Baseball America has released their third mock draft, and the results are very similar to the second round. Jim Callis has Reese McGuire going ninth overall, which has been a very popular pick for the Pirates in almost every mock draft recently. Callis had McGuire going ninth to the Pirates in his second mock draft.
Last time Callis had Hunter Renfroe going 14th overall, but has Renfroe going 13th. That leaves the Pirates with D.J. Peterson, third baseman from New Mexico. Peterson has been linked to the Pirates a lot this year, and Callis says they won’t pass him up if he’s there at 14. If Peterson is gone, the Pirates could go for Ryan Stanek or Trey Ball, according to Callis. They could also go the college bat route, turning to Notre Dame third baseman Eric Jagielo, Samford outfielder Phillip Ervin, Stanford outfielder Austin Wilson, or Fresno State outfielder Aaron Judge.
Based on all of the mock drafts recently, it seems the Pirates will go with McGuire with the ninth pick and one of Renfroe or Peterson with the 14th pick if they’re available.
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.
I’m not going to let off the gas on this. The Boston Red Sox are a notoriously great team and they never pick in the top 10. Look what they say about the Red Sox they take a Frazier, Meadows type and if somehow Minnesota doesn’t take Kohl Stewart they would pounce on him in an instant. Like the reason the Pirates and co. pick in the top 10 every year is bc they take the low ceiling college guy and he is just blah or even worse BUST. I’m not against taking college guys high ceiling guys like Gray and Appel are guys any team would take 1-2, but the point is you take the best guy regardless of position bc you don’t know what is going to happen down the road. The best way for me to put is this. If I had Bonds-Cutch-Clemente as my starting MLB OF I would still take an OF if he was the best guy. Why? If he can hit, we will find a spot for him.
I know we need hitters but Ball might be nice given the lack of LHP arms in the minors and a ballpark that works well with them