Naturally Harper went first overall to the Nats and after the Bucs selected Taillon, Machado went third to the Orioles. I would have been happy with either Taillon or Machado, but I was a little more excited to get Taillon.
As much as I liked Machado, ultimately he is viewed as a third baseman instead of a shortstop. Unless the Pirates were committed to moving Pedro Alvarez to first base, then the pick didn't make much sense.
With Taillon, we get a guy viewed as a top of the rotation guy with a great make up and excellent stuff. He has three plus pitches- fastball, curveball and slider. he is also throwing a change up some now and scouts have said that is coming along very well. It's the kid's make up though which have had scouts in awe. The guy is tough as nails and is the ultimate competitor.
Give the Pirates credit. For a team that was running JVB, Brian Bullington, and other stiffs out to the mound just three years ago, they know have some good pitching talent in the system. In 2-3 seasons, we could see a young rotation of Tailon, Brad Lincoln, Bryan Morris, Tim Alderson and Rudy Owens. Things are looking much better for the future of the Pirates.
Now all we gotta do is sign the kid.
Hopefully the Pirates won't try to re-teach this kid how to pitch they way they have in the past
ReplyDeleteAgreed. We've seen that way too much
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely LOVE The Pick
ReplyDeleteI would have rather had the everyday guy in machado, but I don't mind a big right hander that throws 99
ReplyDeleteThey have such bad luck with pitchers. Machado was the pick
ReplyDeleteBuild with pitching. I really like the pick
ReplyDeleteMachado is being compared to Arod- Hard to pass that up
ReplyDeleteCan't go wrong either way. I love the Taillon choice. Now get him signed
ReplyDeletePitchers are so much more risky. i hope he is the real deal. Both Peter gammons and John Hart said they would have taken him #1 ahead of Harper
ReplyDeleteHigh School Pitchers rarely pan out. should have gone with machado
ReplyDeletewhat are you talking about. Plenty of high school pithers have done very well
ReplyDeleteWOW. Pirates get Stetson Allie with their second round pick. Quite possibly drafting the top 2 high school arms in the draft.
ReplyDeleteAllie would have been the next pitcher off the board after Taillon but had a $3mil asking price, thus falling to the second round.
The Pirates have shown the last two years that they will buy college out of these kids. if they can sign both Allie and Taillon then that's huge.
Allie hit 100mph on the gun last week
love grabbing the two power arms. say what you want but we wouldn't have taken both guys under littlefield
ReplyDeleteDon't get too excited. They still have to sign both
ReplyDelete