, is a corner outfielder who has a good bat.  This is the second outfielder of this draft and he is a college guy too.  The Pirates outfield is pretty deep right now.  Marte, McCutchen, Polanco, and Rojas seem to be the outfield of the future.  And this does not take into account last year's draftee of Austin Meadows or Josh Bell.  Is he better than Barrett Barnes or Harold Ramirez?  Who knows.  Luplow is depth.  And depth aids trades.  

Taylor Gushue is a 20 year old college catcher, which makes him interesting.  He played at Florida so this is not some lower rung college either.  I like Gushue, but he will still be behind McGuire on the depth chart.  Ranked in the top 110 on everyone's board seems to make Gushue a good draft pick.

Michael Suchy is an outfielder from college.  This is my least favorite pick as some scouts think he is going to have hitting issues.  However, he may have more all around tools than Luplow.  Again, if he does turn into something, outfield depth is easily tradable.

Tyler Eppler is a RHP from college and is tall like the Pirates like them.  He is not cracking the Pirates top pitchers in the minors any time soon.  I am not that big a fan of this pick either, but pitchers are not a bad group to collect.

Nelson Jorge is a Puerto Rican High Schools Short Stop.  He apparently is a switch hitter.  For those wanting a projectable upside pick, this one counts.  However, he is the second high school short stop taken this year behind the first round pick of Cole Tucker.  However, short stop is a position of need.

Austin Coley is a RHP from college who should be an easy sign.  Belmont is not a powerhouse college, but he was drafted last year by the Mets.  I like this pick.  Pitching is important and while our future rotation seems deep, injuries are frequent here.  He could profile as a good reliever, but pitchers are also easily tradable.  

Kevin Krause is a catcher from Stony Brook.  He seems to have some hope in his bat and could play outfield if the catcher backlog demands it.  And frankly one would have to assume he would be behind Gushue as well as McGuire on the depth chart.  

Alex McRae is a RHP who has stuff, but no real results.  This would be my least favorite pick except I am beginning to trust the Pirates ability to build pitchers.  He has the speed already throwing in the low 90's.  I bet he profiles as a reliever long term, but I worry about this guy a lot.  He has given up more than a hit an inning in college in a minor conference.  Sometimes you might throw 93, but stuff on the side does not mean you are going to do something with that stuff in the game.  Missing bats seems important, and McRae does not appear to do that.  

The Pirates have not had an outstanding draft, and there is no one that you are going to run to the computer to see what he did today, but there are some guys who could help the organization.  The Pirates have some upside guys here with Gushue and Jorge.  I think the floor is higher on some of these guys than the past where there was a high ceiling, but a floor that was worrisome.  As college guys they are a lot closer to what they are going to be, so by definition they have smaller upside, but also a higher floor.  In two days the Pirates have drafted 4 top 100 prospects and two more who are in the top 110.  Half of the picks so far have been top 110 players.  Add to that a high upside-low floor short stop from Puerto Rico for a little excitement.  

The other thing we may not be considering here is budget.  Lots of talk has been made about saving money against the slot to pay over the slot to other guys.  And the Pirates usually have one or two outside the first 10 rounds that they give that a try.  But maybe this year the Pirates are just trying to save a little extra money for an offseason free agent?  They want to come in under slot budget so that they can spend it for a stretch run or next season at short stop?  Would that really be bad if the Pirates did that?  

Tomorrow should provide a little bit to talk about.  Tune in.