Baseball America released their second mock draft, and for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the result was similar to the first one. The Pirates were projected to take Arizona State shortstop Deven Marrero with the eighth pick, the same as the last mock draft by BA.
The first seven players, in order, were Mark Appel, Byron Buxton, Mike Zunino, Kevin Gausman, Kyle Zimmer, Carlos Correa, and Max Fried. Baseball America had Albert Almora going ninth overall. I’d go Almora over Marrero.
They didn’t include Lucas Giolito due to all of the questions surrounding his health at this point. Baseball America also noted that pick number eight seemed to be the high end for Mississippi State right-hander Chris Stratton, and prep outfielder David Dahl. Almora would be a better prep outfielder than Dahl, and Stratton would be more of a reach than Marrero, who isn’t really much of a reach.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
Disagree, I think Merrero is a stretch. He should be a second round pick. His bat has virtually no upside IMO.
But offense is only half of the game. If he plays gold-glove caliber defense, isn’t that valuable as well? If the guy plays D like everyone says he can, then he’s a worth a top-10 pick if he can hit .220-.240. Of course you should pick for upside, but how many legit short-stops are out there and how many prospects actually project to stay at the position?
Also, I would argue that while he hasn’t hit great this season, he had two other seasons where he hit well over .300, so which is real? Gerritt Cole had a 3.00+ ERA last season, now he’s doing even better in A+ because of some mechanical tweaks. The same might be said for Merrero and his swing. Now, I don’t think anyone expects Merrero to be a Jose Reyes hitting .330 and playing great defense, but once again, how valuable is a great defensive short-stop on a team that only expects him to hit 7th or 8th in the lineup?
That being said, I don’t like the idea of the Pirates picking him.
This is the thing though, he has to hit GOOD ENOUGH to at least make the majors first. I have serious doubts he will make it. Everybody keeps saying he is just having a down year. Sure, his average was quite a bit higher last season, but it was mostly empty. His OPS is only down .006 points from last season. And by the way his OPS last season was still just .786. That is terrible for a college hitter. You never see hitters out of college with numbers that low getting drafted this high, if they get drafted at all.
I would like somebody to answer just one question for me. When is the last time that a college player sporting a .784 OPS his last two seasons went on to stick at the major league level? I think you would have to look really, really hard to find an example.
i think we should take his buddy..max fried best left hander in the draft..does anyone know any downsides to fried? I have just heard his curveball is awesome and watched some videos of the guy and it looks devastating…
To answer briefly, the idea of him never adding velocity.
he is throwing 92-94. He is 6’4. Who ever said he won’t be able to add velocity?
“…Stratton would be more of a reach than Marrero, who isn’t really much of a reach.”
Both would be reaches, especially Stratton. Giolito, with his damaged elbow, is preferable to either player. So too Shaffer, Hawkins and Checcini.
I would agree with the assessment that ultimately, Merrero is going to be a, what you see is what you get. He’s going to be drafted by someone. Arguably I would say no ones ever really expected him to end up an offensive juggernaut at the major league level, but for his sake, hopefully he’ll rebound and at least be capable of some consistency
As a final note, I’m in the camp of taking Giolito if he’s available and all signs point to him being healthy going forward.